RECAP ROUND II

IN THE PROCESS of revamping my website currently, so if you have any suggestions/resources/etc. please do send them my way! 

As usual, I've been super busy, and in the moments where I've had little pockets of free time, I have chosen to spend them doing pretty much nothing-- outside of X-Files on Netflix and eating bags and bags of Inner Peas from Trader Joes. From August all the way up to last weekend, I've been preoccupied with teaching community college composition at two different colleges, planning two different weddings, and trying to get in as many boba/pie/pho/adventure dates with friends--and J-- as I can in the meantime.

I've found a quick second to finally update my blog, and I'm hoping to do a couple this weekend, but we'll see how that goes. This particular mega-entry will be devoted to the second half of 2013, starting with August. As always, you can click on the thumbnails to expand them!

AUGUST

The month was spent mostly prepping for teaching two composition courses and selling some of my Foraged Vintage inventory at Scarlet Threads Boutique, which is a sort of pop up shop that's held in my town every year (or bi-annually, sometimes). I also did my last bit of work for my last retail job ever before I switched over to the wild and crazy life of professorship. My old bosses had me do a little studio shoot for BB Dakota and Jacks. The photo on the bottom right is one of my favorites from that shoot. On the right is the lovely Kaity, modeling a reversible wool skirt that is still up for sale in my Etsy shop. She's worth checking out once she gets her blog up and running again; she reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age--a non-meat-eating version--which is why I think we get along so well. She's also an amazing musician and photographer. I'm hoping to get more into both of those things in the coming year.

SEPTEMBER

September was J's 31st birthday month, and we spent it up in Big Sur (which meant we got to go twice in one year for once!). This time we were up there for his cousin's beautiful wedding. It was held at Point 16, and it was probably the most elegant and understated wedding ever. The venue was up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with the natural vegetation providing the only decor aside from some twinkle lights. It wasn't too cold for September but the provided the cutest blankets to cozy up in (one of which I stole to take home with me and is now serving as a rug at the foot of our bed. The food was amazing--including a pie dessert bar! How perfect is that?

OCTOBER

October is one of my favorite months because of numerous things. One major thing is that it's my birth month! Not that I ever really do much to celebrate, but still, I get that same feeling of excitement from when I was little. This year, we went to Santa Barbara to wander around and also to go to a Kinfolk event at Municipal Winemakers, to celebrate the Kinfolk Table, which is the magazine's first cookbook. It's beautiful but I still have yet to try any of the recipes. Oh, and I cut my hair even shorter. i'm thinking I'm going to grow it out long again though, just one more time, and then it'll be short hairs for the rest of my life.

Also, I'm a big fan of Halloween. Unfortunately, I had to work that night, so I just drew some whiskers and made some cat ears to wear during class. It was my evaluation, too, so the dean saw me teach as a cat, which was interesting!

NOVEMBER

I think all of the fall months just might be my favorite, because I really like November a lot too. It might be because friends and family tend to gather a lot more during this time of the year, and it makes things a lot more festive. This month, I went to my first Dia de los Muertos celebration to see my friend's band play in Riverside. I had a lot of fun making the floral headpiece and skull masks. I also celebrated some birthdays including my older sister Tess and my niece Jewelianne.

This month also marked my second time going to Joshua Tree in 2013. This time I went with Kaity, Abagail--another amazing photographer, my sister Maya, and a few other friends. It was overcast and chilly which made for pretty lighting for photography. The bigger photo at the bottom is from my first meetup at Huntington Library with Sisilia, Ashley of The Stork and the Beanstalk, and Cindy.

Also, I baked pecan pie for the first time from scratch, for Thanksgiving. So so good. AND and, I visited Kate at work in Pasadena while she still worked at Madewell, as well as Mohawk General Store which I am so in love with. Everything they carry is perfection.

DECEMBER

This month was pretty darn busy. I helped out my friends' band Flowerboy on the synth and tambourine for a show in LA, I got back the results of my teaching evaluation, along with student evaluations and comments (one of my students really likes my hair, apparently), helped my sister plan my niece's 1st birthday party, went to a few holiday functions...

