there was a factory, now there are mountains and rivers, pt. 2

when i mentioned to my coworkers a couple of weeks ago that i was going up to the catskills for my birthday, i received a few blank stares. "there's nothing to do up there," one of them pointed out.

country getaways have never been too high on my to-do list, but i figured if there was absolutely nothing to occupy us, i could at least catch up on some rest. but what do you know - we ended up having a (sort of) packed schedule!

so exactly what does one do in the catskills? i've taken it upon myself to let you all know. don't worry, you can thank me later.

1: eat.

there are more than enough diners and restaurants in the area to go around, but since our cabin came with a kitchenette, the boy and i decided to try our hand at some home cookin'. and by "our," i mean "his." i kept myself busy documenting the process and offering moral support. this delicious cajun-spiced chicken dinner was actually the first meal the boy had ever cooked. thank god he has a knack for the kitchen, otherwise i'm pretty sure we would have starved.

the next morning we concocted a literal interpretation of brunch and ate eggs and hot dogs in bed with goofy cartoons on the tube. raspberry ginger ale, martinelli's sparkling apple cider, beer, and twisted teas flowed freely throughout the weekend. how's that for adulthood?

2: go hiking.

it should be pretty obvious that this was the boy's idea. i've gone hiking exactly two times in my life, and i don't remember either of them being particularly enjoyable, but i agreed. i'm a good sport like that.

after slathering myself in bug spray and bracing myself mentally, i set out on the trail.. and immediately began spazzing out. i'm talking about flailing my arms and shrieking every time a bug came nearby, compulsively brushing myself off, and checking my back constantly for axe murderers. but if you can believe it, i actually had fun. that look on my face is a mixture of pride, exhaustion, and an overblown sense of accomplishment. oh, and sweat. a whole lot of sweat.

3: go to woodstock.

i didn't expect woodstock to be so hippietastic, considering that the festival didn't actually take place there, but i'm not complaining. i didn't explore as many of the stores there as i'd hoped, but i did score a fantastic vintage ralph lauren scarf and browse through a lovely flea market.

side note: once upon a time, i bought a silk paoli scarf at screaming mimi's for $32, but never wore it. i brought it upstate with me and decided to finally break it in, only to find the same exact scarf that day at a woodstock vintage shop for $8, same condition. screw you, screaming mimi's.

the minute i saw this house on the highway, i made the boy pull over so i could take a picture. but when i got out, i suddenly got nervous - i mean, sure, there's colorful peace signs all over, but what if the owner of the house came barreling out the front door with a rifle, telling me to get off his property? (these are the thoughts that run through my mind.) i sheepishly took a quick picture and ran back to the car.

4: play dress up.

nobody puts pandora in a corner.

5: take a moonlight train ride.

our first stop was the railway museum in phoenicia, where we were greeted by earl pardini and the slide mountain string band. they played until the sun went down and then finished their set aboard the train. bliss.

there was a factory, now there are mountains and rivers, pt. 1

allow me to be frank. when it comes to a executing a theme, i know no boundaries. i've been known to stuff myself into a pair of vintage sasson jeans with zero percent spandex and scour ebay for hours, looking for appropriately weathered license plates from red states, if there's a lowbrow throwdown on the horizon. the thrill of pulling off a vibe is worth the trouble, but i know my rabid enthusiasm can be taxing on my friends and family once i lock in to theme mode.

when the boy and i pulled into kate's lazy meadow friday evening, i felt as if i'd stepped into the domain of a kindred spirit. the kitsch factor is certainly high throughout the resort, but i'll be damned if every last christmas light, garden gnome, and tchotchke isn't absolutely essential to the look of the place. i still can't get the whimsical interiors out of my head, so i thought i'd share some shots of our cabin suite.

look, a themed key! we're off to a good start.

i was slightly obsessed, photographically speaking, with this tiki/totem dude guarding our sakajawiya suite. he's only about a foot tall, but you should see the creepy shadow he casts at night. evil spirits? banished.

i took this picture right before crashing the first night. i'm happy to report that that bed is just as comfortable as it looks.

when i was nine years old, i declared that purple and orange were my favorite colors. i quickly changed my mind when i realized that the two hues almost always look witchy and jarring against one another. so i love how the spicy orange paint featured above clashed joyously with lavender corrugated metal panels in the bathroom.

and this sign out back led to...

