Well, sort of–okay not really. A couple weeks ago I did something that I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time. I attended a class at the Little Flower School. Coincidently, a reporter and photographer from the New York Times happened to be covering the class. So, last Thursday I was quoted and pictured in the home and garden section of the paper. It looked a little something like this.
See this awkward looking girl right here?
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That would be me. Surprisingly enough a couple of people actually found the article on their own and contacted me about it. I think the weirdest connection was a guy who I studied abroad with read the article while he was on a train in Tokyo and then facebook messaged me about it. Crazy! Anyway, you can read the article here. Below are my feelings about the class.
I’ve been longing to take one of these classes since they started popping up everywhere in the blogosphere, so you can imagine how excited I was when there was an opening in a class during the time that I was in Brooklyn. I was a bit terrified when I arrived because I really don’t have much experience when it comes to arranging flowers. In fact, usually when Peter buys me flowers I let him put them in the vase for me—wait, does that make me a terrible woman?
Anyway, I was immediately entranced by all of the beautiful flowers.
And despite my fear of doing horribly in the class, things turned out really well. I got a lot of hands on instruction and the teachers weren’t afraid to jump in and make suggestions. Everyone’s arrangements turned out beautifully and they were all very different. We each got lost in our own little worlds for a few hours and when we looked up the room was covered in discarded stems and wild looking little bits of art. It was amazing and worth every penny.
I can’t imagine having that many flowers at my disposal any time ever again. Two fabulous things came out of the class. First, I remembered how wonderfully satisfying it is to spend time away from the computer and create something tangible. Second, I realized that as fun as it is to make flower arrangements, doing one and getting it right takes quite a bit of time. Peter and I had originally thought about doing our own flowers for the wedding, but after having a little bit of hands on experience, I’m happy to outsource this task. Plus, Sarah recommended a florist who is just starting a business in Austin! How amazing is that?! Maybe I will recommend some of the really great flowers that we got to use like this scabiosa pod:
and this one:
and this black basil:
Okay, here’s one last picture of my arrangement from the Little Flower School website. I will venture to say that its a bit more advanced than my last stint with flower arranging.
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Gush! I’m envious of this beautiful world that Nicolette and Sarah get to work in.
Saturday afternoon Peter, Emily, and I headed out to Round Top, TX for the most insane antique fair that I have ever visited. As we approached Round Top we started to see yard sales popping up left and right and then suddenly there was a gigantic strip filled with tents. After sifting through furniture and trinkets for a good five hours Peter and I were sure we had seen everything until we realized that there were MILES more to see. I don’t think we ever actually entered the official fair. I thought we had but the website announced a $10 admission, but we never paid for anything other than parking and it seemed logistically impossible for anyone to charge a fee in the area that we were in. Strange.
Anyhow, the things that we did see were amazing. At one point, I was sure that Peter and I were going to need to rent a trailer to haul everything back to Austin. I fell in love with this vanity and this dining room table and chairs.
In the end, we didn’t need another vanity and while I LOVED the table and chairs they were out of our price range (Yes, we could’ve haggled but not to where we needed them to be). *Sigh* Someday…
There were beautiful iridescent plates, tiny single stem vases, and some awesome ceramic transfer-ware cake serving pieces. I wanted everything.
But we only bought a table cloth, a couple sets of napkins, and this salt and pepper shaker.
I’m pretty obsessed with the lettering on the salt and pepper shakers. Somehow when I look at them I see an intimate post script at the bottom of a love letter rather than “pepper” and “salt.” After our tasting today, I do sort of wish we had bought the transfer-ware cake server, but we have plenty of time to find something similar. Overall, we had a great time negotiating prices and looking through everything. The whole experience was a lot of fun. They’re having a smaller one this summer and I can’t wait to go back!! Has anyone else been to the Round Top Antique Fair or to any other antique fairs for that matter?
I’m not sure if this is a nationwide phenomenon or if it’s just Austin’s eco-conscious mindset, but it seems like every time I turn around clothing swaps are popping up on social calendars. I’d never heard of a clothing swap until recently when a friend told me that it was a recessionistas answer to the economic downturn. Basically everyone brings things they don’t want, everyone exchanges clothes and you donate the leftovers. Hmm, so I meet up with all my friends and we trade clothes? That just sounded preposterous. I mean, we all have different body types and if we want to get rid of it, wouldn’t our like minded friends want to get rid of it as well?
I remained skeptical until I heard of a clothing swap with free cupcakes and wine. I’m not a girl who turns down a free cupcake, so my friend and I grabbed some old clothes and drove to the event. When we got there we saw racks of clothes divided into categories of t-shirts, tank tops, tops, skirts, purses, jewelry, jeans, shoes, etc. It was heavenly. The girl who was hosting the party gave a quick thanks and we all raided the clothes. She had a dressing room set up but everyone inevitably ended up changing and traded clothes in the bathroom, hallway, and bedroom–basically anywhere that wasn’t in front of the giant wall sized window in the living room.
