Maya | Mascara or Motoroil

this is how we do it

Since I have been the biggest slacker this summer, I’m just now putting up the pictures of us from the Northside Fourth of July parade. Honestly I was waiting to see if I could get higher resolution copies of these pictures from the people who took them, but no luck. I apologize for the sub-par quality on them, I had to save Facebook versions which we all know have crap resolution.

In past years we just kind of crashed the parade from our friend Skip’s house since it’s right on the route, and this year was no different! We still are official members, but if you start at the beginning you have to wait in a hot parking lot for an hour before it even starts. This year we wanted to actually do something a little political so our theme was ‘Disaster at Muscle Beach’.

The muscle man that Skip hired was a HUGE hit.

The lovely Sam gettin' all gussied up, taken by Rachel Elliott

Mabel was rockin' my hat hard!

Rachel always makes me look so good!

Maya the hula hoop queen

I love that freakin' dress.

The palest person and the most tan person

Although I look like Vanna White in this one, I was actually tossing candy filled eggs at kids.

Skip and the muscle man

I don't know how David Sorcher made it look like we were all dancing in unison, but it's AMAZING!!

We had a such a fantastic time again this year and can’t wait to do it again next year! <3 Northside!!

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lazy daisy

I am very pleased to say that I am now the owner of a very gently used Macbook Pro, which means that I am back to blogging when I want to! Let me tell you, the simple idea that I can blog from home again is HUUUUGE. I also can’t wait to explore some of the bells and whistles this beautiful piece of machinery has!

Enough about my computer though- I’m glad I finally got some pictures of myself in this dress, I’ve worn it a handful of times but only at night. I picked it up from Chicken Lays An Egg a few months ago but I had to re-hem it because the hem was completely crooked. The shoes match the abstract mod print of the dress amazingly well too- I love when that happens!

I actually hate the heel on these.

Yet another giant honkin' ring from Forever 21

WHAT: dress, chicken lays an egg

necklace, borrowed from maya

bangles, my gramma

heart ring, forever 21

1960′s daisy heels, chicken lays an egg

WHERE: work at chicken lays an egg and maya’s birthday party

WHEN: wednesday, june 16

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bathroom photo shoot

I have to say that I ashamed how I have been neglecting my blog lately, my life has been kind of a roller coaster lately. Anyway, enough excuses- only cool stuff from here on out.

After the fashion show, the ladies and I went drinking at this great dive gay bar downtown called The Subway. On our walk over we passed the House of Adam, a men’s clothing store that specializes in such things as blue zoot suits and tri color snakeskin shoes. So we had to pay some respect..

House of prayer

After much hiking around in our heels, we finally got to The Subway were lots of drinks and fun ensued. Sadly they had long since planned to shut down and closed their doors last week. Lucky for you we took lots of pictures in their super gross bathroom though! Maya and I started out in the ladies’ room because they allowed us to illegally smoke in there.

Once Dana and Melissa came to join us we migrated over to the men’s room. Good thing I’ve never seen more than 3 people in that bar at any time- not that I’m above peeing in a mens’ room to avoid a super long line at the ladies’ room. Anyway, I love how both of these came out.

Upsidana

Peep show!

Here’s what Maya and I wore:

We didn't even plan to pose the same way, it just happened!

We went to the finale of Fashion Week too, but all of my pictures came out horribly. The few that did come out were of some of the impeccably dressed ladies I saw, so I’m pretty happy about that. See who you recognize from the past few entries:

One of our fabulous cutomers, Shawna

My buddies!

Doesn't this girl and her adorable dress just make you happy?

We had a great time and were really glad to be involved all in all. Thanks to all the people who made Cincinnati’s first Fashion Week a huge success!

