this weekend was poorly planned. for some reason, despite my expectations, the entire northern california coast was booked for camping reservations. out the window(!) to our spontaneous ideas.

instead, we opted for a lazy afternoon at the nicasio reservoir. incredibly, we managed to find a completely deserted lakeside coast, just off the side of the road in marin county. it’s amazing how little you have to drive to find the most beatiful views out there! we bought ourselves some delicious deli sammiches, chips, and beer, and that was our afternoon.

since we expected to find ourselves stopping in bass lake on the way to our anticipated campsite, i was equipped with my new bikini, purchased from a lovely woman off ebay who said she bought it in 1946! as you can see, i was less than excited to get my photo taken in it. haha!

oh, and there are more photos on my flickr. actually, there are almost always more photos up on there!

on a recent trip spent visiting estate sales and antique shops, my boyfriend (mr. garbee), found a silly little paperback book called “mysterious california” which outlines all of the mysterious and spooky locations of california. he became obsessed with it one afternoon, and after reading it cover to cover, decided that we should visit our first location: the rose hill cemetery, located about 40 minutes east of oakland.

so yesterday morning, we set out bright and early with coffee and muffins, and made our way out to the spot, filled with the anticipation of sighting the legendary “white witch,” the ghost of sarah norton, which is said to haunt the cemetary…

we got there and discovered that it was a part of a much larger regional preserve in the area, the black diamond mines regional preserve. the rose hill cemetery is all that’s left of the old mining town that used to be there. so we set off on a little uphill trek to visit the grounds. there were no ghosts and the little place has seen some tough times. apparently there was a lot of vandalism in the 70s and many of the headstones have been destroyed or stolen.

so i’m on a little kick. i decided that what my wardrobe needs is feedsack dresses! let’s see, the progression went something like this… years ago, my mom gave me several full-sized feedsacks as a christmas present. she had all sorts of ideas for what i could do with them. i thanked her and then promptly stuffed them into a drawer. i just haven’t been sewing very much over the past few years. then, earlier this year i got a little motivated to go through my stuff, and out popped those vintage feedsacks from deep within a dresser drawer. i immediately sewed-up a little “le sac” dress out of one, knowing that it would be a nice and simple summer frock to wear. i’m just so casual on a daily basis that i’ve gotten to the point where i’m basically wearing a potato sack every day. haha!

but then i found two very lovely little vintage feedsack skirts in very pretty prints. my mind wandered… i found a few dresses. now i think it’s going to become a collection. i told myself i shouldn’t get carried away. i decided to put a cap on 7 feedsack dresses. one for every day of the week. it’s an upgrade from those shapeless frocks i find so comfortable, but they’re still definitely very wearable. i mean, these were the day dresses that rose from rural america in the depression era. nice colors to lift your spirits, conveniently sewn from a flour sack.

so this is the first one in the lot. a very bright and cheery print! when i bought this, it was so long, it practically went down to my ankles, and it was missing a belt. now i have hemmed it up to my preferred length, and used the excess fabric to make a new belt! now it feels even more custom, considering that it was already lovingly handmade. i feel like i should be off to the county fair to buy some prize-winning preserves.

today was a pretty relaxed day. i stayed at home with my boyfriend and rearranged the office while he painted and wrote stories. (i even updated the blog banner just a tad…) but i have to say i’m very pleased with the new layout of my office. i just feel like i finally figured out how to utilize the space more efficiently! now the only thing missing is a vintage sewing machine complete with a sewing table. i actually use my mom’s old singer sewing machine that she bought in the 70s, but it’s getting a little bit worse for the wear. sorry mom, i might need to upgrade! i’ve been scouring craigslist for just the right one!

but best part is that i need to decorate! this is going to be a very fun endeavor because what could be better than a californiana collection for the calivintage office? why didn’t i think of it before? so now i will keep my eyes peeled for old postcards and books and silly souvenirs!

