What's Love Got To Do With It

source

I am still technically on a small blogging hiatus due to moving. I'm not even checking in on all the blogs I read, well at least not as much as I normally do. My bloglovin' account is so overloaded! I should be back more regularly soon since we are almost done setting up our home but I thought it would be appropriate to write a small post about love being that it is Valentine's Day. Now you might be a little confused since this is a blog about sewing and vintage clothes and you could be asking yourself "What's Love Got To Do With It?". Well I just thought I would write about one of the things that I love and yes it is related.

One of the things I love more than anything is dressing up, more specifically, dressing up for an occasion. It doesn't have to actually include a dress and heels (although that combo is a fave). I just love having a specific location to go to, or activity to do and finding the perfect outfit for the situation. It can be anything from a birthday party to a baseball game, going to the grocery store or going to to dinner. Sometimes I tend to go overboard and I end up looking like I am wearing a costume but honestly I kind of look at getting dressed for the day as playing dress up. 

My love and I are keeping it low key today. Our wedding anniversary is in a week and we tend to hold off on the big celebration (gifts, dinner out, champagne and the such) till then. The hubs is making me dinner at home tonight and there might be a movie in our future so my outfit includes the coziest dress I own. 
Now if you have big plans for tonight, do me (and your date) a favor and dress the part! Pull out that pretty red dress, who cares if its a little too fancy. Or grab the pink skirt you've been waiting to wear till the weather warms up (that's what tights are for). Bonus points if any of your pieces of clothing have hearts on them. Most importantly though, make sure you put on your sky high heels! Even though we are staying in tonight, my heels might make an appearance ;)

Take Me Home Tonight

Well I can now officially say that we have completed our first goal on our list. We are moving back into our house!

As some of you know, we rented our place out last year due to Pete's band, Ivan & Alyosha, being on the road so much. I was traveling with him for a couple months and it just didn't make sense for our place to stay empty (and for us to pay to live there) while we were touring the country so we rented it out to some of our friends. We weren't sure when we would be moving back in but after a couple months of talking it over everything came together and the timing couldn't be more perfect. I am so excited that I can say to Pete, take me home tonight and it won't be to my parents' house!

However, this does mean that my store opening will be postponed just a bit. Just about everything is ready but for the next few days I will be concentrating on unpacking boxes and setting up our home (yay for having room for all our stuff again!!) rather then getting everything set up online. It will be soon though friends, very soon!

Sleep

I recently added a new item to my "always look for" list when thrifting. Before I even step into a thrift store or vintage store, I come up with a plan. Some days I am looking for something specific for myself, something I have been wanting for a while. Sometimes I am there to stock up on inventory for the store so I will search through each section and take home items to alter and play with. Other times I only look in a certain few sections. The sections change from time to time but generally stay the same. Every single time I go thrifting, even if I am looking for something specific or stocking up for the store, I always look in these certain sections. Right now they include dresses, coats, shoes, pillow cases, and my newest item ... (I feel like it needs a drumroll) ... vintage slips and nightgowns.

I think becoming obsessed with Mad Men last year has a little to do with my love for vintage nightgowns. Betty and Trudy's pajamas are so much more glamorous than the usual leggings and husband's old shirt combo I normally go for. Sometimes I honestly feel a little like I am playing dress up when I wear the vintage nightgowns (I do try to channel a little Betty from time to time) but it makes going to sleep so much more fun. If you don't believe me, take a look below.

source

source

source

source

source

Best Dress

I'm not sure if it was the sense of accomplishment I felt after successfully altering the red dress or if it was the absolute boredom that came over me after being snowed in for two days and having the only human interaction be watching my favorite TV shows and then reminding myself that the characters are not actually real people nor are they my friends (did I just divulge too much personal information?). Either way, I altered another dress for my store. 

It was once a way too long, frumpy floral frock from the 90's. Now it is a just the right length, fabulous floral frock from the 90's. In fact, I think it could even win a best dress award if entered in a contest. Okay, maybe not, but I do think it turned out pretty great. Especially since I am still figuring out this whole sewing thing and didn't have my sewing machine with me (I was staying at someone else's house) therefore, I stitched the whole thing by hand. My poor little aching back and pin pricked fingers at least deserve to be awarded a massage.

