une vie geniale

Sweater & Jeans.

2012-02-23T21:02:00.001-05:00

details:

sweater: Uniqlo via Crossroads Trading

blouse: c/o Modcloth (old)

jeans: Levi's Curve high waist skinnies

boots: Stakeout c/o Seychelles

A short little post for you as I get ready to watch the last episode of the season of Parenthood. So good! I've been hooked on the show ever since I found it on hulu the very first season. Getting ready to take things easy this weekend after quite a hectic week. I don't even care if the weather cooperates as I just want to catch up on some sleep! Ok, going to go cry my brains out now.

Homemade Seitan.

2012-02-22T10:47:00.000-05:00

To most vegans out there, the thought of making seitan from scratch always seems a little intimidating. I've been a vegan for almost ten years now and never have I even attempted to make it until now. I finally found a recipe that didn't seem to daunting, thanks to The Urban Vegan. I just happen to pick up this book at the local library (which I've been hitting up a lot these days. does anyone else still go?) Anyhow, I made it the other night and am pretty impressed with the way it turned out.

What you need:

1 cup vital wheat gluten (this is the same stuff you need to make these)
1 1/3 cups vegetable broth, for mixing
6 cups vegetable broth, for simmering
1 tablespoon canola oil ( I used olive oil)

What you do:

1. Mix the wheat gluten and the 1 1/3 cup broth. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rest for 5 more minutes.

2. Cut seitan in nuggets or desired shape. Pieces swell when you cook them so make them smaller than you would need them to be.

3. Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Gently drop in seitan, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.

4. Drain well. Heat a non-stock skillet to medium high. Add oil and then sauté nuggets until browned.

If you are not using the seitan immediately, you can cover it with broth and store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. If freezing, cover in broth in a plastic container for up to 6 months.

*recipe sourced from The Urban Vegan book.

Nanny style.

2012-02-19T17:06:00.000-05:00

details:

denim shirt: Crossroads trading

pants: AA via Buffalo Exchange

backpack: c/o Blowfish shoes

boots: Jeffrey Campbell

scarf: thrifted

My posting has been a little sporadic lately mostly because I don't really have anything too exciting going on. I've been super busy just babysitting and when I'm home, I'm usually re-organizing/decluttering our apartment. Since I've been spending more of my time at the playground I feel like I no longer have much use for dresses or cute skirts. I'm opting for skinny jeans and sweaters as my go-to. This week, on a recent drop-off at Crossroads Trading, I picked up this denim shirt which I've already worn twice. I love it's versatility! Adding to my new lifestyle, I've decided that sporting a backpack is so much easier than lugging around a purse! I know, how utilitarian I've become. I already had one in my closet but when Blowfish shoes offered to send me a pair of shoes, I ventured into their accessories and found this one. I love it's pattern and it's the perfect size to keep the few things I need: wallet, water bottle, book, gloves...etc. It's actually on sale right now too!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I'm off to enjoy a little comedy night with some friends.

Vegan Shop-up.

2012-02-12T19:44:00.001-05:00

Today some friends and I spent the day in Bushwick {the next neighborhood over from Williamsburg} in order to attend the Vegan Shop-up (click to see the list of vendors) at Pine Box, a completely vegan bar. The shop-up consisted mostly of vegan treats like truffles, cookies and spreads but also had some fun things like homemade sprinkles. Since we're usually not in the neighborhood, we decided to walk around, despite the icy cold windy weather, and venture in some vintage stores and did a little shopping.

The shop-up was so fun since it's not everyday that, as a vegan, you can freely enjoy samples and tastings at markets. I didn't hear about it before but their website says that it's a bi-monthly event. I think I'll definitely be going back!

Flore etc.

2012-02-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

So I haven't exactly been into the blogging mode since coming back from LA. You'd think that I'd have all of this free time now that I'm not working my 9 to 5 right? Well that's what I thought at least. Between running around to appointments with the immigration department, the labor dept. and a few babysitting jobs, I haven't had the chance to really do anything for myself. Oh and did I mention getting sick on Sunday morning and having to cancel any Superbowl plans for the day?
Therefore, I give you this post on this vegan restaurant in LA.

Flore was one of the restaurants we found while doing our rounds of vegan fare. We were told to venture out in the Silver lake area to check it out. Let me just say that I am extremely jealous of you guys in LA that have so many vegan options available to you! We had such a hard time deciding on where to eat cause there was SO MANY OPTIONS! Flore kind of stood out probably because it had the vibe of a place you'd find right here in Williamsburg, except the people working there are actually really nice! (No offense to the brooklynites out there but it's true, you could learn a thing or too from nice Californians.) We ended up eating there twice! Once for dinner and then back for breakfast on the morning we were flying back to NY. I'd definitely suggest you save room for dessert and make your way across the street to Pazzo gelato for some gelato/sorbet. My fave flavor was the Coconut macadamia nut. Oh so delicious.

Venice Beach.

2012-02-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

So here we are with my last update on our trip to Los Angeles. We spent Sunday driving around different neighborhoods and just taking in the sights. We were told that Venice Beach was a MUST SEE, so that was our first stop of the day.

details: vintage top via Tea Kettle Vintage

Dear creatures shorts via Modcloth

vintage belt via Value Village

socks via Hue

Stakeout boot c/o Seychelles

I was pretty excited when I put this outfit together as they're sort of "new" things that I bought this winter thinking I'd have to wait until this Summer to wear. You'll notice that I've worn these boots throughout my whole trip. I can't help it, they're my new favorite shoes. Just a little chunky heel to give me some height but not too much that I can't walk comfortably in!

For vegans out there, there's a great little restaurant right on Pacific ave called Seed. We had some sandwiches and lemonade before hitting the beach that were delicious!

Favorite Goods.

2012-01-31T13:03:00.000-05:00

Well we just got back from Los Angeles late last night {early this morning, really} and I know it'll take me a while to adjust. I have to say, I can't believe that was my first time visiting. What the heck was I waiting for? It was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time!

Before leaving, I was invited to do a little shopping at Beacon's Closet and pick out a few items from their Williamsburg location, which if you've been you'll know it's huge! So after a couple of hours and having my arms full and checking out every single rack in the store, I narrowed it down to a few easy pieces that would work well in my wardrobe. I ended up bringing an outfit with me to LA to wear at the gallery on Saturday night.

details: vintage cardigan c/o Beacon's Closet

BB Dakota blouse c/o Beacon's Closet

vintage sweater clip via thrift store

vintage skirt c/o Beacon's Closet

socks via Hue

boots c/o Seychelles

We stayed at the gallery for most of the night, chatting with some really nice people about the differences between LA and NY {so many}. We then walked to Little Tokyo, checked out some shops that were open late night and ate some delicious vegan food at Shojin. The food was delicious and the service was nothing short of excellent. I highly recommend this place if ever you're in the neighborhood!

Ok, I have one more post from LA to go! Hope you don't mind the overload but we had such a great time. I think we both just really needed a vacation right about no so it was perfect timing that Soner had this show. Now it's all about unpacking and getting back into some sort of routine.

Long Beach.

2012-01-29T04:37:00.000-05:00

Hi guys! Just a little update from bright and sunny California! We touched down on Friday afternoon and have had nothing but gorgeous sunny skies and warm weather. Let's just say that we are pretty enamored with L.A. so far. We've rented a car and drove down to Long Beach on Friday to spend some time with some friends. Saturday was spent just lounging around the neighborhood and breakfast down in Huntington. Here are some pictures of our day.

details: cardigan via Dustyrose Vintage| tee via UO| skirt via Buffalo Exchange|

boots c/o Seychelles| bracelet via Market Publique x brooklyn charm collab.

I've been taking tons of pictures, too many to post here so for more you can check out my flickr photo stream.

Banana Bits.

2012-01-25T18:25:00.000-05:00

So I'm not quite sure what to call these little delicious frozen treats since it includes so much stuff: chocolate peanut butter banana coconut frozen bite size treats? well, we can work on a name later.
The thing is these are super easy to make and the perfect little snack when you're craving something sweet. Aren't we always???

What you'll need:

1/4 cup of chocolate
1/4 peanut butter
1banana, sliced
2 tablespoons of shredded unsweetened coconut

What you do:

1. Prepare a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
2. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut in the microwave, or small saucepan.
3. Cut banana in bite size slices, depending on how big you want your pieces to be. I like them to be on the thinner side so I can get about 10 pieces per banana.
4. Dip the banana in the chocolate/pb mixture and place them onto the prepared sheet.
5. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of each dipped banana slice.
6. Freeze for at least 4 hours or better if overnight. Trust me on this one! You really want the banana to be extra frozen!

Enjoy!!

Bundled up.

2012-01-20T15:23:00.001-05:00

details: shirt via H&M| vest via Beacon's Closet| pants via Swap|

shoes via Mo Vintage| scarf via handmade

Today's only errand was to go to the post office. This easy outfit was basically just put together quickly for that one little walk along our street. The rest of the day is to get a lot of things knitted for the shop. I already have some stuff but finding the right light to photograph them is always my issue. Have a great weekend! We're expecting snow here tomorrow, as you can see, the parks are all still so green. Unusual for January {almost February!}

*For a slightly different version of this outfit check out this post from my old blog: Sweater Vest

Clothing Swap.

2012-01-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday i attended a much needed clothing swap with a few friends. It was great to unload a bag full of clothing and accessories but I also found myself filling it back up with some great finds! Thanks Sarah for being such a wonderful host!

I scored that wonderful Mickey & Minnie sweater, a velour headband, a cute timex gold watch, and a few other random articles of clothing. I made the Coconut bars for the occasion as swapping works up an appetite! Have you ever been to a swap? I'd highly consider throwing one for you and your friends, they really are a lot of fun.

Vintage Sweater.

2012-01-15T18:54:00.001-05:00

Just a short little outfit post for you on this chilly Sunday night. I wasn't kidding when I said that all I've been wearing were sweaters and jeans! This sweater is actually new to my closet via Beacon's Closet. I hadn't been out shopping in a while but since I cleaned out my closet I had some stuff to trade in for store credit. I also got an awesome pair of printed palazzo capri pants but those are going to have to wait until the Spring to make an appearance on the blog.

details: jeans via Levi's| vintage sweater via Beacon's Closet (trade)| boots via Aldo

I attended a really fun clothing swap today so I'll be posting some pictures of it and of my finds tomorrow! Tonight, we've got some lentil soup simmering on the stove and these stuffed sweet potatoes from Jen's blog in the oven. It's going to be a quiet night in, no football or Golden Globes here. Maybe a little knitting and a movie which has been happening a lot around these parts lately.

Sweater Time.

2012-01-13T12:10:00.000-05:00

With this new found time off, I've mentioned that I've been helping out my friends at Dusty Rose Vintage getting stuff listed in the shop. Since they had a bunch of sweaters to list, we thought it'd be best if they were modeled on an actual body instead of the usual form. So we got to work, me switching my role from photographer to subject and tried on several different sweaters. Here are a few of my favorites that are listed and available for purchase.

1980s mohair blue grey brown and black hand knit mixed media sweater

1980s mohair grey smock cardigan

1970s green wool crewneck sweater

1970s navy ski sweater

1950s wool ivory button up sweater with Peter Pan collar

It's funny because this is exactly the type of outfit i've been wearing lately. All I want to do in the mornings is grab my pair of skinny jeans {still in love with the Levi's Curve high waist denim} and a warm cozy sweater. I prefer the tighter fitting ones too cause they keep me extra warm.

So today is just a hang around the house day for me. I've got lots of little things going on my to-do list that I've been making ever since I found out that I'd have some extra time on my hands this month. Since it's a little dreary and windy outside, I'd say it's the perfect time to get to it.

Moving Image.

2012-01-11T20:45:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Soner and I finally had a full day to spend together. These dates were always rare considering he works nights and I was working during the day. So we took this opportunity to get out and make a whole day of it.
We kicked it off with brunch at Champs, one of our vegan spots for pretty much any kind of sweet you can think of. They renovated from when I first posted about them and turned it into a diner style restaurant. We don't eat in often so this was one of our treats.

We then made our way up to Queens to visit the Museum of the moving image. I've been wanting to check this place out for a while now but being in Queens isn't exactly the most convenient, especially having to rely on the G train. Anyway, we made it up there and it was so worth it.

Right now they have a Jim Henson exhibit with early sketches of Jim's work, clips of commercials that started the whole muppet phenomenon, and other little relics that include Fraggle Rock and the Dark Crystal. It was all pretty amazing and since photography of any kind wasn't allowed I really tried to not get us kicked out and refrained from taking any pictures. Until I saw this:

Amazing. I love miss piggy, especially in her over the top white lace wedding dress? um yeah. so worth the risk.

The museum also has some cool interactive stations where you can do voice overs from favorite movies, sound effect changes, and the best one, a movie station where you can make your own flip book! Of course we couldn't resist the urge and made this cute little book of us dancing. Not gracefully mind you but you can't really tell so we're ok.

(I'm not the fastest flip book flipper but it took me so many tries to get it right that I just gave up and went with the last video)

I know it's not Manhattan and it's a little out of the way if your just in town for a few days but it is such a great museum to check out!

And then we grabbed a drink at a nearby bar right down the block from our place and called it a day. a very fun one.

Jelly Donut Cupcake

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

With a name like that, how can one resist the urge to make them for a late night Saturday night snack?
The nice thing about these is that they're no more complicated than regular ol' cupcakes. You just get a little surprise when you bite into it.

What you'll need:

1 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup {or more} of raspberry jam

2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

2. Pour the soy milk, cider vinegar, and cornstarch into a measuring cup, whisk well and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder & soda, nutmeg and salt. Create a well in the centre of the flour mixture to pour the wet ingredients.

4. Add the soy mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until well combined

5. Fill the cupcake liners about three quarters full with batter. Place a heaping teaspoonful of jam on the centre of each cupcake. Leave it as is as the dough will fill itself over in the baking process and the jam will sink in.

