fitforafemme.com

Photo credit: Fancy Pants

HOWDY. I am going on week two of what was supposed to only be Spring Break in Boston, MA. After a week in a hotel, our dear friends kindly opened up their home to me in Jamaica Plain when it was evident that I needed to extend my stay. I somewhat dramatically sent the tomboy and petite back home on their scheduled Saturday flight over a week ago! (Don’t ask. Real estate is a strange and messy, often rather annoying world.)

WELCOME TO UNIFORM, a men’s boutique in Boston’s South End. 

Time has warped and bended and it still takes me a good moment to know which way is up when figuring out what time it is where depending upon whomever I am speaking with, or emailing, etc. and I don’t think I’ve ever been away from the tomboy for this long! I’m pulling my hair out, I can’t stand being away from my girls (and those wonky pups), but I’ve gotten so much done that I can’t honestly complain. Jamaica Plain is a lovely distraction, though, with its sweet little boutiques, incredible food, thrifting and vintage, and the super friendly, small town feel.

Alas, these photos are from an outstanding shop for men (and tomboys) in the South End. My friend Fancy (above) got an invite to a special event they were having yesterday – a tasting of expertly mixed St.-Germain cocktails and a storewide sale! Apparently, shops like Uniform are few and far between, and this one is really special.

It feels very Bay Area (read: Castro) to me, and M would love it – once we’re settled here this summer, I’ll have to bring her back to check it out! So many handsome goodies, and those cocktails were very refreshing on such a warm day. Once we were all shopped out, we snagged a table outside next door at Picco, where I had the best peanut butter chip ice cream ever. (Craving some right now, actually, but I’m pretty sure the cake batter ice cream at trusty old JP Licks will do for tonight.)

The forecast for the first week we were here called for cooler weather, and we packed accordingly. Of course, this weekend’s weather report predicted high temps, which gave me a perfectly legitimate excuse to take a day off from house-hunting to peruse JP’s thrift stores, vintage shops, and boutiques. This was the first day of warm weather (before I had the chance to shop), and the best I could do was a crisp, white, short-sleeved blouse by DKNY paired with James Jeans rolled up at the ankle. My vintage brogues, Asos bag and pony belt brought it all together, and I love the dainty touch of my citrine yellow cocktail ring dangling from a Madewell chain.

Photo credit: Fancy Pants

Photo credit: Fancy Pants

Last but certainly not least, how cool is this pirate kitty below? SO COOL. Such a cuddly and ferocious one-eyed beast. We didn’t know this one, but I’m having a blast snuggling up with the three gorgeous ragdoll cats my friends own. That’s all for now, folks. XOXO!

As good a way to start a new post as any, eh? Behold M and her Knob Creek flask. I have lost count of all our flasks. There are many. Some leather-bound, some traditional, some all aerodynamic, one bedazzled with skulls…I think the only addition ours needs is one vintage, slender and ladylike flask, for yours truly. I’d like it to be silver and embossed with an elegant design. Simple. 

Remember how I thought the Habitat for Humanity fiberglass incident would be the end of cargo pants for my beloved? Well, of course she ran out and got herself a new pair, and wore them tree-huntin’, naturally. She also wears them when she doesn’t feel like getting dressed. They’re like sweats or pajama pants, in her mind. Anytime she puts them on, it’s a silent act of defiance.

This saw was way more dangerous than it looks! Very sharp. Last night we met some friends of ours in Oakland at a place called Dogwood. It’s on the same block as the Fox Theater, just a lovely, dark little nook on a corner, and they specialize in cocktails and charcuterie. We loved the long, loose wooden community tables, and especially the big pheasants adorning the walls. Though the cocktail program could have used a bit of refinement, they were still pretty tasty, and their gin and bourbon selections extensive and pleasing. The grilled cheese I was fed was incredible. I daydreamed about it today! It was a fantastic night.

Here are the details:

Shirt, Calvin Klein
Puffer, Polo Ralph Lauren
Cargo Pants, Target
Boots, Mark Nason
Belt, H&M

Here are some lovey-dovey pic of the tomboy and I; she really wanted to take some by this plantbutchthingy plantbushthingy. Does anyone have any idea what it is? They’re not cattails and they’re not foxtails, I don’t think. They’re our favorite.

This morning I woke up (a bit fuzzy, I’ll admit) to the most wonderful early Christmas surprise – Eleven Objects, New York-based makers of exquisite, ultra-luxe detachable collars, picked me to win one of their special styles for Louis Exposure! It is easily the best thing I’ve ever won, I’m so honored and can’t wait to have it in my hot little hands!

Hope y’all are having delightful weekends, can you believe we’re already down to 12 days ’til Christmas? Bananas!