...a vintage airstream trailer park!

such a fright seeing them in my dark cupboard with my great big cake

there's something about holidays that sends my stress level skyrocketing.

i can pick any calendar day at random and hype it to the high heavens if it happens to coincide with something planned like a vacation, a party, or even a particularly exciting ups shipment, but when it comes to something that should inherently be kind of a big deal, like christmas or thanksgiving, i'm suddenly stricken by a major bout of performance anxiety.

i deal with the stage fright by compulsively downplaying imminent jubilees with a vengeance, but the irrationality hits a fever pitch when it comes to my birthday. i'm not being coy at all when i implore friends and family to treat my birthday like any other day. i'm a shy girl to begin with, so all of that annual attention and fanfare paired with my longstanding anxieties is about enough to send me scurrying into birthday hiding.

a peek inside pandora's closet, circa 1990.

it wasn't always like this - as the only girl and baby of the family, i have vivid memories of compiling a long list of birthday wishes (barbies, mostly) and expecting the full princess treatment on my special day. well, friends, i'm happy to report that at long last the pendulum is beginning to swing back. no, i'm not reverting back to spoiled brattiness, but i am actually excited about celebrating my birthday after several years of merely tolerating it.

" hop in my chrysler, it's as big as a whale,
and it's about to set sail... "

my boyfriend - mr. pandora? mandora? - and i will have been together for four years come september, but far-flung summer plans always prevent us from being together on my birthday. this year, he's taking me upstate to kate's lazy meadow, a cluster of quirky cabins and stationary airstream trailers in the catskills. all the "suites" are decked out in kitschy mid-century decor by owner kate pierson of the b-52s, and though the tinkerbell trailer we wanted is booked (top right), we're equally excited to hunker down in the sakajawiya suite instead.

to be perfectly honest, this whole great outdoors thing is pretty new to me, so i don't know exactly what to expect. still, when i let my imagination fill in the blanks, i see home-cooked meals, swimming in the lake, and breathtaking mountain views. so despite our lack of a trailer and my lack of cooking skills, i'm modeling my getaway wardrobe after lucille ball's tacy collini in the long, long trailer - all silk scarves and sunhats, cuffed button-downs, full skirts, and high-waisted slacks. i'm no good at playing the happy homemaker, but i can certainly dress the part if i put my mind to it.

i spotted this striped top when i was at monk in williamsburg the other day and couldn't let it pass by. just the night before, i had been browsing modcloth and lamenting the fact that a practically identical sea green version was already sold out. coincidence? hardly. and at fifteen dollars, i didn't even have to dip into my savings to bring it home with me. next on my list? a great straw hat and a picnic basket.

twenty-two days and counting..

[via lovely disco, we heartit, kate's lazy meadow, modcloth, google]

you could smoke a spliff with a cliff but there's still no mountain hiiigh enough

after slogging through an unfortunate series of airline delays, mechanical issues, fuel shortages, closed airports, and about fifteen hours in transit, intermittent drizzle and a gunmetal sky welcomed me back to the 02138 this morning. sheer exasperation alone kept my mood from plummeting accordingly - even the most dismal weather beats the inside of an airport, after all.

as for the blissful week i just spent in st. petersburg, florida, i have a bad habit of - or is it a handy knack for? - living in the moment rather than documenting it. as a result, i have absolutely no photographic evidence of my time spent watching french movies about french women, sifting through wedding dresses, falling into the baroque world of fernando botero, enjoying long walks on the beach, and reading lolita by the pool. trust me when i say that i gorged myself on the best gelato in the world, and just take my word for it that sara and i spent friday night rubbing elbows with a bunch of middle-aged women, jersey shore-types, crooklyn clan, and tone loc.