6. Bake for 21-23 minutes, until the tops are a golden color. Remove from the oven and let cool.

7. Once cooled, set them someplace cool and dry and leave uncovered. I kept them in the bedroom since that was the coldest place in our house and it seemed fine. The recipe asks you to let them sit for 24 hours but they were fine after just a couple hours.

8. Sift confectioner's sugar on tops to create the "jelly donut" look.

*recipe was sourced from Veganomicon.

The Park.

2012-01-08T16:16:00.000-05:00

details: dress via asos| sweater via Kensiegirl| tights via Uniqlo|

booties c/o Blowfish | necklace gift from brother

The weather is just crazy these days. You're freezing your face off one day and then the next, you're walking around in a sweater. I never know what to expect! Oh and it was windy when taking these pictures which is why my hair is all over the place...that and I need to get it cut very soon.

Hope you all had a great weekend, even though it is not officially over yet. I'm spending the rest of my day indoors, knitting, and possibly making a big pot of veggie chili. Last night, after coming home from a fabulous party thrown by this lady, and enjoying some delicious vegan treats, I couldn't help myself to baking some of my own cupcakes. I had this recipe for Jelly donut cupcakes that I was dying to try so I made them last night just to test them out. I hate never having made something before bringing them to an event. What if they don't turn out? Well, they were great and I'm planning on posting the recipe tomorrow. With this urge to bake, we can all agree that I'm not yet back on my healthy eating plan. It's so hard to resist! But I am slowly trying to get back on it and soon enough I'll get all this sweets cravings over with.

On the outfit front, I've been pairing sweaters with dresses lately, mostly because of the cold but I also like how the sweater makes it a little more casual. Since i'm not going anywhere fancy these days, this is kind of the look for me. My booties are courtesy of the nice folks at Blowfish. I like them because they're lined in faux fur, making my feet all cozy and warm. And the little heel also helps us shorties!

Friday's update.

2012-01-06T10:28:00.001-05:00

Just a heads up {no pun intended}, I've added a few more headbands to the shop!

I think I'm going to be moving on to toques {knit hats} now so I hope to have some up next week.

As my first week of being unemployed comes to an end I can just say that I am already loving my new schedule. Instead of 5am wake up calls to the gym, I am now going at 8am. Then I have breakfast, get ready and head over to the Dusty Rose Vintage Headquarters. Yes, you didn't expect me to just stay home and watch Maury episodes did you? While my immigration papers get processed and I get a work authorization, I'm helping out my friends with photographing and listing their etsy stock. It's been a huge learning experience as I'm not all that familiar with studio photography but I think we've made some progress and hope to have a lot of the stuff up in the next week or so. We even did a little shoot with me modeling some fun sweaters! I can't wait to show you.

Today is running errands and visiting the in-laws day. Oh and I guess we should also take down our Christmas tree...

Happy weekend everyone!

MY NYE

2012-01-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

Well, there's no outfit post for my NYE because in all honesty, I wore my usual house get-up which consists of leggings, T-Shirt, hair in a bun and some thick slippers. What a way to ring in the new year!

What I did focus on was our New Years Eve dinner plans. Since Soner was working a daytime shift, I said that I'd make us a nice dinner for when he came home and we could watch the ball drop and then decide if we wanted to go out or not.
We never did makes it out and we sort of missed the ball drop since we were too busy watching pass episodes of the Office. Oopsies!! Oh well, we caught the very last bit of the Times Square celebration, kissed, popped some champagne, and went right back to where we were.

There are the only pictures I took of the night, and of course they're of food.

1. We don't have cable so while making dinner, I streamed the festivities.

The flowers were from Soner.

2. Spring Vegetable risotto! My first try at risotto. {It takes forever}

3. Caesar salad, Vegetable risotto and sparkling wine for dinner.

4. Dessert: Chocolate bunt cake with cherry nirvana soy ice cream.

As a side note, I updated my etsy shop last night with some super cute headbands! Check them out here!

Outfit & Things.

2011-12-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is, the last outfit post of 2011. Woke up this morning to 50 degree weather which was definitely unexpected for the last day of the year. It's getting harder and harder to convince Soner to move up to Canada!! Ok, I'm kidding, a little. This happens every time I comeback from visiting the family. Especially with those two cute huggable little people I get to visit. Nothing beats big hugs from little squishy arms.

details: vintage dress via Beacon's Closet| sweater & hat via UO| tights via asos| boots c/o BC Shoes

I have numerous things to fill you in on, so here it is:

1. Thank you all so much for your comments on our wedding day. In a sea of big weddings, it was nice to keep it small, intimate and most importantly low-cost. I appreciate all the comments and well wishes, and cannot say it enough that I truly appreciate my readers. *For those wondering what happened with my ID situation. I left my purse at my parent's hotel which was about 5 minutes away. My dad had to hop in a cab and saved the day!

2. I've mentioned it on twitter but as of Monday I am no longer a corporate slave to the Fashion World! Kensie, which was owned by Liz Claiborne was sold to another company a few months ago. (Un)fortunately this new company is eliminating my job as a retail merchandiser. This is kind of a blessing in disguise for me as after 6 years in the industry I think it was time for me to move on but doing so without a push is a scary thing. This way, the decision was made and well, I'm looking forward to this New Year for new beginnings.

3. One of my goals for this ~~year~~ month is to open up a online shop. I've thought about opening an etsy for clothing but since some of my clothes aren't vintage, I'm going to go with something like big cartel or goodsie. Watch for that coming soon!

4. Hopefully this new schedule will be more conducive for me to knit up some things for the etsy shop. I know it's looking a little scarce right now but I already have a few things to list and photograph!

5. I've fallen off the low-carb/sugar eating plan over the Holidays but am going to jump right back on starting on Monday. It'll also be nice to set my alarm forward a couple of hours for the gym in the mornings. No more 5:30 AM wake up!

So all in all, things are pretty good over here. Married life is treating us very well and we're so excited for this new year together. Today since I've planned a delicious menu for us for dinner, am going to spend it mostly in the kitchen, crossing my fingers that everything turns out right. We're having a quiet night in to ring in the New Year, and possibly meet up with some friends in the neighborhood. I've been having the hardest time staying up past 10pm these days, so a nap might even be in order. Talk about living it up.

Have a happy New Year everyone!!

Mr. & Mrs.

2011-12-28T15:51:00.000-05:00

And I'm back! I spent the Holidays with my family up in Ottawa and boy was it ever fun! Having both my niece and nephew to keep me busy made it go by so fast. They are just too adorable.

To get back on my blogging schedule, I have some weddings pictures to share! I've mentioned before that it was not a huge event and we tried to keep it as low key as possible, having our ceremony at the Manhattan City Hall at 10am on December 12th, 2011. My parents made it down and since Soner's family is from here, they were all in attendence as well. We each had a friend for a witness and an extra for our photographer for the day.

I found my dress the week after my engagement by going through the Dusty Rose Vintage Studio closet. It was just hanging there, in my size, and exactly the thing I was looking for, a 1950's cream & lavender party dress. Something a little bride-like but not too much for our low-key ceremony. Now that I had the dress, I moved on to the shoes, which I found online through Seychelles. I knew they'd have something for the occasion that would match my dress. And of course, the Spacebar pumps in nude were just right. I did my own hair and make-up.

Soner had a harder time finding a suit since he wanted a nice fitting vintage suit. After exhausting our options with vintage for about two weeks, we then moved on to more contemporary stores like J.Crew and Club Monaco. Turns out none of these had what we wanted so after a few weeks of looking we went back to this little gem of a store in the East Village, Rue St- Denis, and he found it. A wool blend, navy vintage suit. After a few alterations, it was perfect. The tie, we found at J.Crew and the shoes and shirt he already had.

After our ceremony, we walked up to the Brooklyn Bridge and took some pretty special pictures. A lot of tourists were out that day (like and other day I guess) but they all made sure to give us their congratulations and some even stopped to take a picture of us!

We then hopped on the subway to meet up with our family who were waiting for us at the Spring Street Natural restaurant for a big family brunch with everyone that was in attendance. Since it was early on Monday morning, we had most of the place to ourselves! I really like this place because it has a good selection of both vegan and non-vegan brunch items. Since Soner and I were the only non-meat eaters, we wanted a place that everyone would be happy with.

We had some time in the late afternoon so we took my parents down to Coney Island since they had never been. I got back into my dress and we proceeded to take more pictures, this time with my dad as the photographer. Since it was right before sundown, the pictures came out really nice.

The day was absolutely perfect and I don't think I'd change a thing. I always told my mom that I'd elope and to not get angry at me if i did. But having my parents there and Soner's family made it so very special that I'm happy we had at least a little something.

*that first picture was of me realizing that I didn't have my ID with me when we were in line to get married! I wanted to cry.

Swing Coat.

2011-12-21T20:34:00.000-05:00

details: coat via asos| leggings via American Apparel| boots c/o Seychelles|

hat via handmade| brooch via Wildfell Hall vintage

I'm obviously a little obsessed with the black and brown color combo. I just can't help it, I feel like it just looks classy. And well, add a vintage brooch and you've got super classy!

I'm gearing up for my trip to Ottawa as I leave on Friday and Soner will be accompanying me. We're looking forward to seeing my nephew and niece and spoil them with presents that they won't even know what to do with. The joys of being an aunt. I wish you all safe travels to see your families, god knows how packed the airports are going to be on Friday! Yikes.

Pumpkin pie Brownies

2011-12-20T15:48:00.001-05:00

It's not too late to still be posting Pumpkin recipes now is it? This is one that I got from The PPK website. I swear, these ladies can do no wrong!

What you need:

For the brownie layer
4 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tablespoon tapioca flour (or arrowroot or corn starch)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the pumpkin pie layer
1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or use arrowroot or cornstarch)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground allspice

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, or use a 9 inch square pan, preferably lined with parchment paper.

To make the brownie layer:

1. Melt the chocolate.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix together pumpkin, sugar, oil and vanilla.

3. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, tapioca, baking soda and salt and stir to combine, then mix in the melted chocolate.

To make the pumpkin layer:

4. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

To assemble:

5. Use a spatula to spread the brownie layer into the prepared baking pan, taking care to bring the batter to the edges of the pan.

6. Pour the pumpkin layer over it, leaving a little room at the edges if you can.

7. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pumpkin layer looks fairly firm (a little jiggling is okay) and has cracked at the edges a bit.

Let cool for 20 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to set for at least an hour and a half. Once set, decorate with chocolate chips and serve.

B & B

2011-12-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

The title stands for Black & Brown, why? Because I'm a little tired at the moment and can't come up with anything better this morning. It's been a crazy busy weekend, but that seems like the trend around here. Yesterday I headed out to the LES Girl's Club for our Crafty Chicas meeting where we made a bunch of fun little christmas ornaments. This is what I pulled together outfit wise. It was easy since the colors were identical, ok, maybe it was lazy?

details: sweater via F21| dress via Shown to Scale| leggings via American Apparel|

boots via Beacon's Closet| belt via Value Village

Today I'm planning on staying in the neighborhood and checking out a craft fair as well as the Brooklyn Flea market. Soner and I are in the process of making our Christmas stockings so we need to be able to fill them up with stuff once we're done! I'm pretty excited to start some new traditions for us this year as our first as a married couple. Do you guys have any fun traditions that you've started?

Donuts Done well.

2011-12-17T10:06:00.002-05:00

When I heard that there was a new vegan doughnut shop in town, I knew I had to check it out asap. Dun-Well Donuts just opened sometime last week in the East Williamsburg area, on Montrose Ave. This is basically just 2 short stops on the L train for me {danger}.
They specialize in true classic doughnuts {obviously} but also have little drop cake doughnuts as well in so many flavors! But get there early because they're sure to sell out of the more popular flavors throughout the day. Since I had the afternoon off from work yesterday, Soner & I hopped on the L train and made our way to this new establishment to have ourselves a little vegan treat.

Who knew that I'd be able to do such a picture heavy post on a doughnut shop? This place just had so much character that I wanted to make sure to grab it all. The little details, like instead of serving on a plate, you get your doughnut on a round slab of wood is pretty cool. They offer old time style italian soda and serve it to you in an old fashion glass with a metal straw, classic. The last picture is of the co-owner/creator of these delicious little vegan pastries, Christopher Hollowell {the Well in Dun-Well} He was nice enough to chat with us about how they got started, the little details of the shop {like the wall of old pictures & how it's from their own families} and he even gave us a little sneak taste preview of their egg-nog icing that launches today! I wish these guys the best success! If you want to check them {which I recommend you do}, visit their website: http://dunwelldoughnuts.com/ . Now if I could just get there early enough to catch one of their Toasted S'more doughnuts!

Craft fair.

2011-12-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, I was busy showing my parent's around New York and finding some cool stuff for them to do. On Saturday, Soner took my dad to the Moma, which gave my mom and I the perfect chance to check out the Bust Craftacular. Everytime I attend, it kind of gives me inspiration to knit more to one day be a vendor. Maybe in the New year? We shall see.

Of course I had to stop by and say hi to my friends at Dusty Rose Vintage!

Veggie Empanadas

2011-12-13T18:21:00.001-05:00

This is something I meant to post last week but things have been a little crazy around these parts so I'm just getting around to it now. I made these Vegetable empanadas for Thanksgiving without even thinking that they were empanadas. My first thought was to make a vegetable pie but with so many people attending, I thought individual pies would be easier to grab for everyone. They came out really great considering I used a whole bunch of leftover veggies I had bought for a stuffing mix and frozen pizza dough. You can basically stuff them with anything you want but here's what I did.

