once i saw a dragonfly

the truth hurts

2012-01-31T20:47:00.001-05:00

do you ever find you've been going along on sheer hope, perhaps burying your head in the sand about the truth? hope is a powerful thing. for me, anyway. more powerful than truth, I think. truth is finite. hope is infinite. you do the math.

so when the unavoidable truth comes crashing down on you once in a while, man, it's brutal. and people say annoying things like, "I've always been truthful with you," or "I've been honest with you from the start." But there's "honest," and there's honest with a bit of fudge factor. Honest and honest with just enough bread crumbs dropped to keep you following along with hope in your heart.

"just honest enough that you can't accuse me of being DIShonest" is not really the same as HONEST.

truth whacked me upside the head last night and I'm still reeling a bit. i'm feeling sad and a bit numb. trying not to react...but to sit with the truth for a bit...til...I know what I ~~should~~ will do.

the truth hurts. but sometimes hope really SUCKS. it keeps you hanging on when maybe you shouldn't.

tomorrow's another day. i hope.

it's all good in the hood

2012-01-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

2½ years ago I sold my darling little house on Long Island where I'd lived for 14 years with my daughter and moved to Brooklyn. I know a lot of people don't understand that decision, as I'm still working out on the Island and now have a 40 mile (one way) commute five days a week. But I'm loving Brooklyn and like to think I've got the best of both worlds now! The suburbs by day, with big box stores and tons of fast food and parking lots (ahhhh)...and at night and on the weekends I enjoy the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, with the interesting people and places. So yesterday I was in "the country," up north of the city, and today I was back in the hood. My life has a lot of variety, to say the least!

I decided today to add another resolution to 2012. And it's a hard one for me. To do more things alone. I mean, I do most everything alone as it is...but there are things I *don't* do because I don't want to do them by myself. And I'm missing out on things I think I would enjoy. But you know how there are some things you just feel funny doing alone? Today I was craving a really yummy breakfast. OUT. I couldn't find anyone to go with me. I almost just went "oh well" and didn't go. But I MADE myself go out to eat alone. Ack. It felt a little weird. But I did it. It helps having a phone you can do stuff on. So you're not just like staring straight ahead the whole time, ha. I'll need to learn better "I'm here by myself, deal with it" skills. But for now, I'm just happy I took this step. And I'll keep trying to push myself to not pass things up just because I can't get anyone to go with me.

Is there anything you feel funny doing alone? Do you go anyway?

wherein i get the hell outta dodge

2012-01-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

One of my new year's resolutions for 2012 was "more road trips." sometimes you just need to get outside the box of your normal life, see nothing that is familiar, travel new roads, see different things...and today I did just that. it was pretty low key...the dog and I loaded up in the morning, got doughnuts for the road, and headed up to Tarrytown, NY. It feels like a whole different world there, but it's actually a shorter drive than what I make to work every day!

Specifically our first destination was the Rockefeller State Park Preserve so Caleb could have a nice romp and I a good walk....before we sight-saw around the rest of the area by car.

It was a good day. the boy is exhausted and sleeping at my feet. i feel refreshed and ready to face another week of "the same thing every day."

How do you refresh and recharge?

what my day looked like....

2012-01-27T21:26:00.002-05:00

I'm told it was 60 degrees today, but it was rainy and dreary and now it's nighttime and a cold wind is coming in through the air conditioner and swirling around my legs and i'm cold. i'm tired. when i get tired i get cold. when i get cold i yawn. i'm trying to make it to the sofa where there are blankets and kitties for warming oneself, but i'm being seduced by wonderful cooking blogs. i found a posting about tea + booze = hot toddies! doesn't that sound lovely??

I started a 365 days of photos project on flickr. I'm pretty proud of myself for making it to day 27! Obviously I've not been as conscientious about my blog! I will try and be better...I really have to hand it to the people who get something worthwhile written every day. Woohoo y'all!

The upside of the 365 days of photos goal is it's making me try harder to see pictures in things. with it still getting dark early there have been many nights when I'm wandering around the apartment at 9:30 looking for something, ANYTHING to take a picture of! After you run through all the obvious things, you've got to start being pretty creative!

the life i keep

2012-01-03T22:18:00.000-05:00

Change is all well and good...when it's YOUR decision what and when to change...but sometimes things just change around you. No one asks you, no one consults you, they just inform you - This is How Things Will Be From Now On. And sometimes you see that the change is for the better...but other times, not so much. And all *you* can control when things change around you is whether you will stay....or you will go. But sometimes going is not really an option, and....you find yourself in a different world.

So it's nice to be able to leave that world and come home...to the life you keep.

someday never comes

2012-01-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

today started like this...

and after much angst and anxiety and waiting waiting waiting, finally turned into this...

watching the sunset in perfect silence with a favorite person. how is it exactly that that can make such a difference in a day? in a heart? in a life?

I started journaling again recently. and sometimes I'm not so sure that's a good thing. sometimes it just keeps feelings on the surface...when maybe it might be more useful if they could tuck themselves away a bit.

Looking back...and looking ahead...

2012-01-01T20:24:00.000-05:00

Those who know me, know I Am All About the New Year's Resolution. I know what mine will be, but I just had a fun thought about monthly resolutions. A Resolution BOX. Write a bunch of things you'd like to do on scraps of paper..."buy myself flowers," "invite someone new to do something," "paint toenails a funky color" etc. Make a BUNCH. Put them in a little box or pouch...and on the first of each month, pull one out and spend that month focusing on getting at least that one thing done.

It's so easy when life is swirling around you to forget to do nice things for yourself. This is just a friendly little reminder...

That's a little bit of looking ahead...and for a look back, these are some of my favorite photos from 2011...

I'm excited and a little terrified....I just started a 365-day Photo Challenge thingie in flickr...I hope I can see it through!

And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half.

2011-12-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

When I was little and still believed in Santa Claus, I can remember counting down the days until Christmas and they were just e n d l e s s. My mother told me that the days would go faster as I got older. I couldn't understand. They'd only be 23 hours?? Huh??

Now that I'm even older than my mother was when she told me that (mwrrh), I get it. I've gotten it for a long time, but...it's starting to feel like that ride where you stand in the big drum, and it spins faster and faster and the centrifugal force sucks you back against the wall and the floor drops away and you just stick there and are helpless to move or stop it or even turn your head to look away.

I understand that it's all about relativity and perception, but...perception is everything and I think the days really *are* only like 22 hours now. I can't keep up. I can't catch up. I'm trying to notice and enjoy the good moments but they go by so fast.

everything changed....

2011-12-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

2011 was quite a year for me. Many changes. A wonderful person (That Guy) returned to my life
after many many years. This required significant adjustment, more emotional than logistical, but it's harder to get your heart and mind in the right place than a sofa.

I set a resolution for myself this year of "trying something new every week." THAT was a blast.
That will be a whole blog post in itself as we near year's end. But that introduced many new things into my life - fun, silly, disastrous :-) Some "new" things have stuck and are now firmly ensconced in my life, and for that, I am thankful I had the courage to try new things.

I made the difficult decision to transition ebay out of my life. I've been selling on ebay for thirteen years. Thir. Teen. Years. With a specialty in vintage clothing for the past six. That's a long time to have your home head life cluttered with STUFF. Stuff to sell, stuff to store the stuff you're trying to sell, stuff to photograph the things you're trying to sell, stuff to pack and ship the things you sell, stuff you're unable to sell, stuff you buy to sell and then can't bear to part with. A lotta stuff. And in the past few years I downsized from a full-size (though cozy) home to a small Brooklyn apartment. I've had to get rid of a lot of my OWN stuff to make room for EBAY stuff. Plus, it's no longer as lucrative for me as it once was...and it's just time to move on. So for the time being I'm still selling. I have a lot of vintage clothing left in inventory (read: plastic tubs in basement), and I have *stuff.* Ebay stuff and stuff of my own that just still doesn't fit in this smaller life I've made for myself. I'll continue sharing some items in my ebay shop here on the blog and my Dragonfly Facebook page.

