ask miss belle for some of her sweet tea

pulled pork with coleslaw + fried okra (and hush puppies and a pitcher of sweet tea) at thigs’s bbq house.

miles

snead’s ferry

i’ve been away in north carolina, in an unfortunately-named tiny town right on the water.

the snack you can pack

mini togo packages of pickles! sweet petites!

score!

i recently had the best day ever at the thrift store! i started to wonder if it was some kind of trick and stacy and clinton were about to jump out and confront me over my love of polka dots. the above is what i got after some tough choices made in the dressing room.

weaver's store

a very long, very stuffed rack of housecoats. weaver’s is full of the basics: bins of white underpants, super-cheap duck shoes and work boots and lots of cheap fabric. they also have an automatic mini doughnut maker at the food counter in the lobby!

just me and my shadow

just go with it

the excitement of a rare visit from a good friend quickly vanished when we got strong armed into driving 30 minutes to some “club” to meet up with others instead of just heading across the street to the town bar for our own catch-up friend time. we spent the entire drive there just straight hating on the entire idea, place, night…we were not happy. but even through the blur and light flashes in the above photo, you can see that we had the best time ever in the world. a simple reminder to just GO WITH IT and see what happens!

one stop shop

favorite taco ever of all time

a friend recently had a suggestion for my tumblr – post more pictures of tacos and less of “arty shit” and call it favorite taco ever of all time. until that dream becomes a reality, here is just one picture of a favorite taco - the rubio’s carne asada street taco!

summer fun: mikey meets the dog park

hot summer walks are no fun so we went to the dog park as often as possible!

summer fun: 53rd annual

a summer tradition

summer fun: heirloom tomatoes

tomatoes, ricotta, basil, lemon and pasta....super summery work lunch

summer fun: mikey meets kelly drive

a super sunny fun walk along kelly drive, full of geese and rowers and way too many bikers. bikes are scary when walking with a zigzagging puppy.

summer fun: picking blueberries

summer (not that fun): mikey meets a bee

mikey was stung by a bee ( i think) and his lip was crazy swollen for about 30 minutes. though he looks so sad here, he really didn't notice at all.

summer fun: the rodeo

updates update

i'm working on updating the shop and blog! it has been a busy summer with lots of fun stuff to share (here and on etsy) but not a lot time to do it! but soon!

this sweet cardigan is in the shop now. it would be perfect for tonight - it is the first really perfect a-little-bit-cool night.

things that i like to listen to lately...

always a party in my headphones.

lazy sunday

rainy day

it is 1 pm on a rainy saturday and i have already:

gone on a walk in the neighborhood

gone on another walk along the river

played at the dog park

gone to whole foods

gone to starbucks

read a magazine

watched E! news and some animal planet

repotted some plants

had some puppy playtime with neighbors

cleaned

started some cold brew coffee

hooked mikey up with his new harness

made lunch

...if i didn't have a puppy, that list would be so much shorter! i guess there is a sliver of a silver lining for getting up at 7 am on a saturday.

i'm now working on uploading tons of new items to the shop, including this pretty top!

secure

a recent updo required quite a few bobby pins. i didn't count these (too tired), but the count from the practice updo was 30 pins!

hanging out

the giant hamster

is really a capypara who has a blog about his life as a pet!

mikey meets a dolphin

ok, not really! this is a cuteoverload.

if david lynch directed dirty dancing...

embedding disabled by request

lucky the ducky

lucky the duck

favorite

molasses cookies from shady maple are possibly the greatest things on earth. soft and spicy and wonderful.

puppy prints

summer fun

mikey meets a turtle

refrescos

que chula es de puebla
2nd & master

really good sopes and green salsa

summer daze

investigating the creek

the cocktail hour

lots to do during the cocktail hour - in a sweet tent trimmed with handmade paper pennants and tables topped with hand-frosted ball jars (made by my brother) and patchwork table cloths (made by a friend). guests were asked to sign a quaker wedding-inspired certificate (made by a friend), remember our dearly-missed friends and family and write a note to the couple on vintage postcards (instead of a guestbook). homemade beer and a super-summery cocktail were served. guests found their placecards tucked into sod and then posed for funny photos in front of a lena corwin-inspired tapestry wall. seriously fun times.

and there they go

here comes the bride

musicians

family friends (a father-son team) played the music for the ceremony. here they are practicing before it begins.

before

getting ready

bunk house

even the bunk house is super cute at the lake

waking up

this is my view from bed at lake moraine in new york. the groom's family and friends all have lake houses here (they call it "camp"). tiny and adorable and right on the lake. they remind me of the house that baby and her family stay in in dirty dancing.

a sunny moment

lawn bowling

rehearsal

the wedding was at the groom’s family home. the ceremony took place in a small cutout section of a field with hidden paths for the wedding party to walk along. in a string of rainy days, the only time the sun really came out was for the happy and confusing and fun rehearsal.

lovely day

i’ve been away in fantastic upstate new york for my sister’s wedding. it was a great extended weekend and super-wonderful wedding. lots of fun, rain and love! i was in the wedding, so didn’t get to take as many pictures as i would have normally but plan to post as many as i can here so stay tuned for some real cuteness coming your way!

if i were a thrift store i would be...

hampden junque! super-tiny but packed with tons and tons of stuff. i can spend a million years in there looking at all the stuff (it's so packed that you miss things the first walk around). tons of...well, junk. just little tchotchkes and whatnot. goods i have bought there through the years include a general hospital coffee mug, a peewee herman christmas card (they have a whole peewee section), and this cuss box.

