Thrifted Thursday No. 12

Blouse, skirt, belt and shoes: thrifted

I like that I’m ending the month with a Thrifted Thursday post. It makes me feel a sense of completion in some weird way. I guess that is my OCDness coming out. I especially like that it’s number 12.

This skirt is surprisingly comfortable for hot weather because, even though it’s dark, it’s a nice soft, cool cotton or rayon blend and it’s full and flowy. I don’t know for sure what it’s made of (I just got up and tried to find a tag with that info, but it doesn’t seem to have one), but yeah, it’s comfortable. I was thinking about cutting it shorter, but now I think I will leave it alone. Maybe.

I Started an Etsy Shop

I’ve been wanting to start an Etsy shop for a long time and decided it was something I absolutely had to do while unemployed. I finally got everything posted last night, and I was so excited afterward that I couldn’t sleep. It’s such a relief to finally have it up! It’s called Pasadena Vintage.

Of course there are tweaks and improvements I want to make, but...it exists! And just in time because I’m starting to get a lot of freelance work from a company that my friend works for. I’m going to have to spend most of tomorrow proofreading and editing some booklets for them.

I don’t have a LOT in my shop yet, and I wish I had more summer items to start with, but here’s a peek at what I’ve put in there:

It Must Be the Future

Dress: Theme

Blouse: thrifted

Shoes: thrifted

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Has anyone seen that episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 called “Space Mutiny”? There’s a scene in it when Mike or one of the bots comments on the low-budget spaceship set of the ridiculous ’80s movie they’re watching, “Keyboards on the wall? It must be THE FUTURE!” Well, you’d probably have to see it to enjoy the humor, but that’s the quote I thought of when I put this outfit together. I’ve been thinking this spacey dress and blouse would be fun to layer ever since I saw them hanging near each other in my closet, so today I went for it.

After Jasen took my photos behind our apartment building, I had to get a shot of the beautiful sky, which is below. It’s so gorgeous here right now! I want to go to the beach again, but gas is expensive. Maybe next week.

Oh, and I also posted some more photos below of our cat, Zeus, and our local stray, Juicy. Our neighbor Joe gave him (Juicy) that name, and we all take turns feeding him. I actually want to adopt him, too, but Zeus doesn’t like it when he comes in our apartment and we really can’t afford to take responsibility for another cat right now. Zeus didn’t like Juicy at all when he first met him, but now they’re friends as long as Juicy stays outside. They always touch noses when they meet on the porch. 

Little Gray Skirt

Top: thrifted

Skirt: thrifted

Bag: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

I haven’t been photo bombed by Zeus in a while! It’s too bad you can’t really see him that well, but, yep, he decided to join us today for a few photos.

I kind of threw this outfit together after seeing the photos of the first outfit I’d planned for today. I’ve never done that before, but the first outfit I put together this morning was just SO wrong. This second attempt isn’t all that amazing, but at least it’s comfortable and looks pretty good, I think. I tend to reach for this skirt when I’m in a hurry because it’s easy to style an outfit around.

I went to Crossroads today and was only able to sell one item for $2.98, which was disappointing because I could really use some cash this week. That’s always how it is, though, isn’t it? The more desperate you are, the less they buy.

After Crossroads I went to Monrovia, two cities east of Pasadena, so I could sit and read at Monrovia Coffee Company. It’s one of the few cafes in the area that has lots of comfortable seating and isn’t too crowded. I just hope they stay in business because it was so pleasant sitting there in a big squishy chair with a book and a cheap scoop of ice cream. I also overheard a hilarious conversation between this guy and an old high school (female) friend he ran into (and eventually started hitting on). My favorite part was when he told her that he now has a “beautiful blonde daughter” who is his “karmic child” in return for all the “pretty young girls” he seduced in his youth.

Summer Darks

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

So here is sort of a view of what it looks like behind our apartment building. We share this paved parking area with the house to the south of us. Behind their place are some uncovered parking spots, and behind our building is a carport. Yeah, exciting, I know.