I have some other income producing ideas I'm working on...I'll fill you in when there's something concrete to tell.

I started this blog when I was an active ebay seller - I had a different motivation when writing it then. Selling. My focus has shifted considerably. I've come back to the blog as a way to share my life, thoughts, problems, solutions. Maybe I'm struggling with something someone else is, too...and my words will resonate with them. Maybe vice-versa in a reader comment! I still actively photograph my life and I'll continue to share that here. These are some of my favorite "autumn" pictures I've taken over the years....

Hope y'all survived Monday :-)

i hate blogs.

2011-12-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

i hate blogs.

not really. but sometimes i hate the way they make me feel. Like my life, home, wardrobe, hair, pantry, are all LACKING. i read many of the same blogs you do. the ones depicting fashionable chic-sters, charming homes, peaceful loving lives, gracious home-cooked meals, stories of fun times spent with friends and loved ones. and not that I *don't* have any of those things in my life...but blogs are sort of like the photo in a personal ad...that one instant, frozen in time, when you look most like the person you *wish* you really were. The lighting, composition, exposure - all the planets were aligned and for one that moment, Life Looked Perfect. And it's so easy to feel envious (for me anyway), and covet that OTHER life, that PERFECT life, that LOVELY life...and it's so easy to forget that a blog is just a snapshot...and not a 24/7 documentary...and we're not seeing all the mess Behind the Scenes and All The Takes Lying on the Cutting Room Floor.

My life doesn't look like this.

It looks like THIS.

And sometimes I forget that *I* have the occasional perfect moment, too. And SOMETIMES my life looks like THIS

or this

Sometimes I forget to be thankful for what I have. Usually. Usually I forget to be thankful for what I have. I get so caught up in what I *don't* have. Sigh.

I don't hate blogs. They're nice to look at. Sometimes they inspire me to be better, do better, make more effort. But sometimes I'm just too tired old worn-out....lazy (note: truth) to TRY. And that's not the blogs' fault. That's MY fault.

(I dedicate this blog-post to my friend Stacey.)

time flies.

2011-12-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

It has been A. YEAR. since I posted here. A YEAR. Unbelievable. I have two words to say in my defense:

A Man.

We've all been there. They rock our worlds, turn them upside down, love us, hurt us, melt us. It has been some year. It's taken me a long time to get my bearings...a LONG time. I'm still not sure I'm totally on solid ground yet...but it *is* time to get on with the rest of my life.

The Man is still around, but to quote Facebook, "It's Complicated." Isn't it always??

Sigh.

photo by Weepy Hollow

good and bad and everything in between

2010-12-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

Last week kicked my butt. Not to rehash it...cuz I'd really like to just
forget it and move on, but...suffice it to say...car towed - $800 to get it
back, two funerals, and an unexpected road trip. On the bright side, I saw an
old dear friend for the first time in many years and he looks much happier than
he's been in a long time, I got to spend a little unexpected time with my
daughter, and a new event at the school where I work was a smashing success. So
- the good equaled the bad, I'd say, but overall it was exhausting. And what I
wish for this week is Nothing Out of The Ordinary! Just to get back to work,
catch up on some sleep, do some fun things.

Tonight when I walked the dog I grabbed the camera and the 50mm lens even
though it was dark out...so this is just A Walk Around My Block in the Dark.

home again. home again.

this week's goodies...and a sale!

2010-11-29T21:15:00.000-05:00

We've got some really cute things at auction this week in the shop...and, to celebrate Cyber-Monday, all Fixed Price items are 25% off through Dec 1 (can you believe it's December already??)

Visit The Dragonfly Shop to see all these items and more!

what I'm most thankful for...

2010-11-25T07:50:00.000-05:00

Not a very glamorous photo for the day, but...my daughter is with me for the holiday, and last night, after doing some baking (two batches of chocolate-chip banana bread, one of which I'm going to turn into banana bread pudding with a vanilla creme anglaise, a la Pioneer Woman (ish) for dessert tonight), we were watching a movie...at one point I got up to check how the banana bread was doing, and as I returned, I saw this sight. And I realized that everything I love the most, all the things I am most thankful for, were right there in front of me.

So, a quick post today just to say Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, family, followers, fellow bloggers, fellow photographers, and even just nice folks whose paths might cross mine...I wish you all a peaceful day filled with the joy of loved ones and pleasing comforts.

xoxo
Bettye

books are our friends...

2010-11-22T21:13:00.003-05:00

(all photos by me)

I love books. Have always loved books. Over the years had amassed a collection of literally thousands of books. At my house, they were everywhere - bookshelves, stairs, chairs, floor, everywhere. When I moved, I had to get rid of a lot of books. A LOT of books. A lot. It was sad. They were my friends. At any time I could go...there's a picture...of an aqua slat-back chair in a garden...and I knew just where the book was that had that picture...or that recipe...or that quote.

A few years back I was inspired (by some blog photo, I'm sure!) to sort my books on shelves by color. People thought it was crazy, how would I ever find anything. But I'm a very visual person, and very quickly I knew books by spine color as well as by title, author, or subject, and had no problem finding anything.

It was a little disconcerting to move to this apartment and set up my new lovely bookshelves...and find that the books I had kept in the move just BARELY filled the shelves. My apartment feels a little...vacant...with so few books.

I'm slowly restocking. And each new book is like a new friend - telling new stories, taking me to new places, teaching me new things, inspiring me in new ways.

So imagine my pleasure in learning of this amazing giveaway by Chronicle Books - list up to $500 worth of Chronicle books you'd like to win...and you're entered to win them! AND, if you're a reader of Dragonfly and comment on this post, you can win, too!

Here's my list of Chronicle books I'd love to win - a mix of photography, decorating, cooking, and fiction:

Mick Rock Exposed: The Faces of Rock 'n' Roll by Mick Rock
Photobooth Dogs by Cameron Woo
Life on the Lower East Side by Rebecca Lepkoff, Peter Dans, and Suzanne Wasserman
Taking Aim by Graham Nash
Subway Art by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfan
Hot Shots by Kevin Meredith
Desert Realty by Ed Freeman
To Each His Home by Bilyana Dimitrova
Handmade Weddings by Sabrina Moyle, Eunice Moyle, and Shana Faust
Indie Craft by Jo Waterhouse
French General: Treasured Notions by Kaari Men
French General: Handmade Soirées by Kaari Meng
French General: Party Paperie by Kaari Meng
French General: Home Sewn by Kaari Meng
Porch Parties by Denise Gee
Swimming With Strangers by Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum
Fairy Parties by Colleen Mullaney
All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray

Make sure you enter, too!

sneak peek at this week's auctions

2010-11-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

oooh ahhhhh

they all start tonight and tomorrow night, and run through next Saturday and Sunday nights...

blast from the past...

2010-11-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

Remember this song?? It came out in the mid-60s...I can remember me and my
cousins begging my aunt and uncle to drive us up and down Hollywood Boulevard
and Sunset Strip the summer it was out on the radio to look for "hippies." hee
hee. We would literally point and collapse into hysterics in the back seat when
we saw a group of long-hairs with their peace beads and suede fringed vests and
striped bellbottoms.

Now I wish I'd been one of them.

Do you ever wish you'd done something really differently in your past?

the train whistle melody wove through the trees....

2010-11-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

Still looking for that hard drive disc with all my photos from the past couple years on it...but I did find some more pictures I'd squirreled away on my computer at work (thank goodness!)

here's a little photo shoot I did with my daughter at an old train station on Long Island...

Royal Wedding

2010-11-16T20:47:00.000-05:00

Oh, I was so happy to hear today of the engagement of Prince William and
(commoner) Kate Middleton. I'm not big on much celebrity gossip, but I do love a
wedding story, and ESPECIALLY a ROYAL wedding!

And while I secretly hoped that Prince William would end up with MY
(daughter) Kate, I do think these two are a darling couple. I'm especially
pleased that he was able to give her his mother's sapphire and diamond
engagement ring.

hee hee, silly royal wedding china (I secretly want it).

