Albany Coat, We Were Meant to Be....

File this under fall preparedness also.
I have been wearing the same grey cotton jacket from H&M for two years. It's technically made for fall, and to put it bluntly, fucking useless after mid-november. Not to mention dirty and beat...and grey. I just didn't bother investing in a jacket last year. They tend to be expensive. Did anyone else get a giant kick out of Old Navy's ploy last year? They sold the shell of the coat and the lining seperately. I am forever banning Old Navy. They suck all around.
This year it was kind of a necessity to find a decent, warm jacket. (Note: I have very little necessity for clothes at this point, but every now and then something pops up).
Along with the kilt, I found this jacket at the Thrifty Pilgrim. The color is excellent, but hard to catch on my camera. Like a royal blue with a touch of turquoise. Made from suede-ish fabric, not quite suede, but still heavy and sturdy. There was a button missing, which was not such a loss. They were light purple plastic, with cheap gold painted framing. Cute in a vintage way, but still cheap looking. So I headed over to Joanne Fabrics, picked up some brass-looking buttons, went home and got down to sewing. During the proccess I stabbed myself only two times. Which is better than the last time, when I mistook my thigh for the pincushion.
I'm quite pleased with the results. If I could change one thing about this coat, it would be the collar...I'd make it big and trench-coat-ish. Either way I'm a scarf fiend, so no biggie. And for $8, can I really complain? I think with this, I am set for fall :)

This coat is by Honigsbaum's, which is from Albany to boot. Albany is where the heart is.
Worn with cotton knit beret by yours truly! I made it last year, I think. I should be getting back into knitting pretty soon.
Boots from Savers, also $8. I like the little buckles.

Since MGMT wasn't available...

Last summer I was all over the MGMT album. I have so many good memories of trips to Albany, with Oracular Spectacular as the soundtrack. Americade at lake George, knocking over parking cones in torrential downpours, etc. And I hoped and prayed that they would come out with another album for summer 09. They didn't. Not even a single. Giant letdown. I think summer never happening this year was a direct result of that.
However, I found what I wanted from them this year, courtesy of Empire of the Sun. I'm pretty sure this is one of those bands everyone has known about for ages, and I'm on the tail end of the indie music wave again. Oh wells.
Anyway, I caught this song on lastfm.com this morning while I was getting dressed, and it was like falling in love. Have you ever noticed that, when you suddenly hear a song that just grabs you, you just freeze and are overcome with heart flutters...identical to falling smitten for someone. Atleast it's like that for me. Identical. I'm telling you.
We are the people grabbed me, kissed me on the neck and whispered to me "I'm sorry that MGMT left you high and dry this summer...but we're going to have a wild fall '09. I'm going to spike your cocoa...I'm going to show you how to have a good time in the shadows on halloween...whiskey and wool tartan blankets..."
SWOON.

And then I saw the video. I don't know what they're going for with this, but it makes me think maybe I should just give drugs a try. This isn't likely, but until I feel desperate enough to ride the tie-dye rainbow to the other side of reality, I'll just listen to the song with my eyes closed.

Fall Preparedness, Session 2:

I've been on the lookout for a good quality plaid skirt for at least two years. Not the mini-skirt polyester/cotton/rayon/spandex blend type with plastic buttons that you can find at Rave. I'm talking real, made for fall, wool plaid, done tastefully.
And today I found one. For $4 at the Thrifty Pilgrim in Cordage Park.
An honest to god kilt. Made in Scotland. You can't really beat that. It even came with the original giant safety pin attached, rendering this skirt practical in the sense that if anyone ever tried to attack me, I have a 2.5 inch long, sturdy needle at my disposal. Let's just hope I don't stab myself with it first.
I came across this gem approximately five minutes before the store closed, so I didn't have time to try it on. I held it up, the width seemed a-ok for my waist, and the tag read 12, so i figured being vintage it would fit low on the hips at the very worst. When I got it home and tried it on, I couldn't get the second leather buckle to reach...at which point I realized the tag read "Age 12", as opposed to "Size 12"...
Thankfully, the skirt is entirely wearable even without the use of the second buckle.

