The fate of the ideaboard idea and coming soon....

You know it's a slow day at the Deersign Manor when I do three posts in one day.

Since I started posting to my blog again part of me wondered if I should return to doing the ideaboards. It was a great brain teaser of sorts for me and for the few that I actually blogged I liked the idea of sharing my visions with the world. The only hitch: assembling the boards on a weekly basis was rather time consuming for me. With life and my freelance work, I do not feel that I could keep up with such things if it had to adhere to a strict schedule.

I do love reading a blog with regular content and I'd rather not post just about the fact that I do indeed wear clothing. So I've brainstormed and decided that I will add two regular features to this blog. Both are things that I feel I can keep up with since it pretty much focuses on things I regularly do anyways.

Not much more will be said now. Just keep your eye out Tuesdays and Fridays!

(top photo by yours truly)

Better late than never.....

Hello again persons of the interweb!

I've been quite busy these past few weeks. A good friend visited shortly before I left Paris which left me torn between having a good time and packing. The move went reasonably well (considering the obvious ripples that always occur during such events and a few last minute freak-outs) but in the end.. while I arrived slightly deranged and very much jet lagged in Massachusetts, I still possessed a decent portion of my sanity. Huzzah!

My last days in Paris and the first weeks in my new local have breezed by so quickly, blogging seemed to get lost in the midst of all the action and time spent with mister.boyfriend who I had not seen for four months.

Amongst the action, last week I turned 28. Mister.boyfriend took me to a lovely butterfly conservatory where the butterflies pretty much ignored me but one in particular took a great liking to mister.boyfriend.

Vintage dress: Ebay
Shoes: Monoprix
Bag: Berksha

It drives me crazy that on my birthday I left the house with my hair actually "done" (a rarity for me) and the humidity quickly destroyed my efforts. argh!

The vintage cotton dress I am wearing was something I obtained on Ebay a few years ago. It's a funny item because the cotton fabric and comfy shape makes me think "day dress" but the v-neckline and pockets are trimmed with black velvet and the bodice has a smattering of rhinestones makes me think "evening". Unfortunately I'll have to soon replace the velvet trim since it has started flake off.

I had planned on wearing a cute pair of heels that I had obtained just a few days before leaving Paris but when I was told where we would be going I opted for flats.

On the way back from the conservatory we stopped by a antique store but I'll save that bit for a post on my various finds. I've been searching far and wide for bits to not only store my stuff but to make this house look more slightly more aesthetic and less "a single dude lives here".

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!

Thriftyness, updates, etc.

People of earth,

I'm not completely gone, I've just been ill for several days and recently got back into the swing of things. It's amazing how behind you can become on absolutely EVERYTHING after spending 5 days in bed. So I'll get back to your blogs and my own blogging soon enough!

In the meantime... I managed to sneak off to a thrift while out running errands and found a few things. While trying to capture everything, the sun was setting fast and I didn't get a chance to document the entire haul but here are three selections.

I have a obnoxiously red vintage trench already but I've been in the market for one in a more subdued color. The color of this trench that I got for 3€ is a funny one to photograph. In "regular" light it's a medium toned earthy yellow and in low light it could almost pass for more of a deep khaki color. I described it to my boyfriend as a "1970's yellow" after he was discussing painting what would be my room and me saying that I want it to be exactly the same color as the trench I just thrifted. The cut of the coat is not the grandest (it's more of a rectangle and I have a thing for more swingy shapes on my coats) but that's the beautiful thing about trenches. You can belt them so they have more shape...

The buttons are rather bland as well. So once I'm back in the US, I think I'll replace them with brown wood ones (and possibly add a brown sash as well?).


If you look at my love of plaid from a psychological point of view... It might have something to do with experiencing adolescence during the 90's. Unfortunately in retail and thrifts I generally come across plaid items that are better suited for cold weather. So it thrilled me to find this vintage cotton dress. The fabric makes it ideal for summer and I think the colors would help it be wearable during colder months (with a bit of layering).


A long time ago (and I mean 1997? 1998?) I made myself vow to a "no vintage polyester" policy. Well, it was more like a "no synthetics in general" policy. Of course on a rare occasion that rule has been broken but I'm quite proud of the fact that a huge percentage of my vintage consists of natural fabrics. With this dress I crossed the fabric boundaries and accepted this little polyester number into my wardrobe. The selling points? The neck ties into a bow! It still has it's belt!

and the real clincher...

In my still slightly ill mind, that had just spent several days bed ridden and watching VAST amounts of Star Trek, I thought "HOLY CRAP! THAT PATTERN LOOKS LIKE SPACE!". Before you run off thinking I've completely lost it, just look at the pattern. The graduated hued deep blue with the white spots could be the fabric of space littered with stars and the swirly blue bits could represent wormholes or comets or other interesting stellar bits.

and it's blue! Mr. Spock wears blue!

Knowing all that.. Not buying that dress would have been highly illogical.

Update: Mission Statement 170708

Above: An early conceptual illustration for a class project
Below: Style board for a "Steampunk" parlor

From the beginning I've been tossing around ideas for regular design related features. I recognize that there exists MANY blogs with emphasis on specifically interior or product design and many more about design in general. Quite a few of those blogs have an eye towards the latest and greatest. I'm not one to snub trends but knowing that such things are well covered elsewhere I've decided to focus more on inspiration from what could be seen as individual preferences regardless of what is "now".

The first weekly feature will consist of a mood and style board centered around a specific theme. It may sounds like a common design blog feature but as mentioned I'm thinking less "Orange and gray are the colors for Autumn" and more "This week is a room inspired by Dolly Parton". I plan on submitting a style idea for your perusal every Friday.

For the second, I'd like to do a post weekly on my love for inanimate objects and the designers who create them. While this feature is no way unique, I hope I can come up with people and objects that may have never came to your attention for before.

In short... I'm trying to put the past several years devoted to studying design to good use!

With that said, the first "ideaboard" will be posted tomorrow and now I'm off to locate wherever my camera charger is hiding ;)