Things you can tell just by looking.

Christmas is like a ninja. From a distance ninjas seem BAD-ASS and exciting. NINJAS ARE RAD! But in reality, ninjas will get in your face and abuse you before you have even caught a glimpse of their sweet moves. Christmas is exciting when you think about the prospect in June. Then it creeps up on you. It is holding a knife to your throat and you never saw it coming. All of a sudden Christmas is a few days away and I am in a state of panic. Rushing to get gifts and make sure my daughter has Christmas magic raining down on her at all times, trying to think of a present for my husband, and getting glitter from ornaments all over my carpet only to find out that my vacuum cleaner has died...again. 

The funny part is how little we as a family actually buy into and indulge in Christmas cliches...and it is still a cyclone of activity here! I cannot imagine how people who really and truly get sucked into all the Christmas obligations must feel...well, I guess they are the same people who stomped a man to death for a discount on televisions at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. Let's all raise a Christmas glass of wine (or bourbon, or champagne, or hooch if that's your poison) to breathing and loving and giving this year. Just do those three things and you'll be fine. We all will!

I do have to say that it is all worth it to see Averys face on Christmas morning, to start our own brand new, first-time ever Christmas family traditions (chinese food is involved, for sure), and to eat Santas' cookies of course. In the meantime, I have been to Target about 124 times in the last week, seen two preschool Christmas recitals, and and attended one housewarming party behind a Boat-World, Oh! And I found a new little nich to take better blog photos in!

Stuff That I Wore This Week

I was actually on the phone in this photo. Multi-tasking!

Dress- Thrifted

Jacket- Buffalo Exchange

Boots- Steve Madden in '07

Bag- Lucky brand

I'm not thrilled with the proportions of this outfit. It happens.

High waisted circle skirt- H&M last Christmas

Blouse- thrifted, Savers

Belt- vintage, thrifted

Peacoat- New Bohemia Vintage

Boots- Steve Madden

I'm not allergic to ironing, I just don't like doing it!

Dress- Anthropologie last Christmas

Jacket-Buffalo Exchange

Scarf- Thrifted, Goodwill

Boots- Vintage, Ebay

I did manage take in some journalism *coughmagazinescough* this week. I'm not usually captivated by black and white photography. That sounds...limited? Maybe, but I can't help what my eyes are attracted to. The good news is that the most recent issue of Dazed and Confused magazine blew the doors off my little preference. Heidi Slimanes "Teenage Takeover" editorial was mesmerizing.

Highlights

I was completely inspired by this and decided to go through the folders of saved photos on my computer to see what kind of B&W pics had caught my eye before. I found some beautiful images I hadn't looked at for months! Here are some of the more "fashion-y" that I found...

 

I am getting a little bit intoxicated by the way black and white photography puts the emphasis on texture. I may be an overly tactile person, but I love to see textures competing! I need to spend some time seeking out some more black and white journalistic photography this week...while I am not in Target of course.

illin.

sick, in the good way.

photo credit: Siri Tollerod

Everyone is ill. Everyone who blogs, everyone who is online, everyone who owns a computer, wears shoes, buys paper towels, and has seen the ocean is sick right now. And everyone besides that. It is a phenomena, akin to Lady Gaga, that is sweeping the nation so ferociously it will be months before anyone realizes they have never actually HEARD  a Lady GaGa song...Okay, I veered hard for a second there. Being sick means not so much of the cute clothing or the makeup, or the hygiene in general. I forgot to brush my teeth this morning, no joke. I am going to suck it up and blog right now though because I love you. No, really it is because I am a narcissist and I like the sound of my own voice, er, typing.

First I want to bring to you the really anti-climactic news that you can find me on lookbook.nu. I posted A photo as a formality. I'm usually pretty hesitant to join any "post your own" fashion site, and even more so when I cannot post photos from my shop. I have a remained loyal to a few sites that I can post Magnolia Family Vintage captures in and receive feedback/marketing points. I really joined lookbook.nu because you have to be invited and I am a sucker for any club that doesn't want me. There is something of the "what's beyond that sunset?" quality to a site that you can't just register for. Kudos to them for making it seem exclusive! I bought it. Once I got an invite (which was embarassingly easy, sorry Lookbook) I did find a lot of great inspiration and lovely girls wearing killer shoes. But after perusing the style for a long time, click-click-clicking through, I became baffled and a little disoriented. I'm not sure how to phrase this question, so here goes... 