Rabbit Fur Coat

The crazy snow storm we are still recovering from has got me dreaming about beautiful winter coats. There are a few different clothing items that I collect and coats are definitely one of them. I should probably stop soon before I become a coat hoarder and my husband puts me on a TV show. Until then, I am going to keep searching for beautiful vintage coats every time I go thrifting. I have yet to own a fur coat (unless you count the one I had when I was four years old) but have definitely been tempted by them. I decided that there are few things more glamorous than a rabbit fur coat and my collection could use a little extra glamour!


Here are a few amazing ones on Etsy right now.

source

source

Faux fur but still just as glamorous!

source

source

source

Red Red Wine

My husband and I set four goals for our family in 2012. We made a plan to not announce each goal until we have achieved it. At this point I have nothing to report about (come on, its still only January, I have 11 more months to go) but hopefully soon I will! I also set a personal goal for myself. In the past I have not been a big fan of red, and no we are not talking about red wine, I have been a fan of that for a while. My personal goal or should I say style goal for myself in 2012 is to embrace the color red. I am going to wear it more (and not just on my lips as I have already mastered that), shop it more and style more outfits including this color. So far I would say I have done pretty well. I recently purchased a new red coat which brings my total for red coats and possibly all red items of clothing up to 2! I also just altered a pretty darn ugly red dress into a brilliantly beautiful red wrap skirt that I am so tempted to keep instead of selling in my soon-to-be store. You will have to wait and see where it ends up, either in my closet or yours!

P.S. Does anyone else love UB40's version of Can't Help Falling In Love better than Elvis's?? Yeah, me neither ...

Say You Miss Me

You can all rest assured now. I am alive. I will squash all the rumors by saying that no I was not kidnapped and held for ransom, no I did not run away (although I did think about it), and no I did not lose all my fingers in a freak boating accident and therefore all ability to type. I simply have taken a little six month break.

So much has changed in the last six months and I will get to it all at some point but for now I just want to concentrate on two things. First, please know that there is no reason to say how much you miss me, my heart knows and that's all that matters (but if you really want to tell me, you can). Secondly, my Carole & Clarence store will be opening very soon!! I have a ton of work to do in the next couple weeks but my goal is for it to be open by the end of the month. I'll keep you updated so please stick around and I will promise to stick around this time too!

Never Give Up On The Good Times

I think I have mentioned this before but I am somewhat of pack rat. I really hate how that term sounds so maybe I'll come up with a different way of describing what I am. Let's say I am a nostalgist or maybe a super smart and sassy saver. Now, doesn't that sound better?

I am trying to get better at not keeping every little thing I've ever received since I discovered, after moving five times in the last four years, having lots of stuff makes things more difficult. I guess I just never want to give up on the good times and have a hard time throwing anything away that has a memory attached to it or might be useful later in life although I am not currently using it. I have found that my way of doing things (as opposed to the "if you haven't worn it in a year, toss it" rule) can pay off! Case in point ... my lovely wooden platforms with woven leather straps. 

I have owned these beauties for over nine years and wore them only once for the first eight and a half of those years. I originally bought them for the Junior Senior Banquet (similar to prom, I went to a private school) my junior year of high school. That whole getup from head to toe was my favorite that I put together for a high school dance. I couldn't get rid of the shoes even though I didn't really have any reason to wear them anymore. I tended to wear more casual clothing options in my high school days and didn't really start dressing up, or more ladylike as my mother said, until I was in college. Not to say that I dressed like a boy, I have just gone through many different clothing phases ... my nicknames in my neighborhood growing up were Cyndi Lauper and Madonna since I dressed like a crazy woman at the age of five, but that's another story for another post. 

So in a bin, mixed with many other pairs of shoes, my wooden platforms stayed. That was until a few months ago. I was itching to buy some new shoes, wooden platforms to be exact but my cute husband didn't really see the point in me buying another pair of shoes. Our conversation went a little something like this ...

Audrey: "Ohhhhhhhhhhh my goodness, do you see those super amazing shoes???!!!!" (pointing to picture on the computer)

Pete: "Huh? Oh yeah...."

