frozen road trip

When you work for yourself, you tend to work seven days a week, and way more than the standard eight hours a day.  But you can set your own hours.  And if you feel like taking off for a day to hit a bunch of thrift stores (yes, work...but the fun part) and look at frozen Lake Michigan, you can do that.

The temperature was somewhere in the teens yesterday.  It was cold, but not too uncomfortable.  However, the winds near the lake made it arctic.  There was no question of actually venturing out on a stroll on the frozen lake. 

So we got back in the warm truck and headed back down the road.  Where we found a little tavern that served good beer.

And then we saw the most amazing sunset on the lake.  The frozen snow made this photo look like it was taken from an airplane flying between cloud banks.  But it's just the beauty of a frozen Lake Michigan.

(You've already seen these photos if you follow me on Instagram.  If you want to see more shots from road trips, sneak peeks of new items, and the occasional photo of a cocktail I've made, follow me there!)

xo

K

traveling clothes

I was inspired by Lizzie (this post, specifically) at the wonderful The Vintage Traveler to write this post.  Lizzie mentioned that she recalled her female relatives wearing dresses on road trips to the mountains.  I like dresses for  road trips, too.  Dresses can be more comfortable than jeans.  I wear a pretty dull, utilitarian outfit working from home most days, so when I go out--whether to thrift or to dinner--I wear a dress, usually vintage.

Lizzie's post made me think about how my grandmother, Edna, dressed on the many road trips she, my grandfather, and father took through the 1940s and 1950s.  Many of these trips were to take my dad to camp, which is where they are in the above photo.  My dad and grandfather are pretty casual in slacks and t-shirts.  And my grandmother is a little bit casual, a little bit dressed up, in that cute patio dress.  She worked in a plastic surgeon's office, and I'm fairly certain she dressed up most days, in smart dresses or business suits.  I'm sure she wanted to look nice to drop my dad off at camp, but at the same time was thinking of how it would feel traveling for hours in a car in a summer day, and then having to navigate the dusty, rocky paths of a camp.  That dress and those practical shoes (are they oxfords or Keds-like sneakers?  I can't tell) look like the ideal outfit.

Edna frequently wore pants, too.  I saw this outfit in many photos, including one where she's camping.  I love the sandals, and the dark lipstick!  Edna may be casual here, but she's still glam.  I'm also loving my dad's cute personalized t-shirt and cowboy boots.

Speaking of Edna in pants, here she is in her pre-marriage days.  This was taken in the early 1930s I think.  I'm not sure what's going on here, but I love it.

Back at camp again, and I think these stylish gals with my dad are family members or friends of the family, who must have come along for the ride.  How great do they look?  And their dresses, particularly the floral one, look like they'd be very easy and comfortable to travel in.

On occasion, my dad wore a wild print shirt.  I don't have any photos of my grandfather in these print shirts, so I'm wondering if this was my dad's own choice, or something my grandmother encouraged.  I'll have to ask him.

And in 1970, Edna wore shorts, sunglasses, and great straw sunhat on the Clarksville Skylift.  (Intrepid gal next to her wore a dress!  On the skylift!)

This is not the greatest photo, but I had to include it.  It's my grandmother circa 1973 on a boat to Europe where she and my grandfather went on vacation.  I love her coat!  I'm about to take my own transoceanic (via plane, not boat) journey and trying to figure out what to wear.  I'm leaning right now towards a dress and boots...comfort combined with wearing a heavy item I don't want to pack.  I think Edna would probably approve.

xo

K

working vacation

We just came back from a week visiting my parents in Colorado.  We had a good visit, and I discovered a new favorite beer--Stiegl pilsner from Salzburg.  We did plenty of good eating (the green chile mashed potatoes at the Bull & Bush are the ultimate comfort food), and lots and lots of treasure hunting.  If you follow me on Instagram, you got to see some sneak peeks of our finds, which will all be coming to the shop shortly.

xo

K

nyc

My last visit to NYC (where I lived for 11 years, and where many of my dearest friends still reside) was in January 2011.  When I found out we would have some items in the Etsy Holiday Shop, it seemed like a good time to take a long overdue trip to the city.  Here are some snaps I took during our quick weekend visit.