undocumented claims aside, i happen to have an abundance of st. pete souvenirs to make up for my total lack of vacation snapshots. naturally, all of these souvenirs happen to fall squarely into the sartorial realm - so much for a shopping system. i was planning on allowing myself to buy two more items for the month of march, and ended up with eight or nine new things, and that's not including the things i cajoled my dear mother into buying before even arriving in florida.. oops?

still, as heady as i felt slapping down the plastic time after time, i swear i wasn't acting completely on impulse. as i explained to a friend, i felt as if i were suddenly shopping for my postgraduate self - who can don something a bit dramatic without looking too over the top for, say, a seminar on protestantism in american literature - and it was a great feeling, indeed.

images to come, folks.

[via google]

the weather is good, the fishin' is fine, now what do you do with all of your time

well, the good news is i got through last week unscathed. the bad news is that there's still another week and a half of heavy duty work to come. luckily, there's a sunbeam at the end of tunnel, and it's hovering just above the great state of florida, where i'll be heading for spring break in just over two weeks.

when it comes to traveling, it's always a thrill to dive headfirst into the sights, smells, and quirks of a completely new place, but i reserve a special sort of well-worn affection for locales that i've visited once or thrice before. i've been to florida so many times i've lost count, but instead of indulging in the bustling tourism of orlando or the semi-dilapidated art deco decadence of miami, i'll be heading back to st. petersburg, a spot i've been hankering to return to since the last time i left.

"stop jumpin' around, you'll run out of breath, why don't you sit back and calm yourself?"

st. pete doesn't offer too much in the way of high-octane entertainment, but what it lacks in roller coasters and fireworks, it certainly makes up for with scenery and charm. my last visit felt like one extended lazy sunday, with long strolls along the boardwalk, languorous museum outings, and daily trips to a gelato shop so divine that i couldn't find a better one during all my time in europe.

if this all sounds like a senior citizen's version of heaven, that's because it pretty much is. the elderly population of st. pete is booming to say the least, but oddly enough, that's where i'm drawing inspiration from as i put together my travel wardrobe. i already know that st. pete living is easy, so i'm aiming to dress the part.

i wanted a single piece to function as a layering canvas, but didn't really feel like rustling up a flattering jumpsuit, so i opted for this simple black maxi dress instead. i followed up that purchase with a black turban (my fifth and final purchase for the month of february) and i admit it's all a bit reminiscent of a certain gushing missive i once dashed off about carmen miranda, but i'm actually going for what might happen if katharine hepburn, dorothy zbornak, and janis joplin had to share closet space.

i'm thinking uninterrupted ankle-length silhouettes, billowy tops, boyish vests, and striking accessories, perfect for everything from self-administered pedicures by the pool to dinners at slightly tacky seaside restos. just a couple more essential pieces to get a hold of, fourteen more days and i'm there.

i can not wait.

p.s. any suggestions on where i can get my hands on a flattering one-piece swimsuit?

[via google, flickr, babooshka boutique, asos]

wear your gold in the summer with your biking shorts

in san francisco, sarah and i went to a trailer trash-themed bar called butter. we were understandably a bit apprehensive about it and showed up fairly early in order to sample the city's finer nightlife.

as we entered the fairly sketchy-looking building, old wwf wrestling matches and breakin' 2: electric boogaloo were being simultaneously projected onto the walls while an adorable girl dj churned out some grade a house party jams - needless to say, we stayed the entire night.

the only way it could have gotten any better is if i'd dressed for the occasion, pairing my skintight high-waisted sasson jeans with one of these fantastic vintage tees. i can't remember for the life of me where i found them, but i do remember that both were obscenely expensive, so i'll settle for soaking up the nostalgia through my computer screen.

i'd be safe and warm if i was in l.a.

it's about four am right now and i'm dead tired, but it's time to hit the road - california, here i come.

