Northern California Inspiration

Next month I'll be headed out to California, and I've been spending my spare time reading guidebooks, mapping things out, and trying to determine just how much I can pack into this grand adventure. For four days, Paul and I will be hiking and camping together in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Then for five days, we'll split up where he'll continue on what I keep referring to as his "man hike." I'll take the rental car and head out on a solo road trip adventure along the northern CA cost, San Francisco, and back through Yosemite National Park before I pick him up and we head to Vegas for our friends' wedding.

The plans for my solo journey are coming together nicely, with time alloted for exploring tide pools and redwood forests, sampling local beer and roadside oyster stands, and making big-city discoveries in San Francisco and neighboring Berkeley and Oakland. I'll be camping seaside and in a sub-alpine meadow and visiting a new friend who is just moving to San Fran. All in all, I CANNOT WAIT for my grand adventure to begin!!!! Here's a little Northern CA inspired round-up to get me through to September.

Left to right, from top:

1. vintage photo: a tour through the Sequoias.

2. Visit Sequoia National Park? I will! Love this letterpress print by Quaillane Press.

3. I want this vintage CA bracelet right this very second!

4. Forest Friends tee by GnomEnterprises

5. You all know how much I love sending postcards. This stationary organizer by Downstairs Designs could hold all of them and stamps too.

6. A trusty camera is a must. And when is vintage not better?!

7. A vintage Samsonite travel case seems like the perfect companion to ride shotgun down Highway 1.

8. Vintage camping lantern for my night at Point Reyes National Seashore

9. Cream linen cloche with a red wooded buckle. Says beach AND national park. Yes please!

10. "Let's Go on an Adventure" print by Bubby and Bean.

11. 1940's vacation photo.

12. This adorable dress by The Velvet Bird is perfect for daydreaming by the shore and for exploring the streets of San Francisco. Did you see those elbow pads?!

13. One of my stops: Point Reyes National Seashore. And what a lovely letterpress map of that very place by Quaillane Press.

14. A warm fisherman's sweater for those cold Pacific breezes.

15. To pop open a bottle of Anchor beer after the brewery tour

16. Mod San Francisco print on wood by Petit Collage. Love.

Every Day is an Adventure

This was a "yes" day; everything we saw along the road that looked interesting, every idea we had, we had to say "yes" to. This took us into 5 different counties, down hidden back roads, and to places we've lived near and grew up close to, some of which we've never visited, others familiar and full of memories. It meant turning the car around many times to go back and go inside some little shop or to walk along the road and take a picture. 


A road trip should be cut through with a swath of green in every shade of the country and pops of vibrant color from roadside stops. It should be a little bit of everything. This one had it all, and this daylong excursion took place only an hour or so from home, proving that an adventure can be had anywhere, anytime, and with not much money in your pocket.

Paul and I started our day in our hometown of Mt. Pleasant, NC, where we stopped to check out the new farmers' market. The vegetables we picked up were weighed on this antique scale. While we were in town, we also rummaged around a consignment shop and a roadside yard sale. (Click photos to enlarge.)

Next stop: Cline's Antiques, a treasure trove full of interesting finds. Paul and I both grew up down the road from this place (but never met each other until after college - random fact), and I couldn't believe he had never been! It turned out to be one of his favorite stops of the day. We took home some cool letterpress blocks, a dish/tray/contraption for my nature collection, and antique beer bottles for bottling homebrew.

On the road in Stanly County: driving down country roads past fields of corn and soybeans, a church that dates back to 1830, BBQ lunch in Albemarle, and a wine tasting at Dennis Vineyards. We also found a really great thrift store in Albemarle that was tucked away down an alleyway and was packed so full of things you could hardly walk!

Paul remembered passing over an interesting bridge while driving out to a hike a year or so ago. We found it on the atlas and it was about an hour away. Should we go? There was only one possible answer: Yes! 

Wading through the Uwharrie River was one of the highlights of the day. It was such a cool reprieve after the 90 degree heat!

A country drive: Seeing another bridge on the map, we crossed over and kept driving. Left: looking down over the second bridge into a nice swimming hole. No road trip is really complete without a dirt road or two, and we found a bunch of good ones! Bottom right: old country store that was at the corner of the road pictured above it.

Last stop: Pat & Mick's in New London. I used to frequent this country fish camp with my family when we were staying at the lake house as I was growing up. Lots of good memories here! Dinner to share: cajun flounder, deviled crab, fried shrimp, oysters and scallops. And with full bellies, we drove just a little over an hour back home to Charlotte.

Weekends with Verabelle

Warm weather always makes me want to hit the road. I try to plan at least one road trip a year (this spring, it was with three of my girlfriends to Lexington, Louisville, and Nashville), and when I have the time, I fill my weekends with excursions that are close to home. From antiquing to berry-picking to country fish fries to nights at the drive-in or the bingo parlor, there's always an adventure to be had!

This summer, I've been creating clothing and accessories that I think are just perfect for weekend day trips and summer vacations. Vivid colors, hand-dyed embellishments, and nostalgic trims add a little something special. Those peppy reds, merry marigolds, azalea pinks, and tart lemon yellows are as bright and warm as the summer sunshine glaring off your dash.

