Selfie

San Francisco, Style

Selfie Time: Spring is Here

 

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Spring is in the air in San Francisco, and I’m embracing it. I’ve been running regularly in my neighborhood (pretending I could make Bay to Breakers), taking long walks to the water during lunch, and making weekend travel plans (Tahoe, ho!). It’s sad to say, but my mood is heavily driven by the weather. Is it really so simple??

This week we had a super hot spell, and people were FREAKING OUT. Er… literally.  Yesterday and today on the way home I’ve witnessed strange incidents of aggression. Yesterday a homeless man started banging on the windows of the streetcar, yelling at another homeless man that had boarded the car. “That’s my blanket! Fuck you! I love it. You don’t deserve her!” Today two passengers got into a fight on the train and had to be thrown off. It’s that heat, man.

And you know it’s spring when men start yelling at you on the street. I try not to worry or plan my outfits based on fear of being harassed, because it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. I always get hit on when I look like shit or have been crying, honestly. It’s like some radar that creeps have for helplessness and disinterest.

Anyways, when it’s hot out you gotta be comfortable, so dresses and sneakers it is. My current favorite no think dress is this simple black dress from Uniqlo, which I wouldn’t really brag about except it is quite sturdy and cool, and it was CHEAP. Less than 20 bucks! Actually, everything in the Ines de la Fressange line at Uniqlo is super simple, but really quite nice once you try it on.

This heat doesn’t last much longer but I’m definitely going to milk it. Hope you’re having a hot one too.

Life, Style

Selfie Time: November

Lanterns

Stumbled across these W.T. Kirkman oil lanterns the other day while walking to the yarn shop. They were just sitting on the sidewalk. Aren’t they great?

I joked to Ryan that I felt like a character in an LL Bean catalogue, living my “rustic” Martha Stewart life (minus a few horses). Taking a look at this picture, I think it does sum up this phase of fall.

I love fall but it scares me. Quite a few years in a row I’ve fallen prey to seasonal affective disorder. So since 2009 or so I’ve tried to have an active “fall plan” so that I don’t drift into a hole of depression once winter hits. Doesn’t that sound pathetic?

So I do what I like. I’ve been knitting a lot. Cooking delicious fall food. Wearing big sweaters and favorite boots. Watching movies and tv endlessly. Listening to opera full blast on Spotify. And being totally antisocial when I want to.

I think it’s working so far.

Style

Selfie Time: Getting Old

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When J. Crew came out with the No. 2 pencil skirt a million years ago I wasn’t too excited. It was a pencil skirt, why was everyone freaking out about a basic and overpriced pencil skirt from J.Crew? It couldn’t really be all about the colors, could it?

About five months ago I was checking out the racks at Crossroads and found a wool No. 2 skirt. It was too small, but I tried it on anyways. The skirt was substantial, made of weighty and soft wool, and the color was a lovely lagoon green. It was 15 dollars, but damn it it didn’t fit. I really wanted it to.

I kept going back to Crossroads, but never ran into another one in the racks. On eBay the skirts sell for $20-100+ (depends on the material, “rareness” of the color, etc). If I had known this at the time, I would have bought that skirt and resold it online. But that is a story for another day…

As the years have passed I’ve found that I don’t have the stamina or patience to wait it out for specific items to show up at my local thrift shops. I did the math in my head and decided that if I was still thinking about that damn skirt  5 months later, I might as well just buy it. I got the double serge wool skirt in heather pine at 25% off, which is still too much, but I’m quite happy with the purchase. When worn in the right size, these skirts are deliciously flattering, warm and comfortable. I get the online hype, but still think J. Crew has really lost it with their pricing and general quality levels.

I’ve been playing around with different shoe and top combinations, and I think I’m going to go with this (blurry) look for the opera tomorrow night. I’m seeing Falstaff by myself, and it is supposed to be off the hook.

Anyways, what’s the point of these ramblings? Life is short. Buy the skirt. Go out alone. Dress up.