inspired by andie: a pretty in pink tribute

pretty in pink 1 by jekinthebox featuring a lace tank

I was quite excited...maybe a tad too much, to have discovered Pretty in Pink on Netflix streaming. How could I not be? Pretty in Pink's Andie has been a major force in my fashion aesthetic. I was 15 when I first saw it at our local theater (which we walked to in our pointy toed flats or grannie boots) and was immediately smitten with Duckie (of course), lusted after both Andie's and Iona's wardrobes and so wished for a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia (chartreuse with aqua trim) that I took to sketching out outfits full of vintage floral goodness with a touch of leather studs. Oh how I wish I still had those sketches! I also thought Blane was a hoser and Andie a bit as well based on her treatment of Duckie and yet, I totally get it after watching it now as an adult. John Hughes truly was a teen movie genius. The "films" that come out now don't really seem to touch the frontlines of being in highschool like Hughe's films did. It might explain a lot but my memories of teendom are still fairly strong in my mind. I'm not sure we ever leave those feelings behind and I still feel like a confused wallflower trying to figure out who she is.

But back to my movie lurve. Andie's style (thank you Marilyn Vance!) not only spoke to me, it sang to me and so I filled my closet (well, acutally the floor of my bedroom) with all things vintage. What began with a little lace, floral and denim soon morphed into a lot of print, pattern, more lace, and more denim. I also became a fan of hats and bangles and tights...oh the tights I had! While I am currently in a fashion slump, I still collect images of what I would wear if I felt I could pull it off and have a very full pinterest board to show it. Someday...little by little, piece by piece I will get there. For now, here is my take on my favorite outfit from the movie and no, I was so not a fan of the prom dress (though I did like the sleeveless turtleneck, I though that was quite mod).

march is running away from me...

I can't believe March is almost half way over. I want to say it has been busy but really, it has not, at least not more busy than usual. We spent the first weekend in Los Angeles doing our anniversary thing, and this past weekend was spent with me nursing some sort of ambiguous sick. Allergies? Cold? Sore throat? Virus? Who knows...I'm just a snurflupagus (a new breed mind you). I have been drinking so much tea, I ran out of honey, so we trekked to the farmer's market for some local bee juice, and I snapped some photos of pretty farmer's fare.

On Sunday I woke up thnking I was all better and so dragged the family out or a wander and a hunt for mushrooms. We saw all of two mushrooms and a banana slug but the day was so glorious it was good to get out. Though my lungs might disagree as now I am cough, cough, coughing away with a wheeze thrown in for good measure. Darn me and my sorry immune system. I suppose it could be worse so let me knock on some wood that I even though I might need my very own bubble helmet, I am fo the most part able to walk and mostly breathe all on my own. Knock, knock, knockity, knock.

The March bed got all prettified before we left for L.A. save for the artwork and well I still haven't got around to finishing what I had planned and all I have now is a sloppy-sometimes-made-up bed with a thriftstore painting of a green lady that mister thinks is actually a man propped up on the headboard. Maybe I will be breathing enough to get something up, if not I'll pile on a pile of all things green and take a photo this weekend in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Yikes! Thinking of St. Patrick's Day has me looking at my long list of crafty things and DIYS I wanted to make for you that have, of course, NOT been attempted. Here's hoping to better health and all things green (an ombre-type garland east enough for kiddos to make), rainbowish (cereal topped cupcakes)  and slightly boozey (I'm thinking milkshakes!) I guess I spent too much time spying on the robins hanging out on the back lawn.

At least I did get a bundle of garlands mailed out along with some etsy sales, phew! Happy March! 

scenes from the weekend: after we jumped

 

After we jumped, we all hit up a favorite breakfast spot for some yummy eats and conversation. French toast was served, monkey bread was discovered and coffee was consumed. 

When it was time for the girl-o to hit gymnastics, we hugged and smooched and smooched and hugged and bid adieu until next time which is never soon enough. 

mr. a-go-go and I then swooped in on a favorite person to take the maway for banh mi and ice cream and perhaps a thrift store or two. Before we headed out, I sneaky sneaky took some photos as our favorite people tend to have lovely aesthetics. Then the mister scolded me and asked me if I asked pernission and so I then aked and snapped some more photos a little less sneakily.