Verabelle on Etsy

If you want to hear from me while I'm on the road this summer, I'm looking for pen pals! You can get a handwritten postcard from me (or sent to a friend) and get the inside scoop on my weekend and week-long adventures. Next up: in July, I'll be camping out and volunteering on a sheep and cow farm in the mountains of Virginia. And later on, I have a hiking and road trip planned to Nevada and California. I love writing postcards about as much as I love the actual vacation!

Hope to hear from you soon!

xoxo,

Amanda Aileen

P.S. Get a snapshot of yourself in Verabelle while you're on a summer adventure. Upload it to the Verabelle Facebook page, and I'll send you a summery surprise!

Object of Affection: NC Pennant

I am a huge fan of kitschy travel memorabilia, but I didn't have to travel too far to find this vintage NC pennant. This little treasure came from one of my favorite Charlotte antique shops, Fifteen Ten Antiques on Central Avenue. As a NC native, this keepsake tugs at my heartstrings. I imagine someone picking it up on their vacation to Kitty Hawk or on a tour of college campuses around the state. I love it for its bright colors (that coral pink is one of my all-time favs) and its adorably retro illustrations of North Carolina landmarks and tourists. This pennant has a home on the wall by my sewing machine.

a place for everything & everything in its place

Who doesn't love the promise that a new year brings? I don't think I've ever started out a new year with quite this much deliberate intention, taking the time and energy to really prepare myself and my surroundings for what I intend to accomplish. I have spent the first days of 2012 cleaning out and clearing my head, getting ready for the rest of the 365 in front of me. I've cleaned out and done away with my storage unit, filed away stacks of papers and receipts, organized bins of supplies, finished little projects around the house that I've been putting off, and given away things that have been setting around gathering dust. It's so refreshing to have a desk cleared, papers tidy, a room readied, all the what-nots and do-dads put in place, and everything I'm not going to use out of sight. 


I started realizing early last year that when my home and work space became too cluttered, my to-do list always somehow seemed more overwhelming, like my mind couldn't cut through all the clutter to just simply think. This feeling was confirmed when I read this month in Whole Living magazine about a finding by the Princeton Neuroscience Institute: "... Having a disorganized work space makes it difficult for people to process information efficiently. Objects scattered around compete for your attention and disturb concentration." Precisely! 


Last year I instated a 10-minute cleaning habit that really helped in moments when I just couldn't take it anymore. I'd set a timer and clean or tidy up something (anything!) without stopping. As long as I was moving, it didn't matter what task I was tackling. When something feels daunting, ten minutes seems manageable. And it's always amazing how much you can actually get done in those mere 600 seconds. This year, though, I'm going to try to take my initiative to a whole new level and continue to find new ways to keep the clutter under control! If you have any tips or suggestions, please share them!

a look around my freshly 

organized sewing room...

A cabinet for storing trims & embellishments, as well as smaller projects in the works. I repainted this vintage cabinet that came from a family friend and added the knobs. Lola sits on a crocheted rug I found at the thrift store.

A collection of vintage and natural objects; a painting by me, a pillow by a friend, & my grandmother's ashes

The jewelry armoire my grandmother, Aileen, gave me when I was a little girl still houses all my accessories and sits in front of one of my paintings. Photos of family: Aileen when she was a little girl (middle) and my great-grandparents, Papa & Granny

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Urban Adventure: Thrifting, BBQ & Line Dancing

When possible, I think it's best to turn errands into an adventure, tacking on stops for fun. Especially when you're already traveling to a different neighborhood, why not use that gallon of gas and make your time more worthwhile?

Here's my itinerary for a thrifty trip to West Charlotte, made for a Wednesday evening that includes dinner and dancing!

The perfect outfit for your outing...

Dance Hall Dress by Verabelle

Pony Necklace by Archives Chicago

Cowgirl Cuff made from a vintage belt by Lucky Junk 

Boots from Goodwill, photo by macdon512, 

from the Goodwill Hunting Flickr pool

STOP 1: Thrift Store Corner

Goodwill Outlet        Value Village        Community Thrift

2901a Freedom Dr.      2917 Freedom Dr.     3016 Freedom Dr.

                       Charlotte, NC 28208          

There's a certain area on Freedom Drive that I like to call "Thrift Store Corner," where you can hit a string of secondhand shops all at once. Goodwill Outlet and Value Village sit right next to one another, and Community Thrift is directly across the street. And the best part: you know that each store is going to have something completely different!

Start your excursion at Goodwill's outlet store, where clothes are sold by the pound. This is the ultimate stop for the thrifty scavenger; you'll get to dig through heaping bins for vintage and designer treasures, all at a low cost of $1.39 per pound. This shop also offers housewares and furniture, where most are priced at 50% off. 

Next door is Value Village, a grocery-store-sized thrift shop and one of my favorite of the thrifting chains. Scan the endless shelves of shoes and pick through the racks to see if you can uncover a Western shirt or a old cowboy hat to wear later for dancing. I've picked up many a vintage treasure at this spot!

