Anthropologie August 2011

It's no surprise that one of my favorite labels happens to lean heavily into the direction of the past...

Loving all of this vintage inspired goodness. And how cute are these polka dot tights? 

PS - The first shot is inspiring my look today... stay tuned!

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Sunday Finds - Monday Morning - Crisp White

When I just couldn't bear the thought of anymore budgeting, cooking or cleaning by the end of the week, we decided to scrap the ground turkey and take a family trip to Pitfire Pizza. 
(My fave weekend spot - it's like the ultimate hip party place for young families. Mom's can have a glass of wine, dad's can have a beer... kiddies run around with other kiddies until their meal arrives, which they devour. They sometimes even have a DJ. Everyone leaves happy. Heaven on a Sunday.) 

Anyway, it was so easy to throw on my "new" white linen shirt I found for a buck a couple Sunday's back. (See that post here) 

I knew I could wear it a million different ways, but when I popped on these leather shorts (last seen here), I got the wide-eyed hubs approval. So I threw on his hat, some comfy walkin' boots & a scarf made out of scraps from this dress here. 

All in all, a perfect end to an exhausting but beautiful week. (Especially since I found these scores below that morning!)

White Suit. $1.00 ~ Vintage circa 1980's... Just need to take the jacket in a bit. But the skirt actually fits to perfection. I'll just shorten the hem.

Wrap Sweater $4.00 ~ Working part-time for Calypso St Barth home design, I'm surrounded by all things beautiful on a constant basis. In women's fashion, they have some seriously stylish wraps & sweaters (see on me here and online here), so my eye was immediately drawn to this similar style sweater.

And the ultimate, ultimate, ULTIMATE score of the day ~ these amazing STUART WEITZMAN heeled loafers! $5.00! Could you die?

The raised heel, the little tassels, the perfect brown suede... so many ways to rock these for Fall!

P.S. For those of you with the "ick factor" for used shoe shopping, I offer you this: Find a good shoe repair place. Have them cleaned, buffed out, and resoled on the inside. Good as new. Well, if "new" has you out five bucks.

And lastly, this amazing red and gold chain belt that I plan on wearing as a necklace as well. $3.00!

Happy bargain hunting, lovelies! Have a fabulous week!

White linen shirt - $1.00 thrift

Leather shorts - Unknown via Crossroads Trading Co.

Boots - Aldo

The hub's hat - Robert Graham 

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Crop top & Vintage Jeans

Rounding out this casual end-of-week here at November Grey, I thought I'd post a pic or two of my other favorite top. (I've had this for years. It's one of my first thrifted pieces that I cut to make my own.)

For more pix of this look, and a tutorial on how to make one of your own. Head on over to Secondhand Star! 


You can also see how I wore this top with a red vintage skirt here!

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Dressed way down... & a favorite tee

Is it too early to pull out my favorite Ghostbuster's tee? Is it too early to be dreaming of all things end-of-year, holiday goodness? Sometimes I just can't help myself. And while I'm enjoying this sunshiny bright, Cali summer weather... I can't help but look forward to the oncoming months - my most favorite time of the year.

PS - Apparently, it's not just me on this wavelength! I stopped into Bath & Body works yesterday to pick my monkey up a rubber ducky... (They have really durable ducks in very fun colors. She chose a hot-pink light up, to accompany her blue & green polka dot "daddy" duck.) And they were already displaying Halloween items! See Spook-tacular stuff here, and adorable duckies here!


PPS - They sell my all-time favorite lip balm/gloss that I posted about last winter here. It's amazing. Purchase it here!

Ghostbuster's tee - Vintage

Checkered shirt - Forever21

Jeans - Genetic

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Random Bits...

I absolutely love our hood for impromptu shoot sessions.

 My legs have never looked so long.

This is what grows in our alley.

Can't complain about much, when every day looks a little bit like this: 

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Leap

Well, guys... several decisions are being made this week. I feel like a lot of the time, I just leap and learn how to fly on the way down. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. I hope these little dreams of mine can sprout wings and take flight... until then, at least I know I have a soft place to fall. 

Vest - Redesign from a Vintage Suit

{Check out SecondhandStar.com! for entire look and How To!}

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Sunday Finds - Monday Morning - Blu on Blu $1 hue!

I found this blouse last week at Out of the Closet for a buck. (See post here!) I thought I might tuck it into one of my favorite silhouettes - the ever classic pencil skirt, but the more I played around with it, the long and loose fabric begged to be belted over something slim.

 I couldn't resist going blue on blue with jeans, purse and belt.

A couple pops of red and a statement necklace... (Recognize this thrift score from the same day?) and I was good to go.

I've been lusting after delicate and pointy heels  - so when I found these F21 babies on clearance a few months back (if memory serves me right... around $7?) I was happy. (But still sad about these!)

An entire outfit for around 25 bucks. (The jeans were via resale at Crossroads Trading CO.)

 And now I'm off to sort through my latest finds!

Yesterday's scores: 

Hot Pink Sheath ~ $4.00! How exciting that brights are going to be transitioning into Fall! This gorgeous hot pink sheath is going to be perfection, once I have it hemmed a tad, and belt it the waist. (Bonus! ~ the darling little button that looks like a broach.)

Bright Blue Blazer ~ $1.00! It seems that this vibrant blue hue is my lucky color lately, because I scored this vintage (Sasson!) bright blue blazer on the $1 rack. It's a tad too big, so I'm going to have my ever talented partner at Secondhand Star take it in at the sides, but leave the length. I'll just cuff the sleeves! 

Braided Rope Sweater ~ $3.00! I was super thrilled to find this chunky knit. It's everything I've been wanting! I'll pair it with denim shorts or throw it over my summer dresses in the oncoming cooler nights, and pair it with flared vintage jeans this winter.

Belt ~ $2.00! And finally this super cute pale pink neutral belt with the coolest threading detail. Bonus! ~ It can be worn at my waist or hips!

Have an awesome week, guys. I'd love to hear about your fashion scores! xx

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Winner! Jouer Makeup Kit!

Congratulations...

Shannan from...

You're the winner of the makeup giveaway from Jouer Cosmetics!!

Thank you so very much to all who entered and took the time to fill out the survey for November Grey and Secondhand Star on Vintage and Thrifted Re-Designed Fashion. You all gave excellent and extremely useful feedback and we're so grateful. Merci!

Be sure to visit Shannon's blog here, and check back in soon for another fab giveaway!

{Photo kindly sourced from AbsolutelyLadylike.com}

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Skinny Trick: Vegan Banana Oat Muffins

Last month I housed one of my favorite friends making the move from AZ back to Cali and on the hunt for the most perfect apartment. In the process, (and because she's a serious vegan) I began my hunt for the most perfect vegan dishes. I came up with some rather yummy & healthy recipes in the process. (See coconut curry recipe here!) 

And even though I'm not one of the "V Elite" I do believe that limiting dairy & meat is one of the best skinny tricks there is.

I mixed a few different recipes to come up with something that was both Weight Watchers and Vegan friendly. They turned out like tasty, healthy breakfast muffins, perfect with a cup of joe and a side of fruit with your morning mag.

Ingredients: 

3-4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 agave syrup (you can also use maple syrup or brown sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup oats (or 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup flax seeds. I happened to use 3/4 cup oats and two instant oatmeal packets that had flax seeds in it. Random! And perfect!)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (white will work, but wheat is better!)

Mix all ingredients in a mixer and pour into paper lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 20 min. Test with a toothpick. Enjoy!

For Sara xx

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Summer Pink

Some days I just wake up wanting to be feminine. And what's more feminine than pink?

I was trying to achieve something pulled together for work, but still summery and feminine at the same time. And definitely something that wouldn't leave me scorching in this warm west-coast weather!

I set my hair in rollers (tutorial here!) - that was a bit painful as we don't have AC, but worth the heat to create sleek waves (just brush them through with shine serum) into a polished pony. 

I doubled up a statement necklace from H&M, wrapped a favorite woven vintage belt around my waist, grabbed a thrifted quilted number and I was off!

P.S. How gorge is this Maison de Vacances Love pillow sitting atop a perfect vintage chair?

Have a beautiful day!

Shirt - Vintage Silk

Skirt - F21 via thrift

Belt - Vintage

Shoes - F21

Necklace - H&M

Bangle - Vintage

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Calypso St Barth + Designer Sean Knibb = Fab night!

What a whirlwind it's been these past two weeks! So much fun and fabulousness to share with you guys. And the recent Calypso event with furniture designer Sean Knibb was no exception!

Leah Dempsey-Makeup & Hair Stylist, Shiri Gornicki-Chaz Dean Hair Stylist, Noa Bolozky-Secondhand Star, Tanya Dempsey, Sara Jones

For those of you who made it out and could actually see his stunning designs in person, I'm betting you left there with major outdoor decorating plans. 

I still cannot get over all the sleek and colorful stripes. And outdoor square lounge poufs? Sign me up! 

Some fabulous friends stopped by to support and shop, including the iconic Molly Ringwald pictured here with Sean Knibb himself. (Did you catch the event I hosted with Molly here?)

The party was a hit thanks to tunes spinning from our favorite local DJ, champagne flowing by Veuve Clicquot, savory sake by Rock Sake, and these to-die-for cookies (decorated in Sean's famous stripes!) by Modern Bite. 

The Calyspo Design Team taking a moment to welcome the guests and enjoy the evening.

And me taking a moment to thank my sister (and personal hair dresser) for all that she does!

I'm wearing The Kimberly Dress in 100% Dupioni silk by Calypso

 Order here! & enter code SUMMER30 at checkout for an additional 30% off!


All photography (except #3) by Aaron Fuller

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