Top: Canvas Pillow by $34;  Bottom: printable banner by $5

The look: classic 1920's flapper cloche hats.  I've always thought they looked great while watching TCM (lol).  I just spotted some that have me wondering how I could wear them with my current wardrobe.  I think these below are absolutely stunning.

Hats by Behida Dolic at

Priced from $150- $450.
If the price is of concern to you, just note that it is a reflection of the amount of work and materials that goes into each of these pieces.  Designer, hand drapes and custom fits every hat.  It would definitely make a really special gift to yourself or to any hat lovers.

Received bag purchased from :

1-Beach cottage pillow cover by $30;  2- Folded note cards by $16;  3- trellis drum pendant by $145;  4- Kelly Wearstler Imperial trellis by $75;  5- Schumacher Summer Fret Palace Pillow by $100;  6- Chocolate brown & off white accent pillow cover by $30; 7-Black & White Trellis with yellow trim by $55;  8- Designer pillow cover by $60;  9- Lattice pattern pillow cover by $32;  10- Trina Turk for Schumacher designer fabric by $45

by

...followup to our blizzard weather, I could use this

by

Seller has 100% positive feedback with comments such as
"soft, great quality"
"very lovely"
"love love the scarf"

I will be taking one in every color please.  I'm gonna need all of them.  It's cold you know.

Lillie Rubin Beaded/Teardrop Wedding Gown by   $750

1930's navy blue waterfall swing dress by $286

1- gold button detail dress by $35;   2-  kiss me deadly 1950's dress by $65; 3- Bamboo jersey dress by   $58;  4- Navy blue bow pumps by   $37;  5- London blue topaz ring by $132;   6- cool passport invitation or save the date by ;  7- Quilted navy circle skirt by $40;   8- vintage inspired swimsuit by $134.99

and my fav navy blue combo: with WHITE

also gotta love the red peaking under #2.

1. Sapphire luxe neckscape scarf cowl necklace by $30.60 (currently on sale)
2. Custom sized party dress by   $98
3. Vintage 1940's blue velvet holiday dress by   $88
4. Designer fabric pillow cover by   $35
5. Navy blue white lace vintage maxi dress by   $54
6. Nautical shift dress by   $18
7. Sheath navy blue and white dress by   $28
8. Chacha cross body bag in modern navy tile by $45
9. I like naps tote bag by $9

courtesy NYTimes

Yesterday it was cute.  It was cute because I was home sitting in my bedroom wrapped in warm fleece, looking out window and saying "how lovely".  Today, it wasn't so cute.  Trying to make it into work in one piece, without slipping, falling and embarrassing myself, it wasn't so cute.  Realizing there were really no running trains, buses, planes or automobiles.  Trying to avoid being blinded by huge chunks of already fallen slow blowing straight into my eyes- yeah it just wasn't as cute anymore.

courtesy NYTimes

I'm not exactly certain how far out across the East Coast the blizzard hit, but here in NYC, I can say we got hit pretty bad.  A nice slap in face, wake up to reality after a very peaceful Christmas day.

Maybe if I did not have to get to work, maybe if I could have still been in bed wrapped in fleece, maybe if I had time to sled like the little kids and start snowball fights, it would have been cute.  But that was not the case, so I repeat- it wasn't so cute.

And on that note: I'm back.

Holiday card by

Holiday card by

I'll get right into it.  We arrived at Brooklyn Flea at One Hanson Place after a terribly unsatisfying brunch.  I won't tell you where, I'll just not talk about pancakes for a change.  First stop . We got to meet Melody Faith Baker- handmade jeweler and altogether really very nice lady.



I loved her presentation of earrings on rice and beans, and I actually ended up picking up a pair of earrings- the will make an appearance on here in the future- I'm sure.

Next was by Chika Michieli. I started noticing a trend, everyone was really nice. With fabrics from Japan, France, Italy and NY as well, she makes handmade headscarfs and bags. These look and feel even better in person.




Literally, next to Mercato, was Kate Durkin of .  I immediately recognized her pillows as I have had her store as one of my favorites for a minute now.  Definitely, stop by - so many great gift options there.



Time for a sugar break.  We made mad dash for .  You may have heard about them before as part of we recently had.  It was so nice to meet the Whimsy team.  Actually we only met Jenna but she was awesome.  We purchased a brownie and she was super sweet and threw in a bonus one for us.  I guess she could tell by looking at us that we needed some extra sugar.  Seriously, their brownies are the BUSINESS.  I got the ones I had were the espresso dulce de leche brownies.   I also really wanted their cool kitchen measurement poster, but living in NYC, I  sadly had to admit that I had no wall space.


Sugar rush in full force, we forged ahead, and I mean forged, it was packed.  It's so great that they are able to do this indoors, considering how cold it was on the outside, so I'm not complaining.

We stopped by to check out some signage: luv their stuff. The hubby wanted these for the study.



and self taught designer/printer Phil Sachs was next.  His unique prints really made me wish we had a bigger place (I know- how many times am I going to say this).  I do have to admit though, I unfortunately did not have the pleasure of talking to Sachs, the hubby did and found out that Phil formerly taught screen printing classes at Etsy's Brooklyn location before moving on to 3rd Ward.  I think I had somehow become distracted (translation lost) in the middle of some craziness somewhere.  What I can relay from their chat is that Phil was easygoing, and superfriendly to talk to.  I also think he staked the perfect corner for his set-up.  Definitely a fav.



