cold beach

wearing Alice McCall dress from SS 2008, Gap sweater, H&M tights and target socks, Hunter boots, UO utility jacket

So the weather has recently taken a turn for the schizophrenic and given us 6 straight days of rain and wind, which has made this whole spring transition thing slightly complicated. Luckily my Hunter Wellies--which have become the de rigueur footwear for San Franciscans grappling with rain--stand in nicely with short dresses, tights, and socks. I just wish they didn't make my calves sweat so much.

ANYWAY, I'm crazy stoked about this new chair that I snagged for $45 bones off of Craigslist. It needs a little TLC, but doesn't smell like something died in it, so overall it's a major win!

30 does 30s

Speaking of turning 30, my boyfriend had his 30th a couple of weeks ago and one of our friends threw him a 1930's prohibition-themed party in their rad as fuck apartment. I wish I lived there. They have a killer roof deck, a view of the ocean, and a house full of enviable mid-century treasures. I think I'll have to go back for a proper photoshoot soon.

give peas a chance

wearing UO cardigan, borrowed dress from Anthropologie, Swedish Hasbeens for H&M shoes, vintage bag

No, the New Orleans photo diaries will never end.

May I also add that even thinking about apartment hunting is the most stressful thing ever. I don't want to move, but finding a fungi growing out of my bathroom floor like we live in an abandoned swamp hut certainly doesn't help my current apartment's case much. I'm beginning to think it is a domicile only suited for mice and really really dirty hobo people. Oh lord, send me a 2 bedroom apartment with an updated kitchen and hardwood floors.

oh you fancy, huh?

wearing J. Crew sweatshirt sweater, F21 skirt (wish it was a tad bit longer), Dolce Vita boots, hippie fair necklace, F21 bangle, vintage bag, brandless sunglasses from costume shop

Pictures above were taken when I went to see the Elle Decor Showhouse with my mom this weekend. Each room was decorated by a different interior designer, and while I found the home in its entirety to be painfully overdone, I did fall in love with every single one of its luxuriously appointed bathrooms. I suppose you don't know what luxury is until you sit on a self-flushing/cleaning/closing/heated toilet. Here's to one day living that dream.

aux belles choses

Behold, the magnificent and wondrous object of my affection--a floor lamp. Yes Goddammit, a floor lamp. I could have had shoes, a new bag, or a shit ton of stuff from H&M, but I got a floor lamp. It brings the room together and throws crazy shadows up on the ceiling, so I think it was worth it. Buying furniture not from Ikea is grownup shit.

For anyone in the San Francisco area, I highly recommend checking out Therapy on Valencia and 16th in the Mission (the furniture side, not the clothing side). Besides having fabulous things, the owner has a policy where he lets you take something home on a payment plan. So you leave your credit card info and they'll charge 1/4 of the price every month. Highly cool, and the #1 reason I actually bit the bullet and brought this baby home. It's a little easier to swallow at $70 a month.

home style porn

picture via apartment therapy

Even though I've lived in my place for a year and a half, I still feel like I've moved into a new apartment because both of my roommates either are or have already moved out, which means I'm losing every single item of furniture outside of my room...from the couches to the gigantic TV (*sadness*) to the wine glasses. Thus I am left in the predicament of having to refurnish on a severe shoe-string budget.

My taste in home furnishings--like my taste in clothing-- tends to be eclectic and lean towards a vintage aesthetic. Like clothing, furniture made in olden times is simply better quality, so I'd rather have that cute mid-century modern table from the thrift store than a brand-new one from Target.

While I know the process of collecting new items will be a slow, arduous one, I've already found some gems. They are pictured below for your enjoyment:

1. This chair was a garage sale find for $20. At first I wanted to paint it, but now I'm thinking I'd just like to re-finish and stain the wood a darker color. Thoughts?

2. This table was not nearly as cute when I found it at Salvation army for $12. We spray-painted the 2 table-tops mint green and left the legs natural, and I enlisted Wardell's help to repair some of the corners with wood putty. Good as new!

3. This side table was another Salvation Army find (I think I paid about $30 for it) and the lamp was the find of the century for $18 at a charity shop. The shade alone must be worth $100. I'm thinking of repainting the white part of the table but I'm not sure what color, given the fact that the upper-half of the living room walls are red. I need input!

4. Not really home decor, but I just wanted to show off how cute my jewelry collection looks now that it has a home on 2 branch hooks I got on sale at Urban Outfitters. I'd been wanting to do this forever, but couldn't find real branches sturdy enough for the job. I guess powder-coated metal ones work just as well...

This weekend I'm helping my best friend Tara move into my place (sooo excited), going to a show, celebrating a friends' birthday, and hopefully I'll fit a bike ride in there somewhere if this damn gale-force wind dies down. Have a great weekend, peeps!

springtime!

photo via tatielle

I'm happy to say that it finally feels like spring is going to be sticking around for awhile. No more freaky cold snaps on the near horizon. Unfortunately, that also means that time is passing much, much too quickly. I have yet to find a job, money's gone from tight to impossibly tight, and the future ain't looking any rosier now than it did three months ago. Am I really that goddamn unemployable? I suspect not, but only because I am an egoist at heart. If I'm not hired it's only because people have yet to discover my innate genius. Dammit.

To cheer myself up, I snagged a baggie of colorful feathers while I was at the craft store yesterday and made another feather hair clip. This one is a bit more technicolor-y since the feathers have been dyed, but I like it just as much.

eeew, I just realized I need to trim the felt backing at the base of the clip!

And since one of my roommates (the master tenant) moved out this weekend and took the wireless router, his ginormous TV, and the cable box with him, I've been left without TV or internet. It's sort of like my worst nightmare come true. I don't recommend it. Hopefully I'll get both reinstalled at our place this week. Until then, looks like I'll be stealing a little internet connectivity from our downstairs neighbors... thanks guys...

In the meantime I'll be dreaming of wearing stuff like this. Actually scratch that. I'll be dreaming of wearing this exact outfit--and then having my femurs surgically lengthened:

I am a bitter, sad person today.

my space

Well, we've gotten to know each other well enough that I thought it might be time to invite you all into my humble tiny room. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny (7 1/2 x 8 1/2 feet, to be precise). I'd say overall I've managed to make it work, with the one exception of my closet, which is so small you would weep if you saw it. To have to see all my lovely frocks crammed into something the size of a coffin is heartbreaking.

Alas, I'm having some housing drama as we speak. My roommate (who is the master tenant) is vacating to become one with his girlfriend, leaving my other roommate and I to renegotiate a lease. Yes, that means our sacred rent control will be abolished. The possibility of having to move in with my parents is becoming all too real. Anyone have a Xanax?