The Cloven Heart

Seattle in Two Days

January 12, 2013

I recently went south of the border for a belated holiday visit with my family for a few days, and it was one of the best trips I’ve had to Seattle. Obviously, it was a great trip because I got to have a Christmas celebration with them (and my mommy still spoils me with gifts whenever she gets the chance), but the most fun I had was showing my brother around town; he just moved to Seattle short-term and we got to most of the places I liked to go while I was traveling there for work. I realized that it’s been a couple years since I’d been down there and I had become pretty nostalgic for some of the places I frequented. We covered a lot of ground and the following is a round up of things I try not to miss when I’m there — not a list of secret spots (I couldn’t do that to you locals) or even the best-of-the-best, but things that just bring me a lot of joy.

Downtown

I came into town via BoltBus. It has pretty decent wifi, extended legroom, outlets to keep your gadgets charged the whole time, and it’s super cheap. The earlier you book your tickets, the cheaper it is; they can be $1, even — and they go from Vancouver to Portland. (I have seriously been jones-ing for a Portland trip; hopefully we’ll get one soon.). You get dropped off on the edge of the International District, perhaps only temporarily, as the train station is getting renovated. Anywho, if you’re starving and want to eat right away, you can walk to Shanghai Garden and get the hand-shaved green barley noodles; I can’t speak to anything else on the menu, but these noods are amazing.
My brother and I walked around downtown for a couple hours: dropped into one of my old stores, discovered Nordstrom Rack had moved, which by the way, is a big time weakness of mine; don’t knock it until you see the shoe selection. I had to pop into Sephora real quick, since it’s right there and considerably cheaper than in Vancouver, and I discovered that my brother is as big of a product whore as I am — he nearly bought the entire Jack Black line. If you have a man in your life, this is good stuff to get him.
After we grabbed a quick lunch from Jimmy John’s, we went through the Pike Place Market a bit. We’ve both been there before, so we didn’t wander too much, but if you’ve never been, you should go; there are local handmade goods, vintage and collectibles, and you can watch the fishmongers do their thing — maybe they’ll even let you get real close like they did for this guy.

I love this photo; Pike Place Market, ca. 1916

The other thing I love is that there’s now a Target downtown and its as gorgeous as a Target can be. Not so big news to most of you, but truth be told, I have a serious love affair with the Targeé; it’s got me through some rough times when I needed a little shopping therapy. I’m also obliged to note that I’m continually impressed with the list of designer collabs they’ve been pulling off. I was excited to find that this location had a ton of the Neiman Marcus collection left (I bought the Tracy Reese top, in case anyone was wondering.)

Capitol Hill

We went to check out the Melrose Market, which is another happy place of mine. I just love the atmosphere here; I used to hit up Homegrown for they’re amazing sandwiches and homemade potato chips. I can’t recommend anything, since the menu changes — but if I was there now, I’d be tempted to try the Bluffernutter (bacon, marshmallow fluff, and peanut butter) which is on the kids menu; apropos, no? Sitka & Spruce is also quite lovely and I love wandering the little floral shop, Marigold and Mint.
There is a ton of shopping along the Pike-Pine Corridor, but for me, the trip wouldn’t e complete without hitting up two spots: (1)Value Village on 11th. I almost always score some great finds in this three-storey monstrosity and if you’ve never been, it’s fun to check out the historical photos of the building in the stairwells. (2)Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream. I got the Maple Walnut, which was incredible, and my brother got the Bourbon Toffee Crunch — which he didn’t offer to let me try; a sure sign that it was too delicious to share. Besides thier ice cream, I love that you can watch them make their waffle cones and that they have free wifi.
If you’re dying for a hot bevvy, it’s worth mentioning that the best Americanos I’ve had — or possibly will ever have — we’re gotten from Espresso Vivace’s sidewalk bar. You must go — but if you absolutely must have your Starbucks, check out this one that serves beer, wine, and small plates alongside their reserve coffee.

Ballard

There is so much to see in this quiet little area. Tons of boutiques, antique shops, and the cutest little restaurants. You have to set your mind to “exploration mode” for a while and just start walking. One of my favorite furniture stores down here is, Space Oddity — full of mid-century wonderment. On the same street we discovered Blackbird Apothecary, a place that makes many of their own beauty staples, as well as stocking some favored lovelies like Diptyque, Ursa Major, REN, and Malin+Goetz. Swoon on all accounts.
Just around the corner from this is was a Pho place — my brother had never had Pho!! — so we got a couple bowls. It was amazing, but just about any Pho place is going to be amazing in Seattle, amiright? The conclusion, get Pho in when you visit Seattle.
If it’s a gorgeous day in Ballard, you should check out Golden Gardens Park. Hit up a Trader Joe’s and make yourself a picnic; they have bbqs, fire pits, and the sunset over the water will be gorgeous.

