I Pity the Fool (Who Doesn't Own Oversized Gold Chains)

Seriously. They're the shiz-nit. The woman sitting next to me on the flight back to St. Thomas said, "That's a really large necklace. What's the story with that?" I told her it didn't have a story and I was just wearing it because it was awesome. She seemed to find that an acceptable answer to her question.

sweater, EcoSkin; jeans, Current/Elliott (via Twice); sunglasses, RayBan Wayfarers; shoes, 80%20 Tessa Boots (sold out, similar here or same boots but in floral pattern here); necklace, artisan (from Peabody/Essex Museum)

cotton/cashmere sweater, J.Crew Crewcuts; jeans, Current/Elliott (same as above); shoes, (same as above); bag, BCBG (old); necklace, vintage; earrings, vintage; 

I have two large gold chains. One is just large. One is obese American super-sized. Both of them make simple outfits feel a little more dressed up.

My large gold chain is choker-style. It's Napier from the '40s found at the SoWa Vintage Market in Boston last May. (The earrings are from a vintage store in Savannah where I also scored a Max Mara plaid blazer.) We went to the SoWa Market again this visit and I even revisited my favorite table but I didn't have the same luck.

My obese American super-sized gold chain is from the Peabody/Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Their gift shop has an amazing jewelry section. I rarely buy jewelry that's not vintage but it was love at first sight when I laid eyes on this chunky lady. It was a not-so-surprise Christmas gift from Seth's family.

You know what else was obese American super-sized? Our feast of fresh fried clams and homemade clam chowder from Woodman's. We only eat there once every few years and I don't regret a bite of it.

Okay, now for real. Go find you a chunky gold necklace. Or eat some fried clams. Or both.

A few other gold chain finds here, here, and here.

Chick(adee)s Dig Menswear Inspired Outfits

This is me. Feeding a wild chickadee out of my hand. It was super-duper.

We drove out to the Audubon Sanctuary in Topsfield the day after Christmas. My sister-in-law's birthday request was to feed wild chickadees out of her bare hands. And so we did. We hiked out to a pretty little bridge and stood still with birdseed in our palms. Bird after bird landed and nibbled for about an hour. Until we couldn't feel our fingers or noses anymore. It was cold.

I'd never been out to the Ipswich River sanctuary before. Seth said the birds will only eat from your hands in the winter when food in scarce. In summer food is plentiful so they keep their distance.

After being bird-whispering Disney princesses and freezing our tidbits off in the cold weather for a few hours, we warmed up our insides with coffee and paninis at Pleasant Street Tea Company in Gloucester. 

I wore my new-to-me Bruno Magli shoes.

I got them for four bucks at the St Thomas Humane Society Boutique last month. A quick google search told me they needed some tender love and care in the form of brown cream shoe polish and that they're the same brand of shoes O.J. wore when he killed Nicole. Or, I mean, when he didn't kill her. That's how it turned out isn't it? I guess the world will never really know. Rabbit trail: my great aunt watched the Simpson murder trial on tv every single day for months. Also, O.J.'s cameo in Roots is one of my top five unexpected cameos of all time. End of rabbit trail. 

Shoe polish before and after below:

shirt, Brooks Brothers (old, similar here); jeans, Guess (old, La Luna clothing swap); coat, Max Mara (from here); shoes, Bruno Magli; bag, BCBG (old); scarf (stolen from Seth); hat, gift from friend; earrings, vintage;

Pre-Christmas Weekend Highlights

Our weekend was spent with fireplaces, good wine, a good friend on Boston's South Shore, single malt, Christmas shopping along Main Street in Hingham, eating cheese from Bloomy Rind, figuring out my new flickr app, and I caught the Hats exhibit in the Peabody/Essex Museum in Salem. A great start to the long Christmas weekend. Tonight is a candlelight service at Seth's family church and dinner with friends. Christmas is coffee, breakfast, gifts, dinner in Lexington, and a skype date with my family and my happy little nephew. 

