Nobody gonna BREAK-A MY STRIDE. (pt. II)

PART TWO: The Thrift Store Haul.

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).

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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).


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002/ Don't give me the romp around:

The day I bought this white anomaly of a romper, I also bought a sleeveless green+purple striped shorts romper (which I think I'll try to sell on my Etsy store first before I lay claim to it). And Jaya also spied armloads (literally ARMLOADS) of denim onesies. Anyway, this "all-in-one", as the Japanese call it, is equal parts A Clockwork Orange, Children Of The Corn (just add straw hat and screams of "outlanders! outlanders!"), and Peter Griffin's "This is what it feels like to be a bear.... Remember I use to say, 'What would it feel like to be a bear?' Well, I'm living it, baby" feety-pajama moment. 

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. 

+Shirt: Some thrift store in San Diego.

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004/ Claudia Kishi v. Dawn Schafer: FACE OFF:

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.

Nobody gonna BREAK-A MY STRIDE. (pt. I)

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.
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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 adorable dresses, to flammable polyester.... well, anything, to practically all of Jaya's living room ephemera (we even got a small shout 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. 

Just get it over with and given into peer pressure because ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT.


Now let's kill this baby.


PART ONE: The Flea Market Experience.


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.

For Part Two, thrift store finds. YAAAAY!

Excuses, excuses.

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.


005/ Make a mixtape for [The Monthly Mixtape]'s "LISTEN UP!" theme.


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.
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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? 

Alls I know is it's late and I'm tired. LATERRRR.

Ring, ring! Ring, ring!

Jaya's has gotten into some  RIDICULOUS ring choices recently and here is her most recent purchase(s):

Rings from Made Her Think.

These are rings from Made Her Think's "In Stock For the Holiday" collection. She got the Diamond Pendulum Ring Pave and the Siren Knuckle Buster-Metal 

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).
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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):


Galaxy Of The Lost:

It's "Intervention" Meets "Obsessed"

I blames the internet for my ever increasing shoe lust. Perusing various fashion-related blogs over the past couple of months has culminated in me dreaming up an AWESOMELY NONEXISTENT shoe (wood wedge, high ankle, strappy but not slutty, etc. etc.) that has and will continue to elude me. Hence, the following:

1. Dollhouse, 2. Pour La Victoire

Since, for some reason, my dreams won't come true I shelled out some dough for these two sandals and said to myself, This better make this Mama Bear happy. Okay. No. CREEPY. I didn't say that. I swear. Those Pour La Victoire's? Total heartbreaker. I wanted them for so long only to have to return them. Because seriously, who needs cankleitis?