A good friend of mine had party to celebrate her golden birthday, and the theme was of course, GOLDEN. I wore gold tights, and I made Alex a golden bowtie a la my glitter shoes and iphone case! It turned out, as you can see, friggen adorable. Here are some instax photos, also demonstrating my new lipstick. Paired with the jean jacket and velvet mini-dress, I felt very 90's grunge. In a good way? I dont know, you tell me.

Those are gold coins Ben is nibbling on, btw. IF YOU DIDNT GET THE JOKE OK.

When I saw this spring shoot by Aubin & Wills on Miss Moss, I absolutely fell in love. Not only are the images beautiful, but I love the narrative aspect to the pictures, it tells such a sweet, vivid story about this couple, Irina & Alex. I've been working on a project (and I use that term loosely) about Alex and I and have wanting to get better at more formal portraiture. This shoot is very inspirational for me.

Though it's not equally represented on this blog, in addition to loving fashion, thrifting, homewares, photography and design, I am a total (though I hate the word) foodie. There's a part of me that cannot (and most times, will not) go to the same bar or restaurant twice because I just know that there are so many great places I left left on my list to try! There are new places opening up all the time, and getting great reviews too. The Minneapolis/St Paul restaurant scene really is booming, if you can believe such a thing in this dreadful economy.

I have been dreaming (no really, in my actual dreams too) of the day when the empty building on 26th and Nicollet was going to finally replace Thom Pham's AZIA with some new places to wine and dine. Every day I drive by there on my way home from work, and I cant even tell you the amount of gossip I've shared about the topic with Heavy Table, my coworkers and the owners of nearby restaurants Jasmine Deli and The Bad Waitress.

Calamari with spicy Harissa dressing!

Finally, Eat Street Social (owned by the same peeps as Northeast Social) announced their opening night, and my good friend Ben (also a foodie) and I decided we had to check it out! I dont have very good pictures of the experience (I rarely do when it comes to food!), but suffice it to say, it was wonderful. And it was so heart-warming to see the place packed, on opening night, with photographers taking peoples pictures, and everyone seeming so jazzed that this place is finally here. Every hour, the bartenders rang a large bell and cheersed everyone! It was so festive, and it goes perfectly with the "social house" aspect. It is definitely going to be the new meeting place in the Whittier area after a show at CTC, an opening at the MIA or after class at MCAD.

They give you the extra drink from the shaker in a little caraffe! This was an egg creme of some sort.

There is a really great in-depth description and review by DeRusha here (glowing, in fact). Go there and read all about it. It also talks about Pat's Tap and the virtues of great neighborhood pubs, newly opened in South Minneapolis, which I also really loved (they have skee-ball!).

In addition to Eat Street Social, a Dunn Brothers + Provisions opened this summer in the anemone sushi space, and just the other day, I saw them installing a mysterious new bright orange AZIA Market Restaurant + Bar sign in the old AZIA space on the corner. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! AND WHEN WILL IT BE HERE??

Stay Tuned.

I think everyone should have clothing swaps. I can't believe I had never participated in one until this past fall, with some of my new blogger friends. Well, aside from a few close girlfriends asking if we wanted something before they got rid of it, that is... I always look at my old clothes and accessories as kind of boring and yuk. But when brought to the swap, girls were grabbing for them! One blogger's trash is another blogger's treasure, I guess! And that is definitely true of the new items I was lucky enough to take home at the last one we did, in January. I have been wearing my new items non-stop!

Red Gingham shirt: vintage, swapped

Last time, the majority of items I ended up grabbing originally belonged to Nora, or Maria, I found out. This time, most of the things I brought home were my best lady Emma's, and I didnt even know it at the time! (There's a super cute photo of Emma and I over on her blog, in some of our swapped items, btw. ISNT IT SUCH A CUTE PHOTO?! Best ladies <3 <3 <3) Also, if one the items below was yours, let me know. It is super fun to know who's clothing I'm giving a new life to.