This top that I’m wearing is really old and kind of worn out, but I haven’t been able to give it up. I wore it with this navy blue skirt on Monday but didn’t get a chance to take photos, so I recreated the outfit today. Although I haven’t worn green with navy much before, I like the combination a lot. 

Thrifted Thursday No. 11

Blouse, skirt, shoes and bag: thrifted

This is what I wore today to visit my friends Mike and Kimiko and their new baby boy, Max, in the hospital! You might remember that a little over a month ago, Emily, Ani and I threw a baby shower for them. Baby Max has perfect skin and lots of hair as you can see in the photo below, and he weighed just over eight pounds at birth. Isn’t he sweet? Awwww!

Why Not?

Top: Odille from Anthropologie

Skirt: Forever 21

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

It’s hot and I wanted to be comfortable today doing laundry, taking photos for the Etsy shop I’m planning to start and otherwise hanging around the apartment, so I knew I wanted to wear this loose, casual skirt. I’ve worn it a LOT, though, and wanted to pair it with something I’d never worn it with before. In a different print. So after going through a bunch of striped tops, I finally thought, “Hey, how about the Crossroads-reject top?” This floral top has been rejected by Crossroads several times, and it’s a good thing because I have fallen in love with it again and want to keep it after all now that I see how nice it looks with this skirt.

Pretty on Top

Top: J. Crew, found at Crossroads

Shorts: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of bloggers, including Nicole of Coco Maria and Amber of Amber Blue Bird, pairing pretty tops with shorts, so today I felt like doing the same. I found this silk J. Crew top at my local Pasadena Crossroads, and the shorts came from ACTS Thrift Store in Pasadena. I was amazed to find a pair of completely unstained white shorts at the thrift store because I have been looking for quite a while and have seen all kinds of gross stains on light-colored shorts. This pair is pretty high waisted, so I’d like to show that off by tucking my shirt in the next time I wear them, but this top looks best untucked.

Best Wedding Ever

Dress: vintage

Necklace: belonged to my grandmother

Bag: La Regale, found at Marshalls

Shoes: thrifted

It’s almost midnight and I probably should just wait until morning to post this, but...I want to post it now! Jasen and I got back from Natasha and Mike’s wedding a couple hours ago. It was seriously the best wedding I’ve ever been to. It was relatively small (about 40 guests) and outdoors at a house on a hilltop in Malibu. Everything about it was so beautiful and personal!

I wore this vintage dress that Natasha gave me the other day. I think it may have been home sewn. And I think it might be the cutest dress I’ve ever owned. I want, like, five more dresses with this exact same silhouette.

And here are just a few more photos from the day...

   The view was SPECTACULAR.

   So were the gardens =)

   Pinwheels were everywhere.

   Natasha and her dad...awww!

   The happy couple!

   Jasen and I with the gorgeous bride!

Bunny Business

Top: thrifted

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Bag: thrifted

As you’ve probably noticed, I’m trying to change up the locations of my photos a little more. I’ve been feeling like I should try this anyway, but now I have to do it because our new neighbors have been parking two giant trucks bumper to fender so that they block the two places where I usually take photos. So here I am today in front of the side of a house down the street from us. Fortunately if Jasen photographs me early enough in the morning no one is around to see what we’re doing.

And now for the most important part of this post: BUNNIES! My friend Mary found this rabbit-print top at Quality Thrift when I was there with her and my other friend Anique a couple weeks ago. Mary decided she didn’t want it because it’s kind of short, but since I love to tuck my tops into skirts, I was happy to take it off her hands.

I’m really, really excited to post my outfit for tomorrow, too, because I now have an adorable vintage dress to wear to Natasha’s wedding! When I visited Natasha the other day, she gave it to me. It was an eBay purchase that didn’t fit her quite right and she was kind enough to pass it along. It has the cutest fit-and-flare silhouette, a pretty print and, hey, it’s something she chose, so it will fit right in with her wedding’s style.

