Over the Weekend (aka. Where I've Been)...

Rooftop! Bangarang!

Top: Thrift (1.99)

Necklace: F21 (12.99)

Jeans: BDG (gift)

Shoes: F21 (13.99 sale)

I know, I know, my shirt is mega-wrinkly. Don't judge me too harshly.

I've basically been living out of my hamper for the past six days. Gross, I know.

As I mentioned earlier today, I'm sorry for basically falling off the map for a few days. I assure you, I am not guilty of being lazy, the past few days have been some of the busiest I've had in quite some time! So busy in fact that I've decided to break my post up in two sections. Today I'm showing you the human aspect of my weekend...

This weekend brought with it the second This Collective Pull gallery show, I made short mention a while ago of the first show in which I was a participating artist, and for the second installment I was able to collaborate with Bea as Co-Curator! This was really my first experience curating a gallery show, but it turned out so well! I'll go into the specifics tomorrow in my Art Post, but basically we turned our living room into a gallery space for a one night only exhibition of local artists work! We had about 30 to 40 people show up and everyone was so wonderful! The weather was absymally hot so after viewing the work, most everybody snuck out to the roof to enjoy some wine and each other's company. Saturday was also move-in day for the new freshman, so I think the wine and conversation was also a welcome end to an otherwise stressful day for those of us who helped everyone move in!

Sunday was much more relaxing, we spent some time at the ocean, where we were apparently lucky to even get onto the beach! I guess with the hurricanes and everything, the beaches have been too intense. Even our little cove- which is normally dead calm- had turned into something out of Moby Dick! Later on we went out with Bea and Dan for seafood at the Lobster Shanty on Salem. I felt I deserved a lobster roll after all I had done over the past several days! Chris and I have been camping in the living room because our bedroom is so full of stuff, last night we watched the first disk of Season 2 Gossip Girl!

Tomorrow, I'll show you the process behind hosting an apartment-based gallery exhibition!

I hope you all had lovely weekends!

xoxo

Still Breathing...

Contrary to what you might believe, I haven't fallen of the face of the earth. I'm sorry for the complete lack of posts over the past few days, I assure you that there is a mega post in the works for tonight. Stay tuned.....

I should really get a pedicure.

xoxo

Daily Style & Art Notes...

Indian Summer Here We Come!

Necklace: Candace Ang for UO (9.99)

Dress: F21 (19.00)

Belt: Thrifted: (.50)

Shoes: Target (20.00)

I think it's official: Linen is one of my favorite fabrics, especially for summer. Today was upwards of 95 degrees, a perfect day for the lightness and breathability of linen. This dress definitely pushes it length-wise for work though- what's with F21's hemlines? Are they designing these skirts and dresses for nine year-olds with 27 inch waists? I ordered a super cute skirt last week, only to find it barely covered my bum, so disappointing! Now I'm on the search for a similar color fabric so I can add five inches to the length. Oh well, enough ranting! This afternoon brought more painting, but the good thing is, our living-room is really starting to look like a gallery space! I can't wait to post pictures of the process and the show next week!

In Art (All Things Bowie) Notes...

How completely awesome does this Labyrinth sing-along look?

Those of you that live in western Massachusetts (ahem, JenLovesKev) I implore you: Go to this, go sing along with Bowie, go watch David Bowie saunter around wearing an enormous cod-piece, and think of me. The Labyrinth sing-along takes place at Mass MOCA on Thursday, August 27 @ 8:30 pm, I wish I could go but 4 hours is a long time to drive on a Thursday night. If you've never been to Mass MOCA before, I highly suggest visiting! The museum is located in North Adams, MA which is beautiful and worth visiting as well!

Before I go, I'll leave you with this Bowie tribute video by the amazing Flight of the Conchords...

Cheers!

Daily Style and an Apology...

Big ol' cheater...

Love Letter Necklace: UO (Anniversary Gift)

Tank: Banana Republic (10.00)

Skirt: Thrifted (2.00)

Belt: UO (9.99)

Shoes: Aldo (20.00? 30?)

