Honeymoon Installment #3

Eventually, we arrived in San Francisco. After testing the van's suspension on the city's hilly avenues, we ended up at Golden Gate Bridge.


Like a postcard, no? I couldn't believe how many people were there, considering it is November, but it is quite the draw, and a pleasant-though-windy, sunny 60-degree day to do it on.


We explored the little military catacomb things in the hills adjacent...


And faced down a few ghosts.

Aww... bridge love.


Snagged ya! I wanted to cross the bridge, then cross back, but by the time we were done fooling around in the catacombs and we were half way across, we were already in danger of running out of time on our 4-hour meter! Glancing through the paper Tim had given us the day before, I saw that The Exploratorium was free on Wednesdays, so we headed on over.


The park in front of it you may recognize, but only if you're into terrible action movies, as the park where Sean Connery's "Mason" reconnects with his daughter "Jade" in The Rock. I only know because I'm actually watching it right now, ironically enough.


The outside of the Exploratorium is nearly as good as the inside...


Here I am pushing the boundaries of science, meeting with my huge-headed twin from Dimension X.


Here, you can watch ice crystals as they form from water you splash on the surface through a polarized lens.


I loved this scene-- upstairs are a bunch of sound-related experiments. Not what he's hearing, or if his hair is dry.


Afterwards, we checked into The Mosser (highly recommended, and only $50/night through Travelocity). I was feeling under-the-weather (I blame it on my cactus-eating foray) and we decided to hang it up and call it a day, but not after eating an amazing pesto pizza and taking pervy pictures of people through the bathroom window. Hey man, fair use.

As you're reading this, I bit the bullet and am in Seattle, but I'll return to my tale-spinning on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll have my wedding pictures back by then, but I guess we'll see!

Yours,

Elissa.

Honeymoon Installment #2

The next day, our destination was Pigeon Point. A friend of mine used to work for Hostelling International, and recommended the hostel they had there-- they have a beach-front hot-tub! Our first stop was somewhere around Santa Cruz. I had been itching to get out on the beach.


If you watch movies, you know that nothing positive can happen around an amusement park that is closed for the season (OR, dunh dunh dunh... for life!) but this cute little boy chasing a seagull seemed a harbinger of beachly welcome. Shortly after I snapped this pic, a city worker picking up trash mentioned that the fecal something-or-others per million were high that day. Then I saw a homeless woman washing an open gash in the shower and we hopped back into the van and took the worker's advice to head north.


Ahh... much better. We found ourselves amongst the richers in this comely hamlet. We sat on the pock-marked, craggy cliffs above the surf (serf? haha) for awhile until we moved on to our next perch.


The cliffs are covered with some kind of succulent that looks like supersized grass. I broke one open and tasted it (why do I do these things?) and it was super astringent and made my teeth feel weirdly dry.


We drove on for awhile until we found this next beach, with nearly no-one on it except for a couple of surfers braving the frigid waves.



The beach proved a boon for my macro setting:

Hollow little pods scattered the beach.

Tides and rivulets etch into the sand.

Alternately craggy and soft-sanded.

The drive up Highway 1 was exhiliratingly scenic. I dashed from one side of the van to the other taking pictures as we rolled along. Below might be my favorite:

Finally, we reached the lighthouse. You might be able to tell in this picture (click it and blow it up??) that there are seals resting on the rocks below.


As we snapped pictures and toured the grounds, I struck up a conversation with another photographer who offered to shoot us.


Tim told us about how he was a former heart surgeon and professor, we told him we were honeymooning. He was visiting the light house as well, and had a hotel room he had paid for for the night, but he had decided he was going home that night instead. He gave us his hotel key card and the address and told us to have a nice time.


Goodbye, lighthouse! We took Tim up on his offer and had a restful evening in Petaluma. He even got us some refreshments to stock the mini-fridge! Thanks Tim, for the excellent hospitality, and also for not murdering or robbing us.


'Til the next installment... I have to weigh a conundrum. I am scheduled to fly out to Seattle tomorrow for a work-type thing, but I also have a competing offer for my time. The Seattle thing is for sure, but temporary. The other thing is still up in the air, but would be permanent, and permanent is a very good thing.

Ai chihuahua,

Yours,

Elissa.

Honeymoon Installment #1

We spent a big chunk of our day with American Airlines. SkyMiles proved to be an extraordinarily absorbing read. Yes, I want an electronic scalp stimulator and catbox that masquerades as an elegant house plant!


After we landed, the rental car company presented us with a vehicle upgrade, perfect because we had a whole bunch of camping gear to lug around. I'm happy to report that, even as a minivan-hater, the 2010 Chrysler Town and Country is a certifiably bomb ride, bomb enough to pose with.

Aw, yeah....

The first night and day we spent in San Jose. Neither my Sweets nor I are travel planners, we kind of play it by ear and lean on Yelp a lot. We were lead to Bill's Cafe, where the 5-star rating was well-deserved.


The chicken apple sausage and Chorizo omelet was frickin' insane, but this fried-banana topped Bread Pudding French Toast? Let's just say I owe it some flowers.

Speaking of owing, I owe a certain tree two lemons...




Later, I made lemonade with the sugar packets, stirrers and styrofoam cups in the hotel room. Ohmmmmm......

To be continued!

Yours,

Elissa.

Honeys, I'm home!!

As my Sweet noted to me on the plane home last night, today is our 2 week anniversary.


The wedding seems concurrently ages ago and disarmingly recent. We'll be getting our wedding pictures back soon, but in the interlude, I'll share with you our honeymoon travels in a few installments. To be continued, shortly!

Yours,

Elissa.

Almost time!!

Today was the rehearsal. My uncle came and bestowed on me a beautiful pearl and marcasite bracelet and brooch that was my grandmother's.

I got my nails done-- all pale pink, except for the ring fingers I had done in silver.

The wedding is in less than 24 hours, and we still have some last-minute crafting to do. I can't wait to see everyone! And because we're heading out to San Francisco right after, I'll be resuming blogging in about 2 weeks.

Wish me luck! And thanks everybody for your support!

Yours,

Elissa.

Tying up loose ends.

Today, I paid the caterer. I think there are traces of my tight-fisted tears on the check. Le sigh!!! It is a good feeling, though, to see things become solidified and know that The Guests Will Be Fed. I also got my dress back today from the alterations place and I am pleased as pie... this lady knows what she's doing and my dress looks 1,000 times better. After poisoning myself with countless episodes of Say Yes To The Dress, I had become convinced that I hadn't picked "the One" and having bought my dress without input from friends and family meant I didn't have the adoring eyes of a mother or sister to confirm my opinions on the dress. Whatever.

I put it on today and was re-sold on it. That's what great alterations can do!


Lately, I've been enjoying taking photos of the trees around town. Usually I find that fall colors look better on trees than on me (seeing as I'm rather religious about sticking to my "season", which is summer). Today, I've worked a little maple red and gold into my ensemble...

Just as I snapped this picture, UPS dropped off a couple of gifts mailed to us from our online registry with Amazon. I highly recommend it; you can pick from any store at all online. Peacoat: Macy's. Blouse: thrifted. Jeans: The Gap. Shoes: Pink Duchess. Socks: my dad?

I love wide-legged jeans with cropped jackets. And, pairing wide-legged jeans with a platform, sparkly shoe gives me that special feeling of starting up school... when your jeans are dark and your shoes are fancy, exciting things are afoot for sure.

I love these shoes... I stopped off at a Gabriel Brothers for the first time ever a couple of months ago and scored these beuts for $9.99.

I love this blouse's drapey neckline. It can be difficult to rock an unusual neckline when you're working with a larger chest, so this blouse of mine is a valuable find!

With everything pretty much ready to go, now I've gone into overanalyzation mode and feel the desperate urge to ransack every antique store for sapphire-blue rhinestone jewelry...

Three more days...!

Yours,

Elissa.

Irregular Bites.

Last night I caught "Reality Bites" on TV and, a) wondered why Janeane was always stuck playing the gawky, ugly one (maybe cuz she believed it? Sometimes I think "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" is actually semi biographical) and b) began to love her bad Nineties vintage wardrobe-- especially those chunky shoes.

