oeuf

i cracked 307 eggs at work today. the bakery where i work was featured on the food network friday evening, and as a result orders for a particular brownie have been pouring in for the last couple days. yet still when i came home today i wanted to bake, and with eggs, so i cracked six more and set to work on a beet, leek, goat cheese and pine nut tart that i've been thinking about making for a few days.

















i'm sorry i got a bit camera happy here, but my gosh, isn't food just gorgeous?


i made it down to philadelphia thursday night, in time for dinner at a mexican place where they provide fresh squeezed juice and you bring your own tequila. we spent most of the next day wandering around the city, hitting record shops and thrift stores (to the girl who asked where i thrift in philly - i stopped at one salvation army oxford near 5th, which i basically walked right back out of, and then actually crossed the bridge to camden to a giant one right there, where i didn't have a ton of time but found a bunch.) before grabbing a quick banh mi sandwich in chinatown at qt sandwich. philadelphians - they are $4.95 and they are fresh, filling and delicious. after that we met up with a few folks at national mechanics where i had one too many 'raging bitch' belgian beers and ended up arguing about outsider art with a relative stranger. the next morning was a bit rough, but that's what breakfast buffets are for! and we headed to a flea market where i scored this gem:


other than that, the flea market was pretty much a bust; i've been to really wonderful antiquey fleas, like the one in the west loop in chicago or dumbo, but this was the sort with a guy selling boxes of cereal for $2 out of the back of his pickup and after awhile in a place like that, when you aren't finding any hidden treasures, you just start to feel depressed. so we headed outside of the city for a bit, to another thrift store where i found a few things and wasted several hours.

in related news - i should have my etsy up and running no later than next week. i'm hoping to get some things posted before this weekend, but we'll see. . . the to-do list for this week is a bit disturbing at the moment.

today:



shirt: betsey johnson dress
brooch: flea market
skirt: thrifted
shoes: devotte
purse: etsy


there is no non-clichéd way to do so, but i really want to take a second to thank everyone so much for reading, and especially for all the incredibly kind emails/links/comments lately. i can't express how touched and flattered i am that you read at all, much less take the time and trouble to write. i hope everyone has a wonderful week, i should have more soon - oh! and i am going to start having a twice-monthly food column over at glasses glasses; my first will be up this wednesday, and will feature the recipe from this tart i made today. (i'll try to cross-post, the recipe at least.)

xo audrey

antiquing

good morning! i got an early start this morning with some breakfast at the french place near my apartment (iced latte and a baguette with jam and butter), sorted through the unemployment mess (i think i fixed it, cross your fingers for me), and decided to play a little dress-up to show some of the things i got at the antique fair and make up for the laziness of last night's post.

first let me go through the weekend a bit. i had a nightmare of a time getting to newark airport - i've never so much as set foot in jersey before, but was told that it would be easy enough to get to penn station and then just take any NJ-bound train from there. my flight was super at 6:30 am, so i decided to just leave early in the morning/late at night and get to the airport early to sleep, so i was sure not to sleep through my flight. of course the trains to jersey didn't start running out of penn until after 5 am (a fact i unfortunately discovered upon arriving at the station at not quite 4 am) so i ended up barely making my flight on time and getting about 2 hours of sleep in the process. sam picked me up from the airport and we went to his parents' to pick up the pup and then went straight to sleep. noon-ish we got up and headed to jam, a new brunch place right near sam's apartment. it was incredible (and sam's buddy alex designed the logo, and sam the menu, so we ate for free.) i had an eggs benedict with pork belly and spinach hollandaise; it was the first of much pork belly to be consumed this weekend. i'm kind of obsessed.

after breakfast, sam took me to the antique market on randolph. somehow during my five years of life in chicago i never made it out there - it is incredddible. sam says it's usually bigger than it was this weekend, too. of course my stupid camera died before i had a chance to take any photos of it, but i did pick up quite a few gems, and here's an outfit to show it.



hat: vintage, bought at antique fair
shirt: quail
skirt: actually a dress from h&m, i folded in the top (and i like it much better this way)
shoes: devotte
gloves: vintage, antique fair
clutch: vintage, antique fair
brooch: vintage, gifted from dee

there's more, too, but too much to involve in one outfit. and there was a woman there selling vintage fancy schmance purses (can purses be couture? what do you call fancy purses? this from the girl who seriously, until about 6 months ago, thought haute couture was pronounced "hot coacher.") not realizing how much gems such as these can cost, i picked up this miu miu and inquired about the price; upon hearing it i quickly set it back down. but it's amazing. and for a split second, i was tempted.


this bag was nearly impossible to find on the internet - i think it was only a concept bag never released in the US (or so it seems from my googling.) maybe it would have been worth the investment after all. . .


last, a quick post to tag the clothes i wore on the way to chicago: they're new, and new favorites as well, so they need to be labelled.



