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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!

This rain is SUPER messing with my nudie girl and / or bright coral Spring steez, yo. SERIOUSLY. It angers me. There’s a silk Kensie dress just hanging all limp and sad in my closet, UNWORN and longing for sunshine. (Like this, but so much better.) Today it poured and poured like my tears during the Lost finale on Sunday night, but I decided the following:

SUCK IT, MAN, I’M WEARING A TINY COTTON DRESS.

Also? Suede boots. And then whenever I had to go outside, I threw a raincoat on and jabbed the sky with my nautical H&M umbrella. So there.

Thursday: Hot.
Friday: I don’t remember.
Saturday: Sunny, cold.
Sunday: Sunny, windy, cold.
Monday: Shitty, overcast.
Tuesday: Rain, BS, delayed flights.
Wednesday: Isla Mujeres, please?

In case you’re wondering why it’s been six long days since my last post (which came, I might add, in a bit of a blog post blitzkrieg as inexplicable as Jupiter’s missing belt), we’ve been entertaining a lovely houseguest since Friday night. We’ve been very fancy. Flitting from this open house to that apartment showing, signing leases and dancing at lesbian MEGAparties like Mango and Les Beaux, discovering delightful new bourbons and making new friends, visiting cemeteries and attending dance recitals and good heavens, there might be more but I’m exhausted just typing it out. Plus, my neck hurts and it’s the tomboy’s fault. (Insert telling lesbian smirk here.) Bygones.

THERE IS SOME SERIOUS HAIR TOSSING BELOW. I WARNED YOU!

Last, but not least, one of my most beloved PJ Harvey numbers, which feels good on today:

PS. The morning after hair, per the comments section:

This week has flown by and dragged on at the same time, hasn’t it? In any case, it’s just about Friday and I can get down with that. Today, I saw a man just hanging out with his chicken (like, an actual living chicken) on Van Ness Avenue, leaning against a street sign wanting money or something and catching some of the fleeting sunshine we had today after days and days of rain or drizzle or haze or fog or slick, slick wet.

It was especially strange because I am in the middle of a short story collection called Instant City (it’s Issue No. 6 and I picked it up from one of my favorite vintage / antique shops, Gypsy Honeymoon – the black dress in the back would fit me perfectly, I can tell just by looking at it and it is a DREAM made of wondrous elegance and vaporous black chiffon. The lady who owns or runs it or both has little birdies in there chirping happily and she is a very sweet sort of flower child – Stevie Nicks type), by and about San Francisco writers, and most of the vignettes feature these sort of random, only-in-San-Francisco scenes and stolen moments. So much so that before I told this story I had to really think about whether or not I read it or truly saw them, but I promise you that I saw them with my own eyes.

On that note, I would like to know if it’s wrong of me to have zero desire to eat at that Tommy’s Sandwich Joint (Joynt?).

BACK TO THE CLOTHES. I love these shoes. I love these socks. They serve no practical purpose, in fact, they’re kind of scratchy and that irritates me, but they’re so damn sassy. Here’s the modcloth.com Crewel scarf again, this time paired with a kicky little suede + fringe Lonesome Dove pendant in a forest green, and this amazing black satchel that I am newly in love with. My new bangs and I got into a bit of a tussle this morning, clearly, and they went all Peggy from Mad Men on me (damn cowlick), but I am mostly pleased!

So, who’s got big plans this weekend? We have none, nada, which is spectacular as we’re going to need lots of R&R before our next round of fabulous house guests arrive next weekend. It will be epic.

I love this song by Rufus Wainwright. It’s beautiful. It takes a few listens to full bloom, so to speak. My favorite line is I have suffered shipwreck against your dark brown eyes. So gorgeous. So true.

Here at the homestead we are eagerly awaiting a lovely guest, who arrives today and stays with us for a few days. Of course, I decided it would be a good time to clean my room (my side of the room, rather) and will somebody please explain to me why I can’t get through a single square foot without discovering 84,000 abandoned projects?

Exhibit A: At last I found my seam ripper and attacked a few tentative repurposing prospects that had accumulated into a dusty pile in the corner (all but one went straight into the trash). In addition to the abandoned projects, there’s a kind of freaky domino effect that overtakes me and I’ll also decide it’s a fine time to begin a new project.

Exhibit B: For instance, the drill battery has been charging because WHERE WILL I HANG ALL OF MY FUR STOLES? (the surface of the dresser cannot be properly cleared until there is a place to put them, obviously). I remembered the awesome panel of hooks that M brought home from Target months ago and thought, if I just move my scarves from where they are hanging (the awesome silver antler hooks) to the new one (which is why the drill is charging), I can relocate my fur stoles and collars to the old one. Genius! It’s perfect! It’s ridiculous. I am ridiculous, but I suppose I get brownie points for enthusiasm and innovation.

