R.I.P.

I love the idea of play cameras. I'm no advanced photographer by any means but last summer I found a passion for Lomography's Fish Eye camera. Too bad it croaked two months ago on my trip to Yosemite. The little winding 'majig that advances the film decided to retire from advancing to the next frame altogether. It's literally stuck. If anyone knows how to fix this other than buying another one of these hipster cameras, please let me know. The roll of film is still in the thing half-used and depressed.

Pictured here: Markie, Cass, Brett, Martin

The Glory of the Scarf

Stay tuned for steps for turning a bad hair day right-side up.

Moo moo

Okay so last year, in celebration of my work's one year anniversary, we hired a DJ, had a catered lunch and a lucky few of us got to play dress-up to inspire customers. I was chosen to model a few outfits and this one ended up being my favorite one, though it's not something I would've picked out for myself initially. The lighting is pretty horrible but who gives two hoots anyway? This loud, lime green, leopard print muumuu was something everyone at work shunned but alas, after seeing it worn cinched with a neutral belt and topped with a fresh jacket it ended up acquiring a tinge of appeal.





Head to thigh H&M (Divided Collection), vintage basket shoes.

It Takes Tutu Tango

Extracurricular activities were a constant in my childhood. I would say starting from age four (swim class) to about age thirteen (retired from martial arts, finally) I was always found myself on the road to my next lesson, class or tutor session.

List no. 3 & 3.5

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE CHILDHOOD ACTIVITIES
1. Tap dancing (For some reason, tap dancing always made me feel girly but also empowered at the same time, unlike ballet. Ballet just made me feel fat.)
2. Art projects (I attended childrens' art school for a few years and during that time I explored many mediums and ran into so many inspirations. My favorite material I discovered during that time was foil and I was 9.)
3. Swimming (My glorious, most gratifying swim memory was racing my dad off the coast of Maui and for a second forgetting that I was deeply petrified of being attacked by a creature of the sea)
4. Saxophone-ing (I remember my parents having me play as entertainment at their famous dinner parties, I felt like Kenny G with a vagina. Of course, I never sounded like the Master of Sax but I did feel like him, no doubt.)
5. Golfing (Okay, this one I slipped in because I mainly only like the outfits.)

MY TOP FIVE CHILDHOOD ACTIVITIES I STILL CRINGE ABOUT
1. Piano (6 or 7 years down the drain. I don't want to think or talk about it. But this is number one. P.S. Teachers beating their pupils still equals abuse!)
2. Tae Kwon Do (Ok, I secretly love saying to people that I have a black belt and knowing it's the truth. But God, did I loathe Master Yoo yelling at me three times a week. Oh- and the conditioning was too painful)
3. Violin (So it was a short-lived experience, but after a few lessons, my instructor advised my mother to perhaps have me learn how to play piano instead. Apparently she was able to see whether this, then 5 year old, girl was going to be a gifted violinist or not.)
4. Ballet/ Jazz
5. Math tutoring (Is this technically considered an extracurricular? I don't know. I just know that Miss Samantha- despite her friendly mid-90s Mariah Carey-inspired hairdo- was an upright bitch and made me feel dumb on purpose. Looking back, I can recall some of the things she would tell me and now recognize the inappropriate qualities.)

1.
2.
3.

1. Tap shoesies found @ deaconandreggie for Etsy.
2. Swim cap found @ Planetclairevintage for Etsy.
3. Ingenius golf ball wine stopper @ ikcdesign for Etsy.

Feeding Mosquitoes

I am planning on going camping in June and August and it inspired me to post an entry entirely dedicated to the act of camp and why it's so lovely.


Top 5 Reasons why a city girl should consider stepping into the wild:
1. Cooking a fancy feast over an open fire is exciting for any Martha Stewart enthusiast.
2. Exercise in natural, beautiful settings and not on cement, asphalt or confined between the walls of Bally's.(That one's for you, Nicole)
3. Lovely and strange wildlife to whisper your secrets to.
4. Stars! There are more than twelve, I assure you, folks.
5. Mother Nature's ability to bring you tranquility without nonsense or crazy fees of a day spa.








Vintage Girl Scout set from cutfromthesamecloth.etsy.com $22
Vintage canteen from claireferrante.etsy.com $14
Corn skewers from SpoonerZ.etsy.com $11
Gingham hankies from BenefitJewels.etsy.com $8
Vintage aluminum 2-fer set from leaningcedarsvintage.etsy.com $12
Cut-off Levi's shorts from frannyvintage.etsy.com $35
Gingham smock from foureyedgirl.etsy.com $15











Photo credits: http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/, http://storyfinders.co.uk/

Tiffed

Dear Shoppers,
Not unlike my kindergarten-crush John Eckman, you ignore my smiles and hello’s, this of course doesn’t get me down because after all, you do leave the store so pleasantly disorganized. Thank you for leaving clothes on racks of which they don’t belong- or better yet, thanks for leaving piles of garments on the floor for others to step on. I am so thrilled that you try out 30 pieces of clothes and leave all but 1 lonely spaghetti strap top for 5.95 (the only item you can afford) in the fitting room for me to pick up after you leave without uttering a small “thanks.” Thank you; I don’t know how I would be able to measure my happiness outside of work if you weren’t a part of my work life.
Love,
Bitter Betty at the Mall

List no. 1

The following are some of the top reasons why I loathe living literally across the street from a high school.

1. the noise (I hear the morning and noon announcements as well as the bell ringing at every period. And the audio volume of thousands of children at approximately 8:01am, 1:32pm and 3:01pm is astounding. And many of them loiter about my kitchen window and curse at eachother which is not a pleasant thing at any time of day.)

2. the litter (I can't stand finding fast food trash in my window sill planter nor do I enjoy the presence of trash of all colors all around my street at any day of the week.)

3. the crowdedness of both 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. (cars all lined up on my street to pick up children often put a damper on the hope of finding parking by my home)

4. the general irritating quality of children

Nursery School

Alright. I have a lot of ambitions in life. One of my less glamorous ambitions is to grow my own herb garden. And I saw this by chance and my heart inflated. Such a super cute idea. Once my garden gets going I plan to chalkboard paint it up. Standby for cutiepie images.


cr: http://www.designspongeonline.com/

Sunrays, Sunflowers, Sunspiration

California has about four or five months of real summer, if not more now due to the yucky state of our atmosphere. It's already May (can you believe?) and just like every other American consumer, these past few days (as the temperature is creeping up the thermometer) I have been searching around for a new bathing suit. Of course, it doesn't matter if I already own about five or six suits, I desperately want another beauty to sun bathe in these upcoming months.




1. jitterbuggin @ etsy
2. atticville @ etsy
3. dianadwain @ etsy

I suppose, you suppose, we suppose

I guess it's only natural for me to not only do what I set out at first to do (with this blog) but branch out further into new concepts and such. Friend Cogey documents her self-stylings and I believe I will start to do something similar very soon. Perhaps in the coming week. For now, I have a craving to post images of people who inspire me.
1. 2.
3. 4.

1.Buffy Sainte-Marie & Big Bird
2. Katharine Hepburn (in trousers)
3. Joan Crawford
4. Rosie the Riveter