film

These are some photos from the first roll of film I shot in years! I took photo classes in high school, but that was probably the last time I shot some. I used this vintage little camera Ali gave me, it's simple to use and I really like the results! I need to learn not to take photos too close, like of my flowers as you can see. I need to stay three feet away at least, but the blurry look on some of them I quite like!

My blurry cat Mongo, he lives at my parents house

My favorite beach on the north shore. The Weld Nature Sanctuary. Some vandals came by and made it funnier.

More of the beach, spent the day their on my own, the water was so nice!

Some of the past weeks flowers.

My favorite of the bunch, taken at a small park while with Jeremy on his break from work in NYC. w72nd street and Broadway.

A lovely set up outside the house of friends Chris and Courtney.

Ambit trunk show at End of Century

Friday I had the great honor of working with Wray and Amber of Ambit again at their first ever trunk show and sample sale which was held at this great shop End of Century which is co-owned by two super cute and friendly girls. Most of these photos are just from around the shop before the big crowds came. I was one of the three models standing around and socializing in Ambit clothing. It was a hot sweaty night in NYC, but everyone came out to give some suport to these great girls! Ambit is really starting to take off, getting press here and there, and it's all very well deserved. Amber and Wray are so hard working, driven and dead on with their style. Sleek shapes, great colors and they do wonderful things with buttons!

Friend and makeup artist Annie Strole was there doing her thing, she writes a great blog where she reviews products and gives her honest opinion. She is a big advocate for all natural products , and so well informed on the subject! be sure to go check out her blog here. Once I find more photos of the night floating around I will be sure to share, there was a girl snapping away photos all night so I will have to track them down! There was also a camera crew doing some filming for a project I can't quite talk about yet.. but it was an exciting night. I love the creative people in the city area I have become friends with, super sweet and very talented!

The Loved One "forever" Shop!

I think most of us, if not all of us know about The Loved One's real, permanent, brick and mortar shop that's now open in Pasadena! Or as I like to call it, a "forever" shop, because of the two pop-up shops the ladies held on both coasts since the birth of TLO. Lovely vintage and pretty underthings were just a fleeting chance back then, now Elvia and Hannah have their own shop, complete with two shop girls and a large following already.

I am really so so proud of them, It was only the end of last year when they received their funding from their Kickstarter project to get the ball rolling. And here we are not even a year later with some pop-up shops under their belt, countless ladies around the world traipsing around the streets with such pretty things under their dresses, and now a real shop! I think it's only a matter of time before they find a prime NYC location, and then TLO will really be bi-coastal! It makes me a bit sad it's all the way over in California, but I have hopes for a visit over there in the coming year, lots of great people out that way I need to meet!

So if you are in the area, or not even, stop by The Loved One shop at 2 Holly Street in Pasadena. Also, follow the TLO shop girls and the goings on in the store at the shop tumblr where you can find cute customers trying on cute vintage, and more!

snapdragons and lisianthus

Last weeks flowers, some beautiful Snapdragons and lovely yellow Lisianthus. My flowers always come from Trader Joe's, usually from the store I work at. But I went to another one on LI last week and I got these there. They had a really great flower section, usually the snapdragons we get at out store come in all crushed. These ones were perfect, they really made my week. I think I might start going there to get my flowers!

The Family Jewels Vintage and Jille magazine

SO, the exciting news I was talking about in my last post goes a little something like this.. So last week I got an Email from this writer Michiko Yoshifuji asking if I would be interested in being in this japanese fashion magazine Jille, they wanted to do a feature on me at my favorite NYC vintage store styling some outfits. And I jumped at the chance! I did not know about Jille, but I have seen japanese fashion magazines in the past, and not unlike this one, they are packed cover to cover with style, and a lot of the time personal style. I know street style is pretty big there, with a huge focus on real people, as well as big trends in their magazines. So I felt it was a good fit, considering I don't like to call this a "fashion blog" since I don't claim to know anything about fashion per say, I just that I like to express myself through my style and document it here.

I do not do most of my vintage shopping in nyc. In fact I hardly do any there! But I have been to a good deal of them, I just like to look around, these are mostly one of a kind pieces and I just love the thrill of finding something amazing, even if I can't afford it. But when I had to choose, I picked The Family Jewels Vintage on west 23rd because of their amazing inventory, and cool shop girls! This place is only a few blocks south of FIT, so when I went there I would come here sometimes just to look. It is quite pricy, but you can find a deal here and there ($138 for this one dress, but I also found a hat for $8) and they have SO MUCH! Things are mostly hung according to era, and then by color, blouses buy cut and style. Even all the summer dresses were all waiting for me on their own rack. The two girls working were decked out in vintage as well, they looked like they had great style and a good deal of knowledge too.

So Michiko asked me to take a look around and style a few outfits. It was fun getting to shop around and pick out whatever, and to get to have all these shoes and hats and bags and jewelry to play with, it was seriously awesome. Plus it was right when they opened to it was pretty much just us. I have a few photos here of the outfits I styled, not the best quality but once I get the issue I'll be sure to post whatever it is they write!

Pretty cool huh? It was also a nice day out, and after when I was walking to the subway, I got stopped by this cool chick who said "Hey, you look like a nice person who loves the planet!" and I do! And then ended up donating money to Greenpeace. I felt good, It was getting a bit hot and she said I was the first person to stop and donate, and she was funny and I was feeling good at the time so, yea. Check out the video about their protest on Matel for packaging their toys with destroyed rain forests!

flora

Sorry I'v been a bit absent this week. I mostly did a lot of working, and it has been ungodly hot and humid here, so I was not in the mood to get very dressed up in this kind of heat. I do have a bit of exciting news, something I went into the city for yesterday, but I will share that after the weekend. In an hour or so Jeremy and I are headed up to western MA once again for our friend Chris' 30th birthday bash! There was a bounce house involved.. but now it seems it's going to rain, bummer! But it will be a fun weekend either way.

