January 2nd, 2011

This morning Dave and I went to Ristretto for coffee and scones.  There we met a nice man who talked trash with us for a stretch about Ohio and the death of manners and which restaurants are overrated and which are not overrated.  This delightful conversation made me desperately want to go thrifting in Ohio, where Thomas (that is his name) assured me I would encounter a seriously mind blowing number of pristine vintage things at real thrift store prices.  Then we (Dave and I) took the bus down to the southeast, had a breaky at Broder and popped into Xtabay and Green Light Records.  Now we are at home, on the couch, having a laptop party and listening to Dave's new records.

Coat: thrifted in Colorado at the Hospice Care Thrift.

Sweater: cashmere, thrifted for less than $5 (!) in Colorado at Salvo.

Bag: Oldie Coach, scored at Buffalo Exchange.

Gloves: the $1 grocery store kind.

Have I talked yet about how freezing cold and yet sunny and cloudless 2011 is?  It's dry and feels almost like a Colorado winter.  It's very odd to me how a 15° drop in temperature (and humidity) + sun in Oregon makes me feel significantly less cold than the normal warm + slightly damp cloudy days we're more used to by now.  God, I talk about the weather all the fucking time, don't I?

Dave (1): Eating at Broder.
Dave (2): on Christmas Day, in China Town, on the way to Jewish Christmas (we ate Chinese food and went to see the new Coen Bros. movie.)  Our roommate Matt is to Dave's right.  To Matt's right is Judy.  That's Matt's car behind Dave, if you're interested.  Also, the sweater Dave is wearing used to belong to his mom (also named Judy.)  It says, "Holy Ghost School New Orleans LA."

January 1st, 2011

 

2011 has so far been an incredibly sunny year for Portland.  I spent half-an-hour yesterday just taking photos of the late afternoon sunlight through our dining room window.  Our neighbor Lowry's overgrown yard looks like a wild jungle from where we usually look at it.

Dress: Plenty by Tracy Reese
Wrap: Mink Stole (see previous Marika post.)
Blouse (not shown): sheer pink and brown abstract printed silk thing. 

This dress has a rather high, square neckline (with a fabric bow you can just make out in these photos.) The blouse I wore under it has a rather low and wide square neckline.  Thus there was a little outline of skin between the straps of the dress and the collar of the blouse.  It is probably not terribly easy to visualize but I thought the two pieces looked very nice together.  To be totally certain, I just asked Dave and he agrees that it looked nice.

DECEMBER 30th, 2010

This is my new dress.  I'm not saying the outfit is anything hot (I know a few ladies who judge the heck outta footless tights with flats.)  This was Christmas Eve, in which Dave and I nogged ourselves silly and danced to old soul records.  

 

Dress: Weston Wear.

Tights: Target.

Shoes: Thrifted (they were NWT so it wasn't that gross.)

Mink wrap: given to me by my friend and former radio co-host Daniel.  It belonged to his dead grandmother.  I've been wearing it around the house like a housecoat almost every day lately.  (It's getting cold in the NW - and by cold I mean 35°, which yes, is about as cold as it ever gets.)

About the dress: (here's why it's special)

Well, I bought it from where I work, so I paid more for it than I typically would for a dress.  But that is not really why it's special.  It's special because last fall I went on a buying trip with my boss Carla and we met with the Weston Wear rep.  Weston Wear is, well, at it's worst it's nylon mesh shit that looks straight outta the 90's.  

 

Lately, they've been classing it up and romancing stores like Anthropologie (where this dress also happens to be for sale.) So the rep shows us a bunch of styles ("bodies") in different fabric options.  One of them was this dress.  In this fabric.  And I swooned and lost my shit inside but of course Carla ordered a different one.  Which sold out in two days, so she called Weston Wear and asked for anything else they had in that print.  They happened to have a lot of this dress (because Anthropologie placed an enormous order) and so they sent it to us and then I bought it and it was my Christmas dress and I've worn it for three days straight and it's perfect.

Here's a better photo of the dress proper because I want everyone to have the right idea about it and because I took this photo and because the above photos weren't really intended to be blog photos anyway.

NOVEMBER 13, 2010

 

 

They say you should invest in classics, so that's what I'm doing.

