WeeCap: Mad Men

My friend Alex and I are huge Mad Men fans; as much for clothes as for the wonderful acting, writing and that sexy misogynist, Don Draper.  So, when we heard that the theme for this year’s annual Salem Art Association Clay Ball was Mad Men, we knew we had to go.  And we knew we had to go all out.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything appropriately 60s in my closet, so I had to go shopping.  Luckily I was able to find this dress at an antique mall in Albany:

I realize in looking at these pictures that it’s a little too big for me, which I didn’t notice before because too big vintage is not often an issue I run into.  I’ll probably have to take it in before I wear it again.

Fit aside, I knew I had to get this dress as soon as I saw the fabulous sleeves – I love that they’re unattached and sequined.  Not that the sequins were enough; oh, no, I had to add some rhinestones too:

I embellished my hair with two clip-on rhinestone earrings, wore the rhinestone earrings and a bracelet and added a rhinestone pin to my clutch.

Unlike me, Alex had the foresight to buy a gorgeous 60s gown a couple years ago:

Isn’t it amazing? She also accessorized with rhinestones and added long white gloves and major lashes.

And then we were off to the party.  And, you guys?  It was so much fun.  The first couple of hours were the silent auction, drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  And a photo booth:

Erich McVey Photography was there with a very cool wall of old advertisements from the late 50s and early 60s.  If you want to see more pictures from the event, go to http://www.hautebooth.com/ and you can see a bunch of the other party goers.

After the silent auction we had dinner and the live auction – it was the first I’d ever attended, and it was fabulous.  Really, the whole night was fabulous.  Except that my feet hurt the next day.

It doesn’t help that I was out dancing Friday night too but by Sunday, the dogs were barking.  Luckily, I had some of these to wear around the next day:

They’re Kushyfoot Flats-to-Go and they’re wonderful.  They fit easily into my purse and they really are cushy.  When I received them from the fine folks at Kushyfoot, I was a little worried because the size is 9/10 and in my experience, things that have two size on them never fit the larger size listed.  But, I was wrong; these wonderfully comfortable flats really do fit my monstrous size 10 feet easily.

My pair is black embossed crocodile, but these fabulous flats also come in bronze alligator, zebra, polka dot, snake, perforated cream, black patent and silver.  And they're only $9.99 per pair in drug stores everywhere.  Or, of course, you can get some at kushyfoot.com.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

Gracey

WeeCap: February 18th and 19th

Wherein the Gracey the Giant meets Kelsey the CharmingPumpkin and it is awesome.

Saturday, February 18^th

I spent Saturday with my best friend Jodee, shopping the Nordstrom Rack clearance sale, eating German food, trying and failing to make sense of H&M and finally (finally!) finding red tights.  I wore this

Yes, you are correct; I do have a lot of patterns going on.  I paired leopard and paisley and stripes.  But, I’m convinced it works because all of the patterns share a color palette and I kept the rest of the outfit simple.  For the not-so-simple portion of my outfit, I paired a striped tunic (Banana Republic) with a paisley scarf (Target) and topped it off with a leopard coat (Wet Seal, consigned).  The unseen simple portion is just skinny jeans (Macy’s) tucked into riding boots (Born Crown “Sosie”).

Sunday, February 19^th

Sunday, Sunday was when the magic happened.  After a totes delish brunch with Jodee, I met up with the ridiculously awesome Kelsey of the Charming Pumpkin.  We were planning on doing A LOT of thrifting and laughing, so I dressed accordingly:

Here’s the thing folks; do you know what’s good for thrifting and laughing?  Leggings.  And leggings it was.  I paired some black leggings (Macy’s) with a printed chiffon blouse (Nordstrom Rack), a sleeveless black dress/tunic (Nordstrom), an orange cashmere scarf (Nordstrom) and my riding boots from the day before.  And I thrifted and laughed in comfort the entire day.

I’ll get to the thrifting in a second, but first, let me tell you about Kelsey.  I knew she was funny and smart and adorable from her blog, but she’s even smarter and funnier and more adorable in person.  Seriously folks, she is one bright lady.  And hilarious.  And irreverent.  And the best thrifting good luck charm.

We only made it to three thrift stores, but I found a ton of stuff.  Mostly a lot of floral stuff:

And 80s stuff, like this red, angora sweater coat of ridiculousness:

And other 80s stuff that you’ll have to wait until 80s prom to see.  Trust me, it’s so worth it.

