in which i swear i was born with gypsy blood

Remember when everybody was belting scarves like this? Well I'm bringing it back (today)! I always love outfits like this best, I think. I definitely have gypsy blood in me, somewhere... perhaps I'm descended from Irish Travellers?

(dress: etsy; skirt: vintage (grandmother); boots: seychelles; scarf/belt: thrifted; necklace: flea market)

I had a lovely evening with my Valentine. He made me special nachos (our usual + sauteed mushrooms and garlic--yum!) and we drank champagne with fresh strawberries and watched "A Walk on the Moon" (my choice). (Oh, and he went to three different stores looking for my favorite brand of chocolate-covered cherries--because I definitely am not the sort of girl who scoffs at chocolate on any occasion ;)

The movie was good (and may have inspired today's outfit a bit), though pretty silly in some respects. It takes place at a Catskills resort/camp during the summer of love, with the moon landing and Woodstock festival acting as bookends for the affair of a discontent housewife with a traveling blouse salesman. I must admit, the housewife (played by Diane Lane) wasn't terribly sympathetic, and entered the affair sort of nonchalantly and without any real guilt (even sneaking out of the cottage to see her lover while her mother-in-law begged her not to leave--yeah, right), but there was still so much to like about the movie. If I'm nostalgic for jazz age Paris, I'm also nostalgic for America in the "swinging 'sixties"... and it's obviously closer to home. They're not terribly different, if you think about it--culturally significant times ruled by excess and flamboyance (probably because ages defined by art are necessarily more lively and free-wheeling), important social revolutions and relaxation of social norms... all good things.

But then, thinking about the 'sixties and everything that was happening, culturally and politically, I realized how far we still have to go. We're still trapped by futile and violent conflicts/wars; the space program, which once launched (pun intended) America to the top (with the moonwalk as an indication of great things to come/new discoveries ahead), has ended, like a surrender; no huge Woodstock-style free concert would ever happen now (or could it??? Someone get on that...); while people once did drugs to loosen up by "expanding" their minds, the overprescription of mood-suppressing drugs (for anxiety, ADHD, even anti-psychotic) now loosens us up by closing off/denying the power of our minds (for the record, I'm not advocating the use of any kind of drug, just pointing out the difference); we fought against racial discrimination in the 'sixties, and we're still fighting against discrimination today, most notably for gay rights. It seems that there will always be a fight to be fought. Maybe some day we will be able to live and let live, for the good of all, without exploitation or abuse.

I've definitely been a bit lecture-y lately. Whoops. I don't mean to be... these things have just been on my mind. The times, they are a' changing (again, and always)!

a full belly, a birthday, and a new dress!

Oh Friday, sweet Friday :) I'm so delighted that the weekend has come at last! K and I are having a low-key Halloweekend with pumpkin carving, pie-baking, scary movie-watching and probably some candy-eating (if I have anything to say about it)! I'm really excited. It's been so nice spending all of this time with K lately--now that cold weather has hit VT, I'm perfectly content to hibernate in our cozy little abode (and maybe start working on some of those goals).

(dress: Secondi; tights: Ralph Lauren; shoes: Payless)

I bought this dress in DC at an upscale consignment shop, Secondi. At $35, this was one of the cheapest items in the store, and I just couldn't let it slip away. At first I was iffy about the big geometric buttons and the shiny belt, but the sweet sixties-style cut and the perfect plaid pattern sold me in the end. I've been looking for a dress in this exact print for I-don't-know-how-long, and now I have it! The fabric is a really soft felt-like material, and it was actually marked as a "sweater" in the store--but you know me! As long as it covers my bum, it's a dress :) I also didn't notice until this morning that the top button (by the collar) was actually completely different, and worn to white in the middle (!) Being the sly trickster that I am, I colored the blank space with my eyeliner pencil, and Voila! Catastrophe averted.

I was actually realllllly not feeling well yesterday (there should be a law against sickness on birthdays), so we decided to skip the movie (I wanted to see You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, even though the reviews are pretty terrible--I'll be loyal to Woody until the day I die!) and enjoy the delicious dinner that K prepared for me. I woke from my relatively rejuvenating nap to the sweet smell of baked butternut squash, drizzled with butter and maple syrup:

As I watched Project Runway and flipped through my November Vogue (it takes forever for this magazine to get to my door--I guess they figure we're about 20 years behind the times anyway out here), K cooked mushrooms and zucchini in garlic and olive oil. He drained some of the juices into a bowl and brought me chunks of chewy local bread to dip in the deliciousness (for a bread hound like me, this is about as close to heaven as it gets...), then tossed the vegetables with vodka sauce over pasta:

Seriously, this man can cook. By the end of the night, I was miraculously feeling 100% better--and now I'm good as new! That's how a wonderful boyfriend and a bellyful of incredible, yummy comfort food turned my birthday all the way around :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I can't wait to see all of your creative costumes!

Tweed on Tweed

In my plaid, black lace & poison ring I felt a little bit sixties-punk-rock-schoolgirl-grunge.

(An Education)

(A Hard Day's Night; according to her autobiography [kind of a fun read, if you're into that sort of thing], this is where Pattie Boyd met George Harrison [she later married him])

And then, this happened:

Looks like my inner schoolgirl grew up and became a professor.

(tweed blazer: vintage; tweed skirt: vintage; lace cami: Charlotte Russe; tights: TJMaxx; boots: ALDO; scarf: gift from mom; ring: vintage)