Attention Locals! Boutique Warehouse Sale This Weekend in Decatur

Lar and I are going home to Maryland for a few days so we'll miss this (boo!), but all you locals can attend and make me jealous about the bargains you will find. The sale is right in downtown Decatur so you can be green and take MARTA - woohoo!

CL

Eviva Closeout Sale

Our favorite shoe store, Eviva, is closing its doors this weekend. Lar and I have both bought our favorite pair of shoes there:


Lauren's Frye boots and my Dolce Vita heels.

We're bummed, but we wanted to make sure our local readers knew about Eviva's closeout sale starting tomorrow and ending on Saturday. All merchandise including display tables, shelves and props will be for sale. We'll be stopping by for a last Jeffrey Campbell/Frye/Dolce Vita hurrah. Hope to see you there!

CL

AsianCajun Seal of Approval

We've been huge fans of Heliotrope ever since it opened in Decatur a couple of years ago. For those of you who've never been, imagine your favorite gift shop and then multiply that by ten or better yet, check out Heliotrope's online store. Pretty fantastic, right?

So when the good folks over at Heliotrope offered to set up an AsianCajun discount page (for a limited time only!), we said, "Hell yes!" Actually, it was more of an inarticulate jumble of "what?!?! omg. yes please! Thank you!" And here's what they came up with:



We picked out our favorite items and now they are available for you all at a discount! (It's very recessionista friendly.)


Click on each of our favorite items and you can see what we love about them:


The AsianCajun shopping agents page will be up for the next couple of weeks, so make sure you check it out and take advantage of the discounts. Heliotrope ships worldwide so all of our lovely readers can part-take. Woohoo!

A big thank you to Julia, Tommy and Marc for making this happen!

CL

Sequins

I found this fantastic shirt at Vacation this weekend. It's an extra large and I have to roll up the sleeves, but I loved the colors and it was on sale for $15.


I just threw the top on over a pair of jeans so I could take a photo for this post, but I'll probably pair it with black leggings when I wear it out. Hopefully I'll have my bangs trimmed by then too!


Hope you all had a great weekend!

Check it: www.vacationisawesome.com

CL

Shout Out to KingFly

A big thank you to KiNG FLY for sending us these amazing hair do dads! Lauren and I have had a lot of fun playing around with them in our hair and I've determined why these bird wing-inspired hair clips are so fantastic:

1. The clips are made from recycled maps. I freakin' love maps. I'm serious. Put a map on anything and I'll take it. Give me a map and I'm entertained for hours.
2. Rachel P., the lovely creator of KiNG FLY, is a local Atlanta crafter - woot woot!
3. You can order these do dads through email or purchase them at my favorite Atlanta indie craft/ gallery boutique, Young Blood.
4. My magenta clip will go perfectly with the Alexander McQueen Target dress I'm coveting.



If you like these clips, check out the KiNG FLY bags and bangles on their blog.

CL

Shop Local: Evolve

Evolve Boutique in Emory Village (northeast Atlanta) is near and dear to my heart since it's the first boutique we ever featured on our blog. That was over a year and a half ago, so we figured it wouldn't seem redundant to do another post on such a great store.



Here are 3 reasons why we love Evolve:

1.) All the items in the store are by indie designers, local, earth-friendly, organic and/or re-purposed.
2.) Joyce, the owner (pictured above left), is the nicest person you'll ever meet.
3.) Joyce's dog (also pictured above left) is so sweet and greets every customer that walks in the door. Eat your heart out, Walmart.



We both left with some great purchases including an amazing ring Lauren picked up - we'll blog about that in an upcoming post.

CL

A Brief Christmas Roundup

We received a number of great gifts this Christmas. Below are just two of them.

Lauren bought me this Pantone mug from Heliotrope. I bet I just made all you graphic designers out there swoon - unless, of course, 3272 C is not to your liking.


The lovely ladies of Jac, a local Atlanta boutique we adore (we've been following their blog since the beginning), sent us these reusable shopping bags. I've been wanting some of these for a while. I love how they come in little small pouches so I can keep them in my purse and never have to use another plastic bag again. So, thank you dearest Jac!

The front of the card says "I'll be home for Christmas (And in therapy the day after)." Makes me smile every time I see it.

CL

Sunday Randomness

I love this homage to photoshop's screen display. It's made the rounds on the graphic design blogs (although I took the image from Siggelicious), but I thought some of you fashion bloggers/photoshop users would appreciate it :).



Two lovely looks from Face Hunter and Altamira NYC. I especially like the dress on the left - gorgeous material.



My weekend purchase: an owl sunglass holder from Heliotrope. The store had a fantastic 2nd year anniversary party last night. So to the peeps at Heliotrope, Happy Birthday!


CL

Fall in Little 5

Just a quick outfit pic for the weekend. Lauren took this picture of me in Little Five Points. We were out shopping for last minute Halloween costume accessories - along with hundreds of other people. For you non-Atlantans, Little Five Points is Halloween Central filled with vintage, secondhand and alternative stores. I think the weekend before Halloween is the neighborhood's busiest shopping weekend. Did anyone else venture to L5P this weekend?

