grammar girl

So we don’t know how many of you read our friend, Saint Cupcake’s blog, but a couple of weeks ago our secret love affair (read: obsessive, one-sided relationship) with the trashy-teen melodrama, Gossip Girl, was revealed. Specifically, we were outed for our girl crush on the lovely Serena Van der Woodsen, her clothes, and yes, especially her hair. We admit it. Season One threw us into a tizzy every week and we couldn’t get enough. We would lay awake at night wondering what she would wear next, how her hair was always perfectly windswept, and how, however, could we meet her? To their credit, Saint Cupcake has most cordially invited both Serena Van der Woodsen and Chuck Bass to come and visit but we feel we have to try a little harder than that.

(This is where we tie this whole story to this month’s shopping post, so keep reading…)

Coincidentally, another girl crush we have is on local gal Emily Baker of Sword and Fern and her awesome jewelry. Her pieces have that tough, yet timid, sexy and strong, bohemian meets upper-east-sider quality that reminds us so much of…you guessed it… Miss Serena Van der Woodsen! So during one of the early mornings when we were sleepless over the previous night’s episode of GG, we hatched a brilliant plan: We would ship out a jewelry box full of Emily’s baubles to Serena to wear on the show. Serena (technically known as Blake Lively) would fall in love with them, insist on meeting the smarty-pants fashionistas that sent her such lovely stuff. We would meet and hug, have a cupcake, tell her she has to get back together with Dan and stop being such a bitch to Blair and then we would all be great friends and our little shop would be catapulted to unimaginable success and we would never have another care in the world. Or something like that.

So if anybody knows Serena Van der Woodsen’s NYC address could you please send it to us so we can get this whole thing going already? In the meantime, we’re dedicating this month’s entire shopping post to Emily Baker and her jewelry for giving us hope and agreeing to be part of our master plan. We hope you like her work as much as we do.

Click on a photo below to enlarge the image and to get the details on each piece.

As you may have heard, we went on vacation a few weeks ago. Most people laugh when we tell them our annual trip to “get away from it all” means going to Ohio. We admit, when we left the Buckeye State 11 years ago we didn’t shed any tears (although our Mom did). We didn’t think it had much to offer either. But now, we’re hard working 30-somethings and while we still think that our little hometown in Ohio is as boring as we thought it was when we left, we now totally appreciate all the great things that go along with being boring. The fact that there isn’t anything to do is kinda nice when you’re actually trying to relax. There are no fancy restaurants you just have to try, no Italian espresso shops with snotty baristas, no choice even to be made on which grocery store to go to – there’s only one! You make you’re own coffee and drink it on the porch while wearing your pajamas. You discuss lunch while eating breakfast and you decide on dinner while eating lunch. You go to the beach if it’s sunny and you go to the local antique shops if it’s not. Cocktail hour begins promptly at 5pm. Easy and totally relaxing!

Lucky for our lovely patrons, we had a few rainy days this year and as our lack of options dictated, we went shopping and scored some serious booty to bring back and share with you. (Did we forget to mention?…Ohio is filled to the brim with kick-ass antiques that seem dirt cheap to our west-coast budgets!) Have a peek at just a few of the goodies we brought back with us. We hope you like them as much as we do.

Click on a photo below to enlarge the image and to get the details on each piece.

When we were little, August always meant “Back to School”. It was an exciting time. We liked school and we loved shopping for school supplies. Choosing the right backpack was crucial. Selecting the perfect pencil case was imperative. Picking the Trapper Keeper that would be the envy of the whole class was the ultimate goal. Why all the pressure on choosing something as inane as a #2 pencil, you ask? Well, it has a lot to do with Jesus. Attending a Catholic school meant we wore the same blue and gray plaid uniform for 8 years. Eight years! School supplies and footwear were the only ways to get creative…really let our personality come out. Deciding between a preppy penny loafer or a more flirty flat could determine which crowd we prayed with for the whole year. This was serious business.

So in homage to our annual August shopping trip as kids, we’ve chosen things in the shop that remind us of all the basics we learned in school – Reading, Writing, ‘Rithmatic. Appropriately, our selection includes lots of things that use the ABC’s and 123′s in different ways to show off it’s own unique personality. We hope you like them as much as we do.

Click on a photo below to enlarge the image and to get the details on each piece.

When we were coming up with the theme for this month’s shopping post we weren’t really sure what to do. We really had to think long and hard about exactly what July is all about. We love July because it feels like summer. Not the beginning of summer like June or the end of summer like August – just pure, unadulterated SUMMER. And then we thought, summer is about cerulean bird-filled skies, aqua colored swimming pools, navy blue stripes in our 4th of July flag and, of course, lots and lots of weddings. Pretty soon the choice to share our most beautiful blue pieces with you became clear. We hope you like them as much as we do.

Click on a photo below to enlarge the image and to get the details on each piece.