Tag Archives: flashback summer

I don’t normally write posts like this but lately I’ve been looking around for some fashion inspiration. For the first time, in a very long time, I am shopping for clothing. Mostly maternity clothing, and it has been an interesting adventure trying to find maternity clothing that are cheap, but ethical. Which pretty much leading me down the path of making my own.

The fun part of making your own pattern is that the sky’s the limit, and you can draw inspiration from anything. Which is leading me down a rabbit hole of general inspiration of other fashion blogs, and is getting me a little into the fashion blogging spirit. Who knows? Maybe I will be posting my maternity fashions with tips? But for now, let me share what I’ve been digging lately- maternity or otherwise.

I am in love with Kaylah’s new sunglasses. They look so cute with her bright green hair… *swoon.* I really want to grab a pair but right now I need to get my eyes reexamined to get a new prescription, and therefore more contacts. So for now I am stuck with my glasses. I suggest checking out her post because the dress is pretty cute too.

I sincerely hope I am not the only one obsessed with the site Advanced Style. I might not have the most over the top style, but I do have a certain degree of who gives a fuck attitude with what other people wear. And I hate the clothing that is given to women over 40. Even my boss loves to joke that she doesn’t want to “dress like an old lady,” but um…. I politely say she does dress her age. That is why I love this outfit. It is something even a 20-something would need a lot of guts to wear. I love it to pieces, but let’s face it, I pee way too often to wear a jumper/romper. But I can dream right?

Speaking of jumpers, I am in love with the ones that Tracee Ellis Ross has been wearing. Everytime I flip channels and see her on a game show, she is wearing something amazing. Just to give you a little snippet, I love this silver lame jumper! It looks so comfy but fabulous with a pair of heels. Heck, I would wear it over big preggers belly! And sorry guys, you have to WATCH the video to see the jumper, I couldn’t find a photo of it, and it isn’t in the screencap.

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Talk about reflective disco ball bellies- I JUST bought this shirt from H&M. I had the link saved for the blog post and when I checked it out today I saw that it is on sale for $13. I couldn’t beat that price, so I took the plunge and bought it with some preggers jeans and another shirt (that’s a little more casual.) I have to say that I am slowly working on buying some pregnancy clothing since my belly is starting to get a little big. I can get through most of the summer (I think) so I am trying to hold off, but I am still trying to take advantage of sales.

I am not a big fan of this blogger, but I found this outfit on Pinterest. And I just want to ask- why isn’t there more tent dresses at maternity stores?! Outside of making my large belly reflective, I have only one fashion dream- and that is to dress just like Rosemary’s Baby. I think dresses are best thing that women have. In the summer we get free air space flowing on everything below. We only need to pick ONE thing to wear with a dress (…. it’s the dress), none of this matching a shirt with shorts deal. And it is SUPER CUTE. I am in the process of constructing my own tent dress patterns because I don’t know why this isn’t more of a thing, but whatever. I can also scout Etsy and totally embarrass my husband with my fashion choices.

One of my favorite thing about fashion blogs is that you can view so many different types of fashion choices. You move past the mainstream options like preppy, girly, and whatever you see in a fashion magazine. Nope you see real people taking normal clothes and making it their own. I am alway amazed at how Kaylah from the Dainty Squid takes clothing that looks blah on the rack, and puts her own punk/counter culture twist to it. (note first fashion inspiration.) Now I’ve found Sumeyye from Modcloth’s Style Gallery and love how she mixes vintage clothing and makes it her own. I really hope Sumeyye continues fashion blogging because I love what she has posted so far.

And finally, Emileigh from Flashback Summer recently posted a series about her new Maasai inspired outfit. She takes a lot of care talking about why her outfit is similar to the African people. Then posted two entries about how she made the skirt and made her blouse. Both are pretty awesome. The blouse is so cute, I like the longer length of sleeves… for short sleeves that is. I just think it makes them look classier.


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Hey guys. This week I am all thrown off. Last weekend I went to Ocean City with my husband since we got invited to a friends beach house. We went on Monday and came back Tuesday, for a little mini vacation. Then we went into Brooklyn to visit my sister on Friday night and came home late Saturday night. I have a bunch of cool posts to do about Brooklyn, a little tour guide of things to do in Williamsburg/Bushwick if you will. I went to Ocean City during the off season… so I really don’t have many good vegan tips of places to go there. I don’t know guys, the Jersey Shore isn’t my thing. Maybe I will make a travel guide about the beaches near Fair Haven where I grew up (and where Alexa is now).

It is really windy here. Some of the smaller trees have been uprooted, and the power went out while shopping! It was very weird going shopping at Target and Wegman’s with only the emergency lights on. There were also weird little things that weren’t working. Espresso machines were down, the conveyer belts at the registers weren’t working. And I feel like everyone was in a panic because of the power being out, at least I felt a little bit like there was something severely bad going on. Oddly my power is doing just fine so I can make this post of the top reads for your Sunday.