Disclaimer: There is the possibility that I am venturing into "bitter, party of one!" territory. I do that unawares quite often...

How are these girls getting a photographer to follow them around? Do they hire someone? Do they all have an unemployed boyfriend (if so, congrats on that), or are they offering a "professional and atmospheric self-photography" course in Junior College now? I was not offered that class. I am so confused! I see dozens of girls everyday who have these ah-mazing photos of themselves, not occasionally, not on weekends or special occasions but apparently EVERY DAY. There is editing and lighting, there is great composition, there is casual, hip posing!! How does this happen? (I was tempted to link the previous sentences to evidence in the form of other bloggers, but I could see how it may be taken wrong) How does an entire generation of fashionistas enslave a legion of amateur photographers? Don't they feel silly walking around with one paparazzi all day? I would. I feel silly saying "Hey. Dave, would you mind very much taking my photo, I promise it will be fast!" I am not mocking anyone here, for the record. If I could, I would make self-photography a priority in my life!   I am just jealous. I want to look back decades from now and see myself back-lit with sunlight flare and whatever that polaroid effect is...I want to look better in photos than I do in my own memory. 

Anyhoo.

I am not a crafty type, nor a DIY-er by any stretch of the imagination. But I know a good opportunity when I see one! Yesterday we went to Garden Ridge SUPAHSTORE here in Austin to gather up sale price Christmas decorations and it was a BONANZA of potential awesomeness!

There was so much fun, sparkly, feathered, colorful stuff! It seemed to me that it was all just waiting to be transformed into other kinds of amazing stuff. I want to hang that orange feather in my hair! If I were of the crafty persuasion, I imagine this kind of place would be a gold mine. And all the Christmas decorations were half off! Since my family fails at organized decorating, we decided that our theme for Christmas this year will be "gaudy." We basically snapped up every sparkly, gold, bright, shiny bauble we found...and a big white tree. The results of this holiday cacophony will, I'm sure, be posted here soon enough.

And speaking of shiny, this is the feature of my blog where I steal things I find in other peoples blogs. We can call it "Grand Theft Blog," and it starts now because I am so obsessed with this jacket,

Antonin Tran piece found at jakandjil

It's so right. It feels so good.

New listings in the Magnolia Family Vintage shop...

New Auctions in the Magnolia Family Vintage store! 

We have a bunch of goodies up for auction right now in the shop! On top of the regular auctions, check out our special 99 CENT starting bid sale. Lots of lovely items and you can get them for mere pennies. xoxo

in the shade of the light show.

Look who's getting into the Christmas Spirit!

xo

My week in fashion.

In Fashion This Week

1.Avery does drop crotch trousers. Kills it.

2. It IS possible to wear purple tights...and not look like a tool. Who knew?

3. Awesome stuff going for MAD cheap in the Magnolia Family Vintage shop.

(CLICK HERE to Shop Magnolia! Auctions end in a few hours!)

4. Helena Bonham Carter does NOT always look homeless. Sometimes she looks wacky.

That's all I got. I am plum tuckered! xo

When it rains it pours...

 

So I guess it wouldn't be out of place to tell you that my week is not going well. Not only is my lovely, beloved Canon Rebel XTI out of commission, with something I can only imagine as a mental disorder, but last night the hard drive on my ibook FAILED. Giant, giant fail written all over my life, like a bad cat macro. Le sigh. So today I wore a (really adorable, not that I can prove it) all black ensemble to the Apple store...like a widow to a wake I went! It is all gone. It is all, all, all gone, gone, gone. I back up every once in awhile with my external hard drive but to be honest I hadn't done so in a while...I know that I should have been more vigilant.  Thousands of songs, photos, and documents. Folders full of inspirational photographs that I have collected from the internet, all my saved sites, blogs, shops, and guilty pleasures are all gone. I am not sure where to start. After returning from the funeral of my little, white, sleek BFF I sat I outside for a long time letting the cold add to my suffering and self-pity. 

feel my sorrow. and my wonky eyes.

