Bobby, I want your hat.

Image of www.cbc.ca/radio2/blog

I know the IT hat for the summer is a jaunty straw boater (a la Italian gondoliers or Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis), but I find Dylan's hat a little more crush worthy. Don't get me wrong. Gondoliers (and Ms. Garland) can croon like nobody's business, but their lyrics just aren't as good as Bobby's. Also, maybe we should do this double/triple belted thing he has going on too: top hat, belts, harmonica. You're good to go.

LL

Biker Shorts cont'd.

Shorts from AA, shirt and shoes from Target, scarf from H&M, rings, necklaces and earrings from Evolve Boutique, Agnes Scott College, Mingei, rummage sale.

LL

A Little Librarian-ish

It's been a very unusual May here in Atlanta weather-wise. It was cool enough last week to wear long sleeves without breaking a sweat - that's positively freezing by Atlanta standards! So I decided to take full advantage of the chill and attempt an Audrey Hepburn look with a classic white button up.

H&M shirt, F21 belt, AA skirt, Dolce Vita shoes from Eviva, secondhand bracelet.

I think this is my new favorite bracelet. I got it for $3 at the same jewelry sale Lar wrote about here.

And I'm sure all you Maira Kalman fans out there recognize the book I'm holding. You can probably tell by my writing that I bought the book just for the illustrations and not for a better understanding of writing composition and grammar - sorry, William Strunk Jr.

CL

Bacon in a Glass

I swear this will not turn into just a bacon-lovers blog. Oh wait. That actually sounds good, AsianCajuns Eatin' Bacon: our exploits of bacon eating all over town (and why we no longer fit into anything but kingsized sheets). Yum!

Well, potential muumuu-wearing bacon lovers or no, I have to give some background to the recent Food Porn post. That glistening, crispy, smokey bacon is from Leon's Full Service: a new favorite restaurant here in Decatur. I'm not sure if it will be fully embraced by hardcore foodies, but the ambience, terrific staff and great selection of libations will be embraced by all other people who enjoy a tipple and some tasty food.



My bf and I dashed into Leon's when we got caught in the rain Saturday and proceeded to eat our way through the afternoon: bacon in a glass served with a side of the best organic peanutbutter, a blackened-shrimp gyro (a little spicy for me, but a delight for him), a side of arugula with caramelized peanuts, delicious frittes with massaman curry dipping sauce, and our new favorite Belgian, Saison Dupont.

Nom, nom, nom, nommm... Muumuu schmuumuu. Sounds worth it to me!

LL

Pleather

Burn out tee from AA, pleather shorts thrifted, shoes are Jeffrey Campbell.

I picked up these pleather shorts a few weekends ago at a thrift store, though I'm pretty sure they have their origins from Forever21. I know for many these are a little gag-worthy, but give 'em a wash (yes, they have been washed and dried- and came out the same size and color- the joys of faux leather!) and they look just right with anything over-sized. Wear a crop-top or tight tank and you can look a little more lady-of-the-night than you intended.



A huge shout-out to (recent transplant) local Atlantan Hippie Frou Frou for the blog award.



You guys should definitely read her blog. You'll see. We're not just making up how awesome the oft-forgotten South is. Thanks, Hippie Frou Frou! Let's go eat some bacon at Leon's soon!


LL

Food Porn

I took these delicious, drool-worthy photos this weekend at one of my favorite Decatur restaurants. Locals, can you guess where? (Hint: yes that is bacon in a glass in that first photo).

Vegetarians, I hope the first photo doesn't offend. Everyone else, enjoy! Yum, yum!

LL

Sunday/Monday

I hope you guys all had a wonderful long weekend. In between the Arts Fest, I found time to stroll through my favorite cemetery (I swear, locals can attest, the Decatur Cemetery is downright pretty, gorgeous in fact), and do normal things like hang out with great friends and visit a favorite shop.



I picked up this backpack at Mingei (aforementioned favorite shop). It's made from a traditional, hand-embroidered Guatemalan shirt- and it was dirt cheap. I had one very similar (and much less authentic) when I was 11. I believe it was from the far away land of J.C.Penny. Nice, huh?



LL

Eddie's

We hope you guys are having an absolutely awesome holiday weekend. Before we go and eat our funnel cake and gulp our beer for the rest of the weekend, we wanted to leave you with one more post about the general terrific-ness of Decatur.

