animals on the wall

In a leisurely search for furniture and wall hangings to give personality to my new room, I've done my share of salivating online for art which I can in no way afford right now (which is not to say that they are unreasonably priced!). Some of my favorites:

Quail by Studio Lyon
Have you ever seen a Mama Quail leading a scurrying line of babies? Quails are awesome.

Forest Raccoon by intheforest

I'm always interested in what animals are 'pests' in different parts of the world. Raccoons are well known night trash diggers in the U.S. I remember an English friend saying the raccoon equivalent in the UK were foxes, and in Germany I vividly remember the fat little hedgehogs dodging my bike on the sidewalk late at night. Who goes scavenging in the dark where you live?

Swingers by boygirlparty
I am enjoying living at my new place with the two pups of my housemates, but deep down I really love cats the best. I think I might start volunteering soon at a cat rescue place near my house.

Koi Pond by arinfish
Every time I see koi, especially the fat old ones, I want to just slip under the water and hang out with them. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that in Japanese koi just means 'carp,' but that doesn't really detract from their otherworldly charm for me.

I just did a bit more room decorating yesterday, with specially selected postcards from my vast collection. When I lived in Germany I got very into collecting those free postcards from bars and the like, as well as buying a postcard from every new European city I'd visit. I did this again when I lived and traveled in Asia, and now back in California I have a very high stack of postcards that I, uhm, have nothing with which to do. My last year of college I covered an entire bedroom wall with them, but that was a lot of work, and so this time around I just selected my personal favorites for a brief collage. Do you have any favorite decorating tips or ideas?

Black Friday / Green Velvet

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is purportedly the biggest shopping day of the year. Even with the U.S. economy nearing (in?) a recession, I still imagine the malls are swamped today. Luckily for me I no longer shop at malls!

To celebrate the most hectic shopping day in the U.S., I will be playing board games with friends, and then heading to the Deerhunter show downtown tonight. But because I know many people will be shopping (and not always just for others!), here are a few beautiful dresses that would take you to all your holiday parties and back. Oh, those shades of green!

Green Vintage Velveteen Winter Dress from Pixel and Pen

Vintage 1950s 'Paper Doll Dress' from Beat Vintage

Vintage 1950s Green Velvet Party Dress from Grace Vintage

Finds: Day Dresses (#1 of Many)

It seems that some people covet shoes, slips or warm winter coats, but dresses will always be my first love. Here is just a small sampling from my favorites on etsy:

1950s Sundress with Matching Bolero from Bad Luck Betty Vintage
(fireworks! such a classy silhouette)

1950s Crepe Dress from Rarae Aves
(cutest Peter Pan collar, and a steal at just $12!)

1950s Day Dress from Winifred and Bance
(the best colors, and I love the V stripes on the bodice)

There is a pretty, light bird blue 1950s day dress that is currently "in the shop" for a small fix (I have never been much of a seamstress, and I trust delicate things only to professionals!) that I think I am deciding to give up and put in my shop. It is so classic, light and comfortable that I don't want to sell it, but as another vintage seller said on flickr recently, [paraphrase:] at some point I gotta face the facts--- my bust isn't getting any bigger. At least through the Internet there is hope of 'finding a good home' for it. If someone else can be happy with it, that will make me happy. I think satisfied customers are by far the best thing about selling vintage. It is probably really silly, but I get so happy when someone else is genuinely excited or pleased with something they've found through me. Yay vintage.