SODO

I just have to mention the Goodwill Outlet, just south of downtown. I had a major comeuppance there when a pile of clothes protruding from my outstretched-arms became mine for a mere $3. What, you say? Yep, three dollars. A lot of people come with gloves on, as you have to dig, I mean dig through bins of clothes to find the gems; for me, that’s fun.
As we were en route to the Goodwill, I spotted Emerald City Trapeze Arts. wait, it’s aTrapeze school?? If I lived here, I would for sure be checking this out. Ever since my parents took us to Circus Circus in Vegas, I’ve been enamoured with the craft. Oh, to fly…

P.S. If you like vintage Americana as much as I do, check out this site for all kinds of beautiful shots from Seattle’s past.

Comment (1) Tags Ballard, Capitol Hill, dining, round up, Seattle, shopping, SODO |

Good Things: 2012

January 2, 2013

I don’t do resolutions, but I do like to reflect on the great things that have happened throughout the year. Here they are in somewhat chronological order:

Ariana & Jared’s Wedding
I had the amazing privilege of styling my friends’ wedding this April. We worked really hard to ensure the decor spoke equally to both their tastes and to be honest, Pinterest just made the whole process easier. It really was such an honor and blessing to be able to help make this a memorable day for them; I will never forget it. Check out the amazing blog love here and here.

India Media Team
I went to India this year with my hubs and 3 other friends/filmmakers to create a documentary around the life of a new friend. It turned out to be simultaneously more rewarding and more taxing than I could have known. It was epic; you’ll have to wait a bit for the full experience as the film is not expected to be done until Fall 2013, but you can sneak a look at some of the footage here.

Beggars Banquet
I am stoked to have been involved in a local pop-up flea market, Beggars Banquet, this year. It’s just so good for my soul to create a space from nothing into a nook that people just want to come in and explore. I’ve been at #003, #005 — I skipped #004 since it was scheduled on the very same weekend as the aforementioned wedding, #006 and #007 — which I’m realizing now that I completely forgot to tell you about. How horrible I am. In all seriousness, this past one was the best; they really do keep incrementally getting better and better. I hope to keep participating in the new year; you know I’ll keep you posted.

Our home featured on Houzz
The humble little rental we’re in actually graced the blogosphere this Fall by way of Heather Merenda — whom I was introduced to by Meghan, curator of the Beggars Banquet. There’s been a great response; I’m still a bit in wonderment and disbelief.

Refinery29 x Pinterest
I was honored, honored to be mentioned on this mega blog as an Influencer for the board I curated on Pinterest called Cold Remedies. I was on cloud nine for a very long time… ok, maybe I still am, so what. I’m among great company.

Africa Missions
Hubs and I went to visit his family and their non-profit, Hope of the Nations, in Kigoma, Tanzania in October. While we were there, we hosted a visit from the missions pastor of our church and through that, the decision was made for the church to form a partnership with HofN. This is a big deal, and I am so excited to see what a game-changer this will be for their ministry.

Comment (1) Tags Africa, Beggars Banquet, DIY, India, round up, Vancouver, Wedding |

Farewell Dressember, Hello 2013

December 31, 2012

Oh em gee; Dressember has passed! It hasn’t been super difficult, I just honestly didn’t think I could do it without going completely crazy — I mean, I love my skinny jeans. I am going to wear them so hard — as soon as I decide to get dressed. I mean it was a long night, after all. Yesterday I went to work finishing off Dressember in my favorite way. Here’s the thing about me, I love holiday dressing, like love love. It’s turned into my Halloween. See, when I was younger, I absolutely adored dressing up for Halloween and planned for it pretty much all year. In the the past 10 years, that desire has vanished, I can’t really put a finger on the why behind it, it’s just gone. New Year’s however, well I like to pull out all the costumey things that just sit looking pretty in the closet for the rest of the year — namely, grandma’s jewels and vintage veiled hats; I just can’t resist. But before I show you that outfit, here’s how the week went:

This was a pretty low-key day off of work. I got dressed only to have some friends over for a movie night. I made quinoa fritters to snack on and we watched Pirate Radio — have you seen it? I’m wearing a simple denim mini dress with leggings and an obligatory kimono, as I’m always wearing these around the house. Best.

This outfit was fun. It’s a completely see-through mesh dress I picked up this past spring from the Frock Shoppe for $14 (I just put a basic slip under it), a thrifted leopard blouse over that, topped with an old Charlotte Ronson cardigan, and my favorite flats.

