Archive for the 'Personal' Category

Fit for a Queen

Published on September 2, 2010 in Ensemble, Personal and Random Thoughts. 0 Comments

A couple of weekends ago, Mark and I decided to go on a little adventure around the island. We packed up some lunch, our swimsuits, got in our little car and just drove wherever we felt like. Unfortunately, the day did not cooperate. It actually turned out to be quite a disaster.

First, we stopped by an antique store I’ve been meaning to check out, but it was closed. Then, we decided on shave ice, but on the way there got caught up in a little traffic shuffle and actually had an octogenarian give us the middle finger. Once parked, we remembered we had lunch and wanted to eat that before dessert so we set off again for a nearby beach park. We found the beach overflowing with people and no place to park. In a huff, we drove off in search of an alternative picnic place. Mark knew of a little park, but upon settling there, we found the flies unbearable. Cut to: eating our Vietnamese noodle lunch out of the back of the car in the parking lot. Worse part? We forgot the chopsticks and napkins!

Dejected and smelling of fish sauce, we packed up and started back home. On the way, though, I asked to stop at the Queen Emma Summer Palace in Nuuanu. I had never been before, but recently saw the most beautiful wedding photos from our friend Christie. It was so lovely and tranquil – just the perfect thing we needed to decompress from our epic fail of the day.

The palace was the summer home of Queen Emma and her husband King Kamehameha in the mid-1800′s. We were told that most of the furniture and antiques in the home were originals. My favorite room was a back bedroom with a grand chandelier, four-poster bed, beautiful armoire and an airy cotton + lace nightgown hanging from it. We couldn’t take photos inside the palace, but outside on the grounds were fair game.

I was dressed casually for the humid Hawaii summer day, so nothing fancy here. But, at least I stayed comfortable and cool. We really weren’t too bummed about the day. It ended well and I always have fun just riding in the car and looking out at the beautiful scenery.

plain white tank – Target
high waisted shorts – Fashionista’s Market (they were having a 50% sale and I got these for less than $10!)
flats – Samuel
belt – Forever21
vintage studs – CLOTH
vintage Coach purse – inherited
sunglasses – Max Mara

Going Greek

Published on August 31, 2010 in Ensemble and Personal. 0 Comments

I always find that when I have the most relaxing weekends, I end up lazier than ever. This weekend was no exception and thus why I have not posted anything new until today. Friday night found Mark and I doing some of my favorite things. We had dinner, spent some time in a bookstore and went home to relax with him reading and me doing some hand-stitched alterations. Then Saturday, he had to work, so I spent all day in a sewing frenzy. As my “project pile” had become unruly, I sat down and tackled 7 sewing projects! This mostly included simple hems, button changes, and side seams, but others were far more extensive. Later that night we got dolled up, went out on the town and caught up with great friends.

But, the highlight of the weekend was definitely Sunday. I was looking forward to checking out a local Greek Festival for a while…more specifically, since last year! We had tried to go to the previous year’s festival, but waited too long and by the time we showed up they had run out of all food. This year, I was determined to eat my way through the whole place. And that’s exactly what we did. It was gyros and ouzo and wine, oh my! Plus some grape leaves and sorbet. Delicious! I wish we had taken more photos, but honestly we were just too busy stuffing our faces.

Mark’s major highlight was meeting his favorite mayoral candidate. He had an inkling the candidate would be at the festival because of his Greek heritage and he half-jokingly/half-seriously brought along a copy of the candidate’s traffic congestion study to autograph (Engineer nerd). We found the candidate volunteering at the Taverna station, so naturally we bought a beer from him. Truthfully, Mark was like a giddy schoolgirl and smiled for the rest of the afternoon. What a nerd!

I can’t tell you how much I love these earrings. This weekend was the first time I’ve worn them and I haven’t taken them off yet. These were part of the treasures I found at the collectors expo. It came in a bag filled with 6 other earrings for $3, which means I paid approximately $o.43 for them! Bananas right?

dress – VAYA from Fashionista’s Market
earrings – collector’s expo
flats – Samuel
sun glasses – Max Mara
bag – purchased at a craft fair in Pittsburgh during college

Taking the day off

Published on August 13, 2010 in Inspiration, Personal and Shop. 0 Comments Tags: .

Yesterday, I took the day off and wandered around downtown with the end goal of catching up with an old friend. In my wanderlust, I finally made it to a vintage store that is only open during the work week, Catherine’s Closet. It’s the very same store that held a trunk sale from which I bought my 1940′s chapeau a while back. The owner, Catherine, was great and pulled out a number of “special” hats from her own collection for me to try on. She also had a wonderful selection of antiques like this monogrammed silver mirror from the 1920′s, but mostly I was concerned with her dazzling array of accessories. I was smitten with a burgundy-colored, silk cross between a hat and a fascinator. I wore it around the store for what seemed like forever before putting it back. Sigh. I may go back and get it, but it was a little loose and I didn’t know exactly how to secure it to my head.