Hat: made by me (one of my first crochet projects, senior year of high school!  I didn't use a pattern, I just went with it.)

Coat: Marc Jacobs, (wool, lined in silk!  I honestly don't know why everything isn't lined in silk.  It really ought to be.)

Jeans: Citizens of Humanity (which you can't really see but in case you thought I was going commando - I wasn't.)

Boots: Frye (I've had these for a long time and I love them more and more each season.)

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

 

Some Trees

These are amazing: each
Joining a neighbor, as though speech
Were a still performance.
Arranging by chance

To meet as far this morning
From the world as agreeing
With it, you and I
Are suddenly what the trees try

To tell us we are:
That their merely being there
Means something; that soon
We may touch, love, explain.

And glad not to have invented
Some comeliness, we are surrounded:
A silence already filled with noises,
A canvas on which emerges

A chorus of smiles, a winter morning.
Place in a puzzling light, and moving,
Our days put on such reticence
These accents seem their own defense.

-Ashberry

  

Dress: Plenty Frock! by Tracy Reese.  Tights: Walgreens.  Shoes: Coldwater Creek, thrifted.  Coat: vintage, thrifted.  Necklace: silver sharkstooth on pearl & oxidized silver chain, made by me.  Earrings: carved bone, found at an import store.

OCTOBER 2, 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

First and foremost, where did that ivory cruiser come from? A surprise present from the best boyfriend in the world!!!  We happened to stroll past a bike shop after doing a little record shopping (<3 Saturdays off together!) and in a whirlwind of excitement that included a test ride through the neighborhood and lots of "seriously?" "seriously!" this sweet three-speed Linus cruiser became mine! 

Vintage floral silk screen sweater: thrifted.

1920's style silk dress: Joie.

Yellow slip: thrifted.

Cloisonne earrings: thrifted.

"Sz. Maria" necklace: brought to America by my maternal grandmother when she moved here in 1954.  Layered on a Victorian era chain (from my paternal grandmother) with another St. Mary charm (from my mother.)  Fun fact: that text is some weird fusion of European languages.  None of my relatives have been able to translate it entirely.  Multiple language translation sites are fruitless.  It's sort of a cool historical mystery.

Scarab, pearl, citrine and green amethyst necklace: made by me. 

Tights: the best, sturdiest, most resilient black tights are sold at the Walgreens off Broadway and MLK.

Shoes: from my mother (she wore them on her wedding day!)

Clutch: leather, thrifted.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2010 (Part II)

Earrings and necklace: made myself.
Blouse: silk, William Rast. Scored for $13 at Buffalo Exchange.
Sweater vest: cashmere, Velvet.
Jeans: slim slack, American Apparel.
Shoes: Dansko, present from my mom.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 (Part II)

Dress: Velvet, bought at work.
Sweater: inherited from my grandmother.
Scarf: label-less, found at Buffalo Exchange and bought to cover up a cleavage baring dress on a first date (there wasn't a second date, my choice.)
Earrings: rubies on hand-made gold hoops that I wear often with different dangles.
The stones were wrapped by my friend Dana who's currently displaced by the forest fire raging in Boulder County. I wore them to remind me to send her good thoughts.
Watch: given to me by my mother, worn frequently.
Socks: Target.
Oxfords: also Target.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

On the way to drinks at Secret Society.

Dress: purchased a looong time ago at Buffalo Exchange.
I wore it on my 20th birthday. On that day, I roamed around downtown Denver, ran into a friend, got stung by a bee while running into a friend, bought two books of poetry, ate Indian food with Robin, and bused back up to Boulder to drink champagne with Conor and eat mango sticky rice prepared for the occasion by Jessi.

Cardigan: cashmere, thrifted for $5. It's my favorite!

Shoes: Newport News, also thrifted.
A big deal because vintage 80's heels (not to mention any vintage shoes, period) are difficult to find in a size 10.

Bag: Hobo, bought at Buffalo Exchange after my coworker, Kasha, sold it.
Kasha was a fearsome woman to deal with but I find myself missing her, her flame colored hair, her overalls and clogs, and her love of Spiritualized, Sabbath and the Silver Jews, from time to time.

Necklace: Vintage chandelier crystal and freshwater pearl, made by me!

Ring: inherited, diamond, you've heard about it before.