Winding down we ran into Michelle Peglau of   kind of appropriate, considering we were headed back out into the cold.  I just know I need these in my life, a little cocoon of warmth. Our pics do her stuff no justice so stop by her store- for more:


Altogether, it made for a very fun afternoon. We took so many pictures of clothes, shoes, bags,  jewelry, too many to share today.  Maybe some other time.

Really excited, went to Brooklyn flea this Sunday, ran into tons of Etsy sellers, took way too many pictures, have to sort through all of them, but there should be a post coming soon.





Laters!

How did I miss this?
If you've been reading this for a minute, you'll realize I really love vintage COACH bags. To me, they hold up better than the newbies and they're simply classic.

Apparently, COACH decided to re-release the Original COACH collection that made them a household name:


The Originals are running from $168- $398


I think that's great and all, if you want your very own never been touched bag.  But, if you're anything like me you'll check out the great condition options you have on Etsy.  In fact, I just grabbed these two below.

Mahagony from ; British Tan from

Serial numbers provided for authentication

By   $74

1- Sabrina vintage leather purse by   $19  2- yellow leather clutch by $72;  3- vintage patent leather handbag by   $20;  4- hillside bag by $195;  5- retro patent leather purse by $28

I'll be giving away that I watch Rachel Zoe, but "I die".

Beautiful jewelry, on gorgeous model. Love the jewels but gotta add completely digging model's skin, makeup, hair.  It's all really well done.

Stop by jewelry designer shop for more.

Model: Mimi Tadesa

Pieces starting from $20 and up.

I'll try to let you guys know when I spot sales. I've tried trolling the forums to find out when and which store is having a SALE. It's not always easy to make your way through all that.

I initially wanted to list as many as I could find, but realized that could be quite taxing, so as soon as I spot one that I feel is worth sharing, I'll immediately post it up. Here's what I got:

sale until Christmas at

50% off many items in store at

Some others worth mentionning:

, you get 15% OFF by entering HOLIDAY at Checkout. They've got many other items also currently at reduced prices:

hand printed eco-friendly t-shirts

 Enter HOLIDAY20NOW at checkout, and you get 20% OFF at

chic and whimsical jewelry at

There is nothing wrong with eating on the subway or on the subway platform.



That is, if you're starving.

Call me prissy or whatever you may, but every time I would see someone eating on the train or even worse on the platform, I could not understand how they could do that.  I do have some unreasonable tendencies but I never felt this one was too much.  I'm all for pizza and street food and eating on the street corner, so I'm not 100% prude.

The train thing is different. Now, mind you, there's very little you can find appetizing about the train or platform.  Eating, is normally the last thing on my mind.  And by this I mean, not even a pack of chips- the most I would do is gum or maybe candy- (pop and you're done, not muching on entire bar of chocolate).  I don't know how I managed this long to not encounter that one variable: HUNGER, while taking the subway. I think it's because I rarely stay on the subway long enough.

Well, that all changed this past week- oh the sad hypocrisy and embarrasment.  I'm laughing at myself because I know some people may find it all too silly.  But I'm serious it's not silly to me.

I had a meeting somewhere far away which required LOOOONG subway ride.  It was not supposed to take  long, so I did not grab any breakfast before heading out.  Let's just say the meeting, at which I unfortunately could not sneak out for even a snack took FOREVER.  As soon, as I got out, I had a second meeting I was already uber late for, so I had to run.  I grabbed a pack of chips from the guy next to station, ran down stairs and unto platform.

NYC is great city, but there' nothing you can do about what comes with the package.  And this package comes with garbage ridden tracks and rats bigger than my head.  I could see them scurrying about, but all I could think was "GOODNESS ME, I AM STARVING".

I started wondering which would be worse. Eating right there on platform, or waiting to get into slightly more sanitized train car.  If I had any assurances that the train wasn't going to be packed so full and so tight, that my head's only resting place would be under a stranger's pits, I would have chosen the train.  But being all too familiar with the massive possibility that I would be grinding with a stranger, I didn't think that was a preferred position to try to snack.

So, I went ahead opened my pack of chips and went for it.  You must be thinking, is she crazy, it's not even a sandwich- but we all have our things, and I'm telling you, this was new ground for me.  I heard the train approaching and I started eating even faster, had to get most of it down before too late.  Boy, how fast those trains come when you don't want them to.  But need one, and it'll be a 20 minute wait.

I folded my bag and slipped it into my bag.  Got on train- surprise, the train was not packed at all, still a decent number of people- there probably would have been more sitting room, but for the one homeless man who had laid out across the entire seat section to sleep. (Note: It's really cold in city, so I think more homeless people are taking to train for warmth and to sleep, it's one of those tough things, you feel bad but part of you also wishes there was a better option for them- I know the shelters get overcrowded this time of year).

Finally, spotting a seat that would require minimum squeezage, I plopped down, thought about it for all of 2 seconds then pulled out my bag and finished the job.

MEMO TO SELF- If someone's eating on the train, it's not cos this is their dinner portion of dinner and a movie, they're probably just HUNGRY.