[via songs&fotos]

out on bail fresh outta jail california dreamin'

well, i slogged through the boundless mires of literary criticism and feminist theory and broke on through to the other side, and oh, how sweet it is. this year's christmas gift exchange with the boyfriend resulted in a slick and sturdy crosley record player, and i've been holed up in my room for days, bringing it all back home and revisiting highway 61 on vinyl.

of course, i could've been home in new york by now, but i'm sticking around for a few extra days to make extra cash for the long winter break ahead, which will include a trip to los angeles and san francisco. since i've never been further west than colorado, i'm incredibly excited and somewhat overwhelmed by the possibilities. i mean, we're talkingdisneyland, venice beach, cable cars, hollywood, haight-ashbury.. disneyland?! expectations are high, to say the least, but all the travel guides in the world aren't going to give me the juicy details that you all can. if you have any la/sf recommendations for vintage shopping, restaurants, cool areas, thrifting, people watching spots, and other generally cool things that stray from the typical tourist fare, get in touch - all tips would be much appreciated!

[via basilio silva]

a time to build up, a time to break down

ask me what i'd like to receive for any special day, and i'll inevitably draw a blank, stalling for a moment or two before mumbling a "well, nothing really.." i'm not quite sure what elicits this noncommittal response from me, considering on any given day, i can conjure up a mile-long lists of wants and desires from the fantastical to the mundane, whether it's a pair of swashbuckling chloé thigh-high boots, some extra hours in my day, a personal assistant to help me get my life in order, or a lovely camel coat to take me through the winter. 

luckily for me, cameron seems to know what i'm wishing for even when i don't have the gumption to say it out loud. just when i needed something revitalizing to hoist me out of my perennial pre-winter rut, he rented a mini cooper and whisked me off to salem for the day. it was just what i needed - the open road, changing leaves, sing-alongs in the car, hot chocolate, walks along the wharf, hunting for vintage gems alongside adorable gay couples at an antique shop, and the particularly colorful characters that frequent salem all during the month of october - and the perfect to start to an exhausting but lovely weekend, consisting of birthday dinner in the north end with friends and adopted family, revamping a friend's style with the blessing of his parents, observing freshmen follies with a mixture of amusement and dismay, chowing down on free burgers, and blissfully ignoring any and all responsibilities.

p.s.: i'm a firm believer that one of the best parts about having roommates is getting to borrow amazing pieces like this mustard bomber, courtesy of blair.

p.p.s.: best news ever - mama pandora called and said she found my lost jewelry, scarves, and handbags from the beginning of the summer!! rejoicing.

it's the truth, it's actual: everything is satisfactual

i'm done with class for the day, but i'm still recovering from the past weekend: a three-day whirlwind trip to new york with cameron, consisting of multiple taxi rides along central park west, a birthday cake sundae to remember, apartment hunting on roosevelt island, a new camera (!), breaking in my navy wedges, billyburg afternoon, avoiding the shower, trams in the sky, long walks, an adorable waitress and free banana split at brooklyn bowl, dancing on stage at the gershwin theater, muted carmen sandiego, thrift shopping for grandpa threads, cosby sweater score, high line hijinks, shirley temple custards, a shopping spree for cameron with my enthusiastic stamp of approval, baked mac and cheese to die for, hair for the second time, freemans sporting club barbershop, falling in love with tommy on fifth, adding to my bob dylan record collection, hunting for a giant ground sloth, and white wine toasts with fried chicken and fries.