What you'll need:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 cup of chopped broccoli

1 package of veggie ground "meat"

1 clove of garlic (minced)

1 small onion, chopped

1 small red pepper, chopped

1 tbsp Braggs liquid amino

salt & pepper to taste

1 package of frozen pizza dough

What you do:

1. Thaw out the pizza dough according to the instructions on package. Usually needs to thaw in the fridge overnight. Once you are ready, place dough on a flat surface dusted with flour and roll it out to form small round pizza-like shape. Put aside and work on the filling. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. Heat saucepan with oil on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.

3. Add all of your veggies and Braggs and cook for about 7-8 minutes.

4. Once vegetables are almost cooked, add the veggie ground and if mixture is dry, you can add vegetable broth or a splash of water. Cook for another 5 minutes. The vegetables will cook once you place the finished empanadas in the over so make sure they're not overcooked.

5. Spoon the filling on the flat round dough that you already prepared. Seal the edges, and brush the tops with a little bit of olive oil.

6. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, until the dough starts to brown.

Again, you can basically fill them with any vegetable combination you want or have available in your fridge! If I had a little more time,I'd probably even try and make my own dough but I'd already been cooking for 5 hours by this time so frozen dough it was!! Enjoy!

Hair Stuff.

2011-12-07T18:15:00.001-05:00

A few hair tips and tricks that I've learned through the years:

1. Lush's BIG shampoo is the only shampoo that will actually give you big hair.

2. Use a big round brush to blow-dry your bangs.

3. Before blow drying said bangs, use a volumizing spray. It'll make them fuller and keep them from turning greasy so fast.

4. For medium to thick hair, don't wash your hair everyday. Use a shower cap....

5. But do wash your bangs by leaving them out of the shower cap.

6. Don't be afraid to tease. Use a teasing comb on the top back, sides, and even a little on the bangs.

7. Find a dry shampoo that works for you and keep it stocked. I spray it on my roots before teasing. It adds crazy volume and mattifies and oiliness.

8. Use your flat iron to add body by twisting bottom sections of your hair around it (see video)

9. Use a little bit of pomade to "scrunch" up the curls you just made and tousle your hair to break them up at bit.

10. Before going to bed, run some hair serum through your ends if they're dry. It'll help them lock in moisture while you sleep.

Questions? Just ask me in the comments and I'll answer below!

Just Dance

2011-12-05T18:18:00.001-05:00

On Saturday afternoon I attended Lotus Music & Dance's Open House recital. Now before you get any ideas, no, I am not planning on strapping on my dancing shoes any time soon. Let me rewind.

A little while ago I told you about the Lower East Side Girl's Club and their Mentorship program. At first I was hesitant as it's a huge commitment to join and to make yourself available to your girl for the full Fall term. The program makes it easy on you though and gives you the option of which kind of mentoring program you are looking to join.Well, our program started in October and I got to meet my mentee for the first time. I chose to be a part of the crafting program {of course} and we meet once a month {totally manageable!}. We all get together at the Club's HQ and take part in a craft for about 2 hours or so on a Saturday.

After the crafting is done, I learned that some of the girls go straight to their Flamenco dance class at Lotus studio. Having been in several dance recitals through my childhood, I know how important it is to have someone on the other side cheering you on. So I wanted to attend this one. The girls did great and I can't wait until next weekend to tell them so. The open house recital also featured some other groups of children's classes like Bharata Natyam and Bulgarian folk dancing.

And just for the hell of it, a pic of my sister and I on our way to ballet.

( I think deep down my parents knew that I didn't quite fit the ballerina mold but hey, it was fun!)

Simple Scarf.

2011-12-04T13:10:00.001-05:00

details: skirt & tights via American Apparel| sweatshirt via UO|

shoes via Mo Vintage| jacket via The Bay| scarf handmade| ring via Luxedeluxe

This is a typical outfit that I throw on for those Saturday morning Farmer's Market runs. We try and go as early as we can but sometimes that turns out to be after noon. I barely have time to do my hair and swipe on some make-up so the outfit has got to be easy. Since circle scarves or eternity scarves, whatever you want to call them have become so popular these days, I like to turn back and try out your good ol' regular scarf. It's kind of nice to go against the trends and embrace the simple things. I made this scarf years ago and it got the backseat for the last couple of years with my knitting cowls all the time. It's time to break it back out. Plus it adds a new texture to my what would be plain outfit.

Oh yes, and the RING! This is it! A circa 1920's scalloped fan shape platinum and gold ring. It's the daintiest, prettiest piece of jewelry I've ever owned. I love the fact that it truly is unique and is something that I feel comfortable wearing everyday. We've got our wedding bands too and have decided to go with simple gold bands. We're both suckers for timeless pieces so this was an easy choice.

One week to go before the big day & I'm getting really excited. My parents arrive on Friday! it's going to be so great to see them and have our little ceremony. Thanks to all of you for your congratulations. Hope you all had a great weekend!

It's true!

2011-11-30T21:06:00.001-05:00

We're engaged!

If you follow me on twitter, you'll have seen on Saturday that I had my "bachelorette" party. Really it was just an excuse to get all the girl's out for dinner and dancing but that could still happen once I'm married...yes? (i sure hope so!). I was planning on keeping it a surprise until after but when you're this connected to social media, it's kind of silly to think that word wouldn't get out.

Soner proposed on our rooftop on the weekend of our one year anniversary (which falls on Halloween I kid you not.) We're going to have a really simple wedding and by simple I mean city hall style. I found my dress (vintage) within the first week, and my shoes, the second. So I'm pretty much all set! My parents will be coming down for the weekend and we'll both have some witnesses by our sides. Basically the most stress-free wedding you can have. There's less than two weeks to go so don't worry, you'll get to see pictures soon!

Thank you all for the well wishes via Twitter. I couldn't reply to all of them but they did make me so happy & made me feel silly for trying to keep it a "surprise".

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread cookies

2011-11-28T21:13:00.001-05:00

This weekend, I did a ton of cooking and baking. I have a few recipes lined up that I want to share with you so they'll be trickling in here and there this week.
Today I share with you a cookie recipe I tried for our movie night since the recipe made about 3 dozen cookies. I wanted to make sure that I had enough for everyone...turns out I had more than enough & leftovers!

What you'll need:

1 3/4 cups earth balance butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups arrowroot powder
1/4 cup soy milk

For chocolate dipping:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

What you do:

1. In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, then flour and arrowroot powder. The dough needs to be able to hold together without being sticky. Add the soy milk if needed.

2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for about 1/2 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Start forming the dough into round 1 inch balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the bottoms start to be golden, not brown! While they're baking, melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a double broiler or be really careful in a saucepan.
5. Let the cookies cool completely. Once cool, dip them face up in the chocolate sauce. Put aside until the chocolate has hardened.

*Recipe has been extracted from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur

Thanksgiving style

2011-11-25T15:23:00.001-05:00

Today I have to keep reminding myself that it's still only Friday. And that, makes me so happy! A four day weekend is exactly what I needed right now. Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with a group of really great friends and ate so much food. I brought homemade stuffing, mini veggie empanadas, and some pumpkin pie brownies. All of which I'd love to post up on the blog sometime soon! Soner and I had agreed that we would put our diet on hold for this holiday, just to be able to enjoy it with everyone else. Monday though...it's back on.

details: jacket via UO| blouse via H&M| skirt via Tulle| boots c/o Seychelles|

tights via American Apparel

Today is all about cleaning up the house from all that cooking and baking I did yesterday. I finished with just enough time to fix myself up and pack everything to map our way over. We're possibly going to put up our little Christmas tree. We still need to figure out where in our little apartment can we spare a little room for it, it's going to be tight. Tonight is movie night with friends, so I'm planning on baking up some cookies to contribute {I'm on a roll}. Make sure you check out the shop for new headbands too. More to come on Sunday! Needless to say I'm really enjoying this mini-break.

Vegan Chili

2011-11-20T21:09:00.001-05:00

There are some things that I just can't be bothered with following a recipe to make. As long as you keep it simple there's no way to screw it up. One of these things is a big pot of vegan chili. Since I made a pretty good batch of it last Friday, I thought it'd be best to share with you my own personal recipe.

What you'll need:

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot

2 stick of celery

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 15.oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of black beans

1 can of red kidney beans
1 package of Yves veggie ground

2-3 tablespoon of Chili Powder (depending on taste)

1 tbsp of Paprika

dash of red pepper flakes (optional)

slat & pepper to taste

What you do:

1. Sauté on medium heat your onion and garlic in oil until translucent

2. Add the chopped carrot, celery and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and the canned tomatoes. Stir on medium heat for another 2 minutes.

3. Wash and drain your canned beans. Add them to the mix and keeping stirring on medium heat until it starts to boil a little. Add the package of the veggie ground.

4. Add all the spices and lower the heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes or until liquid reduces and the chili becomes a stew-like consistency. If it's too thick, add a little vegetable broth or water.

Hope you like it! Oh and the other things that don't require a recipe? Hummus, Spaghetti sauce and Lentil Soup. I swear, my motto is to just keep it simple and you can't go wrong.

My Sister.

2011-11-17T18:43:00.001-05:00

Today is my sister's birthday so I wanted to make sure to give her a really awesome Happy Birthday post!

Growing up with a sister that is so close in age with you is kind of great when you're young. I never had to make friends! I just followed her around! haha. I'm so sorry about that!

Anyways, here's a picture of us before:

And now:

She's an amazing mother to my nephew Quinn & I hope to be just as awesome at motherhood as she is! Love you lots! xo

Etsy Update

2011-11-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

It's back! My shop of small knitted items is restocked with a few headbands and hat. My plan was to re-open a couple of weeks ago but you know, things change. I'm just happy to have started knitting again. My plan is to add about 5 items per week and maybe even more in the new year when I find myself with a little more time. But that is still undetermined for now so we'll get to it later.

I did notice that I like to stick to neutrals when knitting accessories but that's not always the case for everyone. So what i'm asking of you is that if you could just leave me a quick comment telling me what colors you plan on wearing this fall/winter in terms of accessories, it'd be greatly appreciated! You can even just leave a color, no need for anything more. You can check these styles out by visiting Little Knitty Things (bottom right headband has been sold)

India Part 5.-final

2011-11-14T19:56:00.001-05:00

And here we end my 3 month trip in India. Once we were tired of the desert, had seen enough camels and sand, we continued north and across for our last stop: Delhi. A big city. We were not accustomed to such a bustling city considering most of our time was spent in small rural villages with sometimes no running water. But we thought we just couldn't not visit such a famous place being in India.

We settled in one of the hotels in the tourist district, Paharganj or the Main Bazaar. Imagine small crowded, dirty streets, with loud honking, rickshaws, and of course, tourists. Since this place is steps away from the train station you have a mix of new travelers just beginning their journey or in our case, at the end of their trip. After settling in, which basically means dropping our packs in the room that we were going to share due to our cheapness, we set out to get some food. It's pretty funny looking at a menu in a big city because you will find things like: pizza, burgers, fries, even pancakes if you go for breakfast. Most of the time we just laughed and ordered from the traditional menu but towards the end of this trip, sometimes a basket of fried is just what you need.

At some point during the week we met a dj from London who was playing at one of the nearby hotel bars. Having an invite, we decided why not? could be fun. Well, this hotel was not your typical guest house at $3/night. This was a 5 star hotel, and their bar, was a club. A place that would rival NYC's most "hottest" spots in the Meatpacking district. We were NOT ready for this. We had put on a few articles of clothing that we had bought on our travels which were all silk of course but the other girls were clearly from the "Modern" India in their high pumps, super short skirts, and tube tops. I remember thinking how much we did not fit in just as I handed my $20 cover charge over to the doorman, my usual 2 day allowance. We settled in, ordered 1 drink each and enjoyed people watching since for the first time, no one was watching us. All i can really remember was befriending a group of rich Indian kids just about our age, dancing and singing Bryan Adams's summer of 69 on the top of our lungs. Yup, what a way to go out on such a momentous trip.

We of course took a day trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal which is just in itself such a wonder. You can just sit there on the grass just staring at it all day if you want. It truly is a magical creation.

And that my friends, is India in a nutshell. I didn't mention every single thing, place we went to but there is just so much I can remember/write down and not bore you to death! I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have if you're heading over there or have plans to and are unsure. I cannot stress enough how India has changed me. I hope to return someday soon and cover all the paths that I missed the first time!

* pictures are not all of Delhi. I was running out due to my digital pictures being stored away at my parents!

Street Style.

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Not one of my "usual" looks, I was going for Comfy Saturday walking around Williamsburg kind of outfit. Our day started off at the Farmer's Market like most Saturdays do, then came home and made ourselves some juice with some of the veggies we just bought. I'm trying to make juicing a regular thing now since it's so easy to get a ton of vegetables in all at once {also in their rawest form}After that it was dropping off laundry, stopping by the library, then catching a matinée over at Nitehawk Cinema. We saw Martha Marcy May Marlene, starring Elizabeth Olsen, which I thought was ok but was somehow expecting it to be more "thrilling and suspensful"as most of the reviews state. It's still good and I think the best part of it was Elizabeth's acting, so much better than her little sisters and would love to see her in more movies. I think I have too great of expectations for movies as I always find myself a little disappointed in the end. I just have to take it easy and go in with more of an open mind next time.

Sunday will consist of hitting the gym early, homemade brunch with Soner since he'll be coming home late/early from work {6am} and will need to catch some Zzz's before starting off the day. And then a jaunt into the city to get a few things. Hope you had a great weekend! Except for the temperatures dropping here, it was so nice and sunny! Lets hope it just continues this way...

Drop by Drop.

2011-11-12T20:52:00.001-05:00

I was originally going to post an outfit from today but while my flickr uploads were doing their thing, I quickly popped in to Facebook and found an email from a very good friends of mine, Suzanne {or Sue as I know her} and felt the need to share this. I briefly lived with Sue years ago while in Vancouver when I had just got back from my India trip. While I was searching for a menial job in retail just trying to find something to get me by, Sue was studying at the University of British Columbia, working on her Master's degree in Geography while also getting an undergraduate degree in International Relations and Environmental Politics. Yes, our lives couldn't have been any more different but we got to be the very best of friends.

