Monday, June 28, 2010

Siena: week 2


Wearing: jcrew headband, tory burch sunglasses, jcrew dress, uniqlo slip, ysl bag, matt berson sandals

This weekend we met up with a friend in Rome. The highlights were definitely a dinner at Taverna Romana (here's a really good article about the neighborhood it is in) and trekking up to the cupola of Saint Peter's while a mass was going on. We were planning on not shopping until a chance encounter with a woman on the street (she literally leaned out of her shop to tell us it was only open from 10pm until 2am) meant a 20 minute detour and the purchase of a bikini from the 1950's (unworn) and a cacharel cardigan decorated with cherries.

Returning to Siena really felt like coming home, and our sleepy little city is quickly transforming into a medieval town as preparations for the Palio are well under way. If you have never heard of the Palio I highly recommend a visit to wikipedia trip. I have decided to route for the chiocciola contrada, their mascot is a snail! (R. thinks I'm crazy but there is something wonderfully ironic about having a snail as your mascot for a race.)


A flag thrower from chiocciola in traditional medieval costume

We also ended up back at Aloe & Wolf today where I finally decided to buy a bowler hat. I also found some very nice vintage Italian ties for my dad, happy late father's day!

Speaking of which, I forgot to give a birthday shout-out to my sister (and sometimes co-blogger) Leah. Happy birthday Wintergreen, you're an adult now but I'm still going to tell you what to do because that's what big sisters are for.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sono arrivato a Siena!

So far Siena has been amazing. Our host parents are wonderful, they always correct our Italian. Learning a new language is hard, but hugely rewarding. We had our first class at our new school today (which is housed in an old psychiatric hospital). R. and I ate lunch at a very good restaurant close to the Duomo, Taverna del Capitano. We also managed to find the only vintage store (I think) in Siena, Aloe & Wolf Vintage and art gallery.

The owners are a really cool woman, Alessandra Aloe and her boyfriend who I didn't get to meet. Her store is stuffed with the coolest italian vintage, R. and I spent an hour just looking through everything. She has an amazing designer selection which I mostly just ogled. I did try on a Moschino jacket from the 80's, but it was a little out of my price range. In the end I bought a dress and a belt and R. got a tie. I am still debating a bowler hat. I love when Rachel Weitz wears one in the Brother's Bloom but I don't know if I can pull it off!


I was too excited to stand still! Wearing: aritzia shirt, zara skirt, ysl bag












Tuesday, June 8, 2010

shopping ban update

Alrighty, so I finally have internet in my new apartment though getting it was a nightmare and a half. Comcast, we are in an enormous fight if you didn't already know.

In my last post I promised home improvement and cooking. The apartment is slowly starting to look like a home, but there are still areas that need work. My shoe collection desperately needs a home. At the moment its sitting in a yellow crate that I bought at the elephant trunk flea market. Yup, I finally made it and on the only sunday I could go this summer there was a hurricane warning so there weren't that many vendors or shoppers. I did manage to get a lamp ($5), the aforementioned crate ($7), some glass bottles ($4) and a book on the Palio ($20).

My cheat day has come and gone. I managed to restrain myself at Madewell and got one t-shirt.


So soft and I wear my other three all the time.

Jcrew seduced me into buying a very adorable shirt-dress. Since I am not a giant as this model appear to be the dress is a perfectly respectable length on me.



I resisted the lures of this one. (Indigo-stripe Schuyler dress, $168)


I am still debating the pros and cons of a fedora from jcrew which is not online yet. All in all I think I did very well. I am definitely avoiding urban outfitters at all costs, though I had to walk by on the way to the bookstore today and was almost won over by a sale rack.

A trip to target for household items was a challenge but I made it through.