[image credits: refinery29]

sky of blue and sea of green

i hardly think i need to inform you guys that bob dylan was phenomenal. i don't think i've ever expressed quite accurately just how much his music means to me, but suffice to say, when the lights came on and the rain cleared just long enough to catch a clear glimpse of that crisp suit, i broke down into a sobbing, joyous mess, bluberring and deliriously laughing my way through "leopard skin pill-box hat." i got it together long enough to laugh, sing, and dance my way through a nearly two-hour long, ultra high-energy set, despite a renewed rain (i had a raincoat with me, but i was too gleefully occupied to remember to put it on). when he finally turned to the crowd and addressed us with a buoyant, gravelly "heh-lo, friends!" i was positive that i was the happiest i'd ever been.. and then he returned for an encore, sat down at the organ, and began "like a rolling stone," followed by "all along the watchtower." cue second round of happy tears, and with that, the best night my life so far, ladies and gentlemen.*

with all of that adoration of awe, of course i committed blogger cardinal sin and neglected to take pictures, but i made up for it the next day while we explored burlington.

"you don't understand. rox is trying to be molly ringwald right now." -sara, in response to meg's inquiries as to why i was on a desperate search for a hat.

maybe it was the abundance of young folk roaming the streets, or maybe the sweet burgundy stationwagon we were rolling around town in, but i kept getting this vibe that i'd stepped back into time and into a college town circa 1994. the more i thought about it, the more i convinced myself that my friends and i fit the part of an old-school collegiate motley crew, what with meg in her embroidered brown dress and birkenstocks, and sara and her long hair, preppy oversized rugby and cutoffs. the only way i could have looked more appropriate for my own mental scenario was if my shirt happened to be a crop top, but i sealed the deal with the best six bucks i've ever spent, snagging this prairie-ready hat at a sweet little secondhand shop called dirt chic. i've been doubting my ability to pull off hats like this for a while with my short hair, but i'm totally loving the look. after all, if molly can do it, so can i.. 

other highlights: snagging a 1967 copy of big brother & the holding company's "cheap thrills," my killer road trip playlist, pigging out all weekend long on copious amounts of ice cream, trucker stops, and real railroad car diners, browsing the sweetest record shop/vintage store ever, scoring bits of vintage swag for my circa 1966-themed bedroom this year, "take my breath away" coming on the second we hit a spread of misty mountaintops, laying claim to tons of unattractive men just for kicks, total culture shock at essex junction with thousands of elderly hicks, blowing sara away with my mastery of one country song, following a rainbow on the ride home, and something akin to a religious experience.

*i don't mean to leave out willie nelson and john mellencamp, who were also beyond amazing.

[image credit: the lovely meaghan lyons]

the time has come

i'm currently on a bus to boston. i'm spending the night at sara's, and then we're road tripping to vermont in the am. we're planning on stopping at ben & jerry's on the way to eat ice cream 'til we're sick. when we hit vermont, we're going to see BOB FREAKIN' DYLAN play (which fulfills one of my life dreams, by the way) with willie nelson and john mellencamp, no less. then, if we can manage to recover from the glory of that experience, we're going to explore the burlington nightlife.. word on the street is there's a 90's party out there with my name on it. we're staying at meaghan's tomorrow night, and doing some more small town browsing on saturday. then we're gonna hit the road again, looking for any and all roadside attractions we can find. then we're hitting the movies saturday night, before i head home on sunday.

or that's the plan, anyway.

EPIC EPIC EPIC. see you on the other side.

coming down from a rocky mountain high

i'm baaaaaack. worlds away from mountains and wildlife, i'm spending today unpacking and prepping for my first day at refinery29 tomorrow. stay tuned.

