The Queen of Wishful Thinking.

Maybe due to my overactive imagination or possibly due to my Type-A personality, I like to visualize specific aspects of my future in great detail. I mostly keep these ideal scenarios to myself or share them with my closest friends (because what if it gets jinxed?!).

But other times, I've publicly detailed wishes about my future only to look back on them weeks, months or years later, only to realize how eerily accurate these scenarios had become. 

For example: 

May 5, 2007: I had just gotten a job at skirt! magazine and was making a wish list for all of the details I wanted for my first solo apartment. Less then a week later, despite a bit of drama, I found the apartment of my dreams. Twelve-foot ceilings, lots of windows and natural light, two fireplaces (with mantels!), my own little porch, beadboard everywhere, biking distance from the grocery store and my job. This was the launching point for seven fantastic years in Charleston.

July 13, 2009 and December 13, 2009: These took a bit longer to come to fruition, and some elements of these posts haven't even happened yet. But there I was, sitting in my house in downtown Charleston, dreaming about a white farmhouse in the country (surrounded by fields with a forest and stream behind the property) where I live with the man I love, who loves me back in a grown-up, healthy way. Fast-forwarding to 2014-2015: we're in a white 1930s farmhouse with wood floors, surrounded by fields and forests (with a stream!). The farm table, babies and chickens haven't come yet, but there's still time...

I have a lot of dreams written down for this year--things that are being honed in my brain and paper journal, for the time being--but I'm already eager to look back on what I've written.

Anyone else experiencing these kinds of moments of prayers answered/dreams fulfilled/futures visualized? Share!

2015 & 31.

It's the eve of my 31st birthday, which means it's been nearly a year since I've written anything in this graveyard of a blog. So much happened in 2014:

• I left Charleston after seven glorious years in the Lowcountry
• I moved to a farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina -- to a home that felt like it had been waiting for me
• Steven moved to LA and after a few months, rushed right back to join me in the South
• I got a new job that allowed me to do a lot of traveling 
• Steven and I got engaged!
• Close friends are moving around and having babies and taking big steps in the grown-up world

It was a good year and a necessary year.

But now I'm experiencing those annual waves of restlessness that come with a new calendar year and a new year of life. 

2015 feels fresh and clean, like the new journal I cracked open on January 1, waiting to be filled with experiences (including a wedding).  Just like every year, I promise myself that I'll write more and experience more and push myself more. I take inventory of my flaws (there are a lot...complaining, lack of motivation, urgh...) and tell myself that this is the year that I can do a lot of fixing on all those loose and creaky places of my psyche.

Besides the tinkering on all of my inner problem areas, I'm trying to really embrace those waves of restlessness. I keep trying to figure out how to catch them and channel them into something useful and BIG. Regardless of all of the hopping around I've done in life, I often have the feeling that I'm sitting in a giant cosmic waiting room, tapping my toes and watching the clock. This year is a year for action and for making something of my life and not just letting things happen passively. I feel scared and not ready and more than ready all at the same time.

Happy 2015, y'all. Let's make something.

My 30th Birthday Soiree

I turned 30 this week, and in celebration, I threw a Downton Abbey/Gosford Park-themed birthday party last weekend.  Nothing beats a group of friends who are amazing sports (everyone showed up in costume!) and many, many bottles of champagne.

A few photos from the party:

 2014 and my 30th are going to be a good year. I can feel it.

Inherited Online

My vintage shop, Inherited, has a new website!

Visit the site over at www.inheritedattire.com to read blog posts (more to come), see new arrivals (at least weekly), #inheritedattire posts via Instagram, and more!

To celebrate Inherited's new site and the last official week of summer, shop Inherited's Etsy shop at 25% off (including the sale section!) using the code "EOS2013" -- this offer is only good until next week Sunday (the first day of autumn).

Thanks for your support!

Life Without iPhone

I shattered my iPhone screen a week or two ago, and while I'm waiting for my cheapie replacement screen to  complete its long trip from China, I've been using the only back-up I could find... my phone from 2010 that, gasp, doesn't even have a data plan. 

No Instagramming the adorable pet moments and attractive meals I've experienced, no group iMessaging, no Googling on the go, no blingy apps to keep me occupied during the whole five minutes my dinner companion is in the restroom. 

I am more than a little ashamed of how incredibly attached I have become to technology. A mere three years ago, I was more than content to just sit alone at a table without scrolling through Facebook or making a move on Words with Friends, and I was elated to capture the spontaneous moment on my phone's 3-megapixel camera, without vintage filters and framing. I'm still able to call and text, and yet without all of the extras, I have still felt a bit like I'm missing a limb. However, yesterday, while waiting for a friend to arrive for happy hour, I updated my (paper) planner, and then I just sat there. I sipped my drink, I listened to the conversations around me, and then I had the company of my own thoughts until my friend arrived. And it was lovely. I have a suspicion that there is a link between my lack of iPhone and my increasing desire to daydream and think and write, and my increased quality of sleep may be due to the same. 

Is a few weeks enough time to break my tech addiction? I am in that state of half-hope, half-fear -- hope that I will be a bit more mindful of constantly grasping for my phone to check for new texts or social media updates and fear that I will just immediately Instagram my beaming smile into my now-functioning iPhone camera (#selfie) and immediately forget the lessons I've slowly been learning. For now, hope is winning. Here's to loosening the ties to technology and letting a little radio silence take over, for the good of my technology-pickled brain. 