Love,

SBJ & M

This is going to be short and sweet, y’all. The tomboy and I are absolutely useless after our morning ride today. It was pretty amazing. M had a stubborn red pony named Rocky, and I rode what might have been their biggest horse there (and certainly the most spoiled one), Dance. We had ocean views, dove right into riding English in a muddy arena under clear blue skies – with riding crops and everything, and were given glasses of champagne upon dismount.

Related: I think I found a new riding school. ?

Afterward, we took a stroll through downtown Half Moon Bay to find some lunch. We settled on a cute little Italian place that ended up being a very pleasant surprise. Fantastic drinks and really well done food, and it was all on a limited brunch menu. M ended up drinking her first Bloody Mary, even though she’s in denial about it. The spiciness is what caught her eye, but let’s face it, this is TOTALLY a twist on a traditional Bloody Mary, don’t you think?

BRUNO’S HIGH TIDE (VERY HOT!) – Absolute pepper vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, roasted chipotle peppers, olive juice and worcestershire

We need some QT in a hot tub and little bourbon to rest our weary muscles! This was just something I threw on last week – vintage polka dot blouse, pleated black skirt from The Gap, and a pair of raspberry suede pumps by Franco Sarto. The marbled wooden cuff is from Pier One, and the nude friendship bracelet is from a vendor at Indie Mart. Fun and simple!

Please enjoy one of my most favorite songs of all time, Mini mini mini by Jacques Dutronc.

XOXO,

FFAF

Welcome to Hoarders!

Just kidding, it’s my mama’s obscenely suburban three-car garage. I guess really it’s the domain of my stepdad (typical), who has a tiny television constantly playing old black and white war movies on top of the (second) fridge – which is next to the giant freezer, because zombies, I don’t know – a car that doesn’t run (slug bug!), freaking traffic cones and moving boxes that haven’t been touched since they, well, moved. MAY OUR GARAGES NEVER LOOK LIKE THIS. But! I found a skateboard. So that’s cool.

We were in town for my brother’s birthday. He’s younger than I am, but this one marked the last year of his twenties, which means:

A. Christ, I’m getting older.
B. I get to say all sorts of rotten things to him about his 20s being over.
C. He’s my mother’s favorite, which means she’s cooking beef bourguignon. YES.

Being very kind older sisters, we fetched him some nice things to wear – a hip puffer vest thing, a natty bow tie that M will teach him how to tie and wear at Thanksgiving, they’ve decided – and a pretty pink champagne cake. I don’t know much about it except that it was light and delicious and soaked in champagne, and we got it at a local shop specializing in European desserts.

It was a nice day in San Francisco, which means nearly 90 degrees out where my family lives. Some days we love it, some days we don’t. M decided to shove a pair of swimming trunks into her messenger bag, in case she got too hot in her slacks (she did), and to continue haranguing my mother about how much more often we’d visit if she’d put a swimming pool into the backyard. (I do the same thing, except swap “swimming pool” with “pony”.) I took the opportunity to snag a new pair of sunglasses. These are big and fun and super girly, matched my dress, and were a total steal. I’m not usually a Hilfiger fan, but these are cute.

M bought me this dress sometime over the summer, at Therapy in the Mission. It’s Kensie and silk and really comfortable to wear. I feel like the t-shirt shape up top helps make it dressed up but not dressy. I could easily throw on Sheeba the belt and some nude snakeskin pumps to amp it up, or layer thick tights and a long cardigan with it for colder days, too. Mostly, I love the colors, all rich and earthy, or like a sunset.

Anyway, I totally skateboarded with a refreshing Pimm’s cup in my hand whilst wearing heels, and I didn’t fall down once. Um, I don’t recommend trying it at home, though. M was sure I’d end up with skinned knees and elbows, and a bump on my head. (Pfft.)

Dress: Kensie
Shoes: Novela
Watch: Citizen
Necklace: House of Harlow
Sunglasses: Tommy Hilfiger
Sequined Hair Clip: H&M

The earrings are a sweet little cluster of crystals that M got me last Christmas. Speaking of, I highly recommend the new She & Him Christmas album. Too soon? Don’t care! I’m also a little bit too in love with Best Coast for my own good, hence the title of this post.

XOXO,

FFAF

Bless the River Liffey! It’s such a tiny, wee river – where it crosses through the center of Dublin, anyway. It’s 75 miles long beginning in the Wicklow mountains (never been) and flows through three counties before letting out into the Irish Sea, and in this photo you can just see the lovely restored Ha’penny Bridge in the distance. It was built in 1816 and it’s fabulous. People put love locks on them and if I had any idea what those were at the time, I’d have done so with M!

Do you know what love locks are? I’ll save it for the next post.

Fancy crests on sundry lamp posts in Dublin, the tomboy and I on our last day (I swear I only wore this dress one day, y’all – it was a very long, FULL, magical day!), a neat little Troll Below? bit of street graffiti painted on one of the foot bridges, and some Sinead street art.

