peter pan

hello!

my friend amy is visiting from portland so i've had a pretty action-packed couple of days. last night we went to a friend's going away party in williamsburg and ended up drinking, dancing, and karaoking (my signature song, forgot about dre) until past four am, when we finally poured ourselves onto the g and somehow found our way home. i woke up this morning with a mostly-eaten bowl of popcorn by my face and a half drunk beer next to it. and so it goes.

now as we prepare to get ready, a quick anecdote, an outfit, and a see you later. once about a year and a half ago i was on my way to work, riding our elevator (which was shiny and silver and served as a full length mirror) up to the 6th floor. i caught my reflection in the door and paused. my outfit reminded me of something, but i couldn't figure out exactly what. i walked in and passed a couple of the designers in my office and one of them burst out laughing. "you look exactly like link from zelda!" it's true - i was wearing my yellow american apparel pocketed skirt, a bright green deep v, knee-high pointy suede flat boots. all i was missing was a bow and arrow. this outfit reminded me of that - i realized about halfway through the day that i bore a strong resemblance to peter pan. oh well. i just got these boots on super crazy amazing sale and i looooove them.



shirt: american apparel
skirt: american apparel
belt: UO
socks: american apparel
shoes: 80%20
necklace: mama

okay, time to go stand in line for brunch somewhere. happy sunday!

xo audrey

cathedral

hello! i had coffee with dinner last night (always a mistake) and couldn't fall asleep until like 3 am, and i woke up with swollen lymph nodes and a little cough so i've been kind of lazy about getting going. i wanted to post really quick about the project i just finished up for school - we had to come up with a concept for a restaurant, design a menu, and make two items from it. i am really happy with the way mine turned out, so here are some photos -



the menu. a friend of mine had a moment of (semi-drunken) genius when he suggested i do a place called cathedral and serve wafers and wine. i played off the idea.




"the blood" - a red wine sabayon with strawberries and honey crisp tuiles




"wafers and wine" - white wine soup with macerated blueberries, blackberry sorbet, and pistachio macaroons

that's all from me for today, but more soon!

xo audrey

glass slipper

so, two things. one is, i seem to have misplaced my other pink and purple bootie. i'm going to continue to scour after this post, but it matched too perfectly not to wear with this outfit, so just imagine my second foot isn't barefoot.

secondly, it is everything i can do to not wear this shirt every single day. i LOVE it. the color, the fit, the length, the ruffles on the back, the huge arm holes - it is the perfect summer shirt. if you come across it, i cannot recommend it highly enough. i've been scouring the internet lately to find it in other colors. such is my adoration.



shirt: quail
skirt: american apparel
shoe: pour la victoire

i'm going to head out for a. bonita b. laundromat and, later, c. dinner in dumbo. have a lovely tuesday, everyone!

xo audrey

tiptoe through the tulips

good morning! okay, afternoon. i left my phone at a restaurant yesterday and therefore had no alarm clock this morning, and therefore accidentally slept in until about 11:30 and then rolled over and put on the new mad men and am just now getting out of the house. so, quickly:



dress: vintage, thrifted in chicago
crinoine: lorick
shoes: devotte

i have lots of photos from moma to post, and tonight i present my desserts to class so i'll be sure to photograph that as well.

until then, be well -

xo audrey

girl talk

have you ever fallen in love with a complete stranger? i did today, with a boy playing a banjo in the bedford stop, for about five minutes as i waited for a manhattan-bound L. he was thin, tall, handsome but in such a way that you don't notice it right off. he sat on a trumpet case and had a bass drum kicker under his right foot and a tamborine under his left, and he looked me right in the eyes while he played a song beseeching his love to return to him and i stared at him, mouth somewhat agape, and fished in my purse for any cash and dropped a fistful of quarters into his case. the train came and i hesitated before getting on, but my exhausted body won out and i let the doors close and take me away, and my brief infatuation ended, just like that.

i went to williamsburg this evening to catch a free girl talk show on the water. i arrived on the late side and there was a line snaking four blocks long but i squeezed through the police barricades and slipped past and into the park. it was amazing. i mean, the music itself is just about as catchy and fun as you can get, and i was cell phone-less but by some miracle found my friends in the middle of it all and we danced and danced and it rained but just right and we ate afterwards and watched a man save himself from choking. it was one of those things you never see in real life - all of a sudden his girlfriend was screaming and he was standing up and grabbing his neck and then just picked up a chair and slammed it into his plexus and vomited all over the table. it was silent for awhile and then a guy at the bar said, "dude. that was hardcore." and everyone clapped.