Audrey: "Those are perfect and wonderful and exactly what I have always wanted!!!"

Pete: "That's cool...."

Audrey: "I think maybe I'll stop by the store tomorrow if I get out of work early and get me a pair!!"

Pete: "What are those on your feet right now?"

Audrey: "Boots ..."

Pete: "So why do you need another pair of shoes if you already have one?"

Audrey: "Do I need to explain the difference between boots and platform sandals again?!"

Well, I will spare you guys the rest of the convo but let's just say it didn't end in my feet's favor. I remained wooden platform-less for another couple weeks until one morning before work. I was frantically looking in one of my bins of shoes for a certain pair that were nowhere to be found in my room. I can't quite remember if I found them or not because I got very distracted when I saw my beautiful old wooden platforms mixed in with a bunch of other old shoes. I didn't wear them to work but they did move from the bin into my room. That's how things know if they are really special to me or not. Bin or room. Pete generally stays in my room :)

Wearing the Levi's from my latest thrifting adventure.

P.S. I may or may not have been a big Spice Girls fan in junior high ...

Bandages

Okay this post title is a bit of a stretch but I am using it anyways. I was looking for a song with the word 'breakdown' in the title but couldn't find one by an artist that I wanted to put on my blog (Jack Johnson, I don't think so). As I was typing in breakdown I thought there was some song I used to really like that had something to do with making up and breaking down. Well I was close. Hot Hot Heat had an album called 'Make Up the Breakdown' that I listened to quite often my sophomore year of college. The song 'Bandages' will always remind me of going out on Tuesdays to an 80's night at a club (that didn't actually play that much 80's music) and dancing the night away with my friends. There is a part of the song that my bestie and I would dance around in circles until we couldn't stand up straight. It's funny but some of my favorite songs to this day are from those Tuesday nights. So although this post was supposed to do more with breakdowns rather than bandages, it will work.

Our RV, Miss Priscilla, can be quite temperamental. When she gets all hot and bothered she sometimes decides she doesn't want to work anymore and will just stop on us. She did it twice today! Twice, in the hot hot heat (I just used the band name ... does that count?!) in Georgia. The first time we were able to pull off the freeway but the second time we got stuck at an intersection and blocked traffic off the freeway for almost an hour.

A true southern gentleman stopped and tried to help us out. We strapped up the RV to his station wagon but Priscilla is a big girl and the straps broke when he tried to pull us. Soon after a cop pulled over by us and ended up calling a tow truck for us. For some reason Priscilla decided to work just at that moment and they guys were able to pull her into a Waffle House parking lot. We let her cool down for an hour or so and then started her back up to make it to the show tonight in Atlanta. Maybe she just needs some bandages (there it is, big stretch I know ... maybe I should have just gone with the band name).

Once on our way we got stuck in the craziest storm I have ever seen! Talk about a weird day. Going from being stranded in 90 degree weather to driving through thunder, lightening, and flooding on the freeway. Well we made it to the venue finally, only a few hours late. We only have about another week on the road. Hopefully Priscilla will be able to get us all home!

New York

I sometimes joke that I am basically getting a free trip to see some really amazing places. Honestly, that is the case though. That isn't why I quit my job but its a pretty big perk. Most of the time we don't spend very much time in any one city but right now we are lucky enough to spend a couple days in New York. The guys played at a festival this afternoon, we will spend some time in the city tomorrow morning then head to Boston for a show tomorrow night, and back to NYC for another festival show on Thursday. The last (and first) time I was in the Big Apple was about 12 years ago. My mother is from New Jersey and we used to visit her family quite a bit when I was younger so the east coast isn't that foreign to me but I still get very excited to be over here. 

Here are a few things I remember about my last trip to NYC ...

1. I had to change clothes halfway through the day because long jeans and a sweater isn't quite appropriate in August, even when its overcast (overcast in Seattle and New York are two very different things). 

2. I bought fake glasses at a street stand and wore them for months afterwards, almost convincing myself that they really helped me see better.

