thrifting

Friday again already! i cant even believe it, i feel like september is just around the corner as my calender books itself up, and i have said it once and i will say it again, this year is insane, its ticking by way to quick for me to keep up!
today i went op shopping or thrift shopping as its called here in america. this was a serious closet obsession back home but i hadn't gotten into it over here as i was busy marveling at all the other new stores. but it was time, so after much research of places to checkout i ended up finding a simple old salvation army, which isn't really fair to call simple, its popular but it really is amazing! this one was in port chester NY and was three stories. i could believe my eyes, feeling right at home i rushed in grabbing a trolley and asking "what time does this place close tonight" and so delighted to hear 7pm. my poor new friend that i dragged along didnt see this coming, not quite the second hand fanatic like myself, she wasnt so keen. almost 3 hours and about 70 outfits later ( with no changing room, lets just say i flashed a bunch of seedy people way too many times before hiding in the stair well to strip) i met back up with her. after trawling through so much wonderful old junk my senses were buzzing. and i could go back for more tomorrow, but instead im going to wait until Wednesday when everything is 50% off! i really do love these places so much, the stories and history of these pieces small or large, creepy or boring- i dont even want to know them but i love knowing there is a story. that these clothes and items were once loved by someone else and are now been passed on to me to cherish. and cherish i will! $40 later and i had a cute white throw over dress, an amazing 80's checkers maxi dress, perfect high waisted light denim shorts, black high waited jeans which i came home and chopped up (whilst splitting open three of my finger, which is making typing this quite hard work with the tips of my fingers all taped up), a cute long floral skirt ( also cut up), a sweet old vintage black dress with sweet flowers randomly scattered, and a few crop singlets. oh how i love them all! i have a busy weekend ahead which im sure some of my new loves will take part in, along with my camera, so im sure over the next week i will post some of these pics for you.

back home my friends often use to ask my how i could go into any op shop any day and always find something. today as i paced the floors i thought to myself some personal tips that i never even realized i followed and think this could just be the key, so here they are. let me know what you think....
- know what style,colours, cuts, lengths suit your figure
- its all about the fabric, when scalping browse fabrics types and textures more so then the item
- over sized is good!
- always remember with a little snip here and there some thing a little nana-ish can soon be something cute and flirty
- online window shopping at your favorite stores is never a waste of time! find looks you love then remake them for under $5. example i am loving the crop top craze in store at the moment, but $60 for a cut in half singlet is just not ok by me. today i got three original little beauties that i didn't even need to cut for $3.
- shoes shoes shoes, always check the shoes, specially if you have little feet like mine, all the goodies are still there ;)
- scrap material makes great headbands and scarves
- dig deep. start at one end of the store and make a little routine of where you have and have not gone. the good things are always at the bottom or wedged between the ugly so make all the clothes move shuffling it all up and not missing a beat. browsing at a thrift store is boring the completely pointless!

enjoy :) xx

pretty pictures from the prettiest park in town

fallen in love with bunny on the moon...again

theres a sweet little lady that you have just got to meet. her style is so sweeeet and her photos are those you want to keep! But i gotta say my favourite thing is each month she posts some songs to sing!

a new playlist each month and me oh my i cant get enough. every time i go download them with complete faith that if she likes it, i will be in love with it by the end of the week....and you know 90% of the time the first time i hear it im going ohhhhh i love this song!!! she seems to hunt out all those amazing songs you hear on movies, or sitcoms or on the good adverts. all the one hit wonders you love but do nothing about. she has them! so appreciative of this young girl and her amazing talents!

http://annaamphigorously.blogspot.com/

two parts

one: i realized the other day that we are going into Fall after summer, not spring like i assumed. i know that may sound silly since you generally learn the order of the season when your 5. but im confused as everything seems to be opposite and my day to day life is fighting instinct. instinct told me around september-November will be spring like at home. but lucky for me it will really be Fall! this makes me beyond excited! back home autumn is depressing because it means the end of summer, which i live for in every way. but this year miserable august will be beautiful! i love it cause i love the summer we are having now but i wont be so sad when its over cause we will have fall. im even excited about a white winter. one of the many reasons is because of my special visitor Vickie which, no matter how good life is already, will get better when she is here! So heres five things i cant wait for this Fall..
- the babies will be talking and running around. you have no idea how adorable and how much fun this will be. those little blobs are the cutest thing in my world. they are growing into little people now and its so much fun to watch!
- PHOTOGRAPHY! i live in New England which is considered the place to be in the fall. there's trees everywhere you look, and no evergreen like home, its going to be so beautiful i taping my camera to my forehead!
- The fashion. Fall is my most favourite season to dress for. you still have some colour from summer and you get to play with lots of layers and deep neutral colours. ahhhhhhh perfect. ooo and boots, tights, hats, and shirts eeeppppp how exciting it will be!
- im going on holiday to Vail in colorado which will be such a great experience. i hear its beautiful!
- the apples picking day. my next door neighbour has an apple orchard and one weekend in the fall he opens it up to the public and puts on a big day where families come from miles to pick apples with big cane baskets. cant wait to get some awesome pics that day too.

