Here comes the sun!

Oh dear. I vowed that I wouldn't update this week, but here I go. I know it's a silly thing to promise - shouldn't I be promising that I will update? - but everything is so hectic this week and I'm trying not to succumb to the distraction of blogging. Obviously, I've failed. I got a little something in the mail today that I just couldn't resist showing off!

I do promise that I will post pictures soon of clothes with actual people in them, not clothes that are just on a hanger. Ha.

As you can see, I was so giddy that I didn't even bother to take the time to take decent pictures. It's dark out and my tripod is broken, so I had to resort to crappy pictures with a point-and-shoot with the flash on...but I think this particular item speaks for itself:


I won this on Ebay last weekend and I couldn't be happier! Somebody pinch me...with my obsession with yellow and the 20's, it's seriously a dream come true. So gorgeous that I'm resorting to cliches. The only thing wrong with it at all is a few places where beads are missing but it's not very noticeable.

And now onto something a little more relevant - I've been stocking up for the grand opening of our Etsy store, so here's a little preview of coming attractions:

Vintage swimsuits!

I hope you all are having a lovely week - it's supposed to get up to 80 degrees this weekend and I can't wait! School and everything else are stressing me out quite a bit, but all I have to do is think of my sunny dress and the sunny weather and everything's all right. The Beatles really do know everything, don't they?

- Laura

Summer Wine

The weather is back to the bitter chill of Michigan spring; those few blessed days of sunny warmth seem to be only a happy hallucination. So I did what any person dragged down to the depressing depths of despair would do: look through pictures of warmer, more joyous days.

These are pictures from Vera's senior photoshoot; they are summer incarnate.

Sartorial temptations...

Vintage 1980's Laura Ashley sailor dress, via pineapplemint @ etsy

Today, I'm wearing my teal boots and a teal bow in my hair. Not ridiculously matchy-matchy by any means - just coordinated. It was only when I grabbed my blue and green umbrella and put on my teal sunglasses that I thought, Okay, maybe this is a little ridiculous.

I find that I'm always drawn to teal and mustard yellow above all else. (And emerald green, when I can find it - my three favorite colors!) Sometimes I have to fight the temptation to buy something just because it's in one of those colors. But I can't help it - I just think they're so lovely.

I also think that I'm going to have to be physically restrained from going too literal with my nautical inspiration. I have been so drawn to sailor-inspired dresses lately that I'm afraid when summer comes around, it's going to look like I'm in costume! Oh dear.

So when I found this dress on Etsy, it was just too perfect for words - it combined my love for sailor dresses and my adoration of the color teal. Score! I debated for a month or two about whether I should buy it - I've been trying to save money - but then I realized that I would probably never find another dress that was more "me" so I went ahead and bought it. It arrived only two days after I ordered it and I absolutely adore it! It definitely needs to be altered - for some reason, the long sleeves and the length of the skirt absolutely dwarf my incredibly statuesque five feet, three inches. I can't figure it out! Ha. So, once I can get near a sewing machine that works (Esther's is broken), I'm going to take off the sleeves and take the hem up. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

So what are your style temptations? Do you have too much of a certain color/style in your wardrobe? Well, maybe "too much" is the wrong phrase - if you love it, wear it, I say.

Be sure to check out the rest of what Pineapple Mint has to offer!

Opposite day

Well, as Esther said, Spring has sprung. Unfortunately, today (the first day of spring, no less), Mother Nature is PMSing something fierce. I awoke to a little blanket of snow outside...and yesterday, I was running all around town in a little sleeveless dress! Weird.

top: part of the "500 Days" dress, via ModCloth | tank top, tights, & shorts: Target | boots: Shi | coat: vintage, gift

These pictures are actually over a week old. Oops. They were taken in the midst of all the bridal show madness, so I've only had time to post them now. I love the peacock feather top - ModCloth never disappoints - but I'm so upset at myself. It came as part of a dress, but I spilled mayonnaise on it the very first day I wore it! So stupid...I'm trying to figure out a way to salvage it, because the stain is being quite stubborn.

I'm torn about the weather. On one hand, it's probably best if it's gray and gloomy until the semester ends, because otherwise I won't get anything done...but on the other hand, I'll be glad when the snow melts (or, as my dad put it, "When the last sneezes of winter are over"). I've got spring fever something fierce, which was not helped by walking around gorgeous East Grand Rapids yesterday with Esther. We're planning to move to that area in a few months, so we're doing house hunting and all that delightful stuff! Makes me long for summer days when I can ride around Eastown on my bike at dusk, maybe stop in to the Sparrows for some iced chai...oh well. It'll come! Right now I'll just enjoy life as it is, because it's kind of beautiful. I've got a ton of stuff on my plate (and some exciting opportunities coming my way) and I have to believe it will all work out.

Anyway, here's a wonderful music video I thought I'd share. It's bound to usher in some spring spirit. Enjoy!

Spring is springing.

Dress: Gift from Laura; Belt: Thrift store; Shoes: Target

I was very displeased to be working so much this week; I have barely been able to revel in the unusually gorgeous weather. It's been a miraculous few days of sunshine and warmth, and I've missed all of it.

