JUNE

EDIT: I JUST REALIZED A BUNCHA MY LISTINGS ARE EXPIRING SOON SO I'M QUICKLY ADDING SOME MARKDOWNS BEFORE I HEAD OFF TO WORK. CHECK 'EM OUT! MOSTLY ON PAGE TWO OF MY SHOP. WWW.THE-LAUNDERETTE.COM

Rabbit Rabbit, everyone!

I cannot believe it's June already! My June is and isn't off to a great start.

The bad part is, my computer seems to be officially dead so I've been using Michael's Mac. Mac users, does The Launderette's pictures look really dark on your computer or is it just this one? I have a PC and so I've been editing photos for that. I don't really know what the next step is with my computer at this point so I haven't really processed not being able to get files off of my hard drive. Last time I had computer issues I was able to get everything off. Something to deal with this weekend I guess...

The good news is, the weather here is finally amazing after what I think was two weeks of constant cloudiness and rain. And my friend Jamie from back home moved up here for the summer to do an internship! I've had trouble meeting people in New York so now I can just piggyback on the people she'll meet.

Also just applied for a freelance job writing reviews on bars, clubs, restaurants for a website. It doesn't pay much but it sounds fun and would be some nice little supplemental income and is portfolio building and all that. I've been looking for freelance for a while so it would be a nice start. Here's hopin'!

Happy June!

LONGWEEKEND

get 15% off everything at the launderette now through tuesday the 29th with coupon code: LONGWEEKEND

tell your friends.

cherry bomb

This shirt is freaking crazy. So crazy in fact, that even people in the 70s couldn't wear it-- the tag is still attached! Neon. Cherries. Flowers. Pink. Purple. Red. There's a lot happening here. If you wanna be happenin' too you can check it out HERE at The Launderette.

cake

Before I get into cake, the food which is what this post is about, I just have to mention that if you make a Cake, the band Pandora station you will not regret it. So good. Especially if you like randomly hearing Third Eye Blind and singing along to it.

Now that that's out of the way. Cake! The food! My boyfriend's birthday was this past weekend on Cinco de Mayo and I decided to make a cake. I had seen this Stella McCartney inspired one online a whole bunch and wanted to try it out myself. Well, sort of. Mine was much less perfect/fancy looking and I knew that it would be from the start since I didn't wanna make such a big ass cake or buy that many different kindsa fruit.

(Tangent: I know that if you're reading this blog you probably totally accept the fact that a cake can be inspired by a designer's collection and probably think it's awesome, but when I wrote that sentence above, I couldn't help but step back and think how utterly ridiculous 'Stella McCartney inspired cake' sounds.)

If anyone doubted how cool a Stella McCartney cake could look. Here is the one that's been all over teh interwebz:

And here's the one I made:

I think it's pretty cute myself. I used Ina Garten's recipe for lemon cake. I halfed the recipe to make just one loaf cake and I didn't use her glaze or frosting that's included in the recipe, and instead make a cream cheese frosting with some lemon juice squeezed in. Then I topped it all (sort of) symmetical-like with limes, lemons, and mint. It was really good! I definitely recommend this recipe. The only problem was that I now have a buncha buttermilk left over that I'll probably never use.

Ps. Can we talk about how awesome it is that blogspot now lets you paste in pictures and they're BIG! I guess I was never that into my blog looking good that I wanted to figure out how to have big pictures, so now that it's easy, that's really great!

92nd Street Y

As I sit here watching Kim from Real Housewives of Atlanta rant about how she's never worn used clothes, I'm adding a couple listings to eBay. Strange how things happen together so perfectly sometimes. These are two items that I bought but ended up not being able to list on Etsy because they aren't vintage. (They're vintage inspired though :)

Long sleeve 92nd Street Y Basketball T-Shirt

Pink Tweed Blazer

And these two 1970s items are on the Etsy shop and were newly added this week:

Long Red, White, and Blue Dress

Black 100% Silk Blouse
(My boss kindly donated this one to me because she knew I had a shop!)

I hope everyone reading is having a great day. Mine started off kinda weird with me feeling really unmotivated and fatigued but I finally got going and went out for a look around a thrift store and bought a couple plants (spearmint and basil, if you're wondering) at the hardware store even though I went there just to buy a little bag of soil. I really don't think it's overrated that simply getting dressed just makes you feel better. Once I got into a dress and tights instead of a t-shirt and sweatpants, I felt a million times better. It might sound corny/dumb but it's true. 