I remember in vivid detail every moment of Princess Diana and Prince Charles'
wedding. My mother and I got up in the wee hours'o'the morning and watched Every
Minute. It was...amazing and unforgettable.

Andrew & Fergie's seemed "sweet" in comparison, but. Still.

And when all was said and done, I was happy when Charles finally married
Camilla. They belonged to together. It was a sensible wedding for a sensible
couple. I hope they're happy.

and oh. Grace Kelly as a bride simply takes my breath away. sigh.

yes, I know. Not royalty. Really. But come on. The Kennedys are as close as we
get this side of the pond. And they were SO elegant. What a heartbreak.

I hope these two crazy kids will live happily ever after...

and now for something completely different....

2010-11-14T20:19:00.000-05:00

(photo above by Sweet Paul)

Yesterday I went to a food photography seminar. Now, I'm no food photographer...or food blogger...I ~~like~~ LOVE food, but other than the occasional awesome sandwich, I really don't cook much. So - why a food photography seminar? I figured I'd pick up some tips for basic tabletop product photography (which I did); I'd force myself out my normal routine and try something new (which I did), and I'd meet some new people (which I did).

The seminar was presented by Salvatore Brancifort - a professional photographer who had good tips on the use of artificial lighting and some makeshift reflectors (and was pretty easy on the eyes, to boot!); and Hazel Sy, a food blogger. Both were very helpful and nice and made the seminar interesting.

In the end, I don't think I'll be quitting my day job anytime soon to become a food photographer (!), but it was fun to do something totally different...and here are some of my photos from the day...

and I'm happy to say that I have a model coming next Saturday for a Dragonfly shoot, so will finally have some new things up in the store. yay.

a little time off

2010-11-13T20:25:00.000-05:00

I didn't have to work on Veteran's Day...and aside from remembering and honoring all the soldiers past and present who have fought and given their lives for this country...I had a "fun for the dog" day...

He's never said so, but *I* feel he's had to make a big adjustment when I sold the house on Long Island and moved to an apartment in Brooklyn. I'm home a little less, we have less access to outdoor space...so I really make an effort to take him places and spend time with him. This is one of my favorite spots back on Long Island - he can run and jump and chase stuff....and I can take pictures. It was an astoundingly beautiful day - just cool enough with strong sun and the most amazing aqua blue sky.

It was the perfect way to spend a little time off.

addicted...

2010-11-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

i'm totally addicted to this video...it was the opening scene in the movie Ghostworld (love)...

* don't you, just once, want to go to a party and dance like that for realz??

* cracks me up that with all the groovin' going on on the dance floor that the audience is Perfectly Motionless - not a head bob or toe tap in the place!

* in my next life (when I will come back as a skinny girl, DAMMIT) I will have a fringe-trimmed pink wiggle dress like those.

* if they made this into an exercise video, i would so exercise to it.

flicker faves friday

2010-11-05T21:04:00.001-04:00

1. week seven, 2. week forty two, 3. day forty nine, 4. day ninety three, 5. against the own heart, 6. Untitled

All my faves this week are from one photographer - Rona Keller - you must take a look, her work is really lovely.

If you want to play along with Flickr Faves Friday, check out the original blogger's link at Here Comes the Sun ....

loser's weepers....

2010-11-04T20:20:00.000-04:00

I'm just sick about something I seem to have lost in my latest move. Last year I'd FINALLY splurged on an external hard drive as I'd practically filled a 230 gig computer with pictures over the past few years. I excitedly moved EVERY picture over onto the external drive, allowing my computer to run faster once again. Let me repeat myself. Every. Picture. Every photo shoot. All the pictures of my house (now sold and belonging to someone else). The animals. My daughter's Sweet 16. Jr prom. Sr. prom. Graduation. EVERY. PICTURE.

Somehow, in the move, it has disappeared. I packed up the electronics on the very last night. All the computer stuff was the last to be packed up. All the computer stuff was the first to be UNpacked in the new place. I have the external hard drive docking station. I have every other thing. But I cannot find the DISK. It's not like a cd, it's thicker and heavier. Not easy to accidentally throw out. And yet....? Four months later, it still hasn't appeared. I'm starting to try to accept that all those pictures are just GONE. It makes me
heart-sick.

Of course I have pictures saved on websites here and there - flickr, picasa web albums, facebook, etc. So I'm starting to gather those together...here are a couple shots from a little shoot my daughter and I did a couple Novembers ago out on Long Island. I dragged her out of bed with the rising sun. She was thrilled. Hee hee.

the morning after....

2010-11-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

photo by me

can you believe it's November already? I saw Christmas lights up over Broadway in Williamsburg yesterday morning. that's crazy.

just a couple weeks til Thanksgiving. the holidays have become sort of discombobulated for me, divorced, daughter at college...when she comes home she has to make choices where to go...and the ex usually wins because he has more family nearby. all my family is far away. so it's just weird. i don't mind being alone on Thanksgiving - it's one of those nice days to just stay home and be quiet, knowing everyone else is working their butts off in the kitchen. i just miss "the old days" when Katie would be home with me, and we'd make fancy breakfast of fruit crepes and real hot chocolate, then stay in our nightgowns all day and watch parades and movies. no work, no interruptions. it's one of the few days in the year that I give myself permission to totally not work. I'm not sure yet what this year will bring.

i'm having sale in the shop this week - 20% off all fixed price items. I really need to make room for more new fall/winter stuff, so the stuffs has got to go. take a look...Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T07:38:00.000-04:00

from my little ghoul to you...have a fun, safe, FUN Halloween!

bettye

snips and snails and puppy dog tails...

2010-10-27T19:10:00.000-04:00

so, I got a request through Model Mayhem to do an editorial-style shoot with....a GUY!!! ha. other than relatives and the occasional in-studio head shot, I've really never shot guys! i feel like I don't even know how to do that! when I visualize doing a photo shoot, I always visualize girly things. so I went to my flickr favorites to see if I could find some inspiration there and...not much luck.

by marieclaire roman

by parker fitzgerald

by bite_photography

by david urbanke

by crystin moritz

by corinne golabek

by dusdin condren

by nirrimi

by benji ashley

I'm more drawn to the softer, more sensitive (I guess?) male photos...but the model who wants to do the shoot is very athletic and like, cut. I'm thinking to add something a little different to his portfolio, but...maybe one of you has some great "guy" photos you can refer me to for some inspiration??

indian summer

2010-10-25T20:35:00.000-04:00

by joel chavez

By levi mcdonald

by mary robinson

Today was the perfect Indian Summer day...low 70s, grey-blue sky w golden sun set against blazing foliage...that sort of balminess in the air you only feel this time of year. I tried to get home from work early enough to get the dog to the park before it got dark, but....sigh. Maybe tomorrow. It's supposed to be nice again.

In the meantime, how amazing does this recipe look?? White Chocolate Mousse & Nutella Tarts. Okay, Nutella, right? What is up with that? It's been around for ages, all of a sudden it's All The Rage. I've had two nutella things out in the past month - a Nutella & Pear croissant (YUM), and a Nutella, Banana, and...ooh, I can't remember what the third thing was...Croque Monsieur (sorta like a breakfast panini or grilled cheese). Have you ever had nutella out??

my mini vacation

2010-10-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the ex and his 8-y-o son and I took a little trip to visit our daughter at college for Parent's Weekend, though we drove up and back in one day, and didn't stay for the weekend. While I live in Brooklyn, I had to drive 50 miles east out to Smithtown, Long Island to leave the dog at my ex's house so he wouldn't be alone in the apartment all day.

And how long does it take to drive from Smithtown to Oneonta and back to Smithtown?? It takes Karate Kid 1, 2, 3, The Next Karate Kid, and Karate Kid: The Remake (give or take a few moments of silence) long. Not a bad length of time for riding in the car, reading, and staring out the window.

It was a perfect day...for awhile the sky was very bumpy with clouds (taken w my cell phone out the moving car window), but mostly it was sunny and lovely.