...AND moved into a new little rental cottage in Redlands. It's a perfect little white one-bedroom cottage with craftsman-like built-ins and hardwood floors and plenty of great light. I'm forever in the process of filling it will plants, and pretty things, and happiness. We've made a lot of progress since December, but it's not quite complete yet. The neighborhood is great, too, with a little market/cafe on the corner amidst the houses and it's really close to downtown, so I can get some a la minute ice cream, chocolate from Parliament Chocolate, or a tea from Augie's (supporting those local businesses!).

Also! You can see (below in the photos) the mid-century inspired table that J made for me for Christmas. It was our first Christmas with just the two of us under the same roof, so it was pretty special. We picked out our own tree and decorated it. It was actually the first thing we moved into our new place.

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE NEW YEAR...

The blog is in the process of some redecorating. Not too many huge changes, but I'm hoping to streamline with, yes, less photo-heavy posts (although I'm planning to get into photography finally, with the help of a secondhand DSLR from my brother), more insight and writing, more substantive and substantial content, and hopefully more DOING. I'm going to write more (short stories, which are my forte), submit more (to lit mags, etc.), read more, cook more, craft more, sing more, and make more. And you, dear reader(s) will get to hear about it. Or not; I'm okay with just the personal posterity as well, but I welcome anyone to take part in the goings-on of my little life!

I'VE BEEN EXTRA busy with work and transitioning to a different job and moving and moving forward and getting sick that I haven't had much time to update this blog. So, since I haven't written here in months and months, I'm thinking I'll do one big mega post of the highlights to bring everyone back up to speed-- if anyone is even still out there reading this. Even if they aren't, I'm starting to remember how much I like chronicling things for my own selfish needs.

* you can click on the thumbnails to see the whole photo

march

Johnny and my one-year anniversary was in March, on the 17th, so we decided to go to Santa Barbara for a few days and catch an acoustic Neutral Milk Hotel show. Jeff Mangum is kind of amazing; just as a person. It goes without saying how amazing he is as a musician. It was a nice small venue which I love. It was so intimate and just fantastic. We spent the other days eating delicious food and walking on the beach and picnicking in the parks. Walking around anywhere with Johnny is pretty ideal, but Santa Barbara really is beautiful. It's one of those places we talking about wanting to move to. Daydreams, you know?

april

April was a little less eventful in that I didn't do anything exciting, since my time was spent at Queen Bean Cafe or Muffin Top Bakery working on my teaching resume-- also known as a curriculum vitae, which just means "really long detailed academic resume." I'd been applying to various community colleges, looking for a job either around where I live now, or near Johnny's family in Whittier where we're thinking of moving near once we save up enough money to get our own place. In the meantime, we moved in with Johnny's mother rent-free in April and it's been great. We do miss our beautiful old craftsman in Redlands though. 

I also got to hang out with some old M.F.A. friends and my pal Anna, who just moved to North Carolina to get her M.F.A in art. She's an amazing artist. We went to see the Happy Show at the MOCA in LA and watched The Great Gatsby on opening day at the Laemmle-- matinee, of course to avoid those crowds.

may

Again, I was still working at denM and working on applications so I didn't venture out into the world too much at this point. My mom's birthday and Mother's Day are in the same month, though, so I did get to see a lot of her which is great because before they moved back to southern California, my parents were in Arizona and I rarely ever saw them. Right now they're in Orange County but they're moving back closer to me since my dad got a job with the county. My mom is pretty sad about that though because she'll be farther away from my little niece, Quinn. 

I also started playing music with my talented friend, Kaity. We've done a couple of shows and open mics, which has been so much fun. I love singing and playing music any way I can. Her stuff is great. You should definitely give it a listen. 

june

This is where things get blogworthy. I feel like I should probably dedicate a whole post to June and one for July as well but it's a little overwhelming. This first photo is from the Etsy Craft Party in Costa Mesa, which was a blast. I met up with my best friend Abby and we made zines, and pins, and cards and had a lot of fun. I miss her a lot.

The next couple of photos are from this awesome cactarium in Palm Springs. Ashley from Milk Teeths actually went there and it's so close to home for me that I had to check it out. Johnny doesn't like cacti so much but he liked it there too. They had a botanical garden in addition to the cacti.

The rest of the photos are from a day in Malibu with my friend, Kate. She and I just recently started going on adventures together and she's so much fun and a really sweet, funny, genuine person. You can see more of her on her super famous Instagram feed @katekipley, if you don't already follow her. 