Vintage Fair Isle cardigan, skinny double-wrap belt and basic black dress: all swapped

Equestrian Print flannel shirt: vintage, swapped

Can you tell I cant wait for summer?!?! White cotton blouse and leather bag: swapped

These amazing green cuffed shorts with belt: swapped!

Here are the things I got from the swap. Remixed! And how I've worn them so far! This was a lot of fun to go through and think about different ways to wear my new pieces. I feel like I get into a sort of a style rut most of the time, since I dont have any time to put a lot of thought into my outfits. Especially in the mornings before work. I know I know, I think I grabbed a bit too much this time, the point is to GET RID of clothes, isnt it?!? Oh well... I'm in love with all of these pieces. Like, to bits. Especially that pink H&M dress. I knew I would want to wear it for Valentine's Day! However, I dont think it will be warm enough to go tights-less tonight, like I was hoping it would be. So tights-version it is. I'll let you know what Alex and I end up doing on our Valentines date, we dont really have any plans yet, but I think its way more fun to wing it sometimes and see what happens.

Pink H&M dress (and white cotton blouse again): swapped

Happy Valentines Day everyone, have a great night!
xoxo

Do you remember when I said that I was going to start eating meat again? Well here is the first recipe of 2012 that I made with... pork chops in it! I generally only eat real meat burgers and sometimes bacon, and tend not to want any other type of meat-things (unless it is sort of hidden in something, like chili). But Lunds had a two-for one sale on some meat type things awhile ago, and I jumped at the chance (meat is expensive, y'all!). Now, of course I let the chops sit in the freezer until we literally had nothing else to cook in the house (except, well mac' n cheese doesn't count, right?). But tonight it is snowing (a miracle for MN!) and something warm and hearty sounded just right for dinner. I made a dish that my mom used to make literally once a week for us growing up, but with a few differences. And Holy Cow, pork chops and rice is so easy people! You literally just throw some stuff in a baking pan and cook it in the oven for an hour. BAM, a delicious dinner.

This recipe called for cream of mushroom soup, and since we didn't have a can (who wants to run to the grocery store when its snowing and cold outside? Not me.) I winged it and used what the almighty internets suggested as an alternative, a cup of sour cream. That also sounds a lot healthier to me, dont you agree? For flavorings, I added in a lonely can of leafy green kale I had sitting around, and to spice it up, some cayenne and cumin (yummmyyyy). Also, the obligatory giant spoonful of garlic. I STILL have a can of minced garlic in our fridge from the CSA this summer... yep, we got a TON of garlic! I also used chicken broth instead of water. Much more flavorful.

And let me tell you folks, this was the most amazing, most comforting, most delicious meal for a cold winter's night. We cracked open a bottle of red, and I was pretty much ready for bed. Sweet sweet food (meat) coma. 

And here's what I wore to the aforementioned happy hour with the blogger ladies. I had a great time seeing you all! (Yes, I will get around to hanging the Ryan Hughes painting sitting on the floor at some point. Do you like my rotating "stuff in the picture" theme? For months after Halloween, I had a giant skeleton hanging out there on the moldings. We affectionately call him Scully.)

hat: H&M mens

blazer: vintage, thrifted

shirt: Brooks Brothers, thrifted

jeans: J.Crew, on clearance

suede booties: Jessica Simpson, DSW

cocktail ring: vintage, Blacklist Vintage

You guys,

My hideous pile of thrifted/vintaged/swapped stuff has grown (I have a spot for that kind of thing, right inside the door to our apartment), and I can't wait to show them off. Actually, I walk by the pile everyday when I get home from work, and I really just cant wait to wear all of them! I've even got some outfit inspiration pins for ideas. I have just been so busy lately, so much so that in the evenings I just dont want to do anything that requires getting up off of my warm spot on the couch. Which is too bad, because it really has been so nice outside lately (40s?!?). However, tonight I'm going out to a girls happy hour at Sweeney's, so I cant wait for that! Maybe I'll even whip out some new swapped items for the occasion. We'll see...

I know I've been a lazy blogger, but I will hopefully be back to my regularly-scheduled posting soon. Heart you guys! Oh and if you're new here, I really suggest you follow me on Bloglovin (I just cant sing the praises enough)!