problems with easy solutions.

i have been 100% uninspired lately.

i think i might be dwelling too much on negative things. my stolen $600 hasn't helped much either.

i am excited for Christmas. to see my family, and girls. to meet the most precious first baby born into our clan.
i am excited for 2011. 2010 was out of control. in a span of 6 months time EVERY SINGLE person who was close to me got married, engaged, pregnant, gave birth, and/or disappeared. lots of exciting stuff, some sad stuff. all change. sometimes i feel like i'm living without a constant like it's my job. even though that's not really true.

ANYWAY,

i think i want to start some kind of photo project for the new year. since i will have a new dslr and lots of new things to learn, it seems like the perfect time to start some kind of 365 day project. but i would like to think of an interesting theme to narrow the set into...any ideas?

i finally got settled enough at the new place to set up a little studio for myself and update the shop. even though the natural light situation in my apartment is HORRID, i kinda dig the overexposed look of the new photos.

heads & pants are overrated.

Lots of stuff up NOW, more to come on Wednesday! lots of sparkly and fun things for NYE, perhaps?

Wish me luck for my drive home tomorrow. i am going to be traveling for 6 hours in the car with a VERY cranky, crying cat.

good reason to take loads of pictures.

love this stop motion movie of a west coast road trip. via jason's tumblr.



LA to Santa Cruz to Portland to Seattle and Back from Ian Flanigan on Vimeo.

it makes me think, as many things do nowadays, what kind of camera should i buy? i am ready for a new one, but the choices as far as entry-level dslrs are positively mind numbing.

and now it's time for a gratuitous picture of my cat:

she has been such a little fashion plate lately, posing for photos left and right. i find her in the bathtub all the time, licking at the water left from the shower. it always makes me think she must not have any in her bowl, but of course she always does. she just likes the tub. perhaps it's just her roots, considering when she first came home to me she lived in the tub for a couple of hours...

aww. only one year old. so tiny!

busy bee.

i have been a busy bee.

i feel like i haven't gotten a minutes rest in a while, and yet i feel like i am so behind on everything.

if i had to choose two words for how i have been feeling lately, they would be HAPPY and OVERWHELMED. but, not "overwhelmed with happiness." and not really "happily overwhelmed" either.

i do adore my new apartment, as unfinished as it is. it probably won't be finished for at least a whole year. i put up some wooden door beads in my kitchen doorway (because i am a hippie like that.) it took philomena a little while to understand that she could just walk right on through them. i think she thought it was a similar concept when i hung a sheer curtain at my closet entryway; it was quite cute to watch her try to push on it with her little head to see if she could get though. she is not the fastest cat i have ever met. she seems happy too, though. being the queen of her new palace.


and, i want this:

 

it's a journal that has a small space to write a line about what happened each day for five years, so you can go back and see what you were doing that same day, years before. i miss writing in a journal, but it's hard to do everyday. hopefully the small writing space will make me less... overwhelmed. buy it for me here.


that's all for today, no internet at home yet! check my flickr for some photos from this weekend's Hollywood Christmas Parade. where i saw my hero, Dick Van Dyke. who is now very, very old. and not skinny anymore. don't talk about it.

oh and some fun ugly holiday listings are live tonight at the shop.

i'll tumble for ya.

as a consequence of some very mean neighbors and ongoing mail theft, my busy weekend of cleaning/moving was thwarted. i personally don't understand how someone can steal things from a persons mailbox/doorstep and sleep at night. it's just so unnecessary, and i wish a very un-merry christmas to them. so, i'm going north tomorrow with a still-dirty new apartment; a messy old apartment; my cozy new armchair still waiting for me to find a truck to bring it home in; and no money in the bank. best laid plans. le sigh. to help drown my feelings of frustration and helplessness, i went over to mike's house yesterday with a case of beer. he made me pancakes and deep fried reese's peanut butter cups, and i drank cans of budweiser while he packed his suitcases for seattle. he answered all of my tumblr questions, and i fell in love with it's easy and simple bookmark-ey layout. it's like blogger and twitter got together and had a much prettier and less self-indulgent baby. take a peek:

