Home Decor and Playing Catch Up

 The house is coming along- starting to feel more like a home. I've been hitting thrift stores like a mad woman and found some cool things like this vintage globe. 

 CJ's mom got us some ikea stuffs and now our books and records finally have a home. On the left- a washboard for our Southern themed housewarming party and a cardboard cutout of Colonel Sanders that CJ made.

 I finally got my needlepoint framed and hung.

 And the kitchen is now being watched over by the last supper. I've had that painting for 5 years- we found it hung up in my first apartment and it's had a place in every one since.

And our couch finally arrived! I was worried that it wouldn't get here in time to be Miss Eka's temporary bed. But it came in last week and she got into town yesterday so all is well.

Brand Shining New Obsession

ML turned me onto Pintrest which appears to be a virtual pin board for all your lovely to do/ to have/ to remember photos and images. You can upload and share those inspirations and find brand new ones to steal your hard earned money. 


My apologies if this site ruins your life like it has mine...


Please accept some nifty music as reparation

Relocation

Hello again. As the title hopefully indicates, I've decided (mostly) that I want to and will move out of San Diego. Despite my best efforts, I am completely wasted on my hometown. I've never lived outside of California and maybe the biggest reason, I'm bored and want a change. So, I'll be packing up the essentials (clothes, shoes and cat) into the car and heading back east. Rochester Ny mainly- South Wedge area specifically.

SW is pretty much a mix of Golden Hill-South Park and a little barrio thrown in. Turn of the century buildings, vegan bakeries and about a million coffeeshops. (That last one is high priority) The area is just now going under gentrification, so it's still got a lot of flavour without one being swamped with drug-addled trash. Living in Rochester means I'll finally be part of my extended family, I can watch my baby sister grow up and I'll be able to rent an awesome architectural place without needed three jobs and a roommate.

In addition to the Farmers market done weekly, they have Wedgestock- a craft/food/music/arts fest something akin to the Adams Ave street faire.

Oh, did I mention the community based victory garden? I will most defiantly be going in on a plot here.

Plus Rochester has it's own waterfalls. Two of them actually.

 And they do a Tweed Ride! Now, yes I know San Diego also has a tweed ride and I've never gone. But that's because I'm lazy and San Diego has too many hill for my curvy ass to go pedaling up and down.

 Highland Park- Rochester may be crazy small compared to SD but it's got some serious beauty to it. I realize this is a pretty ambitious undertaking, between saving up enough cushion money, a 5 day cross country drive with a cat, finding a new job and apartment. Not to mention I've never lived with "real" weather before. But I can't help being excited at the prospect of moving.

Southern Fried Summer

Well, now it's been some time since I've posted. I guess that's because not all that much has been happening due to the disgusting heat. Blegh! But today, the girls and I went to the Golden Hill Farmers market to visit Miss Eka at her new job with Southern Fired Vegan BBQ. (I know, it confuses me too)

 It was balls hot but I came prepared with linen and parasol. The girls ate fake chicken and cheese steak sandwiches, we drank tasty cran/mint lemonade from the Alchemy booth and photoed cute hipster dogs. And of course, I oggled the new peanut butter guy. That company must only hire gorgeous men. Anyhoo, after the market ended we walked down to the park and sat around on CJ's beach towel and talked religious and took pictures of bees.

 Then, we had a little stop off at Blind Lady Ale House for some midday cider. I can't much get into heavy beer drinking during the summer but Julian Hard Cider? All day!

 

Daily activity and some reflections

Lately, I've found myself with a lot of solo time on my hands- which usually would leave me feeling restless and blue. But I've been keeping myself in good company, nonetheless. Mostly in the forms of epic novels I haven't read in some years.

Last night I found myself sitting at Rebecca's Coffeehouse rereading the Gunslinger and listening to a neat little live jazz band that happened to be playing there. It was a nice surprise and the music went well with my vintage house dress. But sometimes in situations like that, I end up feeling a bit like stage dressing. I'm sure the other folks there assumed I dressed up for the band and were a little confused as to why I was sitting outside the whole time.