I took an awesome outfit pic of Lar, but right when I clicked the camera button the batteries died - curses! So I hope you can make do with only one half of the AsianCajuns for this post.


Jacket, cardi and scarf: H&M, cream shirt (you can't really see it): Pecan Pie Coutour, Jeans: Tarjay, Boots: Naturalizer.

Hope you're all having a lovely autumn-ish weekend!

CL

Weekend Highlight

Going through the photos from this weekend made me realize that Lauren and I have had a pretty fantastic couple of days. There were the fun political activities (see previous post), then we enjoyed the great music, great company and great margaritas at The Wren's Nest concert (see this post), and on Friday we got to meet Daniel and Eric, two of the guys behind the Esperanza clothing line at Kaleidoscope Boutique.



We've been fans of Esperanza for some time (evidence here, here and here). And after meeting its creators (they're some of the nicest guys in Atlanta), we're even bigger fans. Needless to say, we added two more shirts to our personal Esperanza collection:


Images courtesy of www.esperanza-atl.com.

And since we haven't done an outfit post in a while, here's a breakdown of what we wore on Friday:

On Lauren: tank and bandeau top from American Apparel, shorts are an old pair of jeans from somewhere and Zara boots.
On me: sunglasses from Urban, scarf from H&M and tee from Madewell.

I'm sure our new Esperanza shirts will be showing up in future outfit posts, so stay tuned!

CL

Evening at Dresscodes

Thursday night we stopped by Dresscodes for the store's gallery opening of Devin Borden's Survival of the Fittest. The place was packed with lovely looking people wearing skinny jeans, rompers, oxfords, and other fashion forward items.

We ran into our favorite indie jeweler, June Shin (her jewelry is sold at Dresscodes). Of course I couldn't help but snatch up one of her Ganesha rings. I've been wearing it everyday since.


CL

Costume Party Atlanta

Just one more reason to love Drew Lewis: Jenny Phillipoff's Costume Party line. The dresses and tops remind me of something Carrie Bradshaw would wear - completely outlandish, but absolutely fabulous and not something that anyone else would have. I especially love the frilly, non-trendy details of each piece.



Here's what I'd wear with the dress above: small, simple black purse, black tube dress, and crazy black and gold platforms.


This pink dress is like the ultimate party dress. Maybe something Marie Antoinette would have worn in 2008 - or at least what Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette would have worn while eating Laduree macaroons.



I'd wear the pink dress with an itty, bitty clutch, pearl and gold jewelry, and pink shoes with bows on top.


Have a happy weekend!

PS: Thanks for all the great photo hosting tips.

CL

Day Trip to

This past month has been so busy that, not only have I not had much time to blog, but I've fallen far behind on posting images that I've taken from the beginning of the summer. Since this week is turning out to be as hectic as the previous three, it's a good opportunity for me to publish some old posts that I've been meaning to put on the blog for the past two months (including this post you're reading now).

Athens, GA is the quintessential college town and a perfect day trip from Atlanta. It has great, independently-owned shops and restaurants that are usually cheaper than their Atlanta equivalents and the city is home to an amazing music scene.



Agora (pictured above and below) is my absolute favorite shop. With over 50 different vintage dealers, I could spend a whole afternoon in there without getting bored. Hell would have frozen over the day I leave Agora empty-handed.



On my most recent trip to Agora I purchased a white 70s dress with black detailing, a cylindrical black and silver ring, and a pair of pink wayfarers for Lauren.



Every time I go to Athens I end up visiting with my boyfriend. He loves the coffee shops, but hates shopping (can't blame him). So, before the summer is up, I'm determined to take Lauren over to Athens for the day so we can do some serious shopping, coffee drinking, eating and music listening.

CL

Parish Atlanta

Parish (as in Louisianian county, not an ecclesiastical district) has become one of the most popular places to eat in Atlanta this summer. It's a restaurant/market that serves New Orleans inspired dishes and pastries. Being part Cajun, Lauren and I felt it was our duty to check out the place, so we dragged some friends with us one Sunday morning for the restaurant's deliciously rich brunch. The best part was the complimentary beignets - just like our mom makes them (from the Cafe du Monde beignet mixture).

Lauren has a huge sweet tooth. After a very filling brunch in the restaurant she promptly visited the market on the ground floor and order some more coffee and pastries.


The whole establishment reminds me of what an Anthropologie store would look like if it turned into a cafe: crumbling, exposed-brick walls, chic furniture, lots of greenery, quirky gifts, and antique signs.


I love how someone kissed the bum of the statue located in the middle of restaurant. And no organic market would be complete without its own reusable tote.


CL

I.C.E. and Globe

After having such a great time at last year's Indie Craft Experience (I.C.E.), we knew we couldn't pass it up this year. The 7th Annual I.C.E. took place a few weekends ago and its shameful that I'm just getting around to posting about it now because it was bigger and better than ever. There were over 100 tents (click here for a list and links of all the vendors), workshops, a craft library and live music.

The only drawback was the heat. Lauren and I got so hot we ran out of steam and didn't take too many pictures.


Cute stuffed octopus by fattycakes and the lovely hats by humblebumbleb.

