Maryam Nassir Zadeh

photos from mnzstore.com

This post could easily be titled "Beautiful Clothes I Could Never Afford".  Even if I could afford them, I don't think I'd want to spend $800 on a dress.  Regardless, they are beautiful clothes, and that's why they've landed here.  That cape is just the shade of mustard that I've been looking for all fall.  I would like to have a coat (or cape as the case may be) in just that color.

Patternity

I decided to eschew all patterned tights a few years ago when I deemed myself officially too old to pull them off.  They are always a bit too cutesy for this gal's legs.  But then I discovered Patternity and their limited edition of hand screened tights printed in geometric shapes and I'm having to seriously reconsider my commitment to solid color tights.  I'm especially crazy about the Totem print.  Now, are they better in Bauhaus red or Bauhaus yellow? 

Etsy Update: Mod Mini Dresses

Zig Zag Knit Dress /// Maryanne Velvet Dress

Birch Lace Dress /// Candy Dot Dress

Etsy Update: Knit Sweaters

Navajo Belted Sweater /// Olive Branch Wool Sweater

Black & Tan Marled Sweater /// Scandinavia Sweater

Etsy Update: Warm Winter Coats

Butterscotch Boucle Coat /// Cranberry Plaid Coat

Slate Herringbone Coat ///  Anna Wool & Fur Coat

New York City

Over the weekend Tom and I slipped away quietly to enjoy a couple of utterly perfect autumn days in New York City.  A friend generously lent us a 36th floor apartment in Chelsea so we had an amazing view of the Empire State Building from the rooftop garden for sunrise.  We wandered the streets of Manhattan, stopping in galleries, bookstores and restaurants whenever we fancied, rested in Central Park, did lots of window shopping and enjoyed one of the last beautiful weekends of fall.  

Aubin & Wills

This Lifestyle Collection of photographs from Aubin & Wills says it's for summer but to me it evokes a feeling of fall more than summer.  It features the adorable Sophie Dahl & Andre Van Noord in some really covetable pieces from the Aubin & Wills shop.  I'm especially loving this dress and this sweater.

Etsy Update: Perfectly Plaid

Window Pane Plaid Dress /// Sage Plaid Dress

Cranberry Plaid Dress /// Smokey Plaid Dress

Etsy Update: Perfectly Knitted

Spruce Wrap Cardigan /// Terra Cotta Button Cardigan

Aspen Ski Sweater /// Sky Blue Fair Isle Sweater

Etsy Update: Perfectly Suited

/// Bonnie Pointelle Blouse & Skirt /// 

/// Cocoa Wool Tweed Suit /// 

/// Cafe Au Lait 3-Piece Suit ///

/// Pumpkin Irish Wool Suit ///

Guilty Pleasure

I must admit that one of my guiltiest pleasures is new socks.  I love new socks.  Are there people out there who don't?!  I go pretty much all summer long without touching a pair, so when fall rolls around I sort of go into sock-loving overdrive.  There's a sock store at the local outlet mall and each fall Tom and I go to stock up on warm, wintery socks.  It's sort of a ritual.  See?  I'm totally obsessed.  Currently, my favorite place for sock-coveting is Lisa B.  I'm especially smitten with the snowflake and color block designs. 

A.P.C. Fall 2012

I remember seeing this A.P.C. collection when the lookbook came out wayyy back in the spring.  But at the time I wasn't very interested in seeing trench coats or tights or fall hued plaids.  Now is a different story.  The weather is officially autumn-like (some mornings it already feels like winter!).  I'm really loving the shrunken jackets, plaid dresses and denim pieces in this collection.

Baseball Portraits

photos by Paul Thompson

It's October and that means there's been a lot of baseball on our television lately.  I'm not a big sports person in general.  Basketball bores me, football confuses me and I can never follow the hockey puck.  But baseball seems to be the one sport I can wrap my head around.  Having grown up in eastern Pennsylvania, Tom is a lifelong Phillies fan and so over our years together I've come to follow the team as well.  The Phillies are out of the playoffs this year, so we're pulling for the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series. But even before I knew anything about baseball, I could appreciate a well-taken portrait and that's really what this post is about.  It's incidental that the subject matter is baseball players.  I love the way they stare into the lens, the details in their wool uniforms, their small hats perched upon their heads.

