portland day one

vintage pullover, old cut off shorts, vintage boots, fjallraven bag

Since it's National Coffee Day, I'll start with these photos from Stumptown in Portland (which is actually attached to the Ace Hotel, next time I want to stay there). I had their coffee every day I was there, it was so addictive. I even brought home a bag of their Hair Bender blend for BF which we enjoyed this morning before driving over to work. Mikey and I came across this location when we wandered around downtown trying to figure out what to do and chatted with the super friendly barista who gave us helpful tips and ideas about where to go (try doing that at Ritual in SF where the workers are sour and rude). Their coffee is way better anyway.

Look at me, I'm wearing shorts! The Bay Area is currently experiencing a nasty heat wave and it seemed like Portland was feeling some of it too. I had been wearing pants on the flight but had to change into shorts when I couldn't take the heat.

tulle be, or not to tulle be

crop top, aa; tulle skirt & wedges, yesstyle;

It has been awesomely warm in LA the past week and I really love it. The heat reminds me of Palm Springs! I've been purchasing a ton of really odd pieces lately, at least odd for my taste, this tulle skirt being one of them. Normally, I despise all things similar to tutus or petticoats, something about them just really irks me. But oddly, I really could not stop thinking about this skirt when I first saw it and 3 days later I bought it. I've been wearing it everywhere! Speaking of LA, my friend Johnny Makeup asked me to pass the new Cobra Book along to all of you, it highlights some cool places to hang out in and around LA!

Suspender

peter pan shirt, uo; vintage suspender trousers, moschino; heels, marc jacobs;

These suspender pants are one of my most treasured vintage finds, I always feel so elegant and tall in them. My dream pants! Also, I had been tracking these heels down for MONTHS, and they are finally mine and have become the jewel of my shoe closet. Thanks to everyone who emailed me link suggestions from the last post, there's nothing more enjoyable then mindless web surfing. I've definitely added a lot of new bookmarks!

updating from portland...

vintage levis gingham shirt, acne needle high waisted jeans via shopbop, h&m cardigan, vintage lace up boots

I've been delaying this post far too long, forgive me, I've been busy. Last week I booked a last minute flight to the Pacific Northwest (!!!) and I am currently sitting in PDX waiting for my luggage. Which is late. Umm. Whatever, at least I'm here! These outfit photos are from last Sunday when Brent and I went out for ramen while the food ones are from the following day.

shades of greige henley via ssense, b.son cardigan, april 77 jeans, mezlan shoes

Had to include these photos, even if they're just shots where I'm testing out the lighting on BF. Those jeans are so old lol. I guess things do get better with age? Hah. I also wanted to thank everyone for your comments on that last post, it's nice to see that so many of you don't think of me that way and understand where I'm coming from. The internet is a tricky place but I'm dealing with it. Thanks for your support, guys.

Lunch at El Metate in the Mission. I'd been going for their tortas for about a year now but could never get BF to come with me. The thing with Mexican food in the Mission is that you're so used to having at least five or six restaurants in the same block serving so much of the same stuff that you never really bother to wander anywhere else. El Metate is a couple blocks east of BF's place so it's quite a walk but was totally worth it in the end. He had chicken enchiladas with green salsa and I had a torta with breaded chicken milanesa on dutch crunch (!!!!) and torilla soup. Soooooo good. And it's pretty close to Humphrey Slocombe too if you're in the area...

Anyway, since I didn't really get to vacation this summer I'm really glad I'm taking this last minute trip. I haven't been up here yet and I'll be in Portland until Sunday when we take Amtrak to Seattle to help my friend's sister move in. Plus Camille's going to show us around tomorrow which means awesome food and doooooooooooooonuts. Oh my gosh, DONUTS!

five

Some links to a few of my favorite places on the internet, places I visit when I'm feeling uninspired! What are some of your favorites, please share.

Synaptic Stimuli Great collection of inspiring clippings. My favorites are the scientific diagrams!	thankyoubaby This is a store not a blog, but the styling is perfect and the girl is drop dead gorgeous. I want to visit Korea simply for the purpose of visiting this store!	TEXTBOOK I adore John's walking feet animations, and his tweets always make me laugh to myself.	Backyard Bill Great photography+some of the most fashionable men on the internet. I really love the way he creates a mini window for us to peer into these people's lives!	Obsessive Consuption Cute daily illustrations of all the things Kate buys.

dirty feet

basic tank dress & wedges, yesstyle; cat eye earrings, vintage;

You know when you can tell people are thinking "uh...that's a little strange" as they look at something you have on? These earrings definitely evoke those kinds of looks and I just laugh to myself on the inside. A few weeks ago, I found these vintage cuff links and I instantly knew they had to be mine. I took them to my jeweler friend and got them made into creepy earrings. I've been pinning one of them on my lapel also as a brooch!