Oh! Also in June, I found out I got jobs teaching at both a college in Whittier and one right down the street from where I live. So great.

july pt. one

July definitely needs two sections in the mega post. Lots going on. First off, the fourth of July was pretty mellow, but we had a lot of fun. Johnny's family came over and we had a barbecue and went swimming and then we went to the local high school and spread out some blankets on the football field to watch a pretty spectacular fireworks show. They were so big and bright and super close that the ash from the fireworks fell on us. Really neat.

The rest of the photos are from our annual trip to Big Sur. Here is another place where we feel like we would want to move there. I think if you went you would feel the same way. The weather is always perfect and the views are breathtaking; the mountains, the ocean, the sky, the trees. Instagram overload, for sure. For more photos from the trip, just head on over to my Instagram feed @melissasonico. We camped by Big Sur River and went to the beach and climbed rock, saw a nudist on a non-nudist beach, went to the hot springs at Esalen Institute at 1 a.m. at night in the fog, and had a lot of fun. We didn't go to Henry Miller Memorial Library like we did last year, which I was bummed about because I love it there, but there's always next year!

july pt. two

Last one! The second installment is dedicated mostly to me working on revamping my Etsy shop and re-stocking it with inventory and doing little photo shoots for it. I renamed HoneyBee Vintage to foraged. vintage. I have some new goods up right now, so check it out! The photo shoot was great. I worked with Kaity, Kate, and the super talented Abbie. She helped me with my shop redesign from the logo and business cards along with shooting my look book. You should check out her stuff. 

Also, I went to Joshua Tree with Kate in July. We woke up in the middle of the night and drove out there in time for the sunrise and it was so incredible. We had fun exploring the rock formations and the strange/abandoned buildings all along 29 Palms highway. We did have our share of mishaps including bee infestations and getting stuck in a sand pit and having to call AAA, but other than that, it was so so great. We have been planning to go back, but I got sick and couldn't go when we planned, which was during the summer Perseid meteor shower. I'm still not 100% but I'm hoping I'll get to go on more adventures soon.

I think this will be it for now. I was contemplating doing a mini section for the first half of August, but you probably haven't gotten through this far, so I'll cut it off here. 

THIS WEEKEND I was fortunate to have a little time off from the hustle and bustle to visit my family in South Orange County, but before that I stopped in Costa Mesa to meet up with my best friend, Abby, who I went to UCI with years and year ago. We met at the OC Mart Mix in the SOCO District, and it was my first time there. I guess I came on a good day, because there was a farmer's market with food trucks out in the parking lot, and inside the OC Mart Mix. there was an event going on with little booths from local businesses, so all the pop up shops had food and treats out for shoppers.

We walked around for a couple of hours, had some delicious mango iced tea (on tap!!) and macarons from the tea bar, Seventh Tea Bar which I'm told is a new addition to Portola Coffee Lab, which is perfect because I don't drink coffee. Salted Caramel is my favorite macaron flavor but I was more impressed with the chai one here. My favorite salted caramel is still the one at Merely Sweets in Brea, hands down. (It has actual chewy caramel in it along with the salty caramel filling!)

There were so many little shops that I loved, especially the antique/vintage home shop, Heirlooms and Hardware, that had a cubby filled with bags and purses. There was the most perfect small leather backpack that I really wanted but it was over fifty dollars and I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a used bag. My favorite was probably the cheese shop. It had so many beautiful stinky cheeses, and starter kits and sandwiches. I want to work there! My second favorite place was called Rolling Greens, a home and garden store.

Abby and I also shared some blueberry cheesecake gelato from N'ice Cream. Amazing. Too much goodness. If you haven't been out there and you live in the area or are headed out that way, definitely check it out! I need to go back because I feel like I didn't have enough time to see everything, and there are plenty more food and drink I need to same there, from the oyster bar and the panini place and the cheese shop... They even had a spice shop! 

Then I went out to Rancho Santa Margarita to visit my 7 week old niece Quinn and my sister and mom. We went to sushi and shared some sushi and bibimbap in Irvine and then went back to my sister's home and snuggled up with Quinn and ate my mom's Kare Kare and banana cake. Lots of eating in one day. I also gave my mom the orchid I got at the farmer's market earlier in the day, as a Valentine's Day present. It was nice to spend time with everyone because it's rare for me to find the time and money to drive down and visit these days.