Etsy Update: Wrap Skirts, Pt. 2

Wise Owl Corduroy Skirt /// Ribboned Denim Skirt 

Hippity Hop Skirt /// Spruce Dots Skirt

Etsy Update: Wrap Skirts, Pt. 1

Bucking Bronco Skirt /// Moonstone Denim Skirt

Blueberry Chambray Skirt /// Cattail Cordury Skirt

Bocce Ball Date

- Madewell dress
- Rachel Comey boots
- vintage felt fedora
- thrifted J.Crew cashmere cardigan

The other day I came home and Tom surprised me with a mid-week date.  He didn't say where we were going, simply to "be ready to be mobile".  I had no idea what he had in store for us.  Turns out we went to a local park to play a round of bocce ball like a couple of old retirees.  I'm not sure we played by the exact rules, technically speaking, but we had so much fun doing it, we really didn't care.  For the record, I won.  Not that it matters.  ;) 

We followed up the game with dinner at a new (to us) restaurant, Joe's Famous American Kitchen.  It's a fancy sort of burger place, so not usually the first choice for a couple of vegetarians, but we'd heard they have a great falafel burger and decided to give it a shot.  Tom got the burger but as soon as I saw the brie, apple and salted caramel grilled cheese sandwich with homemade salt and vinegar potato chips on the menu I knew I what I was having.  Needless to say, it was pretty delicious and so big I could only eat half of it.  Oh, and more fried pickles!  Except this time they weren't the dried up fairground version of fried pickles, but thick, juicy spears that were hand battered and freshly fried.  Seriously worth it.

Civic Classics

The other day I think I got stuck in some kind of time warp.  At one point I walked into the kitchen to start making dinner and realized it was only 5:00.  Way too early for that!  So we decided to waste a little of our time by going to Barnes & Noble to peruse the books; me in the fiction and biography sections, Tom in the design and photography sections.  Along the way we stumbled upon Penguin's Civic Classics collection.  It may have been the graphic black and white letterpress-style covers that first caught my eye, but once I opened the cover of one, I wanted to read them all.

I know reading about the government sounds pretty dry and boring but these relatively small books seem like just the right size to bite off with out becoming overwhelmed. We ended up with American Political Speeches and even though Tom was going to read it first, I've already flipped the book open and read a couple;  one by Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long and the other by Theodore Roosevelt. 

Renaissance Faire

 - UO jeans
 - Ace & Jig Dancer Tee
 - vintage boots
 - vintage felt fedora
 - Field Guided Tote
 - Datter Necklace

This past Sunday Tom and I, along with another couple, made our way to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.  Despite living here for several years it was our first time to check it out.  Honestly, I had no idea it was such a huge production.  Trust me, there are people here who take this thing seriously.  Mostly we went to walk around and see the costumes, visit the winery and eat fried pickles.  It was a day full of fun and adventure that included sampling wine (some good, some not so good) from Mount Hope Winery, doing the polka/chicken dance with an old man in a Bavarian costume, watching glass blowing demonstrations, seeing lots of men on stilts and women in corsets, drinking lots of German beer (it was Oktoberfest weekend) and yes, eating deep fried pickles. 

Etsy Update: Autumnal Capes

Sherlock Houndstooth Cape /// Rainy Days Cape

Folk Song Cape /// Campfire Stories Cape

Etsy Update: Waist Cinching Coats

Periwinkle Quilted Coat /// Classic Spy Trench Coat

Camel & Faux Fur Coat /// Slate Wool Trench Coat

Amsterdam, Pt. 2

Our second day in Amsterdam was the gloomiest and rainiest day of the whole trip.  We were beginning to get worn down after two weeks of traveling and it was hard to get up and head outdoors when we were greeted with grey skies and constant rain.  We started the day with a good breakfast of Dutch pancakes and they were so delicious it turned our mood around and we were ready to brave the rainy streets for one last day of adventure.

We wandered through the northwest section of the city that reminded us of the West Village in New York.  I had spotted a vintage store in the neighborhood the day before but we didn't have time to stop.  Now with it raining, we wanted to spend as much time as possible indoors so we stopped in.  It was a cute, small shop and had nice selection of pieces but at first I didn't see anything for myself.  Just as we were leaving, I spotted a 30s silk embroidered peasant top hanging in the front window.  I ran back in to try it on and ended up bringing it home with me.  I was my favorite find of the whole trip.

After a few hours of rain, the skies finally cleared and we had an afternoon of sunshine.  We were so tired of walking we decided to take a touristy canal trip so we could sit for a while and still see parts of the city.  We ended up on a boat with a really fun and informative tour guide and actually learned a lot about the history of the city on what we thought would be just a cheesy ride through the canals.