Thrifted Thursday No. 10

Dress, skirt, shoes and bag: thrifted

Ha! Even though I’ve been wearing this outfit all day, I just realized this evening as I was clicking through the Chictopia style gallery that I must have been subconsciously inspired by Veronika’s latest outfit when I got dressed this morning. Hers is prettier, but she also wore a yellow top and white pleated skirt. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you may remember seeing the dress that I’m wearing as a top today here and here. I’m happy that I’ve found a few different ways to wear it because it’s yellow and it has a bow neck and I love it. It’s a vintage Sears dress that my sister found at Quality Thrift and persuaded me to buy.

In a Candy (and Soda) Shop

Top: Collective Concepts

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Bag: thrifted

Ever since I read Kathryn of Kitsune-kun’s blog post featuring Candy World in Monterey, I’ve been wanting to check out a new shop called Rocket Fizz that recently opened on Green Street in Pasadena. Jasen and I decided to take a quick trip to Old Town this afternoon to check it out, and we were not disappointed! Rocket Fizz sells all kinds of specialty sodas and candies, including many imported products and salt water taffy in a wide range of flavors. Jasen is obsessed with anything made of ginger, so he was especially impresssed by the ginger ale display. I bought a bag crammed with about 50 pieces of taffy for $3.99.

Oh yeah, I guess I should say something about my outfit. I bought this top from MyShape.com back when I worked for them. I guess I’ve never worn it on my blog before because I’m always feeling compelled to wear more colorful pieces, but I think it works well with this bright pink skirt. The top is edged with tiny silver beads, which, dur, I should have photographed up close because they’re pretty cool.

Orangesicle

Top: Banana Republic, found at Crossroads

Dress: Forever 21

Shoes: thrifted vintage

I was thinking the other day that I should try wearing some of my older, “lazy day” Forever 21 jersey dresses as jumpers. This one in particular seemed like it would work well because its fabric isn’t quite as clingy as that of my other jersey dresses.

I considered wearing a floral top underneath, but then I thought maybe I could make this ruffled top work. The ruffles cascade all the way down the front, and I wasn’t sure if they would cooperate with being stuffed under the dress and pulled out a bit on top. But I really liked the final result! The trim on the top is an “is it black or is it navy?” shade, so I figured if I wore navy shoes it would make the trim seem more navy and less black...and thus less reminiscent of Halloween.

I visited Natasha and Mike in Santa Monica today, which meant I had to drive through downtown Los Angeles. L.A. may be sprawling and smoggy and not particulary romantic, but the tall buildings and palm trees and bridges in the downtown area can be sort of beautiful, especially around sunset, so I felt like taking the photo below as I was driving home.

Weird Pocket

T-shirt: thrifted

Skirt: thrifted

Socks: Forever 21

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

This T-shirt has a weird little pocket that, as you can see, rests above my bust. I really don’t like that, but since I love the color of this shirt and haven’t been able to find another top in this color, I still wear it.

I spent today scouring two thrift stores for potential Etsy items — finding nothing at one of them, blehh to Great Deals Thrift Store — and searching for a dress to wear to my friend Natasha’s wedding on Sunday. I’m having the hardest time finding a dress! I ordered two online that I had to return because they didn’t fit me well, and now it’s too late to try finding something online again. I’ve checked three thrift stores, Anthropologie and Ross as well with no luck.

I may end up wearing a dress that I already own, possibly this thrifted dress that I wore for Easter. In fact, I’m considering recreating that entire outfit minus the polka-dotted top layered under the dress. Natasha and her fiancé Mike’s wedding colors are basically the primary colors (a pinkish deep red, a turquoisey blue and gold, going by the invitation they sent), and I know Natasha’s sister is wearing red, so I want to wear a blue or yellow dress. 

That Skirt Again?