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inspired by anne

Last Wednesday, local graphic design firm Landor held Inspired By Anne, an event to honor Cincinnati fashion illustrator Anne Wainscott. Anne worked for many years for the Cincinnati department store Shilitos, which later became Lazarus and was then bought by Macy’s. (Thank you to Tamia for reminding me of this!) I was invited by Micah Paladino, who’s firm PB&J did all the public relations for Cincinnati Fashion Week, and he couldn’t have been a nicer guy! It was an open event, but this was the very first invitation that I got to cover something for the blog. I took my lovely business partner/roommate Maya with me and we just had the best time talking to everyone there! Here are some of Anne’s illustrations that they had hanging around the room:

I also got my first opportunity to meet another style blogger in person! I try not to bore my non-blogging friend with the intricacies, so I don’t really get to talk about any of it very often. Tamia of The Style Sample sent me an email earlier that day that she was going to be there, so I was really happy that I didn’t miss her. She was such a sweetheart and her magazine is really incredible- plus she gets extra points because she rode her bike there in her great outfit!

Tamia of The Style Sample

She also took a very cute picture of Maya and I which was great since both of us forgot to get any pictures of ourselves!

Taken by Tamia

Anne Wainscott, looking incredible at 93!

I got a chance to chat with Anne for a moment and she was so humble, especially for how incredibly talented she is! When we told her how beautiful all of her work was she seemed so surprised you would have thought it was the first time she’d ever heard it. Landor did a really great job with the space they had, they set up a small recreation of her studio and had models as live mannequins! It was neat to see the final product that came from her sketches too.

The small reproduction of Anne's studio

And as you would expect at such a fabulous event, there were some superb outfits! Now that I have the blog and the shop I don’t feel so shy about telling people how great they look and that has led to some great conversations. I met so many remarkable women that night, it feels like Cincinnati is growing with us more and more.

This girl looked so funky and awesome! I wish you could see more of her cool hair and glasses.

We kept seeing these smoking hot ladies at all the events. Can you guess which ones are mother and daughter?

Sorry that some of these pictures are not so stellar on my end, my camera began acting funky this night and continued all through fashion week so I apologize for that.

Since Landor resides the original Shilito’s building they still have the original giant art deco windows on every side so big part of the evening was unveiling the Inspired By Anne window displays.

Pennies and newspaper ensemble, definitely my favorite.

All in all I had a fabulous time, and I’m so excited that the very first event I got to cover for the blog was such a great one!

My first press pass!

Thanks for reading, there will be much more about Cincinnati Fashion Week to come!

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spring soiree – part 2

As you can probably tell I am waaayy behind in my posts. It has been another insane week full of fun and Fashion Week, so not much to complain about. Here are the rest of the pictures from the Spring Soiree at the shop, although these are of our magnificently dressed friends and customers!

Can you believe that she has THREE kids?

The fabulous Dana

Don't mess with Tyrell.

One of our fantastic photographers for the day, Rachel Elliott

Our other amazing photographer, Amy Rudnik.

Our girl Abiyah looking stunning as always!

Another excellent Fancypack!

Hope you enjoyed them!

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special guest

I keep meaning to include more pictures of my extremely well-dressed friends, but I always forget until after they leave. I’ve been getting better though, so here’s a few different friends looking crazy styling!

Here is the lovely Maya Lou who I accosted with my camera as she was running out the door to work. I love how full this skirt is and we won’t even go into how jealous I am of the padlock watch necklace.

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so jersey 1982

This weekend I went out with my best girlie (my business partner and roommate) to celebrate the quitting of my job! It had gotten to the point where I was being ridiculously over-managed and spied on by my boss, and I just won’t put up with that crap. I am however very sad to leave this good of a job- fantastic pay, great benefits, and it could be very fun at times. I just have too much self-respect to be told how many times a day I’m allowed to go to the bathroom at this age. So I will be going back to my old job as a preschool teacher pretty soon, which I am really excited about. But the thing I’m really excited about is having time off!! I’ll be working fewer hours and I’ll always be off on weekends- what an exciting prospect! Now I’ll have the time to put into all the things I love, especially the blog.

Maya and I had a great time shopping yesterday, and we got some really amazing stuff. We finally got an H&M store here in Cincinnati, and in an evil plot to make me spend a bunch of money, they put it right next door to the Forever 21. Bastards. The biggest score of the day by far came when I strolled over to the shoe section of Forever 21 and saw the platform Chloe boot knockoffs that I thought were totally sold out!!! Of course they only had 2 pairs and they were both size 6, and I wear a 7 1/2. Somehow though the shoe gods were smiling on me and they fit. So of course I had to wear them out as soon as possible.

