My San Francisco Trip

So I'm back and ready to finally start blogging again!  Sorry Cory didn't blog, that was the plan, but, well, he's just not that into blogging!  So now where to start ....... oh the dresses!  We'll start with my best finds in the thrift and vintage stores of San Fran!

We'd visited a number of thrift stores and I was beginning to loos faith in the vintage shopping of SF, until we took a trip to Haight and stumbled upon a great (organized, oh so organized) vintage store called Held Over.

I tried on over 30 dresses and walked away with six!  Vintage is such a hard fit!  So many dresses were too small in the waist, though to large in the hips or shoulders.  I had a friend point out that with the right "foundation" garments, vintage would fit much better.  I also walked away with a skirt, a coat (not vintage, just thifted) and a swim suit!!

beautiful fancy party dresses!

my "new" swimsuit, for beach lounging.

the day dresses.  I plan on making a pattern from the yellow and coral one, it's a fabulous wrap dress!

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What else did we get up to in San Fran .... oh the food!  Thai, Japanese, Italian, Mexican .... so many tacos!  We spend a couple of nights in, but mostly ate out.  It's well worth it to eat out in San Fran.  I can't get enough tacos, and the Mission is the place to go!  My friend whom I was staying with lived very close to the Mission and we went there almost every day, either for shopping or taquerias!

great deli in Little Italy

oh the splender of tacos, so many tacos were consumed in those five days!

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The day before I left my friend and I decided to do one touristy  thing ...... a Segway tour of Golden Gate Park!  I don't know which was better, the segway riding or the park.  It was a magnificent park, but I have to say riding a segway is something else!  So geeky, but oh so fun!!

segway lesson!

painting and the MOMA

fake hippies on stilts Haight Ashbury area

my friend's neighborhood, Glen Park

the view from my bedroom!

So there you go, my San Fran trip in a nutshell!

The Look

I just had to show off the look i wore for Cory's Xmas party.  It's a handmade vintage dress that I picked up in Vancouver.  Right now I am actually in Vancouver and would love to go vintage shopping, if only the boys and wallet would co-operate!  I might get a chance to do a bit of browsing on Wednesday ; we'll see!

I bought the necklace off Etsy and the shoes at a church bazaar for $2!!

Here also, is a close up of the back of my hair.  Not retro in any way, but very cool!  Not too easy to take out mind you!

Birthday Dress #1

So it's not completely done, but this is about as far as I am going get on dress #1 for my birthday present to myself!

For the next year, I'm giving myself two months to complete a dress.   By the end of the year I'll be 32 and have six new vintage, or vintage inspired dresses!  Great birthday present hey?!  I bought a bunch of vintage patterns online, but decided on a newer pattern from my collection.

I used Vogue 2429.  I still have to install the zipper and hem the bottom, but other than that I think it's looking pretty good!

I didn't have quite enough fabric to make the dress so i improvised but adding those red panels.  I think it's adds a nice detail, especially when I walk!  I plan on getting some better photos once it's complete.

Oh and notice my hair ... pin curl set!!  I'm getting it done up by a friend as we are going to an xmas party tonight!

Personal Style

this is what i've done before ....

and this is what i'd love to do .....

I had mentioned in a previous post about my birthday present to myself ...... sewing a dress every two months. HAHAHAHAHA ........

The first two months will be up in two weeks and i haven't even looked at my patterns! I do have fabric picked out, but nothing else. So I may have to settle for a simple circle skirt or a quick shift dress.

My recent style obsession has been retro hair styles. Mostly the rolled fringe and the side victory rolls. I just bought myself a book (early xmas present?) to help me with setting and styling my hair. I've been able to achieve fab retro looks on other people, but alas never on myself. This weekend I hope to try out rolling my fringe! We'll just see how that goes!

I've finished one sleeve of D's sweater today, so I'll be finished the whole thing rather soon I think! Next will be J's sweater. I am not really crafting for anyone else, though I would like to make a sweater vest for the man of the house.

Alright off to bed ..... oh and speaking of bed. It's ours!! All ours!!! We have moved D out of our bed (he's been wedged in between us for months and months now) and into his own! This is his second night. For the transition the wee bed is pushed right up against ours, so that we can rest our head on his pillow if he's upset during the night. Next we wean him of the bottle at night ..... for the millionth time!