Sneak Preview of What's to Come!

I'll be posting these items on the store tomorrow!  It was so difficult for me not to claim these as my own, but I know they will make someone very happy.  Please enjoy!

Beautiful tweed trousers... 

...A darling sailor-esque frock... 

(if only I had a bigger bust; I'd snatch this in a heartbeat!)

...Classic dark brown and white gingham capris...

...A garden-ready woven hat...

...And last but not least, a sweet little Parisian-looking straw hat with a black ribbon bow.

Check back at The Betties tomorrow for details and pricing!

"Clownin' Around" on lookbook.nu.  Spread the love and click "hype!"

Clownin' Around

Blouse:  Secondhand store in San Diego

Capris:  Thrift store in San Diego

Leather satchel:  Thrift store in Phoenix

Sneakers:  keds.com

Tonight I'll be attempting to make a two-bean soup.  Hopefully I'll get some photographs up of the meal tonight once I'm finished with it.  

It turns out I had some pretty lofty plans for today as I wasn't able to get to really anything I had set forth for myself.  Zeena had an upset stomach and decided to relieve its contents on our bed this morning so I spent a good three hours (and nearly $20) at the laundromat.  I guess it was time to go to the laundromat anyways but I definitely didn't want to give up working on assembling The Betties merchandise to anxiously wait for the washers to spit out our clean linens.  Zeena has definitely been a piece of work lately...

I did manage to squeeze in a half hour of shopping though :)  I bought four vintage items at a thrift store today that I can't wait to wear!

**I can't express to you how much I love this shirt!  I happened upon it in a dollar bin at a costume/secondhand store.  It could very well be the top half of a clown's outfit, but I like to think of it more as a 60s/70s parisian blouse.

Triangles of white

Striped knitted shirt:  Secondhand store in Denmark

Capris:  Thrift store in San Diego

Boat shoes:  Secondhand store in Los Angeles

"November" necklace:  Estate sale in Albuquerque

Hand ring:  Antique store in Albuquerque

Dooney & Burke purse:  Antique store in Phoenix

Blue knitted elastic belt:  Thrift store in Los Angeles

Ahh, back to the days when I took pride in what I wore.  (No work today!)

Because I've been getting up at five every morning, I got up really early today sans alarm clock and took Z for a walk along the boardwalk.  I forgot how crazy she drives me when I walk her!!  For some reason she feels it's her duty to claim everything as her own--trash cans, poles, flower beds, etc.--and I end up having to pull her the entire time to keep her from marking everything.  She's just so stubborn!  And since when do female dogs lift their legs on stuff?  I think she might have some gender identity issues...

I'm in the process of putting the last of the summer items up on The Betties (mostly straw hats) and the beginning of the fall items up.  There is going to be some really amazing stuff up there soon!  I'll post photographs of the items on the blog before I post them on the store to give you guys a one-up on the others :)

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine is only just beginning; I get tomorrow off too!  (Which means another outfit post soon...!)

Tickle Me.

My favorite short of all time.

Happy little taste buds quiver with delight

Yummy!  This is one of my favorite meals to make.  It's Italian eggs in a tomato-basil sauce with baby spinach and polenta.  The cheese on top is asiago.  It's extremely good and very simple to make.  The recipe is as follows:

1.) Slice a tube of polenta and heat the slices on a skillet in olive oil.

2.) Heat 2 cups of tomato-basil sauce in a second skillet and mix with 6 cups of baby spinach. 

3.) Make 4 indentations in the sauce and place eggs into each indent.  Simmer sauce for five minutes or until egg is cooked.

4.) Top with freshly grated asiago cheese.

This recipe can be found at cookinglight.com.  If you decide to make it, please let me know how it turns out!

On the lychee front, Colin went to TJ's on the way home from work and came back with three more boxes of the succulent little fruits.  Mmm!  I'm salivating just thinking about them.

I'm thinking of doing a "Look for Less" feature in the blog where I'll copy a retro outfit for cheap (ie, one of Mia Farrow's many adorable outfits in Rosemary's Baby).  What do you all think?  If you like the idea and have an outfit in mind, send me an image at thebettiesshop@gmail.com.

