to the land of Melrose

I finally dragged myself out early on a Sunday (and such a sunny and beautiful one, at that!) and experienced my very first flea market adventure. I even bought myself a new dress in advance, to celebrate such a fact (and, because it was simply staring me down and whispering to me in the most whimsical, 50's inspired way: you know you want me). As far as flea markets go: I am absolutely enamored, although this one certainly put my capacity for feeling overwhelmed to test. There were too many things to see, which resulted in five plus hours out in the warm spring sun, getting my hands quite "dirty" amongst rack after rack of clothes. 

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Sunday also involved lunch at a 50's diner with my lovely friend, Cameron....

  I was able to bargain with a vendor and get this lovely needlepoint purse for just $8, instead of $16!

 And this little cat-shaped cream jug is the most darling thing (there's a hole in his mouth for the milk to pour out of). 

 

The most gorgeous circus-inspired pin.

 And my first official, photographed-by-another-person outfit post!

It was certainly a fun adventure, though I shocked myself by coming home nearly empty-handed, clothes wise.

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here comes the sun

Little darling...

Here are some summer essentials.

The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun

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Straw hat (vintage), red woven strappy flats (etsy), blouse (UO), Lolita heart sunglasses (UO), flower seeds from the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, and a starfish from the beach in Carmel. 

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I can not wait for June!

brunch & mr. baryshnikov

I had a lovely Saturday filled with two of my very favorite things: brunch and ballet. The morning began with a lovely brunch near the ocean, at the most darling little restaurant that looked right out on the sand  - and that had the sweetest little Bonne Maman (the best) jam jars (there was even one filled with honey for my tea!) I had an almond croissant, which was filled with marzipan, and which was stupendous. And, berries and yogurt, which fit my color palette splendidly.

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Then came the ballet - we were lucky enough to see Mikhail Baryshnikov, of all people, perform in a special ballet/theatre hybrid that is currently touring the country. My grandmother told me that when my mom was a small girl, she had a poster of Mr. Baryshnikov on her bedroom wall, that she would kiss every night before bed. He is certainly quite a beautiful gentleman, even at his current age. The performance was exquisite, and it makes me feel like twirling around endlessly and living in Europe in the 1930's...

...Oh, what I would give... x

decisions, decisions!

I've had multitudes of things sitting in shopping carts on various websites (mostly Etsy) for weeks now, and they're all really lovely and my wardrobe is in need of some serious sprucing up anyway, so I don't feel too bad about these moments of consumerism. The problem is - everything is so wonderful and I simply can't make my mind up. If it were up to me, I would purchase every single one of them, but it is unfortunately up to my conscience and my bank account, both of which keep wagging their fingers at me. I've decided I'll let myself get three or four of these items, and then call it a day (or a month or two!) as far as clothes-shipping goes. So, which are your 3 or 4 favorites? I am looking for things that I may actually wear, not that will go on a hanger on my wall because they look so lovely on display, but are quite unflattering when worn by a human being (this happens a lot to me).

Please assist me in my difficult dilemma!

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avril 14

I have always thought myself lucky that one of the most beautiful songs in the world happens to be about the day of my birth.

Aphex Twin - Avril 14

Avril 14th went mostly well...  For my birthday, I got some lovely treasures in the mail from friends and family:

(a very interesting-sounding book about the senses, a copy of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves, a beautiful vintage copy of Alice In Wonderland, some scented pencils - my favorite flavour is black cherry!, adorable cat stickers - I will be using those on plenty of letters, some wonderful rose vanilla scented soap, a book of Pablo Neruda's love poems, a very sweet deer figurine, a lovely book on Thoreau's letters, and some tiny paper origami stars, which are just the most whimsical things).

I was also given these beautiful French antique binoculars. It's difficult to tell in the picture, but they're covered with mother-of-pearl and are just the most wonderful thing. They're made by Marchand Paris, and are actually called "Opera Glasses", I believe.

My friend Christine let me wear her camel-coloured skirt, which looked lovely with one of my favorite lace blouses for my birthday outfit.

I went out for afternoon tea for two at a British-style teahouse. It was lovely, although I had one too many scones, I think.

I also got some beautiful flowers (I'm sorry for the awful phone pictures!), which I will of course keep until they dry, and then hang them and/or make crowns for my head with. I always feel terrible tossing flowers in the trash bin, even once they've died.

My birthday wasn't perfect, unfortunately: I fell ill in the afternoon with a sudden round of the stomach flu. I'm still a little weak and sickly, and I have never drank more hot tea in my life as I have the past few days.

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happy birthday, love sufjan

Today is my 19th birthday - I will properly blog about all of my festivities later on in the day, but for now I will leave you with a beautiful song by a very lovely man.

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into the woods

I am just stopping by to say hello and to do something very blog-ish, which is to show off some clothing in an outfit post, which is mostly the reason I started this blog anyway. I love these flouncy little shorts, although they do look like a skirt here which, I must confirm, they most certainly are not.

Sometimes, on my way to my afternoon classes, I'll take tiny detours and linger in the woods for a little while. It's amazing how surrounded by nature I can be all of a sudden, in the middle of such a big city.  

Busy busy week, due to schoolwork and my upcoming birthday preparations! I have so many little things to get done lately but not nearly enough time. x

hullo, april

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

-T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland

Despite what Mr. Eliot says, April is a good month. April is when my birthday falls, and when the sun starts to warm the earth again, and when everything turns green. For me, it also seems to be the month when I decide to indulge and spend a little money on myself. Birthdays involve treating oneself, right? (I've just started to do it a little early).

This whole series of needlepoint book covers is lovely. 

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I adore my rabbit pin the most of all, and my new houndstooth cape. 

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I just purchased this lovely dress from my favorite etsy shop, Quaintrelle. I can not seem to resist when it comes to Peter Pan collars. 

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