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

street style

I love street style blogs, and I think I get the most fashion inspiration from these "real girls" on the street.  Here are some of my favorites from September and October.  You might notice a lot of these come from London.  I admit to being an Anglophile, but also--I really do have an affinity for the way the ladies of Great Britain dress.  They seem to like vintage, aren't always overly polished, and embrace a bit of eccentricity.

Louise of Pandora, via The Clothes Horse.

London street style, via Style/Clicker.

London street style, via The Style Scout.

Either London or New York fashion week, via Stylesight.

Milan fashion week street style, via Facehunter.

Helsinki street style, via Hel-Looks.

Paris fashion week, via British Vogue.

London fashion week street style, via Style/Clicker.

xo

K

his and hers

A pair of outfits from last week and the weekend, courtesy Andy and me. I thought he looked particularly cute when we went thrifting last Thursday: vintage 1970s black flag Levi's, 1950s black oxford shirt, retro Eddie Bauer sneakers, and a reversible olive drab plaid 1960s windbreaker. And a pint of Founder's Pale Ale.

The colors in my Saturday outfit were loosely inspired by the image below from the Street Style Aesthetic blog. My outfit: 1950s dress, Target cardigan and tights, 1950s woven straw and leather handbag, Old Navy shoes.

I love this woman's look. Well, perhaps the ankle socks are not for me (though cute on her), but I love the skirt with the big bow in front, and especially the cyan blue sweater with the oversize mustard clutch. I went with a turquoise dress and chartreuse shoes, but probably wouldn't have thought of those shoes if I hadn't seen this photo.

xo

K

progress

I've been verrrrrry slowly moving stuff back into the bedroom, post-painting. I'm not moving all my clutter back because I want to, though. I'm doing it because I have to: we will soon have our first house guest since the painting was completed, and all the stuff stashed in the guest bedroom must be relocated.

I'm doing this so slowly because--as I've said here before--I'm loving the newly minimalist look of the bedroom. I'm particularly loving this little nook, which I'm thinking may turn out to be a great place to take some shop photos.

Antique marble-top dresser passed down from my grandparents, dried hydrangeas from my friend Roberta's garden, a selection of my current perfume rotation on a vintage tray, and some favorite necklaces hanging from a thrifted coat rack. Perfect!

xo

K

bright

Andy and I went on a thrift trip Saturday. It started out gray and foggy, and then became bright and sunny.

We took photos in front of each other at this place the Ice Pick, which Andy says was a notorious place to see punk rock shows back in the day. It now appears to be a "Privite Club" that is serious about following Michigan's new "No Smoke Ing" law. I defy you to find legs whiter than mine. I am wearing a newly-found vintage paisley shirtwaist dress (which had the matching belt!) and my favorite cardigan, which I've already talked about plenty.

This vintage necklace is a longtime favorite.

We didn't find anything too exciting on this trip. But that's okay. We still had fun. We got to have lunch at the always delicious Mia and Grace (pork belly reuben, goat cheese salad, key lime pie).

And I snapped this photo of a pretty cemetery. Cemeteries always have the best trees.

I also took a (sadly blurry) photo of this amazing old radio with a turntable hidden in its cabinet. One of the many cool things we find, but cannot bring ourselves to purchase and bring home to our already overstuffed home.

This section of granny-knit vests, sweaters and ponchos at the Goodwill cracked me up. No, none came home with us.

The day was capped off by dinner and drinks with friends. It doesn't get better than that!

xo

K

keeping

...the insanely cute 1950s puppy dog planter. His bow tie is broken, which doesn't bother me one bit, so I'm keeping him. Maybe I'll even put a plant (which will die) in him!

NOT keeping, but selling, this insane bathing poodle Bathometer chalkware plaque.




It's getting near spring cleaning time around here, so I shouldn't really be keeping anything. Such are the hazards of this business!

xo
K

rainy day previews + a thrifty linen water recipe

I intended to take a lot more photos today, but it looks like the rain is getting in my way. It's not so bad though. TCM is playing Bette Davis movies all day, and I have so much laundering and mending to do, I won't complain about the rain. (Speaking of laundering: can I just tell you right now how filled with glee I am about Biz? That stuff is magical! I soaked the Givenchy juniors dress that I didn't think at all salvagable in it, and though the armpits are permanently faded, it took out all the yellowing. I now have hope for all the adorable white blouses in the stash, and can't wait to start cleaning them! Kind of sad, the level of excitement I'm experiencing over detergent. Oh well.)

