fangirling

Andy and I had a busy end-of-last week / weekend (weekends are such amorphous concepts when you work for your own selves)...and it was "busy" as in, we took some time off to have fun.  On Thursday, we went to see Skyfall, and I clashed my plaids, but did almost match my skirt to the brick wall at the theater.

I wore this adorable collar made for me by andreacreates on Etsy.  It has squirrels on it!  And it's reversible--the other side has a really pretty ecru lace print.  Andrea makes great collars and other accessories, and is wonderful to work with.

So here is the fangirling part.  We bought our tickets and I immediately began checking out the (ginormous) multiplex for Hobbit schwag.  There was a lot of it--mostly featuring Gandalf or Bilbo.  But if you all know me, you know I was looking for Hot Dwarf Thorin / a.k.a. Richard Armitage.  And I finally found him tucked way back in one of the furthest corners of the theater.  (Hey, Thorin, what are you doing with that stick there?)

I then proceeded to make Andy take about a thousand photos of me with cardboard Thorin.  Andy is fairly patient with my ridiculousness--one of the many reasons I love him.

I love this placement of the all-dwarves poster over the men's room.

By the time we entered the theater, Skyfall was already in progress.  Which meant, sadly, that my ridiculous photo session with cardboard Richard caused me to miss my first viewing of the Hobbit trailer on the big screen.  Irony!  But we enjoyed what we did see of Skyfall...though it seemed much shorter than expected.  Over a dinner of moules frites and Belgian beer at Brewery Vivant later, Andy I discussed some of the confusing plot points, and I wondered sadly why there was so little Q in the movie.

It turns out there was a good reason for our confusion.  We didn't miss 5 minutes of the film...we missed a full hour of it.  The ticket girl gave us tickets for the 3:45 showing, not the 4:45 showing--though we bought the tickets at 4 pm.  We didn't bother to check the time, assuming we'd get tickets for the next show, not the one already in progress.  Dumb us.  We called the theater after we figured this out and got free passes (and popcorn!) for another show, and went back on Saturday to finally see the first hour.  Good thing, too, because we missed a really exciting motorcycle/train chase.  There still wasn't enough Q, though.

Before going back to the theater, though, we ran a bunch of errands together in our neighborhood, buying coffee, olive oil, and cider.  And we spotted this intriguing looking, and not yet open, artisan distillery in downtown Rockford.  Hmmmm....

We also had a couple beers at the new Perrin Brewery.  Their Kona Brown ale is the best coffee beer ever.  I love Andy's vintage Dale of Norway sweater.  And the fact that I appear to have caught him mid-Cabbage Patch.

xo

k

synesthesia part 2: the summer edition

I am not a synesthete.  I am just pretending to be one for the purpose of this blog post.  Synesthesia is, according to Wikipedia, "a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway."  An example of a synesthete is a person who automatically and involuntarily associates colors with certain numbers or letters.

In my previous synesthesia post, I matched some of my favorite fall and winter perfumes with items of vintage clothing I found on Etsy.  I'm doing the same again, only this time with some of my favorite summer scents, and including vintage and reconstructed fashions from Etsy, as well as jewelry.  This was fun for me--hope you enjoy!

Here's my current top summer scent rotation:

1. Etro Anice.  A sweet, yet clean, black licorice scent.  Like Good & Plenty candy, or better yet, a cool cocktail made with absinthe.  Maybe I'm being too obvious, but this 1940s corde bag from BessGeorgette naturally makes me think black licorice.

2. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca.  A refreshing blend of mint, citrus, and grass.  Sparkling mint green celluloid buckle from jeanjeanvintage.

3. Miller Harris En Sens de Bois is a woodsy vetiver scent.  Vetiver is a tall, fragrant grass native to India that is often used to control soil erosion.  It has an earthy, rather smoky scent that I love; many of my favorite perfumes include vetiver as a primary note. And I have to share this beautiful quote from vetiver.org:  "Indian poets referred to vetiver scent as 'the smell of the first monsoon shower on parched soil', and 'the perfume of a rejuvenated earth.'"  Moss green lace and satin dress from DearGoldenVintage.

4. CB I Hate Perfume Memory of Kindness.  Probably my favorite summer scent.  Very simple--smells like tomato leaves.  Not tomatoes, but the plant.  Heavenly.  1950s tomato red Lilli Diamond dress with a leafy print, from clostetcaseVNTG.

5. Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico.  Straight up basil leaf.  1950s kelly green cocktail dress by missfarfalla.

6. Hermes Hermessence Rose Ikebana.  I am not a big fan of floral scents, but I do like the scent of rose, especially when it's blended with something zingy like--in this case--rhubarb.  Rhubarb rose chalcedony pearl necklace from fiveforty.

7. L'Occitane Verbena.  A sparkling lemony verbena scent, hugely refreshing and energizing, and probably my most-worn summer scent.  The matching scented Soothing Body Ice Gel is one of my summer must-haves.  Shimmery 1960s pale yellow silk shantung beaded cocktail dress from  HinterlandVintage.

8. Rosine Un Zest de Rose.  A lemony rose scent (see my comments about Rose Ikebana).  Pretty reconstructed rose pink dress from AdelaideHomesewn.

xo

K

pink gin, pride fest, pinball, pups, and prints

I am trying to get back into the work groove after an enormously fun weekend spent with my best buddies--Stephani, who was visiting us for the weekend, and Andy.

And Lucy, of course.  We took her to Grand Rapids' Pride Fest, where she roundly ignored all the cute little dogs who wanted to get to know her.

It was a weekend of badminton, gin & tonics with bitters, floating on the lake in our new inner tubes (which are silly huge and awesome), duck nachos at Brewery Vivant, and pinball at the Pyramid Scheme.  And I wore my new 1950s Egyptian print cotton dress, which I love, but which I think I might be letting go shortly, as it's just a bit too big in the bodice for me.

It makes me a little sad because I love the print, the piping, and the funky neckline, but I can't keep everything.  Much as I'd like to.

I hope your weekends were fun and relaxing!

xo

K