I haven’t worn this purple-y tribal print dress since 2011, does that mean I have too many clothes?  I think it does.  At some point I will have to post some photos of the amazing dressing room/closet my husband built to house my awesomely eclectic and gigantic wardrobe.  You will die of envy.

outfit details: tribal print dress is thrifted; striped sweatshirt is by aeropostale by way of ebay; suede oxfords are Clarks Bendables and are ridiculously comfortable; violet tights are vera wang; jewelry and accessories are thrifted/ebay

song inspiration: “A New Life” by Jim James.  My best friend Zak just got me hooked on this song from Jim James’ new solo record that released yesterday.  I am not the hugest My Morning Jacket fan so I wasn’t really anticipating this album, but I am a sucker for a good build in a tune and this song is so good it just makes me want to snuggle into his beard.

There is nothing as easy as a beret when you get up late and have no time to do anything with your hair.  Trust me on this one.

outfit details: blue tulle dress is eshakti; teal silk shirt is vintage; silver and black boots are doc martens; tights are we love colors; beret and jewelry are thrifted

song inspiration: “I Wonder Why” by Dion and the Belmonts.  I heard this song at the airport recently and have had it on my repeat playlist ever since.  Why, I do not  exactly know, but this video from 1958 makes me want synchronized hand gestures to return to pop music in a big, bad way.

Here’s the outfit I put together for today.  I kinda love it, dudes.

Lee’s awesome threads.  I envy this coat more than is appropriate among friends.

we had a lot of fun taking photos outside our office building and entertaining all the smokers milling about wondering what the hell we were doing.

Lee says that detail shots are important to document, I think they are boring.  But she can be annoyingly stubborn when she wants to be, so here you go.

outfit details: both of our dresses and coats are vintage; my red boots are the jeffrey campbell Litas; Lee’s moon boots are Fitflops; jewelry and shizz is from all over, I’m too lazy to do this part.  goodbye.

song inspiration: “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite.  I was listening to this while getting ready this morning and had my mind blown by the fact that Lady Miss Kier turns 50 this year!  Girl looks good and this is still a killer song.

In fact, I have paid for about 7 or 8 comfortable, cute and customizable eShakti dresses in the past few months.  I wasn’t lying when I said it’s an obsession.  Please don’t tell my husband.

outfit details: hummingbird dress is from eshakti;tights are hue; shoes are jeffrey campbell; denim shirt is vintage levis; jewelry and hair flower are thrifted

song inspiration: “Hummingbirds” by Venus Hum. This song makes me happy.  I was listening to it yesterday and it inspired me to beat the cold weather with some spring-like colors, birds and flowers…take that, winter!

The spree was awesome as always.  I have some very dear friends that have been associated with this band since its start and have seen them live many times, but this was one of the best shows I’ve seen yet.

Afterward I got to take my dear friend Jennie, choir angel and chef extraordinaire, away from her band duties and catch up with her a bit.  my partner in crime fLee was around too, of course, and so we went to Longman & Eagle and had some delicious beverages and some girl talk.  A good time was had by all, and I am looking forward to the Spree’s new album and world tour in the spring.

song inspiration:  how could I pick anything for this post but the Spree’s version of Joy to The World (with a little help from Chicago’s own circus punk marching band Mucca Pazza)?  fLee took this video using the Luminancer app she and her husband developed.  Pretty psychedelic, eh?  You will have to imagine me dancing around like a maniac, but I assure you that it was happening.

Rain be damned, we all purchased umbrellas and spent a lovely day vintage shopping in Toronto’s arts district.  Nico and I bought some pretty dresses.  Big surprise, eh?

Toronto has a lot of cool murals.

We ate a ton of killer food, including the gooey and delicious French Canadian dish poutine.  French fries with gravy and various toppings, what’s not to love?

We also had an amazing special dinner out at a Native American restaurant called Keriwa Cafe.  We were privileged to be there for their one year anniversary tasting menu.  The bison short ribs were divine.

Becs, Zak and Nico

Me and Todd

We also got to ride around the city of Toronto in our friend Paul’s fancy new car Bessie.  Well, old car.  New to him.  You know what I mean.  It was pretty cool.

It was a really fun weekend.  Toronto is an awesome city and I am looking forward to going back soon.  Also, it was so good to have an adventure with so many of my best friends.  We miss you, Becs.  Australia is on our list of trips to take as soon as we can, we promise.

outfit details: yellow polka dot dress is from eshakti; silk scarf and cardigan are vintage; shoes are jeffrey campbell

song inspiration: “Emmylou” by First Aid Kit.  I have spent a huge part of this year being obsessed with these Swedish sisters who harmonize so beautifully.  Any band who name-drops Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash and June Carter in one song can do no wrong in my eyes.  It’s just a hunch so far, but I have a feeling their new album The Lion’s Roar is going to be in my top three new releases of 2012.

We also took a trek up to the Phare des Mamelles lighthouse, which is located on one of 2 twin hills at pretty much the most western point of Senegal and thus the entire African continent.  The word “mamelles” is an idiom for “boobs,” named so because of said twin hills.   So it’s pretty much “bosom point,” which was our nickname for it as kids.  It’s actually a much longer walk than it looks to get up to the lighthouse.

We did make it up there, though – here we are all hot and sweaty from our little hike.  We had to take a quick break before climbing the lighthouse itself.

Here is the view of the coast from the top of the lighthouse.  It was incredibly windy out there and made my vertigo set in a bit.  I have a photo somewhere of this same view in the early 80′s and none of the hotels on the beach are there, just empty space on the western edge of the continent.

It was fascinating to see how the light itself actually works.  Here is the glass and mirror, which amplifies the lightbulb within it to send the light out over the ocean.  That light has saved ships from crashing into the rocks for well over 100 years.

