Wishlist

Being on a super-budget at the moment doesn't stop me from making googly eyes at yummy bright summery things. So of course I do the logical thing and make a post about what I want right now (because looking at it constantly is going to be really good for my already poor self-restraint, sure).

Bright Chiffon Skirt, Forever 21

More floofy, high-waisted skirts: I only have two! The mushroom skirt from the post below, and the black one from the New Orleans post (which I got from my first ever H&M visit in Atlanta-- I expected it to be full of gorgeous goodness, but alas! I don't know if the Atlanta store is just less-than-great or if I went on an off week, but fellow bloggers are always wearing amazing things from H&M and I was left unimpressed. Sadness!) Teal/turquoise is my second favorite color (after green) and so I obviously need a skirt like this. The fact that it also comes in pink and yellow is really not helping.

Jeffrey Campbell lace-up booties


Jeffrey Campbell Doo lace-ups

The perfect black booties & something tall and strappy (or lacey, I suppose): I can't help loving booties, despite the trendiness. I'm not crazy about the name, but the shoes themselves are quite lovely (although booties is better than "shooties," which is just ridiculous and should never be used). I've been on the search for the perfect pair for months and months, and I think I've finally found them with Jeffrey Campbell. And for the full effect of the second pair you have to see them folded down and in action, a la Nubby Twiglet. Covet covet covet.

That's Hot! Pink, Need Sunglasses?

Bright nail polish: Right now my nails are Teal the Cows Come Home with silver glitter on top. They remind me of cotton candy! I don't know why I'm suddenly into nail color as much as I am, but I'm fairly convinced that I need a really bright, hot pink color for the summer. Even though it's called "That's Hot! Pink." Horrible name.

I've developed a new obsession.

Audrey shirt: Buffalo Exchange, New Orleans; handmade mushroom skirt: Funky Monkey, New Orleans; red shoes: Urban Outfitters.

Yes I just got back from Florida and am wearing Minnie ears, no I didn't go to Disney! I've actually never been to Disney, but hopefully that will be remedied next year when the Harry Potter theme park opens. I am a giant geek and love HP conferences, and the one next year (Infinitus) is coinciding with the park opening. I just hope I'll be in a position that I'm able to go, since it'll be the summer after graduation and Hectic Life Things might get in the way. But anyway... Minnie headband, yay!

Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, & the Disney store outlet.

Right now I'm obsessed with headbands, which is kind of a big deal because I'm usually too paranoid to wear anything on my head. But I've finally realized that it's an easy way to fix hair-boredom, so I bought a ton during my trip and have been happily wearing them.

Gala Darling recently made a post about making your own headbands (she shares my intense Marie Antoinette hair love!) by just hot-gluing all manner of things onto a plain headband. This is so appealing to me that I can't even stand it. And of course I saw the Minnie headband in the store and immediately thought of how she wore those pink sparkly ears for a while! Except hers are the real kind from Disney and not a kid's headband.

Top row: from The Other Side vintage in Tallahasse, FL; bottom: rings from a random chain accessory store in New Orleans (a pansy! a spider! a rose! Had to have).

That sparkly disco bracelet is my new favorite thing. I'm convinced it goes with everything, although that's probably very untrue.

If anyone is in the Tallahassee area I highly suggest paying a visit to The Other Side vintage shop! They had piles and piles of purses, jewelry, knick-knacks, art, etc. Some things were a bit too pricey, but I can forgive them because of how fun it was to look through everything. I didn't buy any bags, though-- there's something about seeing tons of them together that takes the fun out of it! It's much more exciting to find something excellent hidden in a thrift shop somewhere (or on Etsy, where they're usually much better priced). I did pick up a couple of bags from other places, though:

Blue bag from a flea market outside of Pensacola, FL; wooden (!!) bag from flea market in Georgia.

I think I'll miss the Pie Lady and the mime most of all.

Having oysters at the French Market Restaurant, drinking Bloody Marys on our balcony. Headband by Vie Moderne, polka dot dress: thrifted

Note: I realize that I have a Bloody Mary in almost every picture, but I'm not a big drinker and have hardly been drinking at all! I've had several Bloody Marys because they're my favorite, but just one every now and then. (Except for Wednesday, when they got away from me a little bit. Oops.) And about the Pie Lady: there's a woman on Royal St. that sings "PIE LADY PIE LAAADY" in this weird warbling tune. I love her and thought she was a bird at first.

Oh gosh, I love New Orleans. It's our last day here and I'm sitting outside on the balcony of our hotel that overlooks the little shaded courtyard. The weather has been really nice today, not super hot and kind of cloudy and threatening-to-rain.