Outfit details:
coat- c/o Nectar Clothing
beanie- c/o Nectar Clothing
polka dot blouse- Urban Outfitters
high waist side zip jeans- American Apparel
boots- thrifted

So as promised, here's the photo shoot I styled and shot with Emma from Honey Honey Photography. First night shoot I've ever done, and I think it came out great! Models aside from myself were my friends RaeAn and Karlee. (You can click on the smaller pictures to see larger versions!) Also, you can see a few more here. Make sure to check out LuLus.com -- where my dress is from-- and use the special storewide 15% off discount code SOMETIMES at checkout until 1/11/13!

IT'S BEEN ONE week into 2013, and like most people who want to be better versions of themselves, I'm in a state of self-improvement rather than setting specific resolutions. Instead we're making lists of things we want to do. In the spirit of that, J and I have been trying to think of ways to do so, including doing things we haven't done or have been meaning to do. One of the things that falls in the former category is wearing sequins. I don't think I've ever work something with sequins outside of a Halloween flapper costume and some plays/ballet costumes perhaps. Anyway, this is a dress courtesy of LuLus.com, and when I saw it, I thought it would be the perfect New Year's Eve outfit! I like all the little details like the deep cut in the back and the pale silver, pink, and gold tones. Very dainty and not as garish as I think sequins usually are. I also used the dress in the latest photo shoot that I styled and had my friend Emma of Honey Honey Photography shoot. It was the very first night shoot I've done and it turned out wonderfully if I do say so myself. So there's another first, and it's only been one week into the year.

Progress! 

Outfit details:
sequin dress c/o LuLu's, similar one here
suede cat smoking flats c/o LuLu's
Swedish Hasbeens from Modcloth

What are some of your resolutions? On my list of things to do:

Read much much more than I already do, starting with George Saunders' new collection of short stories, which comes out today!!
Apply to some writing fellowships
Run a 5k with Johnny (and train for it)
Submit to lit mags
Get a teaching position at a community college
Use my new sewing machine to make pretty dresses for my brand new very first niece!
Play music (w/Kaitlynn!)
Writewritewrite

Second to lastly, here is a discount code to LuLus.com, for you dear Sometimes Almost Always readers! The code is "SOMETIMES" and gets you 15% the entire site at checkout until midnight on 1/11/2013, so hop to it. Get yourself some duds to start the new year off right! The lovely gals at LuLu's also gave me the best cat smoking slippers, and I wear them all the time. I love that the cat detail is a little subdued so I can wear them every day, but it's still got cat ears!

And, here's a sneak peek of the photo shoot! More to come soon. Probably tomorrow.

ON WEDNESDAY I went to Pasadena with my friends. We worked at American Apparel together and we still hang out a lot, which I love. I miss working with them. We walked around Urban Outfitters and Paper Source and the Container Store trying to get our holiday gifts and trimming, and then I took 'em to The Loved One where we looked through all the pretty vintage finds, and I actually came across a version of my wedding dress by Josie of Frances Baker, along with some pieces from her most recent line. Her clothes are all so lovely! Check out her blog here. You can see a little bit of my wedding dress poking out in front of the brown and gold dress in the photo below. I really love Pasadena. It's definitely on my list of places I'd like to live in southern California.

Afterward, we went to a restaurant called Abricott. It's this super cute little asian-french fusion restaurant with really great quirky decor like framed pictures and a private dining room that was set up like a perfect little home library. My friends Cindy and Karlee had been planning to take me there for my 30th birthday back in October but it didn't work out. I got a pork belly banh mi that was amazing, although a bit expensive compared to Lee's. Johnny didn't like the leftover half I brought home to him, and I think it was because of the added ingredient of kimchi, which I surprisingly liked as an unconventional addition. Add some fries with sriracha and I'm set.

I'm almost done with all my holiday shopping. Now I just have to worry about wrapping. I've got all the trimmings and wrapping papers, but I just need to sit down and do it. I do love wrapping gifts, but I've just been so busy with work and writing lately-- mostly work; I wish it was mostly writing and/or reading. I think I'll try and get it all done tomorrow. 

What about you all? Any fun plans for the days before/during/after Christmas?

What I'm wearing:
wool trench - ASOS
floral dress and black suede booties - c/o Nectar Clothing
opaque tights - American Apparel
red beanie - Krochet Kids

These next photos are from an Instagram installation at the UO in Pasadena. It wasn't finished yet but Karlee and I commandeered it anyway.