She also had these great little hairpieces that are locally crafted which I will use as inspiration for my own creations.

Just some shots as I walked around. The sun was particularly scorching.

I love the wide range of architecture found in Honolulu. It is such a jumble of decades and styles, almost as if the city itself has split personalities. I don’t think anyone would describe Honolulu as a well-planned city, so the buildings kind of resemble that impulsive, frenzied energy.

The last part of my day found me cooking dinner for a group of friends. On the menu: puttanesca made famous by my mother-in-law and roasted balsamic chicken from Giada. Friends brought over a great salad with gorgonzola, avocados and strawberries, delectable petit-fours from a favorite bakery of ours, and jugs of sangria. YUM!

Peek In

Published on August 4, 2010 in Home Decor and Personal. 3 Comments

I am always excited when my favorite bloggers post photos of their living spaces and since we finally finished cleaning our own apartment, I thought I would also share the place I call home.   We’ve been living here for the past two and a half years and its been a dream.  Furnishing and decorating-wise on the other hand has been a work in progress.  I always have some half-done space or mid-point project laying around.  Most recently, we finished painting a magnetic wall.  But, before that, I had black paint framed in blue tape on the wall for more than 6 months. There was also a craigslist DIY chair purchase that turned out to be a fiasco.  I had originally thought I could reupholster 3 sitting chairs on my own, but never got around to it.  In the end, I just begged someone on craigslist to take them away for free.

Everything in the apartment I’ve pretty much scrounged around at discount stores or made myself.  It’s easy enough to find pieces that you like and then modify it for your needs – like this mirror I spray painted silver.   Or the canvas painting above that was made with left-over wall paint and painters tape.

I also find things I like in catalogues and try to recreate them myself.  The collection of frames above was an idea from a West Elm room, as was the canvas design in the first photo.  If I could, I would live in a WE store.

Last night’s puzzle shot from underneath our dining room table.

The monograms were from our wedding decorations, so I just stuck them up on the shelf.  Kind of cheesy yes, but I love them still.

My cluttered dish of brooches and stud earrings.  Such fun to dig through in the morning as I am running out the door.  I have another crazy rack for all of my drop earrings and necklaces, then a full drawer dedicated to even more accessories. Yikes!

The photograph I bought at a local art gallery.  I loved the ethereal feeling and fashion influence of it, but it’s actually a photo of a Filipino baptism dress.  I still found the lighting and look to be breathtaking.  I have another of this artist’s prints of Haleakala crater, taken the same year we hiked and camped there.  The other photos we have on our walls are actually Mark’s.  He was a photography minor, and being an engineer, his final project in college was of industrial lighting fixtures.  I’ll have to post them later, but my favorite one was of a lone and naked light bulb.  I ended up putting it above the toilet because I thought it was pretty witty.

And that’s a peek into our home.  Have a happy day!

You spin me right round

Published on July 29, 2010 in Personal and Random Thoughts. 2 Comments Tags: .

Did I mention that I am in love with vinyl records?  I remember always admiring my parent’s player and flipping through the album art as a kid.  Recently, I came across all of these old albums that were being donated and I scooped them up!  I was excited to borrow my Dad’s player only to find out he recently threw it out.  Instead, I was able to borrow another one from a coworker.  Mark hooked it up to our speakers at home and we relaxed on the sofa listening to classic standards and the distinctive crackling of the vinyl.

This made me want to pick up a record player of my own.  I perused Amazon and saw relatively inexpensive new ones from Sony for under $100, but ideally I would love love love to purchase a vintage player.  Unfortunately, I was reading up on authentic vintage players and experts say it’s hard to find quality ones that are still in working order. I guess I’ll be looking out for these vintage-inspired ones from Crosley instead.  Apparently, this beautiful green two-toned player was available through a partnership with Urban Outfitters, but now are sold out.  Too bad we don’t have UO in Hawaii so I hadn’t heard about this item!

Side note, I picked up this great pendant at a new event called ART + FLEA that will be held monthly at Fresh Cafe on my street in Honolulu.  More photos and vintage items from that event coming up soon!

apartmenttherapy.com
turntabling.net & esquire.com
turtleneck – Forever21 many years ago
skirt – thrifted
necklace – mishmash from ART+FLEA @ FreshCafeHi
glasses – Vera Wang