3. The only thing I wanted to do that day was go shopping on 5th Avenue. My birthday was a couple days prior and my parents gifted me shopping money for NYC!! My wish was fulfilled. However, I couldn't actually afford anything 5th Avenue-ish so I ended up buying things I could have found at the Nordstrom back home. Oh well, the Ralph Lauren shirt, Levi's jeans and Steve Madden shoes were all very special to me. 

I played around with my phone today and discovered (after having this phone for over a year) that there are some interesting filters on the camera other than the usual grayscale and sepia tone. I guess I should have figured my phone would be more high tech than the flip phone I had a few years ago. 

So happy about the dude wearing the I <3 NY shirt in my picture. 

Definitely Unexpected

I love it when during our travels we come across a little thrift store in a town when we actually have a some time to kill. That was the case the other day. It was definitely an unexpected surprise! I found a couple things right away but when I went up to the counter I was informed that in order to use my card I had to spend at least $10. So I was forced to find a couple more things. I ended up walking away with a denim skirt, pair of light wash high waisted Levi shorts (been hunting for some exactly like this for months!), a pink and white striped button down shirt with really cute detailing, and a George Michael cassette tape. Basically, it was a successful trip. The RV only has a tape player in it so George will get its fair share of play. 

On The Road Again

Well blogging friends, we are on the road again (currently in Toronto for NXNE to be exact) which means the little time I spent on sewing just dropped to probably none. I wish it could be different but I realized that it just isn't possible. Before we left for tour I had the next six months all planned out. Each day would consist of sewing for hours and then filling my blog with all of my little projects. Well life has been much much different than I thought. Isn't that always the case though?! I really didn't get much done during our break in Coronado either. I started prepping to alter a skirt but realized that I didn't have everything I needed with me so it wasn't really worth it to try. I might as well wait till we are home in a few weeks. 

Oh yeah, small side note, we are going home now in July for a few weeks. It will be nice to unpack and regroup for a bit before we head out again. I really am going to try and get as much done as I humanly can while we are home. It will be a busy few weeks though. The guys will be working on writing and demoing songs most of the time. Also, Pete and I are finalizing plans to go on a trip with my parents for a few days while we have a break. It should be very fun!!

Okay back to sewing ... I have found that being on the road has kind of taken my motivation away. I still have the same desire to get an Etsy store up and running but real life (not to be confused with normal life, our life is definitely not normal) seems to get in the way at times. I know that I need to be better at making time for sewing and I am really hoping that I will do so once we are home. For the first few weeks that we were out I would get so frustrated with the situation and myself because I wasn't getting anything done. I decided to just give it a rest till we are home so I don't get too frustrated and then lose all motivation before I even finish a full collection of clothing. I plan to visit my favorite lucky thrift store the first Sunday I am home to get some great dollar deals. I find that thrifting always helps fuel my motivation quite a bit! I also might be making a fun purchase soon that I know will definitely get me excited about sewing again. At the very least it will look great in our room :) 

Vacation

View from our room

This is our fourth official day being in Coronado and although I have technically been on vacation since May 4th, this really feels like vacation now! The guys have had a couple day break from recording so Pete and I took advantage and spent some time together today. We did some of our favorite things ... slept in, went on a few walks, and filled our bellies with good food and drinks!
The house we are staying at is on the water in Coronado and a short walk from the beach. We planned on playing in the ocean and enjoying the sun but the water was far too cold and the wind was being a little difficult. Despite the negative elements, we still enjoyed our time at the beach.

Someone peaking in behind me :)

That sneaky someone plus my finger...

Apparently everyone else in Coronado knows that its too cold to go swimming in the ocean because we basically had the beach to ourselves. Can't blame us though, we are from Seattle!!

I wanted to start some new projects yesterday but got distracted by my husbands presence so decided to put it off till tomorrow once the band is back in the studio. Hopefully my next post will be filled with pictures of everything I am going to accomplish tomorrow ... I have high hopes!

Riverside

View of Riverside from my walk up Mt. Rubidoux

Hello all!

I have been enjoying a wonderful few day break from the RV. I am currently in Riverside, California with my brother and sister-in-law. They are two of my favorite people in the world and it has been great hanging out with them and also having some quiet time. Being surrounded by seven other people all the time in the RV can be a little overwhelming. I am somewhat of an introvert, okay maybe a little more than somewhat, so alone time is kind of essential for me to keep my sanity. By the end of the three weeks of touring, I was on the brink of losing my mind so this break came at the perfect time! 

