OOTD: April 22nd

Shirt: James Perse

Pentagram Cage Bra: DIY, here

Leggings: From GoJane, but weirdly unlabeled

Shoes: Modesta (similar to these)

Black velvet photographs so strangely- it doesn't seem to reflect any light, so it just turns your legs into black holes, haha. Good to know, I guess, if you ever wanted a really rich (and probably expensive) black background for photography...

These shoes are pretty but they're almost unwearable. They're from Modcloth, but not the ones I linked above- maybe those are better. 

NYC Snapshots: AKA Dogs, Mirror-Selfies, and Shit I Bought

I've really got to try and take more relevant pictures. I don't like to play tourist and stand outside taking photos of tall buildings and junk...but there's probably a happy medium between that and.... this. But nevertheless...

Hometown Barbeque in Red Hook. I don't know if it was actually amazing, or if it was just really, really good and I was really, really hungry, but either way I recommend it. I do have a picture of the food but I don't think the suave city boys making gross chewing faces in it would appreciate my posting it. So instead, here is their rather charming bathroom.

I met an excitable Boston Terrier named Liam who lived in a curiously long apartment with his two dogfathers. He is the source of the aforementioned dog drool, btw.

I decided at some point that it would be funny to text pictures of dogs to my husband all weekend, just to be annoying. I will spare you most of them. This dude was cute though. Travis suggested I start a tumblr called "Dogs of New York".... I assured him that that must already exist.

Last time I was in NYC I went to Purl Soho, which is a gorgeous shop, but I thought this time I'd mix it up and go to Downtown Yarns. In my light-packing frenzy I hadn't brought any yarn or needles which was obviously foolish. I purchased both. This is Madelinetosh DK in the rather amazing Cosmos colorway.

I also bought this necklace and a random-ish gift shop- I'm fairly sure it's not a real porcupine quill, I think it's burnt wood. Pretty, though.

This is what I look like hiding in the dressing room at Urban Outfitters so I can sit down without being cold or spending money- not an easy thing to do in Manhattan.

An amazing elderberry-lime soda, the best of a great many drinks I purchased in order to use various coffee-shop restrooms. Notice the self-defeating-ness of this strategy. Regardless, I now have the drive to learn to make "mocktails" even though I can't say that word without gagging on the tweeness a little.

On Tuesday I had some time to kill around the garment district so I stopped into Kinokuniya, a huge English/Japanese bookstore with an amazing English-language fashion section (because duh) and a fabulous Japanese-language craft section, including these obscenely adorable needlefelting kits. I didn't buy one...but it took a lot of willpower. (There's another Kinokuniya just outside of Portland, in a big Asian grocery store, but I'd only ever made it over there once or twice and I think it was almost exclusively Japanese.)

This is Vinegar Hill House, which was literally across the street from the apartment my friend and I were renting (which is remarkable because there is NOTHING else in that part of town, heh.) It's hard to see, but above that weird wheel thing is a window made of agate slices. I am completely obsessed with it. Definitely having a pretty rock phase, lately. Also, amazing cornbread.

Plane pup! A satisfying end to my dog-pic-texting (poor Travis.) And no, I don't know why he was allowed to fly all free like that- maybe an anxiety dog? But he behaved like a total champ and deserved that seat to himself.

Packing List: 3 nights in NYC

I have to admit, I am absolute crap at packing light. This is mostly because I'm a klutz, and by the time I take an item of clothing off, there's a pretty good chance it's not fit for another day's wear. So even though I fawn over other blogger's "capsule wardrobes" and what-have-you... there's just no chance I'm going to manage a 3-day trip with one pair of pants and two shirts.

But still, I love peeking into other people's suitcases, and as long as it still fits in the carry-on.... hey!

The list:
- Comfy jeans (for the plane)
- Black jeans
- Blue jeans
- 3 tees
- 1 tank
- 1 flannel shirt
- 2 sweaters
- 1 hoodie (for the plane)
- Leggings (for sleeping)
- Leather jacket
- Water resistant jacket (for the day(s) it was supposed to rain)
- Knee-high boots
- Black flats, just in case
- Scarf
- Hat (I ended up bringing a yellow one and a brown one, rather than black)
- All the requisite socks & underthings

If I'd wanted to pack lighter I could've reworn more of the clothes and only brought one jacket, but even so all of this fit into a carry-on easily.

Other tips for hopefully-not-having-to-check-a-bag:
- Hoard bath & body samples like it's your job. A lot of natural-ish food stores will occasionally have them (one of the shops near me periodically does a "spa day" even where they give out a ton) and they are so great for short trips when even a little bottle full of shampoo is too much. Also hoard tiny bottles- anything that you don't have a sample size of, stick it in a tiny bottle. I even brought about 1/2 a square centimeter of liquid foundation in a tiny plastic container that once held a lotion sample.
- Bring the smallest device you can get by with. In my case, my phone was fine. It would've been nice having my laptop, but not worth the trouble.
- Leave space in your suitcase, or bring an extra bag just in case. You're probably gonna buy stuff, c'mon.


Here's how the outfits played out:

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Sunday night: insanely good BBQ with friends

Jacket: Theory
Shirt: OP
Jeans: Grane
Boots: Franco Sarto
Tee: BDG
Hat: a modified Bivouac

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Monday: Checking out shops, lunch with a friend. Notice the room around me getting messier as I go.

Jacket: Green with Envy (it was supposed to rain this day, though it barely did. Old coat, can't find a website.)
Sweater: Roxy
Jeans: Hollister (I can't go within 100 feet of their stores because they reek of perfume, but I found this pair used and it turns out they're crazy comfortable around the waist while still being good 'n tight. Score.)
Boots: same as above
Glasses: no clue
Hat: Corone

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Tuesday: Meetings of a secret and covert nature in the fashion district. You can't tell, but there is a small amount of dog slobber on the jeans- I TOLD you I can't be trusted to wear things twice! Luckily it wasn't very noticeable.

Sweater: ABound
Jeans: Grane again
Scarf: Collection 18
Hat: same
Boots: same
Ended up wearing the waterproof jacket again as it was lookin' mighty misty.


I'll spare you my flying outfit- let's just say I prioritize comfort, heh.

I didn't take a ton of pictures during the trip (as you may have surmised from the shitty mirror selfies, the only camera I brought was my phone- packing light, see?) but I did take a few- I'll post 'em up tomorrow :-)

Inspired by: Agates

 

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Kids, science is pretty cool. 

OOTD: April 5

Tee- J Crew 

Leggings- Helmut Lang 

Shoes- Aldo 

Pentagram bra- DIY, link here 

I am off to New York in the morning, on top secret business that may or may not stay top secret, depending on how it goes. Also gonna bum around in some cool shops I can't afford. There's a fair chance I'll end up blowing all my money at the Strand and then not be able to get all the books home. These are the risks you take.