Sunnies: F21 (5.90)

Shoulder Bag: Coach via Salvation Army! (15.00)

OK, I'm going to be completely honest here about something: I did not actually wear this outfit today, I wore it yesterday. Today it was 90 degrees, and honestly, my prerogative was to beat the heat and be comfortable- rather than look super stylish. It's OK, right? You'll forgive me for one frumpy day? Saturday and Sunday were actually pretty uneventful, which is why I'm not doing my usual "Over the Weekend" post. The weather was unbelievably hot, so most of the weekend was spent at the beach down the street. We did make a quick run to Home Depot (whoohoocrazy!), and went out for breakfast at our usual place. This week is bound to be hectic, as we're preparing for our second curated gallery show for Saturday which will take place in our apartment. Right now we are actually re-painting the living room (I am covered in white paint) in preparation and will hang the work on Thursday. So, bottom line is this: I apologize if my posts are a little "off" this week.

On another note, thank you to all who read my interview over at ThisTimeTomorrow, I hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers!

PS- I hear it's supposed to be 95 degrees tomorrow...blech!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Before I go on to my Daily Style post, I have some much needed "Thank You's" to address!

First of all, I want to thank all of my fantastic readers who read and/or follow Orchid Grey! It means so much to me that you look at my blog, let alone feel compelled enough to leave me such wonderful comments, I truly appreciate every one of you!

Second, I was lucky enough to win a giveaway this week! I know that with giveaways, it really just comes down to luck, but the fact that I won AdoredAustin's Leviticus Jewelry giveaway yesterday, really turned my whole week around! Thank you Indiana, for having a great blog, I can't wait for my necklace!

And lastly (but certainly not the least-ly...har har har) I would like to thank Krystal of ThisTimeTomorrow for featuring me on her blog today! She sent me some fantastic questions to answer, and I'm so excited that she chose me as her first feature! To learn more about me go here!

Well, Now that we have that all squared away, on to Daily Style!

Silk Blouse: Hand-me-down (free!)

Belt: Thrift gift from Mum (free!)

Skirt: F21 (15.00)

Tights: Target

Shoes: TjMaxx

Sunnies (on my head): F21

I am in love with this shirt. If you look closely, you'll see that I am actually wearing the NYC skyline. Cool, huh? Yeah. I felt pretty snazzy today! Today is my last 1/2 day Friday at work, and you can bet I'm gonna take full advantage! One more week and the new freshman move on to campus...that's right, peace out anonymity!

P.S.- I am slowly but surely updating my Blog Roll, If you would like to trade links leave a comment and I'd be happy to add you if you'll add me!

Have a great weekend!

Daily Style / Coveting...

It was lightly misting as I took my daily photos this morning...Perfect weather!

Silk Blouse: Thrifted (1.99)

Bomb-ass Necklace: H&M (19.90)

Jeans: H&M

Flats: Mia

Chris and I took a quick trip to Salvation Army yesterday. I absolutely love going there mid-week, it's like all the best stuff is just waiting for me to find it! Among my winnings is the silk top I'm wearing above, two skirts for early fall/winter, and a pair of brand new Sam Edelman kitten heels! The "Sallies" that is closest to us is HUGE but gets picked over pretty quickly, hands down my favorite thrifting (outside of Austin, TX- vintage capitol if the world) is in Maine. No one in the "Pine Tree State" seems to realize the gems they harbor in their attics and closets! We spent so much time there yesterday, it got so late that we couldn't do any more of our errands! Whoops!

In other news, Chris and I have been doing some may-jah rearranging of furniture in the past few days. I'm hoping that eventually our apartment will look socially acceptable enough to actually share pictures of it here. My mom is coming with a new couch this weekend and I'm super excited!

Coveting...

This week's Coveting post is dedicated to one thing:

BDG Jeans, Urban Outfitters.com ($58.00)

Jeans.