(Original idea adopted from Miss Rachel Red Lips at rachelredlips.blogspot.com)

the Blues

Capris:  Thrift store in San Diego

Leotard:  American Apparel

Leather gladiator sandals:  Gift from older sister

Head band:  Tienda in Honduras

Necklace:  Gift from Colin

Tonight's meal was a scrumptious strawberry, goat cheese, and arugula pizza with pistachio crumbles and parmesan shavings.  It was quite good!

I mostly lamented all day today over the fact that I'll have to work for the rest of my life.  And I'm terribly worried that I'll end up with a career that I don't like.  Do most people enjoy the line of work that they go into?  I'm scrambling to find something that I want to do with my life that will make me happy.  I just want to thrift all day and blog all night and take sewing classes in between...

Un Hommage

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Colin went out to dinner with some work friends so I took advantage of the time alone and watched Coco Before Chanel.  And it was a wonderful film!  Coco's life was such a roller coaster of events.  What with her dad abandoning her at an orphanage as a child, living in financial disarray for much of her young adulthood, and the death of her lover... it's a wonder how she was able to keep up the drive to become famous (or perhaps it was this emotional turmoil that fueled her desire to find stability and acceptance in her life).  Whatever the reason, I'm glad her designs are still with us today.  She has an amazing sense of fashion.

And did I mention that Audrey Tautou plays Mademoiselle Chanel?  I'm completely smitten with her!  (Amelie is one of my favorite films)  

If you love fashion and tragic love stories, you should definitely see the film.

With flowers in her hair

Leotard:  American Apparel

Jean Shorts:  Flea market in L.A.

Sneakers:  keds.com

Scarf belt:  Thrift store in the South

Leather Satchel:  Secondhand store in Phoenix

I made a delicious tortellini salad with heirloom tomatoes for dinner tonight.  Here's what it looked like:

Yummy!

On another food related note, Trader Joe's is selling lychees!  Colin and I got a package of them today and we are almost through with all of them.  Colin requested that I go back to the grocery store tomorrow to get five more boxes.  :)  If you shop at TJs, I suggest you pick up a box ASAP!  They make for a delicious after dinner dessert.

Sunshine and smiles

Dress:  Secondhand store in Albuquerque

Brown leather gladiator sandals:  Gift from older sister

The couple of days I spent in Oceanside with Colin's family were so peaceful and relaxing!  I played much of the time with Colin's two little cousins who are five and six (or seven?).  The house was right on the beach and the ocean waves crashed so close to the house that we were able to hear them as we went to sleep at night.

Work begins again tomorrow.  Oh how I wish I could bask in the sun at the beach all day (and get paid to do it)!

Freckle faced once again...

I haven't forgotten about my lovely readers!  The past couple of days I've been staying in a rented beach house with Colin's family which happens to be right on the beach.  I'll be there until Thursday (though I'm home now because I had work again today) so expect the posts to be more consistent beginning Friday.  I'm going to pack some clothes and I'll try to slip a nice outfit on to post before I leave for there again today.  Oh how I miss dressing up everyday!

Us.

Dress:  Flea market in L.A.

Brown leather gladiator sandals:  Gift from my older sister

I had a rough day at work today and to top it all off Colin will be going out tonight with friends while I stay at home to get a good night's sleep so that I can get up at five again tomorrow morning.  I have always cherished my weekends (even when I wasn't working) and to not be able to partake in them is devastating. 

In other news, we had a very robust yield of mint leaves since I had first brought our little plant home from the farmer's market in early July.  It has grown rampant ever since we'd gotten it, growing vines into the sad looking basil plant that sits right next to it that my sister had gotten me as a housewarming gift.  Colin has "harvested" it (as he calls it) to make delicious mojitos.

I love the way the dress I'm wearing today contours my body without being too scandalous.  I happened upon this little frock at the Melrose Trading Post in Los Angeles; what a find!