My daughter doesn't let me take many pictures of her anymore, so I was happy to get this one nice shot of her with her half-brother (my ex's youngest), Short Russell.

the ex noted that this was a little Abbey Road-ish.

there were lots of events going on around campus. Short Russell liked the fire-eating jugglers.

sigh. she looks sort of lost and lonely here.

father and daughter.

there was a skate park nearby where Short Russell got to blow off some steam. He's such a boy, but really sweet and bright. On the ride home as it was just dark and there were lights in far-off house windows he goes, "look at all those lights, it must mean the British are coming." ha.

sigh. me and The Child.

and the saddest sight to me...The Child leaving me. again.

So...a day away from normal life...and today was back to to-do lists and laundry and vacuuming and ironing and getting next week's items ready to be photographed for the ebay shop. the weekend went very fast...and next week - Halloween!

flickr faves friday, part, uhm, 3. i think.

2010-10-22T19:28:00.000-04:00

Ozlem haluk

Kalea-molloy

Laura marie scott

Yyellowbird

Tant C

If you want to play along with Flickr Faves Friday, post a link at Amanda Thomas' blog Here Comes the Sun and then post your five flickr faves of the week on your own blog. It's fun to see everyone's favorites...and a lot of the time *you'll* find a new fave on someone else's page.

I'm glad the week is over...all in all, not a terrible week:

One of Dragonfly's Etsy floral dresses was featured on this cute blog, Days Days Days, in a Color Chaos Days post - I feel quite honored to be in good company - Thanks!
I didn't blow up when the gas stove went on the fritz
The landlady got the naughty gas stove fixed Right Away
It finally got truly cooler and crisp. I love cool and crisp.

Maybe that's it. The week always seems better in review.

Tomorrow the ex and I are driving upstate to visit The Child at college for Parents Weekend. We only stay the one day. It's lovely to ride in the car all day and not be the one who has to drive. I just get to look out the window, read, and nap. It's like a little mini vacation. Oh yeah, and I get to see my daughter. Bonus :-)

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

what's new in the shop this week...

2010-10-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

This is my least favorite time of year at the thrift stores. They move out almost all the dresses to make way for coats. I mean, yeah, I get it, it's winter. But someone might buy ONE coat each year...but they'll buy MULTIPLE dresses, so it doesn't REALLY make sense for them to allocate SO much room to coats, at the expense of dresses. Sigh. Yep, I'm a little frustrated.

Went to two stores yesterday. Got two sweaters. NICE sweaters - a mint bulky real irish fisherman knit turtleneck sweater...and a 70s mustard gold loose knit serious batwing, cowl neck sweater. But still - two stores, TWO THINGS?? That's like crazy.

Okay, but on the bright side? I have a big bag of M&Ms. So. You know. It's all good.

Here's what's up at auction in the shop this week...click on any photo for more information and to bid.

now i lay me down to sleep...

2010-10-20T20:36:00.000-04:00

I've been having trouble sleeping this week...the change of the seasons always sorta wipes me out. I've been going to bed earlier...but then I wake up in the middle of the night and am up from like 1-4am! Then I oversleep in the morning and am late for work. And that ain't good.

Tonight I'm going to force myself to stay up later...even though it's only 8:20 and I feel like I could fall asleep right now!

anyone have a good cure for insomnia if this continues??

all photos link to their source...

inspired by....ellen von unwerth

2010-10-16T20:43:00.000-04:00

I'm very inspired by the work of photographer Ellen Von Unwerth...her photos are very provocative, sometimes with blatantly sexual overtones...sometimes more subtle. The photographs, many in black and white with a grainy look, have a timeless vintage appeal. They're very theatrical, like stills from a quirky silent movie.

Her career has spanned from circus worker to model to photographer - a life path that clearly allowed many opportunities for inspiration.

"(Women) are not just there to be admired, they are there to be enjoyed" ~ Ellen von Unwerth

flickr faves friday...

2010-10-15T20:12:00.000-04:00

(rachael bae)

(evelyn campitelli)

(lidya)

(minato)

(bird ghosts)

If you want to play along with Flickr Faves Friday, post a link at Amanda Thomas' blog Here Comes the Sun and then post your five flickr faves of the week on your own blog. It's fun to see everyone's favorites...and a lot of the time *you'll* find a new fave on someone else's page.

So, yay, it's Friday. Caleb (the 12-hershey-bar-eating-dog) survived and is now just WIRED. Tomorrow he goes to the groomer - I'll post his pic after cuz he always looks SO handsome after his bath and light trim.

Tonight is the first really cold night. Cold and windy. I've shut all the windows and am wondering where all my cozy sweaters are. Still packed and in the basement I guess. I've felt like a vagabond for so long now! I just haven't figured out how to get all my stuff around me without feeling claustrophobic!

I'll be posting some new vintage dresses in the shop later tonight....

what's new in the shop this week...

2010-10-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

got some new things in the shop this week - items end tonight through Saturday night, so don't forget to bid!

it's rainy and cold here tonight...and I've got a furry boy with an upset tummy as he got into my niece's stash and ate 12 HERSHEY BARS this afternoon! I'm keeping a close eye on him and gave him plain rice and some smashed-up banana for dinner. poor boy :-(

until you're refreshed...

2010-10-13T21:19:00.000-04:00

sometimes I just don't really feel like "doing" the internet, know what I mean? I'm normally such a heavy net user but once in a while i just hit the wall and need a little break.

what have I done over the past week? let's see...

I spoke to an old friend after a REALLY long time, it's always good to hear a familiar voice from the past
I chickened out on going to a friend's son's art gallery opening cuz I couldn't find anyone to go with me and I felt funny going by myself :-(
I saw yet another doctor about figuring out what we're going to do about these kidney stones...and still nothing is resolved
I finally posted some new auctions in the ebay shop, yay
ooh, I bought a new camera! I'm still playing around with it...but I'm excited cuz it does video!
I got really scared when my dog Caleb disappeared in the park on Sunday for like 15 minutes. Really Scared :-(
Found a dead cockroach on the kitchen floor tonight when I got home! ha!

not the MOST exciting week...but I feel rested and refreshed and ready to "come back"!

in the meantime, I'm sharing a little collage view of my apartment, just some of my favorite things that I've unpacked....

back to business....finally

2010-10-05T21:41:00.000-04:00

I've been sick again the past few days...but I managed to squeeze in a little Dragonfly shop photo shoot over the weekend. I worked with one of my fave models that I've shot with a couple times since moving to Brooklyn - Shelbi. She's very sweet and lives nearby. Isn't she just angelic?? She sort of reminds me of Alexis Bledell - Rory from Gilmore Girls.

I'm not done setting up "The Studio" (aka The Office, aka The Dining Room!) yet. I still need to get supports mounted on the wall so I can hang background supports - for either my grey paper or fabric. I've been looking for some cheap (or preferably free!) indian looking rugs to put on the floor for autumn and winter. One of the runway shows in 2009 used a variety of smaller Indian rugs hanging as the background and it was quite lovely, but I would guess they have a little bigger budget than I do!

In the meantime, I close the tall double doors between The Studio and The Bedroom, and use the doors as a backdrop. It's not ideal as all those lines are hard to keep straight in the heat of shooting and the paint on the doors is pretty reflective so I get sort of a glare off the doors on the side nearer the light. As with most things, it's a work in progress. But it was fun to shoot with Shelbi again and I'll finally have some new auctions up in the shop starting this Friday night. Yay.

flickr faves friday. on saturday.

2010-10-02T08:22:00.000-04:00

I'm playing along with Amanda at Here Comes the Sun, with her Flickr Faves Friday. It's Saturday. I know. But The Girl is home from college this week and we went shopping and to dinner and to more shopping. And I just didn't get to this yesterday.

Here are some of my favorites from this week...(click on photos for source)

(photo by doyoumissmetoo)

(photo by celeste photography)

(photo by beehives)

(photo by capslockreverse)

(photo by dan65)

the best laid plans...

2010-09-30T17:55:00.000-04:00

(photo by isabel.farrington)

rainy and windy again today and me home sick, napping on the sofa mostly, watching bad movies...and planning a fall lookbook for the dragonfly shop in my mind.

