So, these Shin trousers from their SS/10 collection are really doing it for me. I don't know, first, and most importantly they look really comfortable, and second, their line isn't really overpriced. Still totally out of my budget since I've decided to move back to one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. but they are nice. And I like them.
(... that means I'm going to make my own version, obviously)



Tomorrow, more mailing, official phone calls and forcible grooming of Pieface's undercarriage.
(Don't worry, I took out the Pie-Pone after the picture, you and I both know it would be a dreadlock within 45 seconds if I hadn't.)

Today I decided it was time to catch up on the blogs I follow. My newsreader had about six hundred posts backed up (I tend to put it on the back burner when I have other things taking up my limited headspace) so I thought I'd just do a links post of all the stories that caught my attention one way or another:

Did you know how much an average Oscar night look costs? I knew it was a lot, but wow!
Drugstore brand fave, Goody are jumping on the Bumpit bandwagon with their own version. I kind of want to try one of these things, even though I know I'd feel dirty afterwards.
This story represents everything that can be so wrong about the fashionable mindset. So strange and sad.
I LOVE this stop-motion editorial shot by Pamela Reed and Matthew Rader for 160g Magazine.
Like the people at Refinery29 I think I just fell a little bit in love with this blogger. I seriously read his stories for at least an hour or so while drinking my two morning cups of tea.
These vintage Nina Ricci sunglasses are exactly what I need this summer. Hard to tell if they're big enough, though without a point of reference.
Via Haute Macabre, this companion parrot necklace and 'poison ring of the future' are so good!
Via Sleep Deprivation..., The Cast are opening a new store on Orchard. Cannot wait to get back to NY where all the good stuff happens!
I think Victoria Brito is so beautiful.
I am into these tee shirts at Etsy store Silent Shout.
Modcloth is a good place to find the odd pair of non-leather shoes. Right now I like these. But ohhh... four inches is pushing it. Eh, fuck it, I'm moving back to NY, I can do what I want!
I am really impressed with this new site, 3floz it's basically a toiletries shopping site where everything is carry-on size! Genius. I will be making some purchases before my next trip back to The Motherland.
This is terrible news! My favourite Brooklyn bagel place will have to move when their lease is up because their rent will be doubled! What will I do? No more $3 sundried tomato tofu cream cheese sunflower seed bagels. FML.
I really want to check out this market. Looks like it'd be good for scoring vintage sunglasses. IN THE FLESH.
This Vice don't made me laugh so much, I think it's the foot part.
And lastly, I would like to check out the Ryan McGinley show, which opened yesterday.

Here's the video I did Kendra's hair for finally!

Green smoothies. How can you taste so divine and yet look like caterpillar poo?
Its true, though. They look absolutely foul, and this is coming from a 7 year vegan, 21 year vegetarian who inhales brussels sprouts like she'll wake up ten years younger.
I have recently made the foray into said smoothies, because despite reading of their health and beauty benefits for ohhh, nine hundred years I never made that leap. Until now. I don't know what tipped me over the edge... maybe the need for extra justification to buy a Vitamix (did you know it is so powerful it actually breaks down the cell walls of the greens making them easier to digest and absorb?) maybe it was too many hours lying awake at night wondering how much sleep medication you can take before it becomes an actual 'overdose' or maybe it was just one of those things I had to think about for years before I did it. Either way, I'm glad I did.
I am obviously a green smoothie n00b, and my blender is pitiful and won't crush ice or anything fancy like that, so for now my recipes are basic and are usually a banana, plus a handful of some kind of berry and then about 4 or 5 cups of spinach, or romaine lettuce or something, some water to stop it needing a spoon for consumption and yeah, that's it.
I don't know if I'm feeling The Benefits yet, but it's certainly making me feel virtuous and like I'm worthy of some kind of treat... like Giles Deacon cat eye sunglasses, or flowers from a stranger.
Pretty sure I know which one of those is more likely... and those sunglasses aren't even for SALE!

The other day, my good friend Ms Rachel Timmins texted me that she was considering giving Supercuts her esteemed business. I said 'The fuck you are! I'm driving out there to save you from yourself' and today that is what happened. I drove to Baltimore and did just that.
I am stealing these pictures from her blog (I'm a thief, ask Glamour Garage) because we failed at taking actual pictures... we're awkward and we go rigid and strangely miserable as soon as the camera is on us... sorry Matt, I know you did your best. Kind of ridiculous since we're grown women, but there you have it.
This is the only evidence so far that I have created another warrior for my army. You know it's about to get serious when someone turns to me and whispers those special, sacred words; 'do what you want.... oh, and I'm not opposed to asymmetry'
A girl doesn't need much more encouragement than that! Rest assured, Ms Timmins will be attending SNAG with The Best Haircut In The Building. It is the perfect combo of devil-may-care 'oh, I have an actual style? well I just don't pay that much attention' nonchalance and horn-skimming expertise. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!
Anyway, things may be coming together for NY even better than I thought, I had a 'down' moment yesterday... y'know when you're deep in the bowels of a PMS induced sobbing marathon and your eyes are so swollen you can't see, and you're all dehydrated and snotty, and you know you're going to feel great when you wake up the next day but right now it's just. the. worst. ever?
Well, it was like that but worse. Yesterday it seemed like the powers that be were all saying 'pack up your silly little things, sell your cats for $5 a pound and get thee back to England where you belong', but today dawned bright, sunny and full of new text messages. I am back on track and this year may be the best yet!

