To the Big Apple and Back, or No Fun Left Behind

Memories of my trip to NYC with Colin and his family:

the architectural marvels,

the chaos that is The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,

Photo by Derek

Photo by Derek

My favorite ballon animal in the parade, Snoopy!

This photograph was my pride and joy--I hope you can see why.  Often times I think I must be part mid-puberty male adolescent.

This balloon terrified me.  If this is the face of the up and coming cartoon character of the ages, I'd proffer that kids these days have a much stronger psyche than I will ever have.

the fashion,

Images from The Notorious and Notable: 20th Century Women of Style exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.

Front, center outfit worn by Iris Apfel whose was described once as a "geriatric glamazon."

the never-ending supply of food,

Photo by Colin's dad

the funny faces,

Colin's little brother, Derek.

Colin being a goof while waiting for the subway.

the family portraits,

Minus Colin's littlest brother, Adam.

and Colin. 

Happy sixteenth to a dear friend of mine: A tribute (more or less)

(I can't take credit for this photograph...)

In honor of Krista's 16th I figured I'd post some photographs of her at her finest, whether that be acting like a total goofball, letting me play dress up with her for hours (and posing for photos for several more afterwards), or just being her good-natured, open-and-honest self.  I hope you had a good one this year!

**The last image is a photograph of her birthday outfit taken on her brand new Canon Rebel.  You can find more photos in this series on her blog, http://thenestingdolls.blogspot.com!! 

the Red light

Scenes from a bar in downtown Los Angeles.  

The last time I had been in this bar, I had convinced the bartender to give my roommate and me some free alcohol in celebration of our soon-to-be USC alumni status (my roommate and I had declared the evening No Inhibitions Night--meaning no worrying what others thought--and we were to indulge our own personal whims for the evening).  It was very uncharacteristic of me to be so blatantly charming for my own selfish reasons that I was too embarrassed to ever step foot in that bar again for fear that I would encounter the victim of my charades: the oh-so dashing bartender named Steve.  Unfortunately, it became my parents' go-to bar whenever they visited L.A. and I soon realized that I would be forced to face up to my humiliating acts of the past.  Luckily, Steve was nowhere to be found on this particular night.

...Until he walked through the door not twenty minutes into finishing our first round of cocktails.

I was so caught of guard, my mouth dropped and with glass held halfheartedly up, I looked Steve square in the face and exclaimed (yes, exclaimed, rather brazenly, in fact) 

"Oh my God... 

It's Steve..." 

At which Steve smiled amusingly.  Jess and I then burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.  And I spent the next few minutes recalling what had just happened.

You can really learn a lot about yourself when placed in terribly uncomfortable situations.

Photographs of my outfit that evening taken in less severe (i.e. not red) lighting are below:

Pre-Steve Encounter

Post-Steven Encounter

[Wearing a navy blue and evergreen plaid blazer, a polka dot blouse, navy blue, high-waisted capris, camel colored oxfords, and my beloved Dooney & Burke purse]

A Night Out on the Town: the Sisters

Jess's menswear-inspired (obviously) outfit for a night of cocktail drinking in L.A. in honor of Carly's 21st birthday...

...And the guest of honor in a rough and tough leather jacket and a frilly pink vintage frock.

Unitards, coats and slips, oh my! at The Betties

heavy duty olive colored QUILTED COAT...$35

black TWO-TONED UNITARD with fuchsia geometric patterned bodice...$18

CREAM SLIP with lace trim...$8

These items will all be up within the next couple of hours or so, so if you see something that strikes your fancy look out for them on the shop's site.  I'll be going out of town from tomorrow until the first of November so all items purchased within that time will not be shipped until Friday the 3rd.  I'll be in New York this Thanksgiving with Colin and his family to celebrate, and I CAN'T WAIT to witness the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade first hand!!

I'll still be blogging, tumbling and twittering (when I remember... it's so hard to tweet without a smart phone) while I'm gone so don't fret!  What plans do you all have for Thanksgiving?  Please leave your comments!

New merchandise at The Betties!!

cream ANGORA SWEATER with gold metallic stitched stripes...$24

metal NATIVE AMERICAN-INSPIRED chain-link belt...$10

cream blouse with front pleated panel and LACE PETER PAN collar...$20

lilac STRIPED DRESS SHIRT with front pleated panel, eyelet and embroidered peter pan collar, and buttons down back...$22

aquamarine and crystal RHINESTONED high-waisted JEAN SKIRT...$25

PINK GINGHAM SEARSUCKER button-down skirt...$22

You can find all of these lovely items here at the store within the next hour or two!  Once they're up I'll revise this post so that the actual price of each item will link you to the item's specific page on the shop's site (got that?).  I hope you all like this collection of items!  They'll be plenty more to come very soon...

PS-I'm still working on posting photos from the L.A. trip.  Sorry for the delay!  There are MANY photos to sort through (hundreds, in fact).