Last Monday Cath and I went to Eddie's for open mic night. Oh no no no, we don't sing! We wouldn't even submit our most hated enemies to that. But we do enjoy listening to talented locals belting it out.

Now Eddie's you have to understand, isn't your average bar-that-has-an-amateur's-night. It's where John Mayer got his start and Shawn Mullins likes to play. We're also home to Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland (and she also happened to go our alma mater), and the Indigo Girls.

On Monday no one well-known took the stage, but the talent just blew us away. Next time you are sitting at home with nothing to do on Monday night, give us a call and we'll meet up at Eddie's. You'll see what we mean.



Here are those necklaces again, and the outfit I wore to Eddie's below. Not a very Decatur outfit- kind of more Cobra Snake. It might need a little tweaking.

Happy Weekend, Everyone! Eat good. Be good.



Photos courtesy of Troy Cono, photographer/musician, and all around nice guy.

LL

Decatur Arts Festival • This Weekend!

This weekend Cath and I will be busy tramping around the Decatur Arts Festival. We'll stroll around the hundreds of artist tents while gulping cold beer and gobbling down funnel cake and gyros. Sounds pretty heavenly/fattening doesn't it?

We hope you guys can join us. If you are planning to be there, drop us a line and we'd love to meet up!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

LL

Inspired By: Little Ashes

I'm not a fan of Salvador Dalí's surrealist paintings (however I do love his lobster phone) and I don't get what all the fuss is about over Robert Pattinson, but I would like to see him as Dalí in Little Ashes this summer.


Pattinson as Dalí, Javier Beltrán as García Lorca with Pattinson and Marina Gatell as Margarita.

The film follows the close relationship between Dalí and Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. The photo below right is what the two men actually looked like:

Lorca and Dalí. Dalí with his famous 'stache.

It seems odd that they cast a Brit to play Dalí (and Luis Buñel) - especially someone who doesn't look at all like the artist. But I won't be going to see the film for its accuracy. I'm just going for the costumes and set design. A good storyline and convincing acting would just be bonus.

What would you call that ribbon-like tie on Pattinson in the photo below? He looks like a non-Spanish matador. I'm also a big fan of the three-piece suit (don't even get me started on my love of vests), which seems to be prominently featured in the film.


The room in the photos below looks like something that would be featured in Domino magazine (R.I.P.). Check out the awesome wallpaper!


The trailer makes the film look like a Spanish version of Brideshead Revisited. Who's with me? Anyone else looking forward to seeing Little Ashes? Anyone know why it's called Little Ashes?

Photos coutsey of the official movie site and The Guardian.

CL

Nash-Vegas

I'm wearing these post-trendy booties out until it gets to humid down here. I think they look a lot better with cut-offs than my ole flipflops will come June.

As for my preoccupation with Nash Vegas at the moment: Nashville is just one of the many cities in the south east I have yet to visit. So this past weekend I bought a men's tee with "Nashville" silk-screened across the front. It's a baby step/reminder of the necessary road trips that must happen this summer: windows rolled down, cicadas humming and gallons of iced sweet tea.

Where are you guys going this summer?


tee, Lucky Brand; shorts, old Gap jeans cut; blazer, thrifted; booties, Zara; earrings, June Shin

LL

Tonight! Decatur Fine Arts Exhibition Opening

So this weekend is the Decatur Arts Festival. What is that you say? Only the most important arts festival in the world (in our humble opinion)!

If you can't wait until Friday (when the festivities begin with the ArtWalk around Decatur), come to the Fine Arts Opening at the Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott. It's free and open to the public, and best of all there will be yummy nibbles and alcoholic beverages for those of age.

Here are the details:

May 19 • 5:15-7 pm, at the Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College.

If you miss tonight's opening, the show runs through May 31.

Here's a preview to wet your artistically inclined appetite:

Michael Bryant, Majestic Diner, Atlanta and Fox Theatre Atlanta, double exposure, in camera; shot with Holga (plastic toy camera).


Tracy Grahl, Circulate, Division, and Metamorphosis, watercolor.

LL

More Goodies for Good Causes

Purse (black leather): $2, metal choker: $3, Arabic coin earrings: $2, wooden-cross necklace: $1. I gave $8 dollars for this loot, and my generous, big spending goes entirely to the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center.

About twice a year, the Dekalb Rape Crisis Center holds a jewelry sale in downtown Decatur at the community bandstand. Nothing is over $3 dollars. I've gotten some pretty sweet deals in the past, and today was the day to secondhand shop again- in the name of a great cause (assisting victims of sexual assault and to educate the public on sexual crimes).