i guess i am still not really sure about the politics of the whole thing (who do i follow? who follows me? is that really the point?) and it seems to be filled with a lot teenage angst. i think i love it nonetheless. all the pretty pictures i have been finding are like little challenges to my creative self--i wish there were more hours in the day! i also wish i could afford a new camera. ahh i wish i wish i wish. i feel like my head is always swimming with ideas and i get so overwhelmed/discouraged by things that aren't perfect that i just end up being lazy. i suppose i just need to learn to tote my camera with me always. and go outside more. and paint my walls. i can do those three things, i think.

speaking of paint, i am still at a near loss as to the colors i want to choose for my new apartment. my new oversized armchair is the only piece of furniture i am really married to; it has colors of olive, gold, and black. one drawback of the new place is that it doesn't get much light... so i don't want to paint anything that is too drab and will make the space seem darker than it is. i also need to keep at least one wall white for photos. i think i am deciding between olive green:

 

and goldenrod:

 but i kind of feel like the green might be too dark, and yellow is more of a kitchen color? there's also the ever popular teal:

which i absolutely adore. i HAVE already had a teal room though. and i'm just not sure if it will match my new chair. but i'm also not sure i care. i think i might just do what i want with this place, and not think too hard about it.

don't forget to pop over to the shop and take a look at the the vintage-y goodness. holiday party dresses/ warm+wintery sweaters abound!

on the cab ride you said nothing, just hair all in your face

it's been a while since i have done an outfit post, but i am so excited with a recent find that i feel compelled to share. recently i ventured all the way to a little vintage shop in Reseda, and came across lots of goodies. one being this lovely little vintage French Connection gauze top.

it is the prettiest robin's egg blue, and the super thin rayon material falls SO perfectly. it was one of those things that i realized would not be leaving my closet anytime soon the moment i put it on. actually, it came with a matching skirt, and while i am not so into the "matchers" look i wouldn't be averse to wearing separately (i have been strangely digging calf length skirts lately), but it is very VERY tiny, even for my already pretty tiny waist. i would sell it, but i feel bad breaking up the set, somehow? oh well.

i've paired with some uber-fun stonewashed high waist denim jeans, my ubiquitous leather and wood platform sandals, and my new FAVORITE gifted (or, lent?) stretchy gold men's watch.

although admittedly, the outfit wasn't worn much today-- i only left the house briefly for a quick post office/lunch trip. the rest of the day has been spent furiously working on my next round of listings set to start Sunday night (and there is LOTS of good stuff!) i am under some pressure to get it all finished, since i would also like to spend some time cleaning/moving into my new apartment tomorrow-- the first (and when i have to be OUT of the ghetto) is going to be here before i know it, and i still have soooo much to clean/move/buy/paint. and next week it's up to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving-- and although it cuts a week out of my moving time, i am so looking forward to it. hanging with my family, seeing my bests (one of whom is about to pop out my little baby "nephew" in a month!), dragging my favorite drinking buddy to my favorite bar in the city, and lots of thrifting in my old hotspots. plus it's pretty exciting to NOT be working retail for the first black Friday in YEARS.

it doesn't feel like the holidays... maybe because it's still 80 degrees in LA. but it didn't feel like the holidays last year either, not even on Christmas day. but... this year it feels ok, somehow.

moats & boats & waterfalls

after just one exciting and stressful day of apartment hunting, i uncovered the space that i will call my own for (at least) the next year.


it's in an charming 1920's building in hollywood, that i think i will lovingly refer to it at "the devonshire" from now on. the building manager is and adorable charles bukowski-esque man who i spent an hour sitting and chatting with about his life, the neighborhood, and old hollywood. it has everything i was looking for- vintage details (like a tiny closet that connects to the hall that they used for milk delivery), hardwood floors, lots of space, a full kitchen, an outdoor patio for reading, a roof for sunbathing/barbecuing, close to public transit, and in an area i can walk around in and not be constantly looking over my shoulder.

i am so excited to start filling the space! it's going to take me a while to get it just how i want. paint? wallpaper? FURNITURE? my head is swimming with ideas.

not having to share fridge space with anyone is a completely foreign concept to me. cooking dinners and ENTERTAINING? ahh so exciting!

i spent my first "night" in the apartment with mike and wine, listening to a collection of left records we raided from the basement.

so happy to finally have a space to create a home i am proud to call my own. here's to me and my fur baby and our new apartment!

pretty words will always make me late.