A silly day of shopping, eating, drinking and sightseeing à la the Viking duck tour! My one regret in Dublin (alright, there are two – I’d never stay in Temple Bar again) is not buying something from this incredible boutique called Bow. It was delicate, luxe, satiny bow time everywhere, gorgeous jewelry, cute little vintage dresses, the kind of boutique you walk into and sigh, “One of everything, please!” Next time! The viking duck tour was recommended by locals and we got to roar a lot at poor, innocent bystanders. (We even spotted a bona fide Waldo. Fun!) The weather was overcast but nice, and it was a really great way to see the parts of town that are tougher to get to on foot or by public transportation, while getting a bit of history and neat facts in as well.

Here’s M at The Porterhouse! On our way back from the Old Jameson Distillery we happened to walk by Koh, a modern Thai and Asian restaurant and cocktail lounge. It smelled like heaven and we’d been dying for spicy food since Scotland, so we made a reservation and headed over to this pub to kill some time. While I nursed a tasty Irish cider, M sampled some Irish beers that weren’t Guinness, and it rained a little and was lovely to watch from the third floor corner or wherever we were. (I love how these old Irish pubs have great big dark staircases going down and up and making it terrifically easy to get lost and explore.)

These pics are from an earlier night, when we joined our new friends for an outstanding dinner and drinks at Fallon & Byrne, a slow food restaurant with a kickass pre-theatre menu. Everything tasted delicious, the room was airy and huge, but lovely and homey at the same time – the perfect choice for a double date! After that we headed straight to Panti Bar across the Liffey for a drag show, where our minds were blown by insanely perfect (and hilarious) drag queens and I had the best strawberry watermelon cider of MY LIFE. Definitely pop by if you’re ever in Dublin, queers. It’s a must!

That’s it for now, kittens. Our Indian Summer is here and she’s a hot, testy, volatile bitch, so I am escaping into the cool embrace of our swimming pool, the new Vogue and my book club selection (hand-picked by M), Light Boxes. Ciao!

Various stops along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The People’s Library! Adam Smith! St. Giles! The Witchery! Parliament Square! Can y’all spot M somewhere in there? I can! This was our first time out in daylight exploring. We caught up on sleep and lingered over a traditional Scottish breakfast in bed, and then hit up a Starbucks (I know, I know) for sorely needed coffees. After all the scotch we’d had the night prior, tea wasn’t going to cut it.

Can you see that fancy girl playing the small harp there? We first saw her when we stepped out of our hotel. She was headed up the hill, carrying this giant case, all flushed and skirts rustling! We wondered where on earth she was off to, and then a little over an hour later we spied her here. Isn’t she darling? Once when we passed her, she playing a Beirut song at Parliament Square – I can’t for the life of me remember which one – but we stood there entranced until she finished, and then we gave her some money. It started to rain just after that. A lovely moment.

Whisky! Tartan! Whistan! Tarsky!

The Scotch Whisky Experience is worth the price of admission, and I’ll tell you why. First, they put you on a whisky barrel ride. It’s completely ridiculous, and there’s a whisky “spirit” who guides you through the process of making proper Scottish whiskies, but it’s still a WHISKY RIDE. Plus, it’s a great little primer for anyone unfamiliar with the process. As a bonus, it’s the sort of thing that’d never happen in the US, because guess what?! KIDS ARE TOTES ALLOWED! Scottish whisky babies for everyone!

Of course, we wanted to take a switch to the Italian brats who ended up in our tasting room, but that’s just bad luck. The next part of the tour walks you through a proper whisky tasting, you get acquainted with Scotland’s sundry regions for different sorts of whiskys, a bit of history, etc. The crown jewel I’ve posted here before, but it’s worth a command performance: the Diageo Claive Vidiz Scotch Whisky Collection, which contains nearly 3,500 bottles, many of which no amount of money can buy. It’s stunning. I still dream of it.

The tartan museum was lots of fun, if you ignore the fact that it’s an obvious tourist trap. It’s so wonderful to see all of the textiles and look at how they’re made, and of course they didn’t have any of the Watson tartan there in bolts, but we certainly tried.

After all of that we were naturally parched, so we popped into Whiski’s super modern (by comparison) sister spot, Whiski Rooms, just around the corner from the castle. (Everything is so absurdly close together and walking distance, it was great!) We each had a very well-done whisky cocktail and some bar snacks, and just enjoyed the people-watching on a pleasantly overcast day. Then I dragged M to St. Giles’ Cathedral, and she was pissed. We are neither of us church people, and she is particularly horrified by them, but I was interested in seeing it from a purely architectural and historical perspective, and I insisted.

She warned me that if I felt suddenly moved, religiously, or had some kind of spiritual experience, that she would walk out and wait for me outside. We’re atheists and she knows better, so I just had to roll my eyes and she reluctantly joined me inside. Whatever its purpose, it’s seen 900 turbulent years of humankind, and that’s kind of incredible.