I have the worst time finding jeans. It's gotten so bad that I now only wear pants once or twice a week. They always seem to bunch around the knees, inch slowly down my hips, and generally make me miserable. I tried this pair on at the UO in Harvard Square last week, and they seemed pretty perfect. I'm thinking I might make the investment. I don't know if I can justify $58 on pants though- especially if they end up closeted forever like all my other unfortunate pairs. Have you had any luck with specific brands of denim? If so, please share!

Cheers!

Help Keiko...

Keiko, of www.keikolynn.blogspot.com and www.postlapsaria.com , has a sick kitty that needs help. She is taking donations on her blog, but also offering a number of other ways that people can help as well, including purchasing from her online store, Postlapsaria.

Her bf Bobby writes on her blog:

"This is Bobby. I'm writing for Keiko because she can't right now.

We need your help! Kitty Boos, her cat in Florida, is very, very sick right now.

She is at the Vets office and they have told her that they cannot do any surgical work on him until they receive the money...Keiko has told me to inform anybody reading that she will do custom work, she'll do advertising space, she'll do almost anything she can to encourage help. Anything you've seen on her site that you want she'll sell. She has to have this money tonight or he could die.

He's a three year old cat and is the sweetest thing in the world. Please, please, if you read this and are willing help, or tell another friend who might be willing or able to help!

Thank you

-Bobby"

to donate you can visit her blog, she has a PayPal link set up on the post.

I think that even if you don't have the funds to donate, reposting this is a great way to help a fellow blogger.

One of her amazing creations on Postlapsaria.com:

Image Source

Just thought I'd get the word around.

Daily Style...

Hot, Hot, Heat!

Dress: Vintage (20.00)

Belt: UO bargain basement (9.99)

Shoes: Thrifted

It was another brutally hot day here, not exactly a good day for polyester. I ended up truly regretting this fashion choice for today, by 11:00 am I felt like I was uncased in a prison of man-made materials! Blagh. I love this dress though, the squiggle pattern reminds me of a drawing, so it's kind of like wearing art. It used to be much longer, but the great thing about polyester is that it doesn't fray, so instead of hemming you can just cut it off (I've found hemming polyester to be truly a nightmare)!

I've felt so bad for my two kitties this week, the weather has been insanely hot and we don't have AC. How awful must it be to be covered in fur in the summer time? I found little Zebediah zonked out in my studio this morning, on top of a pile of soon-to-be-altered clothes. He looked pretty cozy, but he soon retreated to the cool of the bathroom tiles in order to escape the oppressive heat of our apartment.

I apologize for the recent lack of Tuesday art-posts. I actually haven't been to any gallery shows lately, but have plans to visit some soon. I recently acquired a scanner, so I'm pretty excited to actually be able to scan some of my own artwork and post it here! Most of my personal work (not freelance) has been centered around medium format film, so it's difficult and expensive to get it computer-ready. Yay, technology!

Cheers!

Daily Style/Over the Weekend mega post...

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny!

Sunnies: F21 (5.80)

Letter Necklace: Anniversary Gift (from UO)

Oxford: free from friend

Belt: Thrifted (2.00)

Skirt (actually a dress): UO (60.00)

Brogues: UO (19.99)

This dress has been the most expensive purchase I've made in a few months (I actually bought it awhile ago), and I wish I could say it was worth it...but it's on sale on the website now for, like, $30 buck-a-roos. Oh well, lesson learned. It's been pretty versatile though. It was incredibly hot out today, a good day for the AC! Not much to report, work was frustrating as usual- nothing to drag on about here though...