Off topic, while I was pining for my lost computer compiled identity, I discovered that this is what I would look like if my features were symmetrical.

learn something new everyday, eh?

On the positive side, I am basically starting from scratch and it feels a little good. I mean, my computer hard drive was replaced along with the top thing-a-ma-jig so it is clean and sparkly. It feels somehow appropriate that I have to start over completely as the new year comes in...I get to reorganize, re-prioritize, and remember the things I really love again. If this sounds a little heavy for some lost information on a laptop, remember that I work online, live thousands of miles from my closest good friend, take photos every single day for work or blogging...I live a lot of life on the computer, and I don't have a problem with that. My next steps are, in no particular order;

• Music. Begin the re-downloading process. I like the idea of beginning with my top ten favorites and completing their catalogs before moving on. I have a bad habit of acquiring music on a whim then neglecting to have the complete works of bands and artists I truly love. I believe I will begin with the following artists; Spiritualized, Whiskeytown/Ryan Adams, Neutral Milk Hotel, Cat Power, Jason Molina (also as Songs:Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.), The Kinks, Dolly Parton, Joy Division, Otis Redding, The Mountain Goats, Simon and Garfunkel, Wilco, Gram Parsons, Okkervil River, Lynyrd Skynryd, White Zombie...did I say ten? This is going to be hard.
  
• Compile new and more concise collection of bookmarked blogs. No more kinda sorta sometimes fashion I like. I will only be including those I absolutely am inspired by. As many as I can remember. This is where you come in! What are your favorite fashion/street style/lifestyle blogs? Jog my memory.
• Begin new and fresh collections of inspiration photos. Luckily I have a lot of editorials and images already uploaded to flickr. This event should also serve as just the kick in the pants I need to finally cut up all the magazines I have been saving. I have always been very precious about magazines, saving them, protecting them, displaying them...Recently, after a pile of Vogue's slid off a night stand and came close to killing my kid, I realized I am being silly. I think I honestly believe I may save them for my daughter to look at when she is my age (and obsessed with vintage, obviously). The more I think about it, the more I think she will enjoy looking at a scrapbook I made when I was young...as opposed to 400 advertisements for Ralph Lauren Collection! I am looking forward to spending some cold days sifting through pages and chop! chop! chopping! them up for a little look book of my own. It sounds therapeutic.

If you feel the need to cheer me up but don't know how, you'll be happy to know that before my computer imploded I was a busy bee, working on a birthday wish list. My 27th birthday is January 10th! You may be wondering why I am skipping the whole Christmas list thing and that is because it is considered uncouth in my family to actually ask for things you want. It ruins everything and sucks the spirit of Christmas out, just ask my mom. So, while everyone else is doing that...I am patiently waiting the arrival of my late twenties. An abbreviated list of my desires includes,

"non" necklace, headband, and mask from Emmanuelle Esther

Frankie 2009 Calendar

(this one has been all over the place! So adorable!)

Chain ring, eyelash necklace, talon ring, and "faithful pantsuit" from Bona Drag

Sam Edelman ankle strapped booties

Frye Marta Ankle Boots

Plaid Hi-neck poncho from Nasty Gal Vintage

Victoria's Secret "ruffle garter cheeky panty" set

J Fit Digital Fitness Hula Hoop. How fun I need one!

Now I KNOW I KNOW what you're thinking. "But Sarah, these things are (for the most part) neither Vintage nor Secondhand!" To that I say yes, you're right. But I can only control myself and what I buy. I cannot control what YOU buy for ME. It is that simple. All the gifts that I give away this year will be vintage or secondhand.

Hopefully I will have photos and better news to report next time... But right now I will leave you with some shots from the greatest teenage love story ever told, better known as my weekly date with Randy (hearts! stars! fireworks!) in Valley Girl!

aaahhhh! a truer love would be hard to find...