Fast forward ten years and Sue is now working at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities on a program that is based on helping First nations across Canada build relationships with municipalities especially when it comes to water and wastewater partnerships. She's been an advocate on the importance of the right to access to clean water ever since I've known her, in fact I'm proud to have been a part of a fundraiser she held to raise money for a village in Oaxaca to build a well.

So why am I being all serious right now? Well, Sue has started a blog called Drop by Drop and it's something I would love for you to go and have a look and read up on what she's doing. There's informative videos that might even make you think twice about your own water consumption or just teach you a few things you might not have known. When I think of all the things that Sue has taught me just by sharing an apartment together for a few months, I can only imagine the lives that she has changed in these past ten years working for a cause that is dear to her. Now go ahead and check it out...

*Outfit post will be posted tomorrow. I also owe you guys the last part of my India trip. Oh boy how I've been slacking on blogging lately!

Sun Down.

2011-11-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

I know posts have been scarce these days and I just want to say that it's not going to stay this way. I just hit a really super busy patch right now and hope that things slow down, possibly in the new year? I have tons of ideas for fun posts but do not have the time to actually post them so just bear with me through all of this and we'll be good to go soon!

details: vintage dress via Beacon's Closet| boots via 80%20| belt via Value Village| bangles via F21

These are some pictures that I took on our rooftop Sunday night right before the sun went down. We had a busy day of visiting Soner's parents for a holiday, then hurried back home to get ready to meet up with some friends for a goodbye dinner for one of them. It was a pretty hectic day none the less!

Daily log.

2011-11-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

Today is the one month mark of my cutting out carbs & sugar {as much as I can} as well as hitting the gym on a regular basis. I'm happy to report that I have been losing a little weight {5lbs!} and most importantly, my clothes have been fitting me a lot better! So I just thought I'd share with you a typical day in the life of including my meals. I think that following a vegan diet you tend to fall back on carbs as your main dish a little too often. I know that I was pretty much addicted to carbs and this wasn't going to be easy for me. Soner has been following this new plan with me so it's a lot easier when we can encourage each other and also not have any of this "bad food" in the house! Well, one month down and 2 more to go!

My day:

5:45am: Wake up for the gym. I do 50 minutes of cardio, 40 minutes which I do in brief high intensity intervals of two minutes, then a slow jog/fast walk for 2 minutes. I've been told that interval workouts are best for losing weight as you keep burning the calories during the day. After my cardio workout, I do some light weights, then a whole stretching session {my favorite part}.

8:00am: Breakfast! I've never once in my life gone through a phase where I didn't eat my breakfast. I'm the type of person that will wake up hungry so not eating, especially when I have a hectic train commute is a no-no in my books. This is where I will eat most of my fruit for the day. It's usually a bowl consisting of one apple, a banana and some berries. I have about 1/2 cup of almond butter for dipping which fills me up for the morning.

12pm: Lunch time. I've been trying to eat 1 raw meal a day so this is usually where I have a salad. Baby spinach, all kinds of sprouts, tomato, avocado, chickpeas or soybeans (not raw), topped with Braggs liquid Amino as my dressing. If I don't have time for a salad, I'll usually go for lentil soup! By this time I've probably already consumed about 3-4 glasses of water.

3pm: Snack time: This one is crucial for me as I'm such a snacker! I'll usually have some hummus, with cucumbers and celery. I might sneak in an orange as well. To fight my hunger I also down a lot of water in the afternoons to get to my 8 glasses a day.

7pm: Dinner. Our dinners will consists of a leafy green like kale, sautéed with shallots and garlic, with a side of "meat" which can be either tempeh, tofu, or a soy based substitute (which we usually only eat on weekends) and something roasted like brussel sprouts.

If you add up my calorie count, I'm over the goal of 1200cal/day that they advise for a woman my height/weight but you need to factor in all the cardio that is done throughout the day. Being in NY, I walk everywhere, so that would probably add up to about 30 minutes, I take the stairs in my office building at least once a day, and then there's the gym that I get started on bright and early. So all of these actually adds up to being a well balanced diet FOR ME!

I used My Fitness Pal to add up all of the calories shown here but use it with caution. If you decide to sign up, no matter who you are, how much you weigh or what you do for your workouts on an average day, they will automatically say that you need to consume 1200 calories. So with that said, I know not to get super obsessive with all of the counting and just use it to keep on track with what I'm trying to achieve. This is what works for me, but I know that everyone is different and has their own opinions on how they keep fit, lose weight...But since I've been asked about my meals and what I do at the gym, I find that laying it all out like this is only fair to answer some of your questions.

Anna Karina.

2011-10-31T13:54:00.001-04:00

Ok, well you know that I never reveal my Halloween costume until the day of so here it is:

Anna Karina in Une Femme est Une Femme!

Since I knew October was going to be a busy month for me, I found my dress on easy about two months ago and never even tried it on until Friday night. It was a little too big so I just took it in, cut the sleeves (since they were long sleeves) and attached the white fur trim. The hair bow was made out of felt and attached to a clip. All in all, I am really pleased at how it turned out, but I wish I could say the same for our Halloween night.

You've probably heard that we got a snowstorm here on Saturday. I started to snow around 11 am and didn't stop ALL DAY! So by the time we made our way out to some festivities the ground was covered with slush and it was absolutely freezing!

I think next year, I'm either going to stay in and do a scary movie night, or possibly arrange for an out of town trip with some friends. Lesson learned...

Oh and to check out the last few years costumes, you can go here, and here.

Book Worm.

2011-10-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

I had the day off this past Friday so I took the opportunity to take some outfit pics! I had to get a few things for my first volunteer meeting the next day so we headed over to the art supply store in our neighborhood. On the way back, we passed the little library that is usually closed since I have a full work schedule and never seem to get there on time. It was a perfect opportunity for some photos as I was sportingly new vintage glasses. The frames for these were passed down to me from my aunt.

details: dress via Modcloth| cardigan & belt via Value Village| tights via HUE| shoes c/o Seychelles

Park Slope.

2011-10-25T19:13:00.000-04:00

If things were quiet here over the weekend it's because Soner & I were over in Park Slope, dog sitting for some friends. Since Friday, we traded our hipster clad neighbors for a family of four, our rowdy bars, for Prospect Park, and our quiet time alone was shared with a 100 pound dog. For those who know me, they'll say that this is a ridiculous idea considering I don't even like dogs! But you know, it wasn't so bad and I even found myself snuggling up to this adorable well behaved pooch.

The nice thing about being in a new neighborhood was being able to explore the new sites. And for us, that means a new farmer's market! We found a supplier of tempeh that is made right here in Brooklyn! We were able to sample it with Barry's homemade barbecue sauce (he told us the ingredients) and now we're hooked. We also tasted some yummy virgin chocolate, nut butters and filled our bags with some produce to take back to the apartment where we were staying.

If you are ever in Brooklyn, I highly recommend you check out Prospect Park. It was such a beautiful Sunday that we couldn't help but take a walk around the whole park and just enjoy one of the last nice days of warm weather.

Now I am back at home, starting to put together one of my many Halloween costumes for all of the festivities this weekend! Ooohhhh, I'm excited.

* First picture is S'Nice. A great lunch spot!

Cover Bands.

2011-10-24T19:32:00.002-04:00

This Thursday! Make your way over to Death by Audio for a fun night of covers all done by lady -fronted bands! It's going to be rad. You can read more about it here.

We're going to had a merch table selling our re-worked vintage tees where part of the proceeds will go to Permanent Wave! Come by say hi, and stay for the show!

Pumpkin Patch.

2011-10-23T12:41:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, a group of friends and I made our way up from Brooklyn, to the Queens County Farm. The intention was to go to their pumpkin patch but it turned out to be so much more than just pumpkins. We checked out the petting zoo, ate some snacks, and even enjoyed a hayride. It was such a gorgeous day that we ended up sticking around way longer than expected. Now to find the time to carve out our pumpkins! Is anyone see getting excited for Halloween?

India Part 4.

2011-10-21T18:18:00.000-04:00

Well, we're almost on the last leg of the trip, thank you so much for reading this far and I truly hope you've enjoyed it. We tended to not take too many pictures in our last month in India so the ones I've included are a little bit of everywhere.

We took a train {by now we're pros at this} all the way back up to Rajasthan, this time stopping in Jaipur. This is where it all kind of gets a little blurry for me as these eastern cities all have one thing in common, lots of sand. Were just on the cusp of the desert so that would make perfect sense. Here, we visited temples, and discovered grand old forts. We've even gotten used to seeing camels just roaming around on the street.

I do remember arriving in this one smaller city and meeting a few other travelers in our guesthouse. We all stepped out and wandered the busy streets. The one thing I want to point out is that the smaller the city, the more attention you'll receive. At times, this can get extremely overwhelming and I know a few people that let it get the best of them and spoil their trip. So in order for us to be able to go about exploring the city that just so happens to have had a parade that night, we had to pair up, boy/girl/boy/girl....this way, they wouldn't come up to us as they thought that we were each married to each other!! Hahaha.

We also visited Jodhpur & Jaisalmur further getting into the desert cities. I remember in one of these cities, we were shopping around for some authentic Indian music. So we hopped from store to store, checking out their selection. While doing this, we noticed a small crowd of ladies, colorfully dressed from head to toe in traditional Rajasthani garb take a seat right in the middle of the road. Granted this wasn't a busy road but it still was a main walkway for most pedestrians and few scooters. Intrigued, we observed these ladies a little longer and noticed something different about them. For one, they were loud which was different than the typical Indian woman, second, they were smoking (!) and third, they might have even been drunk. Gypsies! We were witnessing a small group of gypsies right in front of us. They proceeded to unload their babies that were wrapped up in shawls, tied to their waists and start whatever craft they were working on. Some of them had hand crafted wooden combs, others, some multicolored woven bracelets, and some just sat there smoking away. That night we stumbled upon this garden party in back of a restaurant and spent the night dancing away with these gypsy ladies and fellow travelers. Seriously one of the best nights.

Once we've had enough of the camels, the sand and the forts, we made our way up to Delhi. This being the last leg of the trip, I will keep for next week!

Vegan Bobotie

2011-10-20T20:44:00.000-04:00

I've had this recipe tucked away on a sad scrap of paper for about 5 years now and keep forgetting about it. From time to time, especially when it gets chilly out and I'm tempted to make yet another lentil soup, I'm reminded of this amazing lentil dish recipe that was passed down to me from one of my roommates back in Vancouver.
Now, the only name I have for it is a vegan version of Bobotie, but if you look it up, this is far from the minced meat & egg dish that it tradition in South Africa. But whatever you want to call it, it's delicious none the less!

Vegan Bobotie with a side of kale

What you need:

2 chopped onions
1 1/4 cups cooked lentils (you can use canned to save time)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup quinoa
4/3 cups almonds, slivered
3 tbsp chutney
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp turmeric
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
juice and grated rind of 1/2 lemon
4 bay leaves

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cook lentils in medium stock pot, along with the onions and garlic. If you are using canned lentils, sauté the onion and garlic in small pan.

3. While lentils are cooking, mix raisins, almonds, chutney, curry powder, salt, pepper, turmeric, lemon rind & juice, in medium glass dish.

4. Add cooked lentils and stir until all is mixed.

5.Add the quinoa (rinsed, uncooked) and stir in. If mixture is a little dry, add about 1/4 cup of water. Add bay leaves by sticking them halfway through the mixture so that they'll be easy to take out once finished.

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves, and serve.

Hope you enjoy!

New York.

2011-10-18T23:05:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I did a lot of touring of New York City, seeing sights that were new to me in my 3 years of living here. That's the great thing about New York. No matter how long you've lived here, there will always be some nook or cranny left to be discovered.

1. Lady Liberty
2. Cab city
3. Sis & Hubs
4. Flat Iron building
5. Me & sis at Spring St Market
6. Double Decker tour headgear
7. All Saints windows full of old Singers
8. Occupy Wall Street protest
9. Hole in the wall bar, I love Little Rascals!
10 & 11. Beautiful architecture
12. Guggenheim
13. Apollo Theatre, Harlem

These were just a few of the pictures from this weekend. We took the All around Town tour from City Sights Tours and definitely got our fill. In two days, we did the Uptown, Downtown, Harbor Cruise, and Downtown tours, all for $46. I know that some people might find it too geeky to do tours, but they are honestly the best way to cover a whole city in a short amount of time. It got me excited to try and get out a little more into the city as I tend to stay in {comfortable} Brooklyn on my days off. I'm especially excited to check out Spanky & Darla's that we rode by!

Cook books.

2011-10-12T20:15:00.001-04:00

A few of you asked what are my favorite cookbooks. Here are the ones that I use on a regular basis and highly recommend.

The Garden of Vegan was my first ever vegan cookbook purchase {8 years ago} & I still use it for fun meal ideas. All of the recipes are form reader submissions but have all been tested out by the authors, Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer.

The book includes a detailed ingredients glossary in case you find yourself confused with something, as well as a list of vegan no-nos from a to z. I found this really helpful when I first turned vegan. It also includes fun party ideas at the end complete with some go to snacks and party prop ideas.

My favorite recipe: Maureen's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Oh Veganomicon. Also known as my vegan bible. I swear these ladies can do no wrong! Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero {same ladies behind PPK, below} know how to whip up pretty much any vegan version of your favorite meal. I've tried several recipes in this book and each and every one has always come out amazing.

The book goes into details about what to stock in your pantry, fridge, cupboards. They also cover all of the basic cooking methods for any type of food {grains, vegetables, tofu...}. I like the fact that they tell you if a recipe is soy free/ gluten free/ low fat/ under 45 minutes/ supermarket friendly. They also include full menu pairings from appetizers to desserts for you which comes in handy if you're having company over.

