Monday, September 30, 2013

I Went Back to Ohio

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The title of this post is one of my favorite Pretenders songs, and yes, I sing it to myself compulsively whenever I go to... Ohio. A couple of weekends ago I headed out to Cleveland for a day of vintage and thrift shopping with Erin. We grabbed brunch, checked out West Side Market, and went thrifting out in the suburbs. Along the way, we stopped in to see Rachel at the newly re-opened and re-imagined Re/Dress, met the rad people behind A Separate Reality (next door), and managed to cram a very large chair into the back of a mid-sized car. It's such a relief to get out of Pittsburgh every now and then, to get a fresh perspective, and I love that Cleveland (and Erin) is so close by.

A few of my favorite Cleveland spots:
Suite Lorain -- The most amazing vintage store. Possibly ever.
Re/Dress -- Proprietress Rachel (who is awesome) has completely re-imagined Re/Dress, creating a plus-size clothing mecca choc full of bold jewelry, and vintage and modern clothing.
A Separate Reality -- Conveniently located right next to Re/Dress (and adjacent to a pretty rad tattoo parlor), boasts the perfect mix of vintage vinyl, accessories, clothing, and housewares.
Touch Supper Club -- I've been here for brunch, it was very good.
BonBon Pastry Cafe -- Erin and I went here for brunch, and it was amazing.
 
Do you have a favorite Cleveland (or Western Pennsylvania) spot? I'd love to know your recommendations!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Evergreen

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What I wore:
Dress: Vintage/TXSC clothing swap (previously owned by Rachel)
Belt: Vintage/PGH Vintage Mixer
Beaded necklace: Antique store in Maine
Fringe Necklace: Moorea Seal
Bracelets: Thrifted
Sandals: Marshalls

I love strolling around our neighborhood in the evenings after work, looking at houses, picking out details and storing them away in my memory. It took awhile for me to come around to appreciating the architecture in Pittsburgh -- there's just so much brick, new environment, blah, blah, blah -- but now I could fill a book with houses that are My Favorites (most of them brick, incidentally). This archway is one of my favorite details on one of my favorite houses. It reminds me of The Secret Garden, which I was obsessed with as a child.

On this particular evening, I wore the Raddest Dress Ever, which I snagged at the Lulu's clothing swap held during TXSC. The pretty floral print is not only lovely, but useful in disguising the humungous rip in the lining that occurred when I bent over earlier in the day. Vintage dresses man, they're so awesome, but sometimes seem to be made for human bodies with less bodacious asses than my own**.

** She said with good humor and a little sarcasm

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Announcing the Lulu's Fashion Flashback Contest!

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I'm super excited to be partnering with Lulu's today to help announce their Fashion Flashback Contest! Lulu's is offering four lucky winners the chance to update their look with $500 to spend on Lulu's! Pretty awesome, right? Have you given much thought to how you'd update your former self's image? In high school, I wanted nothing more than to just be one of the guys. My uniform -- seen below in embarrassing and unflattering photos from '98 through '02 -- being baggy jeans, a snowboarding sweatshirt, and a giant hemp necklace (self-made, of course). I shopped mostly in the little boy's section of thrift stores and skate shops, and was completely intimidated by the concept of make-up.

While I still love a laid-back look, I'm no longer hiding behind a boy-ish disguise. Jewelry and make-up are no longer mystifying, but finishing touches that I enjoy adding to my outfits when I feel inclined. These days, I'm more likely to pair a drape-y top with skinny jeans, a favorite beanie, and interesting jewelry, to play with proportion rather than hide myself beneath it.