It will also help when I move out of this 25th floor apartment with only 2 working elevators that are both painfully slow and shaky. Seriously have to wait 15 minutes or more somtimes. When you really just need to get out (something that should be easy), it can be really horrible and frustrating and make you want to just stay inside. If you're trying to run a vintage shop and need to go search for some-- or want to take pictures outside!!!--- this doesn't fly. I want my next apartment to be 3rd floor or lower, my motivation depends on it.

 

"I want that purple stuff"

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Blogspot went and got all weird on me. This happen to anyone else?? Hopefully it's cooler now... Time will tell 'cause this is just a quicky post. If anyone is interested in strechy purple shiny bike/swim shorts that were possibly once for a child, then today is your lucky day Person Who Likes Hyperspecific Stuff!

10 Points to Gryffindor whoever knows what the quote in my post title is from.

Here's the answer.

I just love how it says it so much. Pops into my head randomly sometimes.

Laced & Lace

I wasn't sure about this when I found it but once I put it on, whole 'nother story. The fit is sooo good and I imagine it would be for others as well since it's got a nice stretch to it. And it's velvet with a lace panel so that's just pretty damn cool anyway.

And it's by Esprit. Kids of the 90s, it's that brand that was around a lot that you couldn't pronounce. Anyone?? I remember a friend of mine had a shirt that said Esprit on it and she said that she wanted to cross out the 'E' and it would say spirit and she knew what that was so it would be better that way. 'Cept spirit isn't spelled like that and I'm only now realizing this through the telling of that story. I have NO idea why I remembered that. Childhood confusion over god/spirits perhaps? Great story, right?? Okay! Whatever! Go buy the skirt.

Speaking of nice stretch to them... (yay! transitions!) these pants by Style Stalker that I still reallllly want. I forget I want them for a couple of weeks and then remember again and search for them online and the few pairs I find are like $200. This keeps happening. If anyone knows where I can get these or similar for less money, please tell me! I chose to use this picture of Kim Kardashian wearing them because I think they look successfully not batshit crazy. These pants could easily go the batshit crazy or goth route but here they look calmed down which is how I would want to wear them. I like my crazy, for sure, but I like to take it with a side of normalcy.

New Items

And there's more where that came from.

I'll be adding more as the week goes on. Including an amazing velvet skirt with a sheer lace panel. It is really does not get any easier to not keep this stuff for myself.

www.the-launderette.com

(Ps. In the last pic you can sorta see these awesome new BCBG wedges I just got from TJMaxx. The cashier forgot to take off the security tag possibly 'cause she was distracting by me asking about the return policy-- I was feeling some serious buyer's remorse. Got home and saw this huge thing lighting up on the side of my shoe. Apparently it didn't work since no alarms went off... Guess I'll find some pliers or something.)

dye dye dye

I'm constantly going back and forth on whether I should grow out my naturally dark, dark brown hair or dye it lighter again. Usually this happens when I go in my super bright bathroom and I see just how evident my roots are. Then I remember I don't really care about obvious roots and go on with my life. I thought I was at least sort of firmly on the "grow it out" side of things but then I had to go and look at Beyonce's stupid Tumblr today.

By stupid I of course mean it's awesome but made me feel like my life isn't nearly as fun as it should be. And look at her hair!!

My hair is kinda like that right now in length and texture, meaning my curls have been calmer recently (might sound weird, but they have a mind of their own!) and it's been a while since I've straightened it, quite a feat for someone who used to straighten all. the. time. I'm really thinking about trying out this shade. Never gone that light before. I've always thought that if you keep the roots darker then you can have dark eyebrows with light hair and not have it look weird. Yes, that is totally a theory I came up with when I first dyed my hair since I have crazy dark eyebrows. But look! Beyonce did it too so it must be true!

Also today, I saw this picture which made me all second guess going blonde:

Big, awesome, dark hair. I wish mine would just get that long already!

The decision will probably come down to the fact that my boy and my roommate are both going out of town soon and I'll find myself alone at the apartment staring into the mirror with a bottle of Palty in my hand. Bordom brings about hair dying in my experience. And, if I go for Beyonce level lightness maybe I can finally add a little pink in soon!

First two pics from http://beyonce.tumblr.com (Seriously look at it. The pics are so fun and she's just so freakin' gorgeous especially in these without a ton of stage makeup and craziness.)

