tweedy

scarf - import shop in Copenhagen / tweed wool blazer - vintage, mom's / striped shirt - thrifted / overdyed skinnies - Zara / purse - custom, valhallabrooklyn via etsy / woven flats - UO

Just a few photos from a lovely fall walk in our new neighborhood. We got the keys to our new place just over three weeks ago, and since then we have been working on it non-stop - from fixing broken doors to caulking windows, replacing our refrigerator, painting our six (six! seven if you count the vestibule! but of course, they're all tiny) rooms to putting up shelves and negotiating turn-of-the-century closets that aren't even deep enough to put a hanger in straight. I haven't bothered with nail polish or makeup in weeks, and it isn't unusual these days for me to find paint on my elbows in the middle of the workday.

Still, it's been fun rediscovering some old favorites as I slooooowly unpack my clothes. Case in point, this herringbone tweed blazer, definitely one of the nicest vintage pieces I own. It was part of a suit my Mom wore as she was just beginning her professional career, and I now love pairing it with more casual outfits to give them some classic texture and shape. It's also been the perfect outer layer for the fabulous weather we've been having lately, and I've been trying to get out and enjoy it as much as I can in between our many home improvement projects.

detail-oriented

striped shirt - thrifted / braided yellow belt - H&M / wool pencil skirt - vintage, thrifted / tights - Target / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / purse - birthday gift from mom, Banana Republic / brogues - Primark

Oh hello there! I know, it's been ages since I posted anything here on the blog (even my mom chided me on my slow posting), but things have been pretty hectic around here these last few weeks. While my poor blog's been collecting internet-dust, I've been off starting a new job, moving to another sublet here in Brooklyn, going to birthday parties and housewarmings, apartment-hunting (and finding!), and generally giving my unlimited Metrocard a run for its money. We really haven't found a way to integrate taking photos for the blog into our new routine, but I decided to give it a shot yesterday morning in the three minutes before we ran out the door to a meeting with a real estate broker. Of course, it turned out that our adorable studio sublet isn't actually big enough to take a full-length photo, so you'll have to use a little imagination to picture this outfit in its entirety. Hopefully things will settle down a bit soon and I'll be able to get back to blogging with a bit more regularity.

thoughtless

jean jacket - LOFT, thrifted / necklace - clyde's rebirth / striped dress - Old Navy / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / purse - Athens tourist shop / woven flats - UO

It will probably come as no particular surprise to regular readers of this blog that, if I had my druthers, I'd be happy to just wear this outfit every single day. In fact, up until these last few days,* I'd been creeping dangerously close to doing just that. Although we've only been here a week, I've somehow already grown bored with everything in my suitcase (didn't I used to have a lot of clothes in there?), but fortunately this dress and jacket combo still manages to make me feel great on days when I'm not up for thinking about what to wear.

*When New York decided to belatedly welcome us by approximating the interior climate of a steam room.

birthday suit

brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / fox-print tank - Forever 21 / belt - vintage, thrifted / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / linen skirt - vintage, thrifted / purse - Athens tourist shop / woven flats - UO

Thank you all for the well-wishes on my birthday, both here and on Twitter, I had a great, fairly low-key day. Chris and I have been scoping out potential neighborhoods all week (we're in a short-term place for now), so we spent most of the day on a long walk all the way up to Williamsburg and back. We decided we're definitely too old and uncool to live there, but we'll still visit for the abundant taco trucks and flea markets. On our way I got an extra-lovely birthday surprise - a job! I hadn't expected to get something so quickly, so I'm absolutely thrilled - and now we can actually start apartment-shopping in earnest. We went out for a double-celebration dinner in Park Slope, then ended the night drinking wine on this lady's fire escape.

long shadows

dress - vintage, thrifted & hemmed / belt - vintage, thrifted / shoes - Target

I hope you'll forgive me the slightly melancholy tone of this post; in many ways, these photos feel to me like a lament for the summer that's nearly past. While I'm sure the season of heat and humidity is far from well and truly over here on the East Coast, the days of simple dresses, sandals, and long shadows seem to be rapidly disappearing. Today there's very nearly a chill in the air, and with it the anticipation of change. We move to New York this weekend and begin in earnest the search for jobs and apartments, setting out on an entirely new chapter in our lives. While I am excited about these changes (and particularly about seeing the end of suitcase-living on the horizon), I will miss the last nine privileged months of wholly unstructured time.

repeat offender

graphic top - totem via Topshop / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / purple jeans - Uniqlo, thrifted / woven flats - UO

Remember these pants? I loved them so much that I couldn't help borrowing them from my mom to wear to dinner over the weekend... and then again to the aquarium yesterday. I love the bright plum color and the slightly cropped length. They also proved the perfect complement for this colorful top, I picked up on a trip to London four years ago and have never really figured out how to wear, as it seems to somehow fall in between work-wear and casual-wear. Somehow these purple pants (magically?) make it feel infinitely wearable. For dinner out (with dear friends S. and her husband), I dressed this outfit up with a black blazer and studded flats, but a quick shoe-change made it feel equally appropriate for a fun day-trip with Chris.

Be sure to head over to Everybody Everywear today to see how other bloggers styled up their favorite colored pants!



P.S. Thank you all so much for all your sweet comments on my new haircut!

alexalike

brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / fox-print tank - Forever 21 / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / wide leg jeans - Gap

After months of inertia and indecision, last week I finally printed out a handful of my hair-pins from Pinterest (Alexa Chung and La Klum featured prominently in my ersatz collage) and headed in for my first proper haircut in two years. In some ways, what one chooses to wear to a haircut seems pretty important to me, as it's one of the best ways you can give a new hairdresser some sense of your personal style. I like to think of my style as generally rather 'cute, but low-key,' so I went with a fun printed top, wide leg jeans, and my favorite go-to accessories. I didn't end up going for anything too revolutionary, just a long-ish bob, but my hair feels so much nicer now without all my old straggly ends. Now I'm looking forward to experimenting more with styling it - and of course, if all else fails, it's still long enough for a sock-bun.

bestriped

trench - H&M / striped shirt - H&M / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / watch - Arkanoplatz flea market, Berlin / red jeans - thrifted / brogues - Primark

Some photos from yesterday, offered (almost) without comment. I wore this for a rainy day of thrifting with Tania, who is completely awesome and has successfully made me just the teensiest bit sad that I'm leaving DC soon. (I mean, honestly, anyone who sends you home with amazing homemade cookies is a true friend.)

secondhander

jacket - thrifted / dress - vintage via etsy / belt - vintage, thrifted / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / boots - Peter Kaiser, vintage via rummage sale

I didn't realize until putting together this post that everything I wore today is second-hand. It's silly, but wearing outfits that are entirely made up of items that are homemade or second-hand always gives me a little sense of satisfaction.

Today it was lovely and cool (and, ahem, seriously rainy - hence the porch photos), so I jumped at the chance to bring my favorite boots out of storage. I went to a rummage sale in Princeton* last summer with the way-too-specific-to-ever-work-out hope of finding a pair of vintage, cognac leather boots with a low heel and some kind of detail at the ankle, and immediately fished this pair of mint-condition boots made in West (!) Germany out of a rubber bin filled with shoes. They were my size, and they were.... $2. This is what dreams are made of, my friends.

*For any NJ readers, it was the annual White Elephant sale at the hospital - seriously, do not miss it!