The guys are currently in Los Angeles working on their first full length album. I will be back with the band for the next two weeks spending my days in Coronado while they are recording in San Diego. I am looking forward to laying on the dock and working on keeping my skin tan free. SPH 70 is my best friend!

Before we head to Coronado, Katelyn and I, along with a few other ladies will be spending our Memorial Day weekend in Newport Beach for a bachelorette party. Basically I am on a long time vacation since quitting my job. I will be soaking up every carefree sunny moment I have before we get cozied up again in the RV very soon. 

Long Road

So things are going to be shifting a bit here on this little blog. My sewing progress has been kind of put on hold. Most of our time is spent in the RV which is very cozy with seven adults, one baby, and all of our stuff. It pretty impossible to sew while the RV is moving which is pretty much all the time, except when we are sleeping. When we aren't in the RV, we are normally at a venue. The schedule when they have a show usually goes a little something like this ... load in, sound check, dinner, doors open (which means someone has to be out at the merch table. that someone lately has been me.), during the Brandi Carlile shows the guys will play first and then hang out and sign CD's for fans at the merch table while Brandi is playing, once the show is over and everyone is out of the venue the guys will load out, pack up the trailer again and then we hit the road. Basically life is busy. The little down time we have is devoted to showering, washing our clothes, and charging our phones/computers. 

All that so say, for the time being my blog (when I can find internet) might be more about life on this long road rather than sewing. I sure hope that is okay with all of you. 

Yesterday we spent most of the day in New Orleans. The day started out great, walking around the French Quarter, eating beignets at Cafe Du Monde, and buying Louisiana hot sauce (they serve it at our favorite restaurant in Seattle and we haven't been able to find it anywhere!). The afternoon wasn't quite as fun ... one of the holding tanks in the RV was full and started coming up in the shower which had been turned into storage bins. Pete and I stored our stuff in the bottom bin so yup, you guessed it, our stuff was soaking in waste water for a day or so. Luckily it wasn't waste from the septic but instead waste from the kitchen sink. Still so gross! Our stuff was wet and smelt of chicken of the sea (canned food is a lifesaver when you are poor and living in an RV). We were able to wash most of our stuff but I have one suede boot and a vintage leather Dooney & Bourke bag that still need to be cleaned some how. My sewing case I got for Christmas took a dip in the yucky water and I'm not sure yet if it is savable. I also had a bag of vintage clothing that got a little messed up. The famous red skirt I just posted about got wet and bled onto some other pieces. It was pretty upsetting. 

I was tired, hot, and needed a shower, so it was kind of the cherry on top of my day. I can't complain too much about life in the RV though. I get to travel around the country, see some awesome venues and listen to great music all with my best friend in the world, Pete :)

Lady In Red

Updates since I left for the tour...
1. My job has changed to wife/seamstress/road manager. 
2. My home is no longer Seattle, but instead is the open road, more specifically Priscilla.
3. I have (somewhat) successfully altered my first vintage piece of clothing! 

I purchased an amazing, long, red, a-line skirt at a thrift store for 99 cents and the only real issue with it was the size. I feel like it was meant to be even though it fell down to my ankles if I wasn't holding it up. You see, I am not a big fan of red. Generally I think its a pretty harsh color and including the skirt, I only own two red items of clothing (that I can think of right now). So when I go thrifting I normally skip right over the red clothes in each section. On that particular day for some reason I decided to take a look in the reds and there was this beauty just waiting for me. I was instantly drawn to the buttons all down the front and the two large pockets. The color has just enough orange in it that it lessens the harshness a bit. Here are some before and after pictures...

Looks kind of like a weight loss picture, huh?

After. It actually fits my waist!

I had some trouble keeping my edges straight with my mini sewing machine. There isn't a guide on it and the foot doesn't hold the fabric down very well. Basically I am blaming all my beginner mistakes on the machine. I am thinking of bringing out my full size machine later in the summer when Ill actually have more time to sew.

