I'm not calling you a ghost

Being in Spokane, there are way too many emotions and memories being drudged up. My time here overall was good, but memories of James and the overwhelming loneliness that this city can remind me of are just very draining for me. I'm trying to recall the good times with all my friends, but there's still this dark presence hovering over this place. It makes me feel like I'm moving through tar when I walk around- if that makes any sense. It's like I'm wading through all of the baggage I left here when I moved away over a year ago. It seems like 5 years ago, I can't believe I lived here last June.

So here is an outfit from home, my last outfit shoot that I did in Anchorage, actually. I do miss home, probably more-so because being in Spokane reminds me of when I desperately wanted to move home and be with family, among people who loved me completely. As much as I am glad that I can take advantage of my alma mater and print in a state-of-the-art printmaking shop, I can't help but feel trapped here again. Perhaps it was too soon to return, but I suppose it's all part of a healing process. It will make the trip to Tacoma all that much more sweet, I suppose! My friend Brad is coming into Spokane this weekend though, so I kind of want to stay here to see him again before I'm off to places unknown. Well, I suppose whatever will be, will be.

forget me dot frock & diamanda tights/courtesy of modcloth :: cardigan/target

boots/lulu e. bebe :: scarf/from tieka :: glasses/wet seal

Today I spent the day printing. I was nervous, having not actually printed in over a year, but once I got into it, it all came back to me. Hopefully it'll come out well. I've got two layers down so far and I'm planning on doing two more tomorrow, then the final layer on Friday. I have 40 prints right now, but not all of them will turn out, so we'll see how big the final edition ends up being.

I have to say, printing is one thing that I just adore. I just feel so at home with a screen and ink, barefoot and hair piled atop my head. I love the ink caked on my fingers. I should buy a trailer to drag behind the Brave and convert the interior into a mobile printshop. Ugh, so awesome. Oh, by the way, I will be offering the edition of prints for sale once they are all done! It's the same print as on the totes, except this time it's hand printed by yours truly! And I'm contemplating printing the sun in metallic gold and/or making it gold leaf. Maybe just for a few of them. A special edition, perhaps? I'm so thrilled about it all.

Vintage Strings Giveaway

Hi guys! I'm happy to announce that I get to bring you another giveaway from one of my awesome sponsors, Vintage Strings! For one lucky reader, Vintage Strings is offering a $30 credit to the shop!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post letting me know what you'd get from the shop with your prize. The giveaway will be open for entries from now until Monday, October 4th at 9pm PST. Make sure to leave an email address or a way to get ahold of you if you win. Open to international entries, only one entry per person.

Also, if you aren't the lucky winner, you still can take advantage of the 15% off discount code "delightful"! The shop has a whole assortment of awesome vintage for you to take a gander at, including skirts, dresses, shoes, and tops.

A Seafaring Lass

I haven't done a travel post update of my ferry/Canadian journeys! You got some of it in my outfit posts the last couple days, but I'll try to fill in what was missed.

Before departing for Prince Rupert on the ferry Thursday afternoon, I took a little trip up to Chilkoot Lake state recreation area, which was beautiful. The weather was lovely and the scenery was just breathtaking. If you go to Haines, don't miss it. Also, it looked like there were still some people fishing, so if you're into fishing, it'd probably be a nice little spot to set up to try and get some fish!

I jumped the ferry stand-by to Juneau and then had a reservation from Juneau to Prince Rupert. The Haines-Juneau standby trip ended up working out perfectly! Since I was a standby, I had to drive off the ferry in Juneau and get back on with my Juneau-Prince Rupert reservation. That meant that I could go visit my grandparents who live in Juneau! Their house is right near the ferry terminal and they watched my ferry come in! The layover in Juneau was a perfect amount of time to go visit them. They made me the most delicious meal ever (I think grandparents really can cook love into their food. How do they do it?!), and we sat around, talked, and Skyped my Dad and brothers back home. I always forget that I have Skype, it'll be nice for connecting to the fam back home. I'm really thankful I got to see my grandparents too. They were in Anchorage this summer and I saw them then, but I haven't been to their house in Juneau since 2005, so it was amazing to be able to see them there again.

(If you're wondering, yes that is a giant tub of butter. Gotta slather up my corn and potato!)

I got back on the ferry at midnight and we weren't getting into the next port till morning, so I decided to "stow away" in my Winnebago for the night. You aren't allowed to be on the car deck while the boat is underway- you're supposed to be up in the passenger decks- but I felt bad leaving Little Bit in the RV for so many hours alone, especially overnight, so I just hopped into my bed and hid. Haha! It actually stressed me out and I kept having dreams that someone found me and I got in trouble! Silly. I wanted to take more pictures along the way but it was pouring rain almost the whole time. Especially in Petersburg, it was like a hurricane or something. I was being beaten with rain when I took LB out for a walk while we were in port!

The only place that was slightly nice was Wrangell, so I took pictures when we stopped there. The ferry had a bar and it was kind of a nice quiet place to chill out. Stuff was really expensive on the ferry so I only had one beer, mostly so I would have a reason to sit at the bar and try to talk to people (which I'm terrible at). I ended up talking to this old dude for a bit, who was very nice and lived in Juneau, and then a younger guy- a little bit older than me, who was from Haines. It's funny how I kind of alter myself when I talk to people. Around people I know I don't think I do it, but I definitely pulled out the more hardcore, tomboy part of me when talking to those dudes. Haha!