But, I did have a fantastic weekend:

Friday, I drove 'back home' to Maine to visit my family. I met my mother at Pine Point Beach in Scarborough where we took a walk and lounged on the sand (image 1). We drove the rest of the way home in the early evening and ate shrimp and watched old Alfred Hitchcock movies (still fantastic!). I was up early Saturday where I spent some time in the garden with the chickens (image 2) and ate breakfast under wildflowers (image 3). Saturday was also my sister Caroline's 21st birthday! My mom, sister and I spent the day kayaking on Bickford Pond (images 4 thru 8)- we kayaked 4 miles, swam in the pond, and finished the day with some cake. Sunday, I stopped by my Dad's to say hi and then headed home to watch some more fireworks with Chris. The weather was perfect, and I realized how much I miss life in Maine. I love being in my mother's garden, and taking walks, and actually being able to see the stars! I grew up in the middle of nowhere- the closest house is a mile away- in a one stop light town, and as much as I know I couldn't live there full time, I do miss it a lot- especially in the summer!

Cheers!

See you Monday!

Image Source

I'm off to Maine for the weekend to visit with family, celebrate a birthday, and do some kayaking! I hope you all have a lovely weekend! What are your plans?

Cheers!

Daily Style Inspirations!

Daily Style Inspirations is a new weekly feature at Orchid Grey, do you ever have those mornings when you wake up and have absolutely no idea what to wear or how to wear it? Look no further than the inspiring ladies of the internet, this morning I logged on and was immediately caught by Krystal of This Time Tomorrow's take on an outfit originally worn by the amazing Judy Aldridge of Atlantis Home fame. Both bloggers had unique views of the outfit, and below is my take, three times removed:

Shirt: Vintage (free! from Adria)

Necklace: H&M (9.90)

Skirt: Thrifted (1.99)

Shoes: Thrifted a long time ago (?)

Below, two very inspiring bloggers:

Judy's Image Link - Krystal's Image Link

I think it's interesting because, technically, each one of us did only one thing different from the previous incarnation-Judy with the original, Krystal with light brown shoes instead of black, and myself with a brown suede skirt instead of black leather- but all remain completely original. I think all three looks are fabulous. Yesterday I was feeling incredibly uninspired, I didn't feel like I had any clothing left to explore, but this just goes to show you that there are so many looks hiding in your closet waiting to be discovered! Where do you find fashion inspiration? Books? Magazines? Other stylish people?

Daily Style...

It was 90 degrees today!

Dress: F21 (19.00)

Belt: Thrifted (2.00)

Shoes: Thrifted (1.00)

Bracelet: F21 (5.00)

I absolutely LOVE Native American inspired belts, and have a small collection growing in my closet. So, when I found this one at Todd Farm on Sunday, I knew I couldn't pass it up! I think I like them because I remember wearing them all the time as a child. They make perfect waist-belts too, since they are usually very small. I love all of the different colors that are incorporated in them.

A close-up:

I wore this after returning from working in Boston all day, the outfit I was wearing for work was too layered and uncomfy and the linen fabric of this dress ended up being perfect for meeting friends to celebrate a birthday over mexican food and margaritas. Linen is one of my favorite materials- it's so light and airy! I wish I hadn't spent so much time in the city, today would have been perfect for the beach!

Now, I have to let my inner narcissist rear it's ugly head for a minute (so If you'll please excuse me). How excited was I to log on to Weardrobe yesterday and find myself staring back at me!

(very excited!)

Thank you Weardrobe.com, for giving this girl a much needed boost! Weardrobe is a lovely website and I highly recommend you check it out (if you haven't already!)

Bonne Nuit!

Art Notes...

I apologize for no Daily Style post today, I ended up leaving my house super early this morning and, knowing the weather was going to be brutal I went with an old stand-by: my Thakoon for Target shibori print dress. I'm so glad I did too, because whoo! it got hot!

As close to Daily Style as it's gonna get:

Today Bea (my friend and coworker) and I travelled to Putney, Vermont to visit the Putney School, an independent high school that also boasts a fantastic arts-centric summer program. We met with different members of the summer Faculty to talk about what the kids are working on, and also what the different programs have to offer.
The Putney School's campus is situated on acres of farm land in the Green Mountains of Vermont, many of the class room spaces are located in converted barns- so conducive for art making!

