I ponder things like moving, visits, & birthdays

Though I still have some time before I move, a friend will be visiting me for his birthday about a week from now and then *poof* just a few days after he goes I will leave Paris. So, the way I see it, I have a week to finish packing the bulk of my stuff. Otherwise I'll have to gleefully tell my friend "Happy Birthday, your helping me finish packing". Being the good friend that he is I'm sure he would not mind in the least but since I like to pretend that I am a good hostess, I'd want to avoid such situations.

Since I'm running out of time, I'm not going to force myself to worry about things like the ideaboards. Yes, I've only done two so far and I feel rather silly about skipping them already but what can I do?


A few days ago mister.boyfriend celebrated his birthday, my good friend will be celebrating his in little over a week, and my own will be just a few short days after I return to the USA. All this recent pondering on what to get them got me thinking what I'd wish for me.

I'll keep any corny thoughts to myself and stick to listing the material wants...

I rarely NEED anything.. but I can not hide from the fact that these heels from Re-mix Vintage Shoes would go perfectly with 98% of what I own. The lovely olive green color would definitely rid me of my "I always wear black shoes because they go with anything" funk.


I have not purchased anything from Delia*s since I was about 16 (gosh, I feel old) but this camera tee thrills me to no end. I can even name the models on it. Even from the tiny picture! I bet half the owners of this tee can not say the same...


(image from sewalot.com)
A sewing machine would be the most useful gift for me right now. I plan on starting my own business soon (or at least working for myself as a designer of exciting things) and I've been coming up with ideas galore. It all sounds great in my head with the exception that I need a sewing machine in order to execute many of my ideas.


Of course nobody is going to buy me $400 Fluevog's for my birthday. Nor do I expect them to. I'm just mentioning them since I've been lusting after such boots for quite sometime and I may just have to go rob a bank for my pretties.


With that said.. I hope that everyone is having a good weekend!

As my roommate makes out like a bandit...

Right now I'm in the middle of something like a moving slump. I'm so tired of sorting and making decisions, that I just want to chuck what remains into the trash and be done with it. With less than 20 days, at times I feel like I am skirting along the lines of panic but thankfully today I've officially finished going through everything that I had stashed in odd places (i.e. the dark recesses under my bed) and what remains seems slightly more manageable. I might even start packing the first suitcase tomorrow...

All the while my roommate has (gleefully) been the recipient of my purged clothes. Being around two sizes smaller than myself, she's the ideal candidate for the stuff that does not fit or fits rather unflatteringly on myself. Like a lovely red "wiggle" dress I thrifted 2 years ago. The flimsy material hung to every lump on my body making me look along the lines of a overcooked sausage. Of course my roommate looks awesome in it but I was still sad seeing the dress go no matter how much it looked like crap on me.

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Despite getting closer to the move, I'm still thrifting. Much less actively than a few months ago but I've still been indulging myself once a week. Strangely enough, even though when I buy something at a thrift obviously I'm acquiring one more item to move, I've found it has been a good motivation to keep on purging. Finding a really cute dress that fits well gives me the motivation to let go of a few items that look less than great on me.

Besides, I'm moving from Paris to the middle-of-nowhere. Who knows what thrifting will be like in my future?

(You can click on the photo for a large version.. It might make it easier to see the patterns on my recent finds....)

I love the seemingly "random" pocket on this dress...

This came with a matching fabric belt but I think it will look better with a contrasting belt...

There are thin stripes in the two white bands and it snaps up the front... I'm sure this was supposed to be a smock of sorts but I shall wear this as a dress regardless of its original intentions.

It does not look like much on the hanger. I passed by this about 6 times before I thought "what the heck" and grabbed it.. I'm glad I did since it looks much better on than flopping around on a hanger.

The print on this vintage shirt dress totally sold me! It hangs sort of strangely on the hanger but looks quite nice on...

The dresses were 3€ each and most were found on a rack of unloved housecoats/robes... Sorry I don't have pictures of me in them. I'm not feeling particularly photogenic right now.

The great purge 2008, part 3

What I will bring with me on my move may be littered with rules and hard decisions.. but today I realized that one group possessions rises above any such philosophies:

The cameras are totally going with me. Each and everyone of them.