My favorite recipe: Chickpea Cutlets

I also browse the following sites to get meal ideas and recipes:

The Kind life

The Post Punk Kitchen

Whole Foods

India Part 3.

2011-10-11T18:42:00.005-04:00

In my last India post, I was boarding a ship to the Andaman Islands. Armed with our visas, since tourists can only stay on the Islands for 30 days, we made out way down into the bunks to claim two beds, again, always sticking to the top bunks and chaining our bags to whatever piece of metal we could find.

We spent four and half days on that boat, rationing our food supply that we brought with us. Food was served on the boat but getting to it wasn't exactly easy. It was more getting in line to a ticket window type set-up that was only open twice a day and fight your way to the front to purchase a lunch/dinner ticket. Having to do this twice daily, my friend and I decided to take turns and sometimes only go once a day due lack of energy to put up with the crowds. The other time on the boat was walking from end to end, a lot of reading, and chatting with the other tourists.

Waiting for the boat to take us back to the main Island, I met this little guy.

Fast forward to Port Blair, the main town on the Andaman Islands and finding a place to stay. We ended upon Havelock Island, renting scooters as this was the best way to travel around and get to all of the beaches and found a cute place with clean huts that were close to the beach.

I'm driving the scooter, and my friend is on the back, taking the picture of friends in front of us.

We're now in March and turns out that the Holi Festival is underway. This is the festival where colored powder and water is thrown at you until everyone is walking around like rainbow bright dolls. We got hit by some kids that were staying close by and I think they got a kick out of drenching us tourists with their water guns. After we all go down to the beach and wash off the coloring and get ready for the full moon party that night. The party consists of everyone getting together and dancing the night away only to watch the sunrise in the morning, then head off to bed.

Colors of Holi.

After a few days of being here, we met two couples, one from Spain, and the other from Israel. We got acquainted with each other and decided that we should all go camping at a nearby Island for a few days. We headed into town to buy some supplies: rice, lentils, flour, potatoes, spices, hammocks, machete, cutlery. This was the "realest" camping I've ever experienced. We chartered a boat to take us to one of the islands {Long Island} that are open to the public and it dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. No stores, no phones, no toilets, nothing. We set up our hammocks, gathered wood for the fire, and well, made ourselves comfortable since the boat to take us back to where we were staying wasn't coming back for another 5 days. Sleeping under the stars, waking up to the sunset, and spending our days on the beach. Before nightfall, we'd all pitch in and get dinner ready, which would be the lentils, potatoes, and rice for a Dal curry, and the flour and water to make chapati.

Boats similar to these will drop you off on an island and come back in 4-5 days.

Trying to get dinner started before it got too dark. I'm on the right in the grey sweatpants.

After all of this, you can imagine, we were ready to get back out in civilization. The only problem was that the boat wasn't leaving for another week. Being desperate to keep on moving, we splurged for a plane ticket back to Chennai {I'm pretty sure the flight was just under $100}for 2 hours, which saved us one week of waiting around and 4 days of being on a boat. This is one of the times when splurging was the best idea ever.

This is where we stayed for the most part of our Andaman trip. The huts for sleeping are behind but some preferred the hammocks.

Back on the mainland, and having seen most of the south {I cut a few little trips in between} we decided it was probably a good time to get back up to Rajasthan seeing as the weather was warmer now. Back on the train, heading north, our first stop Jaipur. And of course, this is where I leave you. Part 4 to come next week! Thanks for reading!

Apple Orchards.

2011-10-10T19:41:00.001-04:00

So it seems like the whole internets have taken to the Orchards this weekend and picked baskets of apples only to come back on Monday and blog about it. So you won't mind me posting about our Orchard adventure too right?

Yesterday we got up early {early for us on a Sunday} and drove up with some friends to Ponoma, NY, heading to The Orchards of Concklin to pick some apples. I hadn't been to an orchard since grade school for a field trip, so it was nice to get to do something different this weekend.

After the orchards, we proceeded to Storm King mountain to do a little kayaking {no pictures, since I didn't want my camera to get wet}, then onto the nearby Bear Mountain to eat some lunch and enjoy the view before heading back into the city. It was absolutely stunning!

Now I'm already looking forward to this weekend when my sister and her husband come to visit!

Saturday's Market.

2011-10-08T14:31:00.001-04:00

details: denim dress via Miskabelle vintage| sweater via UO| Dexter boots via Beacon's Closet

One of the first things I wanted to do this morning was to head over to the Farmer's Market. Didn't even bother doing my hair or putting on my normal make-up. That's how excited I was to stock up on veggies & greens for the week. This was the first week of us cutting as many carbs out of our diet as possible. We're also trying to not eat any sugars but that one's an easy task for me as I'm not too hung up on that many sweets, it's the chips and bread that do it for me. Since I'm busy at work Monday through Friday, I find that it's not too hard to follow these new guidelines but I feel that this weekend is going to be the tough one. So many temptations!

Tofu & Granola.

2011-10-06T21:24:00.000-04:00

I came across this pie chart circulating around the internets yesterday and finally found the origin, Peta.

At first this looks brilliant, because yes, the first question I get when someone finds out I'm vegan is: "What do you eat?". And well, it takes all of my might not to answer this question with just the same amount of ignorance it was asked with: "Food". But upon further inspection { I saved it on my desktop and zoomed in to read the fine print} I was kind of bummed out by the list of "vegan" foods: Porkchops, chili cheese fries, potato skins, buffalo wings, cheesecake, philly cheese steak...Of course you can find vegan versions of these things but these are not foods that a vegan diet {or any diet} should consist of on a regular basis and I'm shocked that they would include them on this "Pro- Vegan" ad since there's so much nutritious vegan foods out there without going the processed route. This is what we call the "vegan junkfoods" and we can find places that sell them all over Brooklyn (*cough, foodswings, cough*), but the point of being vegan isn't to go out and eat all of the fake versions of meat/dairy products and frankly, if that's what you are doing, you're probably going to get sick over time. Basically, everyone has their reasons for choosing a vegetarian/vegan diet but it has to be done in a smart way. Do your research, start experimenting with recipes, and reach out to other vegetarians for help or to answer questions. This just makes us look bad.

mac & cheese

2011-10-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

Even vegans want the comfort foods we grew up with. In my quest for the perfect, most delicious vegan mac & cheese out there I felt that none of them were exactly what I wanted. Recently, I found a recipe that is almost perfect so I just tweaked it here and there to make it to my liking. Hope you enjoy!

What you need:

1 package of either elbow macaroni or shells {I prefer the bigger shells}

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unbleached whole wheat flour2 cups plain soy milk
1/3 cup of nutritional yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper or to taste
1/2 cup grated cheddar-style soy vegan cheese {I use vegan gourmet}
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 cup of broccoli {optional}

What you do:

1. Cook pasta.

2. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

3. While pasta is cooking, heat the canola oil over medium-low heat in a skillet. Slowly add flour until no lumps.

4. Stir in soy milk, nutritional yeast, salt & pepper. Stir until creamy {I find that a whisk is helpful}, then bring to a boil. Continue to heat and stir one minute after begins to bubble.

5. Turn heat to low, and stir in soy cheese until blended to a nice orange sauce.

6. Place cooked noodles in a casserole dish, and pour cheeze sauce over noodles. This is also when you add the broccoli, if using. If it looks like the sauce is too dry or not coating the pasta, add a little soy milk and mix.

7. Stir to coat all noodles and top with bread crumbs. Bake uncovered 10-12 minutes.

This will be one of my last "junk food" posts for a while as starting this past Monday, I am on a low carb, low sugar eating plan. I'm only into day two but so far it's going ok, and hope to continue until Thanksgiving. I'm looking for interesting low-carb, vegan recipes out there to test out so I definitely will keep on posting recipes, they'll just be a little healthier from now on. If you have any suggestions please, i'd love to hear them!

Cozy up.

2011-10-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

details: sweater via mac & jac| pants AA via Buffalo Exchange| boots via 80%20| scarf & pin via thrifted

On the last day of the fair I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. Knowing that we had to pack everything up at the end of the day made me decide to play it safe and wear pants. It was also pretty cold outside and since we were in the tent that was set up in the schoolyard, I had to be bundled up too. It's very unlike me to not wear some kind of print in an outfit so by adding this scarf, I felt more like myself adding a little quirkyness with my little sail boat pin.

Fair Photos.

2011-10-03T21:52:00.003-04:00

As you already know, this weekend I attended the NY Art Book Fair at the Moma PS1. Soner had some new zines that he's been working on these past few months so it was really great to finally share them with the public! The fair was pretty busy on both Saturday & Sunday but that gave me the chance to do a lot of people watching...and knitting...and wine drinking. Here are a few pictures from our Saturday.

All of his books were a success, but if I had to choose one that created more buzz it would have to be his series of Richie Rich comic books, where he repaints Richie Rich as a cute little black kid instead of his usual blond hair boy. People were taking double takes with this one & it was really great to see their reaction to it. You can see more of the repainted covers by clicking the link above.

Art Books.

2011-10-01T09:30:00.002-04:00

For the next two days I'll be at the New York Art Book Fair keeping Soner company who has three new zines out. You can find us in the courtyard where all the other zine publishers will be as well. Should be a fun time, people watching that is, I'm planning on bringing a few knitting supplies with me to help the time pass but there's also so much cool books to check out as well. If you're in New York, you should come. The event is free! You can read more about it here.

India Part 2.

2011-09-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Sunset at Palolem Beach, Goa

I left off with the three of us moving south down to Goa. It's not as far south as I would've liked to explore {Kerala would've been awesome} but it's still pretty amazing nonetheless. After we got off the train in Mumbai {20 hours}, we hopped on another one for again, 20hours. From there, we took a rickshaw which are these 3 wheeled little "vehicles" that zig and zag their way through the streets with no doors, leaving you clutching your back pack and holding on for dear life, we walked for about 20 minutes until reaching our destination.

this sums up much of our Goa experience

We decided to hit up Palolem beach as we heard it was the in between for super crazy party time and relax mode. We walked along the beach deciding which little "hut village" as we called them, we'd settle into as the whole beach was filled with our choice of rentals ranging from super posh {cement floors, wood huts} to super cheap {sandy floors, straw walls}. As we were being super cheap, with decided on the latter but splurged on sharing a personal safe to store our money orders, passports, and other valuables. Now, all that was left was to drop our bags, and hit the beach, only a few steps away.

Butterfly Beach

Our routine consisted of yoga on the beach in the mornings, then we chose a spot for breakfast, some swimming, then tanning, then choosing a different spot for lunch, then more swimming, then..well you get it. Never going to the same restaurant twice for the whole 10 days we spent on the beach. We even got in on a chartered boat that took about 10 of us and dropped us off on a small little private beach called Butterfly Beach for the day only to pick us up before sundown. It was all pretty magical. After all that traveling, trains, and busyness, it's hard not to get sucked in to the quieter beach lifestyle. I think we stayed an extra few days and made it a full two weeks to be honest but that's the nice thing about not having made any prior plans.

The longer you stay in one place, you're bound to meet other travelers and learn a little bit about where they've been and where they're going. We talked to this one guy that was traveling from Israel who'd just been to the Andaman Nicobar Islands. The territory is in the middle of Indonesia and Thailand, accessible to the Andaman Sea. Well, having nothing else planned, we decided why not? We said goodbye to our friend that had joined us and got back on a train.

the line up, Indian style, for tickets

The more we researched and got our info, turns out that we were to make our way to Chennai {another city, though smaller than Mumbai}, find some building {can't remember the name} and get in line to purchase some very obscure tickets for the boat that would take us to the Islands. This my friends, was the biggest struggle I'd ever faced. We showed up early {4am} only to find others already lined up, sleeping. So we got right next to them and waited, waited, and waited again, until about 10 am when the ticket booth opened. Everything started out pretty tame up until about 12 when all hell broke loose. Getting a straight line, or any kind of order in India is pretty close to impossible. People were jumping over others, hitting, screaming, even officers with batons couldn't tame this mess. When we finally made out way to the front {4pm}, I remember them refusing giving us the tickets but I can't remember why, but after much resistance, finally we had two tickets to the Andamans! Success!

passport pictures for the Andaman Islands

So now all we needed was to get a temporary travel visa for entering the islands complete with a passport photo. We were leaving in two days, and the trip would take us....4 days. Yes, 4 days on a boat. And remember when I told you we were being as cheap as possible? Well these tickets that we had just purchased were for a bunk, in the ships' belly, with easily over 100 Indian families.

Knowing that the next few days were going to be quite hectic, we decided to hang out in Chennai, hit the beach, and see some sights.

adorable picture all around

Stay tuned for part 3 where we board the boat taking us to these illustrious islands and the people we meet!

the boat we travelled on for 4 days

Turkish Days.

2011-09-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

Here's my first ever video shot on my Flip, a birthday present from my folks. I'm still getting use to the little gadget but am so excited to try my hand at more videos to add to the blog.

We went to the Turkish Days festival in Midtown on Sunday afternoon. I thought I was feeling better but all it took was a little excursion out of the house to get me right back in bed. Hope you enjoy this little clip!

Turkish Days from Idee Geniale on Vimeo.

Healthy Brownies.

2011-09-27T15:13:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what makes these healthy, maybe the use of applesauce instead of oil? In any case, these sure turned out scrumptious!

What you need:

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup sugar ( I use raw cane sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

What you do:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 8x8 square glass baking dish.

2. Mix the applesauce, sugar, vanilla in a small bowl and put aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the applesauce mixture, gently stirring.

5. Add chocolate chips.

6. Pour batter in the prepared dish and bake for 25-30 minutes. I always test with a toothpick and make sure it comes out clean.

Here we enjoyed ours with a dollop of peanut butter zig zag soy ice cream! Enjoy!

New Hair.

2011-09-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

no more bangs!

