GOOD GRIEF. All weekend long it seemed like the entire San Francisco Bay Area was basking in the gorgeous winter sunshine. People went to the beach, sunned in the park, had BBQs. Typical wintertime on the West Coast, as evidenced here and here. I spent Sunday in a paper thin cotton sundress and vintage YSL heels. It was eighty degrees in our house. I eyeballed our swimming pool hungrily, but had a houseful of guests coming for our belated housewarming / SB XLV party, and silently vowed to take a dip this week if the temps rose again.

The warmth is long gone and we’re back to crisp blue skies and a constant wind with bite. I went to the Ferry Building today and out there on the water the wind is so bad it almost blew my dress right off!

But the cherry blossom trees are ablaze. Ours seemed to bloom fully overnight, as you can see. I’ve trimmed off the lighter branches and put them into vases to brighten things up in our home. Even though the petals shed like crazy, they’re so beautiful. All told, I’ve got the pink branches, bright yellow, freshly cut daffodils and soft, live lavender in the house. Spring fever has crept in early.

I wanted to thank you for your suggestions in my last post! I will definitely be checking out your recommendations and reporting back.

I’m also planning to improve on the indexing here so that folks can find what they’re looking for a little more easily – we contributed to Autostraddle’s recent post in their new series “Queer Beauty Bar” on smelling good and I realized that there’s no way to hunt down all of my scent / fragrance reviews! Terrible!

Look, you definitely want to go to there:

I am LOVING what Alex has done with the site and hope to contribute more to this Queer Beauty Bar series in the future!

So, this ensemble!

I thrifted this dress, it’s very comfortable. The wind does funny things with it, but it also just falls nicely and is perfect for these not-quite-warm, not-quite-cold days. I paired it with some ribbed tights and the boots I picked up in Portland at Rock ‘n Rose. You’ve seen this Freebird by The Sak + Dollywood fox tail combination a million times, I feel.

I keep getting asked about it and complimented on it everywhere I go, more lately than ever before, and I just don’t know what it is! Often, they’ll ask me where I got such a beaut, and you should see the utterly crushed look on their faces when I confess that it’s from Dollywood, yes, DollywoodallthewayoutinTennessee. So sad. It breaks my heart.

I love this picture the very talented photographer Keep Drowning took of it at a party M & I were at recently:

(Photos courtesy of Keep Drowning, obviously.)

Yes, those are my very excellent Calvin Klein suede and patent leather cut-out pumps.

Anyway, very cool photos. Y’all should hire that person, because I had no idea these were even taken and I’m in love with the smoky, boozy, candid haze they capture!

Show of hands: Have you, personally, missed the tomboy’s delightful little entries here at FFAF?

U H – H U H.

I knew it. Sweet readers, consider this an early Christmas present, because M is back to tell us all about this outstanding holiday party ensemble of hers now:

“First things first, company holidays parties are the worst. You can’t curse anyone out, you can only bring one guest (if you’re lucky!), you feel like you HAVE to attend and the food is always so-so. On the other hand, there’s an open bar, the venue might be really fantastic, you don’t hate everybody and it’s free!

After dragging the femme to several of my company holiday parties, it was time I attended one of hers. Of course, her affair is ultra- fancy and black tie ‘optional’ at a museum (not just any museum, y’all, the Asian Art Museum, which used to be the former main library for the city of San Francisco, with a Beaux-Arts exterior to die for. – Skinny), whereas mine are business casual (at best), and held at a “sports club” – which is really just a gym that still smelled kinda sweaty – made to look like a casino, or a small restaurant/bar (we software engineers like to keep it classy). I was worried it was going to be unbearable, but fortunately, we have finally mastered the art of showing up, enjoying ourselves, and leaving before any of the embarrassing dancing takes place. It’s a lot of fun because you know shit is already going to hell in hand basket, and someone will surely be fired before the night is out, and you see people lining up for more free drinks, and you quickly say your goodbyes before anyone gets too sloppy or (heaven forbid) forces you to dance. Then you head to a real bar, where you pay real money, but you get much better drinks and much better company! That’s the holiday spirit.”

M is leaving out that last year’s holiday party was held at an aviation museum, which I thought was pretty cool.

(Important note: These and subsequent photos were taken after free drinks AND purchased real drinks at a real lesbian bar. In our garage. Because I haven’t had the time to develop my “studio” and the show must go on in the interim, mustn’t it?)

Slacks: Express
Dress Shirt: Kenneth Cole
Black Velvet “Nerd Band Jacket Action” & Tartan Plaid Tie: H&M
Tie Clip: Vintage
Belt: Calvin Klein
Albino Zombie Stag Brooch: Etsy
Boots: Lounge by Mark Nason
Ridiculously Adorable Dogs: Conor “Bird” Bennett, Chipotle or “the fucking dingo” (crazy courtesy of rescue shelters)

S W O O N.

When she reads this it’ll be the first time she heard it, but when we were shopping for a dress shirt and tie for M to wear on Thanksgiving, she came over to me (I think I was tenderly stroking and sighing over a plethora of leather gloves at the time) with an armful of choices and combinations, and very sincerely asked me for my opinion. I put the gloves down, redirected my focus and firmly gave her my even, thoughtful opinion.

Two things I absolutely love about us: No sugarcoating. Not ever. No gingerly dancing around, no tiptoeing on eggshells or wincing through broken glass. We call it like we see it. It isn’t a carte blanche to be unkind, not at all, but it’s beautifully honest and good grief, does it ever save us some time. Less pussyfooting, more cuddling!

That’s one thing, ranging from simple things like sartorial choices to the most deafening life choices, but there it is. The other is that we’re both terribly independent, hard-headed and stubborn, and in that vein M has always been the sort of gentleman to dress herself, and well. She knew instinctively which choice was best; when I pointed to the superior shirt-and-tie pair she nodded vigorously in agreement.

Alas, she hadn’t been 100% sure and wanted to know what I thought. Her extremely rare uncertainty made the whole thing 84,000 times more sweet and endearing. Anyway, it all turned out well, didn’t it? This getup is smart and woodsy and casual all at once. Somebody hand her a pipe and a hunting dog already.

(You are welcome for the gratuitous crotch shot. That’s some belt buckle.)

Dancing around in my Grandma’s secret garden. It was bloody cold back there!

Denim: RSQ London
Shirt: Calvin Klein
Tie: Ralph Lauren
Wool Blazer + Tie Clip: Vintage
Belt Buckle: Express
Shoes: Zara

Chauncey the Terrible! Piano times! Mussy-sikking! This concludes both parts of our Thanksgiving Day extraordinaire. Back to regularly scheduled FFAF, with an exciting holiday dress challenge posed by a devout reader and darling friend. If I had to title it, it would be:

“I know my extensive tattoos are tremendously gorgeous works of body art, but I also like to accessorize and I’ve got this amazing green party dress for the holidays. Help me work it!”

The dress is really adorable and I can’t wait to dig into this little project!

I believe I’ve mentioned it before, but tule fog is unique to these here parts this time of year:

“Tule fog (pronounced /?tu?li?/) is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California‘s Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms during the late fall and winter (California’s rainy season) after the first significant rainfall. The official time frame for tule fog to form is from November 1 to March 31. This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related casualties in California.” (Wikipedia)

Aside from reminding folks to exercise caution whilst driving about in the fog, it’s also a cue to start bundling up in earnest! It makes me especially glad to have this brand new wool coat from Tulle. It’s my third coat from them – I have a snazzy pink one and another soft robin’s egg blue brocade – and the shiny black faux fur collar it came with is detachable, so you can play around and swap it out for any vintage numbers you have in your closet.

I am so into this shade of green right now that we just bought a new sofa that matches it. Our other sofa (a sleeper that’s seen many of our lovely houseguests) is more of a split pea soup green, and I am giddy about seeing how the two play off each other when the new one arrives later this week!

Here’s a sneak peek:

If you’re anything like me, it doesn’t matter how many coats are in your closet, how well-loved or made, each winter a new one begs to be added to your wardrobe. I surprised M by my intense recollection of a supple, buttery camel coat I tried on in 2005. It had a fur collar and was Narciso Rodriguez.

If you need a little inspiration, here are some of my current favorites (also from Tulle!) below:

I love the colors that pop and the bold patterns that say absolutely anything but humdrum wintry hues.

Let’s move on. Welcome to the little sitting nook in our new bedroom. Antique silver trays carry pretty bottles of perfume, while a miniature birdbath carries tiny, precious vials of obscure, hard to find fragrance. A tiny silk pillow filled with lavender says DREAM. The branches hold baubles and a birdcage whose sole purpose is to provide whimsy sits atop the vintage table. Atop a single pillar sits an Archipelago Botanicals candle in Havana (it’s our favorite, smelling gently of handsome tobacco).

I cut up our old Ikea duvet to use as this toile tablecloth, and a pen, notecards and matches in a beautifully ornate little box are tucked safely away in the hidden drawer. I can’t wait to put some art up on the facing walls! It’s a perfectly serene and cozy little nook.

Boots + Fur Collar: Vintage
Tights: Gap
Raw Silk Tunic: Banana Republic
Long Black Vest: Calvin Klein
Coat: Tulle

We had a very nice weekend. It’s interesting the way the fog works down in the lower bits of California. It’s nothing like up here. We’d wake up, step out onto our private balcony in our fluffy shocking white terry cloth robes and slippers, bemoan that somehow the cold had tailed us all the way down the coast, and then BOOM! they’d dissipate into fluffy wisps and trail lazily while the sun blazed down on us, by God.