This is a thrifted leopard dress with a blazer/vest situation I got from my stepmom. She was a “power-suit” kind of woman and a few years back she cleaned out the closet and a got a lot of fun pieces. This piece has an accordion-pleat scarf attached to it. These little booties were acquired at Beggars Banquet for $20 and I can wear them all the day long. Major score.

I threw this maxi on to go to a low-key dinner party with some lady friends last night. It was perfect for the cozy affair and I had plenty of room to fill my belly with some incredible homemade mushroom soup, wine, and lots of cheese. I love lady friends, especially the ones that love food as much as I do.

I piled on three of my grandma’s rhinestone necklaces. I used to wear these all the time in my Gwennabe days. I’ve had a serious love-affair with sparkling things ever since. This hat is on a permanent loan from my mom. She collects hats and this is one of my favorites. When I got home, I put on something more comfy, as it was just hubs and two good friends hanging out together. They said I could cheat and put on jeans, but I didn’t; Dressember was not tarnished, friends!! Hope you all had a lovely holiday!! Thank you so much for following me this year!!

Comments (2) Tags Deessember, Dressember2012, fashion |

On the Subject of Dresses

December 27, 2012

Dressember is nearly coming to an end. It’s been more of a challenge than I thought; I kind of feel like I’m wearing the same thing everyday — not being able to wear pants. Five more days, though. I can do this! By the way, how have your holidays been?? Mine have been much jollier than in previous years. Hmm, I wonder if I should be attributing that to dresses??

the first repeat dress this month; not too shabby

I’ve had this Rebecca Taylor dress in my closet for years; I just can’t seem to part with it. It’s was a little challenge to winterfy it, but I think it turned out ok. It has gold metallic thread throughout the entire thing, revealing another thing I’m a sucker for — shiny things. Duh.

I getta day off and look what I do with it — nothing at all. I didn’t leave the house, but to walk the dogs a few times. I’m totally fine with you knowing that; I’m a homebody, an introvert. That’s kind of obvious if you know me though. I wear this dress around the house all the time, so it’s part repeat, borderline not counting. Ha. Technicalities and whateves.

Holla atchyo accordion pleats; I can’t get enough. This dress has actually been in every Beggars Banquet booth I’ve had. There have been many close-calls, but it never sold and I’m so happy for that now. I might not be ever parting with it after all the compliments I got this day.

This is only the second repeated dress this month. I’m doing pretty god, although I do want to try to finish out the month with no more repeats; I think I can I think I can I think I can.

This little vintage number has wings!! Big fluffy wings with lace. It’s precious and I love it. I felt girly all day… and I liked it.

Christmas was an amazing, relaxing day. Josh and I had a few guys over, we got Chinese food and watched movie after movie after movie. The day was so chill that I had even forgotten to photo my outfit, so this is the only pic I have. I do enjoy a quiet holiday as long as we get to Skype with family. This echoes the above introvert comment, no?

Today’s vintage dress is one of my favorites because it always gets a lot of compliments — mostly due to the jewel-toned blue color. I love this little handmade beauty; I paired it with a St. John belt and some insane Aldo heels. I worked today, Boxing Day. It’s our store’s busiest day of the year. I did a solid 5 hours in these shoes before my feet were screaming at me, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes shoes are just worth it. I thought I was over that notion a few years ago — turns out I’m not.

Comment (0) Tags Christmas, Dressember, Dressember2012, fashion |

Piling it On

December 19, 2012

Yesterday was my birthday. All day — all week, even — I was the most excited that I have ever been for a birthday. Really, this was for no particular reason at all. I have just been a bit… well… joyous, I guess. As it turned out, I woke up to snow; this year’s snow has also made me inexplicably happy. Well, perhaps it’s because of the contrast to the Indian and African weather I experienced earlier this year; cold weather is a welcomed friend. I love layering. Even in summer weather, it’s hard not to pile it on.

mini accordion-pleat dress I just got from a clothing swap and tons of obligatory layers

a completely sheer tulle vintage dress that I wore over a tank and leggings

showing off my Smurf knees and my favorite vintage ~~beanie~~ toque.

BITTEN by SJP dress and my favorite ring from Leh.

Finally, my birthday outfit. It’s hard to see it in this pic, but I am wearing a dress, albeit, the tiniest dress in my closet. Hubs thinks in cheating Dressember by wearing jeans under my dress — and then enough layers to cover said dress, but as I said before, it was snowing. I realized that for the last few years, I’ve been wearing this dress on my birthday. It really is the sweetest thing, so I don’t mind dubbing it my Birthday Dress. We’ll see how long it will stay as such.