lake del valle

calivintage: lake del valle

today i thought i’d share a few (ok, way more than a few) photographs of a favorite weekend getaway spot. the bay area summers are just a little too chilly for my taste, so we’ve made it a habit of driving east for about 45 minutes to lake del valle where it’s usually 10 – 20 degrees warmer and we get to enjoy real summer weather. so on saturday, we packed up the essentials: picnic blanket, towels, sunscreen, and headed out for a lazy day spent eating sammiches, drinking champagne, and floating around in the cool water.

it was also the perfect opportunity to give my new swimsuit a test drive. i’m not usually able to wear a two piece because most tops are just too flimsy for me, and i can’t actually fit a regular size range of small, medium, or large. so i was pretty excited to find this retro little number at my work that comes in a range of cup sizes and actually fits! ok, it may be a teensy bit snug, but i’ve decided to grace you all with my booty anyhow, haha! i recently read this cute article about getting a “perfect beach body” and really liked the resounding message to, “just go to the damn beach and enjoy yourself already.” so that’s just what i’m doing!

swimsuit: frÁ¤ulein annie reversible top and bottoms from modcloth
sunglasses: karen walker number six
accessories: market backpack from brook farm general store and pendleton throw with leather carrier

calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle
calivintage: lake del valle

weekly roundup

time to share some of my favorite outfit inspiration from around the web. as always, you can swing by my tumblr or my pinterest to see everything that has been catching my eye lately!

above: loving the simplicity of a floral dress and loafers. julia sarr jamois photographed by hanneli.


vivi photographed by hel looks in the mustard yellow velvet blazer of my dreams.

  
ashley of milk teeths channeling moonrise kingdom, and rosie of rosemud.


beaux mondes.


street style at milan design week shot for wwd.


these kids are clearly too cool for school. toronto street fashion.

  
crystal nicodemus photographed by the cut and charlotte fassler photographed by fashionista.


annabel of blushing ambition.


nothing like a fresh white t-shirt and shorts in the summer heat. the sartorialist.

afternoon snapshots

calivintage: afternoon snapshots

i know i always share my outfit photos, but today i thought i might share some personal photos. i always have my camera with me, so i suppose it’s no surprise that i happen to take lots of little snapshots of the things i’m up to. not quite sure why i don’t share these types of photos more often!

anyway, this is a little peek at my neighborhood in the grand lake area of oakland. i live right on the border of the town of piedmont near morcom rose garden (which i have been talking about nonstop this week). on weekends, we usually stroll about these streets without thinking much about our surroundings, so sometimes it’s nice to just stop and enjoy the scenery. above: brendan toting around my market backpack and pendleton blanket (the latter was a surprise gift from him).

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
my viewpoint while laying in the grass at the rose garden.

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
cool water.

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
sammiches, books, and beer. i made these egg sammiches from a recipe i found on pinterest. i’m going to have to share because they were seriously perfection.

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
have you ever seen the sriracha food pyramid? this is my life.

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
calivintage: afternoon snapshots
on the street where i live. can’t get over the views here.

calivintage: afternoon snapshots
the view from the stairwell in my apartment building.

outfit: secret garden

calivintage: secret garden

these photos were taken on sunday after laying in the grass at the morcom rose garden by my house. i had a belly full of egg sammiches and champagne spiked with pomegranate juice, and may have dozed off in the grass for a little bit before snapping these pictures… so that is indeed the look of pure bliss on my face, haha. it was a warm day, so i jumped at the chance to pull on an easy sun dress and immediately ran for this family affairs dress! nina sent it over as a surprise gift a few months back just in time for me to take it with my on my trip to hawaii, but despite the fact that i had to resist wearing it every single day that i was there, i never managed to get any good photos of it! so i was happy that we were finally graced with a day warm enough for me to wear it!

dress: family affairs clyde dress
shoes: worishofer sandals
bag: vintage jute tote
sweater: thrifted vintage cable knit cardigan
glasses: bonlook jungle chic

calivintage: secret garden
calivintage: secret garden
calivintage: secret garden
calivintage: secret garden
calivintage: secret garden

datter industries jewelry giveaway!

datter industries

today i am pleased to announce my latest giveaway courtesy of datter industries. i recently came across this beautiful jewelry shop while browsing around on pinterest and immediately ordered myself the protective eye ring and kitty pin. fast forward about a month, and i was exchanging emails with the very sweet designer, kaye blegvad. she is an incredible illustator and jewelrysmith, and each piece in her shop is designed and made-to-order by hand in her nyc studio. i wanted to share her work with you so much that we both decided it would be fun to have a little giveaway, so today we are offering you the chance to win any one item of jewelry from her shop!

to enter:
simply visit datter industries (there are many more styles on the site) and tell us which item in the shop is your absolute favorite in the comment section below!

datter industries

only one entry per person. this giveaway is open to international readers, so anyone can enter. the winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email after tuesday, june 12.

not interested in giveaways? datter industries would also like to offer you 15% off your order with code “calivintage” now through june 19!

outfit: conquering the weekend

calivintage: spring spots

i know that weekends are meant for enjoying, but they really can be quite stressful. i have two days to accomplish all of the things that i can’t do during the week, and usually have a list of things to do that is nearly impossible to complete in just 48 hours. the weekends come and go, and i always feel like i’m playing catch-up, trying to remind myself of all of the things i have to do next weekend: the car needs an oil change, i still haven’t gone to the bank, for that matter, the car needs new tires, the refrigerator is empty, etc, etc.