Maybe the best song, ever?

Suddenly I want to be in a dark and smoky bar with Nightmoves up next on the juke.


It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don’t matter, anyhow
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I’ll be gone
You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on
Don’t think twice, it’s all right

It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
That light I never knowed
An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe
I’m on the dark side of the road
Still I wish there was somethin’ you would do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talkin’ anyway
So don’t think twice, it’s all right

It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
Like you never did before
It ain’t no use in callin’ out my name, gal
I can’t hear you anymore
I’m a-thinkin’ and a-wond’rin’ all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I’m told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don’t think twice, it’s all right

I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So I’ll just say fare thee well
I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right

today i got the biggest shock of my life.

literally. getting electrocuted does NOT feel good. however i have always wondered what it felt like--cross that one off the bucket list! AND i'm still alive-- yay!

i have been sooo busy lately with the shop; it's been quite tiring yet SO rewarding to work hard at something that truly makes me feel so proud and fulfilled. if i can find a way to spend the rest of my life working for MYSELF-- not punching a time card, selling my soul doing a job i don't really believe in, just to get a paycheck-- i will be happy. this year has been hard, but it has been an invaluable opportunity to really carve out an honest place FOR MYSELF in the world.

including... my new apartment! i am soosososo excited to fill my tiny little space with things that are important to me. i have finally started to pick up stuffs here and there on my thrifting expeditions that will be magical additions to my impending humble abode-- like my growing collection of mugs that will soon be in need of a cabinet of their own; my vintage budweiser mirrored bar sign; my pink 60's sumbeam mixmaster; my 70's glass "sugar" jar. to think, soon i will have an entire vintage kitchen all to myself!

in the meantime, check out this lil sample of my vintage for-sale-stuffs (and bid, perhaps?):

sequin hot shorts not for sale :) gotta save something to cover that bootie(?!)

ooh la la!

lots of fun goodies and stuffs to peep in the store! i worked up quite a hunger on my listing rampage today (maybe it was the top chef marathon i had on?) so i am way stoked that my great friend mike is taking me out to figaro tonight. maybe my french language skills will finally come in handy? maybe i will force him to eat escargot? hmm...

the horses are coming, so you better run.

the apartment hunt is in full swing, and i am debating an earlier "move out" date. i found a place i ahh-dore from the photos and description (hardwood floors! french windows! dressing room with built-in vanity! eat in kitchen!) but i am afraid if i fall in true love irl i will either: be sad if someone else moves in between now and the 15th, or; give the landlord all my money to move in and not eat for two weeks. gah.

late on buying contacts= angry corneas and becoming a forced four eyes. oh, and by the way, boys DO make passes on girls who wear glasses; apparently wearing spectacles puts me on par with weirdos, because i have had to gently let down two chuckleheads this week with the wonderful "i have a boyfriend, and he gets mad" excuse. ahh my angry invisible boyfriend, i love him.

watch out, my invisible boyfriend knows kung-fu.

the new tattoo hurts and feels tremendously disgusting, and reminds me of past lives filled with diseases affecting the skin. i can't wait till it's all healed and lovely.

i have also been hard at work with a tiny facelift for the shop, launching this week! annnd i'm debating starting a tumblr?! which is odd since i pretty much don't really understand it. but i'm kind of wanting a spot for pretty pictures + littlestuffs i like. tumblr is good for this, no?

also, i am secretly obsessed with this song:




i listen to the radio and pray for it to come on, and when it does it makes my shoulders dance. shh.

so much for that.

i guess i spoke too soon.

at least i got to call 911 for the first time- how exciting!

