Thank you!

(don't cats in boxes make you happy?)

I just wanted to take a minute to THANK everyone who reads Orchid Grey. I don't always get a chance to comment on all the blogs I would like to, or to thank everyone personally for their kind and sweet comments (If I could send you all flowers, I absolutely would!). So: THANK YOU! Thank you especially for sticking by me the past couple of weeks, which have been supremely stressful and busy for me.

As I'm sure most of you can agree with, blogging is a constant balancing act, as soon as I feel as though all my plates are balanced, someone hands me another one (is it possible I handed myself another one? yes.). See, I started a second (third? fourth?) job last week at a local coffee shop, and as much as I enjoy what I'm doing, I've had to yet again adjust my spinning plates. I doesn't help that it's beautiful outside and all I want to do is run through fields of wildflowers.

So thank you everyone, I love you guys. I know I sound like a wicked sap, but seriously.

I have officially survived one of the most stressful weeks ever, I got everything done on time, and it looks as if I'm going to leave my apartment at the time I planned, win! I'm off to Maine to enjoy no internet access and minimal phone reception.

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Swapaholics Guest Post!

I have a guest post up today on the Swapaholics Blog about last weeks Wine Riot and outfit contest! Chris and I had a great time (a little too much fun?), and are definitely planning to go back next year. To learn about Wine Riot's happening near you, check out The Second Glass!

April 28, 2011: Navy, White, Gold

Blazer: Thrifted from the boys section ($5)

Shirt: Thrifted Ralph Lauren ($4)

Jean Shorts: Swapped jeans, cut

Belt: American Apparel

Loafers: Thrifted ($7)

Bag: Vintage Coach, Thrifted ($12)

Cat brooch: Vintage ($5)

Bracelet: Vintage ($5)

You know what's really great first thing in the morning? T.Rex radio on Pandora. This is making me really happy right now: T.Rex, Lou Reed, The Ramones, The Kinks, and The Zombies. That's a line up of almost all my favorite bands, and what I've heard in the past 20 minutes. I have this habit of sitting in silence when I'm working on the computer, usually I don't even notice it, but then I put on music and realize how nice it is to be surrounded by sound. Do you have any weird habits like that? I can seriously sit in silence for hours and not notice that I haven't said a thing.

Anyways, life observations aside. This is what I wore to last week's Earth Day clothing exchange. It wasn't intentional that almost everything is either thrifted or swapped, but a nice coincidence considering that it was Earth Day. This is one of my favorite outfits, it's easy to wear and feels pulled together but casual. I found this funny cat pin a couple of weeks ago at an antique store in Essex (The White Elephant- highly recommended), and the little feline reminded me of Zephyr in his jaunty-ness. I think it's pretty clear that I'm a sucker for anything gold with cats (i.e. the bracelet), I can't help it, I've always loved cats.

Yesterday turned out to be so beautiful! It got to be about 73 degrees, and all the pear trees along the streets flowered. When I left work last night it was still warm out, that's one of my favorite things: when you walk outside at night and it's warm. This post just turned into a list of my favorite things.

April 27, 2011: Blue, Purple, Orange

Button-up: J.Crew Outlet (old)

Skirt: Thrifted and hemmed ($5)

Belt: Thrifted ($4)

Clogs c/o ModCloth

Bag: Delightful Dozen Swap

Necklace: Swapped

The weather is finally cooperating somewhat, and I'm so happy to finally be free of tights. I was driving around yesterday and noticed how green everything has become, when the leaves come out on the trees is one of my absolute favorite things, right now though the flowers are out and everything smells amazing. I love to hear the breeze blowing through the leaves. This week has been a busy one, and it's only wednesday, there's a lot more to get done before Chris and I head to Maine on friday afternoon. How is your week going?

The Delightful Dozen has been sending around this Le Mode Accessories bag to style. When I received it, I was really surprised at the quality of the faux leather, "pleather" has come a long way since the 90's! I love the orange color of it and knew it would match this thrifted belt perfectly. I paired the orange with blue and purple, one of my favorite combinations. I styled this yesterday, but this is what I'll most likely be wearing to work this afternoon. Happy Wednesday!

April 26, 2011: Blue, White, Peach, Gold

Jacket: Swapped

Tee Time Top c/o ModCloth

Tank (under): Thrifted ($3)

Skirt: Urban Outfitters ($20)

Loafers c/o ModCloth

Bracelet c/o ModCloth

This is a redux of an outfit that I wore last week but didn't have a chance to photograph. I love the crispness of blue and white together, it feels clean and put together and nice and simple. I threw in some peach with these new loafers from ModCloth. I had been waiting for what seemed forever for these to come in, I'm a little bit of a loafer fanatic and I absolutely love the styling of these.

How's your week going? The weather is definitely warming up here, which is really exciting. Easter Sunday was beautiful at 75 degrees, we had brunch at our place with my mom and then went for a hike. All the trees are flowering and you can tell Spring is at least thinking of showing up soon. Although it's rainy. Those "May flowers" better be worth it! It's a busy week for me, I have a ton to do before I head up to Maine on Friday for a friend's wedding!

Over the Weekend: Earth Day Clothing Exchange!

Technically, this wasn't over the weekend, it was Thursday. But I pretty much checked out Thursday afternoon, so we'll count it as the weekend! That afternoon, I headed into the city to help set up for the Earth Day Clothing Exchange, hosted by the Swapaholics:

(Pacifico Beer, one of the sponsors, SO GOOD!)

(Beer and cupcakes (from Cakeology), the perfect pair)

(I wore a thrfited blazer, thrifted button-up, Swapped cut-offs, and thrifted loafers (not pictured))

(some of my favorite girls)

(how can you not play dress-up at a swap?)

(All above photos: Adam Towner)

Among other things, I got this sweet minty snowsuit. Somewhere there's a video of me dancing in it, wearing silver shoes. I have a hard time not putting on ridiculous costumes when the opportunity arises, and this time it payed off: I won two tickets to Friday's Wine Riot hosted by The Second Glass for best Swap Score! The snowsuit will come in handy for more dress-up and snow shoveling next winter.

My other swap scores: A Paul And Joe tweed jacket, a Rebecca Taylor shearling vest, two vintage tops, and some vintage jewelry. I also got a pair of Dolce Vita wedges.

Mini Spotlight: ModCloth, Bearcat Vintage, & Spring Smith Studios!

I usually try to keep some kind of congruence between the items I choose to highlight each weekend, but this week is all about things that have caught my eye, regardless of whether or not they make sense together:

Have you seen ModCloth's puppy models yet? SO cute! We don't have a dog (yet) but you can bet that if we did, it would be sporting one of these chic collars (L to R): Picnic Pup Dog Collar, Paw-k Avenue Dog Collar, Rose Bud-dy Dog Collar. ModCloth, if you ever need cat models, let me know!

Have you visited Bearcat Vintage recently? Jenny has stocked her shop in preparation for summer, and things are looking cute! I love: 90's Grunge Button Up Jumper Dress, 90's Grunge Black Floral Midi Skirt, and the Floral Halter Neck Romper!

After how beautiful it was on Sunday, I'm thinking warmer weather might finally be here, time to schedule our engagement shoot with Spring!

Noble Town Vintage Special Offer

For today only, Sarah from Noble Town Vintage is offering Orchid Grey readers FREE SHIPPING on all orders! She has some beautiful additions to her shop, (including a few that have quickly became personal favorites) so head on over and enter "freeshipping" at checkout!

I have quite the day ahead of me, but I can't wait to share photos from the swap last night, it was so much fun! Happy Friday!

Earth Day Sip & Swap: TONIGHT!

SWAP.COM PRESENTS:

Earth Day Clothing Exchange
For Girls & Guys
with The Swapaholics

at

Fourth Wall Project
132 Brookline ave
Boston, MA 02155

HOW THE CLOTHING SWAP WORKS:
Buy a ticket, bring a bag, take home a bag!

6 to 8 pm
Clothing drop-off, mixer & registration.
Bring a bag of clothes, shoes, accessories & jewelry to donate to the swap in exchange for a reusable bag to fill to the brim with new-to-you items when the swap opens at 8:30 pm
Sip, nosh & network with Bostons most sustainably stylish set.

8:30 pm SHARP!
Doors open to the swap, and the good stuff goes fast so be on time!

10 pm – Last Call
Join us for an after party at Game On! around the corner.
Cash bar, menu, and batting cages!
Celebrate with us, our awesome swap partners & sponsors once we're off the clock, and brag about your awesome swap scores!

For Tickets go HERE!

(I have about five bags full of stuff to bring, including an Ikea bag full of shoes!)

April 20, 2011: Stripes, Black, and Gold

(photos: Chris)

Dress c/o Spotted Moth

Sweater: J.Crew (sale)

Belt: Vintage

Bracelets: Vintage

Umbrella: Target (old)

Casita Wedges c/o Blowfish Shoes

What I wore to work yesterday afternoon. As much as I've been preaching low key outfits, I'll admit to enjoying the excuse to dress up a bit. It definitely wasn't warm enough out to go without tights, but once I got into the store I was fine. This time of year is so strange, today it's freezing and drizzly and tomorrow looks like it will be beautiful (I hope). This dress from Spotted Moth was packed up with my Spring and Summer stuff, and I'm so happy to have it in rotation again, it's one of my all-time favorites. I love it paired with a cardigan and sandals, the Casita's from Blowfish Shoes are the perfect shoes for work, the little wedge gives a bit of a lift and they're super comfortable.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so am taking a much needed day off. I plan to answer overdue emails (sorry), clean up the house, and clean out my closet in preparation for tomorrows swap (this doesn't sound like a day off at all). Are you having a nice day?

(Hi, white legs)

Receive 15% off your order from Blowfish Shoes with the code BFORCHID15!

April 19, 2011: Pink, Navy, Creme, Gold

Sweater: Swapped

Silk Top: Thrifted ($6)

Jeans: Madewell (sale)

Bracelet: Vintage ($5)

Sunnies: Vintage ($3)

Wedges c/o Lulu's

This outfit was my uniform at the end of last week and consists of a few of my favorite new-to-me things I've collected lately. This past weekend I headed home to help my mom out with yard work, naturally we had to take a little time-out to go check out some of the antique stores near by, where I scored this amazing cat bracelet. I love antique/junk shops, you find the most amazing things, and usually cheaply if you go far enough outside of the city. I found these 70's/80's sunglasses at a flea market a couple of weekends ago, they're pretty flimsy but for three dollars I really couldn't go wrong. Finally, I had one amazing Savers day last week where I found a bunch of vintagy silk pieces, including this pink silk button-up. This is exactly what I have been searching for, silk is one of my favorite materials and this color is definitely lacking in my mostly-navy closet.

The weather is slowly getting warmer, and I can't wait for it to be consistently nice out. I've collected some amazing Spring and Summer pieces over the past few months and can't wait to break them out! Happy Tuesday!

Inspiration: The Girls of Summer

Images via Tomboy Style

Did you know Chris and I met at a skateboarding competition? Yep, I was 16 and he was 15, and it was the summer going into my junior year of High School. As a teenager, if I wasn't making art, I was finding new skate spots with friends. I wish I knew about Pat McGee, Peggy Oki, and Cindy Whitehead when I was younger and looking for somebody, anybody, outside of of what I saw in teen magazines (I read Transworld Skateboarding and Snowboarding magazines too, but the female population was widely underrepresented).

Anyways, with the resurgence of seventies style this season, the radness of these ladies can no longer be ignored. How amazing does Pat McGee look doing a handstand?

Mini Spotlight: Lulu's, Simple Thrift, & Noble Town Vintage!

I've been on a bit of a casual kick lately, blame the weather if you like, but there's something to be said of separates. It easy to take a dress and make it look great: add a pair of cool shoes and you're done. But separates are a different beast, which I love, I love the versatility and instant cool of a draped top and some shorts or a skirt.

Lulu's may be known for their great selection of dresses, but have you seen the tops? Amazing. A few I'm coveting: Universal Traveller Top, Time Flux Top, Sky Compass Sequin Top.

If vintage is more your speed, definitely check out Simple Thrift. I love the Pumpkin Slouchy Silk Top, Tropical Vacation Shorts, and the Vintage Lace Collar Blouse. Have you entered the Simple Thrift Giveaway yet?

Don't forget your jewelry! Sarah of Noble Town Vintage creates some of my all time favorite pieces. I love: Turquoise and Copper Earrings, Limited Black Tourmaline Necklace, Triple Quartz Cluster Necklace.