These are my flowers from last week, just a simple bouquet. The ones in my kitchen right now are amazing! But I will share those after the weekend too.

June sponsor: Kristin Renner vintage + handmade

My first ever real sponsor post! First up we have Kristin Renner, who runs a cute shop and blog based out of Philly. Kristin handpicks and even creates beautiful timeless pieces to curate her shop. Along with great prices (most items are under $20, can't beat that!) this little lady will help spruce up your wardrobe just in time for summer! And I love local gals, Philly ain't too far away! I took the time to ask Kristin a few questions:

What is your favorite era in fashion?
For me, it always has been and probably always will be the 60's. Everything from that time excites me and I constantly go back to it as a source of inspiration.

What inspires you and influences you when looking for items for your shop?
I get really inspired by the idea of bringing someone back to another period in time with a great piece of clothing. I'm also influenced by a lot of vintage photography and unique textiles with bold color & pattern.

Best vintage find?
I'd have to say this beautiful creme colored silk blouse that I found at an antique shop in Galena, Illinois. Everything in the shop was overpriced and there wasn't much clothing either, but there was this one lovely blouse that I dug out and it was only 6 bucks!

From today until the 14th help yourself to 15% off any purchase at Kristin Renner Vintage + Handmade! Just use coupon code ITGIRL15 at checkout.

And for more pretty things, follow Kristin on tumblr

soaking vintage

Recently I'v been soaking my vintage duds in oxi clean like crazy! I have never done it before, but I always heard it was a great way, one od the best ways, to clean your vintage and delicates (and delicate vintage!) Oxi clean will take out stains you thought would never come out! So I have been on a kick of separating my vintage by color and giving them a good soak for a few hours. It's has been so nice out these last three weeks I just hang them outside for a bit and they dry in no time, Good as new!

EDIT! keep in mind, some things might be a bit too delicate for oxiclean, I had a thing or two get holes in them from soaking, so I suggest something a bit more gental for something really delicate. I know a light soak in dish soap is good for old wool sweaters and such.

denim

I got this denim dress at the thrift store last week. A good simple denim dress is always on my list of things to look out for at the thrift stores. I cam across a really cool one a few years back with braiding and cool shaped cups, kind of like that denim cropped top I have, But it was too big, and since then I just haven't come across the right one. When I saw this 90s stretch denim body con button up dress with belt loops at the waist! I knew I had found you! It's maybe just a tad too small, pulls a bit at the buttons of the bust, but I'll deal with that! to be honest, I'll probably wear it this summer then sell it one day, I'm just not that huge of a denim person, even though I try.

The braided leather belt was also thrifted, not sure from where or when. These awesome shoes I got at a yard sale for $2, they were missing the buckle, but thats an easy and cheap fix at the cobbler. I have to bring them back actually, the heel is starting to bend a bit from the rest of the shoe, hate when that happens! I love these babies!

That last photo is just a cute little spot in my backyard I just kind of moved my photo spot to. We live in the upstairs apartment of my boyfriends parents house, so they live downstairs. This spot is like right in the backyard behind the house, I always felt a bit weird taking photos over there cause I don't know if they are in there watching me! lol. My normal spot is on the side of the houe in the driveway, but these flowers are just so pretty, and it's only my boyfriends parents, who leave us alone most of the time away.. so whatever. I guess I'm gonna have to get used to taking my outfit photos in public, cause I know once I'm living in brooklyn I'll want to take some shots on the street.. so it's time to suck it up! :P

flowers and lace

Yesterday was a lovely friday off with Jeremy, we no longer have saturdays off together (womp womp) but today made up for that, cause it was absolutely beautiful out! This past week has been a bit of a heatwave, but today was sunny and breezy and really just perfect. We went suit shopping for Jeremy for the wedding we are attending at the end of the month. Man is it hard to find a suit that fits just right for under $300! Stuff is expensive! Then we came home, made burritos, then I got to go with jeremy to his band practice they have at one of this friends place, got to hang with his bandmates girlfriend, also my friend. She is also expecting, due in december so there was lots of baby talk, which I don't mind.

This top I thrifted last week, and I will no doubt be selling, so keep an eye out! The belt is also thrifted, the long skirt I got at an estate sale for like $2 I think? It was definitely under $5, such a great steal! I love it, great colors and print and two tiers! When I walk down stairs really fast it billows out around me, I love stuff like that! The flats were a gift from friend Courtney, used to be hers but she just didn't wear them much. I think I have worn them in like three outfit posts now (and plenty of times I'm not taking photos of myself) so obviously they went to a good home :D

heidi braids

After my last few outfit posts wearing heidi braids, I got a few questions asking how I do it, or for a tutorial.. well I did it already! Back in january (when I was still blonde!) I made a quick video on how it's done. It was and still is my first tutorial video, so bare with me! But if ya wanna know how it's done, check it out! very very simple to do, all ya need is some bobby pins.

blogger meet up!

Maybe it's because I live on Long Island, and it's hard to find people who are interesting with some substance and style, but blogger meet ups are like my all time favorite thing! I write this blog because I like to meet girls from all over, and we all share something very special I think. Some of my best friends are bloggers, and some of them I still have yet to meet in person!

Well mark your calendars ladies! Cause June 18th there is going to be a whole gaggle of them in Brooklyn! I'm excited to get to meet some of the ladies from Philly who I have yet to have the honor of meeting. I feel like Philly is so far away, but it really isn't, I should be seeing these girls more often!

So if you are a blogger, and are in the Brooklyn area, come on by! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather!