fitforafemme.com

Is it seriously May already? I’ve been busy getting an exciting event off the ground with Miss Rep, buried under real estate – we fought and won our first bidding war ever just yesterday - and of course dealing with the things that come with wrapping up a school year for the petite and trying to get started packing for a move that’s bearing down on us like a freight train.

These photos are actually from March 31st, plus my hair’s been cut for two weeks and it’s kind of funny to post these – there’s just one more in the queue before we get to the new style – I barely recognize myself! When my hairstylist stepped back to check out her work, she put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, “I can’t even IMAGINE you with long hair anymore! It’s crazy!” and it is, a little bit. All the light and painted bits have been hacked away for the most part.

These printed jeans were one of those “I’m not sure about this, but I’m doing it anyway” Target purchases (I know you know what I’m talking about). Since then I’ve gotten two black Everlane belt (hush) and no longer have to steal the tomboy’s belt for my tomboy femme outfits. I certainly have seen snazzier, still affordable pairs of animal print skinnies at Zara, but oh my god are these soft. Like pajama soft. Basically, these pants = my sweats. Just thinking about them makes me feel snuggly and cozy. That’s the real reason I’ve held onto them!

I cannot for the life of me remember what brand this camp shirt is, but I got it Sports Basement I think. I have a similar gauzy white one as well and they’re fantastic because they’re loose and slouchy but unfussy, breathable cotton. Sometimes it’s nice not to fuss over silks! Pairing it all with the tough suede ankle boots (Trouvé) and my Cynthia Rowley bag were easy choices, and so were the Asos earrings and my leathery Mariele Ivy necklace. I added chunky rings and a silly leather cuff with a bullet on it that I got in Portland two years ago, and that’s about it. Hope you liked it!

Now please tell me all of your outstanding weekend plans – Cinco de Mayo, Derby Day – because I’ve got nil. The tomboy is in Boston (it’s her turn – apparently, we’re taking them now) and has a derby party to go to with friends and I’m green with jealousy (though I won’t envy her marching off to a parade of open houses come Sunday). They’ve been infusing bourbon with mint! So fancy! Another friend of mine has pledged to reveal a DIY derby hat so fantastical that we’re all going to fall over in awe, and I can’t wait to see what she and her crafty little hands have done this time.

I’m just hoping I can take a break from the 300 pages I have to read for a Sunday book club brunch to see that big old super moon rise over the Oakland hills!

XOXO,

FFAF

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

It seems we’ve all gone headfirst into December, with brash winds and orphan sunshine. Poor M’s been locked in a brutal two-day offsite brainstorming session for work the past few days, and is so sleepy she can’t even drink bourbon. It’s shocking, I know. Anyway, here she is standing in front of some sort of houseboat in a state of disrepair, in Sausalito. There are all sorts of boat lifts and such on either side of her, and despite the abandoned cooler in the front left, there wasn’t a soul around!

Boat, boat, we’re on a boat! This is pulling into Tiburon, on the ferry, of course. I love how it looks like she’s manning the corner/door, like she’s keeping watch almost. Side note: Did you know that watchcaps haven’t got anything to do with watches? I didn’t. I had to be told. I thought perhaps watches got so cold in extreme weather that there are wee tiny knit hats to keep them safe from the elements. Adorable, but WRONG.

This is the amazing, $300 Newkirk Down Vest she scored for $99 not long ago, by Polo Ralph Lauren. It’s pretty amazing, especially considering we’d been scouring the interwebs for puffers for weeks and she kept vetoing most of them as not awesome enough (even those with wildly outrageous price tags). She thinks this one is perfect, and now she’s got two and is satisfied – I think.

I like these photos so much, M all smashed up against the window (you can see how cold it is) and peering out with that dreamy, childlike curiosity. We saw all sorts of wildlife in the water that day – harbor porpoises who’ve been hanging out in the bay this time of year for the past few years (biologists are researching why, it’s fascinating), enormous pelicans dive-bombing for food, and sea lions. While the porpoises were super cool, my favorite, hands-down, are the pelicans. They’re so kamikaze! And clumsy! And the splash they make and the angle at which they plummet into the water, it’s a sight to behold.

This is where the very unsuccessful, wee crab-catching occurred. Hooray!

Corduroys: Kenneth Cole
Shirt: Izod
Sweater: Zara
Puffer: Polo Ralph Lauren
Boots: Mark Nason
Gloves:  H&M
Glasses: Dior Homme

Look how happy we are! We ought to live on a boat, like Conor says. (I love this song, I’d sing it over and over at the top of my lungs to and from my riding lessons all summer. Such a good album.)

We should move to Sausalito
Living’s easy on a houseboat
Let the ocean rock us back and forth to sleep

In the morning with the sunrise
Look in the water see the blue sky
As if heaven has been laid there at our feet

I’m sitting here writing up this old blog post and M is playing Red Dead Redemption, which has raised my eyebrow in a disapproving manner on more than one occasion, I’ll have you know. She is determined to beat one more game before the end of year, given the fact that she’ll have had her PS3 for six months and will only have beaten one measly game (with MY help, thank you very much also WE MISS YOU LOST PLANET II). Too bad all the tomboys who’d play with her live in such far-flung places as SLC and Boston.

Did I not tell you that this scarf matches my dress in a borderline creepy way? In case you missed it from my other post, her mama knitted all three of us a beautiful scarf, just because. The petite’s was bright red, mine was chartreuse, and this is M’s! I have the feeling we’ll all be playing musical scarves this winter. They’re all fabulous. I lucked out because Grandma Medina also knitted me a lovely burnt orange scarf as well, also chenille. Hooray!

I never would have pegged M to pluck a GOLDENROD wool sweater off the rack at H&M, but she sure did, and it ended up being absolutely perfect with this vintage Salvatore Ferragamo tie, with the little lions and regal bugles. She paired them with an Elie Tahari dress shirt, Zara slacks and her trusty Asos brogues. (The belt is also from H&M.)

We hope y’all liked these Turkey Day photos as much as we do, and that your leftovers lasted longer than ours did (they were all gone by Sunday). I am swinging by my little brother’s office tomorrow to drop off his phone – silly fool left it in my car on the way home Thursday night – and one of our pumpkin cheesecakes, because we do NOT need to eat all three by ourselves. In other news, I was tickled pink to find the latest issue of Horse Illustrated (I didn’t even know such a thing existed) in my mailbox, an early Christmas gift from my folks! So sweet!

I also think I’ve settled on some nice DIY gifts for folks come Christmastime: Grandma Jones’s fresh-baked shortbread, and homemade bourbon caramel sauce and spiced pear-infused vodka. One year the petite and I also made our own wrapping paper, with some rad shaped sponges, beautiful paints, plain brown wrapping paper – and glitter, of course! I’d love to do that again, too. Do you guys ever do homemade or DIY presents? I wanna hear all about ‘em!

Here’s a few more of the two of us goofin’ around:

Hey, girl. I’m wearing two shades of denim, standing next to pulp lesbian art, and I’ve got freshly baked pumpkin cheesecakes in the oven. What’s up? KIDDING. I’m so delirious. We’ve been semi-delirious all day long, and it’s officially Thanksgiving, so forgive my brevity. Just look at all the pictures!

Also, please forgive the hideous lighting. We were too busy running around like chickens with our heads cut off all day long and missed all the sky light (can’t call it sun, it was dark and grey all day). I’m standing in the area we fondly refer to as my “wall of inspiration”, or where I stick all the pictures of outfits that I like on my way to the closet. That black thing is full of jewelry, and the tray on top holds most of my full-sized bottles of perfume (and a lone Stila palette).