I've been debating about growing out my bangs for the longest time now and I think I've finally convinced myself that I don't need them. For a while I felt like I was hiding behind my hair, it was a lot darker and my bangs were definitely the focus point. I went to get my haircut yesterday {even though I was still feeling sick} and I am so happy I did! I really needed a new style and Chrissy over at Mousey Brown got it just right. It was my first time visiting the salon, which turns out is only a couple blocks away form my house. She listened to my concerns about growing out my fringe and only trimming the ends. I did mention that I wanted more volume and a more rounded shape at the ends and she got it exactly right. I guess this means that I'm not longer a Zooey lookalike....

Green juice.

2011-09-24T20:26:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure how but I've caught the bug. It seems like a lot of people have been getting sick lately and I'm no exception. Today I've been resting up, watching a lot of The Office & 30 Rock episodes, and knitting up a storm. I'm actually hoping to re-open my etsy shop by the end of October. I guess that's my new goal right now. Luckily, I have a great boyfriend who's been taking care of me. He made me this green juice consisting of kale, parsley, pear, apple, lemon. It's kind of a super cure juice so let's hope it works! Until then, I'm on to watching movies tonight and most likely going to bed early. Hoping to feel better tomorrow as to get something out of this weekend. Take care & enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Fall Wishlist.

2011-09-22T20:26:00.002-04:00

Just a few things that I found myself lusting over for this upcoming season. Looks like I'm going to have to get rid of a few things in order to make room for the new!

Matryoshka measuring cups

OK, these have nothing to do with fall, but I'm in desperate need for measuring cups and can't get these out of my mind.

New Curve ID Denim by Levi's

I tried the new fitting Levi's Curve ID jeans today {i'm a Bold Curve, according to their curve identifier} and I have to say that I haven't felt this comfortable in jeans in a while. Recognizing that every woman has curves in different places & adjusting the fit accordingly is brilliant.

Asos Winter Coat

I may have already purchased this. I'm tired of looking like a frumpy mess when I commute as I usually go for warmth & function over style. This year, I vow to achieve both.

Hunter Brixen boots

This is going back to my "functional" mode. But I like how these boots are low and seems more walkable in. Perfect for city commuting.

Solid Opaque tights

I went through all of my tights last weekend and ditched the one's with holes, or snags in them. I want a whole new color palette consisting of dark brown, maroon, mocha, charcoal, and of course, basic Black.

Deux Lux backpack

I've been going back and forth on the idea of a backpack but can't seem to commit. I like this one because it can also double as a messenger bag.

Well, I guess I've got to start saving up my pennies is I want any of these! I'm also planning on rummaging through my fall wardrobe and making a drop off to Buffalo Exchange. I love changing over my closet which I know some people hate, like my sister for instance. She'll only do it when I come to visit and I'm always amazed at how long she holds onto stuff. I think it's definitely a good thing to not do too often since I've regretted some stuff I've donated or sold in the past, but I like to not have an attachment to clothing and get over it pretty quickly. How often do you guys usually go through your closet to purge? Is it only a seasonal thing or more? I'd love to know!

India Part 1.

2011-09-20T21:22:00.003-04:00

I think I've been promising to write this post for at least 2 years now {on my other blog}. The thing is, it's terribly overwhelming and I have no idea how to start talking about such a huge event in my life without going overboard with details and explanations. I've decided to divide it up in a few shorter posts and hopefully not make it too overwhelming for the both of us.

Back in 2003, I was just a 22 year old, working a retail job at the mall and had just moved back in with my parents. When one dear friend of mine approached me about taking a trip to India, I didn't even bat an eye before answering yes. I had never travelled out of North America and was desperate to leave all behind and make this an unforgettable opportunity. We were going to be leaving at the beginning of January, first stopping in Marseilles, France for two weeks to visit a friend, and from there, buy tickets to India. Once in India, we had no real plan. We were going to play everything by ear and just try to see and do everything we possibly could.

Me in Udaipur on one of our first days.

We boarded a bus from the Ottawa bus station heading to New York overnight where we would spend the day before heading to the airport for our red eye flight to France. We did two weeks in Marseilles, hanging out on the university campus, heading into the city by bus, even taking a day trip out of the city and 5 of us having to hitchhike back when we missed the last bus back into town. After two weeks, we said goodbye to our gracious host, delicious wine, all the baguette you could eat and boarded our plane to Mumbai, India.

Ladies of Udaipur going to do their laundry in the lake.

I think we got into Mumbai around 3 or 4 am. You can imagine the culture shock I experienced getting bombarded by taxi drivers and hotel staff trying to get us to go with them to stay at their "very clean" room that's always not too far away. So we teamed up with another duo of American travellers and all shared a cab to whichever hotel would let us in at such an ungodly hour. After waking up the hotel attendant who was sleeping on the lobby floor, we were showed a room, charged way too much, and slept in a bed for the first time in 48 hours.That first day in Mumbai we had business to take care of. We didn't want to stay in the big city so we had to find the nearest train station and figure out a way to get to Rajasthan. We were to meet a friend in a couple days and it took about 30 hours by train so we had to get a move on.

So much vegetables but sadly, couldn't eat anything that didn't come with a peel.

Traveling by train in India is pretty much the best way to go. Get yourself a ticket for second class, and grab the bunk that is the highest one up. Lock your bag to one of the metal bars, and then just sit back with a book or sleep if you can. You get used to hearing some wallah chant: "chai, chai, chai" as he passes through carts selling tea, or some other merchant selling some highly fried samosas, and if I was lucky, I found someone that sold "salad" which consisted of cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro and salt tossed in a newspaper formed into a cone. We discovered early on that the bus is very unreliable since the streets you're on are barely paved and the rules of the road are all kind of blurred. Let's not forget the lovely horns that play every sort of little jingle instead of a honk.

"One pen!" all the kids shout. I wish I would've brought a whole pack of bics.
These kids need the pend in order to go to school.

We arrived in Udaipur, Rajasthan the next day, found a guesthouse {which is what they call most hotels} and then just hung out on the rooftop taking it all in. Our friend met us later that afternoon and we explored the city, its many temples, and chatted with our guesthouse hosts which turned out to be three young gentlemen just about our age. We had many nights out on the rooftop, all of us talking about both the differences & similarities between our cultures. Them, not used to ladies drinking out in public, us not believing that the three of them ran this whole "hotel" at such a young age.
After just about a week, we were tired of the cold {it was the end of January} so, naturally we decided it was time to pack our bags and head south! Next stop: Goa.

Note: All of this is from memory so may not all be extremely accurate, i.e. name of cities might get blurred. I will try my best to keep it as accurate as possible. Keep in mind that we were traveling for an unknown number of months so we were on an extreme budget. We did not stay in fancy hotels, or take any guided tours. We did all the legwork ourselves and found everything by word of mouth from other travelers. This method was best for us but may not suit everyone while traveling to such a foreign country. Always proceed with caution and make sure that you are comfortable with your choices at all times. If you have a question please feel free to comment below or email me.

Walking Around.

2011-09-19T18:06:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you guys, but lately my weekends have been pretty awesome. I feel like my crazy Summer schedule has finally calmed down and things are going a lot more smooth these days. This weekend in particular, was one with barely any plans and a lot of hanging around the neighborhood. {partly due to the L train having scheduled maintenance for the past two weekends and not running} Last night just to get out of the house, we took a walk around Williamsburg and took some outfit pictures right before the sunset.

details: shorts & top via UO| tights via AA| shoes via Mo Vintage| jacket via Kensiegirl| purse via Value Village

That's all for now! Working on a crazy long post on my trip to India {2004}which should be up this week.

my moon.

2011-09-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

On our very last night of our staycation, Soner and I decided to go out and enjoy a fancy dinner to enjoy our last moments before getting back to the grind. We went to Mymoon right here in Williamsburg since we have passed by it on several occasions and have always loved their big open patio {more like a backyard type setting}. The restaurant is located in what use to be a big boiler room for a factory, so you can just imagine how awesome the inside is as well.

This place doesn't lists itself as vegan/vegetarian but their Mediterranean menu {with a Spanish twist thanks to a new chef} had a few options for us to try, especially from their tapas. Lucky for us, Mondays are half price tapas! Needless to say we went to town and ordered every single vegan friendly tapas they had. Oh and let's not forget the white sangria.

This place would be especially great if you're looking for a restaurant to host a large party or birthday. It's a rare treat in New York to find such a place with great food that won't groan when they see parties of 10 walk through the door. Definitely coming back here again!

They're up!

2011-09-18T10:13:00.001-04:00

Well, some of them are up. We've started listing all of the re-worked t-shirts from our UVG x DRV launch! You can check them out over at Dusty Rose Vintage.

All t-shirts...well technically they're now tanks run from xs-xl with a pretty easy fit. They go for $38 with 10% going to Permanent Wave.

Fall dress.

2011-09-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

I had Nickie snap a few pictures before heading into the Fall festival, hosted by the LES Girls Club. I wore a vintage dress that I found at Value Village back in August. I like the fact that it's not quite a maxi so I'm not tripping over it and you can still see my feet. Oh and did I mention it's from Northern Reflections?! My Canadian readers will understand...I hope.

details: vintage dress via Value Village| shoes c/o BC Shoes|

J. Crew cardigan & necklace via Beacon's Closet| Purse via Kensie Girl

I'm getting excited to start venturing into my Fall wardrobe, but I feel like I've already jumped the gun a few days this past week wearing tights and carrying around my denim jacket. Girls are still in flip flops, tanks and shorts!

Fall festival.

2011-09-14T23:18:00.005-04:00

Last week I briefly mentioned the Lower East Side Girls Club where Nickie and I went to their Volunteer Meet & Greet and signed up for the Fall Mentoring program. We're still unsure of what are positions will be as they have several activities for Mentors so we'll see where that goes.

Just this past Monday the Club was having their Annual Fall Festival which was a Craft & Cocktails Benefit event. The event included tastings from guest chef Mary Clever from The Cleaver Co., frying up some fried green tomatoes, Organic Fair Trade Chocolate from the Girls Club Sweet Things Bake Shop, and a pretty delicious cocktail courtesy of Dushan Zaric of Employees Only.

Aside from all the tastings, they had some craft and DIY tables set up around the room for attendees to participate in if you should feel so inclined. Of course, being the craft ladies like we are, Nickie and I each made a little fabric flower pin with some fabric strips, and a glue gun. Other tables included Letterpress cards by Strayer Press, DIY Jewelry by Carol Marie, and Monogramming by Pins & Needles.

I have to say that this event got me pretty excited to start the mentoring program. It's going to be a huge commitment but I kind of feel like it'll all be worthwhile. I'll make sure to tell you guys all about it once I start! If your interested in joining the programs or attending any of their events, you can check out their website: LES Girls Club

Oh and an outfit post of what I wore to the festival is coming up next!

French Toast.

2011-09-13T15:24:00.000-04:00

During my staycation, I had the unfortunate displeasure of going out for brunch only to get a plate of uncooked french toast. I was highly disappointed to say the least especially when the server didn't think that there was anything wrong with a plate of slimy bread. In order to make up for this unpleasant event, Soner decided to make me a plate of his berry vegan french toast. He's been talking about this recipe ever since we started dating so I was a little excited to finally try them! Needless to say that they were so delicious, I had to blog about them.

What you need:

1 banana, peeled

4 large strawberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup apple juice

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 slices whole wheat bread

{we added fresh blueberries & raspberries}

What you do:

1. Blend together first four ingredients.

2. Soak bread in fruit mixture.

3. Cook on both sides on lightly oiled or non-stick griddle until just beginning to brown.

the birthday.

2011-09-12T20:53:00.002-04:00

As if Fashion Night Out and New York Fashion Week weren't enough, right in between you get my birthday. This year was the big one. You know, the three- ohhhhhhh! But I think I handled it like a champ and enjoyed it like it was just another year.

Ever since I moved to Williamsburg, I've been in love with the Brooklyn Winery building. It's just so beautiful of a space that I knew I really wanted to have a chance to enjoy a night with friends. We had a couple tables in their courtyard and enjoyed a few glasses of wine and some delicious birthday cake. The night was pretty tame but you know, I'm kind of a homebody so I didn't really mind.

Oh and did I mention that my birthday coincided with the Modcloth/ Swapaholics blogger event? You know how I feel about swaps, so I just couldn't resist popping in after my birthday dinner and before birthday drinks. This really was a packed birthday!

Amy from The Swapaholics, Myself, and Jen.

details: Ethereal Lace dress c/o Modcloth| tights vis welovecolors| shoes c/o Blowfish shoes| necklace via Monet

FNO recap.

2011-09-11T11:28:00.000-04:00

What a weekend it's been. I'm finally feeling a little more relaxed and able to come back to blogland. My first order of business is to post a recap of the Fashion Night Out event from the Artists & Fleas. The event turned out to be a great success and lots of people stopped by, seeing as it was advertised on a few online publications and made a few top 10 things to do on FNO. {We are very grateful to anyone that blogged about it!}

For those of you that don't know, the Artists & Fleas is a year round indoor market with tons of vendors from jewelry, vintage to new designer fashions. You've probably past right by it if you attended the Brooklyn Flea this summer.

On this particular night we had some special punches to offer the crowd with the help of a few friends willing to volunteer their time for us. This special lady is one of those gems. Thank you so much Sarah for all of your help!

We set up a photobooth complete with Dusty Rose Vintage props and professional photographer for a style contest. To see all the looks you can visit the DRV FB Page and "like" your favorite look. The winner gets a DRV Gift certificate!

This could possibly be my favorite look out of all but I don't want to play favorites. Go check them out for yourself.

The vendors at the market were all geared up for the event. Here's Amy from WildFell Hall Vintage and Giana of The Greedy Seagull looking fabulous.

Again, we couldn't have done it without our friends, Gisela at the mic and Chase at the DJ Booth.

The Mother Host of it all, Dusty Rose Vintage sporting on of the re-worked tees that got this whole event idea started paired with an amazing pair of floral palazzo pants.

