I'M GOING TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE IN RED SHORTS.
Thanks, Coco Sumner, for keeping my "Where the hell can I find red shorts?!" dream alive.
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Killing-time recommendation? A Nerf gun, like mine. It's the most fun you'll have shooting at people... without actually shooting people. Win-win.
+Red shorts: F21+
+Nerf six-shooter: Target
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I don't think I've properly showcased my "new" glasses. These browline glasses, aka "clubmasters" are like the Ray-Bans, but unlike those, mine have a larger wire frame, they're made in France, and about bajillion times cheaper.
I should really commit myself to become a better blogger, if not for brain simulation, then for the routine alone. What else am I doing now... besides looking for another job?? Oh, that's right, looking for a job. But since I'm already on the computer, might as well as update this little thingie every once in awhile.
Data thinks maybe I should.
** I WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE LIKE A 90s MOVIE MONTAGE:
with Jill Sobule's Supermodelplaying over and over and overandoverandonverandoverandonver. It'll be awesome.
Here's a very, VERY short story.*(spoiler alert: I end up with NEW SHOES).
I'm not a very good storyteller, so bear with me. Let's DO THIS.
My sister, SURPRISE, SURPRISE, finds a pair of shoes she wants somewhere deep in the bowels of the internet (there are times when I'm just flabbergasted at the amount of shit she can find on the compu-tater). She breaks her "I-don't-need-a-new-pair-of-shoes-EVERY-week" rule, bust out her credit card and buys a pair of verrrry cooooool oxfords from Osborn Design.
End of story? NOOOOOOO (sorry, the story's not that short. I gots problem with conciseness).
She sends them to the house (her apartment is "mail/package"-unfriendly); I get the box, open the box, and low-and-behold, inside that box was the CRAZIEST COOL shoes I've seen in a while.
I take a couple of pictures to email Jaya. I call her. Then I tell her, "I WILL BUY THESE SHOES OFF OF YOU."
PART THREE (and, thankfully, last part): The Army Surplus Store.
What are the first places you think of when you guys want to find great vintage or used goodies? Thrift stores? Flea markets? Estate sales? Your zazzy friend's or cooler sister's closest when they're asleep in the middle of the night? I gots two words for you: BOOORRRRRRRINNG (and yes, boring becomes two words when you stretch it long enough).
Next time you get that "I-needs-to-buy-something-before-I-turn-into-a-moody-girl-monster" nervous tic in your eye, try your local Army surplus store.
BOOM. I JUST dropped some knowledge on you right now. I DOUBLE DARE YOU (ohhhh, a Mark Summers reference).
Before you wet your pants from the possible shopping excitement, here are some tips to help you guys navigate this unfamiliar territory:
How To Make Your Way Through A Surplus Store:
001/ IT WILL/MIGHT BE INTIMIDATING AT FIRST: I may come off as totally ass-facey and self-assured in my posts, but lemme tell you a little secret: I ain't (at least, not always). When my sister and I were standing in the parking lot of a surplus store near her apartment, a gallion-ty thoughts were going through my head: "What kind of people are going to be inside?", "What kind of people work there?", "Will I somehow offend the veteran with the hook hand and eye patch?" (ohhh bad joke. don't gets angry at me, hooked arm/eye patched/veterans of the great USA people).
Then we walked through the doors (I think I made Jaya go in first, ha ha) and all those questions just melted away. There were couples buying camping supplies; there was an asian lady buying some basic survival supplies; there was a dude who was yakking on about the Patriot Act and trying to find button-down shirt. All kinds of regular jack offs (hahaha, some of the things that I'm typing just sound sooo mean! Sorry, but half of the time I'm referencing/quoting television. "regular jack offs" reference? my fav: metalocalyspe).
002/ LOOK EVERYWHERE IN THE STORE: The reason I decided to go to the surplus store was because I couldn't really find the army green jacket I've looking for... and guess what? I didn't find it there either.
But you know what I did find? Cheeeeap beanie caps in various colors and sizes; A hat for people longing to be the Captain in a "Captain and Tennille" cover band; Cooool canvas-covered canteens for hippies who don't want to cover the planet with their plastic bottles.
No, I didn't find my dream army jacket but I came away with two purses, a belt fannypack, and the most awesome leather wallet (and a gold whistle for my sister's necklace collection). Don'ts believe me?? Check out the pictures below!!
003/ GO IN WITH A GOOOD ATTITUDE: Hmmm, that sounds like New Age-y advice but it might help some of you. I know if I feel shitty when I go shopping, I end up acting like a dick and a fool and I don't spend the time looking for hidden gems. And who knows, if you act nice and ask for help from the sales staff, you might get the story about the origins of an AWESOME bag (mine came from China!).