Lastly, I've told you about a photo shoot I was a part of, right? Well here's the behind the scenes video for the Fall 2012 shoot I did for Nectar Clothing! You can see more at their website, but I'll post more photos up later!

HEY ALL! It's been over a month since my last post and I can blame that on a lot of things, but mostly it was laziness. There has been a lot going on with work, and trying to write, and  the holidays and in between all that I can't seem to bring myself to do much else. Thanksgiving came and went, I've had a couple of small dinner party get-togethers at my house with my old American Apparel friends who I miss tons (we had an early Christmas shindig), and I'm in the process of submitting some short stories and entering writing contests, so we'll see where that takes me. (Speaking of which, one of my American Apparel friends is the lovely and talented Kaity, who took the photo of me you see above. She's taking a photography class and she won an award with this photo! You can check out her amazing blog here. She's got great taste in books and music and photography. Worth checking out.) The big thing is that my sister is getting married tomorrow at the Laguna Beach courthouse, so Johnny and I are headed there in the morning to witness. And THEN. my niece-to-be, little baby Quinn, will be entering the world in January.

2012 has been a whirlwind year. When Johnny and I talked about it last year, in anticipation of us getting married-- and getting his teaching credential and my master's in creative writing-- we called 2012 our year, like the Zombies song obviously:

Last night I met up with some friends from my M.F.A. program for drinks and caught up, went through the obligatory "What have you got going on in your life?" conversation and drank a couple of beers. I'm always wary of those kinds of conversations because it's kind of uncomfortable to talk about unless you're actually doing something with your life. But these guys are great and we're all kind of in the same boat, floating around trying to make ends meet until we can actually catch that big break, with our writing and our careers and lives in general. I miss that sense of camaraderie for sure. I also miss workshops. 

Anyway, the point is that I'm not quite where I thought I'd be at the end of 2012, but Johnny and I decided we're starting the year mark at March 17th, the day we got married. So we still have a few more months to get our lives on track. Either way, I'm still happy! 

Also! I finally got an iPhone which means I've now got an instagram. Follow me @melissasonico .

One last thing! In honor of the holidays, and to make your season a little brighter, I've got a little something to make shopping a little less stressful (at least when it comes to money). Head on over to my shop, HoneyBee Vintage and enter the code GIFTING2012 to receive 20% off on anything in the store for the entire month! But, to ensure delivery in time for Christmas, make your purchases by Monday 12/17 (especially for international orders!).

TODAY WAS my day off so I took it upon myself to actually stop being lazy and update my Etsy shop. In the end, I only did half of what I'd planned, but it was something at least, wasn't it? In the process, I also decided to keep something I'd meant to sell, this alphabet dress. I've been flip flopping about selling it the whole time, and I just can't let myself part with it. It happens to me a lot, because when I shop for HoneyBee Vintage, I look for things I'd actually like, things I'd wear. It's always a struggle, but at least you know I'm not pandering wares I don't really stand behind stylistically. Only the best, I say! So, sorry, even though this dress was featured in my look book,  I'm going to have to change my mind and do a take-back! :)

Check out the shop, though. I'll be (slowly) updating it in the coming weeks with even better vintage finds.

Something else I want to share is a couple of swaps I've done with two of my favorite bloggers, Julia from La Belle Oiselle, and Liz from Olive My Love. Click on the photos to go to their posts on the swap. You can see my post on the dress Liz sent me here, and I still have yet to do a post on the beautiful blouse Julia sent me. I'm sure all of you already follow these lovely ladies, but if not, check them out because they're wonderful!

Also, If you're interested in doing swaps, let me know! I love doing them. My first was with Lauren from Blooming Leopold!

HEY Y'ALL, sorry for the long absence. October's been a busy busy month. First, it was my birthday on the 14th and I turned thirty. I didn't have any big plans, just sushi with Johnny's family and my sisters. J did make me the most wonderful birthday present. I'll share it with you in another post soon.

Also, a couple of weeks ago, I went out to my alma mater and helped the new advisor for the lit mag out there with all the programs for submissions and putting together the website, and he asked me to read at the lit mag's release event. It's been a while since I've done a reading and it was a nice experience. I need more of it. I'm trying to get back into doing more things having to do with my chosen career. I think this was a nice kick-starter for that.

