Lesson Learned

I don't know about you, but after a weekend of shopping, dining, and laughing with my parents, I've got the Monday Blues a little bit. 

So this is a tale about a blue dress.

For an afternoon of shopping with my mom this weekend, I needed something comfy, cute, and warm. I found this Calvin Kline dress on a recent thrifting adventure, and thought for sure it was straight from the 80s. Naturally, I had to have it.

This was the purse that I bought from the Quarter Life Shop and Social from last week. I had been looking for a shoulder cross bag for a while now, and I loved the color and detail (and, of course, the price!) of this one.

So as my mom were sauntering around the mall, perusing the things on the sale rack at Lord and Taylor that we couldn't afford, I was pretty tickled to find this:

Turns out my Calvin Klein find was not from some grandma's closet. Turns out this very dress is for sale at your local high-end mall. For a much steeper price than I would ever pay for it.

Moral of the story: I am officially never shopping at department stores ever again.

Happy Monday.

Modern Vintage Shop & Social

A friend at work sent me a link for this event last week hosted by Quarter Life: The Beltway's Best Vintage and Thrift. When I saw that the event involved food, other vintage lovers, and shopping, I immediately took the day off of work so I could go. 

Never mind that it was in an area that I'd never heard of. Never mind that I've rarely ventured in DC outside of the monuments and museums. Also, never mind that I had never navigated the Metro by myself nor was I about to drive right into the city during rush hour. Ah, but minor details!

The rain almost turned me into a bum that day, but I wasn't about to waste a vacation day sitting in sweatpants perusing Pintrest. So I put on one of my favorite vintage dresses, slipped into my red rain boots, and decided I was going, gosh darnit!

My genius plan was to drive to Alexandria and park there to ride the Metro to Capitol Heights. After trying three separate stops until I finally found one with parking, I clomped in and got my adventure off to a great start by accidently putting twenty dollars on a fare card. Again, minor detail. I would use it for all the future trips I would make into the city. The trip itself was surprisingly smooth, and I arrived at Nana with plenty of time to spare. 

In fact, I was that awkward first person to the party.

But the gals at the shop were so sweet and welcoming, and Miss Lisa and I discovered a Pennsylvania connection almost right away. Not to mention the place was adorable, and they had cookies...and beer...and hummus...and cucumber sandwich things. 

Rockin' the rain boots. Photo by Lisa.

People starting trickling in and soon the place was abuzz with new and old friends and vintage lovers squealing over all the fabulous clothes and jewelry. The best thing about being at an event with fellow bloggers was that you could pull your camera out and start snapping photos and there were no weird looks.

Overall, it was a great time and I made some new friends (hey Thrift and Style, Tulle and Combat Boots, and Naja Diamond!) And I walked away with a lovely new purse--photos coming soon.

I left with a little extra bounce in my rain boot step, arrived at the Metro to go home, and realized that I lost the fare card. Which still had 17 bucks on it. I hiked back to the shop with no luck, and back to the station to buy a new one. 

So, you're welcome whoever found a free gift on the ground.

I would say it was worth it.