Today I ran up to Golden Hill to grab some flowers for my mom at the farmers market. And yes, to catch a glimpse of the cute peanut butter booth chap. Still very cute. Anyway, two people at other booth called out to me as I passed, complimenting my clothing. I stopped and had a quick word, thanked them and went along. On the way back to my car, I started to wonder why every time someone pays me a good word on my dress, I feel like my response is always so stiff and awkward. Regardless of how much I smile and thank them, I always fear I come off insincere and ungracious. I hope that it's just my own perception and not how it appears to other people since those compliments always make my day.

And now, I'm in the process of going back through 100 (!?)  posts of this blog and editing out mistakes and fixing photo sizes. I am that sort of person who is forever looking back-it's my nature to be cheek and jowl with nostalgia. And often as not, I find that the points of my life that seemed blackest during are the ones I remember so fondly. This time last year I was unknowingly in love**


** I think perhaps I need an edit here as well lest anyone get the idea that I've been hiding a romance away in my closet these past 12 month. Love of my life, my friends and my situation- and I'm pretty sure those such loves are the best.

Sometimes people can be such buggers

I've come to realize something in the 4 odd years since I first started dressing vintage. It's 2011, we are the rulers of this little planet of ours and we've made technological, social and cultural advances that are mind boggling And yet, we humans still don't like different. 

Different from us, different from what we know. Deep down on some primal level, people hate the uncommon.

I'm a member over on The Fedora Lounge and in the ladies section, there is a whole thread about comments you get from people when you wear your vintage. And sadly, most of the posts there are from gals who have been taunted and even harassed. People see a lady in a 50's dress or a gent in a suit and hat and out come the snide comments, the giggles and the rude behavior. I've encountered some of this myself;  last night I was just telling a guy that at least half of the responses I get to my clothing are chilly if not downright negative. 

Most of it is from people who aren't trying to be mean but just can't understand why I look the way I do. 

Am I in a play?

Do I work at the Corvette Diner?

Or Disneyland (of all random places)

I've been yelled at by passing cars, called Lucy/Betty/Dorothy/Rosie, asked if I'm a space traveler (?), laughed at and one time been called a bitch by two girls on the street as I was walking by.

This I tend to indulge (for the curious folks) or ignore (for the rude ones)- but I can't help being baffled that such a reaction is garnered from something as honestly superficial and meaningless as clothing. And the answer I keep coming to is people don't like you to be different and sometimes they're just mean about it.

I follow the blog of a lovely and inspiring woman in England who does vintage far better then I ever could. Her blog, Diary of a Vintage Girl  is mainly vintage related but occasionally has some personal posts. And she's been attacked in her comments by random crazies for either being a vintage snob or for not being vintage enough in regards to the personal posts. This has happened at least twice and it's just disgusting to me really. Another example to people not liking different.

It's just clothing folks. Let's get some perspective.

Move up or Move on

It's been an interesting week both eventful and ordinary.

Just got back from my second session of yoga with CJ and Eka. The effect has already been pretty profound- I feel amazing after an hour of yoga. It's new, it's proactive and it's grounding. During the class, I'm not thinking about all the bullshit that's been happening lately. And afterwards, I'm able to accept the problems. And I'm that much more happy for that.

On lighter notes, the Halloween costume is coming along. I hope I can get it ready in time. I suppose I ought to do a photo post but I kinda want to want till it's completely finished.

Finally

After almost 3 months of wondering and waiting, I finally bite the bullet and contacted KJ. I had already accepted that our friendship was over but I couldn't let it go without at least trying to understand why.

I wasn't entirely surprised with the response I got back. But it was apparent that she and I definitely have differing ideas about our friendship.

I'm sad to lose her, since I thought of her as a very good friend. But honestly, I'm also a bit relieved. To know why and to have closure. I don't understand why she didn't just let me know when she decided this, though. It could have saved me months of speculation.

Thank goodness for ML, I know I won't ever have to worry about or doubt her friendship.

Guy crazy

This is nothing new. I've forever had fleeting little infatuations with boys and men who spark my interest. Actors, my TA's at college, coworkers. I've just never grown out of that fourteen year old mentality when it comes to guys.