shirt: interlud, from smith & butler
pants: rodebjer, from dear fieldbinder
shoes: jeffrey campbell, from oak
belt: anthropologie


much love, muchachos -

xo audrey

bandaid

good morning everyone! i hope you all enjoyed your weekend. it was gorgeous in new york, sunny and in the 70s all weekend, and i think i did a pretty good job of enjoying it to the fullest. saturday was mostly spent solo; brunch plans with a friend fell through (kind of long, tragic story) and i ended up taking myself out to eat and then wandering down to the west village, where my friend rachel works at rag & bone. as we were listening to au revoir simone and chatting, cameron diaz walked in and danced around the store with her friend for a bit. i left rachel to deal with the celebrity and wandered around the west village some, finally heading up to the meat packing district and sitting in the sun with a new yorker for an early dinner. headed back to the burg eventually, and met up with pam from market publique for a glass (or three) of wine, then walked across the street to meet up with a couple of friends for a drink and a bite before heading back into manhattan for a birthday party. yesterday i slept in before getting brunch with some friends in cobble hill (bistrot francais, for any of you who happen to be new yorkers, is always perfect. get some french macaroons to go,) then wandered around that neighborhood with vanessa and finally breaking down and buying these shoes, which i've been eyeballing for so long. the birthday purchases are officially over. i think i went a little overboard.



dress: anthropologie
blouse: etsy
belt: anthropologie
shoes: vivienne westwood for melissa

i had to wear these shoes out of the shop and managed to give myself a pretty mean blister within a few blocks, thus the bandaid. i'll power through, though. pain is beauty, right?

counting down the days until my trip to chicago on thursday. if any of you are in chicago or thereabouts this friday, you should come to this. i will be there, and i am bringing homemade mini flan.

xo audrey

my rocky spine

friiiidaaaaay. how i've missed you. how i've longed for you. i am so, so glad you are here. i have class tonight and then i am going home and getting my laundry together and going to BED. i need to start gathering up my clothing and taking a toll of what should stay and what should go; i'm meeting with the girl from old hollywood in a couple of weeks about unloading some stuff, and i need to get my dry clean on.

of course, having a room overflowing with clothing does not keep me from obtaining more (no matter how many times i swear to myself i will NOT buy anything this week, i somehow end up browsing online and finding something i just can't live without. . .) and this shirt is a new favorite. it's from quail, the makers of one of the other pieces of clothing i eyed and craved and obsessed over until i finally found it on sale and pounced. i had seen this shirt on their website ages ago and continued to keep an internet eye on it, until i spied it on sale from buydefinition and snatched it up, along with a skirt i'd also drooled over for quite some time. (if you shop there, enter the code "grechen" at checkout; it'll get you 20% off everything, even stuff already on sale. this is how i justify these things.)



shirt: quail
jeans: cheap monday
necklace: girl selling her shit on the street
shoes: steve madden

as my hair gets longer, i may allow it to do this curly thing it so wants to do. it's risky when it's this short, but happy hair grows faster, so i'll indulge it.

this weekend: two brunches, a picnic, a drink or two or thirteen, wine and cheese, and sleep, glorious sleep.

have a good weekend, everyone!

xo audrey

i woke up this morning with the sun right in my eyes

i slept away from home again last night, but this time i was prepared. i got this dress in portland at a little boutique on sale; it's a bit muted for my usual taste, but i really like the cut and shape of it and color can always be added in after the fact.

one sad thing happened in portland: i was wearing one of the bow enclosures from my devotte shoes as part of a necklace while we were walking around the saturday market, and i looked down and it was gone. so now i only have one bow for these beautiful shoes. i decided not to let myself get too upset about something so silly, so i'm going to try to contact the shoe makers, and if they can't send me any more i'll just buy some shoe clips off etsy. [shrug] shit happens.

vanessa's apartment is so sunny in the morning, which is an amazing change since my bedroom in williamsburg is completely windowless and kind of feels like a dungeon at 7:30 in the morning. inspired by the sunshine, i stretched, woke up a bit early, and decided to make an effort with the hair and makeup today for a change.





dress: esley
headband: tie from my dressing gown
socks: american apparel
shoes: devotte purr
brooch: shoe clip

tonight: class, as per usual, then going outttt. what and where tbd. this weekend i plan on spending some quality time with my bathing suit, my roof, and my freckles.

and a quick note to the commenters on the last few posts - thank you so much for all the kind words! ktklemons, my tattoo says "sucre," it means sugar in french (since i'm a french pastry student and all that jazz.) have a lovely weekend, all!