but every one once-in-a-while, i have one of those glorious weekends where i somehow manage to conquer a huge to-do list with several hours left to actually relax. perhaps there was some cosmic alignment because i really did have a very fulfilling few days. went out on friday night for a mall date with brendan and saw moonrise kingdom. woke up bright and early on saturday to go to the farmer’s market and buy fresh, local produce. then headed out to get new tires for my little junker of a car. and finally got that oil change! and since we were out in a suburban town that i rarely visit (san leandro), we did some exploring and happened upon a little thrift store filled with vintage gems, everything was $5 or less, score! then we came back home to lounge in the grass at the morcom rose garden until the sun turned to shade and we had to run back home for sweaters. we sat drinking beer and talking about anything and everything, and took a late night stroll around the neighborhood before calling it a night. on sunday, we cleaned the apartment (it was a pig sty), and planned out home-cooked meals for the entire week. picked up more groceries, and packed a picnic for another evening laying in the grass at the rose garden. the late afternoon sun was so dreamy and serene, and i managed to take a deep breath and watch the sun go down and the weekend come to a close.

top: madewell indigo ink pocket tee
sweater: thrifted vintage cable knit cardigan
skirt: madewell silk dotty passenger skirt
bag: vintage jute tote
shoes: bass wayfarer
glasses: bonlook jungle chic
ring: datter golden watchful eye ring
brooch: vintage plastic dachshund pin from the flea market
liptick: make up for ever rouge artist intense in bright orange
nail polish: essie clambake

calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots
calivintage: spring spots

outfit: action slacks

calivintage: action slacks

just a few snaps from a walk around my neighborhood on a particularly sunny day. this is another one of those outfits that i wear pretty often, but don’t usually photograph. i could live in these jeans if i could get away with it because they’re super soft and stretchy with a perfect high rise. i remember when i was in high school, i used to have this pair of men’s action slacks. they were comfort jeans for old men that had a tab waist with stretch denim. i was a skinny kid and they were regular men’s sizes, so wore them slung awkwardly at my hips, but i just loved them because they were this perfect baby blue. now i just like to refer to all of my stretch jeans as action slacks, though i suppose these are slightly more fashionable…

top: equipment sailor blouse
jeans: j brand maria
shoes: thrifted vintage loafers
sunglasses: ray-ban round wayfarer
lipstick: nars heat wave

calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks

arabella ramsay fall 2012

i know we are fast approaching summer, but while we’re enjoying the warming temperatures, the southern hemisphere is slipping into fall and winter weather. and this season, arabella ramsay released a beautiful collection just for the occasion. “the apple of my isle” fall 2012 may be a bit warm for us right now, but i have a few pieces on my wishlist that i think will transition pretty seamlessly from season to season. i am, of course, smitten with that mustard yellow shift dress above, but am equally excited about the eclectic mix of stripes, florals, animal prints, and crochet. i’m sharing just a few of my favorites, so you’ll have to swing over to the arabella ramsay site to see the rest!

photos courtesy of arabella ramsay.










sammich cake

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

no, your eyes are not deceiving you. this is a food post on a fashion blog. please don’t roll your eyes too much because i am quite proud of my latest creation! as i’m sure some of you know, i work for modcloth.com as an editorial specialist. this basically means that in addition to writing posts for the blog, i run the modcloth tumblr and instagram, and generally produce editorial content for the site. i also do most of the blog photography and even recently shot some campaign photos. it’s basically a really fun, creative job where i get to dabble in all sorts of different projects. after hesitating for over two years, i finally decided to try my hand at a cooking post. and this is what was born: it’s a sammich cake! also known as a smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta. i made it and took the photos at my friend’s house and now i feel like i’ve been bitten by the food blogging bug.

anyway, i originally posted this on the modcloth blog (where you can find my recipe), but i just had to share the photos here because i was so pleased with my first attempt, and wondered what you guys thought. little known fact: many moons ago, i was professionally trained in culinary school and am actually a certified pastry chef. i’ve never shared any of my work here because it’s a fashion blog, but perhaps you’d like to see what else i’ve got up my sleeve?

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

outfit: americana

calivintage: americana

i don’t know about you, but i’m feeling the tinge of summer. i’m sure kids are sitting in their classrooms looking out the windows just waiting for the last day of school before they can run free, and take day trips to water parks and boardwalks. i won’t be afforded quite the same luxury, but i have been enjoying the changing atmosphere. over the weekend, we drove an hour east to lake del valle to bbq and enjoy the sun. we sat on a park bench under a tree shooting the shit and filling our bellies with grilled veggies and fancy farmer’s market meat. we waited an hour, or maybe it was two or three, before hiking out to find a swimming spot along the water while the moon orbited around the earth and covered up the sun, and the light dimmed around us momentarily. and i stuck my feet into the murky lake mud and waded in the water drinking a beer until i was too cold to stand it anymore.

i completely forgot to bring my camera with me, so i can only document that memory with words, but this is one of my almost summer outfits. it’s basically the same thing that i wore a few weeks ago, a bit of a summer uniform for me. simple tank, wrap skirt, wedge sandals.

top: stylemint blossom tank
skirt: vintage denim wrap skirt (similar)
shoes: kork-ease ava wedges
bag: family affairs tote
lipstick: nars heat wave
glasses: 3.1 phillip lim from a few seasons back

calivintage: americana
calivintage: americana
calivintage: americana