glowering flower

good morning! how was everyone's weekend? i'd planned on going into the city to see a couple of shows - fashion! - but instead i stayed home and cleaned my room, because THAT'S how cool i am. this is kind of a repeat, i guess, of what happened in september - delighted to be invited to shows, for the first time ever, i rsvp'd to almost all of them and then ended up only going to the one - rachel comey - that i was most excited to see. there are a few reasons for this - i'm incredibly flattered to be invited, to be sure, but i don't really think of myself as a "fashion person." i am really just a girl who likes dressing up. and this weekend, the craziness of lincoln center - the jumble of photographers, the legions of stick-thin models, the waves and waves of beautiful, confident women walking swiftly past me in several-thousand-dollar shoes as i wait in line, staring at my $12-on-ebay-miu miu's - just didn't sound like a good time. i'm definitely not judging - lots of close blogger friends attended many a show over the past week, and have some really gorgeous photos to show for it. but they know what they're talking about; i don't.

all that to say, i am going to a presentation tonight and i am VERY excited about it. my camera is fully charged and i'm dressed in an outfit that is the most show-appropriate i could put together; i'll post photos from both the show and of my outfit tomorrow, so you can (hopefully) see what i mean. in the meantime, here's an outfit from last week that i somehow never got around to posting.





top: quail
skirt: thrifted, vintage
shoes: a few seasons old pour la victoire
brooch: thrifted vintage clip-on earring

this shirt is one of my all-time favorites, but i don't wear it much anymore because i accidentally ran it through the wash about a year and a half ago, and it's shrunk up to be less of a crop top. . . well, yeah, less than a crop top. i saw a girl rocking this color combo on the F train a couple weeks ago and made mental note of it, and this green skirt is just high enough to make this not-totally-unreasonable for work. all together, the colors & shapes felt very floral to me; a nice little last-hurrah for summer.

oh! i've recently gotten a lot of questions about how i learned to cook. i did go to french culinary school, and graduated about 2 years ago; my concentration was pastry, though, so all of my classes focused on pies, tarts, brulees, napoleons, macarons, chocolate, etc. as far as cooking - rather than baking - is concerned, i really got into cooking a few years ago, when i moved to chicago; i love good food but couldn't afford to go out to eat, so i started slowly, cooking recipes from the cookbooks my mom had given me, and just kept on going from there. i was lucky enough to grow up with a mother and two sisters who knew their way around the kitchen, so i learned some simply by observing them. within a few years i'd cooked enough to know how to make the basics, and started experimenting more; in the year before i left chicago, i started an underground restaurant of sorts, selling tickets to a four- or five-course meal to be cooked in my apartment. it was not only a success, but the most fun i'd ever had - that's when i decided to move to new york to attend culinary school. i decided to focus on baking instead of cooking for a couple of reasons - one being that cooking is something much more easily experimented with. once you know the basics, you can pretty much throw whatever you like into a dish and it will work, so long as you've thought the flavors through - baking, though, is an exact science, and i wanted to be able to play with recipes the way i can when i cook.

i hope this answers some questions, and wasn't too long winded! thank you all so much for reading - you make this a lot of fun for me.

i hope you all had a lovely weekend! until tomorrow,

xo audrey

2xs

so, i have worn this dress, like, twice, for an hour every time, and try though i might, it is just a little too little. it is gorgeous, it is barely worn, it is all yours! if you want. if anyone wants to buy it, holler at your girl.



dress: quail
size: xs
price: $75

feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or want more specific measurements. thanks!

bang bang

so, last friday i decided i was bored with my hair, and it hadn't been touched by scissors in almost a year, so i made a phone call and scheduled a cut for that day. i have this fantasy of getting married with hair that is at least long enough to pull over one shoulder; it is truly pathetic how often i dream of waking up with hair about six inches longer than it is currently. really, subconscious? that's the best you can do for me? and as much as i hate to be that girl that is thinking about her freaking wedding day hairstyle a year in advance, it seems i am that girl, so i told anya (the sweet russian girl who chopped it) not to take off any length. she snipped away for about 40 minutes, and even took the time to diffuse my hair (something i never bother with - if i leave my hair to air dry, it curls itself -) and i happily paid her and went home. upon closer inspection, though, i couldn't really tell it had been cut. it looked. . .cleaner, maybe? but you'd never know i'd paid to have it cut unless i'd told you. so after a few days of hemming and hawing, i showed back up today and asked her to cut me some bangs. so there you go. i got a haircut. now you can tell.



top: quail
skirt: quail
shoes: uo
purse: vintage

this shirt, from quail, is one of my all-time favorites. unfortunately, last summer, while out of town and sautéing some onions in butter, a bit of oil leapt onto the shirt and i knew i didn't have time to get it to a dry cleaner, so i made the fatal mistake of washing it. even without putting it in the dryer, it shrunk up and warped a bit, so i'm left with a top that fits a little odd and is about 2 inches shorter than i'd like. so today i decided to do something about it, and sewed some vintage lace to the bottom, for modesty's sake.

tomorrow is friday (for me,) then friday night i have a show to attend, then saturday morning i'm off to california for a week of relaxing with my family (sam included.) i'll bring my computer and try to be better about posting - i'll have no excuse! - as i have many photos and recipes to catch up on.

until then

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

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