Then! Then, it was my sister Tess's baby shower. She's due in January, and I'm super excited for little Quinn to come around. She's the first granddaughter for my parents so they're really excited as well. (They moved back from Arizona finally!) Can't wait! You should check out Tess's baby blog, Dear Quinn. Anyway, my sister had a bee-themed shower, and I helped her with a lot of the decorations, like the flower photo booth backdrop, and the Q-U-I-N-N letters, the stamps for decorating the onesies, and the beehive cake. It was a ton of work and I've been preoccupied working at denM and helping with the holiday visuals at Anthropologie, but I just love DIY stuff so I don't mind. I'm also in the middle of helping J's sister Tiff with her baby shower in November.

Everly dress
H&M peter pan collar blouse
American Apparel tights
ALDO boots

I wore my new Everly dress from denM to the shower and I'm really in love with it. (I had to buy it after doing an Instagram post wearing it. If you want, you should follow denM's Instagram. Good stuff, there.) I think I've worn it about three times and I've only had it for two weeks. I feel like it's perfect for fall. It was really cold that day, too (even though the day before was scorching).

COMING SOON:: Etsy updates, a graveyard photo shoot, Nectarclothing photoshoot news, halloween costume recap!

THIS RIGHT HERE is probably one of my favorite look books I've made for my Etsy shop, HoneyBee Vintage. A few weeks ago we went to the Huntington Beach public library, where I used to go running around when I lived in Orange County. It's got a great 70s vibe, a nice book selection and a decent amount of records in the bookstore section. You should definitely check it out if you're in the area. I think it was the perfect location to showcase fashion from my favorite season. 

The title comes from one of my favorite books on writing, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. The White of Strunk and White refers to E.B. White, who wrote Charlotte's Web. These two writers are basically the authority on precise and concise writing, both fundamentally and stylistically. From things like comma usage and misused words, this book is a fount of information. You'd be surprised what you think you knew about writing. The book is also written in an engaging and funny way, or maybe that's just because I'm a writing/reading/grammar nerd. In any case, Kaity is modeling my amazing red hardcover copy of the book, with the best illustrations. Check it out here. It's one of my favorite nonfiction books.

I'm so excited that the weather is finally cooling down. You can find these items and more in the shop soon, within the next week! There'll be plenty of sweaters and button ups and everything you'd want for fall! Let's say Monday or Tuesday, because this weekend-- Sunday to be exact-- is my birthday and I'll be busy not doing any work. Enjoy!

Photography by my friend Emma of Honey Honey Photography

Models: Kaity and me

EARLIER THIS week, I did another shoot for fun with my friends Kaity and Abagail of Reid & Hudson. We shot in and around Abbie's aunt's house in Glendora (which is near Donut Man, so needless to say, I stopped by for a tiger tail and a bavarian creme filled one for J). Kaity, Abbie's cousin Isaiah, and I modeled for the fall shoot and later we headed over to a beautiful graveyard in Claremont-- one of my favorite cities. I'll post up some pictures of that in a later post.

For now, you get to see some shots outside the house, with me wearing a pretty little mustard number, courtesy of Liz from Olive My Love, from a swap we did. I'll post up the shoot pictures soon!

(I'd like to note that Isaiah is only seventeen so I felt super old taking pictures with someone 13 years younger.)

The last few weeks have been filled with shoots; styling them, being in them. There's a pretty big one I was just in yesterday, but I'll let you know more about that one later, once the photos are up and ready. AND I have another one next week. Stay tuned!!

Model: Tori from L.A. models

Photographer: Emma of Honey Honey Photography

Stylist and hair: Melissa Sonico

THIS PAST WEEKEND, I styled a shoot for my friend Emma at my house. Everything was pretty much perfect and the shoot went so smoothly and quickly. Tori was awesome and just right for the look we wanted, Emma was a pro as usual, and the lighting and settings were great! I just learned how to fishtail braid from a tutorial on YouTube and now I'm obsessed. I love them when they're loose and fat. The next day, Sunday, was Johnny's birthday (we made pizzas and baked pumpkin cream cheese cookies and hung out with his family at his mom's house) and I fishtailed my niece Jewelianne's hair and she looked so cute with her fishy braid and her cat print dress. I wish I'd taken a picture.

Anyway, on Saturday, we shot all over our house and in the neighborhood. There are these two creepy beautiful dollhouse-looking houses that we shot in front of until this old shirtless potbellied man came out from a house on the other side of the street and started calling out to us, telling us that we should come take some pictures at his house too!