instead of a quiet night i decided to play a rousing game of "listen to gunfire outside my window." the end of the game is when i tell my roommate i'm moving out next month! here's to december 1st, my new studio apartment, and getting the hell outta the ghetto!

quiet night

at home tonight. no wine, just tea, cigarettes, and a recently thrifted book of woody allen commentary. and perhaps a little mad men? i've finally discovered a show that lives up to the hype. [[i am not even a casual fan of LOST, or GLEE, or JERSEY SHORE.]] every scene is a fanciful little morsel of vintage-y goodness. i find myself having to rewind constantly because i am so busy drooling over the imagery that i have no idea how the plot has progressed. oh, if only my little red netflix envelopes would come faster!

here's to hoping green tea doesn't have a substantial amount of caffeine? i'm feelin so cozy that i'm almost ready for a second mug.

i am in an emotional recession.

did i curse myself?

I think I have made a series of bad emotional investments in my life that are catching up with me all at once.

When it comes to relationships and friendship, some people give a little bit of themselves to a lot of people. Other people give a lot of themselves to only a few. I belong steadfastly to the latter group. I don't make a place in my heart for people that I don't intend to keep there for a long long time. It's hard to love people, and I want to do it right.

You don't invest in people solely for the return, but you'd also like to think you might be able to cash in a little bit one day if you ever need it. Being in a new town without any real support system makes you look around for people to lean on. To call and complain to, to text something funny to, to bbm a conversation you wish you could be having on their couch to, to drink a bottle of wine and get silly with. Just knowing someone SOMEWHERE wants to give you a hug feels more amazing than ever. Perhaps this new feeling of being far away from everything has made me acutely aware of people I can really count on in my life. And those that I can't, I guess.

It feels like the people who are most in need of unconditional love and support are often the least likely to understand and accept it. It's ridiculous to believe there is no such thing as a lost cause. But when do you consider yours lost? Do you exhaust every option, continue to excuse them, and have blind faith that your best efforts aren't being wasted? If you're stronger than they are, should you allow yourself to shoulder more of the burden in the relationship? Or does that make you a fool.

When do you stop trying, give up, and let go?

Having to essentially write-off three people this year has been EPICALLY taxing on me. It's the worst feeling in the world to realize a person who you thought was forever just isn't; and no letter you write, text you send, or phone conversation you have will make it any different. It has made me look at every friend I make and every date I go on in this new city as a future failure. It makes me not even want to try anymore. I think they call that... putting up walls? How depressing.

I can't give people less than my best. But I feel like people have been getting the best of me.

WAH.




lyrics.
One time in college I remember discussing the double entendre of this song with this REALLY cute boy I was making out with at the time. AWW.

when you get old and start losing your hair...

so my best friend Ashley got married this weekend. when we were 13, she used to tell me (and everyone who would listen) that her wedding would be exactly like this: she would be wearing a red dress, drinking Snapple, and marrying Taylor Hanson. needless to say, none of her pre-nuptial premonitions came to fruition: she wore the loveliest white dress; we drank champagne (well, i drank much more than just that, eee); and she married a man that was decidedly less feminine than the middle Hanson brother (but no less adorable.)

it was an amazing honor to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of a girl who you have called a friend for over half your life. i can only hope that the bride had an equally amazing time as i this past wedding weekend.

my time was made totes-rad by a wonderful group of people:



firstly of course my most beloved best friends. who are really more like the sisters i have never had.



the absolute funniest/ most fun people i have ever known



and theee most beautiful!




nicole, the HOTTEST pregnant chick anyone has ever SEEN!




holly, whose wedding i am SO excited/honored to bring my bridesmaid skillz to next year!



also of course my best-i-could-have-asked-for date jason, who's creeper 'stache, asian glow, photography tips, and scotch drinking were a real comfort to me. and also who took...



this amazing photo of me hopefully(?) sealing my fate as next in line.