But unlike most fourteen year olds, my tastes run less to the Brad Pitts, Beckhams and who have you. No, I much more fancy guys like Chris Maloney, Devendra Banhart and my current crush, Donal Logue  : )

Yeah, so he's a little chubby. And a little scraggly. He's also a Harvard graduate with spot on humor. I remember first seeing him in the Jimmy the Taxi driver commercials for MTV years ago. Very interested to see how his new show, Terriers, pans out. Let's hope it has a longer shelf life then "Life".

And, no, his resemblance to The Former Fancy, both in appearance and demeanor, is not lost on me. What can I say, I have a type. There is just something so enticing when a man has that sharp, sharp bearing.

It's so humid today-

Haven't had a chance to post this week- I've been up to my false eyelashes in preoccupations.

Selling a large chunk of my vintage wardrobe on The Fedora Lounge. Mostly shoes that never get to hit the pavement and dresses my size 16 ass will never fit back into. 

OK little side note here (in which I'm going to betray all womankind and *gasp* revel my measurements!)

I'm a 43-32-42. A modern 16, roughly. Those same measurements back in the 1950's were a size 20. I never understood why sizes were shrunk over the decades. Was it so as women got chubbier, we didn't have to suffer the shame? I mean, really....Does wearing a modern 6 rather then a vintage 10 actually fool you into thinking you weight less then you do? Sheesh.

I digress. The mass sale has a two fold benefit. I get more closet space for new clothes and a little extra scratch to fund a new home decor piece I'm commissioning on etsy. 

And now for some pictorial illustrations of the aforementioned points-

 Now, what on earth could this end up being? 9,000 brownie points if anyone can pick up on the lyrical reference.

Newness to fill up that closet space- Mary Green camiknicker. Finally. It's been back ordered on dollhouse bettie for months now. I finally just canceled and ordered straight from M.G.

Arrived in 4 days.

I promise my next few posts will not include photos of me in my underwear :)

Haphazard

This past week I've been all over the board- so lets see how many tags I can hit in one post.

1. My main focus has been furnishing my soon to be apartment. A difficult task what with no money and no storage space. My newest want- this Hat Stand from Urban Outfitters. Which I must order online since I couldn't bare the sham of actually walking into an Urban Outfitter. Brrrhhh!

2. Ordered my 7th pair of Perfect heels from DSW- I had no choice since they finally re-issued them in blue and in the 4+ years that I've been dressing vintage, I have yet to own a pair of blue heels. I had to buy them.

3. Went to a party for the lovely EG  on Friday. She officially quit her mundane job to become a yoga instructor. As if that's not awesome enough, there was a bounce house. I'm still sore today.

4. Found a thread on The Fedora Lounge that shows you how to use a vintage rotary phone off your cell line.

 How neat is that?

5. I've been thinking about Idyllwild quite a bit lately. Not really sure why, it's just been popping in my head this whole past week. And the more I think about it, the more I find all I want is to be back at the cabin again. I guess it makes sense- what with all the bullshit thats happened in the past month, getting over with The Fancy and pissing "friends" off and thinking too much on The Ex. Slowly but surely, I realize I'm being cut out of that group of people. And that's putting me in a really lonely state.

So, if I'm going to be lonely anyway, I might as well be lonely in the mountains.

What's that- 11 tags?

Not too shabby.

It would seem that I'm not very good with people

I'm not sure why but lately, I'm just striking out left and right with folks.

Yesterday, traffic was especially bad on the way home from work so I stopped in Golden Hill to wait it out. The coffee shop was unusually vacant of any friends (which was fine by me. I had some serious crosswarding to do)

However, PN stopped by for a bit and we had a chat. A really very awkward and confusing chat. He just seemed so uncomfortable and like he couldn't wait to leave. He didn't sit down, rather hovered a few chairs away and avoided eye contact. We're not very familiar with each other but we've always been friendly and had enough to talk about in the past.

Maybe it was just an off day for him.

But sometimes I feel like people have nothing to say to me. Am I really that disengaging?

And then today, I found out that I hurt a friend with a situation I'd thought was over. Only the thing is, I've never really thought of them as a friend, just someone I'm familiar with through others.  I don't know how to feel about all this. I didn't mean any ill will towards them, honestly they didn't factor into my thinking at all.

I'm never happy when someone is hurt or offended by my actions. But I'm really having a hard time feeling bad for it.

Ka.