I loved this outfit for running around! James Jeans denim, a chambray shirt from H&M’s L.O.G.G. line, and my vintage brogues, topped off with my natty little coat from H&M. I love the pink lining. It’s major femme realness! I had to roll the cuffs up like 5 times to get them how I like them. I need someone to teach me the trick to the “messy, haphazard” cuff.

We’ve got a fire going and Gone with the Wind is on. It’s kind of heaven!

My candy apple red satchel from…Target! It’s a great size, barely fits my wallet, phone and a book. Peep the fantastical, tweed-y elbow patches on the shirt! And my fancy nails! That’s my same Citizen watch and Made Her Think cuff, and a BCBG ring.

I’m sure somewhere there’s a rule against hanging your bras up like this, but I kind of don’t give a fuck. I love it! It’s much less fussy than an orderly drawer, plus it’s my damn bedroom and if I want all my sexy bras out and about, SO WHAT. (It does make taking house guests out to the balcony to enjoy a fine cigar slightly awkward, but who even notices when you’re drunk enough?! EXACTLY!)

The tomboy has feelings about this, but she’s not telling.

Happy Thanksgiving, kittens! I hope it’s dreamy.

XOXO,

FFAF

There’s a new barber in town! It goes by the name of F.S.C. Barber and it is the shit. Thank goodness they decided to invade SF’s Mission District, where far too many men have far too much unkempt hair, and smell like it, too. It’s like a breath of fresh, handsome-smelling air. It’s like our prayers have been answered!

It’s everything we ever wished for in hushed, mocking tones whilst surrounded by odoriferous people in desperate need of grooming.

I’d been trying to gently nudge M in FSC’s general direction since they opened up in May of this year, but she’s been going more or less to the same gal in Oakland’s Rockridge ‘hood since, well, since we lived in Oakland. She’s that good! Anytime she’d step outside of her comfort zone and try someone new in the city, the results would be mediocre – totally fine, but no one ever measured up to her other gal.

UNTIL NOW. The wonderfully sunny Colleen called M’s name as we waited at the bench, perusing magazines (Playboys are in the shop, kiddos – just a friendly heads-up!) and goofing around. I got lucky and was put way up high in the shoeshine chair with a perfect view of the action. She asked for a modern take on Mad Men hair, something friendly but also serious, and off Colleen went! I guess M should talk about this part, because there’s all kinds of ritual and whatnot involved in men’s haircuts. I can’t speak to that.

I can say, as a femme, that it was EXTREMELY SEXY sitting there patiently while my tomboy got perfect hair. It’s hair that says all kinds of inappropriate things at inappropriate times, while being very, very appropriate. I highly recommend the experience to everyone.

There were, of course, a parade of patrons coming and going, most on the younger side, in their late 20s or 30s, a few older gents, getting haircuts and shaves and such, too. They were all, generally speaking, well put-together. If you go here, you’d better be, because the folks running the place will make you feel like a total slob if you aren’t. Some people might see this as highfalutin’ and absurd, I say bring it the hell on!

On that note, it’s kind of amazing how many passerby stopped to peek into the barbershop through the huge windows, faces all bright and shiny with curiosity and awe. It’s a lovely shop, that’s for sure, and large at 1200 sq. ft. – but I think it’s the old-fashioned, brightly lit, heavily wooded look and feel that causes folks to peer inside.

A few last things to note: They’ve got a well-selected batch of grooming products in stock that I’m sure even Castro boys would approve, everything from high-quality combs to full lines of hair care to their own shaving kits. Neat! The small space connected just to the side of the barbershop is a wee boutique of sundry men’s items, plaid shirts, stacks of slacks in autumn shades, wool blazers and ties, shoes, handsome books and whatnot. Definitely worth a visit if you’ve got time (and money) to kill.

Without further ado, the final result:

Shirt: Calvin Klein
Sweater, Woolly Fingerless Mittens: H&M
Wool Slacks: Zara
Shoes: Asos
Socks: Urban Outfitters