Second pic from www.mrkate.com

interwebz

Hey y'all! I'm back!

After being without internet for quite a while after the elusive and too-good-for-network-password having "Terry" moved out of my building (or so I think), my roommates and I decided to take the plunge and purchase internet for ourselves! Crazy!

And it comes with cable and home phone service because it's cheaper that way which totally makes sense.... EXCEPT IT DOESN'T AT ALL. Anyway, the self install kit arrived today and after my roommate and I figured out how to install the damn thing we were immediately sucked into two full hours of surfing the web, as it were, with a Khloe and Lamar marathon playing in the background. Only makes sense after going without internet for a couple weeks and then all of a sudden having both internet and cable. Gotta get our fill. Before I could pretty much only watch PBS cooking shows unless it was a Sunday which meant intense, focused effort was put into adjusting the antenna to watch football.

After realizing I had spent way too much time hearing about whether Lamar should go play basketball in Turkey (don't tell me you've never seen any Kardashian shows, you know what I'm talking about), I decided to go read because that would make me feel.... wholesome-r??

I'm reading Just Kids by Patti Smith right now. I mailed it to my mom for her birthday a few months ago and she gave it back to me to read because she already had a copy. So now I awkwardly have a book that says "Happy Birthday Mom! Seeya soon!" in the front. So far, it's really great. I just read the quote below that I am gonna try to remember about everytime I think something about my apartment is shitty.

After paying deposit on their new apartment:

"We had the entire second floor, with windows facing east and west, but its aggressively seedy condition was out of my range of experience. The wall were smeared with bloody and psychotic scribbling, the oven crammed with discarded syringes, and the refridgerator overrun with mold."

Just when this book had gotten me all romaticisin' about New York in the 60s.....

(BTW, Terry, if you're out there, you are amazing! I love that you didn't password protect. We all gotta share with each other in this crazy world. I would totally not password protect except that my service forces me too. And viruses and things like that. But its totally not a financial thing. Universal message of this story: Let's share, World!)

clueless

I got a gift certificate to Forever 21 for Christmas and although I've been there since, I haven't bought anything because nothing stood out to me. It's weird to think about back when I was in high school and my friends and I would just go to there for fun and buy a couple things with the money we made from our part-time jobs. I don't remember ever thinking very much about what I was buying. I've gotten a lot pickier since then and I feel like it's increased each year and even more recently. Even since moving to New York I've noticed that I still love looking around in stores, but I hardly ever buy anything. I think this is partially because after starting my vintage shop I feel that the clothing purchases I make should be for the store, not for me, and I also think shopping for the store has made me feel even more like I want the things I own to be unique.

All that profoundness was just to get back to the silliness that is:

I think I decided what I might spend my gift certificate on and it's this ridiculous/ridiculously awesome Clueless shirt. I was a big t-shirt fiend in my heyday (read: around age 14) and I think it's time I get back to my roots.

shop update

In addition to the shirt in the post below, I've also added the following items to the shop this week:

Candy Apple Blazer

Short Sleeved Sweater

Pastel Pink Skirt

Pendleton Skirt. This one isn't up yet, but will be soon

And, last, but not least: 80s Ski Vest!

Just showing the clothing in action y'all! What use is owning an online store if you can't take pictures of yourself fake skiing in your living room with wooden spoons?

awesomeshirt1

So... this shirt is supposed to be for the store, but after I tried it on... I mean, I just don't know. It's just so good. The file name for this picture is awesomeshirt1 if that says anything...

If you are interested in this shirt, you may or may not be able to find it at
http://www.the-launderette.com/

PS. When I went to cut out the shoulder pads, I found that they were ATTACHED WITH VELCRO!!! Best of both worlds. Pictured here without shoulder pads. In my opinion they got in the way of the flowy-ness.

Getting in Al Green's Pants

I'll start at the beginning.

Last night my boyfriend came home from work and was all excited because he got an Al Green's Greatest Hits record for five bucks earlier in the day. The album cover is pretty well known. It's the one were he's shirtless and has a sorta come-hithery look on his face.

Or, at least that how I would've thought of it before. You see, upon seeing this record up close and personal, I noticed how FREAKING AMAZING HIS PANTS ARE. White, lace up, floral embroidered awesomeness. I turned the cover over in hope that there would be a better picture of them.