We also found, but did not buy, sticky stuff (seriously, it was so disgusting)  and sexy nun stuff; we decided the floor length, long-sleeved grey dress with the rhinestone collar was the domain of Sister Elizabeth – she’s the sexy one.  And 80s prom dresses with butt bows the size of small dogs; sadly mine was too small and Kelsey’s was too big, otherwise that totally would have happened.

And then we met up with Mr. CP, who is also brilliant and hilarious, and had dinner at the Veritable Quandary which was delicious and funny and wonderful.

All in all, it was an absolutely fabulous weekend and I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures of Kelsey and I together, but we were too busy trying on stuff that didn’t fit and laughing to snap photos.

Next time though, I promise!

Gracey

WeeCap: Thriftin’ and Fishin’

Sadly, my weekend this time around didn’t include any fuzzy goats (or goats of any kind, which sucks) but it was still fun.  On Saturday Alex and I went to Zumba and then thrifting.  I found a new pleated skirt (yes, I needed a new one), a new clutch (also in dire need of a new one of those) and a vintage men’s cardigan by Janzten.  It’s very Mr. Rogers.

For the past week or so, we have had the most gorgeous fall weather, and Sunday was no exception so we took the opportunity to go fishing:

We caught grasshoppers for bait and while I was doing so, I stumbled upon a rather large praying mantis:

We also picked some apples from this tree:

And we fished in this pond; sadly without any luck but it was gorgeous:

Sunday evening, we carved our pumpkins.  Here is the before shot:

And here they are after:

Very scary, no?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well!

Gracey

WeeCap: Frisbee Golf and a Pumpkin Patch

I know I’ve been a little remiss in my weekend recapping (or, weecapping, if you will) lately, but I’ll try to make up for it today.  Not only did I do stuff and things all weekend, but I remembered my camera and was able to document the stuff and things I did.

On Saturday, FB, the FC and I all went to Adair Park in Albany to play Frisbee golf.  I wore this:

INC Leggings (Macy's), brown tunic (NY&Co via Ross), men's chambray (Gap, thrifted), low boots (Target) & orange cashmere scarf (Nordstrom)



I haven’t played Frisbee golf since the eighth grade, so my playing skills are nothing to write about, but the course itself is.  It’s absolutely lovely.  The course isn’t just out in the open – it goes through the woods and up and down hills, so there is so much to see as you’re playing.

For example, I saw this:

View from the second tee

And this:

You play right through these woods

And this:

Banana slug!

And these:

I have no idea what type of mushrooms these are, but I think they're lovely.



On Sunday, we were supposed to go with my family to the pumpkin patch, but my sister wasn’t feeling well so it was just the FB, the FC and I once again.  We went to the Airlie Hills Farm pumpkin patch in Monmouth, Oregon, and once again, it was just gorgeous.

We rode the hay ride:

J & T (the FC) on the hayride

Saw this awesome fuzzy goat (goaticus fuzzius):

Awww.  So fuzzy!

Went through the corn maze:



We were in there for over an hour!



And bought some pumpkins:



Cream/tan striped tunic (Old Navy), black leggings (Hue via Nordstrom), blue scarf (H&M) & low boots (Target)

 
All in all, it was an absolutely fabulous Fall weekend!

Gracey

Bonus Footage: Gracey Does Stuff

Plucky Maidens Junk Fest

On Thursday, I went with my trusty partner in crime, Alex, and her daughter, Sophie, to the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest at McMenamin’s Edgefield in Troutdale and I wore this:

It's (hopefully obviously) not what I work to work.  I changed out of Thursday's too-big pencil skirt into olive green shorts (Old Navy), a floral tank (Old Navy) and flat sandals (Target).  I brought along my trusty vintage patchwork bag (gifted from my mom - thanks, Mom!) and a couple shopping bags for anticipated treasures.

Alex and I got off of work early, picked Sophie up and headed up to the Portland area for a smorgasbord of vintage wares on the grounds of McMenamin’s Edgefield which is an absolutely beautiful, untraditional resort east of Portland.  Edgefield was built in 1911 as the county poor farm so the grounds are huge (70+ acres, I think).   It was renovated for use as a resort by McMenamin’s and has several restaurants and pubs, a huge lawn for concerts, gorgeous gardens and vineyards and even an onsite glass-blower and potter.  Edgefield is easily my favorite McMenamin’s facility (they have several) so I was very excited to go.