Locals, you can drop off your unwanted jewelry, bags and scarves, and the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center will sell it at their next sale come September. They don't keep any of the money because all the ladies running the show are volunteers. Pretty incredible, huh?

Non-locals, you can probably ship your unwanted goods to DRCC or you can donate to the cause here. DeKalb (pronounced dee-cab) is our county, and a very welcoming one at that. Next time you are in the south east, stop on by!



This is how I wore my two new necklaces. That sweater is another sweet Tracy Feith steal from Target. Full outfit shot to come.

LL

Tracy Feith, Where Have You Been All My Life?

So I know I just finished yapping about spending money and doing good at the same time (sweet, sweet Toms), but I disregarded that completely when I stumbled into Target Sunday afternoon.

I had completely given up on the recent GO International lines at Target, and wasn't paying proper attention to May's line by designer Tracy Feith (Mr. Feith, why do you not have a proper website? I would link you right here if you did. Thus furthers your mystique- see below).

Apart from this nonsensical dress (seriously, a bubble hem this short?), I also happily plunked down my credit card for a surfer cardi and another, more sensible, white dress with a zip down the front.

Dress above, not from GO International can be purchased here (by people with $800 spare change). That's Mr. Feith himself to the right of the dress.

If someone had told me about this surfer dude/designer who lives in Manhattan by way of Texas is doing Target's next line, I would have passed. If McQueen didn't cut it, no one will! Oooo how wrong I was!

I know Mrs. Obama wore a Tracy Feith concoction for the post-inaugural prayer service, and Carrie Bradshaw favored him, but his name gets lost in the millue of a million other smaller designers I will never be able to afford.



Well, cheers to you, Mr. Feith! I have since ransacked the racks of my local Target and scoured any fashion site that sells your real label (just to have a look-see), as I'm sure many a lady and gent will after encountering your delightful designs.

Alas, I want more! Who is the man behind these boldly patterned, whimsical designs? Is he the stateside version of Matthew Williamson? Also, his reputation as a surfer baffles me: Texas and Manhattan seem poor surfer lifestyle choices. And how does a former surfer design clothes that are worn by fashion icons and still not have a wikipedia page?! Anyone else know about Mr. Feith? If so, do tell.

Work-a-work

So after a couple of posts showing off Lar's never ending creativity, I thought I'd tone things down a bit and show you one of my everyday work outfits. Obviously nothing groundbreaking (and nothing as amazing as studded Toms - woot!), but I'm constantly racking my brain trying to figure out work appropriate wear for the warmer months that won't leave me sweating buckets at the office.


Cassius sunglasses from Moxsie.com, secondhand vest, H&M tank, Asos.com pencil skirt, heels from BR outlet.

I'm trying to figure out how to break out of the vest-and-tank-with-skirt uniform, but it just works so well for the summer months. Any suggestions, dear reader?

Tom the Stud

Everyone loves the idea of Toms (buy a pair and a pair goes to a child in need), but fashionistas deride their appearance almost as much as a pair of Crocs.

I bought my first pair of Toms a few years ago and wore them all summer (evidence here). I know they are a little casual looking and there's nothing particularly gasp-worthy about them, but their mission is pretty damn convincing.

I think once and a while, anyone with an interest in fashion ends up feeling a little frivolous- especially when you are eying that seventh pair of unnecessary studded platform while a little kid running around Ethiopia bare-foot can contract a disfiguring disease through her/his feet.

So, I bought another pair. And this time I studded the crap out of them. I don't know if they really are the level of these, but would it convince you to at least look twice at a pair of Toms?

I plan to wear these all summer with the ubiquitous cut-offs (and yes, those cycle shorts) and an oversized tee. And yeah, I'll feel a little bit better than if I had given in to those $200 wedges that don't give a damn thing to anyone else but moi and Sam Edelman.

LL

Chain Gang

D.I.Y.-ish. I took some chain and safety-pinned it to the sides of an 2-year old AA dress. I got the safety-pin chain idea from an editorial in a magazine I'm blanking on. The stylist stuck chains all over Alexander Wang tees and Balmain shoulder pads. I figured American Apparel could use the same treatment.
I topped it all off with a men's chambray shirt and thrifted white booties. Rather fulfilling fashion-wise and most importantly cheap, cheap, cheap!

Challenge to readers: how else to use safety pins on clothes you already have in your closet. Discuss.

