The Grandma Museum

My grandma was one the last generations to have Outfits: every ensemble had its own purse, shoes, jewelry, and accessories.  Her closets were amazing to behold -- the nooks and crannies where she stashed things were simply mind-boggling and made for the best dress-up and hide-and-seek.  The smell of mothballs still makes me feel like someone's going to find me!  Now, I'm lucky to have some of her jewelry, purses, and coats, and wearing them always feels special: it's not just a ring . . . it's my grandma's cocktail ring, and I remember how she wore it to the dentist, the grocery store, and the dry cleaner, like it was no big deal, and it makes me happy.  I get the biggest kick out of seeing her name embroidered inside of her fur coat when I wear it.  

This gushy nostalgic feeling is likely why I love The Grandma Museum, artist Sarah Koik's online repository of gifts from her grandma, which captures "a life over two generations, and the broader sentimentality of receiving gifts from a grandmother."  

The Museum also has a blog where others can submit things that their grandmothers have given them, and it's sort of fascinating and touching to see the bits and bobs that grandmas have been giving, and the sweet notes that their granddaughters have written about them.

Do you have anything of your grandmother's that reminds you of her?

PS: my grandma's vanity. 

(Top image of my grandma's fur with her name inside it is from my Instagram; other images are all from The Grandma Museum.)

Distressed, high and low.

Madewell's Chimala jeans are slouchy, cool, distressed, and 100% different from every single pair of jeans I own.    

Unfortunately, at about $500 a pair, that's going to be the way things shall remain. (I confess, somewhat shamefully, that I probably WOULD pay that much for a perfectly tailored, extremely long, dark wash, forever-pair of jeans. But wouldn't you pay that much for Your Perfect Pair? I like the distressed, cropped look, but they're a bit too trendy and out of my wheelhouse for that kind of money. The solution? The Gap (really).  

The 1969 sexy boyfriend cut (available in regular, tall, and petite) is also slouchy, cool, distressed, and 100% different from every single pair of jeans I own, for the bargain price of $69.95.    

And if you're looking for something a bit slimmer and longer, the 1969 Real Straight Deconstructed is similarly priced and has the same vibe. 

Bonus: Gap is offering 25% off online purchases today with code GAPSTYLE.  

PS: another high/low option.

(Image of Jenna Lyons via The Guardian.)

Have a lovely weekend!

Hope you've had a good weekend, friends.  I've been recovering from 80's-themed bachelorette party shenanigans all day (I could really use one of these), and I would for sure be going to bed fifteen minutes ago if the Mad Men season premiere wasn't tonight!  Until then, some links for you, if you're in the mood:

There are a million tributes to Roger Ebert floating around this week.  Do him (and yourself) a favor and read his review of Deuce Bigelow, Male Gigolo.  (Bonus: this oral history of Siskel & Ebert is a hoot.)

An oddly interesting article about Jamaican house party movies.

Great idea for parents with young kids.

How to name a dog.

The Helping Foundation.  Just . . . aww.

Kids of New York.

Cute sweatshirt.

Why you need to focus.

Pocket salt!

Say no to the dress.

Old and new New York.

The Bedtime Bandit is adorably mischievous.

(Image from The Coveteur.)

WTF, Evolution?

About once a year, I end up on a blog/Tumblr/website that makes me cry tears of laughter at my computer screen in what would be a very embarrassing way if anyone saw or heard me, and I am compelled to read every single post because it is hilarious, if only to me.  Last year, it was Postcards From Yo Momma (which I highly encourage you to check out because, OBVIOUSLY).

Leading candidate for this year's winner: WTF, Evolution?  If the title doesn't lure you in, perhaps its "About" section will: "Honoring natural selection's most baffling creations. Go home, evolution, you are drunk." I wouldn't have thought that extremely weird-looking animals paired with fictional dialogue with Evolution would be that funny, but I can assure you, it is.

I feel for this giraffe (which sends no love to Evolution).  This is what I look like every time I drop something on the ground.

Have any pregnant or new mom friends?  Perhaps remind them that it could be so much worse:

I mean really . . . just go.  Apparently Evolution gets drunk, high, has fever dreams and nightmares, has trouble staying motivated, and sometimes just needs psychiatric help.  

(Via swissmiss.)

Now you never have to leave your couch!

The lovely Brooklyn home of Design*Sponge's Amy Azzarito is featured in the New York Times today, and it is just gorgeous.  Perhaps this says something about my inappropriate love for sitting on my couch, but I thought the most practically fabulous thing in her apartment was her genius couch tray, for keeping her mug of tea and other work accoutrements nearby when she works from home.  And that's saying something, because her house is full of unique, beautiful, vintage things, and she probably never has to say "yeah, I got that from Target."  

Yes, my coffee table is in remarkably close proximity to my couch, but for some reason, once I set my mug there, it's just out of reach when my computer is in my lap (I know.  File under "Get a grip," cross-reference with "Not actually a problem.")  Amy's tray is from Nightwood in Brooklyn.  It doesn't look like it's an in-stock piece (probably custom), but you can get one from Etsy here, or try your hand at rigging up on of your own (for Chicagoans, check out the ReBuilding Exchange for scrap pieces of wood and other odds and ends).  

May you never have to leave the comfort of your sofa again.  Or get cold coffee.

PS: Amy's book.

Fluff

I have a weird problem with crying at weddings: sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't, and it's wildly unpredictable as to when I will and when I won't.  If it happens, it's always at the moment when the doors open and you see the bride, but as to what triggers it sometimes and not others?  No idea.  I am, however, 2 for 2 at weddings where my friend wore a tulle-skirted dress, both of which were just gorgeous (I think the number one bawler, however, was when the doors opened up to reveal my friend Carol standing in the back of the church wearing her mom's wedding gown, which makes me sniffle just thinking about it years later).  I've always been drawn to the less flouncy, more streamlined look for myself (I think subconsciously, I realize that I would look gigantic both vertically and horizontally in such a skirt), but it's just a beautiful look for a wedding dress.

Simple and streamlined with a tulle veil is really chic and beautiful too.

All tulle is a go-big-or-go-home look.  Would you do it?

All images via snippet and ink: top, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.