Our suite was bigger than our flat (but smaller than our old loft). It’s humbling to come home from.

Thus, I’ve informed M that I insist on getting a king-sized bed when we move.

Her response was, “Why? Even when we sleep in one we only use half of it.”

D R A T S.

How handsome and serious does M look here, all tucked into this nook? I think it’s a little bit amusing that we both brought such dire reading to our mini-break weekend: The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker and What Is the What by Dave Eggers.

I also brought with me four tiny vials filled with fragrance (which I haven’t mentioned in quite some time, to my own dismay and that of others). You newcomers may not know that I used to regularly write reviews of scents at FFAF. Sometimes M would, too (those would always be of the masculine variety – most of mine are feminine or unisex). I’m going to make a real effort to reintroduce that aspect here, because it’s a lot of fun and I think scent is an important part of one’s self-expression.

You can read about the four fragrances here (as well as get some “vintage” FFAF from early 2009!):

Pillow of Flowers from Parfums d’Armando Martinez
Coup de Fouet from Caron
Cuir Ambre from Prada
Un Lys from Serge Lutens

Outfits! I am wearing my Runaway Pony dress with a belt I snagged from Fred Flare, and I topped it all off with a vintage clutch and these super hot, sherbet-esque Enzo Angiolini strappy sandals.

M’s got on Calvin Klein slacks, an RVCA dress shirt and Zara shoes. Both the tie and tie clip are vintage.

I’d love to stick around, but ZOMG Gossip Girl starts in, like, ten minutes.

(M in “resort” wear and I am in sundry Liberty of London for Target bits.)

This almost looks like summer! Almost. We took these at the end of the heat wave last week, when I was just beginning to feel a bit under the weather.  This dress has a criss-cross back, the tricky kind like you used to wrestle into all wrong when you were a little girl and all the swimsuits came with those cross-cross backs, you know? Confession: I still sometimes get it wrong, but I think that’s because I’m terribly impatient.

Confession No. 2: Sometimes when I’m not my usual frisky self or don’t have music to loosen me up for these FFAF shots, I look to my catalogs and magazines like Lula for posing inspiration. It feels silly but it’s better than boring y’all and myself to death! Anyway, here’s M, threatening to beat me with my own catalog. Tsk!

I am not sure what she’s grinning at so adorably up there in the sky somewhere, but it made for great photos!

When I snagged this necklace at one of those little Isla Mujeres boutiques back in April, it was because I envisioned it just like this. Set against a solid, severe backdrop or against a nice, bold, black and white print. I particularly like how the funky tattoo-influenced print clashes with the dark coral strands. The only thing I’d change about this is my nails, which are naked. They should be Jeffrey Campbell “No She Didn’t!” red, of course.

M wants to know if you like her kicks. I think you’d better! She even bought herself a hoodie in the exact same shade of green to match.

Pants: Calvin Klein
Shirt: H&M
Shoes: Etnies M. Taylor Skate Shoes

Dress: Fairground
Cardigan: Calvin Klein
Shoes: Franco Sarto
Clutch: Alice + Olivia for Payless
Sunglasses: Le Tigre

I need very badly to be a bunny in this amazing sweater:

Dear friends and lovers,

Your frilly femme has fallen ill. It’s true. It could have been all the excitement (and AC and recycled air people) of FemmeCon, or something going around at work, or the crazy heat wave zapping my immune system, or all three. Summer colds really are the worst, aren’t they? Except our summer lasted 3.5 days and is long gone as of Wednesday.

Rest assured that I am getting my daily dose of bitters, because they just don’t make medicine like they used to. Let’s move on. Being sick is so dull.

Have you looked at Autostraddle lately? Because it looks like this:

…which is super fucking R A D S A U C E. Like, I feel like I’ve really made it as a girl-on-girl culture person, in all my guest-posting glory, and I’m not just saying that because I love those girls to death (which I do). It’s a real honor. There’s also a really inspiring and lovely conversation happening in the comments section there.

I think it’s so funny and bizarre that earlier this year we were competing for a Lezzy Award, and now we’re total BBFFs*.

*BBFFs = Blogger Best Friends Forever, durr.

Silk Dress: Rachelle
Vest & Leggings: Calvin Klein
Knotted Flats: Payless

Speaking of, it’s one thing to buy a $10 pair of basic black flats from Payless (like I’ve obviously done here), but “real” shoes? Hot ones? HOLD THE PHONE, COWGIRL. I don’t know, I got an email the other day and I’m a little bit blown away by some of the action they’ve got in their guest designer lines right now, what do you think?