I am a fool for a veranda and Edgefield has several.

One of the vineyards - I think there may be more than one of these as well.

And it did not disappoint.  There were around 50 vendors of vintage goods of all sorts, arrayed under the trees by the main building.  There was food, music and large quantities of McMenamins wines and ales and the crowds weren't too big.  We had an absolutely lovely time.  I didn’t buy much, but it was a fabulous way to spend a summer afternoon.

Vendors beneath the trees



Girl with raccoon tail - I think this is a thing now?



Beach Wedding

On Saturday afternoon, my gorgeous friend, Jodee, and I drove up to Cathlamet, Washington, along the Columbia River to attend a wedding of some friends of Jodee's.  And I wore this:

I had never heard of Cathlamet, but it was absolutely gorgeous:

And hot.  The wedding was right on the beach, in the middle of the afternoon and I'm pretty sure it got up into the mid-90s.  It was a lovely wedding though, just simple and pretty:

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful weekend as well!

Gracey

Gracey Goes to the Beach!

As promised, I finally made it over to the Oregon Coast for the first time this summer and it was as fabulous as always.  We went to a small beach a little north of Nye Beach and it was just perfect.  It was a little overcast when we first arrived, but it turned out to be gorgeous.

What I Wore

Because the day did start out a bit chilly, I layered a chambray tunic (Old Navy) over my striped tank (Target) and floral shorts (Loft Outlet).  I thought I’d be wearing my jorts (hee!) at the beach but I figured if a girl can’t wear short shorts at the beach, when can she wear them?  Right?  Right.

What I Saw

On our way:

One of the many fabulous things about going to the Oregon Coast is the drive over through heavily wooded passes.

A view from the top:

Views from the bottom:

Back towards the road.

Out towards the ocean and lighthouse.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse (I think):

What We Did

Frisbee was played:

Ollie the Octopus Kite was flown:

And surf was played in:

This is one of the few times I wished I cared just a little bit more about being a better photographer because I’m afraid my pictures aren’t doing this trip justice.  If you ever get a chance to visit the Oregon Coast, I encourage you to do so – it really is amazing.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend as well!

Gracey

Long Weekend, Lazy Monday

It really was less of a long weekend and more of a looooooooong Saturday.  My friend Alex and I headed up to Portland early on Saturday morning, had breakfast at Gravy, visited the Mississippi Flea Market and then hit every vintage store we could find.  On Mississippi, we went to Flutter and Animal Tracks.  On Alberta we had lunch at Petite Provence and went to Billy Goat Vintage and The Factory.  And downtown, on 10^th, I think, we went to Fat Fancy and Ray’s Ragtime.

Sadly, neither of us were very successful in finding anything; although I did purchase an amazing clutch from the Mississippi Flea Market (I love clutches, I have a couple dozen of them) and Alex found a gorgeous dress at Flutter.  Luckily, our trip to Portland was two-fold; we were also going to an 80s concert in nearby Canby that night.

The concert was absolutely fabulous.  It was outdoors at a bar called The Wild Hare Saloon and it was great.  It was $12 for three bands all of whom played 80s music.  The first group was Radical Revolution; they play 80s pop and are the same band that played at our 80s prom.

The second group was Stone in Love, a Journey tribute band:

This is the poster from the concert.

And the night closed with Hair Assault, a hair/metal group:

This is their promotional photo and yes, they really dress like this!

We had the best time, but didn’t get home until nearly 1 am.  Therefore I spent most of Sunday lazing about the house and re-watching Casino Royale (it’s one of my favorite movies and I adore Daniel Craig).  I think I was still tired, or maybe just uninspired today, because I couldn’t come up with anything to wear besides this:

Oh, no, it’s not bad, I know that.  It’s just so neutral.  And I am not a neutral kind of gal.  But, I liked this outfit in spite of its snooze-fest of a color palette.  The black jeggings (Gap Outlet) are super comfortable, as is the embellished tank (Design History via Ross) and the wedges (Bamboo via TJ Maxx).  I added simple gold hoops and a vintage cameo bracelet and pedaled my tired little heinie to work.

Today’s Takeaway?  For all you color-lovers out there; neutral isn’t bad, it’s just neutral (and that's okay).

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey