calivintage – Page 44 – mom jeans + puff sleeves

making necklaces

October 28, 2014 9 Comments

i’ve never really had a huge jewelry collection, but since adam was born, i’ve really had to pare down my already sparse collection. most days, i can really only get away with wearing dainty rings that won’t snag on baby blankets. a bit of consolation came in the form of this cute necklace by mama and little, but it really only fueled my desire to find more baby-friendly jewelry that doesn’t look like it was, well, made for babies. i started browsing around online and collecting various baby-friendly beads: food grade silicone beads in subtle colors, unfinished wood beads, break-away clasps, waxed cotton string. and i finally got to experimenting with some designs a couple of weeks ago at a ladies craft night with rubyellen, melissa, and lauren. i made a couple of designs that evening, and then a few more later that night at home. and since then, i’ve become a necklace-making machine! i’ve already ordered more unfinished wood pieces, and am patiently waiting for a shipment of eco-friendly, natural baby paints by natural earth paints so that i can try my hand at painting baby-friendly wood beads and bangles. i’ve even concocted a natural beeswax wood finish to protect the paints once they arrive.

i like the look of them, and adam has been happily teething on them when i hold him in my arms. he does this silly little singing voice while he chomps on them. and i feel good knowing that my jewelry doubles as an awesome baby toy, made with unfinished wood, food-grade silicone, and waxed cotton.

giveaways, beauty

giveaway: under aurora

October 27, 2014 6 Comments

today i am super excited to announce my latest giveaway courtesy of under aurora. i’ve been obsessed with trying new skin and body care products lately, which is why i’m particularly happy to be able to offer you the chance to win one of each full-sized products from this 100% natural, cruelty-free line. the brand hails from columbus, ohio with owner tina de broux at the helm, who created the company with the belief that what we put on our bodies should always be simple, natural, and pure. and as someone who’s personally tested them, i can tell you that they are a delight to wear. my favorite is probably the coconut oil spray for not only it’s light coconut, calendula, lavender, and tee tree scent, but also the easy to use formula that you can spray on right when you hop out of the shower.

the winner will receive one each of the:
coconut oil spray: a light oil spray that is 100% natural and made with soothing & healing plant botanicals. great for all skin types but specifically helps to soothe dry, itchy, sunburned, or irritated skin.
nourishing facial oil: this is food for your face. ingredients such as rosehip seed & carrot oil are packed full of vitamins. this nourishing facial oil is great for all skin types, even oily skin! golden jojoba oil is moisturizing for dry skin but it also thins the sebum, helping to prevent acne and regulate oil production for oily skin types.
brightening facial scrub: this luxurious sugar scrub will leave your skin feeling soft and supple with a healthy radiant glow.
all four of the botanical body sprays: 100% natural, plant botanical body spritz. Hand-crafted using a unique blend of essential oils.

simply enter using the widget below:

enter to win the full product line by under aurora!

under aurora would also like to offer you 20% off all orders with code “calivintage” now through friday, october 31st!

my style

outfit: better late than never

October 22, 2014 8 Comments

last fall, i didn’t really acquire too many new pieces of clothing. some maternity jeans from target, maybe a few asos dresses in large sizes to accommodate my rapidly expanding pregnant belly. but right before i “popped,” i did pick up a few things thinking that i’d be able to fit in them for at least a couple of weeks before i got too big for them. and then i foolishly thought i’d be able to fit back into them like two months post baby. ha! if you want to feel really bad about yourself, try fitting into one of your old dresses a month after your baby was born. i know some women can, but i sure couldn’t. even after somehow miraculously losing most of the baby weight in the first month after adam was born, i’m still just barely fitting into some of my pre-baby clothes. mostly thanks to my (for lack of a better word) ginormous boobs.

but that didn’t keep me from rummaging through the boxes of the clothes i’d packed away during my pregnancy in search of something new to wear now that the weather is cooling down just a tad. which is exactly where i found this cute little lauren moffatt dress just begging to be worn. i will admit that it’s a tad bit short to wear while running around after a baby, but i still enjoyed tossing it on for a morning walk. i just let daddy carry the baby so i could have some fun skipping around in a short dress for at least a couple of hours.

wearing:
dress courtesy of lauren moffatt
bass wayfarer loafers
benah for karen walker handbag
jasper sunglasses courtesy of warby parker
the runwell watch courtesy of shinola

giveaways

giveaway: cacto shop

October 21, 2014 126 Comments

today i’m excited to announce my latest giveaway courtesy of cacto shop. this beautiful madrid-based online jewelry shop stocks some of my favorite designers including young frankk, academy, and giantlion to name a few. the shop is basically stocked with all of the pieces that i would love to be wearing right now, so i’m especially excited to be able to offer you the chance to win one in-stock item of your choice!

to enter: simply visit cacto shop and tell us which item is your absolute favorite in the comment section below.

the fine print: this giveaway is open to international readers, so anyone can enter. only one entry per person. the winner will be randomly selected and contact via email after tuesday, october 28. winner received their choice of any one in-stock item from the shop.

fashion, spring 2015

maryam nassir zadeh spring 2105

October 20, 2014 5 Comments

ok, after posting about the roberta heels last week, i realized that maryam nassir zadeh really deserves her own post. she launched her own womenswear line last year and while it is small, it really is on point. the color combinations, the styling, the attitude. everything about it is totally fresh and interesting. except for the hair… and those dirty, dirty nyc streets. but that’s not even a critique! these are the types of outfits i wish i could pull together, or even just pull off. i can’t even explain it, but i’m totally charmed by a little muscle tee layered under a cool sundress, and you already know how i feel about those shoes!

photos courtesy of maryam nassir zadeh.

kids

adam’s apple

October 19, 2014 2 Comments

as much fun as i’ve had keeping a record of weekly adam photos, i think i’ve finally decided to move on from the rigid structure of it. especially now that the holidays are here and we’ve been documenting all of our activities with so much fervor! so from now on, i’ll just be posting without the constraints of a week-by-week numerical structure, and will just be sharing some of my favorite photos as we go along. i’ve never been good about following “the rules,” even when i set them for myself!

so here’s the latest photo of my little guy at 9 months. i can’t even keep track of how many weeks old he is anymore! on this particular day, we took a quick drive up to snow line orchard in oak glen to enjoy some fall weather and bundle up in sweaters. adam isn’t quite old enough to go apple picking, but he did get a kick out of his teeny tiny apple!

wearing: unisex bandit in hazel grey courtesy of petite soul, hello onesie courtesy of hello apparel, weathered brown handmade moccs courtesy of freshly picked.

fashion, shopping

want: roberta heels

October 17, 2014 5 Comments

i’ve been trying to keep a handle on my wishlist lately. but sometimes i can’t help but fall hard for something new. such is the case with maryam nassir zadeh. years ago, they had a pair of shoes that unfortunately got away from me (which still haunt me in my dreams). since then, i’ve always kept an eye on their beautiful inventory and carefree product styling. and wouldn’t you know, i’m stuck on their latest shoe collection. in particular, the sleek and minimal roberta heels, which come in a variety of colors from saffron to turquoise to chalky grey. if i could, i would swiftly snap them up in every color and wear them all fall.

photos courtesy of maryam nassir zadeh.

my style, lifestyle

outfit: up and away

October 16, 2014 7 Comments

it’s been a month since i started using the up system by jawbone, which means it’s time for me to share an update about how it’s been working out. i have to admit that i was a little skeptical about how a simple little bracelet could really do anything for me. i mean, it’s essentially a really fancy pedometer, right? well, yes and no. it records your steps during the day and your sleep at night. but the interesting part is what happens once the data is collected in the up app (which, by the way, you can use to record your information even if you don’t have a bracelet).