Jazz singer Nina Simone is shown in London on Dec. 5, 1968, photo. Simone's deep, raspy, forceful voice made her a unique figure in jazz and later helped define the civil rights movement. (AP Photo)

Jazz singer Nina Simone is shown in London on Dec. 5, 1968, photo. Simone’s deep, raspy, forceful voice made her a unique figure in jazz and later helped define the civil rights movement. (AP Photo)

Nina Simone’s Face

I might be a little late in the game with posting this article, but it is still something good to read. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a great article about why we should care about the casting choice for Nina Simone. Many people who read about social justice is probably aware of the issue already, but Coates write beautifully and I think explains the situation that is understandable to anyone new the topic.

fitness

Fitness Trackers Reveal the Damaging Pitfalls of the Modern Approach to Self Improvemnt

As someone who loves to track their health stats, I found this article interesting. I use MapMyRun, Ovia, and have downloaded a pedometer app in the past. Then I like to combine them all together in my Apple Health app because I love graphs. But the article points out that you can’t keep topping yourself, and that might drive some people nuts. I don’t want to say FitBit and other fitness trackers are pointless, but we need to be careful about how to we sell them.

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Excessively Candid FoodNetwork.com Recipe Reviews

Am I outing myself as a New Yorker fan? You betcha I am. I found these hilarious, and plausibly real.

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Controversial Post: Who Can Clap for That Wrap?

Emileigh from Flashback Summer has really been crushing it lately. Some of you may not know, but I love vintage clothing. I’ve largely stopped blogging about fashion mostly since I haven’t been spending much on new clothes. But I’ve showcased some vintage articles of clothing on the blog (both dresses, vintage hat, and dress). As many may know, vintage clothing has a lot of styles that might be called out today for cultural appropriation- the squaw dress, the tiki bar craze, blackamoor jewelry, and now Emileigh breaks down whether or not is culturally appropriate to wear a wrap. I like how she quotes various people with different ethnicities and background and does some historical research, and urges that if you aren’t doing the research yourself, don’t wear it.

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Arsenic & Old Lace

I rarely make cocktails from Gastronomista, mostly because I am cheap and have a poorly stocked liquor collection. But the photos of the Arsenic & Old Lace is amazing. Naturally I don’t have any of those liquors- and finding creme de violette might be hard but I will keep it in the back of my mind when looking around.


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I’ve been in a weird mood lately. I think it is mostly the weather and stress. The weather has been hot and muggy, and I am mentally not getting use to it. Is that weird? It is like my body and brain is just giving a big ol’ nope when it comes to productivity. Shopping around for a house has been weird. We don’t have much money, which means very little to choose from. And then there is the concept of resale value. My god, resale value. It is enough to rip out your soul and personality. I think that concept alone is enough to make me hate house hunting. Seriously.

BUUUUUT…… it is my birthday and I am pumped for that. I was able to go for a run this morning, we went to an open house (which is probably confirming our need for a house over a townhouse), and for dinner we are going into Philadelphia for a dinner at Charlie Was A Sinner. Yesterday, we made a chocolate 2 layer cake and pizza. So life is good in that sense. 

Art:

These photos of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park by Kaylah are awesome.

Some of these hotel rooms are amazing– I mean some are sleeping in little spheres in the forest!

I heard I’m Sorry by Inflatable Boy Clams on the radio on the way home on Friday and it just made my day.

For real, this bathing suit is art. Ugh, I hate loving one pieces so much. They suck when you have to pee.

For those who are into the culinary arts, and photography, I’m drooling over these Shiitake Bok Choy dumplings.

Kanaho’s Show has posted a bunch of posts with great photography. My two favorite collections are MIZUHO and TOKYO.

Science:

I love hearing about new species.

Reading this article that defends coffee is nice and refreshing. So many people and health nuts are quick to dismiss coffee as a bad thing, though I still think it can be bad if you are dependent on it for energy. I never feel “buzzed” when drinking coffee, and I only notice that my hand get jittery because I just keep drinking for the flavor. XD

Feminism:

So it is worth noting that I (Jennifer) am not a huge comic book SUPERHERO fan. It isn’t like I hate it, just never got into American comics in that way. But Alexa on the other hand is very into comics, and reads some of the superheroes. But even still, I don’t watch the new superhero blockbusters, but I knew there were some hubbub about Black Widow. I read a few articles and I think NPR wrote a great article, which sums up how I feel about what I HAVE seen with superhero women. The article made me feel inspired to write a post of one of my favorite comics, Ray. So hopefully that will be up later this week.

Huffington Post wrote a small piece playing off the phrase “gives zero fucks“.

Flashback Summer writes two interesting posts about people of color wearing vintage clothing. I love vintage, and I love vegan food, both are online communities that are associated with white people. Emileigh sets it up by interviewing pinup girls of color and ask them about the issues they face and why they think there are less people of color that are into vintage clothing.