and of course, i finally got around to doing an outfit post. i did get a tripod, but i haven’t mustered up the nerve to take it out in public with me, so i waited until the weekend for brendan to take my photos. the camera was up to no good so the photos are a little blown out, but at least i got a few shots of my house dress. i kinda think i might end up selling it, though. i can’t really decide!

i really need to invest in a tripod…

i tried to catch my boyfriend on his lunch break to take pictures of my dress, but he could only snap a few before he left. we went to the back of the building where a vine was growing against a wall. the lighting was perfect and everything, but when i loaded the pictures onto the computer, i noticed that there were two big plastic trash cans in the frame that i couldn’t crop out. oops. i really need to stop relying on him during the week for this kind of stuff.

so it’s back inside again with the camera propped on top of a book propped on top of the couch. and the lighting is bad. but i was determined to do an outfit post today because i’ve never shown you this dress. a few years back, i became obsessed with these little 80’s jersey dresses. a lot of them are done in that “80’s does 50’s” style and they’re suuuper comfortable. but then one day i realized that jersey isn’t exactly the most forgiving of fabrics. it sorta clings to the body in a most unforgiving way. so i sold most of them, and kept only two. i just love the green vines with two little sparrows perched on each shoulder.

ok, and now i really need to get to sewing. i’m replacing modern buttons on a modern skirt with some vintage buttons and i have tons of dresses and skirts to hem! not to mention, i still haven’t figured out what to do with all of these feedsacks i have. my mom gave me a bunch of them a while back and i want to try sewing them into skirts and blouses. i need some of those vintage one-yard patterns!

oh hello there. i’m doing a quick post today to show you my fourth of july outfit. off to the magazine shop and to check out a new vintage store in my neighborhood, then the usual 4th of july festivies: bbq, beer, biking around, and watching fireworks, yes?

i bought this dress for cheap and it was much too big for me, but it’s such a simple design that all i had to do was sew a straight line along the seam so that it would fit me. and it had those little straps that tie at the shoulders, but for some reason it felt too juvenile so i cut them off. when i was a kid, my mom always dressed us up in little rompers that were basically the child version of this dress. haha, and now that i think of it, we used to wear saltwater sandals, too. i have two pairs as an adult. hm.

enjoy your holiday.

well, to be honest, i didn’t do a very good job at laundry day. it’s already getting to be dinner time and there’s still stuff spinning around in the drier. so much for all the sewing i planned to do! ah well, so it goes. i am a master of procrastination, and i always find all sorts of interesting things to do when i’m avoiding the things i’m supposed to do. haha!

so of course, i felt like trying my hand at some self portraits! as i mentioned in the last post, my boyfriend, who normally takes all of my photos for me, has been working extra this summer and no longer has time to help me out during the week! this has proven to be quite problematic for me as the thrift store finds have been piling up with nowhere to go. let me tell you!

anyhow, i did as i said and stacked some books on my office table, and here’s what we’ve got. it’s what i wore on my trip to the grocery store to get some quarters for the washing machine. phew! i commend all of you self-photographers out there, especially the ones without tripods or camera remotes! oh, i know what’s on my wishlist! that and a light kit. if you feel like giving me recommendations for some good-buys, let me know!

yawn. oh dear, i am sleepy. lazy. so the solution? casual. maybe a little bit too casual. but this is my outfit post for the day. i actually bought the skirt with a $50 anthropologie gift card that i won in a contest on weardrobe! took me long enough! i won the contest over a month ago.. i just couldn’t figure out what i wanted! but i like this skirt because it’s quite versatile. i was super casual and wore this to get burittos at the taqueria, so i wasn’t really trying too hard. then i came home and took a two hour nap on the couch with my boyfriend. it was a lazy kind of day!

but if you didn’t see my little interview at weardrobe after my contest win, then you should check it out and learn a little bit more about me and see the outfit that scored me the gift card. it’s here.