The Thistle Chapel.

“The Order of the Thistle is Scotland’s great order of chivalry, and membership is considered to be one of the country’s highest honours. The Order is traditionally given to Scots or people of Scots ancestry, who have given distinguished service. Appointments are entirely in the personal gift of the Sovereign. The Thistle Chapel was designed by Robert Lorimer and finished in 1911. It contains stalls for the 16 knights, the Sovereign’s stall and two Royal stalls. The chapel contains a wealth of detail, both religious and heraldic, and much of it peculiarly Scottish, including angels playing bagpipes.”

I’M A GHOST!

Just kidding. Thistle was my favorite part. It was glorious and somber in there. So much handsome, glowing wood and pops of color in the stained glass and the crests and whatnot! I wished I could kick everybody out and lay reading and drinking tea and eating Millionaire’s shortbread on a spattering of thick velvet pillows with tassels for hours and hours, pausing occasionally to look at it all. It was beautiful.

Stained glass is always better in person, but I’ll post some anyway. The light in the cathedral was so lovely, somehow full of very soft, diffused light but very dark and mysterious as well. There were so many small doors and wings closed off to the public, and for a curious person like myself, those were the most tempting places, wondering what those walls have seen for so long, alas.

That’s the end of today’s tour, kids! Come back soon, because we’ll have spooky haunted walking tour shenanigans and lots and lots of Edinburgh Castle to take in.

Love,

FFAF

studying maps, very serious stuff

Welcome to Scotland, you dreamy queers!

Specifically, Edinburgh. You feel medieval Edinburgh the way some of us can know when a storm is in the air, even if your eyes are telling you that the sky is blue – your body tells you the truth. It’s incredible, the moment you first drink in the deafening, somber beauty and impossible age of Old Town. We were so instantly blown away by it.

That’s right, summer vacation recaps are back! Our home away from in Scotland was, quite fittingly, The Scotsman. Do you see the view of New Town from our room window? Amazing. Throw in the posh robes, slippers, and scotch-heavy minibar, and we were pleased as punch, even before we saw their insane underground swimming pool, with hot tubs, saunas and steam rooms:

Out of this world, no? It’s where the printing presses used to be. We also discovered that they’d bring you a delicious beverage at absolutely any hour you wished. As you might know, the actual Scotsman is a British newspaper published in Edinburgh since 1817, and the hotel housed the paper’s headquarters (with carrier pigeons and everything) for nearly a century until 2001, when it opened up to guests and quickly skyrocketed to become one of the world’s best hotels. Also, like much of Old Town, it’s famously haunted.

Confession: I LOVE SPOOKY HAUNTED STUFF. (More on that later, for our underground vault tour.)

We were famished when we arrived. Remember that last insanely full day in London? Well, we hopped into a car that took us to Gatwick, and popped over to Scotland on a quick flight. I don’t think it was more than an hour or so. We settled into our room and I’m sure didn’t make it out for dinner until 8PM or 9PM. We found The Albanach just around the corner, and enjoyed our first real Scottish meal. M ordered the lamb (at the top) and I had a beef stew (at the bottom). Doesn’t it look gorgeous? We each ordered a nice scotch and watched as night finally fell over the town.

We decided to take a stroll and explore. It wasn’t warm, but not very cold either, just right. There was still enough light that we felt perfectly safe wandering around.

Top left, New Town at dusk from Cockburn Street.
Center left, The Royal Mile.
Bottom left, The Scotsman at night.

Top right, Canongate Kirk (founded 1688 and used as a music venue at the Edinburgh Festival).
Bottom right, clock detail on the Royal Mile.

Tugging a reluctant M, I made a beeline into the Canongate Churchyard. Many notables have been buried here, for centuries and centuries. I’ve always loved cemeteries – I miss no longer living so near one – but this is without a doubt the oldest I’ve ever been in, and it was surreal.

We’d have stayed longer but Edinburgh has these terribly creepy birds that fly around at dusk and the sound they make is as abrasive and unnerving as a witch’s cackle. (MANY points to anyone who can tell us what those birds are.) We got all spooked and found ourselves a nice, cozy bar.

Holyrood 9A was a hip little place with a younger crowd and slick details, like the bronzed stag and candlelit mantelpiece. We moved on to Whiski on the Royal Mile, a multi-award winning bar. There was a band there playing traditional Scottish folk music and they were really amazing, the atmosphere was lively and there wasn’t an inch on the walls that was boring to look at. We stayed until they stopped playing for the night and then made our way (so reluctantly!) home.

Next up: Scotch whisky and Scottish tartan museums, and the gorgeous 12th century St. Giles’ Cathedral.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Love,

FFAF

Sorry, can’t talk. At, like, a castle thing.