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 

A family visit.

My family spent the past week (my sister's final Spring Break of high school) with us in Charleston. Though I wasn't able to take any days off to spend with them, evenings were filled with family dinners, dusky beach walks, Mario Kart races, and lots of laughing. Even though it's a lot quieter and calmer without the whole brood here, I already miss them.

(Clockwise from top left: a Monza lunch date with my sis and her boyfriend / paparazzi-style shot of my folks strollin' / a sunrise Easter service on the pier at Folly Beach / the Pip doing a somber impression of the Easter Bunny.)

February Sunday

Oh, Sundays. I think they're so wonderful because you stretch them out to make the most of them before another week of work. Picking narcissus blossoms from the yard, French press coffee, helping a friend choose paint samples at Lowe's (with the right person, this can actually be fun), biking up to Closed for Business to hang out with beautiful boys who tell you that you have good skin, and agonizing over what color to paint your nails for dinner with an interesting fellow. Spring is springing, friends. It's springing up everywhere.

A Rainbow of J.Crew: Spring 2011

Images from style.com.

Have I ever mentioned that spring is my second-favorite season, after autumn? Sigh...

Spring Fling.

Spring Fling by waitforthesignal

This is what I'm thinking about...sky-high platforms in a bright coral, a little fedora to keep the sun out, a bangle for bling, a quality American-made wallet by makr, and my old faithful stripes.

On the note of what I'm thinking about...this is a song that makes me want to sit on the porch with a boy as we steal glances at each other, both thinking things we're not ready to say:

KATIE HERZIG & MATTHEW PERRYMAN JONES "WHERE THE ROAD MEETS THE SUN" (LIVE) from SITUATION OPERATION on Vimeo.

On Water Street this morning.

I love you, Springtime. I love you Charleston. You and your water and warm cobblestones.

When it's Springtime...

...I'm going to sleep in light, airy things like this:

Aerie Vintage Chambray Romper (sold out online...)

...I'm going to memorize short poems, such as Louise Bogan's "Epitaph for a Romantic Woman":

She has attained the permanence
She dreamed of, where old stones lie sunning.
Untended stalks blow over her
Even and swift, like young men running.

Always in the heart she loved
Others had lived, -- she heard their laughter.
She lies where none has lain before,
Where certainly none will follow after.

...I will make mixes that include songs like Juana Molina's "Salvese quien pueda":

I've only had a day of snow, and I'm already looking forward to spring in Charleston, which is maybe the most beautiful thing imaginable. Only a little over two months until the farmers market opens, bringing with it giant containers of lemonade, stands selling crepes and fruit and flowers and fresh bread. There will be people and music and sunshine and everything that is good about spring.

Happy New Year.

I know that the Western New Year falls on January 1st, but if it were up to me, New Year's would fall somewhere in the Spring. Springtime stirs something in me. It makes me want to clean out my closet, be more environmentally conscious, start art projects, eat healthier, and so much more. Trying to eat healthier in January is almost impossible. It's the grayest, chilliest month of the year, when all I feel like doing is curling up on the couch and watching 19th century British miniseries.

In the Spring, I revel outdoors. Now, with Maya in my life, I'm more than content to ramble down to Hampton Park and sit under the angel oaks while my pup digs in the dirt. I people and duck-watch. I write in my journal. I become more content to just be with myself.

New Spring Resolutions:

1. Yoga. Yoga. Yoga. (I'm totally copying my boss, Nikki, here.)
2. Eat healthy, locally, and as organically as possible. (But not totally cut out sweets from my life. I could never say goodbye to Cupcake.)
3. As a tie to the above, grocery shop at the Farmers Market and transport there with the entry below.
3. Ride my bike and walk as much as possible before it gets swelteringly hot.
4. Read books that are beautiful and inspiring, like what I'm reading now: The Shadow of the Wind.
5. Try to buy less trendy clothing, and only things that I love (especially if it's recycled clothing from thrift stores.
6. Same with home decor stuffs.
7. Write in my paper journal more.
8. Stop using plastic bags, once and for all, in favor of Baggus.
9. Find a place to volunteer in the community.
10. Be more social.

If you're curious as to all of the eco-themed resolutions, I've had "environmental guilt" for a while (thanks to my Dad, who would pack my lunch in the empty bags that loaves of bread came in) and the fact that I was bombarded with Earth Day was yesterday was quite the impetus to do more than feel guilty, but actually do more about it.

Here's what I'm doing environmentally, so far:

* Recycling everything I can.
* Keeping appliances turned off and/or unplugged when not in use.
* Buying predominantly recycled clothing, furniture, etc.
* Composting
* Cutting down on packaging (plastic, cardboard, etc.)
* Trying to avoid bags at the store (and reusing the ones I do take).
* Not printing out paper at home.
* Avoiding using unnecessary electricity (lights, heating/AC, etc.).
* Limiting water usage: showers, washing dishes, laundry, etc.

Here's what I need to work on:

* Everything.
* Stop driving to work (unless it's pouring).
* Replace all bulbs with compact fluorescents.
* Replace all paper products with recycled paper products.
* Stop printing out unnecessary pages on the computer at work.
* Buying locally, organically.
* As mentioned in resolutions, completely stop accepting bags at stores and using cloth bags.


However, in order to be really, really socially concious, I think you need to be pretty wealthy! Buying clothes not made outside the US (i.e., in sweatshops) is expensive, clothing made from recycled or environmentally-friendly materials like bamboo is expensive! Paraben-free, environmentally-friendly makeup and body products are expensive!

Leave me more ideas on how I can further limit my environmental waste.

I leave you with a song that (no matter how played out) always makes me feel like Spring, and I will love it forever: