Bonus Footage: Gracey Does Stuff

Plucky Maidens Junk Fest

On Thursday, I went with my trusty partner in crime, Alex, and her daughter, Sophie, to the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest at McMenamin’s Edgefield in Troutdale and I wore this:

It's (hopefully obviously) not what I work to work.  I changed out of Thursday's too-big pencil skirt into olive green shorts (Old Navy), a floral tank (Old Navy) and flat sandals (Target).  I brought along my trusty vintage patchwork bag (gifted from my mom - thanks, Mom!) and a couple shopping bags for anticipated treasures.

Alex and I got off of work early, picked Sophie up and headed up to the Portland area for a smorgasbord of vintage wares on the grounds of McMenamin’s Edgefield which is an absolutely beautiful, untraditional resort east of Portland.  Edgefield was built in 1911 as the county poor farm so the grounds are huge (70+ acres, I think).   It was renovated for use as a resort by McMenamin’s and has several restaurants and pubs, a huge lawn for concerts, gorgeous gardens and vineyards and even an onsite glass-blower and potter.  Edgefield is easily my favorite McMenamin’s facility (they have several) so I was very excited to go.

I am a fool for a veranda and Edgefield has several.

One of the vineyards - I think there may be more than one of these as well.

And it did not disappoint.  There were around 50 vendors of vintage goods of all sorts, arrayed under the trees by the main building.  There was food, music and large quantities of McMenamins wines and ales and the crowds weren't too big.  We had an absolutely lovely time.  I didn’t buy much, but it was a fabulous way to spend a summer afternoon.

Vendors beneath the trees



Girl with raccoon tail - I think this is a thing now?



Beach Wedding

On Saturday afternoon, my gorgeous friend, Jodee, and I drove up to Cathlamet, Washington, along the Columbia River to attend a wedding of some friends of Jodee's.  And I wore this:

I had never heard of Cathlamet, but it was absolutely gorgeous:

And hot.  The wedding was right on the beach, in the middle of the afternoon and I'm pretty sure it got up into the mid-90s.  It was a lovely wedding though, just simple and pretty:

I hope everyone else is having a wonderful weekend as well!

Gracey

Gracey Goes to the Beach!

As promised, I finally made it over to the Oregon Coast for the first time this summer and it was as fabulous as always.  We went to a small beach a little north of Nye Beach and it was just perfect.  It was a little overcast when we first arrived, but it turned out to be gorgeous.

What I Wore

Because the day did start out a bit chilly, I layered a chambray tunic (Old Navy) over my striped tank (Target) and floral shorts (Loft Outlet).  I thought I’d be wearing my jorts (hee!) at the beach but I figured if a girl can’t wear short shorts at the beach, when can she wear them?  Right?  Right.

What I Saw

On our way:

One of the many fabulous things about going to the Oregon Coast is the drive over through heavily wooded passes.

A view from the top:

Views from the bottom:

Back towards the road.

Out towards the ocean and lighthouse.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse (I think):

What We Did

Frisbee was played:

Ollie the Octopus Kite was flown:

And surf was played in:

This is one of the few times I wished I cared just a little bit more about being a better photographer because I’m afraid my pictures aren’t doing this trip justice.  If you ever get a chance to visit the Oregon Coast, I encourage you to do so – it really is amazing.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend as well!

Gracey

Long Weekend, Lazy Monday

It really was less of a long weekend and more of a looooooooong Saturday.  My friend Alex and I headed up to Portland early on Saturday morning, had breakfast at Gravy, visited the Mississippi Flea Market and then hit every vintage store we could find.  On Mississippi, we went to Flutter and Animal Tracks.  On Alberta we had lunch at Petite Provence and went to Billy Goat Vintage and The Factory.  And downtown, on 10^th, I think, we went to Fat Fancy and Ray’s Ragtime.

Sadly, neither of us were very successful in finding anything; although I did purchase an amazing clutch from the Mississippi Flea Market (I love clutches, I have a couple dozen of them) and Alex found a gorgeous dress at Flutter.  Luckily, our trip to Portland was two-fold; we were also going to an 80s concert in nearby Canby that night.

The concert was absolutely fabulous.  It was outdoors at a bar called The Wild Hare Saloon and it was great.  It was $12 for three bands all of whom played 80s music.  The first group was Radical Revolution; they play 80s pop and are the same band that played at our 80s prom.

The second group was Stone in Love, a Journey tribute band:

This is the poster from the concert.

And the night closed with Hair Assault, a hair/metal group:

This is their promotional photo and yes, they really dress like this!

We had the best time, but didn’t get home until nearly 1 am.  Therefore I spent most of Sunday lazing about the house and re-watching Casino Royale (it’s one of my favorite movies and I adore Daniel Craig).  I think I was still tired, or maybe just uninspired today, because I couldn’t come up with anything to wear besides this:

Oh, no, it’s not bad, I know that.  It’s just so neutral.  And I am not a neutral kind of gal.  But, I liked this outfit in spite of its snooze-fest of a color palette.  The black jeggings (Gap Outlet) are super comfortable, as is the embellished tank (Design History via Ross) and the wedges (Bamboo via TJ Maxx).  I added simple gold hoops and a vintage cameo bracelet and pedaled my tired little heinie to work.

Today’s Takeaway?  For all you color-lovers out there; neutral isn’t bad, it’s just neutral (and that's okay).

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Gracey

WeeCap for July 16th and 17th

Really, this is a weecap for July 15th and 16th as I didn't take any pictures on Sunday the 17th (although I did wear clothes).  I don't supposed the particulars matter too much though, so let's get started!

After work on Friday, Alex and I went to the Salem Art Fair and I wore this:

  

Fair warning: I love this tank so you're probably going to see a lot of it this summer.  I paired the tank (Ross) with grey cut-offs (v. old), black gladiator sandals (Target), some bangles (garage-saled) and some 80s sunglasses (same garage sale).

While at the fair we listened to two absolutely wonderful bands.  The first was Billy D and the Hoodoos; they are identified as a "roots" band, but I'm not sure what that is.  They sounded sort of bluesy to me and where absolutely fabulous.  The second band was a group called the Ty Curtis Band and they are definitely a blues band.  We've gone to hear them play before and they're always just wonderful.

On Saturday morning I did a little thrifting - one piece of which you'll see on Thursday for the special Everybody, Everywear thrift challenge - and then (finally) finished hemming the dress I wore that night.  I apologize that I couldn't get a very good full length picture of the outfit but you can get the gist of it here:

The dress is vintage (thrifted) and was (rather poorly) altered by me.  I hemmed it but don't have the skills to mess with the blouson effect at the waist, so I added a sequin sash to give me a bit more of a waist.  I wore a pair of strappy heels (Nine West, v. old), a vintage clutch (thrifted), a vintage tassel necklace (borrowed from Alex), bracelets and gold chandelier earrings (Target).

Here is a close-up picture from dinner:

Dinner was at a lovely restaurant in Portland called Gilt.  The decor was very cool, all dark reds and old gold with the most interesting light fixtures:

For dinner it was (from left to right) Jenny, Lori, myself and Alex:

After dinner we were supposed to go to Darcelle XV for a drag show, but unfortunately Jen and Lori were half an hour late for dinner, causing us to be half an hour late for the show which filled up before we could be seated.  Luckily, Alex and I always have a Plan B in a blues club called The Candlelight Room.

The Candlelight Room is located near Portland State University and hands-down has some of the best live music in Portland.  It's small and sweaty and they play the absolute best blues there.  On Saturday night we listened to Richard Arnold and his band play.  They played blues, but they also played some old Motown and a little Broadway; and everything they played was great.

During one of the band's breaks, we were talking to a man named Elliot who sang a couple of songs with band, and it came up that it was Alex's birthday.  And Elliot and Richard began singing Happy Birthday to Alex, a capella, right there on the street corner!  It was fabulous.  Richard has a gorgeous low voice (baritone) and his and Elliot's voices harmonized perfectly.  I know I should have taken a picture, but I was just too thrilled with the moment to remember my camera.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.  No drag queens, but lots of sequins, and that always makes a girl feel good.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!


Gracey

WeeCap: June 25th & 26th

Weekend Recap for June 25th and 26th in which Gracey goes to the best Jazzercise class ever (EVER), gets some sun, goes to a birthday party (Happy Birthday, Cam!), has a slumber party and spends a Sunday doing nothing.  And I should warn you, this post is light on outfit photos (except for the Jazzercise shots), but I promise I did wear clothes.  I just forgot to get proof.

Also, before I tell you about my weekend, I wanted to show you what my sister, Rosey, did for me.  On Friday night after work I went thrifting with Alex and when I came home, Rosey had created this bouquet of red roses and mock orange for me.  Isn't it beautiful?  I'm telling you guys, she's the best sister ever.

Now on to the weecap proper. On Saturday I woke up early to attend Jazzercise class and I wore this:

 

This is not what I usually wear to Jazzercise, but on Saturday we were celebrating 30 years of teaching Jazzercise for one of the instructors, so we were encouraged to dress in 80s clothes.  You all know I love the 80s, so I was super-excited for this class.  So I woke up early, put my hair into a side-pony and put on my off-the-shoulder Jazzercise shirt and my hot pink leg warmers. 

And the class was fabulous.  We walked like Egyptians to The Bangles, let Belinda Carlisle convince us that heaven is a place on earth and had a last dance with Donna Summer.  Jazzercise is always fun, but this class was even more fun that usual filled with 80s songs and old school routines; in fact, my friend Kory and I are going to try to convince our instructor to have these 80s classes on a regular basis.

After Jazzercise I hung out in the sun until it was time to go up to Portland to visit my fabulous friend Jenny and her gorgeous daughter Cameron:

Cameron had her birthday party at a bowling alley with several of her girlfriends and a couple of her guy friends:

After pizza and bowling, all of the girls (yes, all 10 of them) had a slumber party at Jenny's house, and so did I.  I had no idea that thirteen year old girls screamed and squealed so much, but they seemed to be having a good time; I guess they're just super-excitable in large groups?  All I know is that we adults fell asleep long before the girls did and we were up past midnight, so I'm not sure what time they finally fell asleep.  And when we woke up this morning, it looked like a bomb had hit the living room and the shrapnel was made of teenage girls.  There were girls sleeping on or under every available surface; I swear one girl slept with a sweatshirt as a blanket and a pile of magazines as a pillow.  And the food?  We had pizza at the bowling alley, but they still ordered two more pizzas in the middle of the night, finished up the peanut butter Cap'n Crunch and for some reason had the mayo out.

Sunday I hung out with Jen for a bit and then headed back home.  All in all, it was a lovely, relaxing weekend.

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well,

Gracey

WeeCap: May 14th and 15th

A busy weekend in which Gracey goes to a track meet, visits a flower garden and goes on a date. 

Sadly I only have pictures of the track meet outfit and the flower garden, but the date was just a brunch date and wasn't anything stellar (The outfit, I mean.  The date was fantastic).

Saturday, May 14th

Today I went to the track of a local college (Willamette University) to watch two of my nephews run 4 x 100 relays:

They both did extremely well with Dominic's team coming in first and Damian's coming in third.  I was definitely the proud auntie.  To watch them I wore my Real Straight jeans (GAP), a white tee (Target), olive jacket (Old Navy), leopard scarf (???) and gold flats (Kenneth Cole Reaction).

The Willamette University track is located practically in a park called Bush Park.  I walked through Bush Park on my way back to my car which I had parked at historic Deepwood Estates.  It was a lovely walk and because I didn't get a photo of my brunch date outfit from Sunday, I'll share some photos of the park and gardens with you all.

I hope everyone had an absolutely lovely weekend!