Top: thrifted

Cardigan: Halogen

Skirt: Fei from Anthropologie

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

I wasn’t going to take photos today because I wore this skirt in Wednesday’s blog photo, but I liked how this new-to-me thrifted top looked with it and, what can I say, I love this skirt and wear it a lot. It was a good Anthropologie investment. I almost had a heart attack when I spilled a cup of broccoli cheddar soup on it a couple weeks ago. Fortunately, the stains came out. Yeah, I’m way too obsessed with my clothes.

In fact, I’m really a freak about several cleanliness issues. I can’t stand the feeling of dust on my hands (so playing basketball in P.E. class as a kid was torture for me), I don’t like when the flat sheet or duvet on our bed gets turned around because I don’t want the side that was on our feet to be near my face, I have to vacuum a lot because I can’t stand stepping on anything on the floor, like a crumb or a leaf. I know, I have problems.

Wind Pinned

Cardigan: J.J. Basics

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Target

Pin: belonged to my grandmother

Isn’t this pin neat? It belonged to my mom’s mother. I’m not sure if I’m wearing it right side up, but I liked it this way. It makes me think of the wind or wings.

I hope you all have nice weekend plans! I’m going to a barbecue tomorrow afternoon and have no idea what I’m doing Sunday, which is my ideal weekend: one planned day, one unstructured day. Not that it matters much since I’m still unemployed, although during the week I stay pretty busy applying for jobs, cleaning, running errands and thrifting for the Etsy shop I would like to start eventually.

Yeah, I figured I’d just come out and say it. Like many other thrifting-addicted bloggers, I want to start an Etsy shop for vintage clothing. I’ve collected 12 items for it so far, and I’d like to open the shop once I have at least 20. I’m nervous, though, mainly about making sure I portray the clothing accurately and keeping shipping costs down.

Thrifted Thursday No. 9

Top, skirt, belt, bag and shoes: thrifted

So I’m kiiiinda cheating again for Thrifted Thursday because this skirt came from Buffalo Exchange, which isn’t exactly a “real” thrift store. I hadn’t worn this skirt in a few months and felt like bringing it out today, I think because the color sort of reminds me of the red rocks I saw on my road trip. 

Neutral Territory

Tank: thrifted

Camisole underneath: Nordstrom

Skirt: Fei from Anthropologie

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: thrifted

For some reason I felt compelled to put this cream lace tank and khaki skirt together for a neutrals outfit as I was going through my closet this morning. It’s kind of different for me and made no sense for the weather since we’re experiencing typical California “June gloom” right now, but I decided that was okay because afterward I changed out of this outfit into jeans and a sweater to go hiking with Jasen. So, yeah, I totally did not wear this outfit for more than an hour today. I will be wearing it in the future, though, because I like how it turned out.

Do you tend to plan outfits ahead of time, or do you like to choose what you’re wearing at the last minute? I’m not much of a planner, although when I buy something I’ll imagine outfits I can wear it in. For the most part, I like to choose my outfit on the morning of the day I’m going to wear it. It has to feel right for that particular day. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll repeat a previous outfit...which is a lot easier to do now that I have this blog to remind me of most of the outfits I’ve worn. 

Back from Santa Fe

Warning: This post is photo heavy.

Hello! My brothers and I got back to California from our Santa Fe trip yesterday afternoon. We had a fun and relaxing time there visiting with our mom and her cocker spaniel, Lindy, who rode down with her from Colorado.

Below are some photos from our trip along Interstate 40 and our stay in Santa Fe, which included checking out amazing artwork and crafts, eating enchiladas with blue corn tortillas and green and red chile, swimming and thrifting (though I didn’t find anything, which is for the best since I shouldn’t be spending too much money right now).

I didn’t take as many photos as I would have liked of the scenery in New Mexico and Arizona because huge wildfires were burning in the area, obscuring the views...but I got a few cool shots, I think!

For the last few months, every time I've mentioned Santa Fe, Jasen started singing that song from Newsies...bahahahaha! I would put a clip on here, but I don't know if it's even on YouTube and I'm afraid of being sued.