In this outfit: Sweater, tee, jeans, heels, midi ring c/o Lulu's, Wife ring: Bueno Bueno, Sun necklace c/o Sisters of the Moon, Claw necklace: Black Sparrow, other necklace: various, Bracelets: Thrifted
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Yep. That's me. It would be easy to dismiss my teenage self as an unfashionable, mousy tomboy, but when I look at these photos, I can't help but feel a deep appreciation for this person who -- despite a complete lack of confidence -- wasn't afraid to leave the house with messy hair, no make-up, and clothes that were far from the norm for a teenage girl. The girl who skipped school to go skateboarding, who woke up at 6 a.m. to hike up a mountain to go snowboarding with the team the day after prom. And a deep appreciation for my parents (all of them), who never pressured me to wear make-up or dress more feminine, even though I know for a fact they were rolling their eyes behind my self-righteous back. I was allowed to find my own way, to figure it out. And while I do wear make-up now, and have fully, finally embraced my life-long love of fashion, I'm perfectly fine leaving the house without those trappings of femininity, because I know I don't need them to be myself. Whether I like it or not, this girl laid the foundation for who I became, and I'm grateful for that. Even though it is painful to look at.
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It's time to dust off your old yearbook and relive those incredible (and unforgettable, although you've tried) fashion moments of your past self! Whether you ruled the school as a trend-setter or were a total fashion victim, your past style choices are the foundation of who you are today, so why not celebrate it? We wanna see the most epic example of your throwback style in our LuLu*s Fashion Flashback Photo Contest!

Check out these details to enter:
* Like Lulu's on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
* Upload your flashback photo to one of those platforms and be sure
to @mention us and include the hashtag #lulusfashionflashback
* Four entrants will be chosen to win $500 to LuLu*s!
* Winners will be announced on the LuLu*s Blog on Sept. 30th, 2013
at 4pm PST.
** You will not be entered by posting to this blog, only by following the steps above.

 Good luck!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Before I Die I Want To...

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Photos taken by Erin, thank you!
What I wore:
Dress: Mink Pink (UO super sale, love this one)
Boots c/o Choies
Fringe necklace: Gift (find it here)
Stone necklace: Moorea Seal
Long necklace: Various
Bag: Vintage coach/ thrifted

I wore this to visit Erin in Cleveland

A couple of weekends ago, I drove out to Cleveland for brunch and a day of vintage and thrift shopping with Erin. Every few months, I'm struck by the fact that I haven't left Pittsburgh in, well, months, so it's always a welcome change of pace to leave PGH behind in favor of something different. On this particular day, after a pretty amazing lunch, Erin showed me around the West Side Market, where this wall is located. I'm fairly certain I've seen a similar, albeit less formal wall on the North Side of Pittsburgh, but essentially: people write what they want to do, or hope to accomplish before they die. It's neat to read off what others have written, and though I didn't add my own admission to the wall, I found it thought provoking nonetheless. What would I have written? I'm not sure, there's just so much that I hope to do, to accomplish, to see before I check out. I guess that might be it: I want to travel more. What would you have written?

Outfit-wise, I kept it easy. I've been favoring flat shoes lately, just for simplicity and comfort's sake. When I'm out and about I need to be able to move, to be unencumbered. I've been wearing these boots non-stop for exactly that reason, they're so comfortable and an easy addition to a dress and jewelry on the weekend (I love this pair too, and imagine they'd look great with jeans).

Monday, September 16, 2013

Over the Weekend / Currently...

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A few weeks ago, we took a drive with some friends out to West Virginia (our first) to visit the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville and the New Vrindaban intentional community, which is close by. I was sort of dumbfounded to find out that these places are so close to Pittsburgh, yet we -- nor anyone else we know -- had never heard about them. Our tour guide at the jail was super knowledgeable, explaining the history of the jail and it's inmates. We were hoping to check out the Native American burial grounds across the street, but they're closed on Sunday and our next destination, New Vrindaban and the Palace of Gold, awaited. This place was so beautiful, overlooking the West Virginia mountains and surrounded by rose gardens, with enormous statues rising out of the greenery. We took a quick tour of the Palace, and then walked around a bit. As beautiful as the shrines and palace were, I think my favorite aspect was the garden. There's a huge variety of plants grown, the product of which is used in the NV community and donated to local shelters. We had a great time exploring the area with our friends, and I can't wait to go back (and maybe take a night tour of the prison), I'm also really interested in reading up about both the prison and NV, which has a rather rocky history.

