Full Circle.

I'm pumped. I'm ready. I'm jettin'. I'm.... where am I?

Ah, the dolphin tee. Got this baby at the Vancouver aquarium and lived out of it for days on end. Here I'm pictured giving a special report on the Inuit people in the fourth grade. At this time, my goal in life was to be a marine biologist. My school pee-chees bore gorgeous Christian Riese Lassen illustrations. My bedroom was bursting with marine life until I was fully 14 and went on a stuff purge. Also, I got to swim with dolphins at Discovery Cove with my grandparents when I was 12 or so, and later ventured to Hawaii with them. Hard life, I know.

I must say there is nothing quite like rediscovering past mementos. I need a paper bag. (I feel validated. I am a person of worth. I feel validated. I am loved. I am a person of worth... ) 

I love this shirt again. I kinda wanna make it a crop top and slice the crew neck off...

Occasion: family camping trip. Packed? Check.

The beat up yellow Volcom pack is one I nabbed last-minute to pack my stuff in. And, it fits. Perfectly. Not quite real hiking material, but it's a pretty cush tent-camping experience. Essentials: Under Armour, a few toiletries, shorts, jeans, sweatshirt, Speedo, black beanie, light gloves, hand towel. Other small clothing items (and they are few) categorized and vacuum-packed in gallon freezer bags. Last and most important: Blue Columbia shell rolled into a fist-sized twist. Buckled to the top of the pack for easy access.

The black North Face pack is close to unnecessary. The need to bring it everywhere with me is pathological. So, he comes. With a notebook, sketch pad, pens, wallet, glasses, two books I'll forget about (modern Zorro retelling and WWII epic), tech stuff, trail mix (personally combined for the perfect ratios) and who-knows-what.

Ahhh. Clif Bar. I am in love with this company. Small bar has 10 grams of protein and, with an apple, is a great summit treat. The big bar has 20 grams of protein and is great for being outside and feeling alive. They won't make you want to puke after a hard-core work out.

Once more: the pack. I owe my father for this absurd organizational, left-brained gene.

Kudos.

Body Skimming

Body Skimming: An emerging sport which involves the forward thrust of skim-boarding and the physical involvement of body surfing. 

My advice: Don't wear pants. Or be prepared for them to come off.

The countdown...  (ONE-TWO-THREE-RARRRRRREEEERRG!!!)

The Victory March. We walked home singing 'We are the Champions' and the theme song from the 1950s episodic Robin Hood featuring Richard Greene. Epic.
Love this boy. He had cash in his duct tape wallet and it actually stayed dry. 

Finishing with a fist pump.

Across the street from our house there is a park and a field with a ditch for water run-off which fills quickly in the rain. For the second day in a week, it poured. Hard.

All photos courtesy of my amazingly talented sister.

Kudos.

Spanish Roses, Swarthy Sky & watermelon

This particular day, I woke up to pouring rain... in the middle of July. Work in the berry fields was cancelled, so I enjoyed coffee in the morning with my Gram and then went to my beautiful friend Emily's to help prep for her wedding. 

Swarthy grey sky sets me immediately at ease, and was in fact so refreshing that I cozied up with a lovely shawl I found on one of my thrifting adventures. I feel instinctually the jaw-dropping illustration is one of 'spanish roses.' So, for the sake of conformity, I figured I should play the 'what I wore' game at least once ...

Spanish Rose Shawl || thrifted

Ripped Generic Black Longsleeve || adopted

Brown Belt || Steve Madden, gifted

Black Jeans || upcycled

Old Lady Black Shoes || thrifted

Pink Lipstick || Aerie by American Eagle 'kiss stick'

Now, for  a few pre-wedding tidbits...

Altogether, a marvelous day.

Kudos...

   

Keep Yourself Warm.

|| Vintage Gold/Black Floral Rayon Blazer. In store now ||

|| Vintage 80s Magenta/Electric Purple Color Block Zip Jacket. In store now. ||

|| Vintage Black Floral Embroidered Cozy Jacket. In store now ||

|| Vintage Navy/Grey Blue Striped Button Jacket. In store now. ||

Shop all Tandem Northwest outerwear here. 


These gorgeous pieces have me so ready for colder temperatures! I don't even think I can pick a favorite. Whoever adopts one of these jackets just MUST promise to let me do a blog feature on them...

Guess what, guys? Just reached 80 items in the shop... and almost all the listings have been renovated! Whew. I feel like I need a peach chai and a thrifting day.

Much love to the friends overseas. Tandem has got you covered.

Kudos.

Revamping.

Having a cold the past couple of days has provided an excellent (and rare) opportunity to do some serious shop upkeep and tweaking. I've been wanting to seriously renovate the shop's culture and aesthetic to allow for a broader purpose, so running across these old gems was the perfect catalyst.

I could not be happier with the emerging concept, and am awash (dripping wet?) with sketches and ideas for a fall collection of handmade, vintage, and up-cycled pieces... with perhaps a monstrous project such as... well, I won't give it away. Yet.

Enjoy, lovelies.

It's worth mentioning the coat photographed is a beautiful, heavy duty military one I initially got to paintball in. Now, a few years later... I STILL own it. (And it hasn't taken any fire.)

And the real jewel of the spread:

Brother on left, Friend on right.

I am desperately in love with this boy. 

I should add, for his sake, he only stuck his fingers in his nose when I asked him to do something 'funny and interesting'...

One person's trash is another person's treasure...

... and then, of course, there are times trash is just trash. But beautiful nonetheless. Now, for some family-attic childhood nostalgia...

BOSE: better sound through research (LISTEN TO THAT!!!)

SHARP: From sharp minds come sharp products (*FIST PUMP*)

ONKYO: imaginative sight & sound (YES, YES, YES!!)

I hope this is exciting someone else out there in the blogosphere. Oh, the TECHNOLOGY! State of the art VCR's, giant boxy TV's, surround systems, CD players...   Good memories. Does anyone remember repurposing these giant boxes into houses, forts, lairs, caves, and buses as kids? THOSE were the days. (Actually, I am sitting in one such fort as I write this. Just kidding.)



And this gem! This was a science project I did in the Fourth Grade involving rate and velocity, I think... I installed my brother's GeoTrax on top and let loose some remote controlled trains. Exciting stuff, if I do say so myself. What a cool kid I was. (What happened? Jeez.)

Kudos, all.


P.S. For anyone whose wondering, we recycle. Of course.