There were some pretty cool sculptures...Bea liked them.

My absolute favorite part of the campus though, was the weaving room! The colors of the wool were amazing, and we learned that all of the fibers are taken from sheep that they keep right there on campus! They shear the sheep, clean the wool, dye it, and spin it- such an amazing process! I loved all of these different spools (above).

The sheer variety of color was fantastic! The girl below was working on her first weaving project ever, I love the pattern she's working with!

On our way to the school, we got a bit lost. We couldn't help ourselves when we stumbled upon the terrifying "Santa's Land" amusement park (I use the term amusement park quite loosely here) Santa was just calling to us: we had to take pictures on the tractor!
Later, one of the teachers told us that "Santa's Land" owns a camel. Why? I don't know.
I am now so tired, what a busy day! Tomorrow, I head into Boston to visit another Summer intensive program. You will find out slowly what I do for a living...but I'm not letting secret out yet!

Good Night!

Daily Style/Over the Weekend mega post...

What a busy weekend! Let's get to it...

Sunnies: Betsy Johnson (15.00)

Tie: Borrowed from Chris

Pin: "Fruit Cake" by Tin Can Sally

Cardigan: H&M (15.00)

Oxford: J.Crew (15.00)

Sailor Shorts: J.Crew (19.00)

Ballet Flats: DIY'd by me!

Today I was inspired by boys school uniforms, and I must say that I felt pretty snazzy! I kept it simple, because I wanted to show off my new studded ballet slippers! I posted about these last week, and soon after I was gifted a very large bag of metal studs! Many thanks to Chicken Dinner Candybar who directed me to a tutorial on her site! They were super easy and only took about 1 h. Chris had the brilliant idea to put studs up the back, which I think balance them out nicely. The best part about them? They cost nothing!

Over The Weekend...

I mentioned last week that I collected vintage bicycles- here is one of my faves: a Schwinn 'Fiesta' circa 1960. Love!

I had such a wonderful and busy weekend! I had Friday off and spent some quality time with my two kitties, Zephyr and Zebadiah. The weather was pretty stormy- there was even a tornado! in Massachusetts!- so I spent most of the day photographing clothes for my Etsy and doing house things. The rest of the weekend consisted of planning for the next gallery show we're hosting (more info to come), riding bikes to the beach and all over town, visiting with friends in Gloucester and making curry, going to Newburyport and watching the craziest fireworks ever and eating gelato (I had tiramisu), Going to Todd Farm Flea and finding the best stuff ever (I'll post more about it this week!), finding a hot air balloon at the park with Chris (I wish we could have gone on a ride!), watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at the Outdoor Sunday Cinema, and spending the last couple of Sunday hours watching Coraline with more friends! Whew! It was a little hard to transition to Monday after all that, work was especially unwelcome today as I have been in the process of moving my office. No fun. It had to be done though.

What did you do this weekend?

Cheers!

Weekend Slouch-Fest...

Hat: Burton ($?)

Tee: F21 (5.00)

Shorts: AE (30.00)

Sandal: J.Crew (6.00)

As I mentioned last night, I have today off. Hence, my particularly slouchy outfit. Today I plan to listen to Maine Public Radio on ITunes (a little addiction of mine that I couldn't kick when I moved out of the state), organize my files, read the latest issue of BUST (yay!), and do some planning on a gallery show I will be co-hosting in August (more info to come!). I love days where there is no pressure to do anything special! The weather for this weekend looks like it will be pleasant, perfect for bike riding and swimming!

How about you, any weekend plans?

Cheers!

Today has been no good...

I apologize for the lame post, I've just had one of those days. 

Nothing seemed to go in the right direction today.

Even this post has taken way too long to configure.

But enough complaining, Tonight I give you this:

These two make everything better, 

like a Latin electro-pop band aid for the cut that was my day.

I have tomorrow off, thank goodness!

Bonne Nuit