You Are Invited: Painted Bird Trunk Show

Chris and I are super excited to be hosting a trunk show for Painted Bird shoes at The Corner next Sunday. The Owners of Painted Bird will be on hand, and mimosas will be served, as you peruse the full Summer 2012 Collection contemplating one pair or multiple pairs (that really is the question). If you live near Huntington Beach or are planning to be in the area, we would love to meet you!

This is the first time the new line will be on display and available for try-on, so bring a friend and hope to see you there!  I'll be the one with the shoes on my feet and filling my arms.

Details below...

Why Didn't Someone Wake Me Up?

A couple of weeks ago the garbage truck rumbled through the alley behind my house making all sorts of mad noise and beeps. When I woke up I could have sworn was at home, in my parents' house, with the school bus waiting in the driveway. As in 20 years ago. 

I'm homesick. And I can't help thinking it's compounded by the 80's and 90's stuff floating around everywhere. Neon, moto, studs, cropped boots, lace--it's out in full force and I wore a piece of all of it back in the day. Jeggings? Can't remember what we called them, but I had more pairs of ribbed jeans than I knew what to do with. Floral denim? Let's just say I swore NEVER AGAIN to anything bright when it was all over and the fog lifted.

Cut to scene and somehow a pair of neon pink pants has found its way into my closet. Perhaps I can blame it on angst over aging and missing my family? Something's gotta give because I'm actually starting to like neon and it's scaring the hell out of me.  In an effort to test for a cure, this weekend I'm taking a quick zip home to Canada. My sanity is on the line and, quite frankly, I'm not sure how much more Home Depot and the local thrift store can take of my wardrobe.

I told ya: it's crazy time up in here.

Compounded by the back and forth of 'to ferris wheel or not to ferris wheel?'

I FERRIS WHEELED.

But I did not cat, thereby proving I've entered risky waters.

Even my gymnastics skills are coming back.

~Outfit: Gap-Tank, M2F-Vest (similar), Current/Elliott-Jeans, Rebecca Minkoff-Bag (old), Swedish Hasbeens-Shoes (here in soft pink since I'm on a roll), Anthropologie-Sunglasses~

On the Fly

On occasion I've been known to pull together a pretty sweet outfit without even trying. Case in point: yesterday. The screen door place called to say it was ready for pick-up (as you may recall it flew off the hinges Beverly Hillbillies style over the long weekend and...uh, yeah we'll just leave it at that) so I pulled on a skirt, hiked it up as a dress, added a belt and a little lace vest and ta-da!

Why have I never tried this before? Mysteries of the universe.

~Details: Dress/Skirt-Mossimo, Vest-H&M (old, but here's a similar one), Sandals-Matt Bernson(old), 

Fringe Bag-Brandy & Melville (similar), Sunglasses-Anthropologie~

Summer Must: Painted Bird Shoes

I am perched by my computer waiting for July 1st.  That's when the online shop for Painted Bird is supposed to go live, releasing all of these fabulous crochet shoes into our summer wardrobes.

Not even remotely sure how I'm supposed to select only one or two pairs, but my inner free bird can BARELY wait. Visit their site and examine the collection by clicking either of the pink links. Summer chic at its finest!

*all photos from Painted Bird*

Summer Solstice

You know what this means, right? THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER ARE OFFICIALLY HERE.

Look for me on my throne.

Contemplating the deeper things. Like what kind of table should go here?

And is it okay to mix Mexican and Moroccan decor?

And maybe I should've grabbed a couple more of these blankets? Or a larger one?

And most importantly, how to squish myself into that far corner to get the most of the late day sun.  

But for now I must go indulge in mid-afternoon job abandonment. 

Windblown

Ever notice how January, February and March totally drag on while June, July and August are gone in what seems like the blink of an eye? When I was a kid it felt like summer lasted forever, now not so much.  Totally bums me out.

So this summer I've made the scared as hell pointed decision to take fewer work projects in order to soak up as many warm days as possible. The past couple of years I've found myself at the beginning of September with a lot of regrets for not having done simple things like beach bonfires, a day at Disneyland or tackled a summer reading list. I'm feeling old lately, like time is running out. It really sucks and I don't want it to get the better of me so here goes nothing. 

The other day was hot. I mean SO HOT you couldn't go barefoot on the concrete. Embracing my inner rebel and the dull realization that it won't be long before any time in the sun could leave me shriveled up like a prune, I hauled it down to the beach and found a bunch of other people who had abandoned their jobs, too.  Hmmmmm, I think I'm onto something here.

~Details: T-Zadig & Voltaire (in white), Shorts-Current/Elliott, Belt-Flea Market, Sunglasses-Anthro~

~Bracelets (L): Vanessa Mooney (can't find online, sorry!), (R): Motif 56 (in black); 

Arrow Ring (L): Madewell, (R): Flea Market~

Summer, here I come.

Sleeping With the Plants

It all started here.

Actually that's not entirely true (but it was a better picture to show up on google reader so there's always that to consider).   

In reality it started here, with OPERATION EYESORE.

Who does this upon vacating a residence? Who? Apparently my landlord, that's who.

In his defense, his wife was about 8.5 months pregnant when they left and I took over.

BUT STILL.

Who knew moving up 20 stairs could turn into a bad scene out of a dumpster?

And now the truly horrifying thing: aside from some light cleaning and debris removal, I did nothing with the space from last May until about 2 weeks ago when the above was taken. When was Mother's day? That's when I rolled into the floral place to get some treats for Chris's mom and instead left with a gangload of succulents for myself as seen in photo 1.  What can I say? It really is all about me, I guess. 

Cut to scene and there we were over the long weekend, eyeballs deep in Home Depot and a local nursery, trying to determine what to do with that glorious deck space.  

It always starts out so peacefully...and by the end of the day you look like you got sucked into

a wind tunnel and haven't showered in weeks. You know, like the hipsters do.

The great thing about Home Depot is they don't require combs. Ever.

And then there was that whole screen door ripping off the hinges due to high winds thing.

So even though I made it in and out of Ikea in under an hour that Friday of the long weekend, little did I know it was the last time things would go smoothly for the remainder of those days off. Unless you count the margaritas I consumed somewhere in there, and the giant pig I saw at a home store. One of those things definitely happened prior to the other. And yes I am eliminating further whiny details.

So much better, right? RIGHT? 

And it's gotten even better since then. In fact I think it was better prior to the end of that weekend, but I'm still weeding through pictures so I'll post as I locate. 

And to the person who emailed me: no, I have not given up. I'm just old and can't multi-task like I used to.

And because someone will want to know (cat lovers unite): Pink T-Shirt-Zoe Karssen (and here in sweatshirt), Shorts-Current/Elliott (similar or love these, too), Vanessa Mooney-Mocs (here's the bootie and it is damn good too, waiting in my closet to come out). Blazer up top is J.Crew Seersucker. Not sure if there are any left, but totally worth checking out if you're in seersucker mode this spring/summer.