We hit up three thrift stores and it seems only I scored though the mister did find some nifty neckties for  his cookie tin ukes. I found a vintage sheet with matching pillowcase, a handful of tunics, one sadly too-small skirt, a dress and a pair of cropped pants that maybe can be described as jeggings only they really are not. They aren't!

When it was time for food, we hightailed it to our favorite banh mi place for a trio of sandwiches and had a picnic in the park. Yay for thrifted sheets that stand in as picnic blankets! After the picnic (the sandwiches were SO GOOD!) we enjoyed a couple of scoops from Fosselman's and then called it a day. 

eight years hitched!

mr. a-go-go & I got hitched eight years ago at the John B. Mulholland Fountain near Griffith Park. It was a bit of a guerilla wedding or perhaps a smidge flash-mobbish as we simply showed up and got hitched. On that very day we took the leap and so we return to the fountain every year and leap again.

This year we found our fountain tucked behind a chain link fence. Drats! We made do anyway and managed to jump once or twice even. And darn my unfortuante shirt....sigh. Nothing says lovin' like a belly hanging out of a shirt. I know I should have added a tucked in tank to the ensemble. Oh well...lucky or me, belly out or not, mr. a-go-go still is quite smitten and I am just as smitten with him. 

scenes from the weekend: at my brother's house

How I love my brother's house. Every book and cranny has something to look at and no matter how often I have alreay seen it, I need to gawk and wonder all over again. 

It has been a year since he was in the hospital and we were uncertain if he would pull through. I am most ecstatic to say that he has and then some! 

This family rarely lacks in the creativity department. Or our fondness for color and um...things.

I suppose I should stop shaking my head at my friends who like to wander and gawk at the colorful bits of the tiny casa. I think I know how they feel.

And please don't ask how we dust...

Other than running around capturing my favorite things about my brother's house, Stacey and I had our waaaaay after the holidays holiday meet up where we unwrapped happy gifts (a rubber chicken purse! pikaki oil! Pretty wooden utensils! Skully scarf!) and cooed over each other. After the gift exchange we hit up The Little Flower Candy Co. for a breakfast nosh that included coffee, fizzy citrus drinks, and a few shared sweets (seriously, not all that many). We were so very, very stuffed that neither one of us ate again that day and we were finished with noshing before noon even! After the nosh did a smidge-o shopping and then it was time for her to pick up the kiddos and for me to hit up Europane to meet my oldest and dearest. It was 3pm and I was still so very, very stuffed that I actually passed up the chocolate salted macorn that I crave up here in SLO. I settled for more fizzy lemonade and an iced berry tea. How nice it was to squeeze favorite people! You all need to visit me up north! 

scenes from the weekend: the drive down

Mister and I traveled down to Los Angeles to visit with friends, eat our way through L.A. and celebrate our anniversary (ten years together, eight years hitched) by jumping at our fountain. It was a whirlwind of a weekend that began with a stop at the Pismo Butterfly Grove...

It was the end of the season and so we missed out on the clusters but we did get to see an abundance of butterflies flitting around us as if we were in a Disney cartoon. I could have spent much longer there but the eucalyptus was in bloom and I am just now enjoying an allergy-free 2013 and did not want to jinx it. 

We also saw a hummingbird nest with help from a docent. I love me some hummingbirds and butterflies.

Get a room! I plan on viewing some clusters when they return.

We hit the San Fernando Valley for a late lunch at a new favorite pho place and then we hit up 99 Ranch Market for more tea than any two people can drink.

After a few more errands that might have included a thrift store meander (I scored a pile of picture books) mister and I arrived at my brother's and unloaded the car before hitting up Pie 'N Burger with a favorite L.A. friend. While we did not partake of pie...still quite full of pho...we did enjoy good company and crazy-good burgers. Still stuffed just thinking about it!