Anyway, it's been awhile since I've done any sort of update. The past few weeks have felt just short of insane as we leave summer behind and swing into fall. I'm doing my best to keep my head on my shoulders, here's what I've been up to:

Reading
I just finished reading 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed, and I loved it. I'm looking forward to passing it on to my mom, who is an avid outdoors-woman, when she visits at the end of the month. After my trips to Seattle and San Francisco, and now that my brother has moved to the West Coast, I can't wait to go back and maybe do some hiking out there, maybe not the Pacific Crest Trail (ha!), but something. I can't wait to check out Strayed's other books. Now that I've finished that book, I'm switching between 'The Mysteries of Pittsburgh' by Michael Chabon, and 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' by Michael Pollan.

Listening to
While driving home from Cleveland last weekend, I heard on the radio what I thought to be a song from the 60s, but it turned out to be Valerie June. And I've become a little obsessed. While definitely taking note from musicians of that era, June's music feels much more layered, making the sound undeniably retro, but fresh and modern at the same time. I've also been digging Niko Case's new album, and the single 'Man'. So, so good.

Feeling
Responsible! For probably the first time ever, I'm thinking ahead and not waiting until the last minute in terms of...the holidays. You're probably thinking I'm crazy, but I'm speaking in terms of booking travel, so not crazy at all. Despite living here for almost two years, Chris and I still can't seem to get it into our heads that we actually have to plan ahead now. But, I'm so excited for my trip home and to actually be able to spend some time with people! Besides that brief feeling of responsibility, as I mentioned before, I've been feeling kind of crazy lately. Mostly, there's just so much I want to do, to write about, to photograph, but there always seems to be very little time to do it in and I have this obnoxious habit of either stepping on my own feet with distractions, or getting so overwhelmed with options for what can/could be done, that I end up doing nothing.

Doing
Chris and I attended Johnny Cash night this past weekend at the Elks Lodge, this was our second year going and it was great. It's a bunch of local bands covering...you guessed it: Johnny Cash. It was a very much needed date night, after a few weeks of crazy schedules, and a nice excuse to get dressed up. The weird weather last week- it's in the high 90's! It's a monsoon! It's freezing! It's raining sideways! Summer? Fall? - had us both in a funk, I think a date night is exactly what we needed.

Anticipating
My mom's visit! I've been making mental itineraries for what we'll do while she's here and I can't wait to show her around Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, and to show her our new apartment We've been saving certain attractions for when family comes to visit, like Falling Water, so I'm also looking forward to finally getting to do those things.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sweet Transition

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What I wore:
Skirt: Mink Pink / ModCloth
Bracelets: Estate sales

I wore this to work

Up until yesterday, the weather had been near perfect, with that telling bite to the air that is undeniably autumnal. While I'm not quite ready to wear tights -- I sort of hate tights, I love how they look, but they make me feel like a sausage -- I've been appreciating the opportunity to wear boots with my skirts and dresses. And now, the temperature has skyrocketed once again. Up in the 90's, it's difficult to even muster the energy to get dressed.

Life has been...busy lately. One of these days I'll write an actual post, but I've been feeling like my head is barely attached.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

A Little Glitter

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What I wore:
Jacket: Estate Sale (similar)
Sweatshirt: Cheap Monday/ Gabriel Brothers (similar)
Skirt: Thrifted (similar)
Hat: Thrifted
Heels c/o Lulu's

I wore this to change things up

Sequined. Hat. Of course it came home with me from Texas, where I found it, languishing on a thrift store rack. Just asking for a home. I basically turned into that little heart-eyed cat emoji -- as I often do while thrifting -- when I saw it. Seduced by the irresistible combination of sequins, animal print, and lots of beads. Three dollars later, it was mine forever.

To, know you, highlight the majesty sitting atop my head, I kept the rest of my look super simple color-wise.