The one chance I had was today, on my lunch break. I was sitting on the bench outside my work, soaking up the sunlight, when a creepy man came outside and lit his cigarette. He grinned at me in a sketchy way, and I pretended to be very interested in my lunch. He then proceeded to try and engage me in conversation about how he "never thought a bridal store would be named after me" and "I'll never marry anybody." If I were a bit more audacious, I would have mentioned the good a wife would do him- especially in lowering his level of creeperyness.

Anywhoodle, dear children, I hope you are enjoying the weather- wherever you may be.

Kisses,
Essie

Jeepers creepers, where'd you get them peepers?

A homage to my little brother's newest pets- and our soon to be organic egg producers!

Clyde, the ridiculous and adorable.



My favorite, Ogaleesh Lootah (Sioux for "Red and wears a red coat.")





The trio of the golden chicks- Clyde, Mary, and Hildegarde Mabel (affectionately known as May.)


Clyde says goodnight and good luck.

A Midsummer Night

I've been sifting through old pictures; and unfortunately "old pictures" equals "summertime pictures". Throughly depressing stuff, I can tell you.

This is a memory lane trip; last July, we threw a midsummer night's style bash in my backyard to celebrate Vera (Laura's sister) & my birthdays. Our largest tree endured nails, twinkle lights, and curtains for the sake of the beauteous decor. My cousin played his guitar and lullabied us all night; we ate delicious food until the mosquitoes decided we were delicious, upon which we promptly went indoors. Among the happy festivities was an impromptu Bar Mitzvahs style circle dance around the birthday cake. In short, best birthday ever.



...Handmade swing...



We laid blankets over the ground and set pillows against the tree.





My main lesson from this post:

Children, reuse, reuse, reuse. We bought nothing for this party except wire for head wreaths. All decor was either begged, borrowed or stolen- a variety of vintage items we had, including clocks, mirrors, and curtains. Don't let the lack of monetary funds prevent you from throwing a gorgeous party. Be creative, and play with what you have on hand.

Kisses,
Esther

Summertime and the livin' is easy.

I hope you saw Laura's earlier post of vintage bathing-suit inspiration... because this suit was created based on some of those images! Many thanks to my amazing grandmama, whose help was needed for the technical difficulty encountered with this.

The Process:
1.) Collect images/do a bit of style research.
2.) Assemble pattern (based of a pants shape for the bottom, top was mostly guesswork!)
3.) Use vintage curtains (always, always, always reuse and recycle.)
4.) Cut it out, piece it together.
5.) Play with the fit/ruching/etc.
6.) Voilá vintage!

Laura & I hope to soon make many of these and make the vintage style suit more widely available to fabulous ladies like yourselves. Thoughts?

(My favorite thing about this suit: because of the cotton fabric, it makes a perfectly adorable top when paired with a high waist skirt.)


Kisses,
Esther

Happiness is _______________.

I've been a wickedly unfaithful blogette; I do apologize profusely. I shall make a serious effort to be better.

I recently bid my wisdom teeth ADIEU and was thus crowned the chipmunk queen.



Que bonita. No.

However, the remarkably beauteous weather we have had lately has more than made up for it. This morning I drove with the windows down, ate lunch on the sunny deck, and went for a barefoot walk. Summer, I can hear your song.

Recently I watched "Shall We Dance", an Astaire/Rogers film, and immediately fell in love with that dashing pair all over again. Ginger Rogers, you are a thing of beauty. Women of the world, aspire.

Kisses,
Esther

So very young, so very young were we

dress: vintage, via Coat of Many Colors | cardigan: Target | jazz shoes: Charlotte Russe

I do believe this is the first outfit post I've done without an item from ModCloth! Kind of funny, since the ModCloth section of my wardrobe is actually quite small. This is a dress I bought at the Coat way back in September, the first time I ever went there. It's hard to believe I've known that store such a short time - I've worked there (well, in the basement) for almost as long as I've shopped there.

I wasn't a bit cold while taking these photos - hooray! I know I live in Michigan, so it probably won't last, but spring is definitely making a case for itself. This whole week was one gorgeous day after another.

Anyway, these last few days have been extremely productive! Let's hope it carries over into this next week...I'll be on Spring Break, which really won't be a break at all because I have so much homework and so much to do to get ready for the bridal show, which is officially in less than a week. Eep! The website is really coming together, though; after an intense productive session at the Sparrows (my favorite coffee shop/second home), almost all of the galleries are up. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I did a photoshoot on Tuesday with Matt, the owner of Coat of Many Colors, and Alex, who is a fellow basement-dweller at the Coat. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of those pictures soon. It was so much fun; it may or may not have involved breaking into an abandoned house - I'll never tell! One of our last stops was at one of the Catholic churches in Grand Rapids, and as we were taking pictures on the front steps, a man walked by and said "Congratulations!" to Alex and me. Of course, we didn't bother to correct him. It was kind of hilarious - there we were, "getting married" on a Tuesday afternoon, me in a short-sleeved dress in the 30-degree weather - but it was sweet of him, anyway, and the three of us all got a good laugh out of it!

The title of this post comes from the Andrew Bird song "Souverian." I've been listening to him almost nonstop, along with Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, and the Soil and the Sun (Alex's band - check them out!). Bon Iver is really fall/winter music for me, but mixing it with these other bands really makes it feel like spring is coming!