Gracey

WeeCap: April 17th and 18th

Saturday, April 17th

On Saturday, Alex and I went thrifting to try and find her something to wear for 80s prom.  We were out all day and unfortunately I didn't get a photo of what I was wearing, but it involved color and my black and silver flats.  The good news is that we found something for Alex to wear.  I can't wait to post pictures from prom for you guys.

Sunday, April 18th

On Sunday I cleaned my room, did some laundry and ran some errands.  It was actually pretty nice on Sunday, so I let my ankles out to play:

I wore my "regular" length Flirt skinnies (Old Navy), which are conveniently ankle length on my giant self, along with a grey tee (Target), grey cardi, raspberry belt (thrifted), yellow-stripe scarf (???) and my black and silver flats (Mossimo/Target).

I have no idea what I'm doing in these poses.  Showing off my giant man-hands?  Smirking?  Both?  I don't know, but all of my film looked like this, so I posted them.  You're welcome?

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that it was warm enough for some ankle-flashing.

Gracey

Weecap: April 2nd and 3rd

Out of the gate, I have to tell you this Weecap only contains one outfit, but I think it's a good one.  I went out Saturday for an oil change and to get a new phone, but otherwise was in most of the weekend battling a cold (darned airplanes).


Saturday, April 2nd

It was sunny most of the day Saturday and I took advantage with rolled cuffs and a short-sleeve trench:

I thrifted this coat a few weeks ago, but it hasn't been warm enough to wear it, but finally Saturday it was and I was thrilled.  It's such a pretty persimmon color and you know how much I love orange.  I love the coat so much, I actually built the rest of the outfit around it.  I paired it with a navy and white tunic (Old Navy), olive skinny jeans (Gap) and black and silver flats (Target).

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and thank you all for you kind comments on my Santa Fe photos.  I know I'm not the best photographer, but I wanted to at least share some of my experiences there.

Talk to you all tomorrow,

Gracey

Weecap: March 19th and 20th

A weekend in which Gracey finally finds a dye pot (hooray!) while thrifting, goes to a rather raucous happy hour with friends, and has a slumber party with Jenny and Lori.

Saturday, March 19th

I don't know why, but I was determined to wear a maxi dress today:

Like many of my outfit ideas, I have to wait for the right circumstances to wear them.  Maxi skirts/dress are not great for riding bikes in, so I wanted to wait for the weekend.   When the weather Saturday got up to about 50 degrees and no rain, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.  And I actually rather liked how it turned out.  I wore my grey/white striped maxi (Gap) under my chambray tunic (Old Navy).  Maxi dresses always feel a little bohemian to me, so I went heavy on the bangles including wood to pick up the brown belt (Old Navy) and boots (Kenneth Cole Reaction), and blue snake to pick up the chambray tunic, the scarf (H&M) and the clutch (thrifted).  Over the top I wore my knit blazer (J. Crew Factory).

I wore this Saturday when I went thrifting for a dye pot (again) and to happy hour with Jenny, Lori and friends.  My search for a pot was successful this time around; I finally found one for $4 at St. Vincent De Paul.  I was pretty excited to find it and may have even chortled.  I didn't have time to dye anything this weekend but I did cull out some items to dye once I have time.  I'll be sure to get before and after shots for you guys.


Sunday, March 20th

For Sunday I wore my Flirt skinny jeans (Old Navy), grey tee (Target), jersey cardigan (Old Navy), thrifted belt, faux-lace up boots (Kenneth Cole Reaction) and infinity scarf (Steve Madden via Macy's).

On Sunday we slept in after indulging in wine and chocolate and Cheetos and movies and the new Lady Gaga video during the slumber party.  It was, of course, fabulous good fun.  After we finally woke up, we headed to the mall to meet another friend and do a little shopping.  I got the wedge sandals I wanted and resisted the siren's call of some very cute peep toe boots.  They were cute, but I can't help but think that if it's cold enough to wear boots, I'd want my toes to be covered.  I'll probably come to terms with this contradiction as soon as they go out of style.

I hope everyone had as fabulous a weekend as I did!

Gracey