Worn with turtleneck from Rave, of all places. I've had this for years. I love it because it is fitted and long.
Shoes: Charolette Russe 1.5 years back
Tights: Marshalls, last year.
Earrings: Vintage family heirloom. They belonged to my mother's Aunt Tressa in Nova Scotia. I belive they are gold and onyx. If I ever lose these, I'm good as dead.

Hot times in the kitchen:

Tonight I did some real baking at home for the first time in a while. Since I'm building pies, pastries, cookies, bread puddings, cupcakes and birthday cakes on a daily basis at work, the last thing I want to deal with when I come home is an oven.

However, when it comes to offering food as gifts to others, I consider boxed mixes a non-option. I feel like instant-food is cheating. This is because I have lived in Japan, and as a woman your entire worth is measured by how much you weigh and how well you can cook. I'm pretty much over the whole weight thing, but cooking from scratch has definite value whether you are a woman or not. And since I know the in's and out's of baking due to my job, I really can't feel ok about sending box-made brownies for a 1 year anniversary gift. And I can't just send them wrapped in tin foil, because I know I can do better. Thus the fancy decorated boxes that took up my entire Sunday, and the baking fandango today. In the end, I can put my name on every last inch of it. I like that :)
Here are some key points I've learned about baking:
1: Sift!: If you don't sift flour, granulated sugar, and especially cocoa, you will have chunks. Guaranteed.
2: Scrape down the bowl with a spatula while you are mixing, multiple times.
3: Use pure vanilla extract. It's different, I swear.
4: Treat it like a science experiment. Be exact. But remember to taste the batter. And listen to your favorite music while you do all this. Above all, put love in it.

The recipe I used for these brownies is here. I used 90% cocoa chocolate since they didn't have unsweetened solid at Target and I was too lazy to go elsewhere. I think it turned out rather spectacular either way.

Apron found last summer in North Hampton. I recall my sister scolding me for buying something so unnecessary, but I honestly love this apron. I'm still glad I got it. I think it was about $30.
Headband: Forever 21
Shirt: Charolette Russe, about two years ago.

Crafty Bitch!

Today I found that craftiness is a rather good hangover therapy! Never would have guessed it.
Anyhow, I had to come up with a few neat things to send in the direction of Policecop, as we have been dating for one year this week.
Every time I get into a project like this, my room instantly enters front-line-war-zone phase. It's just too small to accommodate my crafty bitchness.
In the end, I came up with these things. The first being a boxes, in which I will put the brownies I'm baking tomorrow. French sea salt brownies, to be exact. Apparently the guys in basic are only allowed three minutes to eat whatever goodies that are sent their way, and are forbidden from sharing. So, being the genius/moron that I am, I made a separate box for the drill sergeant enforcing this rule, in hopes of some lenience. This is going to go one of two ways: really well, or very poorly. I think I'm going to include an apology note hidden inside of the card just in case of the latter, to cover all my bases...

A Harpers Ferry Saturday:

Last night I went into town to see Death & Taxes, Jason Bennett and Lenny Lashley with the Ace Gang. Harpers Ferry is a neat little venue with pool tables in the back and two separate bars. However-note: The bathrooms are pretty third-world. Although there were no detached stall doors this time around, so that was good.
I met Nicole and instantly fell in love with her zipper purse. And her dress. I think I need to find me a plaid dress...
Also pictured is Savitkas, number #1 fan of Red Herring, as it turns out.
On the way home we listened to Zeppelin and ate Dunkin Donuts flatbreads. There is something about takeout food on the way home from Boston at 2 am that makes me swoon.

香水について：小さな完璧。 The Perfect Perfume.

One very distinct memory I have from growing up in our Marshfield house is my mother's perfume collection. She had this bureau that took up an entire wall in her bedroom, the kind with an attached, similarly sized mirror. And the entire surface of the bureau was covered from edge to edge with perfume bottles.
There were too many to remember them all, but there was always a bottle of Chloe, Fidji by Guy Laroche, Jessica McClintock, and several Elizabeth Taylor fragrances...White Diamonds, Blue Diamonds, so on and so forth. And god almighty, she used to pour the stuff on...

