I have never been that sewing-inclined. The following is usually the extent of my abilities: cutting the sleeves off of things.


I cannot follow patterns, add numbers, and I don't know any other way to stitch than I do already. I barely have enough patience to wait for the oven to preheat. If that. So this, my friends, is a feat of freaking genius for me. Observe: I found this dress at savers and loved it EXCEPT that it was full length. Barf all over that shit.


And then the sky opened up, I picked up some pins and a needle and thread, and low and behold, I sewed A HEM. BY MYSELF. AND IT LOOKS NORMAL... CUTE EVEN.


I'm awesome.

9.27.08, originally uploaded by allison the valiant.

I work all weekend. While Alex is out of town having fun with his college buddies. What was I thinking when I volunteered for this? Oh well, I get paid overtime...

So that I would be comfortable, I wore:

black roll-up sleeve blouse (which you can't see, sorry) from Urban
cardigan from Target
jeans from H&M
minnetonka moccasins!
scarf and handbag are vintage
also, you can probably see my polo keychain that I got second-hand for 10 cents! heartssssss

GUESS WHAT. JUST GUESS.



I wonder why I got Minneapoline business cards in the mail? Huh... It's as if I was suppsed to use them, or hand them out or something...? THATS RIGHT. I am going to be the guest blogger for the Minneapoline for the WHOLE MONTH OF OCTOBER!!!

Woo-hoo!

And October is just so close that I can almost feeeel the cute fall clothes dancing around out there! I can't wait.

PS. Can I borrow someone's camera? I'm totally serious. Angie?

Wow, it must have been one crazy week last week for me not to have posted at alls! Well, I did have a show open at the Center for Independent Artists. Which meant that there was framing to be done, labels to print, artist statements to tweak, and gallery walls to paint. I am glad it is finally up.


It was also a tough week at work. I have been really busy keeping up with the start of the season. We had Peter Pan open on the Cargill Stage last weekend, and Madeline and the Gypsies open on the main stage on Friday (so that means that I went to those). See reviews of them here, here, and here for Peter Pan; and here (ouch) and here for Madeline.

And then last night was the Ivey Awards. The Ivey's are basically the regional version of the Tony Awards, and one of the biggest galas in Minneapolis every year, I can assure you. Emma and I got to dress up, go to the awards show at the State Theatre and the after-party at the IDS center and Mission American Kitchen. (I hope you don't mind that I embed this, Emma! I love the music you put to it!)




Although we felt pretty special and fancy for going, and seeing all of our favorite local celebrities, we were disappointed in the after party. Drinks were $10, there was no where to sit, and the entertainment sucked (really awful dance-team-esque performance to Chicago? I think not so classy.

Either way we had fun, I think. Even though the CTC itself didn't get any awards. More updates soon, promise.

Does anyone else make checklists like this religiously? Or is this a little much, even for me?



I think that this particular list has come out of the fact that I just plain hate the cold. Maybe I am just trying to inject some hope in that the winter is looming just ahead of us in the future, or maybe I am just a list freak? Either way, I am proud of the simple fact that when I do make a list, I tend to follow it. And check things off in an quick and efficient manner. Maybe it is not even the list at all. Maybe it is just that I like to write things.

I've been thinking of photographing all of my lists, from planners and notebooks and sketchbooks. It would be interesting to look back at something like that, and to maybe draw similarities between lists. Hm.

ps. i added a bunch of links to my sidebar today. lots of photographers, anthony bourdain (why not), and a couple of random blogs. check 'em out!

9.13.08 day, originally uploaded by avallant.

Rainy day here in Minneapolis, going to go grab some chinese for lunch with my baby and then drop off my postcards at cafe's and galleries.

Highwaisted jeans are secondhand from Savers!
tank and cardigan from H&M
Handbag and heart locket necklace are vintage
shoes are Steve Madden

*MY NEW GLASSES ARE FINALLY HERE!!*

Okay, let's start over...

Hello my name is Alli, and I am NOT addicted to clothes I swear. Well, maybe I am but it will lull soon and I will not be able to stop posting about furniture and design again. Just you wait. But for now, in an effort to try and quell an insatiable pain within me to get up and leave the gallery and GO BUY MORE SHOES, I will introduce you to another addiction: craigslist. Many of you might suspect that I may spend hours, and HOURS looking at furniture on craigslist. You are right. I can't help but look at every single posting that is posted in a day (with a picture, mind you, let's not get ridiculous) for fear that I might miss something good. In actuality, I could edit out a lot of really bad crap by filtering my searches a little more, but no. Of course not.