You can see more of the shoot at Emma's photography website, Honey Honey Photography.

I WAS LUCKY enough to get early access to the Dahlia UK Autumn/Winter look book, and it is simply amazing. AND I decided to share it with you all. I love everything about it, from the location to the styling. I've always wanted to do a shoot in a house. Another really beautiful look book is an old one from my friend Josie, of Frances Baker, who handmade my wedding dress for me! You can see hers here.

I'm loving the brocade fabric of the Daphne dress and the layering and the collared button-up blouses. Anything with baroque and military influences with some pretty florals mixed in is right up my alley! I pretty much want every single outfit. A lot of the items are already up for grabs at their website: www.dahliafashion.co.uk .  

Don't forget to go check out HoneyBee Vintage for 50% everything in the store with the code 'CLEARANCE'. Ends Sunday, the last day of September. Making way for the best stuff ever in October, my favorite month. Fall look book to follow soon!

2. fortunately gone || THE BREEDERS

3. car || BUILT TO SPILL

4. luna || THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

5. gardenhead\leave me alone || NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL

6. ceremony || GALAXIE 500

7. son of a gun || THE VASELINES

8. truly great thing || SEBADOH

9. take the skinheads bowling || CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN

10. schizophrenia || SONIC YOUTH

11. from a motel 6 || YO LA TENGO

12. here || PAVEMENT

SOMETHING THAT'S sure to make the stubbornly lingering heat a little more bearable: a summer-into-fall transition playlist. It's basically a nudge to summer to get on its way already and let fall do its thing. From J to me to all of you, listen here.

Enjoy! ♢

ABOUT TWO MONTHS ago, I started working at an independent little boutique in downtown Redlands where I live, called denM. I work there pretty much full-time and part-time at Anthropologie. It's the cutest shop, and very hands on and run by the best people ever. We all share the same responsibilities from merching, to visuals, to choosing what brands to carry. It's great. Really fun and creative. If you want to read a post on a display window I helped design and put together, click here to go to the denM website and blog (which I made!).

Here's some outtakes from a little mini-shoot I did for the store's instagram. We just got some new merchandise in, including this vegan PETA-approved convertible clutch. The blouse is Comme Toi..., the shorts are BB Dakota, and the desert wedges are from TOMS, if you can believe it. They're super comfortable too. (In the above picture, I'm wearing a Zimmerman swimsuit as a top, American Apparel chambray pleated pants, and Keds Champions.)

Anyway, coming up later in the week is a music post and possibly a HoneyBee Vintage update! Stay tuned. ♢

So basically, aside from trying to write, this is what's been taking up most of my time. I did enter s pretty big writing contest, so we'll see what happens there. I'm also part of a pretty great interactive writing project called The Silent History with the best graduate professor Kevin Moffett and Eli Horowitz, who was the editor of the awesome and amazing McSweeney's. You can learn more here and in this trailer video-- narrated by Miranda July and Ira Glass!-- below.

Anyway, coming up later in the week is a music post and possibly a HoneyBee Vintage update! Stay tuned. ♢

HALLOWEEN IS my favorite holiday and it's no coincidence that it takes place during my favorite season: fall. Everything is better; the food, the weather, the clothes, the music (there's just a certain type of music that is fall music, just like there's summertime music). Even when I was younger, fall was this sort of transitional time, like a new beginning with the start of the next grade in school (I loved school so this was actually something I looked forward to). Plus my birthday is in October! If only the weather would catch up with me. It is unbearably hot lately and I'm pretty sick of it. I can't wait to be able to layer cozy fisherman sweaters over polka dot button ups, bake pumpkin cookies, watch Hocus Pocus (my dvd case is empty though! I don't know where it is), and drink salted caramel hot chocolate. Pumpkin-flavored everything is my favorite. Also, I'm looking forward to the rain. I'm a big fan.

Anyway, I've got my costume all decided, and most of the supplies for it are all ready to go, too. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking of being the raven from Moonrise Kingdom, but oh well, I'm doin' it anyway. I usually end up making my costumes out of things I already have, and I made J an eagle headdress a couple Halloweens ago-- we were Eagle vs. Shark!-- so I know I can fashion together a raven head pretty easily. I'm so excited! We're having a little something at our house, so I should be okay in terms of running into anyone with the same costume...