My little sis & photographer, Nour absolutely abhors this dress and calls it "the maid's dress". This thing is so easy to throw on and feel good & comfortable though, she just doesn't understand!

weathered

jumper & nude mini, aa; wedges, celine;

The past week has been somewhat of a whirlwind: a very short stint at nyfw shows & parties, shoots everyday, and this plaguing sickness i've had for over a week. My voice is going on a roller-coaster ride, first it was non existent, then it went in a seal/donkey direction (thanks for pointing it out, denni!), and now it's got a weird resemblance to Fran Drescher. All versions are ugly! I'm starting to feel better after some much needed rest today, thank goodness!

I've been searching for some unique pieces of furniture & home decor pieces. I've gotten a couple vintage 60's era chairs so far, but I'm still searching for a perfect bed or headboard. I'm going to check out a flea market tomorrow in hopes of finding something just right. Where are your favorite places to buy furniture, build, buy new or thrift?

the happy couple

on me: apc dress, h&m cardigan, vintage booties, fjallraven backpack
on him: apc shirt, april 77 jeans, ymc oxfords

I wish I could follow these photos with a detailed and flowery description about how wonderful and picture perfect our day was but actually, I don't wish that at all, I like the lulz that accompany this story. We took BART downtown to the only Del Taco in the city where we were harassed by multiple crazy people (God bless their souls, really, but we were way too cranky to deal with that). My go-to order? Two Del Classic Chicken burritos, they're 2 for $5!! Then we walked to the mall so Mike (BF's roommate) could pick up some war memoir at the bookstore and I made my routine venture into J.Crew to oogle everything there/try to convince Brent to buy more collared shirts.

We left empty handed and stopped by Coffee Bean where I tried to assuage my post-J.Crew window shopping pain with a Jasmine green tea latte. I guess I pouted so much (total understatement) that BF said he'd buy me that Saint James shirt that I wanted. I said he didn't have to (I mean, that's the coy thing to do right?) so we ended up going back down to BART to get home in time for the special episode of Jersey Shore until I stopped at the ticker and yelled "OKAY I WANT IT!" So up we go, up three flights of escalators until we end up at J.Crew (again) and I quickly snatch the shirt and give it to BF. It must have been karma or something but right when BF got in line to pay, my insides started to act up and next think I knew I was running to a bathroom and... well, I'll let you guess what happens there. Ten minutes later, I was still feeling sick and nauseated but Jersey Shore was about to start so we ditched BART and took a cab to get home in time.

Don't know what inspired me to write about all of that but this Jezebel article has been in the back of my mind for quite a while now. Somehow I got lumped into this "Marthette"category about bloggers with seemingly perfect lives which made me question my own approach to blogging... I mean, am I really that misleading? I try to be honest in what I write but damn it, I just really like looking at and taking pretty pictures and am insufferably picky about what I post. I just want to find and capture those fleeting moments that make me so happy, whether it's an outfit that brightened up my day enough to want to share it or a meal that I feel people may like to hear about. I love hearing about people who travel to San Francisco and try restaurants that I recommend or readers who tell me that my simple little outfits helped them find out something about their own personal style. And hey, pictures can be pretty and all but there's always so much more to people's lives than what you see on the internet and it's up to you guys to discern between the things you see and don't see.**

But I really, really do love my life even if I tend to complain about it. I love my boyfriend, I love my friends, and damn it, I really did have a ton of fun yesterday so every smile you see is genuine (especially this picture inside Del after finishing my burrito). I don't like embellishing my life or pretending that it's picture perfect since I'm perfectly content with the way it is and where it is going.

*for the record, I'm surprised these pictures turned out well since we were caught in a gust of wind as Mike took them and were both freezing so much that we huddled up and clutched my latte cup.

**also, I am not trashing the article at all, I can see where the writer is coming from. What you see online can be misleading but my point is that viewers should know that a blog cannot encapsulate every single detail in a person's life and it varies from blogger to blogger how selective they choose to be with what they post. I'm a very private person, I share what I want to share with people I don't know and keep the rest to myself or friends. If everything seems too perfect and impossible, I'm sorry, but there are things that happen to me behind the scenes that I really don't need to share on the internet (although I'm pretty sure that if you actually read my blog you'll find those random bits where I talk about having a bad week or complain about some stupid situation). I'll still make more of an effort to seem more real, okay? Even if that means more of my uncensored dry humor or current obsession with "Africa" by Toto...

Gott's Roadside in the Ferry Building

Since when has Taylor's Automatic Refresher been referred to as Gott's? Oh, whatever, it's still good. This is where we spent our Labor Day eating classic American fare, fries and all. What's more American than a bacon cheeseburger (BF's chicken sandwich?) and cola? Yes, yes it's a total tourist trap but who cares, it's still pretty damn good. Here you guys can finally see BF's new hair which is my favorite haircut so far, although sometimes I miss his cute lil mop.

I also had my photo taken over at Work it Berk so ch-ch-check it out. I looked a little sloppy since I'd had a bit of a hectic day but ehh, what can I do? That's what school does to me.