That's our girl... third from the left. Are you telling me she wouldn't be perfectly in sync on Wardrobe Remix?

This spurred me on to a visit to the lay person's Giuseppe Zanotti (and then some), Irregular Choice. Lord, get me a job, so I can give these beautiful damn shoes a loving home.
I love unusual heels, and I think you'll begin to see a pattern here. These are unique enough to be different, but in a reserved enough hue to be versatile. I love the paper-bag top and the seemingly tiny toe.

In the perfect shade of bubble-gum pink, and patent, too. These seem like one of those wild-card "musts" that you're grateful you own when you pull them out to wear every six months--- for the next 20 years.

True fact: I spent a short stint working as a beer-maid at the Hofbrauhaus, smocked peasant top and knee-highs included. If only these were part of the uniform... all that's missing is a lonely goat-herd.

Lady Gaga came to mind when I saw these works of architecture. Like there isn't an occasion to wear these? How about every occasion??? Or howabout just a short trench coat and some mean-ass sunglasses?
Ok, Danny Sullivan, STFU. These are like sartorial magic. It's like if fire and a tranny went toe-to-toe in the ring. Tee-kay-oh.
Again, with the heels, I know. This one reminds me of a teetering stack of books, and I feel that librarian-esque garb --sweater, tortoiseshell glasses, tweed skirt-- would be absolutely apropos.
Why the hell did I pick these? Why can't I stop staring at them? They're so disturbingly stultifying, and yet... there are some things in life that I look at and think, "These are for Rumi, and Rumi only." Girl, get these. Wear them with denim shorts and a fur jacket. Can't fail.




As if these lovely cantilevers were made just for me. I'd put them under a bell jar and just stare at them all day, then get my Ginger Rogers on in 'em at night.

Irregularly yours,

Elissa.

Entrepreneurons.

I have some pictures from this weekend, but my camera's getting a little wild and wooly with me so I'll settle for showing you today. For someone with so few dressy clothes, I sure can create quite a range of interview looks for myself these days. Gray. It's versatile.

Jacket: Macy's. Dress: Vintage, thrifted. Belt: thrifted. Tights: Target. Shoes: JC Penney.

I'm always fascinated by entrepreneurs, and I love to work for people who own their business. This one was a super upscale baby clothier-- I wish I'd taken a picture of the interior of the store, but it was all navy blue with natural wood and a giant, dark-colored chandelier right up front.

I rarely get a chance to wear these shoes, but I love them. Also, I got them at an end-of-season clearance at JC Penney for $6. Seriously!!!

One day, this girl's going to have her own brick and mortar. I already know what it's going to look like, what'll be sold, the music, the windows, everything... and I'm toying with a name pulled from an Elvis Costello song, so what's not to like? It'll probably take 5-10 years to get it going, but I've had an entrepreneurial spirit since I was little-- I used to try to rent out my bedroom to family members as a bed and breakfast!


This queer photo demonstrates about a billion things-- but most importantly, the chalkboard we just put up on the front of the house. For demonstration's sake, I put our house number on it (smart, Elissa) but our hope is that our friends who live in the neighborhood can leave messages on it for us if we're out, or we can draw some leaves on it for fall (as I did, faintly) or Ho Ho Ho's on it come December.

That disgraceful jack-o-lantern used to be a rather accurate likeness of my husband-to-be. To be in like.... 5 more days...!

Yours,

Elissa.

Look what I found!

Cruising around Ye Olde Freeway-side Antiques Barn last weekend, I happened upon the perfect cake topper...

[image via Marysholidaysps.com]

These mildly creepy, yet achingly adorable figurines are actually salt and pepper shakers. I'm so in love with them, I had to share!

Yours,

Elissa.

Takin' it Caj

Today's outfit solicited a compliment from not 1 but 2 mens, a rarity I'm sure in any girl's world. My fiance thinks that this is what I ought to be wearing to interviews, because the color and fit of the jeans gives them a more formal air. However, I still firmly believe that jeans at an interview will get you a swift "we'll call you". What do you think??

Blazer: thrifted. Shirt: F21. Jeans: Cheap Monday. Oxfords: thrifted.