004/ "I DON'T GOTS A SURPLUS STORE NEAR ME!": I know some whiny babies out there might not have a surplus store near them (or they didn't look hard enough!), then, like everything else, go to the internet! Back in the day, Jaya and I signed up for Cheaper Than Dirt's free catalogue and found some very usable bags and small duffles. I suggest you sign up for the catalogue because it's STREETS AHEAD (hahahahah) of looking through the website. Plus, if you thumb through the catalogue in a public place it might stop strangers from striking up a conversation with you (or maybe the complete opposite???).
005/ "LESS YAP YAP, MORE SNAP SNAP!": That's my awkward segue into PICTURE MONTAGE TIME!!
A Map bag:: I'm gonna try to sell this on my Etsy store (and yes, it's still empty. booo on me).:
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An Austrian Belt Pouch:: Another Etsy item. It fits on almost any belt; it relieves you from wearing a purse at shows and other "bag-unfriendly" outtings.:
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A Swiss Post Bag:: This bag can hold ANYTHING: tons and tons of laundry; that pile of dirty magazines strewn around your room you don't want your friends to see (I know you have Teen Bop,TigerBeat, and Playgirl under your mattresses); the clothes you keep on stealing from your frenemy/sister; a couple of dead bodies (ohhh, I'm forcing myself not to make crass "dead baby" jokes)., etc etc. Size? About 3.5 ft. tall, maybe 18" across:
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A Leather Wallet with Chain:: I was contemplating buying this beautiful wallet but the price was off-putting. $60?! My sister found something similar at a flea market for $5 (granted, awesome mountain landscape not included) and now it was MY TURN TO HAVE A LOVELY LEATHER WALLET. I love it's color; I love it's simplicity; and yes, I love the chain, too. I loved it so much that I quickly transfered all my contents of my old wallet into it before taking a decent picture.
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A Chinese Shoulder Bag:: My new favorite purse. PERIOD. And whaaaat? Yes, it turns into a backpack (90s dreammmmings coming true):
And so I'm not a tease, Matthew Wilder's BREAK MY STRIDE:
Ummm, I strangely don't know how to intro this one. Sooooo many people have talked about how/where/why they shop at thrift stores so lemme shut my face up with just three words: PICTURE MONTAGE TIME!! (p.s. I'm only going to annotate the clothes that are thrifted. If you want to know where I got one of the things not mentioned, well, then tough shit. Hahaha, joking! Just ask).
-- 001/ The things my sister makes me do: Whenever Jaya takes my picture she screams, "And now JUMP! Ohhh, I didn't get it. JUMP again! Almost!" Necklaces and boobs are smacking me in the face while my knees are making this crackling noise every time I hit the floor. But you know what's just the pits? When she crops various body parts out of the picture (note: LH side picture)! But she manages to get at least a couple of shots, so one point for Jaya.
+Jacket: Salvation Army.
+Belt: Salvation Army.
+Skirt: Salvation Army (same location as above, but at different time).
**SAME DIFFERENCE: Here's Jaya in the same jacket but "jazzing" it up in a different way.
+Jacket: Salvation Army.
+Skirt: Salvation Army.
+[I know I'm making a liar out of myself but...] California Bear Shirt: Flea Market (maybe PCC or Rose Bowl).
Oh, and sorry for the long Family Guy quote, but in all honesty, while I was taking these picture I kept on saying, "This is what it feels like to be a bear. This is what it feel like to ba-hr."
+Romper: Salvation Army.
**INTERESTED?: Here's the other romper that I'm gonna sell:
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003/ Raccoons love Palm Springs:
Apologies now, sister, but this one of the only pictures I have of this strangely adorable raccoon/Palm Springs shirt.
I should prefix that sentence with the fact that I collect and own state/city graphic tees. This one happens to be for Palm Springs, CA (why there's a raccoon on it, who knows?); others that I own: Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta, GA; Toronto, (something state? something) Canada; the states of CA, Maine, and VA; a couple of Jamaican ones ("Hey Mon" & "Jus' Cool"); and one that I thought was for Salem (for either Massachusetts or Oregon) but it turns out to be for the cigarettes. Woh woh.
This a sartorial ode to one of literary's most fashionable gal, Claudia Kishi. Here's my little description that I wrote when I posted this outfit on Flickr's various fashion groups: "Trying to channel Claudia's frenetic energy but mixed in with Dawn's hippie hopes and dreams. I'm off to go eat tons of candy and read ghost stories with my favorite Baby-sitters Club."
If you have no idea what I'm referencing, then you should go die in a fire.