This is the new African Renaissance Monument that sits on one of the Mamelles and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.  It is fairly recent and quite imposing.  It was quite expensive too, and feelings are mixed about it.

My brother and I lounging with the Monument behind us.

We celebrated our adventures with a shwarma.  Man, I miss real Senegalese shwarmas.  There is nothing quite like them in Chicago.

outfit details: black and white dress is vintage; blue flats are merrells; sunglasses are a gift from fLee; wooden necklace is from artisan village in dakar, senegal; tom waits shirt is an old concert tee; whatever on the rest of it

song inspiration: “set” by cheikh lo featuring youssou n’dour.  2 senegalese musicians

just to give you an idea of the immenseness of this place…the main door to the mosque weighs 30 tons and dwarfs anything, including me.

the evenings were chilly in morocco, so i added my pink adidas warm-up jacket when we went shopping for carpets in casablanca, which was a whole story in itself.   they bring you tea and give you a whole show, complete with little dude unrolling about 50 rugs into a decadent pile.  we ended up buying an orange berber rug as our one big vacation splurge.

i couldn’t get enough of the moroccan mint tea.  note to self: get one of those little metal teapots that have the built in holder for tea leaves.

here i am on another day in senegal wearing almost the same outfit.  this is the very narrow stairway of the rooftop apartment we stayed at in dakar.

as i am going through all my photos trying to find any kind of “outfit” pics to post here on threadphones, i realize i wore this skirt a ridiculous amount on this trip.  i paired it with my waylon and willie shirt when pascal and aurelie took us on a sunset stroll to the soumbedioune fish market in dakar.

the fish market was ridiculously photogenic.  we took a huge amount of pictures, plus bought a big ol’ fish and cooked it up for dinner.

outfit details: silk maxi skirt is by bcbg; turquoise shirt is vintage; blue flats are merrells; sunglasses are a gift from fLee; wooden necklace is from artisan village in dakar, senegal; waylon and willie shirt is an old concert tee; hat is from alcala’s

song inspiration: “mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys” by willie nelson and waylon jennings.  this is of course in honor of one of my favorite t shirts, pictured above.  plus i just love me some willie nelson in any context.  he’s the coolest guy ever to me and has written some pretty epic songs.  this video is from farm aid in the 80′s – check out the perfectly frayed cut off denim shorts willie was wearing.

i also some bought some african masks.  i know…cliche, right?

todd and i and some friends hung out at the awesome seaside bar in the artisan village, enjoying both the beautiful view and the local senegalese beer.

later on that day my gorgeous friend akeelah and i took my nephew philippe out for ice cream.  we decided that between the three of us we exemplified the common flavors quite well.

see?  vanilla, caramel and chocolate.  yum.

outfit details: yellow shirt is bcbg; orange dress underneath is vintage; blue flats are merrells; sunglasses are from a gas station near my house; wooden necklace is form artisan village in dakar, senegal; flower hair wreath is self made

song inspiration: “waka waka” by shakira.  this might seem like a weird song for me to choose as i usually stay as far away from radio pop music as i can.  however, i LOVE this song.  it’s catchy, it was the theme song for the 2010 World Cup, and more than all of that, my nephew philippe sang it constantly while we were in senegal so that just adds a layer of nostalgia to it.  plus one of my husband’s best friends recently did the sound for a major sporting event where shakira and 2 other bands performed (one of which was coldplay!) and he told us that the only live mic on the stage the entire show was the one for shakira’s vocals.  you have to respect that in this day and age, you know?

the Hassan II has the highest religious minaret in the world and the place is gigantic – it fits 25,000 people inside and another 80,000 on the outside mezzanine area.

the other awesome thing in casablanca besides the mosque is the food.  we ate some amazing grub.  here i am dining al fresco on a tagine comprised of fresh fish and sweet potatoes.

i wore the same dress a week later on a trip to goree island, off the coast of dakar in senegal, one of the processing centers of the slave trade back in the day.  goree is one of the places i remember well from my childhood in senegal and it made me incredibly nostalgic to go back there again.  the island was a transportation center for getting the captured slaves on ships to the western world.  it is hauntingly beautiful because of the cultural and historical significance of the place.  there are no vehicles on the island, so it very much feels like going back in time.

it’s so important that we never forget the appalling fact that we humans used to buy and sell one another like animals.  this door open to the sea is called ‘the door of no return’ and is where the slaves would be driven through in chains to board ships for the western world, never to see their homeland in africa again.  it makes me feel literally ill to think about it.

after visiting the slave house we walked around the whole island just soaking up the atmosphere.  there are actually senegalese songs which mention the ‘colors of goree’ and you can see why…the most amazing tropical shades all blending together with the sea and sky.

my senegalese family went along on the trip to goree.  i am very proud to introduce them to you.  in order are my cousin antoine, my adorable nephew philippe, my sister-in-law aurelie, my niece lydie, my cousin mariatou and my brother pascal.  and of course me and todd.  everyone is wearing the new threadless t shirts we brought them for christmas too.  don’t we look colorful?

outfit details: flowered dress is from target; silver-blue shoes are barefoots by merrell; orange dress underneath is vintage; flat boots are cynthia rowley; purple sweatshirt is from the gap

song inspiration: “under african skies” by paul simon and miriam makeba.  this is one of my very favorite songs on the graceland album.  i think linda ronstadt sings with paul simon on the record, but this version of this song always makes me so homesick because i too grew up under african skies.  miriam makeba was a south african singer and one of the people who made african music accessible to the rest of the world.  she was also an anti-apartheid activist and an incredible woman.  this song will give you chicken skin.