Of course the heat didn't slow down our shopping! My great purchase of the day was this lovely "fascinator" hat (held in place by two hair pins) made by Brenda of Humblebumbleb. I love the feathers and retro feel of it, but the best part is that it was less than $20! I'm considering it the deal of the century. $12 for a well-made, handcrafted, fabulous hat. Are you jealous? No need to be - you can purchase a similar one from the Humblebumble website.

I took the images below right after I bought the hat, so my hair isn't styled for it. I'll probably sweep my bangs to one side and pull my hair back when I wear it for real.



After I.C.E. we hopped back on MARTA and stopped by The Globe restaurant in midtown for lunch.


We love the decor at The Globe. It has a sleek, modern look with its white walls and Eames chairs, but it also has a cozy feel to it with a huge back wall of books and a lounge area filled with coffee tables and couches. And our sandwiches were delicious!



CL

Indie Surf at Vacation*

Vacation* is a new thrift store that opened up right down the street from the new Urban Outfitters in Midtown/Highlands (Atlanta), and although this sounds slightly sacrilegious and hypocritical, I'd say skip UO and just stop by Vacation. It's cheaper and you won't see 50 other hipsters wearing the scarf you just bought.

Also it embodies this style that I'm gonna call Indie Surf. I'm not sure if others have called it that already and I'm just mooching (Google only produced some excellent music blogs, but nothing on fashion or style). I'll define it as a mix of indie, grunge, ethnic boho and beachy neon, embraced by bands like MGMT and embodied by indie kids who are tired of wearing just black and gray.



Even though I feel like I'm on the edge of too-old to be dressing like this daily, I'd like to attempt it on weekends. For those of you not in the Atlanta area or without a wallet full of cash (Vacation sadly does not yet have a credit card machine), I'm researching online indie surf attire options. Stay tuned...



LL

* We had been mistakingly called this store 'Have Love Will Travel,' which I thought was a mouthful but very poetic and appropriate, but, you know, 'Vacation' hits the spot too. Thanks for the tip, anon.

ROCKIT in Decatur

We had a great Saturday night enjoying live music on the square (with lots of wine and delicious food) and the ROCKIT boutique opening (with lots of wine and delicious food).

ROCKIT owners Mike (in the red shirt below) and J. (wearing the black vest below right) are some of the nicest guys in Decatur. Shopgirl Amelia (looking incredibly stylish in all white) told us that she reads our blog - yay!


The store has a great selection of clothes and accessories that won't break the bank. Lauren and I each got a pair of sunglasses for $10 and I snatched up a blue Alternative Apparel burnout tee.






CL

Springtime at Gypsy Camp

On our way to the Decatur Arts Festival last weekend, we made a quick stop at Gypsy Camp. It's only open a few times out of the year and located in an old stone building behind what use to be The Angel pub in Decatur.


Hat: Target, tank: H&M, dress: F21, bangles: Fred Flare, bag: Urban Outfitters.



Top: Old Navy, shorts: AA, Shoes: Psycho Sisters, Bag: Urban Outfitters.

CL

Weekend Recap

With 3 dance performances and the parents in town for a few days we jammed a lot into the weekend. Below are just a few of the highlights.

Our dance friends are ridiculously stylish. Not only can they drape Ikea sheets like pros (see earlier post), they're also true fashionistas off stage. Below Becca and Stacey prove my point. Becca is dressed in vintage finds and Stacey is head to toe in Target - and they both look fabulous! You can check out another dancer friend's style on her own blog: Hiking in Stilettos.


A weekend would not be complete without a few stops in some local boutiques. DressCodes is one of our favorites - great clothing and a super cute (and friendly) guard dog.


After the Saturday night performance we celebrated with dessert at Cakes & Ale - Decatur's newest restaurant. The pistachio and strawberry ice cream Baked Alaska (left) is the best I've had. The Phatty Cakes (right) are soft ginger cookies with a creme filling - perfect with a cup of coffee from a French press.


While stuffing our faces with Phatty Cakes, we met fellow blogger and local jeweler extraordinaire June Shin. More on that in another post!

To sum it up, a good time was had by all. I wouldn't mind having more weekends like this one.

CL

Bless Your Little Heart

Lauren and I attended the Pecan Pie Couture "Revival" charity fashion show last Sunday. Having missed the previous - and much talked about - Pecan Pie Couture shows, we were determined to make it this season. Clint Zeagler (PPC's founder and designer) seems to know everyone worth knowing in Atlanta and then gets them to put on an evening of entertainment that centers around his fashion line.

Mr. Zeaglor pictured above in front of the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus at the beginning of the show.

The theme of Sunday night's show was "Bless Your Little Heart," which in the South is the equivalent of saying "Screw you - with sugar on top." The models danced around on stage wearing Pecan Pie's popular all-natural dyed, screen-printed, southern-themed shirts and flouncy skirts. The Thin White Clouds, Dames Aflame, and Francine Reed (a Decatur/Atlanta favorite and pictured singing in the last image below) were just some of the evening's great entertainment.
Seeing as we AsianCajuns aren't top notch photographers, I recommend checking out Brent Walker's photos of the event on his website.

CL