Everything on the ferry was pretty expensive, including food, so I only ate in the Galley twice and ended up getting the same thing both times. Burger n fries! Haha. Mainly I got it just because it had protein and was one of the cheaper things. I was tempted to get some lemon meringue pie but then I told myself that there was no reason for me to spend my money on overpriced lemon meringue pie. Sigh. I LOVE lemon meringue pie.

We finally got off in Prince Rupert and drove drove drove all the way from Prince Rupert to Hixon, which took all day, though I stopped for a nap a couple hours out of Prince Rupert. Like I said in my last post, it rained the entire day, so I didn't take many pictures on the run across hwy 16. Here is little bit in one of her spots, though. She asserts that she belongs right next to me when we're driving. She is not a passenger seat kind of dog. When she gets tired of being next to me, she hops down and curls up under the dash to the left of the steering column. So cute! She is the perfect road trip dog...

Be sure to check out my guest post over at JenLovesKev today! She asked us to come up with an outfit based off of a piece of art and my inspiration was impressionism...

Marigold Highway

Clearly I was into wearing pants the first few days of my trip. It was chilly up on the more northern legs of my trip! Get this: it snowed in Anchorage today! Glad I got out of there when I did! It didn't stick or anything... but still. I'm going to be in Spokane this week and the weather is supposed to be in the 80's!! Woohoo! After quite a few days of cold weather, I'm excited to be headed down into more balmy weather.

I pulled over on Highway 16 in B.C. because the colors of the trees all along that highway this time of year are just beautiful. Such a vibrant marigold! I wanted to wear something colorful to compliment the gorgeous, vivid golds, so I put on my plaid Tulle coat. The lining of the jacket is the exact same color as the trees!

coat/tulle via lulu e bebe :: jeans/pacsun :: boots/target :: glasses/wet seal

I love having the Brave lurking in the background of my photos. I make no promises to not totally overload this blog with photos of the Brave, haha. For some reason, cars have always been very animated to me. I've had complete conversations with my El Camino before, and it seems like cars make friends with other cars they're parked next to... sometimes. The El Camino would give me stink eye when I made it sit out in the snow. Doesn't the Brave just look like it has a happy-go-lucky soul? I don't think they make cars these days with as much personality as they did back in the 50's - 70's.

The bartender on the ferry was telling me that hwy 16 between Prince Rupert and Prince George is called the "trail of tears" because people get robbed, raped and murdered from hitchhiking and picking up hitchhikers. Apparently she'd heard a lot of horror stories or something and felt it was her duty to warn me. I was cautious but I didn't know if I quite believed the intensity of the rumors until I was driving along and saw a huge billboard that said something like, "Highway 16- HIGHWAY OF TEARS" "Killer on the loose!" and showed pictures of missing/killed women. Yikes! Since I'm not really in the habit of picking up hitchhikers I didn't really feel like I was in too much danger. Nevertheless, I was glad when I made it past Prince George and on down hwy 97.

I didn't take a lot of pictures that day. It rained constantly the whole day, so I wasn't really in the mood to go outside and get wet trying to take pictures of scenery. The above photo is an example of what I saw all day. Rain, wet pavement, clouds, and windshield wipers.

I have a ton of photos to share from the ferry trip and the past couple days, but here are some photos from my last night in Anchorage at home. My parents barbecued some delicious chicken and we had a family dinner in the back yard on a beautiful fall day- the atmosphere clinging to just enough leftover summer warmth to make it comfortable to sit out on the patio. Little Bit (unknowingly) spent her last night being pestered by Simon (though I'm certain Simon really misses LB's company).

My brother Ben makes adorable little clay figures (which he uses for stop-action short films), and I just loved the little bug he made, so I had to take a picture of it. Ah, the things about home I will miss dearly.

Vintage Vibes

When Tieka and I were walking around NYC on one of our last days in the city, we happened across a couple vintage shops. It was so amazing to actually be in a place that had legit vintage stores, unlike Anchorage, where it's mostly just thrift stores which mean only a few awesome vintage finds now and then). My love for vintage clothing was again solidified and I really wish I lived in a place where there was a better vintage selection. Maybe at the end of the Brave trip I'll find myself living in a place where vintage thrives! But for now, my vintage thirst can only be satisfied online (even though I can't afford to buy any clothes until the Brave trip is over. Gas tank takes precedence over clothes...). I love that the internet has provided such great places to buy vintage, like Market Publique, Etsy, Ebay, etc.

Since I can't actually buy anything for a while, here are some of my favorite dresses from LA Vintage for you guys to ogle and perhaps buy so I can live vicariously through you....

Gradient Horizon Dress // Oaxaca Embroidered Minidress

Pastel Dream Prairie Dress // Magdalena's Blues Dress

Laying in Sunshine Dress // Cheap Thrills Dress

While my favorite are dresses (why do I always gravitate towards dresses? I don't know... I just do!), they also have everything from skirts to shoes as well as a whole assortment of accessories. Check it out!