Hahaha, I kid. But seriously, toss your compu-tater outside the nearest window and go pick up a goddang book. Preferably, read one out of Ms. Ann M. Martin's The Baby-sitters Club series (one of the earlier books, not the ones with "Abby." Who the hell does she think she is??) and bone up on some of my first style icons.
This, crazily enough, doesn't even BEGINNING to showcase our recent finds. I found a long sleeve, forest green velvet tunic top, which I understand "sounds" ridonculous, but in actuality is equal parts juvenile figure skater + Christmastime elf; a hand-crocheted top; a jacket and skirt combo; the most adorable (although entirely polyester) floral+black dress.
I have one last part to this shenanigans: The Army Surplus Store.
I have sooo many pictures, events, and other various miscellanea to post that I better get to steppin' before I (almost) completely forget and all of this becomes irrelevant. ENJOY. -- Since our early years in highschool, my sister and I have ascribed to the "buy used" lifestyle. Over the years, we've patronized nearly every local thrift shop we're come across, gone to flea markets almost every Sunday, scoured randomly located antique malls, and have been known to find gems in unexpected places.
We've managed to pick up almost every possible thing used, ranging from adorabledresses, to flammable polyester.... well, anything, to practically all of Jaya's living room ephemera (we even got a smallshout out from apartmenttherapy.com!).
Ahhhh... I'm taking longer that I thought to post what I want to talk about and now I'm just rambling. Allls I gots to say before I kill this baby (hahahaha! a joke maybe only Jaya will get. or anyone who likes "dead baby" jokes.) is: BUY USED WHEN YOU CAN.
001/ Me, me, me: First, here is what I wore. And you have to trust me when I tell you that I'm not unhappy, but that's how I look like, ummmm, moooost of the time? I wished that I could've styled myself a littttle bit better (fix my shirt, pull down my chin, maybe smile), but you know what folks? IT HAPPENED. Deal with it. If you're curious about what I'm wearing, just click on the photo and BOOOM, answers revealed!
002/ Others first:
I thought beyond myself (which is truly a concept when it comes to shopping) and got some clothes for my Etsy store, which, admittedly, is realllly lacking.
I was going to keep this red/gold glitter wrap dress for myself, but then I realized, "Hmmm, I already own a dress similar to this." But if it doesn't sell THEN IT'S MINE, allll mine.
Now this dress. I LOVE this dress. I love the color; I love the hand-sewn lace on the neckline; I love length and look of the skirt portion. Unfortunately, however, it's not my size. IT'S NOT MY SIZE! But I know in my heart of hearts some lady out there will just kill it, KILL IT, in this peachy number.
003/ Now for the excitement:
I went into this flea market looking for what I always look for: shirts and eyeglasses; instead, I come away a pair of slamming boots and an adorable white dress.
The dress looks really unflattering in this photo but, again, trust me, it's adorable. Yes, it does look like white Hefty bag with eyelet cutouts, but put a belt on and call it a day! And (again) I ain't angry. Hahahaha.... gettin' faced by my face! Ohhhh, face!
Now the boots. They are Guess by Georges Marciano and they are RIDICULOOOOUUUS. Am I right? Normally, I wouldn't look twice at this type of boot (the pointy toe made them questionable) but when I realized that they were my size I tried them on and YES.
I'm tired. I'll post a picture of how I wore my two new purchases on my next post. Outie 5000.
Jaya recently told me about this Radiolab podcast on memories and how there's a "Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind"-ish pill that scientists have created which can "help" animals forget short-term and long-term memories.
Can I gets an opposites pill of that?
There's been a handful of things that we've done over the past few weeks that I want to jot down SOOO'S I DON'T FORGET WHERE I'VE GONE/BEEN/DONE (aka the whole point of this shenanigan).
Sooo here's a list of things I need to remember to do/post/send out: 001/ Happening upon an antique fair/flea market in Torrance; Gorging our faces in Japanese goodness @ Mitsuwa.
002/ Verbalizing my LOVE of seeing and enjoying El Perro del Mar and Taken By Trees @ the Troubadour (and me looking like a GIIIAAAANT).
003/ Sending out pictures of recent family birthday outings to.... family.
004/ Giving the Facebook equivalent of the "cholo head-nod" to a couple of friends.
006/ Taking pictures of my blossoming tomato plants.
007/ Blame my lack of face-time with the internet on TV and jingoism (mmmm, jingoism. one of my favorite words to say, along with antebellum and tenzing norgay.). Winter O-LYM-PICS, ANYONE?! USA! USA! Highlights for me: Johnny Weir's long program, the speedskating mindfuck known as short-track relay race, Queen Kim Yuna, and ANY men's figure skating outfit. PLUS: Lost, Modern Family, and The Inbetweeners are rounding out most of my nights. --
Let's bust one OUT and do... #001.