I really love these sleeves.

WHAT: chunky gold chain, chicken lays an egg

puffy sleeve roses, forever 21

giant oval ring, forever 21

gold clutch, chicken lays an egg

tuxedo skirt, chicken lays an egg

dot tights, h&m

platform booties, forever 21

WHERE: northside tavern and rollin’ with the homies

WHEN: saturday, march 20

And since Maya was looking so cute in her new duds, I had to include her too. You would not believe how differently Maya dressed when I met her almost 6 years ago! She wore only darker earth tones, no bright colors, very simple silver jewelry only, and never heels. I am so proud of how much she’s branched out, especially lately.

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guest appearance

I’ve been in a bit of a slump for the last few days, and as always it is definitely evident in my outfits. I also haven’t really had to leave the house for almost a day and a half, so mostly I’ve just been in my jammies. Yesterday my lovely friend, business partner, and roommate, Maya came over to hang and do some crafts and she just looked adorable. I asked her if she’d mind posing for a few, and set her up in front of the camera. She did a beautiful job if a may say so! Also, she had on the coolest necklace! It seems like its pieces of lace that were somehow cast in metal- totally awesome. Sorry the pictures of her super-cool accessories are of such poor quality. She also brought over a bunch of jewelry to price and I ended up borrowing and buying quite a few pieces from her. I included a few pictures of those guys too!

maya lookin' adorable

clip-ons can be cool!

AWESOME metal lace necklace

sexy boots

WHO: maya banatwala, great friend, co-owner of chicken lays an egg, manager of the esquire theatre, also a library employee!

WHAT: metal clip-ons, thrift

metal lace necklace, chicken lays an egg

plaid t shirt dress, target

sparkle cardigan, thrift

black leggings, rainbow

leather go-go boots, chicken lays an egg

WHERE: coffee with jay twomey, errands, crafting with me

I love this personalized brooch! I'm gonna tell everyone it's my kid, even though the picture is obviously from the late 70's or early 80's.

Chopper loves to model for me. Here she is displaying the emerald scarf brooch I'm borrowing from Maya.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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friendsgiving

Last year I started a new tradition in my group of friends by deciding I wanted to do Thanksgiving in a way that would be more fun. So I told my family I wasn’t coming, and cooked dinner for a bunch of my friends. I was really happy that the tradition continued again this year, and even more people came!

While everyone was eating I started looking around the room and I noticed how totally cute all my ladies looked, so after dinner I asked if they’d pose for some pictures. I wish I’d have thought to get individual shots too. Oh well, next time! So here are some of my favorite ladies and myself!

definitely my favorite

Maya, Amy & I

WHAT: cream brocade dress, chicken lays an egg

pocket watch necklace, chicken lays an egg

rose bracelet, yard sale

gold bangle, my gramma

black tights, h&m

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: black friday at the store and friendsgiving

WHEN: friday, november 28

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business ownin’ ladies

Well, faithful readers, I hope for your sake you are in Cincinnati. Mostly because I just became the owner of some of the best vintage clothes I’ve seen in a looooong time. I had a fantastic shopping day today. Maya and I hit up a rummage sale, and then after I closed up, I went and got some truly incredible vintage pieces from a girl leaving the country. And not just womens’ stuff either! I absolutely cannot WAIT to get it all priced and in the store!

Also, tonight was the opening of a very cool new space, Fabricate. It is a gallery, boutique and an arts and crafts supply store; and every month the gallery will feature a new exhibition, which will open alongside a band and/or a DJ. I stopped by the opening tonight for a minute, and I was really impressed. I’m so glad to have a shop like this in Cincy! Go check it out! It’s in Northside at 4016 Hamilton Ave (inside Red Polly).

Today I debuted a dress I got a few months ago, but never got around to wearing it. I love the zipper roses, but I’m not wild about the bottom. I’m thinking about cutting it off and making it a tent style top. Hmmm… I have to say, as hard as I am on tights, these have held up remarkably well. I can’t wait to buy more, but when I went to the H&M opening here, they didn’t really have any. Maya was looking pretty darn cute herself, so I grabbed her when she stopped in the store. Now we just need to get one of us with our fabulous other business partner, Dana!

why so sad maya!?