What are you all planning to be for Halloween? ♢

TODAY WAS SPENT not really doing much, like most Saturdays lately-- when I'm not working that is. We went to the middle school again, and while J did his basketball drills, I sat on the still hot steps on the edge of the outdoor courts and read from Self Help, one of my favorite collections of short stories from one of my favorite short story writers, Lorrie Moore. If you've never really done much short story reading, I recommend her as one of the more accessible of modern authors. I spend a lot of time rereading from her books (and Flannery O'Connor and George Saunders and plenty others) and today I was stuck on one of the pieces that I usually glance over, "How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)". It's pretty ingenious how she works with form and storytelling and the second person. She writes a majority of the collection's pieces in second person, which is something she's known for and very good at. Anyway, this particular story is written in short segments by year, in reverse. I read it forward and backward, and both ways are equally as poignant. It's a fairly short short story, so if you want to have a quick read, go here to Narrative.com. It's free to sign up and get access to the text. You won't be sorry. Let me know how you like it!

What are some of your favorite re-reads?

Afterwards, we came home and made dinner and took it outside to eat while watching another favorite, Raising Arizona. J is the biggest Nic Cage fan I've ever met and you almost can never go wrong with a Coen brothers movie, especially one as funny as this. It's also where the title of this post comes from (Salad days refer to that youthful, happy and naive time when things are great and you don't really have any concerns or responsibilities). We set up the sheet that I got from Goodwill with some twine and clothespins in the backyard. It gets a little breezy sometimes so I laid some old shutters from a discarded display at the Anthropologie where I work. It and the twinkle lights and various wind chimes make for a pretty great summertime backyard. We initiated it last weekend with a little bbq and Goonies screening with my roommates and a few friends, and we'll probably make it a weekly thing. It's nice to be able to hang out outside at night since it gets pretty hot in the house after a day of triple-digit heat. ♢

I HOPE EVERYONE has exciting plans for the long weekend, because I don't. I'll be working as usual. J passed his test for his teaching credential though, so I think we'll be celebrating that on Sunday with his parents after I get off work.

Anyway, here's some reason for you all to celebrate! 20% off at my Etsy shop HoneyBee Vintage! Use the code LABORDAY to apply the discount at checkout. Here are some of the things up for grabs. The sale ends at midnight on Monday. I'm making way for some super great fall inventory. You won't be disappointed! ♢

SO I'M BACK FROM my trip to Lopez Lake where J and I spent a few days eating and fishing and hanging out with his family. The main event of the trip was the ongoing Cranium competition between the Mugas and the Haneys (J's last name is Muga), but I'll get into that later. The campsite was cute, the weather was perfect, and there were a lot of animals roaming around, not afraid too get super close to our campsite, especially a deer who stole a tortilla off a table, and a bluejay who snuck some fallen chips from the ground. The nieces were excited whenever they spotted any deer nearby. Later after we settled into camp the first night, we went into town and got some burgers, then came home for some hot chai and s'mores.

Madewell sweater, American Apparel denim cropped lawn blouse, Levi's jeans

Next day, we went fishing with the whole family and nobody caught any fish. Not a single one. Kind of disappointing. There's a cute photo of J teaching the girls how to fish, though. I mostly sat and read and ate pumpkin seeds anyway, but I took a second to fish and screwed it up immediately, getting the line all tangled. Down below, you'll see a picture of J untangling the line for me, but by that time I was done and just decided to help the little ones look for unusual rocks and bits of colored glass along the shoreline. Some bottle caps made it in the pile as well. (I would like to try out that floating fishing contraption that the intrepid guy in the photo down below was using. I'm betting he came out with a few catches at the end of the day.)

That night we were supposed to play the championship Muga vs. Haney Cranium game for the trophy-- which I think involves a troll doll or something. The Mugas currently hold the title. We didn't end up getting around to it after a wonderfully huge meal of carne asada, chicken, corn on the cob, beans, quinoa salad, and later some s'mores, and hot chocolate. I think everyone was just too tired, so we sat around and talked and looked through J's cousin's telescope until it got cold.

All in all, the trip was great and it was nice to get away from this Southern California heat for a while, but I feel like nothing will compare to Big Sur for a long time.♢

Cloth & Stone polka dot denim pullover, American Apparel shorts and denim shoes