I feel so comfortable here, and since it's our third visit we actually know our way around pretty well (even I do, and I have the worst sense of direction ever!) I just love the weirdness of it and how you can go through the French Market/pedestrian mall in the evenings and see Tarot readers and dancers and musicians and mimes. I think I'm the only person in the world that loves mimes.

This week we've had muffalettas at Central Grocery, taken a cemetery tour of St. Louis #1, ate dozens and dozens of raw oysters and crawfish, snacked on pralines, and relaxed at Cafe du Monde in the evenings. And of course lots and lots of strolling around, looking at the architecture. We found a bunch of neat little places-- like an out-of-the-way coffee shop on Royal St. with a secret courtyard, and a cafe with the most delicious rosewater (for me) and mango (Jeremy) gelato.

Being blurry with my new nerd glasses on the balcony of the French Market Restaurant (again), making a wish on Marie Laveau's tomb, a little sweaty in the market on Sunday night.

My outfits have pretty much consisted of the same thing during the day: some kind of loose t-shirt, loose flowy skirt, and somewhat comfortable shoes, which is why this grey shirt keeps popping up in photos (we did laundry, I promise). I kind of refused to give in completely to wearing comfortable walking shoes (mostly because I didn't have any until stopping by Urban Outfitters the other day) and this is evident by my blister situation. But I've gotten over my weirdness about not wearing tights!

Jeremy because he wanted to be on the blog! Jewelry from Ragin' Daisy on Chartres St. The pink ring reminds me of a crown and makes me feel ridiculously cheerful!

In the morning we're leaving for the second part of the trip-- driving from here to Daytona Beach, FL., and hopefully finding good thrifting spots along the way. It's going to be so weird to return to real life after all of this.

Leaving!

Cardigan: Forever 21
Dress: Thrifted
Shoes: Thrifted by my mom
Pansy broach: vintage, flea market
Sunglasses: Target

And we're off on our trip!

Well not quite-- we're in our hometown right now because we had to drop off Weetzie and Sisyphus (dog and cat) with the parents, so all of those pics (except the first one with the luggage) are from my parent's house. Very green! We're leaving super early in the morning and taking the day to kind of drive all leisurely and stop off at interesting places instead of hurrying straight through, so we'll be in New Orleans on Friday morning. I can't waaait!

I'll be back on the 22nd, and I'll be making a few posts here and there while I'm in New Orleans and Florida so that I don't feel all neglectful. And hopefully I can upload pictures to Flickr as I go so that I don't have to sort through a billion when I get back, but who knows how that will go.

PS: Look! Collecting vintage luggage isn't a useless hobby after all!

We're two parties. Two parties ending.

Left- Shirt: Target Jeans: F21? Boots: dept. store, Ashley Judd Bow-tie necklace worn as bracelet: Etsy, Heresy Designs '80s patchwork bag: Thrifted. Middle & Right: Over shirt: thrifted Tank: Target Skort: Thrifted (the skort makes a reappearance!) Tights: Hue Necklace: Etsy Bag: vintage American Tourister, thrifted Granny boots: vintage, Etsy.

My straight-on-at-the-camera face always looks like a confused death stare.

I cheated a little here: the first is what I wore to see The Horrors and The Kills at Cat's Cradle Tuesday night, but I had to recreate it since I didn't get any pictures then. The second is what I wore yesterday. Last (ish) tights of the summer! Hot weather seems to be here to stay, and I've been planning outfits for our trip that feature a distinct lack of tights. I'll admit, I have absolutely no idea how to dress for hot weather, I just kind of panic and whine and feel like I'm melting and try to get away with wearing tights as long as possible. When we first moved to this apartment last summer our air conditioner broke during the heat wave and I almost gave up on life in general, so dressing interestingly wasn't a priority for a while. I feel kind of boring and self-conscious without tights, but I'm determined to get over it this summer! That yellow bag isn't the one I posted about several weeks ago-- I recently thrifted this one across town from where I found the other. It's a little smaller and can pass as a normal bag, I just wish I had found it when I was still in college and had a lot of crap to carry around.

I've loved The Horrors for a couple of years now, but I only just started getting into The Kills last year. They were both amazing; The Horrors played all new songs from the upcoming album, and The Kills have the most amazing chemistry I've ever seen between two people, ever. I'm awful at trying to describe music, but The Horrors have this kind of frantic, manic energy, and I know both their first album Strange House and their EP by heart, down to every little blip and scream from start to finish. Their sound for the new album is going to be much more languid and mellow, but without losing that tension. And The Kills-- they are the absolute sexiest music that I've heard in ages.

(Not my photos! Of course I didn't bring my camera. Photos from here, although I don't agree with that review at all. I hate when people dismiss bands because they don't have a drummer or a bass player, it always aggravated me when people would say that about The White Stripes. Just listen to the music and stop worrying about the format!)