an outfit post when the morning light comes, but until then, i stumbled upon the most amaaazing etsy store last night while trying to fall asleep. totally betty draper worthy.






visit the shop. it's a bit too pricey for me, but maybe one day. . . if the right occasion comes along. . . if only this were the kind of thing women still wore every day, right?

until tomorrow,

xo audrey

beautiful stranger

i got an email from the fine folks at beautiful stranger that they used me in a trend alert on their site. i'm extremely flattered! you can see it here.

i'm off!

xo audrey

thirteen bees

good morning!

i have to find a good place to get a bagel and a cup of coffee in my new neighborhood. i've been sequestering myself in my bedroom for hours a day because it's just too hot to go anywhere else, including the hallway; i keep my ac unit pumped to 68 degrees and my macbook playing mad men reruns.

today i have class, and i'll start making items from my menu - a red wine sabayon with honey crisp tuiles and a white wine & blueberry soup with blackberry sorbet and pistachio macaroons. until then i think i'll wander into manhattan and check out the moma while it's free.



shirt: a dress from dalaga
pants: brooklyn industries
shoes: steve madden

i am not 4 feet tall, also. the way i have to place the camera to get enough light in my new room messes with the perspective of the door knob and makes me look tiny. i kind of like it.






a friend of mine forwarded me a link to this etsy store and i am totally kvelling over it. i NEED that hat, but i'm not sure if it will fit. . . i may risk it.

all right, time to get my day going. happy friday!

xo audrey

one more time, with feeling

still trying to figure out how to do an outfit post in my pretty much bare bedroom. i'll make it happen later today. until then - i've been eyeballing this dress for-ev-er, not surprisingly another quail; it's now down to $194 but only in sizes xs or m. anyone have experience with their sizing? i have one dress in size small that fits pretty smug, but it's a different material. . . i want it so desperately.





readers, i appeal to thee. and, i will announce the winner of the contest as soon as i've worked things out with chickdowntown.

xo audrey

coney island

had a really nice visit with my parents this weekend, but i stayed in their hotel and neglected my laptop the whole time. my first order of business upon becoming reacquainted with my laptop was to download and watch mad men (thoughts? i want to rewatch it before passing judgement,) check my emails, and now i can finally do a quick post.

they got in thursday night and we had dinner at a great pizza and calzone restaurant in my neighborhood and then went to bed early (which baffles me, since it's three hours earlier to my parents, who live in california) and then woke up the next morning for a cuban breakfast and then a trip to the botanical gardens. funny how summer decided to finally show itself the weekend my parents come in. that night was my dessert tasting, which went really well and was a lot of fun; afterwards i just went back to my parents' hotel room, had some wine, watched some extreme vacation videos (we share a strange sense of humor,) and went to bed.


saturday we spent at coney island, and i am still kicking myself for forgetting my camera. never before have i been surrounded by so much delightfully tacky kitsch. i took a few photos with my iphone, and i am definitely dragging my friend amy back there when she visits in a couple weeks so we can play all the games my parents are too grown up for. (all of them.)









and to finish up the primary colored outfits:

pants: rodebjer
shirt: etsy, vintage
shoes: akira chicago

more soon to come.

xo audrey

ma & pa come to brooklyn

hello everyone! it's been a very gloomy day in brooklyn, which is a fantastic excuse to sleep in, eat macaroni & cheese, and watch dvd after dvd of a certain 90's hit tv show. okay, friends. that chandler gets me every time.

anyhow, my parents are coming to visit tonight! they live out in california and haven't both been out to see me since i moved to new york over a year ago. it should be really nice: dinner tonight, and then tomorrow they are coming to my school for a dessert tasting. i, with the help of my partner, will be making an almond panna cotta surrounded with a spun sugar dome, served with a lavender honey and almond creme anglaise. there are only 2 big projects left after this, and then our FINAL. i am graduating in just over a month. soon after that i'll be back in chicago. i kind of can't believe it. as much as i've been looking forward to moving back to the city i consider home, when i really imagine leaving this place i've grown to love so dearly it's kind of scary.



