Vintage Prom Re-Cap

So last weekend was the second annual Vintage Prom. It was soooo much fun, but man am I glad that it's over! We had a crazy couple of weeks between setting up and taking down the pre-prom pop up shop and then decorating for Prom over 3 days. My parents and sister came up from Georgia & South Carolina which was really fun! I think all-in-all it was definitely better than last year. We were so lucky to have beautiful furniture lent to us by A La Crate Vintage Rentals and funky 70's decor for our "lounge" (aka the make-out room) from Costumes With Character.

The "Prom Committee": Me & Rebecca

 The Prom King & Queen arrived in style in this gorgeous red 1960's limo!


Just like last year, the absolute most popular part of the evening was the photo booth by Voltaic Visual. Something about the way he takes pictures, makes everyone look sexy and glamorous!

Check out all the photo booth pics on Facebook!

So next year we'll have to top ourselves again. . . which means even more work, but I'm excited because people really seem to enjoy getting dressed up and dancing like high schoolers!

XO,

Jess

PROM Season!!

So it's that time of the year again. . .time for the Second Annual Vintage Prom on May 12! I can't believe how quickly it's coming up. And just this week we'll be running our pre-Prom Pop Up Shop at the Project Lodge! I have so much clothing right now, it's actually overflowing out of my studio. So, yes, it's time for a pop up shop. . . hope I sell a lot! 

The next couple weeks are obviously going to be very hectic, but I'll try to post some updates on Prom planning and the pop up shop!

XO,

Jess

Roadtrip!

Whoa, I can't believe this is my first post of the year! Shame on me! It has been a very busy and eventful year so far. . . traveling around the country a lot, planning events in Madison, and working on various projects. I'll get into that later, but for now I'm sitting in a hotel room in Tulsa, OK.
Josh and I are on a mini-tour through a part of the country that I really hadn't spent much time in before. Two nights ago we were in St. Louis and had a great time with some musician friends. Yesterday we drove through some pretty intense weather in Missouri and into Oklahoma (right now we're crossing our fingers that a tornado isn't heading this way). I forced him to pull over when we passed through Springfield, MO because I knew the Red Velvet Vintage boutique is there! I've been following their blog, A Beautiful Mess for a long time so was very excited to see the brick-and-mortar store. It was very cute and well-merchandised, full of very nice, reasonably-priced pieces but not so packed that it's hard to look at everything. I have always said that if I ever open a store it will look like Urban Outfitters but be filled with unique vintage pieces. The RV boutique definitely fits that description! It actually reminded me a lot of a smaller version of the Blitz vintage "department store" in London.

Turns out, downtown Springfield has several vintage shops (and not much else). . .but unfortunately, we were in a hurry to get to a gig in Tulsa and didn't have much time to rummage. Ah well, next time!

XO,

Jess

Well, we're back in the good ol' US of A! Been home almost two weeks now and I think the jet lag has finally worn off. . . although, I've been sick for almost a week now, so maybe my body hasn't totally adjusted. Unfortunately, I don't really have time to take it easy, though. I'm crazy busy getting ready for the "holiday season"- I'll be doing two Vintage Madison one-day sales before Christmas and a sale/party at my house. Which means I need to stock up!
Earlier this week we spent a few days in South Dakota for a belated Thanksgiving with Josh's family. As usual, we ate a lot, drank a lot, went shopping at my favorite small-town thrift store, and then we took pictures. This time Josh's brother and his girlfriend came with, so I had someone to "model" for me, and Josh's little sister got in on the fun too!

Every time we're there, I become more and more fascinated by the landscape of this strange, remote place. . . It's so incredibly different than where I grew up in the suburban South. The light in South Dakota is the most amazing of anywhere I've been- around dusk it's impossible for me to not be outside taking photos!

XO,

Jess

Ireland

Today we're leaving Ireland on a very nice passenger ferry that could pass for a B-grade cruise ship. We spent the better part of a week exploring the Emerald Isle. It was lovely. The weather was up and down (from clear, blue, sunny days to the typical rain and gloom), but we had a great time. The people here are so kind and genuine and we were very lucky to have friends that put us up for a few nights.
We entered the country through Belfast (by boat from Scotland), and we spent the first night there. I really did not know what to expect from Northern Ireland-- 15 years ago I never would have thought to visit that part of the world. But it's a fascinating place. We stayed in a lovely part of town near Queen's University and Josh found a pub that had an open night so we headed there and ended up staying the whole night. We met lots of friendly folks (kind of crazy folks too, but lots of fun).

 sailing into Belfast harbor

 nice weather in Belfast

After Belfast we took a (very scenic) bus ride to Dublin. I immediately got a good vibe from the city, but unfortunately we did not have a lot of time to explore that day. Josh played at a pub in a very cool part of town, but it was sort of a bust- basically an open mic type gig that allowed him to play only 5 or 6 songs as part of a 6-person line up. And then, he was supposed to play another Dublin gig but found out (rather last minute) that it was canceled. Oh well, we still love this town.

The next part of the trip was my favorite- we rented a car and drove into the center of the country to County Tipperary. There we spent 2 nights with our friends the MaGraths- relatives of our Irish friend Tim, who lives in Madison. Kay and Donie treated us like family, and their gorgeous house in the country overlooking Lough Derg was a very welcome change from the dingy hostels and couches we'd been sleeping on. We spent both nights that we were there at this wonderful pub called Larkins- just down the hill from where we were staying. Friday night Josh had a proper gig (which was kind of sparsely attended, but loads of fun) and Saturday night we went back for Brendan O'Connor's 50th birthday. It was quite the event- the entire town was there to celebrate. They set up for a band, which Josh ended up leading (he went up to play one song but they wouldn't let him leave).  

beautiful scenery in County Tipperary

 

After Tipperary, we had a few days off so we drove sort of aimlessly south. We ended up spending a night in Killarney (which was touristy, but nice) a night in Cobh (pronounced "Cove")- an adorable seaside town right outside of Cork, and a night in the small town of Kilcullen (about 45 mins from Dublin). Finally, we made it back to Dublin for one more night. This time we got to spend several hours walking around- stopped in a pub in the Temple Bar area for the requisite "trad music" session. And now we're back on a ship heading towards Liverpool for a (very promising) gig tonight!

 Cobh, Ireland

By the way- if you'd like to hear another perspective on the trip (plus info on his shows and videos) check out Josh's blog!

XO,

Jess