And last but not least, all of the re-worked tees! We're selling them for $38 a pop and donating 10% of the proceeds to Permanent Wave. There starting to get listed in the shop, go check them out here.

Sadly, I don't have a picture of my outfit right now. I'm going to have to track one down so I can post it sometime this week! I want to thank everyone who stopped by and hope you had a great time!

Quirky Girl.

2011-09-07T22:17:00.002-04:00

And here it is! My full outfit post with my newly reworked cardigan. I wanted to wear something fun with it, so I decided to go for a back-to-school fall-ish outfit incorporating some dark denim, polka dot blouse and well, since it's not that cold out yet, I can still wear some sandals.

Lots of stuff going on this week. Tonight I attended the volunteer meet & greet for the Lower East Side girls Club, more on that when I actually start volunteering... but sounds like fun. Tomorrow, as you all know if Fashion Night Out and as you all know I'll be hanging out at the Artists & Fleas all night so you should stop by and say hi, have a drink and a cookie {I'm baking them right now}, and of course, buy a t-shirt! Haha, ok, purchases are optional...

And well, Friday is my birthday! Not just any old birthday though, this one is the big 3-0! So even more reason to celebrate. Pheww, with all of this going on, I actually kind of just wish that this week was over with! I'm looking forward to NOT sewing, planning, prepping for anything. Maybe even enjoying a good ol' movie night with Soner? Yup, must make that happen, right after I enjoy some vegan chocolate birthday cake.

Reworked Cardigan

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000-04:00

On my last trip to the Goodwill Distribution Center, I found myself with a few good basic cardigans. They're all great fall colors, and will be perfect to layer on top of some dresses that are either sleveless or short sleeve. There was one problem, some of them had missing buttons. I decided to get them anyways as I knew they'd be salvageable in some way or another. Since I seem to have an ever expanding button collection, I thought this would be the perfect time to bring them out. The results? A "new" quirky cardigan.

Here are the steps:

I chose some mismatched green, golds and black buttons. All of them are on the smaller to medium size to keep a cohesive look. The brooch is purely decorative but I think it adds a nice touch! You'll get to see the whole outfit in tomorrow's post.

Tour guide.

2011-09-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

As I had mentioned in a few of my last posts, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Alyson this weekend, as she won a trip for 2 to NYC. Now, what an awesome giveaway right? Well turns out that kensie, yes, the same kensie that I work for was holding this sweepstakes and she just happened to enter and actually win! I was so excited to get that text at work a couple months ago and couldn't believe the coincidence! She and I had been trying to figure out the best time for her to visit all summer and just when we thought it had to be postponed, this crazy opportunity arises. Needless to say we had a great time! Now if I could just get my shit together and make a trip to Nashville, we'd be even.

1.Beautiful dresses hanging from the ceiling of the Artists & Fleas

2. I like Alyson because she makes silly faces like me

3. I'm always down with sales

4. Serious necklaces

5. Brooklyn Flea

6.Obligatory Union Pool photobooth pictures

7. Noodles from M Noodle Shop.

8. Arcade games at Barcade

9. Goodbyes in the garment district

Park Picnic.

2011-09-03T11:29:00.000-04:00

One of the things on my to-do list this week was to go on a picnic with Soner. We made it at the very last minute by taking a break on Friday and heading out to McCarren Park. We've had the perfect weather here in New York this week which made it really hard to focus on my indoor projects. I at least got caught up for the most part so I can start off my week stress free; which was the whole point of this staycation to begin with.

details: dress via asos| shoes c/o BC Shoes| brooch via BK Flea| earrings via Flea market

This weekend I'll be haging out with Alyson {we went out last night and had a blast} so I might not be blogging all that much. I'll surely be posting a recap of our weelend on Monday though. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Vintage Peach.

2011-08-31T18:26:00.001-04:00

details: vintage dress & necklace via Beacon's Closet| belt & shoes via Value Village| tote via made

Today {day 3 of staycation} was pretty low key. We started with breakfast at one of my favorite places, which was a bust if you saw my tweet but decided to not let it ruin our day and go for a little stroll in the neighborhood. We popped in at the art supply store for Soner, then checked for a venue for my birthday party. Along the way we stopped for some outfit pics, since I know you guys miss them {haha, kidding, not really}.

I'm trying to get all my projects done with before this weekend since I'll be wanting to spend most of my time with this lucky lady who just happened to win a trip to NYC {more on that later, it's pretty coincidental}. Hopefully tonight turns into a more productive one as I've been finding it hard to stay cooped up indoors on such beautiful sunny days! On that note, must get going!

Simple Sangria.

2011-08-30T20:58:00.000-04:00

Tonight we decided that it was going to be Mexican night. It was originally supposed to be tomorrow but I think just the thought of some delicious sangria and chips with guacamole, we couldn't wait another day. Since it was a last minute decision, I decided to throw together this basic sangria recipe together knowing that I wouldn't be able to let the fruit marinate in the wine for very long. Turns out is was one of the best sangria drinks we've made.

Here's what I used:

1 pear, chopped in small pieces

1 peach, chopped in small pieces

2 sprigs of mint

1/2 lime juice or lemon

1 bottle of cheap sweet red wine

{and I do mean cheap. I bought mine at the grocery store for $6.99}

1 cup of Ginger Ale

* I wanted to add raspberries but i forgot to add them in. I bet it'd be delicious though!

Basically throw everything into a pitcher, add some ice and chill until ready to serve.

Using the softer fruit helps it absorb the wine flavor faster.

Enjoy!

Day one.

2011-08-29T23:12:00.000-04:00

As my first day of vacation comes to an end, I can honestly say that I am so happy we decided to stay in the city. Staying home, I feel that I'm getting so much stuff done and also being able to enjoy our neighborhood at a slower pace. Even though I slept in a little later than I wanted to I'm telling myself that it's completely acceptable.

details: sweater via Beacon's Closet| jeans via cheap monday| clogs c/o BC Shoes|

hat via Urban Outfitters| purse via Value Village

I started my day with a run over at the track near our place. It comes in handy having a park a few blocks from you when you don't really feel like committing to the gym. The gorgeous sunny weather also helped me get my butt out there. After that, both Soner and I got right to work on each of our own projects. I'm working on getting all of the t-shirts done for the Fashion Night Out launch (more details here) and Soner is working on his artwork for the New York Art Book Fair at the end of September. See what I mean by busy bees? This is why the staycation was a good idea for us. After a little while, we took a walk out to grab some lunch and take a few pictures. I have to say that after today, I'm kind of wishing that I got to work form home more often. The freedom you have is pretty awesome. I've never really experienced anything other than a 9-5 (8-6pm in NYC). I'm just going to assume that after a while the novelty wears off. Well that's it for me today, hope everyone else's day was great!

Date Bars.

2011-08-28T09:53:00.002-04:00

Last night when we were "hunkered" down indoors because of the hurricane, I couldn't help but want to make some kind of treat. Not wanting to fuss with the oven, I found this recipe for date bars that simply require being chilled. It's all pretty easy and is all done in a food processor. The outcome is a nutritious, healthy snack.

Here's what you need:

12 dates (or amount that yields 1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons nut butter (almond, cashew, sunflower)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup your choice of nuts/seeds (i used sunflowers seeds)

1/4 cup flaked coconut

1/4 cup raisins or other dried fruit

What you do:

1. In the food processor, puree the dates.

2. Add the nut butter, agave, and vanilla, and pulse until incorporated into the date mixture.

3. Pour in the oats, nuts/seeds, coconut and dried fruit, and process until everything is well combined.

4. Press the mixture in a shallow palstic container, chill, and cut into squares.

*This recipe can also be made raw by replacing the oats with more nuts/seeds and use vanilla bean instead of extract.

Enjoy!

Housekeeping.

2011-08-26T17:59:00.000-04:00

It's here! My staycation is now underway! And to celebrate, I'm going to stay indoors and brace myself for a hurricane??! What the? Here's to hoping that it's not as bad as everyone is predicting and these are all simply precautions!

First things first, the winner of the Vintage Urban Renewal Giveaway is:

Congratulations Nicole! I'll be in contact with you shortly.

Second, I wanted to share with you the flyer for the Fashion Night Out event I'm co-hosting with Dusty Rose Vintage. We're working on a launch of 100 re-worked vintage tees for FNO that will be available at the Artists & Fleas as well as online (for those who can't make it to the event).

Part of the proceeds will be donated to Permanent Wave. A group of women that are breaking down the barriers for ladies in the music/art industry. They believe in women collaborations instead of competitors. You can check them out on Facebook if you're interested in getting involved.

Now off to get some supplies for this weekend! Stay safe if your in the Northeast!

Staycation plans.

2011-08-24T23:30:00.000-04:00

With the end of this week fast approaching I can't help but get excited about my staycation next week. Yeah, weird right? I have a whole week off yet I'm staying in town for it. Soner and I had originally planned to attend a wedding in Seattle. Then it turned into a Seattle/Vancouver trip. Then it turned into a L.A./ Seattle/Vancouver trip. Then everything got dropped except for Vancouver, and well since we're apparently too busy to plan a proper vacation, it turned into this staycation.

So, I've been coming up with a list of things I want to get done next week and hopefully, I'll get about 75% of these things checked off:

- Work on my blog header & other few blog design things

- Get the rest of the 100 t-shirts done for Fashion Night Out.

- Go to the gym or running track at least 4 times

- Wake up at 8am to get stuff done

- Plan a picnic in the park with Soner

- Possibly get out of the city for one night

- Do at least 5 outfit photoshoots

- Organize closet to get ready for Fall

- Do a drop off at either Beacon's or Buffalo, or both!

- Have at least one weekday brunch with friends {this to me sounds luxurious}

- Get a proper mani/pedi

Hmm, am I missing anything? I feel like with the amount of stuff I accomplish on my nights and weekends, having a whole week off should be so easy to get things accomplished. Wish me luck!

And now since I don't like posting without a picture, here's me and my niece Adesse, sporting her first thrifted onesie. {I couldn't help myself at Value Village}

Birthday time.

2011-08-23T19:39:00.002-04:00

Here are a few more pictures from Saturday's pirate party.

Pirate cupcakes for the birthday boy.

I think my mom found this at the dollar store in the Halloween section. It was perfect for the occasion.

Quinn enjoying his birthday cupcakes.

It's always fun to get a present that's bigger than you are. Look at his face. He doesn't even know what to do with it.

Of course we unpacked it and he climbed right in. A baby in a box picture is always a classic.

My family surprised me with my own vegan chocolate birthday cake! They bought it at the vegetarian/vegan restaurant The Green Door in Ottawa. I highly recommend this spot for lunch.

Quinn gave me this piece of artwork. Yup, he finger painted this masterpiece just for moi. I'm highly impressed with his skills and this is definitely going up on our wall soon.

I have a lot more pictures to post but I wanted to keep the niece vs nephew posts separate. You know, as to not play favorites. So expect some more pictures coming tomorrow!

Non related, how crazy was that earthquake today?? I work on the 4th floor in a Midtown building in Manhattan and felt the ground under me shaking! I know you West coaster's are used to it, but i don't think i'll ever get used to the idea of the earth shaking beneath my feet. Maybe that's just me. I like to think it's mother earth telling us to stop destroying this planet.

Pirate banner

2011-08-22T23:26:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, I took a trip up north to visit my family in Ottawa, ON. Not only was it Quinn's (my nephew) 1st birthday but I also got to see my brand new niece of one week, Adesse. Since I have over 400 pictures to sort through, I thought I'd start with posting pictures of Quinn's birthday banner that Soner and I offered to make. Since he was having a pirate themed bash, we thought of every "pirate thing" imaginable to make up the letters.

The banner is mostly made out of felt that we cut out using paper stencils then pinning them to the felt and cutting the shapes. We used tacky glue to glue them on to the triangles and then Soner used his magic with puffy paints and googly eyes for the details. I was pretty proud of the outcome and am looking forward to trying this again.

Giveaway time!

2011-08-19T09:31:00.002-04:00

Well, yesterday I promised you a special post, and since I {always} keep my promises, here it is! That shirt I was wearing yesterday? you know that really cool one with the tiki ladies printed all over it? Well, it was just one of the cool finds you'll get from etsy shop Vintage Urban Renewal!

Today, I've collaborated with them to offer one lucky reader a $25 gift certificate!

I wanted to do something a little different and asked shop owner Michelle a few questions in order to know more about the person behind the shop! Here's what she had to share:

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Michelle, I grew up in Boston and married someone from Hawaii named Jon. We met halfway in between in a small rural valley in Southern Oregon called Grants Pass, where we live with our two daughter's Olivia and Maddie, a cat named Bagheera and four chickens.

2. What got you into vintage selling?

To keep ourselves busy in our sleepy little town, we own a snow and skate shop and a small new and used clothing boutique as well as a Japanese restaurant. Buying used clothing for our store, I realized that our town is a great place to buy vintage clothing but does not have much in the way of buyers, due to the abundance of retired people. That is why I decided to open an etsy shop about 18 months ago by the name of Vintage Urban Renewal.

3.What is the thing you like most about your job as a vintage seller?

Growing up in the 70s and 80s has given me a great nostalgic love for bohemian and retro style clothing which seems to find it's way into my life in large quantities. I love wearing and styling this era of clothing and have passed this on to my daughter's who also have come to appreciate the quality and beauty of vintage pieces. Some of our best family memories are packing up our vintage mercedes that runs on veggie oil from our restaurant and going on a road trip to all the small towns in Oregon and Northern California looking for those hidden thrift stores, where that incredible one of a kind piece is just waiting to be discovered.