LL

You Faker Part II

So Lauren got her Elizabeth and James-inspired ring at a local arts festival. I just bought one at Scott's Antiques this past weekend. The jeweler who made it said she was inspired by vintage cigar wrappers. My favorite bit is the lattice pattern she stamped on the metal. It makes it less like the Olsen twins' version, but I like it more because of it. 

Hurrah for unintentional, indie jeweler knock offs!

Cycle Shorts: The Summer Legging?

Some of you might have never been a fan of the legging in the winter, but they are like sweat pants to me. Sweat pants that you can wear out in public and still look decent. In fact, I don't own a pair of sweats because I can just as easily wear leggings out of the house and pretend I didn't just nap in them for 3 hours. A chilly day ensemble: leggings, oversized sweater, boots, a scarf- so comfortable, so easy, so chic (well, at least better than those sweats).

So come summer I'm usually stumped for comfortable leg wear. Shorts are fine, but they are a little constricting (especially when they chop you off right at the meatiest part of your thigh). Skirts are good, but sitting cross-legged at a picnic isn't an option. I propose the bicycle short.

Circa 1992, Cath and I would run around in magenta cycle shorts and over-sized tees tied in a side knot. I've eschewed the scrunchie and reebok hightops this go 'round, but it's essentially the same outfit and as comfortable as I remember it from nearly two decades ago.

I favor a huge platform shoe, long tee or tank with the short. For the more fearless, a cropped top could work (I personally like a little more coverage especially if your shoes are hooker-esque), and I think a sleek looking sandal sans heel would be chic for those of you in less need of a 5 inch boost.

What do you guys think? "Summer leggings" a go? Even if you are a little skeptical, you should try it. It's so gosh darned comfortable I think you'll be a convert. Also it's a little reprieve from this year's ubiquitous cut-offs trend.

Oh, and I'm not stopping at black. I just bought these understated summer leggings at AA this past weekend. Outfit post forthcoming.

LL

shirt from Urban, shorts from AA, shoes are Target (soon to be studded), jacket is H&M

Monday Night Inspiration

I think this man just stepped out of an E. M. Forster novel.
See the rest of Cecile Bartoletti's inspiring photographs here.

You Faker

The Elizabeth and James Knuckle ring is a bit ubiquitous now, I know. I thought I was over it until I saw this inexpensive version at the Inman Park Festival. It's by Karis Jewelry. No Olsen twin/Erin/Rumi endorsement, but it cost me $24. The AsianCajuns/Lee Twins/Lauren can totally endorse that! Yeehaw.

At the W

I spent last night at the W Hotel with my friend Gavin. You probably know him as Gavin DeGraw. When I say "spent last night", I mean 8-12pm, and we had a few other friends along (you know, say, an audience of people). We were celebrating the release of his CD Free with a concert, open bar, and goodie bags with his new album. You know Gav, he's pretty chill.

Most concerts I go to in Atlanta are at pretty low-key, indie, small-ish venues (The Earl, Variety Playhouse, Decatur CD, Criminal Records). Most concert-goers I see wear long bangs, skinny jeans, pleather jackets, shrunken cardigans etc. The W in Midtown is more boob-age (cleavage would be a euphemism), bleach-blondes, manis and pedis. Either way, I wouldn't be comfortable at a concert where I couldn't move for fear of boob slipage or undoing my side-swept bangs.

This AA dress with a convertible F21 vest is the most comfortable going-out outfit I've yet to invent. I can wear the vest loose or knotted and it makes the tightness of the dress less hoochie. And I know most of you are way over the fringe trend, but I can't let it go. I actually would advocate for fringe at concerts of any kind (see Zara booties). Attach it to your pleather jacket or wear it on your mini-halter dress, and the movement is awesome when you rock out to whomever. I bet Gavin and Arcade Fire would both appreciate the exuberance of your attire.

Gav, I know you're reading this, we should do it again sometime.

Thanks to my (non-imaginary) friends, Ali, Kelly and Mark! I had an incredible time!




LL

Jingle, Jingle

Cath got me this necklace at Mingei, one of our favorite local shops. I think it's from India and it has that awesome soft jingly sound. You can't do any sneaky sleuthing with it on, but it magically goes with almost everything in my closet. Add a breezy tunic, shorts and a margarita (on the rocks) in my hand, and I'm ready for my summer afternoon, post-work activities (these are basically nonexistent).



LL