two:
for a while i have been admiring a beautiful stylish spanish guy called Juan Cocco on Lookbook and today whilst checking him out and been completely inspired i found out that his sister is on there too and is almost even cuter! these two are amazing and i love their cute relationship. you should def check them out!
http://lookbook.nu/user/4551-Juan-C
http://lookbook.nu/user/32722-Mariana-A

Socks that make your heart sing...

today we went over to the neighbours house, aka the big boss, and oh me oh my how dreamy! it was the kind of place many of us drool over! a cute old brick home with black shutters, ivy laced all over and a old thatched roof, amazing huge art sculptures were hiding in the beautiful gardens around every corner! an apple orchard out the front, greenhouses to the side and a pool + tennis court out the back. i would have killed to nosey around inside!!! but my favourite part would have to be the huge adorable delicious vege garden! zucchini, eggplant, artichokes, tomatoes, snow peas, broccoli ahhh the list could go on and on it was magical with pretty flowers all around the edges and old crooked wooden fences boxing it in. so jealous. i dream of having a back lawn full of furry rabbits, free chickens, scrummy fresh veges and fruit trees! magic.....

on another note heres a little outfit that makes me feel like a 5 year old, due to the socks i wore when i was 5 im sure, but also so very happy! xx

family.

Kendall falling alseep in grandma Kathy's arms

Yesterday I was watching leslie and mike with their babies. As I watched them I pulled out my laptop and wrote “The warmth of a mothers touch to your skin. Her embrace and the way her gaze holds you is the epitome of love. The warmth and understanding of pure safety and the belief of her protection surrounding you for a life time is one of the most beautiful and cruel things in this life. the day you realise she is only human is painful and disappointing. Then the day you realize she can be taking from you, is the first day of forever that you live in fear of it.
A smile from a father offered to his child is something that will send tingles all through your body. It will make you weep out of happiness. I think one thing that we strive for the most in our lives is a fathers approval. Making him proud. Been a success for you but just as much for him. No matter how good or bad the relationship between you in the past and future. Wining this love from him is everything in which we seek.
Real love is being together not because it works but because you can see no other way of life. That real love is probably never easy or perfect. Nothing falls into place nicely, that’s why love is so poetical- its full of tragedy. And likewise tragedy is full of love."
This is what I saw when I looked at that little family. How beautiful is that? and how lucky am i to be apart of not only my own perfect family but one like this too.

Washington pictures

Washington was so great. its alot older and cuter then i thought. i think i keep expecting cities to be like home except bigger, but they never are, im really starting to see how young nz really is. washington is very cute, sweet and family orientated. i loved the old vintage houses that i could easily mistake for doll houses. each little room is so cluttered with love and cherished stories. i was told that most of the "washington styled houses are from world war two, they were built for that purpose but now days families refurbish them for cute family homes." the history behind them and the sweet structure itself made me want to live in DC purely for the houses. the city itself is nice and clean and easy to get around. i did all the tourist monuments although skipped most of the museums, im not proud to admit it but i really dont care for museums at all. i think the idea of them is great but personally, after weakly trying to get into a few i found myself much happier reading under a tree with the sun on my back, feeling the grass under my feet and getting frights from the hyper squirrels running around me. the people there are so nice and kind i felt like making friends with everyone i passed and it left you going home on the train with that buzzy little feeling in your chest that maybe people are good after all. hope you like the pics, i have about a million so was hard to chose....















some thoughts right now:
- Neutral Milk Hotel and Death Cab for Cutie just jumped their way up into my most favorite bands ever
- I am falling in love with Bright Eyes and Brand New all over again and wonder how i can make Jesse Lacey marry me
- I really must get to a top shop sometime soon
- wondering what 93 degrees is in whatever we measured temperature in in nz?
- and i am very excited about fourth of July this weekend, spending the day at the Greenwich Beach soaking up some precious salt water and watching She & Him this weekend in the city.

what are you thinking?