But all of this craziness usually turns out for the better, aside from some unintended late nights and missed boyfriend connections. For instance, these cuties:



Alex and I have been looking for the perfect pair of matching nightstands since we moved in (Alex is still using crusty old moving boxes, ew), and to no avail. Nothing. Nowhere seems to have what we are looking for (something small-ish, with only one drawer or so, lower to the ground because our bed is lower to the ground, and in good condition if they are vintage). But today I saw these while doing my usual lunch-time-skimming AND I LOVE THEM. Of course, I wish they were white. But either way. I am going to go look at them this weekend, I think. They had just better be in perfect condition for $125, or else I am going to ask if she will go lower. Serious.

But I think that my all-time favorite craigslist score has to be these dining room chairs, below.



They are made by a vintage 50's-60's brand called Heywood-Wakefield. They are very highly sought after. And we got eight for $100!!! They came from a graphic designer's studio in the Carlton Artist Lofts who was in some kind of hurry to get them out of his space. So they were a bit beat up, but I had a great time cleaning and polishing the finish and making them my babies, as you will see! And they look so great!

Before and After (although that chair on the left still has that poop stain):



They all had tape on the backs with "rm 101" or similar, so I am guessing they came from a school and that they were labeled to stay in the rooms. They were a bitch to get off. A seriously fat bitch (too far?).



And these are the magic solutions I used to clean them so beautifully. I read about them on Apartment Therapy and highly, highly recommend them for all of your future basic hard-wood polishing needs. Plus, the wax polish stuff on the right is citrus-scented! Nice!



My next endeavor will probably be either a) finding a new knob for our trash-end-table, or b) hemming the living room curtains because they are about a mile too long... stay tuned peeps.

9.8.08, originally uploaded by avallant.

Today is a vintage kind of day. The kind of day for eye exams and errands, and possibly some football game with my boyfriend later tonight.

Dress is secondhand
boots, belt and handbag all from blacklist vintage, my all-time favorite!
turtleneck and tights are probably from Target?

I swear that I will post a not-fashion post soon. I have been meaning to tackle our dresser and post it.

I've been on the search for the perfect pair of unique glasses frames ever since last year, when I picked up these babies for $3 at a flea market.


I knew I wanted to put my prescription lenses in them, but I also knew that I didn't want to wear cat-eye glasses every day. They're just too much. I think I would probably only wear them for special occasions. So I finally kicked my search into high gear a couple of weeks ago when Emma got hers and I became jealous (this time, I'm copying you! sort of). But I looked at Via's Vintage, which has lots of great frames for both men and women, but not what I was looking for. And Tatters, which is a lovely vintage clothing store, but really doesn't have much for frames. They usually have more for men than for women. Plus, I did a lot of online shopping. But the problem with that is, I can't try them on. So I liked a lot of them and found some REALLY great vintage frame sites, but I didn't have the guts to make a purchase on faith.

So I decided to try again today, and went back to Via's and finally Visionary Optical in uptown, which actually might carry more vintage frames than new, even against Emma's warnings not to go cuz they are a-spendles... and this is what I found!

Via's (ps: keep in mind that all of these look a little bigger on me in the pictures than they actually were because cell phone cameras are really wide angle. although some of them actually were pretty big, I admit. like the second ones down):





These ones above are adorable and I was tempted to get them, but I wanted to get away from black frames, because that is what I currently have. But I also wanted something really neutral that would go with everything, and I could wear them everyday (so I thought something clear or white - the opposite of black - would be great.


Visionary (getting closer to what I want, because they had LOTS to choose from and a very helpful - and cute - sales lady):



Are you guys ready for THE WINNERS?!? The ones below I bought, for $90, so not bad. AND they are actually NOT vintage, go figure. But she said that they are an older discontinued style, probably from the 90's, which I am cool with because they are PERFECT. They are clear, square, and light plastic, which will alleviate my migraines when I get them. The heavy metal ones (heavy metal frames, man) I have now only aggravate my headaches.


YAY! I get them in a week or so (because I have to get an updated prescription eye exam first)!!

So I was going through some of my wardrobe remix posts to look at comments, and I just had to share this little gem with you.


At first, I was a little offended because I mean, that's like telling someone "hey, you should lose some weight, you could look good then." And I consider myself pretty healthy, even if those are some pretty freaking flattering shorts. But then I went to their page and... HILARIOUS. I can't tell if they're being serious, or if this is just some sort of Flickr prank they are playing to get attention. Seriously, two separate pictures of BRISKET?!?

And if you think that's over-the-top, check out these comments, too.


I am not sure how I feel about that, dude.