Well, there wasn't really, but there were four pictures of him wearing the matching jacket! I'm less impressed with the jacket but it did let me get a better taste of what the pants are all about. I would totally wear those pants, the jacket not so much.

After this, I drank some Rolling Rock and repeatedly refreshed my Etsy pag---Sorry. Not relevant to the story.

Fast forward to this morning where I see that the Isabel Marant show pics have been posted online and what do I see.....

Holy guacamole! White, floral embroidered pants (with possible lacing on the sides)! They come in pink too.

And look at the one's Ms. Marant herself is wearing.

Pretty damn Al Green-ish. Will these catch on as a trend? Does this mean Forever21 and H&M, etc etc will make copies and I'll get my own? Either way, I love shit like this! (Coincidences, not embroirdered pants, though apparently I love those too.)

spring

I.Can't.Wait.For.Spring.

And this isn't normal for me. I always say Winter is my favorite season and then get sick of it, but this year has just been killing me. I think it's New York. This Winter is mild for New York-- as everyone keeps telling me since I wasn't here last year-- but, I think it's living on the 25th floor of a building with shitty elevators that take FOREVER to get downstairs that is making me feel all trapped and cold.

If you feel the same way as me here's some pictures of totally rad 60s/70s skateboarders to hold you over (Pat McGee and Tony Alva). They feel Spring-y! And, if you live in California or somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere then first, damn you! and second, still, here's some pictures.

siiiick

And while we're on the topic can I just say that Lords of Dogtown is like my top fashion awesomeness movie. Yes, it's true, to the point that I don't even care how loser that last sentence sounded.

I mean, look at Nikki Reed's character.

Mocassin boots? Mexican shirt? Cutoffs? Three of my favorite things. Awesome.

Keep It Simple

When I was a kid I remember going through the big JCPenney catalogs my grandma would get and circle all the stuff I liked. My grandma loved going shopping and we would ride the bus to the mall together and usually she would buy me clothes from JCPenney. That was where she had a store credit card so it only made sense. She never ordered from the catalog, but she always got the giant 500-page things to leaf through at home. JCPenney, like every other department store, was always about the big whatever-percent-off sales and doorbuster deals (don't really know what that means... busting down the doors to get to the deals?). Recently, I found out that they totally changed their ways and went against this idea all together, instead opting to have constant, simple prices. So, instead of a pair of pants being $19.99 with 20% off if you come before 11am on Presidents' Day and purchase a second pair of equal or lesser value, now, a pair of pants is simply $15 flat, no gimmicks. I never much cared for JCPenney after age, like, 13 when I started wanting to shop for myself, but I really do like this new way of operating.

And, after being linked to the site through Chictopia today, I found that they actually have a few pairs of pretty cool shoes in store.

The top ones clearly just look like YSL Tributes. (This isn't me blaming them. I'm just saying that's why I like them, especially in this gunmetal color. AND ONLY $30!) The middle ones I like cause of the color. And the last ones I just think look awesome and I want to replace my surprisingly resilient and comfortable, but beat up Forever21 ankle boots.

PS. This totally isn't sponsored (Pretty sure I don't get enough traffic for that). I just was kinda suprised I liked this stuff and really made me remember my grandma and her catalogs.

PPS. I found a sick vintage Pendleton skirt that I will be adding to the store soon!

I've never shopped at Zara before. I've seen things I've liked from Zara, but never bought anything since nothing really stood out to me as being something I just had to have. It's hard for me to spend more than $20 on anything from chain stores (including Forever 21, H&M, etc.) unless I really like it, just 'cause they aren't exactly unique. Which brings me to these two pieces I saw today at Zara that I really wanna save up to get now. Really just the jacket, which I can see myself wearing all the time when it gets warmer. Motorcycle style but in white with weird abstract floral print-- I'm willing to go more than $20 bucks, but at $89 I'll need to do some eBaying or sale watching 'cause I need this thing.

shipping

I now ship


ANYWHERE!!!!


http://www.the-launderette.com/





(Also, to celebrate my 23rd birthday which was yesterday, I am offering 23% off the entire shop with coupon code: HAPPY23)

let's go somewhere fancy

I'm loving these two intricate shorties from Marchesa. Of course there were a lot more dresses that were long floor sweepers and were even more intricate-- basically, that were a lot more dress-- but I really like these two. Maybe 'cause I feel like I could actually wear them if I ever went to some crazy ass realllllly fancy thing. Especially that red one. Oh man!