"the silence out here is deafening."

howdy! i'm doing the whole carrie bradshaw at aidan's country house thing this week, except instead of upstate new york, i'm up in the rockies visiting my boyfriend and his family. i'm proud to report, however, that i'm handling the change of scenery like a champ, rather than throwing a hissy fit and running back to the city with my tail between my legs. i kept my cool at the sight of buffalo, black squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and a fox - all spotted within walking distance of cameron's house, mind you - though i admit i freaked out a little bit when he rolled down my window while a herd of elk milled about a mere stone's throw away from our car. 

get this - i even went on a real hike through the mountains today, masked my pitiful wheezing and fear of steep heights too. all in all, it was pretty amazing, i'm a sucker for a great landscape, and colorado definitely delivers in that arena. here i am in a more functional than fashionable outfit, struggling to catch my breath and breaking in a hopelessly underused pair of timberlands that i'd forgotten i had. hopefully, tomorrow will bring some more.. urban activity. we're supposed to check out an art museum in denver that's exhibiting hippie art from the sixties - my kind of stuff.

p.s.: after the last of my finals, a marathon session of packing, moving out, going home, unpacking, packing again, and an early morning flight to denver, i finally have time to relax and let the reality of summer sink in! it's finally here, and i have so many things that i want to do - books to read, projects to attempt, blog posts to write, an internship i cannot wait to start. that said, i'm now declaring sporadic hiatuses on pandora's closet (like the week-long lull between this post and last) a thing of the past. here's to endless possibilities and my best summer yet.

edit: almost forgot about this - my playlist is kind of low on country music, which is big out here, so i tried to make do with what i had.

new york state of mind::billy joel ; going up the country::canned heat ; beyond here lies nothin'::bob dylan ; the weight::the supremes + the temptations ; me and bobby mcgee::janis joplin ; quiet houses::fleet foxes ; ragged wood::fleet foxes ; road block::big brother and the holding company ; man of constant sorrow::bob dylan ; on the road again::bob dylan

"then you ask why i don't live here.. honey, how come you don't move?"

where the birds wait and the tall grasses wave

the first time i laid eyes on antler magazine, i was curled up in a giant bed, bookended by sara and josh to my right and left, an elderly portuguese water dog named sadie calmly resting at my feet. tucked away from responsibilities and trouble somewhere on kiawah island, my companions and i drifted in and out of sleep, shifting to keep the streaming sunlight out of our eyes and awaking only to instigate pillow fights and flip channels. the hazy, natural imagery of the magazine matched the room's easy calm, and i plunged headfirst into the text: candid interviews and spotlights on independent designers and artists - straightforward, but with the uncanny ability to leave you wanting to know more.

charmed as i was, the harsh return to a reality of deadlines and stress whipped about by a constant northeastern wind pushed the enchantment of antler towards the back of my mind, joined with dreamlike memories of carolina beaches and the egalitarianism of interstate 95. imagine my delight at receiving an email heralding the release of antler's second issue. the formula has remained delightfully similar, drawing from an even wider pool of talent. a travel piece and film retrospective broaden the magazine's spectrum, as well, promising new directions for following issues. now that antler is firmly reinstated at the forefront of my consciousness, i'm excited to see what's next for the fledgling publication.

halfway home, and i tried running with the flow

stepping out of logan international yesterday evening, i was dismayed to discover my breath, all too visible in smoky puffs beneath the heavy boston fog. this morning, my dreams of kiawah were interrupted by the somber staccato rhythm of cold rain on my skylight. tomorrow, this sad transition back to the daily grind will be complete, but it comforts me to gaze at these trinkets acquired over the past week, each piece permanently infused with the joy of sunshine, travel, and the open road.

roz, josh's mother, was gracious enough to bestow some of her sartorial history upon me, since she was in the process of giving things away and preferred to see them go to someone she knew. the trove consisted of a cashmere cardigan in tiffany's blue, three beaded necklaces - one slightly nautical, another perfectly feminine with a floral pendant, and the last begging to be layered with lots of thin gold chains, and a crocodile pin with a maniacal grin - "i used to think it was kind of cute to wear it on sweaters, like a lacoste sort of thing," she said. the gold chain bracelet is an estate piece found at green tomatoes, a south carolina antique shop, replete with dior lingerie and advertisements for the titanic.

though these pieces all stray a bit from my usual aesthetic, they may be just what i need to wait out the early spring doldrums.