(photo by negzZz)

sometimes planning is the best part of things. thinking about how it can be - how good, how different, how creative, how lovely, how fun, how shocking. implementation, a little harder...and often fails. but then there's always the next photoshoot, party, garden, wardrobe, surprise to plan, and the fun begins again.

(photo by me)

are you a planner...or a do-er??

and on the bright side....

2010-09-28T20:10:00.000-04:00

and on the *bright* side, I finally got a little photo shoot put together this past weekend, and a really darling model, Justine, was kind of enough to traipse and spin around the woods for me. I was going for sort of a dreamy soft focus flowy end of summer feel. I was a little disappointed in myself - we were shooting late in the day in the woods on an overcast day...and I failed to remember some key guidelines about shooting in low light and ended up with a LOT of really blurry shots. For this sort of theme I do like a soft focus, but some of them were just plain BLURRY! I always feel so bad when I botch a shoot because the models are doing it for pictures for their portfolios, and when they spend a couple hours of their time and don't end up with that many good pictures......eek. I feel really bad. we also did some street style shots back on my street but I didn't get to edit them yet.

so tonight I've been mopping up my apartment from a flood! apparently the upstairs neighbor was cleaning...something...and knocked over what HE says was a 5-gallon bucket of water, but...my daughter had a 5-gallon fish tank for a couple years and this seemed like a LOT more than 5 gallons of water! I've got shoes and clothes and hats and my daughter's artwork hanging up all over the place to dry, as every box (I'm still not done unpacking!) that was on the floor was SOAKED. and THEN I'm getting ready for an ebay catalog shoot tomorrow night...so I have miles to go before I sleep, and mucho work to do! was nice to have a good excuse to sit down for a couple minutes and post this...

i'm in a funk

2010-09-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

(photo by Li Gao)

it's a rainy day. it's getting dark too early.

and i'm in a funk.

my sister is Suzy Sunshine. I...am not. I'm not one to always look on "the bright side." I look at both sides...and strongly feel that every good has a bad, every up has a down...you get the picture. just somehow the dark down sides resonate more strongly with me. I don't know why. but right now I'm feeling very...sort of...unsuccessful with my life.

let's not even talk about relationships (sigh), I'm more focused on work. I've always had an entrepreneurial nature. I've started one business after another - from sidewalk book-and-toy stands as a child to giving riding lessons, starting a gardening newsletter, doing wedding flowers, then selling on ebay. always trying to find the way that I can work for ME, and not for someone else. And it gets very frustrating to have a good idea, a good product, talent in an area...and still...just not quite be able to get it off the ground and be successful.

there's something that some people have that enables them to cross that line. the line to success. lately I'm feeling I may never know what that "something" is. and yet...I can't just give up. ugh.

i'm just in a funk. ignore me.

do you feel lucky??

2010-09-26T12:07:00.000-04:00

sometimes you've just got to ask yourself...do you feel lucky? well? do ya??

cuz if you do, here are some giveaways hosted by various blogs around the interwebs that you might be able to win this week!

Vintage Red Graflex Camera from Polli - how cute is that?? The perfect fall accessory...

Just in time for Halloween, a Spooky bunting from Sew Home Grown

and a hauntingly lovely movie poster from the new Kazuo Ishiguro movie, Never Let Me Go (which I cannot wait to see!) - from Confessions of a Bookworm

I'm feeling lucky myself, because the model for this afternoon's photo shoot hasn't canceled. Yet. Got my fingers crossed!

flickr faves friday. cuz it's friday. yay.

2010-09-24T19:09:00.000-04:00

I'm playing along with Amanda at Here Comes the Sun, with her Flickr Faves Friday.

Here are some of my favorites from this week...(click on photos for source)

by Alison Scarpulla

by Sensing Owls

by Shae Acopian Detar

by Thimble & Violet

by Laura Gommans

Fall Resolutions

2010-09-23T19:46:00.000-04:00

(photo by me)

Happy Fall.

I love fall. The air crisps up and cools down...foliage turns fiery bright...cozy knits get pulled out of storage...the holidays are before us.

And it's time for Fall Resolutions. I decided this year that from now on I would make seasonal resolutions instead of annual. I think it's working much better. I've already been through *drink more (ha), *wear more jewelry, *wear more dresses (fail), and *read more. I've done pretty
well except for the dresses (or skirts). I just couldn't bring myself to show these legs in public. But fall brings BOOTS, so I may give that one another go.

But my Fall 2010 resolutions are:

1) Be better about blogging. And look, I actually had a schedule for this week (!),

which I did fall off of a bit due to the return of the pesky kidney stones, but I'm right back to it w some tweaking of the schedule...

and

2) Do more photo shoots! Several other bloggers have inspired me with their amazing photo shoots lately and I've just got to make the time to do more shooting...isn't it funny how sometimes we so want to do *nothing* that we don't even want to do the things we love??

Here's a photo from a photo shoot just about this time last year (in keeping with the fall theme)

Does anyone else have any Fall Resolutions they'd like to share??

an important reminder

2010-09-22T08:22:00.000-04:00

My mother holding me when I was just a baby - 1960, Los Angeles, CA

Me and my father at a college Father-Daughter Dance - 1978, Buena Vista, VA

I don’t know if it’s just my age, or if things are truly different than they used to be, but…and I know everyone dies, but….when I was 20, even 30…I thought “old” people died. Like, 70-year-old people. I feel like in just the past few years so many people that are my age, and even younger, have died. Suddenly. People in seemingly good health. Active people. Happy people. Boom. Dead. Heart attacks, aneurisms, strokes – things that can seem to come out of nowhere and just…change worlds. In an instant.

A parent of a student at the school where I work. She was right about my age, no known significant health issues. And in an instant, she was gone. Leaving behind a devastated family – a husband and two teenage children. It’s heartbreaking.

And it reminds me how tenuous life is. How what can seem stable…is not. It reminds me to just love the heck out of those special people in your life. Take care of relationships. Appreciate people. Be nice. Enjoy the beauty in the world around you. We’re all here for such a short time.
Make good use of it. Don’t waste it.

These are my parents, who both died suddenly (not together). There are so many things I regret not saying or doing when they were still alive. This is a reminder to you today, to be extra nice to those you love…and even to a stranger on the street. There may not be another opportunity.

new auctions this week...

2010-09-20T19:45:00.000-04:00

There are some new auctions up in the shop this week - they're ending Thursday night. And as always, there are plenty of Buy It Now items to choose from!

Click on each picture for more information and to place your bid!

80s vintage PINK stripe WRAP jumpsuit ROMPER new wave

80s vintage FLORAL mcclintock DREAMY garden TEA DRESS

SWEET pink chiffon PEEK-A-BOO LACE rosebud DOLLY dress

80s vintage PINK GREEN tropical floral SLOUCH jumpsuit

ESPRIT DE CORPS rayon DUSTY RED hippie HALTER dress 7

Thanks for looking!

Best Part of My Day: Not exactly sure. Went back to the urologist...sonogram showed no kidney stones, but still some swelling and blood in the urine, indicating there were still stones. He thinks maybe I've passed the largest (5 mm) one without realizing it, and just the smaller ones are left. So, an inconclusive visit. We'll do "watchful waiting." Which I find "annoying." But at least the big stone that seemed to be causing the pain, looks to be gone.

Worst Part of My Day: Accidentally deleting the boss' ENTIRE email inbox - this is mail back to
January 2010! I don't even really know how it happened. I was sick to my stomach. In the end, for a fee, the IT guy was able to retrieve everything that had been there as of 10 pm last night, so....phew.

i yam what i yam

2010-09-19T15:54:00.000-04:00

I find myself at an…odd place in my life. 50 years old (ack), divorced, mother of a 19-year-old daughter in her second year away at college, living in a totally new place. It doesn’t feel like others my age are really my peers – as for the most part they have partners, children
still at home, houses and mortgages, LIVES. I feel like I’m starting life all over again! Ha.