With or without the curvy edges, I was happy how it turned out. I don't know if I will ever be a full fledged fan of red and I doubt anyone will refer to me as the lady in red ... unless they are talking about my lipstick. 

I didn't know the timer was going :) but here is the most of a lady in red I will probably ever be 

Time To Pretend

Before leaving for the tour I had decided that I would blog every single day! Well this is now day four of the tour and my first time blogging. I have plenty of time to pretend to blog but it is a little more difficult to actually do it. We don't have internet in the RV (except on my phone but that is far too difficult to make a whole blog post and upload pictures on the little screen, maybe one of these days I will try though) and out of the three venues we have been to so far, two of them have had wifi. Soon we will be stationed in Los Angeles and San Diego for more than the usual one day stop so hopefully my blogging will increase during those few weeks. In the meantime, please bear with me and stay tuned. Even though I haven't had much time to blog, I had been working on some projects and life in general has had some pretty big changes so there is much to share! Well Brandi Carlile just finished her set for the night which means the guys need to chat it up with fans at the merch table and get everything loaded out. Tomorrow night the guys play at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. It should be a fun show!!

Brandi Carlile at the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California

I'm Moving Along

I have been so preoccupied with life that I completely forgot to post anything lately. There is much to post about though ... another thrifting adventure filled with even better finds than the last, some projects that are in the works right now, and big big life changes happening as we speak I type. 

It is official, I'm moving along! Moving along from my job, moving along from Seattle and moving towards being with my hubby. The weekend Pete came home from the six week tour we spent a lot of time talking about how to make it possible for me to spend more time on the road with him. After looking at how much $$ we spent on flying me out (only twice!) during the six weeks, we decided it definitely wasn't worth it for me to stay home. Especially because I was able to come out for only two days each time. That's four whole days out of 45 that my husband and I were together! Not fun. 

Ever since we made the decision for me to quit my job and go on the road with the band, each day has been super busy trying to get everything in order for when we both leave on May 4th. This time we will be gone for about six months so there is a lot to get figured out.

I am super excited to not only spend all my time with my hubs but also have much more time to craft and get my Etsy store up and running. In addition to my full size sewing machine, I also have a little mini guy that Pete got me on our first wedding anniversary. It will be perfect to take on the road and work on some projects in the RV.

Isn't he just adorable?! It can be electric or battery operated which makes it even easier to travel with. The hard part in all this is going to be figuring out how to pack for six months... wish me luck! 

These Old Clothes

Due to some recent decisions that were made in this little Wilson family, motivation to get my Etsy store up and running just tripled!! I put my motivation to good use and went thrifting this weekend. I am trying to be as smart as possible with the purchases I make so I took advantage of a super discount day at a thrift store by my house. I was able to get 15 items for a very very small amount of cash! 

I thought I would share with you some of my fantastic finds. (Please excuse the horrible picture quality. They were all taken with my phone since our camera is still missing somewhere in Priscilla, the RV)

Teal green sweater with a slight bat sleeve, cropped in the front and gradually gets longer in the back. (I actually wore this one to work today!)

Blue and white geometric striped sleeveless sweater.

Cream blouse with flying geese print, mid length sleeve with button detailing.

Cropped white sweater in a chevron design.

Royal blue blouse, longer in the front/back with the sides a little shorter and a large front pocket.

Beige lightweight tweed, high waisted A-line skirt with buttons all down the front and slit pockets.

Grey high waisted A-line skirt with side slit pockets.

White elastic waist A-line skirt with front pockets.

Navy blue high waisted pencil skirt with pleated detailing on the front and side slit pockets.

Long denim skirt with buttons up the front and front pockets.

I have big plans for all of these old clothes, some I will alter, some I will sell as is, and some might end up in my closet and just stay there. Out of this bunch the first one I want to work on is the denim skirt. Right now it is a little too long and looks kind of frumpy. My plan is to take it up to the knee and then I know it will be just perfect!

I also have a handful of dresses from a previous thrifting expedition that need to be altered so hopefully this motivation stays around! I plan to stop by on this little gem of a discount day a few more times in the coming weeks and get my collection a little larger before I start listing things on Etsy. Stay tuned to see the progress of my Carole & Clarence collection!