when i first put it on, i was a little concerned that it would somehow make me feel bad. i didn’t really know how much i walked in a day or if my activity was up to snuff. and i have a baby and, you know, a life. sometimes these things are out of our control, and the last thing you need to hear is a little voice in your head telling you that you aren’t good enough. but much to my surprise, it’s actually an incredibly helpful tool. instead of telling me that i needed to reach some unachievable goal in order to be healthy, it began recording my activity and smartly creating incremental goals to help me inch towards higher goals. i wasn’t getting enough sleep at night, so it would give me a mini challenge now and again, providing me with a suggested bed time that might help me get the sleep i need to function during the day. it even provides tips and tricks to help you get a better night’s sleep, and links to relevant studies about sleep. i was skeptical that these tiny suggestions would really have an impact, but after a month, i’m actually getting better sleep! for the first time since i started using it, i’ve been reaching 100% (or more!) of my goal.

and even more interesting than that: over time, the data gets smarter. the app started to look for a correlation between how much sleep i get at night and how active i am during the day. and wouldn’t you be surprised to know that since i’ve been getting more sleep, i’ve been way more active during the day? no, i haven’t suddenly become a marathon runner, but i am very surprised to say that a funky little bracelet and a smart little app have actually been helping me to make some pretty positive lifestyle changes. so while my one-month challenge is over, i won’t be giving up on up any time soon.

see all of my posts featuring up here.

this post is sponsored by jawbone. thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible!

my style

outfit: playing hooky

October 15, 2014 4 Comments

i hadn’t really stopped to fully acknowledge it before now, but boy has my life changed over the past year. i mean, i know it goes without saying since i had a baby, quit my day job, and became a full-time caregiver and whenever-i-catch-a-moment freelancer and blogger. i’m really happy that i’m able to pull it off, but i would be lying if i said it wasn’t without it’s challenges. last week, i realized that things were starting to get a little monotonous around here, and that i really needed to shake things up if i wanted to break free from the usual routine and get myself into a better headspace. whether you have a traditional 9-t0-5 or not, sometimes you just gotta play hooky.

so on monday morning, i started things fresh. the night before, i resolved to hide my phone from my bedside so i wouldn’t be tempted to mindlessly stare at that glowing screen until some ungodly hour of the night, a habit that i’m embarrassed to admit was really causing me some major sleep problems. and isn’t it funny how that works? the next morning, it was almost as if that one seemingly tiny change caused this little ripple effect to ever so gently push me through the day unencumbered by my usual routine. instead of checking my emails first thing, which i’m apt to do most mornings, i turned on some music instead and gave my dad a call to invite him on our morning walk around the neighborhood. of course, this meant that when adam drifted off for his morning nap, i wasn’t at my computer to answer endless emails and publish my usual blog post. and i actually felt this little twinge of guilt knowing that i’d shirked off a day of responsibilities, but sometimes that’s exactly what you’ve got to do.

so i’ve been out and about, embracing the last couple of days and enjoying the change of the seasons. on monday, i took adam with his great-grandparents to the pumpkin patch to enjoy the festivities. rows and rows of pumpkins in all colors, a hay maze, a petting zoo, pony rides, and even a little train, all spread out on a little farm complete with dogs lazily roaming around. my 82-year-old grandfather, proudly carrying adam in his arms to show him around. we’ve been to the playground several times just to sit and watch the kids run around, and to push adam on the swings. and i’ve been dutifully keeping my cell phone out of reach, so i’m not tempted to peek at social media in every free moment. i’m already feeling more energized and ready to embrace the coming months, complete with plenty of work, but remembering not to skimp on play.

wearing:
thrifted t-shirt, altered by hand
time zone necklace courtesy of academy jewelry
thrifted vintage linen pencil skirt
peep toe high clogs courtesy of swedish hasbeens
coach bucket bag courtesy of twice
horseshoe ring courtesy of erica weiner
gold scoop ring courtesy of giantlion
up24 courtesy of jawbone (read more about it here)

fashion, fall 2014

jane sews fall 2014

October 9, 2014 3 Comments

the new jane sews fall 2014 collection is out and i think i’m in love. in fact, i think i’ve found a solution to my new warmer clime: shopping designers in the southern hemisphere! actually, even though jane sews is based in south africa, her focus is really on timeless pieces that are suitable for all seasons. and she really has done just that with her latest collection. i can easily see myself wearing any one of these looks just as they are styled, or switching them out with a pair of ankle boots and a light jacket when the temperatures finally dip.

photos courtesy of jane sews.