How to make this concise and succinct? Jaya and I started out at the Melrose Trading Post/Fairfax Flea Market and what a total bust. Tooo many people and not enough good deals. So we bounced out of L.A. and drove down to Southbay (Torrance, specifically) to eat Japanese curry and do "light" grocery shopping.
By happenstance, we found a large-ishly AWESOME antique flea market (post-delicious lunch, pre-shopping) which made Jaya angry on two counts: 01) Vendors were starting to close-up their shops and 02) It painfully reminded her of the Paris flea markets (where she once roamed many-a years ago) because the booths/shops were sprawled throughout the small, deserted streets of Old Torrance. Somehow the putting away of goodies does NOT deter me from snagging an adorable Native American-y (or is it Indian American-y? Maybe? Ehhh) purse for $10.
You can see Jaya's heart breaking jusssst about NOW.
We also duck into a Piller's (like a 90s version of a Lohmann's) where a verrrry outspoken hippy liberal owner ("Republicans hate me because I have long hair" or vice versa.) sold me on a buttery-soft (and incidentally, butter-y yellow) leather pouch purse... which Jaya is now using as an oversized necklace.
And YES, the purse on the left looks like the one I'm already wearing. GOTS A PROBLEM WITH THAT?? And YES PART TWO, we bought 2 purses on the same day (within one hour. SHAME).
The last part of our day was spent at a JAPANESE GROCERY STORE. Shopping. Hardcore shopping.
It was kinda a blur.
Why?
The short-story version of what happened: Got inside and a front-of-the-store kiosk was selling winter wear for a 20% discount. BOOOOOM. New plaid shirt ($7!), "Jus' Cool" Jamaican shirt, and a rose-printed scarf (REMINDER:: Must take pictures because it's AWESOME).
Imaginary conversation:"Where'd you get that shirt?" "A supermarket?"
Then, we ACTUALLY get inside the supermarket and just fill our hand cart with sugary gooooodness. Before I get to the-most-fantastical-candy-I've-come-across-in-awhile, here are some snapshots of what goes on in an Asian market (for those who've never been in one). ENJOY (and maybe giggle with glee).
Mascara for nerdy, but sexy, bespectacled gals.
Ummm, I don't know. (Maybe fake) Cherries encased in jelly?
But the ULTIMATE (at least in my eyes) was this bag of PASTEL-COLORED HARD CANDY GREATNESS. I mean COOOOME ON.
The COLORS. The pinwheel design. If I was a candy, this WOULD BE ME. All kinds of hard, but all kinds of sweet (but I'm not sure because I haven't actually opened it yet. I'ms a-scared of ruining the packaging!). This candy GETTTTTS ME. So, that's why I bought it.
And then THIS CRAZINESS HAPPENED. After reading some post on Luxirare, Jaya tells me there's an Italian Tomato inside the supermarket (maybe that was the whole reason for going to the Mitsuwa? maybe?) and I buy this slice of funky heaven. That egg yolk-y looking thing on top is actually mango, but I'm still not sure what the brown-ish frosting is.... brown sugar? Whatevs, it was tasty.
Since I've already forgone the whole "concise and succinct" notion, I'll add in that after all that, I still bought 3 japanese magazines (including NYLON Japan), one of which came with a free shirt and another with 3 free turquoise/floral makeup bags (REMINDER:: Take picture/scan of bags because THEY'RE AWESOME). All magazines were 20% off as well!
Sooooooo DOUBLY BOOM. Came home considerably heavier (in food and contents) but light in the pockets.
Next time: maybe the El Perro del Mar + Taken By Trees show (which was fun and funny)? Random birthday cake pictures from family birthday celebrations? Maybe another ode to my flowering tomato plants, aka Fozzy and Killer Tomato?
I believe Jaya told me that she was giving me the diamond-shaped ring as an early Christmas gift. Hhhhmmmm, uh huh, YES SHE DID. (YES YOU DID JAYA).
-- The hang tag and card that accompanied the rings were just as intriguing as the rings.
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** A LITTLE EXTRA: Florence + The Machine::
Covering Beirut's Postcards To Italy (it's beautiful):
Smokey the bear.
OMG, you are the best. Now I'm on a mad hunt for all things Smokey and will probably spend the rest of my life time cruelly setting myself up for disappointment and misery (again. sadface!) because I know that I will never find exactly what I'm looking for.
all found via google
Wait? What was that US government? YOU SELL THESE MOST FANTASTIC POSTERS (except the first one. The one I want the most, natch)?!?!?! You slay/Bobby Flay me.