ALSO special props to:


for having THEEE raddest fro i have seen in quite some time.

and LEST WE NOT FORGET:

my tarty mom, who has apparently taken it upon herself to pick up the tarty dressing habits of her lovely daughter.

oh ya, and my pops:


whose photo really quite obviously needs no explanation.

ANYWAY,


thanks Ashley and Bill for a WONDERFUL weekend.

and thanks Ashley,


for just being the FUCKING BEST. LOVE YOU!!!

phew.

fact #1: weddings are madness.
fact #2: they are always worth the trouble.

this weekend was amazing, and it went by way too fast! i'm spending tonight cuddling with my lil grems (who missed me waaayyy too much) and will update tomorrow when i am done with rainy night recovery mode.

i'll meet you at the airport bar.

via we heart it

i'm pretty excited to be flying up to san francisco tomorrow for my best friend Ashley's wedding. but quite honestly it might be the airport bar i am so excited for. buying a seat on an airplane always feels like buying a ticket to a super exclusive club, filled with bloody marys and friendly conversation with people you will never have to see again (two things i truly adore).

definitely also excited to see all of the people who i always LOVE to see again-- my family, my best bitches... and spesh boys too! i'm predicting lots of dancing, fun, and general wedding debauchery to come this weekend. although my mom will be in attendance, and she has warned me about embarrassing her! ruh-oh!

pictures to follow!

tiiired.

late night tag playing/swinging+lots of new friends+the heat+early mornings= i am in dire need of a good night's sleep. the rising mercury has made it hard to get motivated to do anything, but i have managed to list a bunch of new goodies in the shop...

like this yummy hippie mini tent dress:

what a lovely little collar. maybe no one will bid.

and this amazeballs leopard coat:

um leopard never ceases to impress me. and what a perf slouchy fit?

tonight, i will attempt to stay cool, catch up on lots of bad tv + get lost in the haze of the wine:


the rising crescendo gives me goosebumps. it feels just like life, sometimes.

oh hai

so i've been pretty miserable for the last two days. mom says we have been having record breaking temps here in LA... but i am just pissed at her for moving my black ass into an apartment with no air conditioning. i have been panting up a storm in this heat... mom has been force feeding me water and dousing me with it in an attempt to cool me down. she has also been taking me for special trips outside to the porch where it's not AS sweltering, and today she even tried to put me in a cold bath with her (i didn't like that too much.) she seems to also be trying to exploit my almost heatstroke by taking videos and photographing me at my worst, case in point:



i think she is just truly scared of my behavior, but this documentation is still quite embarrassing for me. i hope tomorrow isn't as hot as today, otherwise i might be forced to claw my way out of this hot box of doom while mom is at work.


[it has been ungodly hot. i feel like i am in that episode of the twilight zone when the earth is like three inches from the sun and all the paint is melting off the pictures. someone save me.]

i luff this.

find more here.

in other words, hold my hand...

so for the last two days i have been inexplicably craving pizza from Jupiter in Berkeley. {{mmm yummy potato + bacon pizza}} i even mentioned it here. tonight i discover that Jupiter the planet is the closest it has been to the earth in 47 years this week. tonight it's the super bright star right next to the (also bright) full moon:



weird, yes? no? am i psychic? umok i'll just be happy when i get my paws on some of that pizza.

my tummy is growling. and now i have frank sinatra stuck in my head.

today i love

• running all around hollywood in a parrot nightgown:

• being super busy&happy&proud.
• shop updates.
  
• awkward run ins ending up as free dinners.
• being excited for this show. haha i would call him "tony danza" too. well, on the days i wasn't calling him "mr. micelli." or "mr. banta" or simply, "hold me closer tony danzaaaa."
• flying to jupiter next week. yummmmmm.
• good dreams.

goodnight.

this is garbage!

admittedly, i have not yet seen ALL the runway photos from this year's NYFW-- but from what I HAVE seen, i have to say that i am significantly underwhelmed. nothing really jumped out at me, and i had trouble feeling truly inspired by even my most favorite designers.

i loved betsey johnson's colorful + voluminous evening dresses-- can we get these scaled down and made into barbie dresses, please?:



betsey's runway shows always make fashion look so fun; i hope the
rumors aren't true!