Scents have an extremely strong impression on the human brain. I've heard that memory through familiar scent is more powerful than visual cues. I subscribe to this 900%. I can still remember exactly what a house with tatami mats smelled like in Japan. I found a tatami piece at a flea market in Wareham a few months back and stood there smelling it for at least five minutes. I basically got a memory-high off of it. I'm sure I must have gotten a few looks but I don't mind. I still remember the smell of my ex-lover's house, the smell of the ocean in winter growing up, the smell of the school bus, the darkroom in high school... but if you asked me to draw these things, I'd probably have some trouble.

This is precisely why I am particular about perfumes. Scent=Memory. And who wants to smell like everybody else...remember when the Calvin Klein cK fragrances were all the rage? Everybody smelled like everybody else. Let's face it, that was lame.

Buying perfume is a rare thing for me for two reasons: I am extremely picky, and good fragrances don't come cheap. You will not find anything intoxicating on the shelves of Walgreens. This is a fact. I usually go to TJ Maxx or Marshalls first. They have an extensive selection of designer perfumes, always. The problem is that the boxes are sealed. So before buying, I take a trip to Ulta or Sephora where I can actually sample the perfume before I kick out my hard earned cash. This is exactly how I found Cacharel's Amor Amor, one of my all time favorites: Smelled the $32.50 sample at Ulta, fell in love, got it for $12 at Marshalls...
So here are my favorites, collected over the past few years. Listed from left to right in the first picture:

1: Amor Amor by Cacharel: Soft and startling at the same time. Nothing else smells like this.
2:Dunhill Desire for women: Clean, but almost like licorice, in a good way.
3:Velvet Bloom by Gap: Gap has amazing fragrances, but I'm entirely reluctant to pay $30 for them. I found this at TJ Maxx for $2 because the spray cap was missing. I just replaced it with another from a different perfume bottle after a good rinse.
4:Par Amour Toujours by Clarins: Smells like straight up, clean rose blossoms. I think I'm going to use this more. A gift from Mom.
5: Baby Doll by Yves St. Laurent: This fragrance is just ten thousand percent female. Soft, light, sharp, PERFECT.
6:小さな完璧：(Chiisa na Kanpeki: A Tiny Perfect) By Blue Q. I didn't smell this one before I bought it. It was on clearance for $5 last year at TJ Maxx, and I won't lie, it was the Japanese that drew me to it. Luckily for me it is honestly the tiny perfect. Sweet and tart, yet not abrasive. The Japanese on the box says it's from fresh grass and cassis berry...thus started my obsession with cassis, which brings me to the next one...
7: Thymes Fig Leaf & Cassis. Like the most beautiful soap you have ever smelled. Clean, tart, snappy.
8 and 9: Roll-ons by Anthousa. White Tuberose is rose scented, but with a citrus sting.
Fig and vetiver is one of those perfumes you have to be intimately close to in order to detect it...incredibly soft and subtle, but once you catch it...
10: Cabotine De Gres: This is the most classic, traditional perfume I will probably ever wear. Part of it is reminiscent of typical upscale department store fragrances, but it has such a clean undertone. Cabotine is the first fragrance to incorporate ginger lily, a flower that blooms and dies within a few hours. I think that's just neat-o.

And let's not forget men's cologne. My #1 of all time would be Dunhill's Desire for Men, which inspired me to buy Desire for Women in the first place.
I first encountered Dunhill 8 years ago when I was searching for a Christmas present at Takashimaya for my first boyfriend, in Japan. I smelled dozens of samples, and decided on a Gucci cologne...went outside for a cigarette, and then changed my mind. Went back in, returned the Gucci, went for Dunhill. One of the best decisions I've ever made. Dunhill Desire for Men is the sexiest scent I have ever encountered. I do believe my ex is still an avid user. It's like testosterone meets clean, meets scandalous, meets just hot all around. I don't know what they put in it, but it screams hot sex, in a respectable, solid kind of way...if that's possible.