New addition!

Last time Dad went to visit PawPaw in Covington (just north of New Orleans) he spotted this gem sitting on a shelf! He brought it back to Houston with him and it's now easily my favorite, the second being Dad's old Pentax. It's a Kodak but I keep forgetting to bring it to work to look up the serial numbers so I can date it properly. I like to imagine all the fun things PawPaw and Gammaw would do when they used this camera...all the snapshots they'd take on vacations and road trips...maybe out on the boat.

 

What a great addition. Thanks, Dad and PawPaw!

On Style.

I've really been making an effort to put more thought and imagination into getting dressed instead of just sleepily grabbing whatever my hands touch first @ 6am. I mean it's early, I have to be at the office in an hour...I probably didn't get enough sleep because lately, the Fuzz won't shut her cake-hole at night and I'm usually not in a very creative mindset. BUT...In the still-dark of my bedroom with only a single, dim bulb illuminating my choices, I tell myself "Think outside the box!"...the box being my office space. It is possible to put something together that's stylish (for, say,cocktail hour or a dinner) and work appropriate!



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 Its odd to work on cultivating personal style at (almost) 30 years of age and I'm almost envious of the endless resources girls have today that didn't exist when I was in college (forget about high school!) In 1999, I was studying MLA style, not browsing personal style blogs. But I know that it's never too late. Updating your wardrobe is challenging and transitioning your style from college grad to professional, even girl to mother is tricky and there are so many people out there setting fantastic examples.

I've just been so inspired recently and it's because of a handful of ladies I'll probably never meet. I've learned that a summer dress can take on so many different personalities when paired with a great pair of shoes, a favorite clutch, a long dangly necklace, even pinning your hair up or wearing red lipstick. The perfect belt really can make an outfit. Fit/cut/shape is so important. ANYTHING can be hemmed, taken out or taken in, so keep an open mind when thrifting!  

In summation, I'd like to say thanks to the following bloggers for reminding me that getting dressed can be fun and for making me thankful I'm still young in an amazing time: Jessica Quirk, Amanda Johnson, Kendi Lea, Coury Combs, Bonnie Barton, and Erin.

  With these new eyes, I shop. This payday purchase is a two-fer because I've been pinching the pennies lately (and for some reason I felt like I deserved it..?). I love browsing the Modcloth dresses and yesterday I found this sweet little sea green spotted frock! (Under $50!) I love*love the color and the collar; the collar's definitely what got me. I like that it's long enough (@ 36") to wear to work- I can't wait to put this outfit together...

 

{Modcloth's Sea Salt Breeze Dress}

paired with a brown braided belt {UO}

and my (recently purchased) Gimmik Platform sandals by Blowfish! I'm pretty damn excited about these shoes because A) they were a good deal at $45 (free shipping @ DSW when you use promo code SHIPR) B) They have a 70s vibe to them...which is uncharted territory for me. I wouldn't exactly describe my style as 70s influenced so it's nice to get out of my comfort zone and try something new! and C) I haven't been able to get them out of my head ever since I first layed eyes on them via Miss Bonnie @ Flashes of Style 

(the 3 shoe-shots below are hers!)

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#winning

I won these vintage thermoses (thermi? what is plural for thermos?) on eBay! I don't need 6 those grey mugs but the 4 thermi (we're gonna go with thermi) are totally worth it. 10 bucks! TEN! WEEEE! That wood grain one? That one with the...what is that.. wheat? on it?  AWESOME. I know collections are supposed to be...collected. You're supposed to find one unique piece at a time...maybe from different places...over a period of time but when something like this falls in your lap, you gotta take it! They'll have such a good little home on my round kitchen table.

Shake it like a...

Hurrah! Finished my pink polaroid embroidery!

NEXT!

52 weeks

Like many others on the web (a la Miss Squid), I decided a few weeks ago to start a new photo project documenting 2011 by taking one Instax photo a week for the whole year. I'm not doing a theme.. or following any guidelines, just snapping whatever I feel like. There's a Flickr group here called 52 weeks (of Instax) where folks are uploading their weekly pictures. I think it's such a neat idea and a fun way to get to know my Instax (got it for Christmas! Thanks Mom!) I'd love to make a neat little photo book to keep all my weekly snapshots. Here are my first 3 photos for the first 3 weeks of the year.  I haven't taken this week's photo yet, but I have a feeling it might involve some leftover new years sparklers! 

1: Week of Jan 3rd, Ryan on New Year's Eve

 2: Week of Jan 10th, Pretty daisies on my dining table.

3: Week of Jan 17th, my favorite Polaroid in my collection.

How are you doing with your resolutions/ new projects? Are you still eager or finding it difficult to stay motivated? I'm not getting my 4 days of exercise in each week like I wanted...It's so hard to come home after work and put my workout gear on when I just want to have a nap or a glass of wine and watch Brian Williams... I need to stay focused! We can do it!



Payday Purchase!

One of my resolutions this year (still need to post my list) was to add to my dress collection. I have a cute little dress rack in my room now and there are quite a few vintage and retro-inspired frocks hanging from it. I told myself that every payday I can choose one dress that's $50 or less. This way I won't make a hasty purchase because I have 2 weeks to choose and I'm adding a well thought-out piece to my (practical) collection! This is my payday purchase for Jan 13th:

{Modcloth}

Aaahhhh can't wait to get it! See how it's out of stock? Yeah I just bought the last one. HUZZAH!!  

Braided Bliss

There's a first time for everything...and today I made my first ever Etsy treasury! Booooyy is that a dangerous game.. browsing awesome item after item...having to remind yourself that you're saving up for the deposit on a new apartment... YIKES. The theme was Braided Bliss. I chose belts, shoes, bags, accessories and jewelry that were all braided. I tried to stay in the mustard yellow, olive green, brown and cream constrains and I think it turned out OK! Can't wait to make another one.