Out of Practice.

I bought one of those e-coupon thingies the other week for a deal on an unlimited month at Mission Yoga.  I've been dying to get back in to yoga, as it has fallen by the wayside over the past months (year?).  In fact, a lot has fallen by the wayside, including this blog. In the place of clearing my mind by moving my body and writing,  I've filled far too much time with a lot of less-than-pleasant habits (obsessive worrying and other neurotic things that are too embarrassing to share, even with a blog that probably has no readers left).

So I'm trying to scratch and stretch my way back to the surface, out of the murkiness of uncertainty. The future is unpredictable. I am going to try my best to do what all yogis recommend -- live in the moment, clear my mind and set a positive intention. As I try to move my stiff body back into those  once-familiar poses, I hope it will also help clear the cobwebs from the creative corners of mind and help me have a more positive outlook on the day-to-day.

Namaste.

Years Together.

Today is my parents' 33rd anniversary. As I get older,  it becomes clear to me that the qualities I require for a future spouse have been shaped a lot by what I've learned from them - trustworthiness, communication, acceptance. They know the other's strengths and weaknesses, and watching the balance that time has given them - it's a beautiful and enviable thing.

Though they're not immune disagreements and difficulties, they just keep on holding hands and looking towards the future. There are still lessons I need to learn from them (ehem...like when to drop an argument, among other things), but the biggest thing is that a marriage is a living thing. Feed it and nurture it, or it dies. I am so glad that they've managed to keep theirs alive - what an amazing challenge to live up to.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Celebrate Spring at the Lowcountry Artist Market!

My favorite event of the season is less than five days away! I have been stocking up Inherited's racks  with light and airy nightgowns, and silk tops and bottoms for the impending warm temperatures. I also can't wait to shop the other vendors' tables and eat grilled cheese!

Lowcountry Artist Market

April 13, 10 am - 3pm

32 Ann Street (at the Music Farm)

Charleston, SC

Hope to see you there!

A March Update: Bright and Bold

 I was so excited to share this 1950s Parklane Debs dress and jacket (still with original tags!), but it sold mere hours after I posted it on Etsy. SOLD

1960s Jonathan Logan linen sheath dress

1960s day dress with Peter Pan collar  SOLD

1960s Serbin of Florida brocade print day dress  SOLD

 1960s mustard sheath dress with original tags

 1960s abstract grassy sketch day dress 

1950s Miss Pat full pleated skirt 

On the Racks

I've added some extra special items from the 1940s-1960s to Inherited, so take a peek!

Way out West.

We spent the weekend of my birthday in the San Francisco Bay area, where Steven's mom and aunt live. I had never been to that part of California before this trip and I foolishly was so busy gawking at the awesomeness of San Francisco during our excursion on our birthday that I took practically no photos. Sigh... next time.

 Steven's mom's birthday is the day before mine, and we got to be at her surprise party!

A foggy start on our drive to San Francisco  

 Haribo Cherries provided nourishment on our drive

Nearly there!

I was obsessed with that Victorian brownstone on the right, driving to Haight-Ashbury. 

Hurray for sun and cute boys! 

 The hilly streets don't look that bad from here...

 The last pic from the city before I got overwhelmed in Union Square.

 A rocky outcropping on our drive up Mount Diablo.

The view was just silly... and this wasn't even halfway up. 

 Now that's a view.

 Bat signal.

What a fun trip... I can't wait to go back! 

Looking back at Christmas.

I can't believe we're already entering the last stretch of January. I had 12 straight days of vacation from work, and it still flew by in a blink. Here's a few blips from Christmas:

My mom's Christmas decorating leaves not one branch of their huge tree unadorned.

I'm trying to think of a Karate Kid reference to make here. 

Success! 

 This was the best that Nala could do.

Chomp. 

 The Christmas Eve spread - all this for five people. 

The halls are decked. 

 Merry Christmas!

A New Year.

 This New Year's Eve, we hid out at home and let a serious party animal entertain us:

(Pip is modeling the past three years of New Year's chapeaus from St-Germain... they're the best)

 We made a stop to our favorite cheese shop, goat. sheep. cow., and got a bevy of treats to snack on till midnight.

 (Maya brought a lot of hope into 2013... hope that we'd step away from the table and not miss a slice or three of soppressata.)

(Our few guests looked great for the occasion but didn't add much to the conversation.)

We downed our champagne, lit off a few fireworks and called it a night. Besides the fireworks, it wasn't much different than many other nights we've spent at home, but over breakfast, we talked about our resolutions and they've geared us up for taking on 2013, head first.

 

(New Year's Day calls for a port-infused French toast brunch with Bloody Marys and lots of bacon.)

One of my resolutions was to writewritewrite just for myself and also a little more in this blog, and so I am haltingly, falteringly starting again.

And tomorrow (or, in about four hours, rather), Steven and I will be taking on another of my resolutions!

Happy 2013!

At the Market

The Lowcountry Artist Market was last weekend, and it was so much fun! Talking about vintage all day with fellow enthusiasts of tulle, chiffon and lace gives me quite the rush. Here are a few pictures I managed to snap of Inherited's set-up.

The highlight of the day was selling the amazing red dress (1950s Lord & Taylor!)  on the mannequin to a girl who wore it with all the gamine style of Audrey Hepburn.

Thank you to everyone who came out to chat and shop and try on! You made my day.