Across the street at Community Thrift, you'll find a thrift store as organized as a department store. With sections for sports equipment, hand-picked vintage finds, and even a craft section, I never walk away from here empty-handed. My favorite finds from this store: a pair of vintage sunglasses and a brand new Bodin french press.

STOP 2: Barbeque King

2900 Wilkinson Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28208

After thrifting, make a dinner stop at Babeque King, a drive-in barbeque joint that has been serving Charlotte since 1959. This second-generation family establishment smokes their pulled and sliced pork in-house and smothers it with their homemade secret barbeque sauce. They're also known for their barbeque chicken, which Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives describes as a cross between fried and barbeque chicken and buffalo wings. If you need to, stop by the ATM, because this stop is cash only.

STOP 3: Coyote Joe's

4621 Wilkinson Blvd. Charlotte NC 28208

Gear up in any Western wear you uncovered on your thrifting marathon to get ready for a night of line-dancing at Coyote Joe's. Plan to arrive on Wednesday by 7:00 pm for the free line dancing lessons. Instructors will give you the moves to strut along the giant dance floor so that you'll be ready for the live band at 9:00 pm. On Wednesdays, ladies get in free and guys pay $3, with half-price drinks.


This entry has been adapted from my past post for the Wow! Goodwill blog... Be sure to read my other posts for Goodwill!

Chanel at the Mint

My best friend and I recently visited Charlotte's Mint Museum to view a bit of fashion history. The museum on Randolph Road currently has a exhibit featuring the iconic haute couture designs of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. Her design sensibilities are so interwoven into our present-day fashion culture, that as a redesigner of vintage clothing, for me, this exhibit was a must.

Coco Chanel was a pioneer of women's fashion in the early 1900's, leaving behind the corset for designs that were more comfortable and casual, yet still elegant. She is known to have popularized many modern staples, including women's trousers, suits, and the little black dress. Taking notes from menswear beyond just the pant, she was also the first to design using knit jersey, at the time used only for men's underwear. 

The exhibit highlights designs dating from the 1920s to the present-day house of Chanel and includes clothing by the designer, as well as costume jewelry and her signature perfume. My favorite piece was a black and white dress suit made between 1925-1929 and constructed by Coco Chanel, herself. I love the a-symmetry of the button placement, the geometric print of the fabric, and the drop waist. It has such a simple elegance and, in my opinion, looks modern, even for today.

Chanel: Designs for the Modern Woman will be on view through December 31 2011.

My favorite design of the exhibit(jacket not pictured).

Other selections in the Mint Museum's 

fashion collection not to be missed!

Object of Affection: Granny's Pill Box

This pill box used to sit on one of the end tables in Aileen's formal living room, and I remember tiptoeing in there to rub my fingers over the flowers in the dark. I loved feeling the smoothness of each rounded petal, like the prettiest Braille. My imagination was taken with the beautiful, bright colors too, and I thought that it was one of the most special things that Aileen or Granny had in the house. It was the tiniest little trinket. To me, it was delicate and lovely, and I don't remember ever picking it up off the table to hold in my hands. I just ran my fingers across it in the secrecy of the dark.

I still hold the flowered pillbox near and dear, and it now sits on a small shelf in my sewing room. Every time I touch it, it reminds me of my Granny, and I remember being little again, peering over the edge of the end table in the dark.

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"Objects of Affection" is a series of blog posts that allows me to  share some of my favorite and most special things with you. I'll pick something different from around my home each time and tell you a bit about it. I think photographing and writing about these objects are a way to help me appreciate all the things around me and to reflect on the meaning they hold for me. It's nice to linger over these little things in our lives.

Vintage Travel Stickers

- - - Marisa amid their wares. - - -

This past Saturday, we woke up early to join our friends, Kassie and Marisa, for a group yard sale. Kassie and Marisa are both collectors of all things vintage and fabulous, and really, I wanted to take home about everything they had laid out on their front lawn. But I was able to exercise a little control and spend a few bucks on just an armful of things. My favorite: this little collection of vintage travel stickers at ten cents apiece!

Don't you just love yard sales?!

World's Largest Fleamarket

Ok, so maybe it's not the world's largest flea market, but it feels like it! The first Saturday of every month, the International Collectibles and Antiques Show comes to Charlotte, but twice a year a slew of additional vendors from around the world set up to peddle their wares. I went to this huge biannual show a few weeks ago. Here are some of my favorites I found while browsing.

I'm a sucker for kitchen kitsch! 

Clockwise, from left: I already have quite a collection of vintage glasses and always find it hard to say no to new ones. Bakelite napkin holders featuring cute critters. A set of plastic vintage canisters would be high on my shopping list, if only I had a place to put them!

(L) I love vintage buttons!
(R) a lamp made from popsicle sticks and marbles



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A Meditation in Earrings

I had some fun yesterday rephotographing accessories, and I thought I'd share! I enjoy taking the close-ups (of the clothing too) because you have to look at every little detail, and it forces you to take the time to consciously think about what you want to include in the frame. It's meditative in a way, the intentionality of it. These were all done in my back yard, on a quilted piece that I think my Granny or one of her sisters made, something that looks like a table runner. All the earrings are paired with little natural keepsakes that I have collected over the years.