Ps. I think it's pretty funny that Rachel and I both referred to each other as 'Ms' in our blog entries.

Pps. I tried my new Glittersniffer 'Jennifer Nazi' eye pigment and it is INCREDIBLE. It is the perfect bike-accident-bruise colour. I look like I've been up all night listening to King Diamond and beating myself in the face with a bottle of Raspberry Stoli. In short, I love it.

My love affair with New York, Part deux.
You know that part in Sex and the City (No, I won't apologise) where Carrie says the city is her boyfriend? Well, that's how I feel.
Columbus is not on the cards, and so there is no need for all my hard work in being positive about it because you know what IS on the cards? New York in the summertime!
I have decided to downsize my life and return to my One True Love. If you know me you'll know I like to throw things away, I find it cathartic. I am not sentimentally attached to objects, they just don't do it for me. I'm a little sad to see the back of my couch since it is so damn comfortable, but eh... needs must where needs arise, maybe I can keep part of it but I doubt it would make it up most Brooklyn staircases, so probably not.
Anyway, I have been making a list of 'non negotiable items' hereafter referred to as NNI. So far, my NNI include: The bed, the kitty castle, sewing machine & serger, small craft table, mannequin, bike and large mirror. With only these things it should be easy to fit me and my three furry friends into a studio apartment. (I have a plan, but don't want to out myself here in case I jinx it. Suffice to say it would be the Best Day Ever if it panned out)
I have also been thinking of ways to minimise the way I do other things. For example, I can get rid of most of my kitchen appliances if I get a Vitamix. I can get rid of my desktop if I get a laptop. I think you see where I am going with this. Joy and I were at Whisk on Bedford Ave the other day and it had many covetable and miniature items. I can't wait to get rid of old stuff and buy new stuff. I have two months to sell pretty much everything I own and make a new start. I wish I could find someone to give me one lump sum for all these damn vinyl toys I have, maybe I should just list it on Ebay and see what happens, I can't heave this shit around wih me any longer, it has to go. Maybe $800 for the lot, that should get some takers... it would cost thousands to buy all that stuff again.
Anyway, I digress, the point of this post is simple; New Beginnings. One door closes, another one opens and other similar cliches. I am really excited to get back to New York, things were just starting to happen for me when I left and I hope I can keep the ball rolling this time. I don't want any Red Hook or Bushwick-like location based mistakes this time, I want The Best Experience possible and I really think I can make that happen this time. Onward and upwards, as they say!

Bess was one of those stores I used to like to go and poke around in, but with prices starting at $150 for a sleeveless top and going on up to about $1500 for a studded leather jacket it was always a little out of my league, especially since what they do a lot of the time is stud vintage pieces, which is nice because you get a genuine vintage feel, but annoying because shit, it's a studded vintage leather jacket and it's $1500.
(I feel like I shouldn't have to mention every time I talk about coveting leather items that I covet them only because I want to knock them off with faux leather, but I'll say it again here just because Bess carry so much of it)
They also used to have these really cool tank tops with woodcut scenes of various tortures and other evil/satanic imagery that were distressed in just the right way, buuuut like I said, they were $150.
I feel like living in New York you get a sincerely distorted sense of what is ok to spend on clothing, you spend so long looking at $700 t shirts, that suddenly $150 sounds like quite a steal.
Some things just aren't worth bargain hunting for. Sunglasses for example. Just get the $500 pair because guess what, the $20 pair look like they cost $20. Everyone has their little things that they aren't happy substituting with a Forever21 knockoff, and that's fine, but some things are obvious.... which brings me back to $150 for a tank top. And let me be clear, I'm not saying I wouldn't spend $150 on a tank top, I'm saying that at present, I cannot afford to and so I would rather spend $500 on sunglasses and make my own shirts. Places like Bess are great for inspiration, but I can make my own woodcut shirt with a load of people being impaled... It is for those things that I cannot make or emulate that I save my pennies.
And here endeth the lesson in fashion economics, go forth and make your own shit!
(And yes, I know some of these pictures are from one of the '09 lookbooks, but I like it better than the '10 so far)