For the first time in my life I am living totally alone, supporting myself (no more child support, waaah!). I was never really the typical suburb Mom…and now…I don’t really know *what* I am! I just yam what I yam, I guess. I find myself drawn to “younger” interests – music, art, movies, fashion. This perplexes my daughter and some of my friends. But…what are you gonna do?? I don’t “pretend” to be younger anymore than I want to pretend that I feel older than I do!

I’m a 50-year-old work-in-progress with my whole life ahead of me.

two days and counting

2010-09-17T00:38:00.000-04:00

that would be two days Pain Free. Hallelujah. my little friends (aka The Kidney Stones) have gone into hiding. or they're napping. or something. who cares? they're not torturing me right now.

I've got some new auctions listed in The Dragonfly Shop. Take a peek.

get this look

2010-09-09T07:40:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the uninspired title, but hey, it's early...and I've been a little out of it this week (see below). I have a lot of catching up to do!

I really didn't intend for it to be Coco Rocha week here on the blog, but...I just saw this super cute picture of herself in this darling vintage jumpsuit (click photo for source and event info)

and realized how similar a look it was to something I have right now in the shop...(click photo for availability and more information)

Best Part of My Day: It's only 7:14 am but today is the day I will be glued to the computer for the Livestream of the IFB (see below) conference - and at this moment, I'm in No Pain (ditto).

Worst Part of My Day: The fact that I am sitting here at my computer instead of heading into the city to the Independent Fashion Blogger's "Evolving Influence" Conference and Party - the one gift I gave myself for my birthday - because of stupid and cruel kidney stones which have been wreaking havoc on my insides since Monday...trip to the emergency room and everything (NEVER a good time). The excruciating pain can appear and ramp up VERY quickly...you *really* don't want to be far from home when it hits, so...sadly, I opted not to go :-(

Maybe next time.

DEFINITELY next time.

fairy tale wedding ~ coco rocha

2010-09-03T14:43:00.000-04:00

Ahh, here is a lovely video short from Coco Rocha's wedding a few weeks ago to her love James Cochran. Her Zac Posen mermaid gown is beyond stunning!

click on photo above to go to video.

I just love a fairy-tale wedding!

Best Part of My Day: I learned that my (best) sister (in the world!) and cousin are going to chip in so I can go with them next year on a long-awaited trip to Paris! I'm BEYOND excited! I have been trying to be stoic, knowing they were all going and I just...could not afford to make that trip, so thought I was going to have to pass. But as a 50th (ack!) birthday present to me, they're going to help me go. Yay. YAY!

Worst Part of My Day: Well, the day's not over yet, so who knows what might still happen, BUT...the worst part is that I am STILL model-less after yesterday's canceled photo shoot. It is *just* so hard to find reliable girls who will keep the commitments they make. I've worked with some really terrific young ladies, and they have been a joy. But I'm really at about a 50/50 show/no-show rate, and that's not good. There's a lot of work and time involved in preparing for a shoot, and when they cancel at the last minute, or worse yet, just don't show (!), it's so frustrating to have wasted all that time.

behind-the-scenes

2010-09-01T17:58:00.000-04:00

I just saw this little video today, behind-the-scenes of the Alexa Chung/Madewell collaboration photo shoot.

click on photo above to go to video.

to see the Alexa Chung Madewell Fall collection, click photo above.

who doesn't love a behind-the-scenes video??

And something I used to do that I stopped...was each day think of what the best and worst parts of the day were...so I think I'll start doing them again here...and would love to hear what yours are, too.

Best Part of My Day: Caleb catching the frisbee mid-air! Doesn't sound like much...but a few years ago he had a scary bad bout with Lyme Disease...I didn't think he was going to LIVE, let alone run and jump again...he eventually recovered...mostly...but has never *really* been the same...and also being older now (he's 7)...well, anyway...it was such fun to see him leap into the air to catch the frisbee today! I think it makes him happy, too.

Worst Part of My Day: Wednesday is Half-Off Day at the Salvation Army, so if I'm off work, I always make a whole day of it, driving from Brooklyn to Riverhead (way out east on Long Island) and back again. I did this today, went to eight stores. Got SIX things. six. SIX. That's just SAD. The thrifts are def not what they used to be :-(

memreeeez

2010-08-31T15:09:00.002-04:00

Feeling a little melancholy this week. When I was young, and I mean, from the time I was 5 til was 20...every year me and my family would spend a week in Ocean City, Maryland. We always stayed at the same hotel right on the beach. It wasn't the biggest, the newest, or the fanciest...but after so many years it felt like home.

I can still see the passage of my youth right on that beach in my mind's eye...from riding my father's shoulders in the surf when I was still too little to navigate the sea on my own...to playing "Misty of Chincoteague," by "trotting" back and forth at the water's edge, neighing for my herd-mates still across the channel (my poor parents must have been mortified). Later, wave-surfing on tummy-chafing rough rented rafts...and even later...meeting boys in beach bars and making out with them on the sand.

We always went the last week of summer, leaving right after Labor Day - so we would be there for my birthday and I always got to pick the restaurant for that night - usually a crab shack with paper tablecloths and little wooden mallets to smash crab claws with, followed by carnival rides on the boardwalk and cotton candy.

I have a significant birthday coming up this weekend...and it has me thinking about birthdays past and being with family...and our vacations at the beach. And missing them both.

These pictures remind me of those times....

what's your motto??

2010-08-29T15:16:00.000-04:00

this may be like my new motto for life....

what's YOUR motto??

darling drawing by Little Doodles on flickr. She does sweet little line drawings of "fashionable creatures," as well as adorable drawings of What I Wore Today

home. sweet. home.

2010-08-28T18:23:00.000-04:00

I'm finally finding enough of my "stuff" packed away that the new place is starting to feel like "home." yay. here are a couple little views of home.

is it fall yet?? ??

2010-08-20T00:46:00.000-04:00

OMG these clothes from the J Crew Fall 2010 line make me so anxious for the cooler
weather!

the layers are so rich and cozy, and i ADORE the blinged-out blazer, it's SO
molly-ringwald-80s-esque! the whole collection is sorta tweedy feminine man-tailored....YUM.

what fall item are *you* excited about pulling out and wearing again
when the temps drop soon??

See the whole J Crew Fall 2010 Lookbook and behind-the-scenes video!

this week's auctions in the dragonfly shop....

2010-08-17T06:58:00.000-04:00

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

an award?? for little 'ol me??

2010-08-16T06:36:00.001-04:00

Ooh, I got a sparkling little blogging award from the creator of "Fear is a Dirty Word" !!! I feel so honored that anyone even notices me over here in my little corner...thank you so very much :-)

Here are the rules to the award:

1. Answer the question : "What do you like the most about your own blog?"

Frankly, I have a pretty serious love/hate relationship with my blog! I love it in THEORY, I'm always thinking of stories to tell, seeing things I want to share, taking pictures...but then I get here, to BLOGGER, and it just TAUNTS me. I'm not a total noobie on the web, I don't know how it always manages to get the best of me, but usually I get so fed up at wrangling with it, that I just give up!

So probably what I like best about MY blog is that it's where I have saved all my OTHER favorite blogs, so it's a gateway to all THEIR lovely photos and stories and inspirations.

And in all humbleness I will ask if anyone is willing to take pity on Poor Me, and give me a few tips on getting Blogger to do what *I* want it to do, I would be EVER so grateful.

2. Pass this award to another ten lovely ladies (and this is the REALLY hard part - limiting the list to TEN!): in no particular order:

Everything Style : by the lovely Shae Acopian Detar, vintage seller, stylist, photographer, artistic spirit.

The Drifter and the Gypsy : by Micaela, the sweet dreamer, still a teen, but more vision than many twice her age.

Bleubird Vintage : by Miss James - who, aside from doing everything with charming style, is also the CUTEST pregnant gal EVER!

Country Cottage Chic : by Miss Jayne, gracious host to the site that drums into our heads that the cutest things in the world are from the OTHER side of the pond :-)

Ask the eBay Queen : by Suzie. SuperMom. Nuff said.