Holiday lights in Astoria.

Love the edifice of this apartment building!

Breakfast on vacation means macarons and coffee at Mille-feuille.

Andy between the Dior and Etsy shops.

I thought the Etsy shop was really nicely done.  It looked pretty much exactly how I would imagine an Etsy brick and mortar store would look.

They were holding a holiday ornament workshop when we were there.

Some pretty jewels from jeanjeanvintage and a cute handmade ring holder!

The rack of vintage.  There wasn't a ton of it; we were there on one of the last few days the shop was open and were told much of it had sold.

Small Earth Vintage shoes on the right.

The tags they used on the vintage.  I love that: "Vintage by Karen of Grand Rapids, MI."

We escaped the cold drizzle with lunch at Randolph Beer--pickles, brussels sprouts and smoky corn!  And beer.  (I knew there would be lots of cocktails later, so I thought I should let Andy get some good beers.)  It was funny for us to see beer from Grand Rapids' own Founders Brewing in NYC, and it was hard not to laugh while the bartender tried to sell us on it.  

But forget about the beer.  Cocktails!  That kind of dark and blurry photo above is from Andy's Blackberry (I pretty much concentrated on drinking and talking once we started with the cocktails), and was taken at Amor y Amargo in the East Village, which has a fantastic bitters-based cocktail menu and informative drink makers.  I also loved the Darling Clementine cocktail (like drinking a pomander: gin, clementine juice, and cloves) and fried pickles at Sweet Afton in Astoria.  But my favorite was Long Island City's Dutch Kills--amazing drinks and perfect speakeasy ambiance.

If this vintage shop window is any indication, NYC hipsters are hugely into the Ugly Christmas Sweater thing.  It's a bit weird to see the not-very-vintage ugly sweaters bookended by a couple really nice cowichans, but hey, what are you gonna do?

Anyway, it was a short and densely-packed trip, and was completely fantastic.  I love NYC, and visiting always feels like coming home.

xo

k

road trip snaps

Andy and I spent a couple days up north on a buying trip last week.  It was one of those magical trips where I managed to find just what I needed for the shop: shoes and lots of sweaters!  We also enjoyed meals at some of our favorite places, and found a few items for our own personal collections/wardrobes.  All in all, a success!

Here are some snaps I took along the way.

xo

k

early oktoberfest in detroit

Andy and I didn't do much (any, really) traveling this summer.  But we headed out to the D--Detroit--last weekend to have fun with our friend Stephani.

En route.  I love a pretty old movie theater.

Really expensive but neat old swimwear at an antiques mall.

At Sugar House for cocktails.  Andy has this expression on his face a lot when he's with Stephani and me.

Stephani's roommate got this as a white elephant gift, and it's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen.

The DIY Fair in Ferndale.  Wow, was it ever crowded!  I ran into a couple of my Etsy/Twitter/vintage seller pals by chance, which was very cool.  (Hellooo to Timnah and Bethany!  Hope you guys each had great sales.)  I didn't get to shop much as I was helping Andy to wrangle Ms. Lucy.

There were lots of cute dogs at the fair.  And Lucy got stopped every few feet:  "What kind of dog is that?  How old is she?"  Lucy thought every human--and there were tons of them--had a dog treat to give her.

I want to live in this house.  It even had good music--Tom Waits and the Clash--emanating from it.

It was perfect weather.  Stephani made us mint juleps and we enjoyed them outside.

Aw, yiss!  We had an early celebration of both Oktoberfest and Steph's birthday.

Nothing says Oktoberfest like a beer barrel light fixture.

xo

k

focused

Andy and I spent a couple days up north last weekend.  It was partially a shopping trip (as all our trips are), and partially an excuse to eat at a couple of our favorite places.  (I am still crazed about the lentil crêpe at Patisserie Amie, and have a newfound burrata obsession, thanks to Trattoria Stella.)  I am mainly shopping for the shop during these trips, but sometimes I find treasures of my own.

In three different locations I found these antelope bookends, and old editions of Jude the Obscure and Robert Burns' Poems and Letters.

An illustration from the Burns book.

I also found this crocheted collar.  It doesn't fit the bookish theme--but it sure looks pretty there!

xo

K