Have a very merry Christmas and I hope you make some cozy memories with friends and family!

Agawam Diner

"Do I look like a Backstreet Boy?"

"No, I think you look more French than 90s boy band."

"Ok, thanks."

sweater, EcoSkin; puffy vest, Land's End (old, similar here); jeans, Guess (from La Luna clothing swap); hat, gift from friend; shoes, Bruno Magli (from St Thomas Humane Society Boutique); sunglasses, Ray-Ban; bag, BCBG (old);

File that under the category of ridiculous exchanges we have while rushing out of the house. But fortunately rush out of the house we did. To Agawam Diner, near Ipswich. It's a local diner from the 1940s. Super cute and kitschy. Not because they're trying to be cute and kitschy but because they've taken pretty immaculate care of their 70+ year old establishment. The waitresses are friendly, your coffee cup stays full, and the breakfast is stick-to-your-ribs good. It's the only place I allow myself corned beef hash, because it's worth it. A great place to spend the morning catching up with an old friend.

I finally got to wear a hat I've been hoarding in my closet for a couple years. My friend Chrisann in the BVI got it on a misorder and didn't want to deal with the hassle of sending it back. To me it went! And I've been waiting for a winter opportunity to wear it ever since. My sweater is from EcoSkin, a new-to-me company that makes organic apparel in the USA. I grabbed it off the sale rack in a tent at the SOWA Sunday Market last May. It's light-weight enough that I can wear it on St Thomas evenings but can layer it for our winter trips. And it's good for the environment. And contributes to the US economy. Score.

Seth picked up some accessories of his own on our way home from the diner.

Some poinsettia's for his mom because he noticed she didn't have any around the house yet this Christmas. Isn't he sweet?

Hope you guys all have a wonderful extended Christmas weekend! We'll be driving down to the South Shore (if it's not one shore, it's another) to see a friend and possibly taking in some of the Christmas mall craziness, just for fun of it.

(P.S.  Seth insisted I choose the first picture where I was all scrunched up against a particularly cold gust of wind. And since he humors me and takes all these photos of me for the blog, I figure he should get to choose photos sometimes too. So if you were wondering why I had no neck in the first photo, now you know.)

Fall, How I've Missed You

Ten years. That's how long it's been since I've gotten to experience the fall season. I haven't been stateside during October/November since 2002. (And that last 2002 Thanksgiving was spent at a friend's beach house on the gulf coast.) Isn't that crazy? Fall travel doesn't line up well with our work schedule. We stick to summer months or December when we can make longer trips. A few weeks ago we had the rare chance to visit Seth's family for a weekend. New England in October. Candy corn, fall leaves, boots, sweaters, and corduroy jackets. Doesn't get much more fall than that!

I've been so busy since we got back to the island that I haven't had the chance to share any pictures from our trip. While most of our days up there were spent in Boston visiting Seth's dad at the rehab hospital, the Saturday morning of our visit a group of guys came over to help out with some yard work. Lucky us, my always hospitable mother-in-law asked if we could drive over to Russell Orchards to pick up some fresh cider donuts for the yard crew.

Inside the barn we perused freshly picked apples, pumpkins, pastries, shelves of jams. And warm cider donuts of course!

We grabbed a few extra donuts for ourselves and enjoyed them with coffee and hot cider down by the pond behind the barn. The pond's web-footed residents came for a visit hoping for a few bites. When we wouldn't feed them they amused themselves by playing freeze tag with a nearby toddler and terrifying his mom who saw the danger is this but had a newborn attached to her boob.

On our way home we stopped near the salt marsh in Essex to say hello to some friends we hadn't seen in a long while.

When we got home, all the leaves were raked. Can you believe that wheelbarrow? If I only get three days of fall once every ten years, Boston's North Shore is the place to spend it.

By the way, that beautiful quirky building on the right is a town hall and library. Where do these North Shore towns get off being so picturesque? I'm already looking forward to our winter visit this December!