Green and Chewy : by Carole and her little dog Chewy. Teaching us How to Be Green, one backyard at a time.

Excuse Me While I Buy This Junk : by Wanda (aka Waldo aka My-Separated-at-Birth Sister on the Road to Successful Vintage Business). Follow her many forays into the world of thrifting and re-selling.

Liebemarlene Vintage : by the darling Rhiannon, with wonderful photographs by her boyfriend Drew, as they visit the historical South and many thrift shops on the way.

From Me to You : I've just recently found this one - I love her mix of photos and themes and subjects. I love it all!

SF Girl by Bay : Bohemian Modern Style from a San Francisco Girl. Always charming and inspirational.

There! Phew! Thanks to all the lovely ladies mentioned above, for bringing a little loveliness, charm, whimsy, and graciousness into our lives everyday. Yay, Internetz!

Bettye

summer's end drawing near

2010-08-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

It’s only mid-august, yet summer feels like it’s starting to end already. I think it really shot its load in june and july this year, and now there’s just not that much heat left to blast at us. There’s a coolness in the mornings when I walk the dog, and again in the evenings when we sit out on the stoop. The days may be hot, but you know there will be some relief in just a few hours. The trees are dry from so little rain, that leaves are browning and falling to the sidewalk below, as if to say autumn is coming soon…

I think of August as the “quiet” summer month. More people are away on vacation, the novelty of summer has worn off. It’s peaceful...

I don't have links to these photos, but I believe they're all originally from flickr from these users: 1) dorellana, 2) elle photography, 3) mademoiselle granny, 4) shelbi dimond, 5) tamara lichtenstein, 6) yvette inuffio

back in business

2010-08-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

the whole moving thing always takes so much longer than i think it should...i've been in the new place 2 months today (!) and I'm just finally starting to feel a little settled. and the good news, I finally have things for sale in the shop again. here are some of my favorites that are up right now...

Dragonfly Vintage Shop

i was lost but now i'm found....

2010-07-21T19:18:00.000-04:00

whoa, it's been a lonnnnng time since I've posted! I moved again...so had to do the whole packing unpacking thing again...plus about ten days of no internet (or tv), and even worse, NO AIR CONDITIONING, until just YESTERDAY. I've been melting All Summer. It's been an experience. The new hood WAY different than where I was before...a pretty big adjustment, but...it's working out. And I'm in LOVE with the new apartment. It's bigger, prettier...bigger. CHEAPER. closer to work, closer to the city. It'll be *very* fun to do photo shoots around here.

but i just wanted to check in...I'm starting to ramp up again with the vintage clothing sales...preparing now for a big photo shoot next weekend, I can't wait!

in the meantime, I saw this cute little video today, and wanted to share it...

tricia will go places

hanging around

2010-06-11T20:21:00.001-04:00

i love doing photo shoots with models...but sometimes I just like to photograph dresses themselves...and keep a rotating display of some of favorites hanging around...

(click on images for more details)

haunting beauty

2010-06-10T20:17:00.007-04:00

When I lived back on Long Island there was this one thrift store I'd go to every week in search of vintage goodies for the shop. There was one cashier who would always say, "oh! you got this dress before me!" or "how come I never saw that?!" She was adorable and it was clear we had the same taste in vintage clothing, and we started chatting. In time we discovered a shared love of photography as well. We exchanged flickr profiles and I was in awe of her work.

She moved away shortly after and I never heard from her again, but I've continued to follow her hauntingly beautiful work on flickr.

alison scarpulla

some of this week's new listings...

2010-05-30T14:13:00.000-04:00

check out this week's mix of contemporary and vintage items at Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

more to go up tonight!

days are numbered

2010-05-26T22:58:00.000-04:00

since my days are numbered here in this apartment in this part of brooklyn, I'll share some closing shots of the place and area...sort of blending all three of my blogs into one for the time being, just to save a little time right now when I'm so busy between work and packing...

new goodies and new model!

2010-05-25T18:51:00.000-04:00

sorry for the infrequent posting...it's just been one thing after another...and now I'm moving again! in three weeks! surprise! the new apartment is a) cheaper (yay), and b) GORGEOUS! I'll post pics once I'm in. c) closer to the city, so easier to get models out for shoots (yay!). It's gonna be good.

in the meantime, I've been working like crazy, trying to get more new listings up all the time...so here are this week's new items, with our new model Zoe!

yay, new vintage goodies in the shop this week!

2010-05-16T11:22:00.000-04:00

dragonfly vintage clothing

vintage for every body!

2010-05-15T19:18:00.002-04:00

If you're a plus-size vintage-lover, there's a magical shop in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn called Re/Dress NYC. It carries large and plus-size vintage, pre-owned, and nwt contemporary items. The owners and shop girls are lovely and ever so helpful...asking in Just the Right Amount, "are you doing alright? can I help you find anything?" and right there when you need to hand off your "nots" from the dressing room (not that you'll have many!).

Today they held a fashion show, modeled by confident and beautiful women. It featured vintage and vintage-reminiscent items, and showed how you can take styles from the past and bring them on trend for today.

I've been trying to get to this store for YEARS, but when you live "way out" in Suffolk County, Long Island, traveling to Brooklyn seems like traveling to another country. Now that I live in Brooklyn, Re/Dress is practically in my backyard and I shall visit it often.

They also *buy* clothing and you can get credit towards future purchases.

Oh, what did *I* get?? A fabulous floaty contemporary boho top and a vintage ethnic print india cotton hippie dippie skirt. Yay :-)

click on images for more detail...

sparkly bits

2010-05-04T21:01:00.001-04:00

my mother was a pretty serious hoarder, though when I was growing up, living in a house w umpteen multiples of EVERYTHING just seemed Normal. It's only in hindsight that I realize she really had a problem.

That said, I think as hoarders go, she was a Top Rate one! She had GREAT stuff, just WAY too much of it. She had drawers and drawers and DRAWERS of jewelry - costume and real, from many eras. Remind me to tell you about the time she accidentally threw out all her "good" jewelry!

But anyway, my favorite collection of hers was the rhinestone jewelry collection, that she kept in a darling lucite box purse, each item individually wrapped in tissue paper (like kleenex, not like acid-free tissue paper). it seemed SO glamorous to me - the dangly earrings and wide mesh bracelets, the little coin purse, the slidey comb and lipstick tube, brooches, necklaces, even a wallet. Some of the things have been lost or sold over the years, but I still have most of her collection intact, and I also keep it safe away in the lucite box purse. I wear things on occasion, and let my daughter wear some pieces to her prom...but mostly it stays wrapped up...until I come across it in the closet...and spend some time taking each piece out, admiring it, remembering how she used to get dressed in the most amazing cocktail dresses to go to fancy parties at The Officer's Club...and the stories these peices could tell now, more than 50 years later...

Madison likes looking at the jewelry, too....

more new items in the shop....

2010-05-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

april showers bring may flowers....

2010-04-30T23:20:00.000-04:00

we have tons of tiny floral prints, rayon revival mini dresses, rompers and jumpsuits...take a peek!

dragonfly vintage clothing

a little like alice in wonderland

2010-04-12T22:10:00.001-04:00

a little like alice in wonderland
Originally uploaded by blr60

I'm actually just testing out this flickr->blog thing. photo by moi last summer...

yesterday was a happy day

2010-04-11T15:58:00.000-04:00

the child was home from college this weekend so we went playing around DUMBO brooklyn...sorry for the dopey "mom" photo...had "breakfast" (and i use the term loosely) at Jacques Torres chocolate shop, walked around Brooklyn Bridge Park, took lots of pictures of graffiti...just had a nice day together. now she's headed back to school and I will resume my normally scheduled life.

new goodies this week!

2010-04-03T23:28:00.000-04:00

new listings in the dragonfly shop!

2010-03-08T23:05:00.000-05:00

new in the shop this week

2010-02-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well, no photo shoot this week after all...sigh. I love my models, but boy, they can wreak havoc with your business schedule! So, model-less, I'm finally getting around to listing bunches of shoes, a BIG vintage belt lot, and some newer clothing items that have been hanging (ha, pun not intended) around for awhile. Watch for these in the next couple weeks.