xo audrey

i had a dream

last night i dreamed that i spent the night at the white house with the obamas. i'm not sure why i was there, although i do remember at one point helping michelle put away barack's laundry. barack took me on a tour of the white house, which included a mineshaft that had been there since the 1800's; there were what appeared to be corpses of mineworkers lying throughout the tunnel, and he explained that they tried to keep the mine as true to the past as possible, so they hadn't removed anything, including the dead, in many years. one of the corpses started crawling towards me and i screamed, and he laughed and said he was only kidding, he'd asked some of the white house staff to pretend to be dead to give me a good scare. i didn't hold it against him. later we went upstairs and decided to take a nap. we found a couch and laid down, he the big spoon to my little sppon, and he gently laid an arm over me and i felt very safe. i remember as i fell asleep i whispered, "thank you, mr. president," and he chuckled into the nape of my neck. he woke early to go do presidential shit and i told michelle that she had the hardest job in the country. also, and this is sickening, i remember as we laid down to take a nap, thinking in my dream, "i wonder if it's okay if i twitter this," and then deciding that it probably wasn't.

anyway. growing up in south carolina, and going to church every sunday, my mom strictly enforced the no-white-shoes-before-easter law. i hesitated this morning when getting dressed; it still feels kind of wrong to me, and i feel the eyeballs of every older woman on the street on my blazing white feet as i walk down the street (this is almost certainly a figment of my own imagination.) but i did a little research this morning to try to figure out where the rule came from, and it seems that there are two reasons: one being that white reflects light, and thus theoretically makes you colder in the winter; and two, the rule was implemented in the 50's, when the middle class was beginning to come into existence, and the upper class basically invented rules such as these to mess with them. so i say, it's going to be in the 50's today, and eff that. i do what i want.



shirt: american apparel
necklaces: ebay
jeans: cheap monday from an adorable shop in dumbo called epaulet. they carry some really amazing shoes, too, like these vivian westwood for melissa:

shoes: steve madden

bowing out.

xo audrey

cinderella

well, i was late waking up this morning, and didn't have time to take a photo; but this post's title is apt not only because i hid in the broom closet to take this, but because at last i found my beautiful slippers! well, by found i mean they arrived in the mail, and by slippers i mean miraculous, wear-em-three-ways pumps by devotte, but still. i think the metaphor stands.

actually, the fairy tale doesn't end there! a week or so ago i aired some grievances i had with SOTTO boutique, near portland, OR, where i'd ordered the shoes from. i'm here to tell you that they not only sent me the shoes, but have found a customer in life for me: a girl who works there got in touch with me after 3 weeks of me trying to contact them, apologized profusely, and told me to pick something else off the website that they'd send along, free of charge, as an apology gift. i chose the blouse i'm wearing today, and i have to say, it is absolutely gorgeous. pure silk, scalloped ruffles, a matching bow belt.



shirt: church and state, from SOTTO boutique
skirt: american apparel
belt: anthropologie
tights: HUE
saddle shoes: vintage, from etsy
necklace: ebay

i also want to say, in sotto's defense, that there site crashed as they were moving offices, which would cause anyone to fall behind, and they certainly more than rectified the situation. the girls who buy for them have impeccable taste and great sales on beautiful things. check them out.

i have so many new things to post this week. stay tuned.

xo audrey

check my style in an eagle shaped mirror

it feels like spring! i'm taking full advantage and wearing a very silly outfit. i was taking pictures this morning and realized that there are very few places i can think of that would allow me to wear such foolishness to the office. i mean, these shorts are basically glorified underwear. i guess i justify it by wearing tights underneath. anyway.

last night was so much fun! a couple of friends came over, my roommates were both home for once, and we made all sorts of chicken nuggets (chicken and cheddar! dino nuggets! morningstar chik 'n' nuggets!) and tater tots with various sauces (well, various mustards) and hot dogs and drank 24 oz pbrs and spliffed it up. after dinner we all ate miracle berries and sat in a circle exclaiming over the extreme sweetness of lemons, but the relative indifference of guinness. received many tempting texts beseeching me to go out, but something about chugging guinness and eating a pile of lemons after all that cheap meat just made me want to go to bed. which is exactly what i did. and had yet another dream about having long hair. this one got so detailed as to having me come out of the shower with it wet and blowdrying it - flipping my head upside down to get some volume, the whole bit. what does it say about my psyche that my dreams are so. . . empty? (maybe just that i was stoned.)




shirt: american apparel
shorts: also american apparel
tights: anthropologie
shoes: pour la victoire
rings: forever 21 and quickly dying my fingers green



the shoes are new, and i love them. someone twittered about shopbop last week, and frankly i probably would have been better off if i had never known such a thing existed, but they do have some pretty remarkable sales, and these babies were like 75% off [the originally ridiculous price.]

tonight: class, sweet delicious pastry class. apparently monday was the last day of breads (for now,) so i think we move on to petit fours? of course, that's what i thought last time, too. i guess i am just anxious to start making cute little things. i went to a fancy dinner on sunday and one of the amuse bouches they served were something i had made in class. it was both exciting and somewhat disappointing. knowing how something is made takes a little bit of the magic out of it.

and maybe after that i'll finally get my ass out on the town. i've been going to bed early since i got home, which is great and all, but i need a fancy cocktail in my life.

xo audrey