Exhibit C: On the upside, I somehow posted and sold three pieces of furniture doing nothing but taking up room and collecting dust on Craigslist in under four hours. That’s kind of a record. Good riddance to stuff I don’t need and have no use for!

On that note, I must return to the above-mentioned tasks. It’s exciting! I’m still basking in the glow of the co-tomboy post from yesterday, though. So many new readers! So much love via tweets! Dreamy, dreamy, dreamy.

A NOTE FROM SKINNY: Greetings, FFAF readers! It’s a very exciting day, because I’m posting the very first ever guest FFAF post from a dear, dear friend, the lovely Kelly Alice. One of the things she loves to do is sit in bed at night and catch up on all of her favorite fashion magazines or blogs, until she’s sleepy enough to retire. The other night, she told me recently, she’d drifted off and her sweet and lovin’ tomboy came to bed, and in her sleep she said, “I want to start a fashion blog.” “Oh, yeah?” said her tomboy, Fancy Pants, “Who will be in it?” “Me and my friends!” Kelly Alice replied, and vanished back into dreamland.

Of course, Kelly Alice doesn’t remember this at all (I never remember the things I say in my sleep, either, but M sure does!), but she DOES remember waking up determined to whip up a FFAF-esque post, which she sent to me right away!

This is her awesome post. I’m sure you’ll all welcome her warmly and find her to be just as smart and kind and adorable as M & I do! Enjoy!

KA’s CONFESSION: I know that I wear the same things/styles over and over again and could never justify a style blog, but I do love them so (especially FFAF)!  Just for fun though, I did a little photo spread for you from this morning. I now realize how much work goes into your blog. I didn’t have the time to take many shots, then I had to download them from the camera, and then edit the photos…phew, I’m tired just typing all this! How do you muster up the time and energy to do this every day? I salute you! Maybe one day I’ll create a blog that incorporates all the things I love (food, fashion, travel, the damn cats). Who knows, maybe it will be fun!

I hope you’re enjoying your little west coast cold snap!  I have to be honest, it becomes very hard to stay fashionable when it gets truly cold here in Boston (the kind of cold that makes it hard to breathe!). Here are some of my winter weather femme fashion tips:

• buy boots in half a size bigger; wear warm wooly socks tucked inside when wearing dresses and skirts
• use MAC Prep + Prime to keep make-up in place after tucking on hats and wrapping around scarves all day
• wear silk long underwear under clothing – it makes a world of difference, feels so nice against the skin, and is so smooth you can barely notice the extra layer (especially under office clothing!)
• when expecting to be outside for longer periods, put disposable hand warmers (found at sporting goods stores) in shoes, gloves, or on the nape of your neck

Also, I know you can hardly see it at all in the photos, but my latest eyeshadow obsession is MAC’s Vex.  I have been wearing it every. single. day. for weeks since I’ve bought it!

(Skinny here again: I hope KA does start her own blog one of these days, and in the meantime she can guest post here as often as she likes! Also, she is maker of the amazing almond marshmallows and awesome mix CDs! Here is the video for my maybe-favorite on her November mix. It’s way fun and happy and sexy.)

CONFESSION: In spite of the fact that this dress is super fun, I’m getting the distinct feeling that old 2009 isn’t going to go without a fight. You know what, 2009? EAT A BAG OF DICKS AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD TRASH! I’m not scared of you. You, my friend, are on your last wonky leg. (No offense to bona fide wonky-legged pups – they are precious and deserve nothing but endless love.)

Perhaps that’s a bit unfair. 2009 wasn’t exactly bad, I mean, it wasn’t full of absolute misery and suffering, not at all. It was simply a year of bipolar highs and lows, and I am only saying, “We had a good run, 2009, you taught me a lot and I don’t regret the stellar changes and growth you saw me through. But you were a little unfair, a little hysterical, you threw one too many hissyfits and, in the end, you just weren’t there for me. You were kind of a cocktease, also. Your upside just isn’t good enough, considering all of the risk.” Harsh? Perhaps.

C’est la vie! 2010 is a fresh start. Go on. Touch me.

CONFESSION: My mama’s vintage scarf again. I love it anew. I know y’all have seen this same GD LBD 84,000 times before, but not this epic wool pea coat from DKNY, all sharp and boxy. I like it a lot paired with the shoes. We had to dress up for a tea dance with friends last Saturday and I just wanted to be warm and comfortable without that meaning jeans, etc. I hope y’all are making do on the Monday back after a long and lovely holiday weekend: I’m happy to report that I scored 5 tops and 2 skirts for…let’s see, appx. $15 at the thrift store. Best picks are a Kensie sweater in a perfect shade of asparagus green ($2.50), a NWT drape-y, vintage tank in cobalt blue lamé ($1.50) and a floral print corduroy Esprit miniskirt ($4). It will be tempting to wear them all at once!