My exciting news today is that my daughter is home from college for mid-winter recess and will be here in just a few hours, YAY. We'll be doing fun things, like walking around Boerum/Clinton Hill/Heights (ha, still not sure where one stops and another begins) going into cute lil shops, eating out tonight...going to Little Cupcake for breakfast tomorrow (FINALLY!!! I've lived here almost 5 months now and I've been waiting to go there with HER!) and whatever else strikes her fancy....

But for now, here's what I listed last night in the shop. And as always, more to come tonight and Sunday...

feeling a little whiney

2010-02-19T15:33:00.002-05:00

I so look forward to vacation weeks cuz it means LOTS of thrifting. I haven't really hit my stride since relocating to Brooklyn. While there are *many* thrift and vintage stores here, they seem to be very picked over and overpriced, and I've found very little here. I do my best shopping by returning to my old favorite haunts on Long Island, even though it's a hike back there. That's what I did on Wednesday...and it's just been full-on thrifting ever since. Sad to say, without too much success! I know there are lulls every year...I hope this is just a lull and not an ongoing decline! Where are the dresses?? Hardly anyplace had any dresses! I got a few nice things (pictured)...I'd just hoped for MORE (please, sir).

Yesterday I visited the mythical creature known as Goodwill OUTLET (ooh), where I'd heard they sold clothes by the pound (ahh). It was tres disappointing. Lots of bins of mediocre newer used clothing. It takes a long time to go through the bins...a LONG time...especially to end up with NOTHING to show for it. Then I hit six other shops in the area...nothing. NOTHING. It's just SAD. I even stopped at a house that had clothes hanging on the fence outside...ha. Old guy sitting there w his dog, trying to sell his (decidedly uninteresting) old clothes. Pass.

Today is the last real day of vacation. We hit dog park early...then I tried a couple nearby thrifts. had some success at one small shop up the avenue - for ME. ha. So got two tops for me, and one awesome vintage "as is" dress that I'll use for a photo shoot then try and sell it in its flawed condition.

Then went to a place called "Hit or Miss Thrift." Oh. Yeah. No, definitely MISS. No clothes. Some furniture. A bumpy green florists vase for $20?? An entire wall of glittery cheap import jewelry. Brand new. Only good thing was baskets of drippy chandelier crystals, all shapes and sizes. I wasn't even motivated to ask the price, but now I know where I can get them. If I find I need them.

Last store was a United Way thrift, didn't even know they HAD stores. The two aisles were almost entirely blocked by furniture. To be pushed outside. When he got around to it. Right now he was listening to his buddy's story of a mutual friend's attack cat and how he ended up in the emergency room and how he wanted the "friend" (friends like this I wouldn't want) to have the cat put down. If I could just come back in 30 minutes...or a couple hours?? Then I could see the women's clothing. Pass.

So. An abnormally disappointing week of thrifting. Which hopefully means I'm due to hit the mother lode VERY soon. If I just knew WHERE.

Okay. Time to stop whining and get back to work.

more new goodies listed...

2010-02-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

more new auctions in the shop...

2010-02-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

faves from today's rag&bone show...

2010-02-13T18:34:00.000-05:00

mmm...makes me wish winter could go on JUST a little longer...these are so fallish and preppy and cozy and layered and plaid and girly and yummy!

photos from style.com

new vintage goodies in the shop this week

2010-02-13T08:24:00.000-05:00

more to come tonight!

loss is sad: RIP Alexander McQueen

2010-02-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

So young, so talented, such an untimely death of a fashion icon. i know that news stories will morph as the days go by as to the cause of his death...but whatever the cause, it is a sad loss and my thoughts go out to his family, loved ones, and close personal colleagues.

In memory, here of some of my Alexander McQueen fave looks....

Your style will not be forgotten, Mr. McQueen....rest in peace.

what's new in the dragonfly shop this week

2010-02-07T08:46:00.001-05:00

new auctions this week...

2010-01-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

new in the dragonfly shop this week...

2010-01-26T18:59:00.000-05:00

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

four things i love this week...

2010-01-24T17:51:00.000-05:00

This week inadvertently sort of turned into Girl Power Week!
My favorite thing this week is these four amazingly talented, creative, and artistic
girls.

All She Talks About from Kirsten Spruch on Vimeo.

She's 13!

Carly Paige is 12! Click on image to see video of her song
"Just Imagine: A Beatles Tribute"

3. Chrissie White, 16-year-old photographer. I think her
photography has a maturity beyond her years. Some of her very staged work has an
almost Tim Walker quality about it.

click on image to visit her website, or see her work at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettypony/

4. Olivia Bee, high school student, photographer
extraordinaire. I love looking through her flickr pool cuz it ranges from "hey,
i'm just a crazy high school kid doing high school kid stuff" to really serious,
emotional, planned out photographs.

click on image to see her flickr pool

Seriously. When I was their age (I feel so old when I say
things like that!), I had nothing on my mind beyond
horsesboyshorsesboyshorsesboys. I really admire people who have a passion from
an early age and really focus on it and hone their craft.

taking a little time off

2010-01-24T00:46:00.001-05:00

i managed to get a little ahead of myself with my ebay work, so i took a day off today...

it was a beautiful january day, sunny w strong blue skies

caleb had to check out the yards...

as nice as it would have been to stay around the apartment all day in my nightie...

janey was not happy we were leaving her behind....

i was leaving behind some messes...they'll still be there tomorrow

we were out all day...Madison found a new perch while we were gone

I splurged and bought myself flowers...

the day wiped Caleb out

I got a lovely brie and onion tart for dinner...

i did a little thrifting. found two wonderful 50s/60s cocktail/prom dresses

and finally after dinner i got back to work...with janey glaring at me from above...

to see more of where we went today, visit my 365daysinbrooklyn.blogspot.com blog...

at auction this week in the dragonfly shop

2010-01-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

monday mosaics ~ pastel thoughts

2010-01-18T10:11:00.003-05:00

once again, following the lead of Micaela at the drifter and the gypsy, I find myself "thinking in mosaic." this week I'm having lovely pastel thoughts, to balance out the long grey winter days here in new york...

Click here for larger images, and to see what i thought was special about each picture...

what thoughts get *you* through the long winter?

now i'm off to see the world, enjoy this day!

five things i love this week....

2010-01-17T20:09:00.004-05:00

1. FUN photo shoots (and the new Dragonfly model!) (photo by Paul Newland)

2. not only is she the MOST darling girl, her outfits are always adorable...and she SKETCHES every one of them! so fun!

http://nancyandmarco.blogspot.com/

3. Lemon Low Fat Frozen Yogurt Bars w Green Tea Swirl, yum!

4. Mondays off, aka Three-Day Weekends. Yay :-)

5. Sewing Pretty with Hello Kitty

what do *you* love??

fresh vintage in the dragonfly shop this week

2010-01-16T01:01:00.002-05:00

got a couple new things up tonight at auction...between ironing dozens of dresses for a big photo shoot tomorrow...will list more tomorrow and Sunday night, so check back!

be sure to look through our selection for a super sweet dress for valentine's!

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing

monday mosaics ~ thoughts of summer

2010-01-11T11:13:00.003-05:00

Following in the tradition of The Drifter & The Gypsy, I am doing a "Monday Mosaic" again this week...thanks to Micaela for such a great idea!

it's been so cold...and normally I'm not one to wish for winter to hurry up and end, but this year...yeah...a little bit...I'm thinking of warmer days ahead and the joys of summer...barefeet and sunny highlights and carefree afternoons...sitting on a bench by the harbor watching the sunset...mmmmmmm

Thoughts of Summer

What are *you* looking forward to this summer??

new auctions this week...

2010-01-10T23:58:00.002-05:00

we've got lots of great new vintage this week,
and new models - take a look!

and don't forget, Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away - we're putting up
bunches of dreamy romantic vintage dresses and blouses in the next few weeks, so
be sure to check back soon..

Dragonfly Vintage Clothing shop