There was no fighting over who got what, instead all the girls were so supportive. Someone would turn around and say, “Oh I don’t know if this fits,” and everyone would counter saying, “No you look awesome!” Girls would see each other trying on something they’d brought and without even a hint of jealousy exclaim, “OMG that looks so much better on you than it ever did on me!!” It was such an amazing event and I met so many great women and tried on some beautiful things. Free Seven Jeans-uh, yes please. I returned home with number of diferent goodies and a smile on my face.
For those of you who need photos, here is one of my favorite tops that I brought home.
I got a few more, a couple dresses, and a scarf. It was like Christmas all over again.
This weekend Austin hosted its 2nd Annual Women’s Clothing Swap. There were free haircuts, an alteration center, and lots and lots of free clothes. It sounded too good to be true. I went with the same friend that accompanied me to the last event and I have to be honest: we were really disappointed. I really want to say we loved it, but the clothes were more outcasts from Goodwill than great finds from Buffalo Exchange. In addition, the girls in attendance were nowhere near as communal. People were territorial and giving everyone mean looks. It was terrible. I grabbed a few things like an ugly suit that may have a salvageable skirt and another skirt that is literally four sizes too big. I figure its cheaper to learn to sew using free clothes as fabric than it is buying some from the store.
So, what’s the take away from this post? I think clothing swaps are a good idea, but in the future I will probably opt for the small-medium sized ones where I know the girls and people are actually interacting with one another. There’s a lot of fun to be had at these things, I just think it was lost in the masses for the event this weekend.
And just for fun, here are some recommendations on what to wear if you opt to go to one yourself.
- Think of it like being in 7th grade gym class all over again. Save your sexy underwear for another time. You’re going to be changing a lot. I wore tights and a sports bra, but then again I’m pretty shy and modest.
- Wear shoes that you can slip on and off easily. You don’t want to be tying and untying your shoes but you don’t want to abandon them either. People tend to think items that are left alone are free for the taking.
- Choose things that you can layer clothes over and still get an idea of what an outfit looks like. This helps minimizes changing time.
- Don’t wear a dress. Skirts are good, but dresses leave you searching for a top to pair with the bottoms that you’re trying on, which means that you lose valuable time.
- Bring a huge bag to stash your new finds.
If you’re not as modest as I am then a lot of the advice above may not apply. And because I’m an absolute dork, Peter took ridiculous pictures of me wearing a good ”Clothing Swap Outfit.” I wouldn’t usually recommend a cardigan because its just one more thing to keep track of, but I get cold all the time so I usually don’t leave the house without one.
Okay, yeah I’m officially the biggest dork ever (and no, I don’t follow the no pairing black and navy fashion rule). Anyway, have any of you been to a clothing swap? What was your experience like? Did any other Austinites make it the one this weekend and have a completely different experience?
Most lotions leave my skin feeling either exactly like it felt before I used the lotion or sticky, slimy, and gross–maybe even some sort of combination. But Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion leaves skin feeling great. Alba knows how to make lotion that absorbs into your skin. (You may remember me raving about the Alba Green Tea Sunscreen.) Plus, the scent is so mild that even a guy would be comfortable wearing it. This line is slowly becoming a staple in my everyday routine.
For all you Austinites: Wheatsville, a local co-op, sells it in bulk! Now, you can bring in your own container to fill with lotion rather than buying another plastic one.
Image courtesy of Amazon.com
I asked Erica Janke and Amanda Heptner from Blush Bridal Lounge what advice they had for brides looking to buy a perfect wedding gown and here is what they told me.
- Be open-minded! Brides often come into a store expecting to buy a simple dress and leave with something a bit more extravagant or vice-versa. Be open to trying on different dresses and you may leave with something you’d never imagined.
- Bring three pictures of different styles of dresses that you like. Models in magazines look completely different than girls in real life. Use magazine to get an idea of the style that you like but try not to get set on something until you try it on. The way a dress fits a real, healthy girl will look much different than the way it fits an airbrushed model.
- Be patient! Most girls never have that “THIS-IS-THE-ONE!!” moment. Try on a lot of dresses and think about them after you are done shopping for the day. It’s a big purchase and chances are your dress will become the one that you can’t get off your mind.
- Ask a lot of questions. You’ve probably never done this before so it’s OK to ask what something means. You’re spending a lot of money on your dress so make sure that you get all the information.
- Decide what you think before you get the opinions of your friends and family. This is your day and you have to feel comfortable. Blush Bridal Lounge actually asks mothers and friends not to say anything about a dress until the bride says what she thinks. This helps the bride chose a dress for herself rather than getting pressured into something that someone else wants.
- Ask more from your vendors. Vendors sometimes get stuck in a rut and it’s up to you to push them to do the best job possible. That goes for all vendors.
Please go visit Blush Bridal Lounge. If you haven’t figured this out already, Erica and her team know how offer good customer service, which is extremely rare in the bridal industry. As we walked through the bridal lounge she answered many questions without ever making me feel inferior. One last bit of advice from Erica: I asked what it was like opening a business in this economy and Erica said “If you have an idea, JUST DO IT!” She assured me that this is really a great time for new businesses, because it’s much easier to negotiate on things like rent. Erica is truly an inspiring person and her store is filled with beauty. If you’re in the market for a wedding dress or even a cocktail dress, then please check them out.