Oh, and one more laundry-related topic. I decided I wanted a nice-smelling linen spray (scented detergents and Febreze are, in my opinion, nasty, and make my nose hurt) and found this recipe. It's for an 8 oz bottle, and mine is 22 oz. I adjusted the recipe a bit because the amount of EO used seemed high. The $9.99 bottle of lavender EO I had contained one tablespoon, and I couldn't see using the whole bottle in one measly 8 oz spray. So I used about 3/4 Tbsp (10 ml), 2 1/2 cups distilled water, and about 1/4 cup vodka. The scent is nice and strong, and it really makes ironing a bit less torturous. AND I decided to be REALLY thrifty, and bought some mega-bottles of lemon and lavender oils from LuckyVitamin.com (they have great prices on many of the health food store brands I like, like Tom's of Maine, Seventh Generation, etc.). They sell a 4 ounce bottle (8 times the $9.99 bottle I had) of NOW Foods brand lavender oil for $14.99. One important thing to note: when deciding on an oil for your linen water, be sure to choose a light-colored one, so you won't risk staining the garment.

And now, on to the rainy day preview...all items coming to the Etsy shop this week!

Sleek black 1950s L'Aiglon dress; you can't see in this photo, but the fabric has a really cool diagonal rib.



Horse and clover print 1970s blouse by Vera Neumann.

Beautiful 1950s blue suede pumps with cutouts at toes, by De Angelo.



1960s blue flying saucer hat:



Great transition-to-fall dress in plaid seersucker by Jonathan Logan.



1950s plaid blouse with big button tabs at waist.



Mod floral sleepover suitcase.



Buttercup dress, with nubby chenille texture.



Uber-pleated! Peridot dress.



Crazy canary mod raffia hat with tassel.



1950s back-to-school plaid dress, an R&K Original.



xo
K

Hats!

Tonight, the long-awaited Hat Preview!

But first I want to share with you my latest favorited Etsy item, from meekssandygirl's shop. She makes gorgeous crocheted cashmere necklaces, corsages, and sculpture. I found her when one of her necklaces was featured on the Etsy front page this afternoon. I just love the colors in this lemon necklace:

Isn't it lovely? I want it! It's one of the simpler pieces. She also has beautiful, intricate poppy and bluebell necklaces. Go check out her shop!


And without further ado, Hat Preview! This 1960s peridot or pistachio green raffia bucket hat is already in the shop:



Cute fedora-like number by Jan Leslie Custom Design.



Daisy mesh pillbox by Amy New York.



Pretty beige straw wide brim by Maxine Hats.



Floppy mod lemon yellow hat, An Everitt Original.


Will be adding them to the Etsy shop this week! Stay tuned...

xo
k

One of those days

That's what today was. Everything and everyone was conspiring against me with slowness, disorganization, or just plain stupidity, and I found it really hard to get anything done. Well, I did manage to get something done, and listed a few of the new goodies in my Etsy shop. You can click that there link to visit, or click my Etsy Mini over there in the righthand margin (which also shows you the latest items in the shop, handy!) --->.

I had strawberries and Swedish cream for dessert tonight (from this Mark Bittman Bitten post), which helped a little. Because isn't anything Swedish always better than anything not-Swedish?

But I also plan to end my evening with a smile by viewing the wonderful Flickr photostream of * Eartha Kitsch *. She has an amazing home, style, and sense of humor. Her home definitely fulfills that Twin Peaks/cabin-y/lodge-y/1950s thing that I love so much. Go check it out--you won't be sorry!

And now on to the new goods! Here are photos of blouses and dresses coming to the Etsy shop this week. First, this 1960s linen wiggle dress by Alison Ayres:

The cutest and funniest chicken and herb print novelty print blouse by Cos Cob!

My FAVORITE dress of the Big Score so far, this olive and bronze polka-dot print taffeta party dress:

A silk scarf-neck blouse by Bill Atkinson, Glen of Michigan.

Creamsicle gingham shirtwaist dress.

Purple sateen ascot neck blouse.




Green and yellow floral print party dress.

I also photographed several hats this weekend. I'll post those tomorrow.

'Night all--here is to a better, more productive day tomorrow!

xo

k