i also never dislike marc by marc jacobs; however this year i wasn't drooling as much over the effortless style of the actual collection as i was over the drool-worthiness over mj HIMSELF.



he always looks so hot. someone please save me from continually lusting over gay men.

jeremy scott did have some interesting things going on this season. i couldn't tell if i interpreted the collection with an appreciative and ironic eye, or if the whole thing simply translated as a desperate and almost obvious attempt to be WTF chic. it probably doesn't help that the infamous "singer-who-thinks-a-dollar-sign-is-a-letter" has a very obvious and totally uninspired obsession with "garbage fashion."



but what i absolutely LOVED was the close reminiscence of one of j scott's collection's signature pieces, the "garbage dress" to one of my most loved classic television moments--

remember when lucy and the gang were in Paris, and her and ethel were just dying over the latest designer dresses? ricky won't buy her one of the hot 'fits, so she goes on a hunger strike... then he discovers that good ole ethel has been sneaking lucy baguettes in her camera bag. to get back at them he has dresses made from potato sacks and sews the designer's labels in them:


ethel and lucy 1956 vs jeremy scott, spring 2011

of course the punchline is that, after seeing dresses, the designer copies them and puts them into his next collection.

i think this is a garbage dress i could proudly wear tongue-in-cheek-- in honor of Paris, and Lucy.

photos via nymag.com

here we go again

this song just won't leave me alone. i don't even particularly love it, but it has been in my head for three days straight. maybe it's the handclaps. i'm a sucker for handclaps.

i am having an absolute ball

at work.

can you tell?

showing off some recently thrifted treasures: skinny blue leather "grid" watch, beaded leather necklace/bracelet, skinny leather belt (i just love the tiny little tassels), and long floral patterned skirt (worn as a tube dress.)

pardon my glasses and muss (is that a word?-)this is my "i-rolled-out-of-bed-at-1030-and-got-here-at-1105" look.

and no, i don't work for the department of redundancy department, although you might guess that with the skinny heart fetish i clearly seem to have going on here.

look into the mirror and you pose pose pose

i don't recommend listening to the new weepies album while attempting to get ready for your night. because there won't be a whole lot of getting ready. there WILL, however, be a lot of jamming, looking up lyrics, buying tickets to their show with money you lack, and, oh yes, WEEPING. and it's hard to get your eye makeup straight in a situation like that. there is something about this chicks voice, the melodies, the words... sheesh i love this band.

you can listen to it for free here. i am especially loving tracks 1, 2, 3 and 6.

now i just need a date for the show!

nighttime tinycraft.

so, i am definitely not a crafty person. i adore diy-- but crafts take time, and energy, money, and SPACE-- none of which i have a real excess of. but when a super easy craft just sneaks up on me and says "heather! i'm easy! DO ME!!" i have to oblige.

i inherited a Target "shoe shelf" from the chick who used to live in my room. i use it as a side-table type setup to help me organize all the little craps that inevitably end up right next to my bed (makeup, change, contact solution, BILLS, etc.) A lot of my everyday toiletry type things ended up just getting shoved in one of these cubbies, so i wanted a little box to put them in to help "organize." an empty kleenex box was just the right size. so i cut the top off, and filled it up with all my loose things.

it was ugly. and it started to fall apart after two days. but tonight i realized i had the means to beautify this makeshift box.

enter:

• green duct tape (from the 99 cent store) and scissors

• extra fabric cut from a thrifted dress:

• elmers glue (i probably could have used something stronger, but that's is all i had :)

• and kleenex box (reinforced with aforementioned duct tape.)

the hem of the dress was obviously straight, so i just positioned it around the top lip of the kleenex box, then slathered elmers all over the fabric AND the box. snipped it to fit, and then wrapped the bottom like i would wrap a present (with lots of glue.) it's not lined, it's not perfect, but it's much cuter than it was when i started!:




i reinforced the bottom of the box with the coordinating duct tape. and i credit the whole project to the empty glass of wine. :)