The next few days are going to be filled with wedding-craft doing. I'm wrapping some pens with silver thread and topping them with white feathers (sounds a lot more Girl Scouts than it looks!), then it's on to creating the guest favors. Pictures to follow, I swear, but I don't want to spoil it... Speaking of "spoiling" and weddings, I've been thinking about what to do on here for the two weeks we'll be gone on the honeymoon-- we're going on a drive up the Pacific Coast!

Orange is my favorite color, and I love these earrings from World Market, esp. in concert with blue and khaki.

In other words, I want very much to not let the blogging go dry, but the thought of constantly tweeting and uploading photos throughout the trip seems neurotic to me. But I do want to prepare something special for all of you...

The shoes, oh, the shoes.... thrifted. I love anything woven and leather, and especially with cute little ties! Ivory to me seems very fresh for fall right now, as well.

I'm in love with "Secrets of a Happy Marriage" series that guest writers did for Cup of Jo while writer Joanna was off on her honeymoon. We'll see! We'll see... I've got a couple of ideas on the burners here.

Yours,

Elissa.

Mad Mental about Hermes.

If you've been watching Mad Men, then you know that a couple of weeks ago, Peggy received an Hermes scarf from a rival employer courting her copyrighting with couture. I was reminded that I wanted to do a little post on their Spring 2010 show, but it was so springy as to be obscenely unseasonal. But, like Peggy, I do what I want.

I have an extreme sweet spot for tennis-inspired clothing, and this collection has me hanging on every thread.


It doesn't get much more classically tennis than this. I'm still not sick of socks and sandals, and now I have a new item for my "want" list-- a sweatband. I'm curious to know what'll pop up if I Google "sexy sweatband".


Perfect, especially if you tend to arrive to your early-morning, mist-covered tennis lessons on the back of a white stallion.


Sassy, edgy and very wearable. But aren't aviators a bit done? Just sayinz all...


I loved the burnished red Gaultier used throughout, a nice departure from the now de rigeur, high chroma red.


Get a load of the color and quality of that leather. If only we could all pull of leather shorts! How cool is this, though? Thrown on and rather reminiscent of a sexier version of a leisure suit.


Of course I love this, in a certain aspect it reminds me of what I wore in high school: gigantic men's Izod sweaters, mini skirts (my favorite had a French news-print on it) and knee-high boots. I think this look is definitely worth another turn.

This Stevie Nicks-ish look, the only real departure in the whole collection wins with me as well, because of the leather visor-- hello! and the sports bra. I can very well imagine doing a bit of poolside lounging in my matchy skirt and bikini top, only to throw on an armful of bracelets and a dip-dyed chiffon robe for a languid, sunset dinner.


If you're an austere, classic beauty and you know it, clap your hands! If I looked like Audrey Hepburn or Jackie Kennedy, I'd wear this every damn day.


I love it. Reminds me of boxing, except with a bit of--- I'll coin a term here --- flappervescence.


And here we arrive in full blown Halston territory, salted with a little YSL. Simple, simple simple, and gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Hot damn, I love navy blue.



I felt compelled to post this picture, as well, I love the models running behind him with tennis rackets, and Jean-Paul looking like he just "dropped the mike". Booyah!

In other news, I've got 11 days. ELEVEN DAYS!!! Holy criznap. So many things to do.

Yours,

Elissa.

[images via Style.com]

Black and White.

Here's a quickie post-- it's two weeks to the day tomorrow, and I have to drop off the rest of my flower monies. Today, I went on another interview. My ensemble evolved into one in black and white.

Suit: Macy's. Blouse: Dress from F21. Crochet Tights: Target. Shoes: Steve Madden.

I reduxed the keys necklace. I once read in Tiger Beat (a long, long time ago) about a certain actress who would wear the exact same outfit she auditioned in to any call backs, because, if they liked her enough to call back in the first outfit, why not come back in that fortuitous frock?


I love these tights. Fishnets are too smarmy-looking for me, but the subtle crocheted pattern in these is just right.

Ring: The Emperor's Newest Clothes.

Off I go yet again... this time to watch "Leprechaun: In the Hood" with friends. While I do that, feast your eyes on this masterpiece--



Slappin' my troubles away,

Elissa.