claymobile

in the joann fabric parking lot in york, pa. which is probably exactly where you would guess it would be.

wrapping

i started off wrapping my smalltownvintage goods in brown paper, tied up with rikrak from this MASSIVE spool and topped with a cute little “thanks & enjoy” note. last time i went to buy my umpteenth roll of brown paper – i thought about what i was doing…i want to send a nice package to people (because that is always fun to receive!) and protect the goods but i also don’t want be wasteful and buy this paper to wrap something that doesn’t really need to be wrapped. dilemma. i tried a few other options – vintage sewing patterns, random old tissue paper i had laying around, even some used plastic bags (with some ribbon to try to make it pretty)…nothing is really working for me. any ideas? or should i just not even worry about it?

the three amigos

fishy

my favorite thing in the world is an organized thrift store - by color or, in this case, general theme. love it.

we see a lot of these

we see tons and tons of cats in windows on our daily walks

like person like puppy

white on white

made just for him

we found a hoagie box on the street with mikey’s name written all over it – literally.

outside

lazy sunday

giant flower

at black creek

all together on one plate

some bread pudding talk on neon relish reminded me of the amazing mac & cheese bread pudding french toast from shopsin’s. that is all one thing on one plate. together. totally crazy (good).

always/never

neon relish tagged me with fashion always/nevers!

the rules are: list five always-and-forever and five not-so-favorite fashion-related items, add any image(s) you’d like, then tag three other people to do the same.


Always
- tanks for layering (usually grey)
- gold charm necklace
- scarves (usually grey)
- stripes + polka dots
- flats + slip-on sneakers

and a bonus always-always: a nice color combo / pop of color


Never
- tattoos
- mules + clogs + slides (open-back shoes)
- leather pants
- logos
- sheer tops


pretty simple stuff. i'm wearing 4 of them right now. always.

tag time: leann, lana + bridget!

enjoy this day

outside of a thriftstore in my hometown

lazy sunday

(PS this lazy sunday is still pretty funny)

45 mph

i came across this photo recently. i took it while going across the golden gate bridge on the top of a double decker bus. we were whizzing by everything so fast and everyone was trying to peek through the wind at the scenery and take blurry pictures. windy and chilly and hilarious.

no really

i'm working on adding tons of new (summery!) stuff to the shop! this dress is for sale now - so cute. it reminds me of something maria from west side story would wear - the day version of her gym mambo dress.

mikey stops to _______ the roses

sniff sniff chomp

folded

an easy and fun project - paper cups made to hold veggies

keep cool

the lucky bride-to-be got a box full of goodness from french broad luscious chocolates at the bridal shower! seriously, if you haven't checked them out yet - DO IT! amazing. and they have mail order BROWNIES now!

vegan margarita cupcakes

we made these awesome cupcakes for my sister's bridal shower last weekend. they were so good! the only issue was the icing - it had a tough time setting because it was so hot and humid. it was a little runny but still pretty tasty!

rise and shine

on the move

moving day!

this is for my block

evenings for the past few months have consisted of mikey and i out on the block hanging out with our neighbors - especially a handful of seriously sweet and hilarious kids. the youngest took these pictures, including one of my favorite learning to ride his the little mermaid bike (complete with shell pedals).

roses and roses and

there are so many roses in my neighborhood. mikey and i discovered the world's largest bush (TOWERS above me) on a kinda abandoned little alley backstreet near our house.

also on this street, tucked in with the razor wire and abandoned factories, is a (also somewhat abandoned) treehouse! roses and creepy empty shell houses and treehouses...seriously going to miss this neighborhood!

bear and rooster

there is a magic little lot on lawrence street that is filled with astro turf, fake trees bearing fake lemons, faded stuffed animals, crumbly structures made with pieces of wood, a giant bear of a sweet dog and a rooster. bear and rooster, best friends themselves, are mikey's very favorite animal pals in the neighborhood and a must-see on every walk. we are going to miss them when we move this weekend!

at the playground

pouting under the slide

working on it

getting ready to add a ton of new stuff to the shop this week

i'm scared of balloons

but this was really fun.

and the sky was made of amethyst

violets in the yard

(click here to listen to that song...you know you want to)

the kids in america

 
 <

cloudy day

 

4th & Master

 
 

mikey likes to take a break on his walks to stare at (and lick) the tiled house on the corner of 4th & master. so do i (minus the licking).

dogwood

 

oh hi

 

adorable

 

corners of my home

 

i love this little spot. the plant + pot are from ikea and the vintage sewing table + yoyo runner are from my grandmom.

puerto rico, ho!

 

this mural is on my little tiny alley street

mikey meets a pigeon

 

and stares at it for about 10 minutes

what are you?

 

gone in minutes, these dried strawberries were just so amazing that they had to be filled with secret sugary goodness.

lilacs

 

is there anything greater?

wedding craft weekend

 

my sister is getting married soon and we all got togther to work on some of the special handmade details. can't wait to see them all in action!

mom

represent

jesus take the wheel

utica club

the drink of choice in...uh, utica.

i bet if i were smarter

i would totally have a hawthorne reference about golden light in the woods on the ready for this photo but i just don't. pretty though, right?

fixins

for posole

forgotten friend

photo found in an old family album. everyone thought it was me, but i knew better. we finally remembered that she was a daughter of long-forgotten friends. called "katie baby", she the younger of the kates.

the ladies of the house

at the harding farm in clinton, new york

grand

the staircase at the harding farm in clinton, new york

wallpaper

amazing vintage wallpaper at the harding farm in clinton, new york

a little barkley

sir mikey?