Photo by: Roxanne

The great purge 2008, part 2b

Speaking of purging my books... I thought it might be worth mentioning that I also need to weed through the homeless books I always rescue when I see piles of junk on the side of the road.

Do I really need a Italian/French dictionary?

Considering that I am not a master of French nor do I know any Italian...

Did I ever need one??


(To keep myself from looking completely crazy.. The book was vintage with nice typography...)

The great purge 2008, part 2

The first Ikea bag filled with purged clothing..

Last time I posted about my upcoming move I mentioned the three general rules I'm trying to abide by in order to make this move as easy and efficient as possible. They were something along the lines of....

1. Don't move anything that I can live without
2. I might need it NOW but will I need it where I'm moving to?
3. If it costs more (or equal) to transport than I could buy that item again for, is it still worth moving?

For example... I'm not even going to bother taking any basic household items like dishes, pots, pans, etc. First off, I will be moving in with my man and he already has that sort stuff. Though arguably it may not be as visually appealing as my stuff (hehe), the United States does have magical places like Target and thrift stores. So I could show up at my new residence turn up my nose at what the man has and venture off on a buying spree for quite possibly a lot less than it is worth to bring what I may already own. We could say household goods falls under #2 - they already exist where I'm going to live next, and even #3 - I can replace everything easily and cheaply if needed.

When sorting through my book collection I also found #2 applied quite well. Books are a heavy and a general pain to move. My first instinct (I love books!!) was to toss them all into boxes and ship them. With #2 and a critical eye I realized that it is quite possible that I will no longer explicitly need some of my books. While trying to learn French I amassed many books on the language. I don't plan on forgetting what I've learned and I hope to continue practicing, but with no longer needing to know French for my daily life... Do I really need a large sum of books on the subject? This also works for any books I have on France or the city of Paris itself. Directories, guides and the like, are relevant while I'm still living here but won't be particularly useful once I'm no longer living here. Places constantly change and evolve, so books containing time sensitive information may no longer be relevant the next time I could need them again.

I've also been looking critically at any design reference books that I purchased while a student. Studying something that I never really studied before, I was hungry for ANYTHING on the subject. Three years later not only did I learn many new things, I also now have my own opinions, ideas, and style. Books that I pretty much know the subject matter and have not needed since my first (or second) year might not be of use to me anymore. Also knowing a lot more about the subject matter, some books might not contain information that is relevant to my own ideas or technique.

Moving is hard, especially if you are like me and have a tendency to develop strange nostalgic attachments to inanimate objects. It is easy to say "I don't need this" but it is hard to say that then actually get rid of it!

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Going through my stuff seems like a never ending ordeal and next time I chose to ramble about it, I think I'll discuss my new and exciting "One bag" policy that I have been applying to the sorting of my clothing.

and in other news.. I'm still actively thrifting (I'm sure I'll be thrifting up until the day before I leave Paris) and will post some of my recent finds tomorrow.

The great purge 2008, part 1

Photo by: Roxanne

With something like 40 days or so before I leave France and head back across the Atlantic, I am really starting to feel the pressure on what to do with my 3+ years worth of acquisitions. Shipping overseas is expensive and in all honesty do I really need everything I have now? No. With this in mind, I've been trying brainstorm and organize how I could objectively go through EVERYTHING and discard what I really don't need.

About five years ago my parents decided to move out of California after living in the house I called home for 20 years. I was going to be traveling in Europe during the move, so prior to my departure I went on a rather eclectic attempt to downsize years upon years of possessions. During my adolescence I stayed in the bedroom that had a rather large walk-in closet. That led to never really needing to get rid of anything. Though I considered my efforts to downsize to be admirable (I sold clothes mostly for .50 or $1 each and earned almost $400 at the family garage sale), after the move both myself and my parents found ourselves unpacking boxes of things that in hindsight, we did not really need.

With that lesson learned, I've come up with three general rules:

1. Don't move anything that I can live without
2. I might need it NOW but will I need it where I'm moving to?
3. If it costs more (or equal) to transport than I could buy that item again for, is it still worth moving?

Next post, I will delve deeper into my musings on applying the aforementioned rules to my purge.