4. Tell us about one item that made you think twice about not keeping it for yourself! (what was it? why you liked it?)

One of the hardest parts about buying and selling vintage is: YOU CAN'T KEEP EVERYTHING THAT YOU BUY. Luckily it does not all fit me especially shoes. Which brings me to another interesting observation: THE CUTEST ITEMS ARE USUALLY THE SMALLEST. Even in my most determined moments when I found a pair of tall, fringed leather boots with turquoise stones embellished on them from the 70s made in Spain, I could not squeeze my size 9 feet into their size 6.5 bohemian loveliness. This is where my daughter's come in, because most everything fits them and they have now become a part of the business, buying items, listing items, and modeling items.

Another huge challenge for me is inventory management and my newest endeavor to get control of this beast is a 24' vintage 1964 trailer that i am converting into a studio for taking pics and storing items as well as using as an office. I can't tell you how excited I am to transform this and make it my own space.

5. Any tips you've learned along the way to pass on to new vintage sellers?

The biggest tip I can give to newbie vintage sellers would be: JUST BECAUSE IT'S VINTAGE DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD SELL IT. What I mean by that is, over time I have come to define better and better what I want to sell as opposed to just selling anything. Figure out what you want your shop to look like, will you use a mannequin or live models, will you specialize in a certain era or type of clothing, will you sell higher or lower priced items, are your customers young working women or older collectors. can you find a certain abundance of these items easily, etc. Whatever you sell should interest and excite you. Do not sell fancy gowns from the 50s if that is not your forte, no matter how much someone else is making on etsy selling that item.

Above all---Be true to who you are.---and everything else will fall into place.

***

What an amazing lady! I mean, a vintage Mercedes that runs on veggie oil? What about her cute daughter that models for the shop!! I'm so glad I got to know this wonderful woman through this collaboration!

And now to enter the giveaway:

1. Visit Vintage Urban Renewal and tell me which item from the shop is your fave!

2. Don't forget to leave me your email so I can contact you if you win.

**For extra entries, tweet or mention this giveaway in your blog post! {Don't forget to come back and let me know that you did so.}

Giveaway ends on Friday August 26th at noon! Good luck to everyone that enters! This is an international giveaway.

vintage shirt.

2011-08-18T22:14:00.002-04:00

details: shirt via Vintage Urban Renewal| jeans, BDG via Julie|

shoes via Value Village| necklace via Beacon's Closet|

Last night I got together with a few of my girlfriends, and their fella's to watch an outdoor screening of Wayne's World. Remember this post when it got rained out and I was really bummed out? Well, turns out they keep some extra rain dates at the end of the summer to replay any movie that got cancelled. Next week's movie is Clueless, and I'm pretty sure I'll be watching that one too!

So I got into a casual outfit, grabbed my beach chair and settled in with some delicious vegan food from the V-Spot tent and some friends to relive all of the Wayne and Garth awesomeness.

I have a super special post for tomorrow so make sure to check back! Hint, it has something to do with where I got this shirt! It's pretty great isn't it??

polka dots.

2011-08-17T18:48:00.001-04:00

details: dress via swap w/ Megan| belt via value village| shoes via Jeffrey Campbell

Please excuse the serious face in the last two pictures. Turns out people LOVE to stare at you when someone is taking your picture. Probably my biggest pet peeve really. Another lovely dress from my swap with Megan that I was hesitating to wear due to its long sleeve but alas, Monday was the perfect opportunity to wear it {with tights!} since it was so rainy and chilly out. It's funny because I actually own this dress in White. You can see my outfit posts with it here.

Alright, enough small talk! I"m heading out to the park to watch an outdoor screening of Wayne's World with my girls!!

spin pins.

2011-08-16T19:45:00.001-04:00

Here's a super easy hairstyle that can be done in a matter of minutes. The secret? Goody Spin pins. I discovered these the other day while browsing the hair accessory aisle at Duane Reade. Since I've been looking for another option besides hair elastics which can be quite damaging, I thought I'd try them out. They're really easy to work with but need a little more reinforcing with a few bobby pins (for my hair length & texture anyway).

Here, I recreated the hairstyle from the BHLDN night I attended a few weeks ago.

1. Start with dry hair. I used some styling spray on mine & curled it a little with a flat iron.

2. Loosely twist hair to the side.

The messier the better, I suggest you tease your hair and then twist.

3. Coil it up right in back of your ear.

4. You'll need 2 spin pins and a few bobby pins,

5. Insert the spin pins by twisting them clockwise into your bun.

You can place them anywhere but just make sure you don't cross them.

6. Secure any loose ends with a few bobby pins.

lunch date.

2011-08-13T16:53:00.000-04:00

details: dress via kensiegirl| shirt & necklace via value village| Worischofer shoes c/o Modcloth

After our lunch yesterday, we had some time to walk around the city and shop a little bit. We stumbled upon this church and decided to venture in and take a few pictures. I loved this little courtyard and big stone walls. I also remember taking a ghost tour last year and starting at this very church since the rumors are that it's being haunted by Peter Stuyvesant. Pretty cool right? New York has no shortage of crazy history to be uncovered.

I convinced Soner to let me take a few pictures of him as well. We had a nice little photo session before continuing our day of shopping around. It was a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon and I'm going to be sad when our Summer Fridays/Summer ours comes to an end. In NY {if your lucky} you half days every Friday starting on memorial day weekend and up until labor day. It's so nice to be able to get your weekend started just a tad earlier, especially if you're heading out of town, which I think is common here in the city.

curly's lunch.

2011-08-12T20:43:00.001-04:00

This afternoon I met up with Soner for a delicious lunch at a little vegetarian place called Curly's lunch. This place is great if you find yourself in the Union Square area and looking for a vegetarian/vegan lunch or even breakfast since they serve it all day. I finally took a few pictures of the place since it's quite cute. They have crayons at your table for you to draw on the placemats. This particular one caught my eye. A cat, holding a cupcake on a unicorn???! Géniale! Oh and my man got a haircut and I think he looks oh so handsome.

Welcome Adesse!

2011-08-12T08:57:00.000-04:00

If you follow me on twitter you'll know that I became an auntie again last night! Beautiful little Adesse (pronounced: Ah-dess), named after my great- grandmother was born yesterday after being a whole 2 weeks past her due date. She weighs a whooping 7lbs, 10 oz. and my mom said that she's barely 20 inches long...haha she takes after her shorty aunt!! I am so excited I get to meet her next Friday when I head up to Ottawa for the weekend. Congrats to my brother and his wife, the first time parents!

recent buys.

2011-08-11T15:17:00.000-04:00

A few new things I've purchased over the last few weeks. Either for myself or a loved one.
Just thought I'd share.

I waited and waited and then just when I was ready to give up, this beautiful Dahlia dress went on sale! I guess sometimes being patient does pay off. Not suprisingly, the dress is already sold out.

I had bought this postcard for my new niece/nephew's nursery in Ottawa. When ordering you just need to let them know which cities you want to be stamped and they'll mail it out to you all ready to go! Just brilliant.

Since HUE discontinued their Tobacco colored tights, I've been on the hunt for a new pair. I found these on Asos and highly recommend them. This color goes with anything Fall-ish.

I have a few events coming up...FNO, my big 3-0 Bday, 1 yr anniversary with my man. I wanted to get something special to wear and this starlette headband made out of gold german glass glitter will pretty much have me covered with whatever outfit I decide to go with.

cushion cover diy.

2011-08-09T16:20:00.001-04:00

I hesitated to post this cushion cover DIY, as I'm not sure how many people are actually looking to recycle cushions instead of simply buying new ones. We were looking for some fresh cushion covers for our living room and when we couldn't find anything suitable....the prints out there are kind of scary, we decided that we'd make our own.

I bought 2 yards of fabric from Ikea and already had these cushions.

I started out by laying out my fabric and cutting it double the length of the cushion, plus 4 inches.

I hemmed both ends of the cut fabric.

And then made sure it still fit the cushion.

Then I turned the fabric inside out. Pinned the fabric on the sides where I was going to sew, and hemmed it up on both sides. Here's where the 4 extra inches comes in. Instead of using fancy zipper or buttons to make the cover close, I simply overlapped the two ends in the middle of the cushion in order to have a sort of flap that folds in once the pillow is inserted.

This is how the back looks:

And the front:

Hopefully these instructions were clear but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate! I uploaded a lot of pictures to my flickr so if you need more pictures, visit my DIY set!

ongoing projects.

2011-08-08T21:06:00.001-04:00

Just because it gets a little quiet over here on the blog, don't think that I'm taking it easy and slacking off. Actually it's quite the opposite! I've been busy with a few projects on my hands and can't wait for all of them to be unveiled. Let's just say that August is going to be a very busy month!

We took these clever polaroid pictures at my sister's wedding. I took all of the polaroids back with me to Brooklyn and am working on a little project to give to my sister.

Quinn's first birthday is right around the corner (08/19). Sonny & I are in charge of the birthday banner {one of the most important decorations if you ask me!} Good thing we work well together. This one's going to be awesome for his Pirate theme bash.

I hinted to it earlier but here's the scoop. I've collaborated with Dusty Rose Vintage to launch a line of Reworked Vintage tees. We're launching on Fashion Night Out and hosting the event at the Artists & Fleas. That means a hundred tees need to be washed, cut and sewn all in one month!

When we were looking for cushion covers to replace the old dingy ones we had, we couldn't find any suitable ones that fit the size and decor of our apartment. So I made my own. You'll see this DIY up shortly as they're done!

Phew, and that's about all I have for now, but I think that's all one person can handle at the moment!

Which one are you most excited about seeing finished and posted on the blog?

surf bar.

2011-08-06T23:35:00.000-04:00

details: Vintage dress & necklace via Beacon's Closet| shoes & belts via Value Village| sunglasses via Kensie

I had a great Saturday afternoon, hanging out in Williamsburg with some girlfriends. We ended up at this little bar that makes you feel like you're on vacation. Fruity cocktails, sandy floors, and paper lanterns, I can't really think of anything else that'll transport you to some remote island in the sun. There's nothing I like better after a full day outside than staying in, watching a movie and working on a few crafty projects. Oh and snacking on some peanut butter cookies!! yum. Don't worry, I'll be posting the recipe shortly. Have a great weekend!

broadway star.

2011-08-05T13:42:00.000-04:00

Nickie, Jess, Sarah, Brooke, Maresa, Nikka, Merl, Myself, and Morgan

This past Wednesday night a fabulous group ladies got together to see our friend Nikka perform in the Broadway musical, Chicago. I can't say it enough about how magical it was to see her on stage singing and dancing her little butt off in tight little black dresses, heels and of course sporting the Velma Kelly black bob. She truly is an inspiration that makes you realize that hard work & following your dreams is not just a saying it can actually happen. Congratulations Nikka!

There was recently an article featuring Nikka and following her on a typical day. You can see pictures and read all about it here.

sun kissed.

2011-08-02T19:19:00.000-04:00

details: dress via Megan| shoes via ??|bag via Lucky brand (sample sale)|belt via Value Village| ring via India (yes, the country)

If there's one thing I can't help is taking part of a swap. When Megan mentioned that she was trying to only buy thrifted/vintage items I immediately contacted her about doing our own little swap. I've been a fan of her style for a while now so this was the perfect opportunity to take a glimpse into her wardrobe. The product? this dress {amongst other things of course}. Even though it's super hot outside, I still prefer a good cotton dress with a sleeve. I wore this on Monday as a no-brainer outfit and just kept it simple with the rest of the accessories. You can tell that I'm a little sunkissed from the weekend as I forgot to apply sunscreen on Sunday, which I hardly ever do!

Well, I'm off to meet up with a friend and talk about some exciting things I've got in the works for this blog. I'll give you a hint...it'll all go down on Fashion Night Out!! So if you're in NYC please let me know!! Ok, i've already said too much. Have a great night.

easy living.

2011-08-01T22:26:00.001-04:00

Before I get into details about my weekend, I just wanted to add a few things to my previous Wedding Bells. post. Since this isn't a style blog anymore, I forgot to add all the details of our dresses! Oopsies.
So, my sister's gown is from Ottawa designer Janine Adamyk. I was with her when she tried it on for the first time. It was love at first dress. As for our bridesmaid dresses, we got them at J.Crew! My first ever purchase from there, believe it or not. My shoes were from Aldo, and killed my feet. Definitely thinking twice about wearing those babies again.

Now for my weekend! Sonny got a ride up to Vermont with a friend who lives there with his wife and two little kids. The drive took a little over 5 hours but was well worth it once we got there. Serene open sky, green hills all around us. We were in heaven. We visited their farm, swam in the lake, and ate some really delicious vegan food. If only it wasn't so far, I'd be back there next weekend! We take any chance of getting out of the city we can get. Here are some pictures of us soaking it all up.

Now for a busy week of catching up! So much things are going on this month that I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed. I can't believe that we're already August! which means one more month before my big birthday...yes it's a big one this year. Oh boy.

wedding bells.

2011-07-30T11:04:00.000-04:00

Last month, I made my way up to my hometown, Ottawa ON to attend my sister's wedding. I was her Maid of Honor so I was right by her side throughout the day and tried to help out with whatever she needed me to do. It was no small task as I was just getting filled in on the day's schedule and events that were to ensue and of course, I wanted to do a good job and relieve any stress from my sister. Well the day went off without a hitch and my sister looked stunning on her very special day.

These pictures turned out so great! This last picture kills me though. We're so hip. Oh and the fellow to the left in both group shots is my big brother! It was so nice to spend that day with both my siblings.

All pictures courtesy of Julie Butler Photography

baby blue.

2011-07-29T10:15:00.003-04:00

As promised, here is my outfit I wore to a special preview of the BHLDN Fall/ Winter 2011 line. I wanted to go feminine, romantic and just wear something simple so that I'd be comfortable during the evening.

details: top & skirt via Kensie (no longer available)| thrifted shoes & clutch| belt, via Gap| Earrings & ring, via Monet

Alright folks, I'm out of here for the weekend! We're taking an impromptu trip to Vermont to visit some friends. I've scheduled a very important post for Saturday so make sure you check back tomorrow...