Long time, no blog.

I may be (and have been) a bit sporadic this week... there are endless things to pack and un-pack, strip and then paint, wash and dry.

This past weekend was my bachelorette party and it was a blast! Here are some pictures for you to digest, all of them courtesy of the lovely Wanda Petunia because I was too distracted to bring my own camera. Doh! Ah well, we had a lovely set of distractions before us. First, a bit of horseback riding...

We ran into some deer and wild turkeys.

Here the lovely Kim enjoys the pause while her horse gets really really real.


Here I am in an inadvertent outfit capture, feeling very "dude" like.

Sweater: TJMaxx. Jeans: Citizens of Humanity. Tank: Insight. Scarf: Thrifted.

Later, we trolled around town to try to find a spot where our cellphones had reception to find our missing friends to no avail... so we stopped at Family Dollar for some hats...


And a couple of accessories with which to creep up on the lass who stayed behind in the cabin while we went out on horses...


Afterwards, the girls put together a Mexican feast with the best ever guacamole and wine, wine, and margaritas.

Me pulling the old "See-food" trick. On the far left, the girl responsible for the amazing guac, the lovely blonde in the center is the one who put it all together, and the brunette lass is the one who made my fajitas so delightfully steaky.

Afterwards, our margaritas joined us in the hot tub, and things just generally fell apart from there. And by that, I mean that we shared turns reading passages from Robinson Crusoe and fell straight to sleep. Yep! It was a great time, and I feel really lucky to know each one of the girls who joined me-- and the ones who couldn't, but tried and got lost. Poor girls!

Well, back to my painting, packing and washing... I've got 25 days of singledom yet ahead of me.

Yours,

Elissa.

Moving.

I'm taking a brief break from packing up the old place to show you a little bit of the new place. We've descended on it with paint brush and can, so I can't wait to take pictures of when we have all of our ducks in a row.

Despite the stoicism, I am quite pumped for this move. Scarf: thrifted. Skirt: Mayan Connection. Tights: Target. Shoes: Miz Mooz. Shirt: Macy's. Moto Jacket: A kiosk in Amsterdam.

On of my favorite features is this fireplace... it's gas and could work if we find the right kind of insert for it. There's an architectural salvage in town that boasts many a tempting, antique solution.



Til then, I thought I'd sit in it and take one of those bloggy "look, I can fit in here" photos.

Taking a peek up Santa's skirt.

Our 72-year old neighbor told us that her mother and aunt built this house, as well as several others on the street in the 1920's. One of my favorite things about the house are all of the old, glass doorknobs with the little keyholes... and antique keys that still fit the lock and work. This particular door is to my closet...


...which, while low on hanging-bar space, is actually quite huge and made up of great big steps that lead up to the attic. There may be an Elfa in my future. Oh, perchance to dream!!


Well, back to my boxes and newsprinty fingers. I had a moment where I opened the silverware drawer for a fork today and surprised myself by finding it empty.

Yours,

Elissa.

Dancing cheek to cheek.

Today marks the second ballroom dance lesson we've taken together. I've taken dance before, where I learned to love the tango, but my Sweets is brand new to it (but doing just lovely)! My father and brother are professional musicians; my father is a guitarist, and my brother, a violinist and together they're going to play a little snip from Carmen. I am so excited-- this, to me is the most romantic component of a wedding. Below is a clip from The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle that truly solidified my desire to tango:

That dress! So irrepressibly 1930's (as is the popularity of the Tango, and the theme of the wedding). And Fred's cummerbund! Can those please come back into style?

A chill's rushed in, and with it, my debut of The Leather Jacket, a fortuitous find at Marshall's for $19.99. Now, being leather and being $19.99, you might think it's a piece of PVC garbage (which I would think, too) but it is soft and pliable and chestnutty brown and smells nice, too. In fact, I consider it lucky-- I smashed the opposing foosball team 10-3 in it.

Cackling a victory cackle in Bomber: Marshall's. Blue Oxford: Target. Jeans: NY&Co. Flats: Etienne Aigner. Photo by Wanda_Petunia.

Tomorrow I get the keys to our new place, and I'm thinking I may as well drop on by with a few cans of paint and roll up my sleeves before we get all of the furniture in.

Yours,

Elissa.

All you gotta do is Mask.

Prepare to freak out, because I am. On a random stroll through Etsy-land, I found these sexy, delicate and bizarre leather masks by Tom Banwell.

First up, this black bird mask. I wish I lived a more macabre reality, so I could whip this one out on my moonlight strolls to the abandoned insane asylum.



So incredibly beautiful, whether you'd like to go as a tree for Halloween, or King Midas. Bonus? I think this Maple Leaf Mask could make a very lovely fascinator if tilted up a bit.


Hearts can be so corny, can't they? But I'm attracted to the idea of going as a rather racy Queen of Hearts in the Cut-Out Hearts Mask. Or, you know what? People of Columbus, I'm grabbing this mask and throwing one hell of a Valentine's party. You've been warned. And Invited.



But my ultimate favorite is this Unicorn Mask. Not only does it match the Unicorn Heels I'm wearing for my Halloween wedding, but it also negates the need to change out of the dress-- I mean, when will I ever get to wear it again?


Get a load of those eyelashes! Ooh lala!

Yours,

Elissa.

Rain.

Still raining, ya'lls. It's making me itch to have you listen to this...



I love the sparks-as-rain, and Tina is hotness as usual.

Enjoy,

Elissa.

What you should really be doing.

It never fails; as soon as August fades, the 70-degree, drizzly days begin. Thankfully not heavy enough to alter one's outfit plans or keep you inside, but enough to flatten even the most robust of hairdo's.

Scarf: Anthropologie. Vest: Thrifted. Dress: Banana Republic. Frye boots: vintage. Umbrella: broken!

The scarf is from Anthropologie and is a lesson in wearing one's colors... everytime I break it out my sweetay asks if I've put makeup on. The boots are vintage Fryes and I actually got them for free from another girl who wanted to trade me for a pair of grey, heeled Dingo boots that I had. I walked away from that trade chuckling evilly.

Speaking of vintage, I went to an interview today and-- during the course of discussing my employment history, mentioned lots of vintage (square peg, square hole). This job had nothing to do with vintage, but something to do with clothes, and in the middle of my story about a rabbit fur coat, they said to me, "Now that's what you should really be doing. Why aren't you doing that?" Touche', ladies. I don't know. I am a bit set on the "have some conventional work experience before you entrepreneurialize" thing. Also, 2009 is not the year for new ventures, if ya know what I'm sayin'! I think you do.

I did enjoy having my Etsy store, but had to "put it on hiatus" due to my move to a place with less storage. But next week I'm moving to a place that has more. We'll see... I get the feeling that the vintage climate is not especially friendly at this moment, as though people are less interested and buying less.

What do you think? Are you as into vintage clothing as you were, let's say-- a year ago? When you do buy clothes, are you thinking more about long-term, quality new pieces, or are you just as interested in getting a piece of vintage clothing?

Mulling it over,

Elissa.