Have you ever made an Etsy treasury?

SPACEBABIES + FANCYLADIES

New fun things in the shop today! Magnet sets (3) featuring some great retro fabrics. Yeee!

Fancy ladies!

Space Babies!

workin' on...

New embroidery!

Other countries/ states too perhaps? Maybe...

- FR: keep calm and have an éclair.
- DE: keep calm and have a bratwurst.

and so forth...

Green Couture!

Amazingness! In honor of Earth Day, here's a wonderful article about designer Gary Harvey's showcase for GreenShows during NY Fashion Week this year. He used all recycled materials for these beautiful dresses! See full story here.

The Financial Times.

Old trench coats

Scarves

Cowboy/pearl snap shirts

Baseball jackets

I would love to learn how to refurb my old clothes... but donating is just as helpful!

A weekend of indulging in the good things: crawfish, thrifting, fabric and muffins.

OOOooohhhh its that time of the year! This Saturday brought my first crawfish of 2010... I know its a bit early, yes they were small, but they were a tasty little teaser of what is to come this spring. Dad's thinking about boiling a sack this weekend and there's nothing better than sitting outside, drinking cold beer in the sun and talking over the roar of the propane tank. Aaaahhh crawfish season, I love you. I don't care if my fingers smell like crustaceans for hours, I don't mind having to wear my glasses because contacts and crawfish hands don't mix...I don't mind that sting when I get crawfish "juice" in a cut... it's so worth it.

[ Megan and I enjoying the sun ]

After crawfish, we went thrifting! I'm pretty happy with my finds including the fantastic new addition to my old camera collection (below), a light up tracing desk, a great antique scale turned jewelry stand, an old school Fisher Price airport (now I have to find a plane, and mini suitcases...!), in addition to the 2 skirts and an owl brooch I found on Friday afternoon. Not too bad!

Saturday night Nora, Lea and I went to a new place called Nouveau Antique Art Bar, the ceiling is "chock-a-block" with Tiffany lamps- they're on the tables, on shelves, on the bar top... it really was pretty. After Nouveau we went over to The Mink to watch a few friends play music. We stayed up pretty late so I slept in on Sunday morning, finally peeling my face of the pillow around noon to run some errands.

Sunday was my first trip to High Fashion Fabrics in Midtown, an amazing fabric wonderland suggested by Lauren. This place is ridiculous. There's so much to look at and touch, I was walking around with my mouth open, I felt like twirling and singing like I was on some Austrian mountaintop a-la-Sound of Music. I controlled myself and bought 1/2 yards of the 3 fabrics below- aren't they great?!

With the Dia De Los Muertos fabric I made an embroidery hoop bulletin board for Nora. I love the bright colors! Que alegre!

After my Sunday grocery & fabric shopping and a bit of house cleaning, I had a baking craving. I picked up some fresh strawberries so decided on strawberry muffins. They turned out pretty good! Not too sweet, but perfect warm with a little butter for breakfast.

Hope your weekend was fantastic! This week looks like it's going to be a busy one, lots to make and do! Happy Monday!

a collection of manuscripts, publications, and other materials for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference

Oh libraries...
[ i would slay to have an old card catalog in my house... to keep recipes, knick knacks, buttons, art supplies, anything.... ]

Wouldn't it be so wonderful to have your own personal library/ study... with a fireplace, big overstuffed leather chairs... dim lighting except for a bankers lamp on a desk... rugs.. wall to ceiling shelves packed with books, records, old newspapers... WISHESSSSS. Aren't those libraries/ studies/ reading rooms so beautiful?

Maybe I don't have my own study, but I do feel lucky enough to have a brand new Houston Public Library branch next door to my office!

Hurrah! The new Kendall Branch is open! and its soooo pretty inside. So clean, fresh, new books, so organized, squeaky floors, shiny! It opened last week so I went today on my lunch break for an inaugural visit. The views from the windows are so pretty, it overlooks a great park. I borrowed 3 books about sewing and hand stitches. I can actually walk there, I just need to remember to keep a pair of comfortable shoes in my office.

матрёшка!

I love Russian nesting dolls. For Christmas, Ryan gave me a wonderful hand painted owl in the style of the smallest, innermost solid piece- was such a great addition to my teeny tiny but growing collection. Below are photos of nesting dolls/ collections, art, etc that caught my eye today.

If I was gutsy, (Mom, stop reading here) I'd love to get a bright, colorful tattoo of a pretty Matryoshka. Below are photos of Silje's artwork, of Little Bird Crafts, whose blog I read frequently.

This tattoo photo is her own, on her leg, and it's pretty big. I don't think I could ever pull that off, but she's a tattoo artist so she can. (Her blog is fantastic, by the way. She's so creative, a really great artist!) I have a pretty doll sitting on my shelf at work, in the most beautiful colors... pinks, reds, oranges, green, floral, lots of different patterns, bright pink cheeks. Inside, instead of smaller dolls, there’s a piece of paper, rolled up and yellowed, obviously no clue what it might say:This is my soft and squishy translation of my Matryoshka doll... I’d like to make sisters for her, get better at it.

There's a Russian/Slavic/Eastern European shop in Old Market in Omaha called Red Square. I go into this shop almost every trip, look at the nesting dolls (so expensive..) attempt conversation in my feeble Czech with the shopkeeper, but usually leave empty handed. I think next visit, I'll take one home.

The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter.

Its kind of hokey, but I like the imagery of the proverbial onion layers...things may appear static on the outside, but there's always more and more to discover on the inside.

[ photos: Silje Hagland, Weheartit, google images and authors own]