shirt: dress from anthropologie
shorts: market publique
shoes: payless

these shoes are beyond their last legs. i bought them two christmases ago at a payless for $6. back then, they had 2 inch heels and fully functioning soles. i've worn them down to zero heel and several holes in the soles. but i can't bring myself to throw them away. (it's this kind of behavior that led my mother to throw away beyond-repair shoes, jeans, and favorite shirts during my childhood. like 6 years ago.)

so, i'll try a post or two over the weekend, but with mom and dad in town it's hard to say how much computer time i'll have. have a lovely weekend if i don't get to post tomorrow!

xo audrey

red yellow blue

just a quickie today, i'm heading out the door and have lots to do. primary colors outfit #2 comes from the market publique shoot:



shirt: market publique, it could be yours!
pants: american apparel
belt: market publique
shoes: vivienne westwood for melissa

oh, a quick note about hair. a few people in the comments have asked what i do to mine; unfortunately, the answer is pretty much nothing. i haven't had it cut in over 8 months and i just let it air dry; the new york city humidity takes care of the rest.

and a big, huge thank you and hello to all the commenters and new readers. mwah.

more soon when i'm not so crazed.

xo audrey

chickdowntown contest!

hi everyone!

i spent a little longer than i expected wandering around the west village. good lord, it's hot out there. one of those days when any kind of activity, including eating and thinking, seem out of the question. i'm back now, though, and finally prepared to unveil the contest!

chickdowntown, purveyors of such fine designers as Sir Alistair Rai and BB Dakota Clothing, have offered me a chance to give something away to my lovely readers. anything you choose from the bb dakota collection could be yours! of course, i'm not eligible for the contest, but if i was. . .



follow chickdowntown on twitter or become a fan on facebook!

i love the madmen-ish quality of these dresses. very joan holloway.



so, what would you choose? simply leave a comment (any comment at all) and i'll pick a winner a week from today. good luck!

xo audrey

godard

when i saw pamela yesterday i mentioned that i was thinking about doing all primary-colored outfits this week and she said, "oh, you should tie it in with godard films!" i hadn't seen any of his work before, but i found pierrot le fou online and watched it yesterday and oh, it is beautiful. the frames are dripping with very 1960s-tinted red, yellow, and blue and aside from that, the outfits that anna karina wears are fantastic.








if you have netflix, watch it. it streams.

and so, my first [godard-inspired] outfit:



shirt: anthropologie
skirt: housing works
shoes: melissa

ok. the contest deserves its own post so i'm going to wait an hour or so and then post it. (i know i keep promising it, but i mean it this time, i swear!) until then. . .

xo audrey

homerunballerina for market publique

hi there! a couple weeks ago i did a little photo shoot at the request of pamela over at market publique. i picked up a disc of some of the shots today, and the stuff is going to be posted for sale all week; here are some of my favorite shots. please check out market publique if you haven't, they are great folks dishing out awesome vintage. pamela has such a great eye.






another post later today. . . including that contest i mentioned earlier.

happy monday!

xo audrey

alice in wonderland

laaaazy sunday. i was at the party last night until past 4 am, dancing like an epileptic for the last 3 hours or so, so i let myself sleep in pretty late this morning then lazed over to the bagel place down the street. since then i've just been relaxing and watching movies, including pineapple express. in one scene james franco (who is, coincidentally, filming in cobble hill today, according to twitter) and seth rogen are in the woods smokin' the dope and blowing it onto a caterpillar; it called up alice and wonderland, which i re-watched (the disney version) for the first time in years recently and was reminded of how fucking cool of a movie it is. i'm moving soon and have been trying to find some cool inspiration; there is much out there.



clockwise, starting at top left: red side table from dust furniture, alice in wonderland sofa, tall tables, bookshelf, teacup stool, stacked storage, smiley chair.

also found this vanity fair editorial that annie liebovitz shot back in march; it features the designer who created the dresses the model wears as a character from 'alice' in [almost] every shot, beautiful and brilliant.











so, finally, i decided to play a little dressup and do my best alice.



skirts: lorick (striped) forever 21 (blue with bow)
shirt: american apparel dress
tights: american apparel
gloves: vintage
shoes: nine west

i'm continuing to browse for apartment inspiration, so i'll continue to post. i discovered today that the second season of 'this american life' the tv show is available on netflix instant watch so i'll be glued to my computer for awhile.

Alice in Wonderland from Jason Sweers on Vimeo.

hope you're enjoying your lazy sunday, too.

xo audrey