Lunch Date.

This past Monday I met up for a lady date with my friend Jess  (who was super obliging and wonderful and took my pictures for me!) for a game of catch-up over lunch and some thrifting, something we made a bit of a habit of over January! I don't always wear something blog-worthy for these occasions, especially if extensive thrifting is part of the plan for the day, but I've been itching to wear this dress since I got it. It's one of the three I bought during my NYC visit a few weeks ago. I don't have anything else like it, and aside from the Peter Pen collar it's a bit of a different thing for me.

Coat: J. Crew circa 2009, Dress: Vintage, Tights: J. Crew, Shoes: Target, Goofy Smile: Birth

It was also supposed to be fifty degrees out that day, but somehow that didn't happen. So much for saving this dress for the nicer weather as planned! 

I don't know that it's the world's most flattering dress shape on me, but I sort of love everything about it. I think I needed it because it reminds me of a mid-sixties version of my Mad Men dress, except I can sit down and eat in this one. It's a bit wrinkled here, even though I risked my life and steamed it while wearing it (worst idea ever, but it has so many inside snaps and buttons the thought of taking the whole thing off, steaming it, and then putting it back on was not something I was inclined to do), from sitting down at lunch and I suppose I should have given it a better soak and mended other bits of it. I just can't be bothered sometimes, especially if I want to wear something very much.

Thanks a lot wind, for sending like, three stands of hair across my face.

The little cat buddy on my collar was also a gift from Jess, so of course I had to wear him. He's just the perfect size--some of my pins, and I do love them dearly--are a bit too strange, or big, or shiny for certain moods. 

We ended up stopping at an abandoned building on the way to a thrift store, and found a little empty house behind it. It was all boarded up so exploring wasn't going to happen--but mostly we were just cold. The good thing is there are always warmer days (we hope. At the moment it's snowing, something it hasn't done properly since October. But I know better. Spring is soon, even if the weather does decide to snow on us for days).

Pictures taken by Jess.

The Other Mother.

Jacket: H&M, Dress: Vintage, Sweater: Vintage, Tights: J. Crew, Shoes: J. Crew, Bag: Vintage, Pin: Vintage

I'm really struggling with this self timer thing. I sort of hate it a lot, but I've been wearing all sorts of outfits lately and have pictures of none of them, even though I dressed with intentions of documenting them. I'm trying to be better about it, honestly I am. I just need someone with  me to tell me to stand up straight, stop scrunching my shoulders, and for Pete's sake close my mouth! The above picture was the only one even close to acceptable of me with the trench on, and even then I start to feel it's really insipid the longer I look at it. 

I really had to do a post today though, not only because it's been so long, but because I've worn this dress about half-a-dozen times and it's never seen the light of blog. 

I got it three or so years ago at a vintage shop for a steal. It was was all wrinkled, having been balled up at some point, but it has nary a flaw on it! And the print! It's tiny buttons! So I call it my Other Mother dress, after Coraline. The sleeves are a little bit weird, and it was a bit too big for me so my genius mother took the waist up in the most clever way--not that you can see it, because of the sweater--but I really do love it. It was one of the dresses I brought with me to New York and didn't wear.

The sweater is one I snapped up while having a thrift date with Jess. She spotted it, and the poor thing had been sitting there on the rack for weeks. It's quite old but it's riddled with holes in the back and along one of the arms. I took it home, along with a skirt full of holes, because I get that thing that you have as a kid where you feel bad for stuffed animals that can't all fit in your bed at once, or the heels of bread that get left behind in the bag because no one wants them so you eat them even though you don't even like that part of the bread.

So I've rescued it, although I haven't entirely finished mending it before wearing. There are still a few holes that need some invisible mending or patching. I was pretty mad that I had to wear a sweater to begin with, I want spring and warmth so much, so I decided I would wear what I wanted and that's that. 

And my little mouse, another pin from etsy. 

Lincoln Center.

It's not likely that I'll fit in an outfit post until Monday, and seeing as I've already posted the pictures I took last weekend, some images borrowed from elsewhere will have to do!

Dress: Vintage, Coat: J. Crew, Shoes: Bass, Tights: J. Crew, Purse: Vintage, Pin: Vintage, Gloves: Anthropologie, Lipstick: NARS Schiap

I'm not miserable, despite what my expression here might say! It's one of those things, where my default face looks a bit irritated, although in this instance I think I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. It's very strange to stand around, get asked for a photo, and suddenly more cameras pop up! 

In the flurry of activity that was last weekend, I (as you can see) toted my camera around and hardly used the darn thing! I was able to snap a few of Emily's outfit before being chided by a security guard that I was not allowed to take pictures without press credentials, which I am fairly certain was untrue, but, well, I complied. 

I am an over packer. I like to be prepared for every eventuality, and that's how I end up with nine pairs of shoes and seven sweaters (those number are partially made up. I don't have any idea how many shoes or sweaters I ended up bringing, but I didn't need as many as I brought). Even more typical is that I purchased three dresses during my trip, and wore two of them during it, so I didn't actually wear much of what I brought. 

Which is how I ventured to Lincoln Center in my un-ironed new dress, happy as a clam about the whole thing. 

Pictures from Teen Vogue

Visiting Flowers.

It already seems a sad pile of days ago, but just yesterday I was still in NYC with Emily, the kindest and most generous of hostesses (not to mention stylish, gorgeous, and all-around amazing!), for my weekend visit. I somehow, in true-to-me style, dragged my wretched camera around with me and hardly used the stupid thing. I did have enough wherewithal to get some use out of it when we visited Amy Merrick of An Apple a Day.

Amy is hosting a little pop-up shop at Castor & Pollux for Valentine's day (so I realized I had better get this post up asap in case someone wants to pay her a visit tomorrow!) from 12-7, you can see more pictures here at her post on the event, and also over at Emily's blog. But you really should go see it in person, if only for the lovely setting and wonderful people. 

I've been the biggest fan of Amy's since I first started reading her blog, and was so excited when Emily suggested we head over to say hello and grab some flowers. I think I've starred every single one of her posts in my reader. Her vision of the world comes through so strongly in her posts and photographs, and she has the occasional turn-of-phrase in her posts that makes me simultaneously enamored and poetically jealous (one time she used the phrase flower-drunk and for some reason it's haunted me ever since). And then she was just about the sweetest lady I've ever met, in the most effortless of dresses and just wonderful! I left the city last night overwhelmed by all the totally rad, beautiful, and charming ladies I got to hang out with all weekend. 

It was the best end to the best weekend! I knew that I've missed color and warmer weather, but I didn't realize quite how parched I was for green, growing things until we got there, and somehow I wanted nothing more but to be somewhere where things looked alive. It's not long now, and I suppose if I've got one thing to be happy about when it comes to time going faster, it's that I can hopefully make another trip downstate sometime soon!