Posts Tagged ‘sdv loves’

My Life Backwards & Forwards: The Last 24 Hours and the Next 24

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Life has been a little crazy for me in the past 24 hours.

And it’s going to be a little crazy in the next 24 hours too.

But oddly, that’s how I like it. Crazy.

FLASH BACKWARD

Wednesday, December 17th

Babysitting: 3-7:30PM, Central Park East (school pick up) & UWS (home)

Little girls stop in park and won’t continue walking. Sammy has to coax them to even let her lift them and carry them about 100 yards across the park. Her arms are aching. And she’s wearing uncomfortable Steve Madden boots.

NOTE: Never wear stylish clothing while babysitting. Especially when babysitting these 4-and-5-year-old girls with a sweetly-veiled vengeance for occasionally making your life a living hell.

Pow Wow with Darla, 8 – 11:40 (Chelsea @ 23rd/8th Ave)

Review of one-sheeter for SDS [newly named “Sassy & Sustainable”] adventures

Edit, cut, copy, paste. Edit edit edit. Talk talk talk. Lots of hand gestures. A few yawns.

Feeling good.

11:40-12:30PM, 1 & 2,3 trains headed Uptown

An hour trek to Harlem. Gagh.

1AM

Bed

Friday, December 18th, East Harlem

6:30AM, awake.

Coffee. Oatmeal. Check email.

Outfit for meeting with Marie Claire. WHAT TO WEAR?!

Decide on outfit for Marie Claire. Looking fabulous.

Hit the subway at 7:50AM. Slated to meet Darla by 8:15 at Hearst Tower neighboring Kinkos to print out one-pager for Sassy & Sustainable meeting with Marie Claire.

8:10-9AM, Midtown West @ 57th St & 8th Ave

Print at Kinkos. Get coffee at Lenny’s.

Review. Challenge. Expand. Get excited. Adrenaline! Endorphins!

Slightly tired.

9:15AM, Hearst Tower

Check in at Hearst Tower. Almost put barcode sticker on my jacket, but security guard stops me. It’s to use at the turnstyle to check in.

“I used to work here,” I say with attitude.

It’s my excuse for being an idiot and not understanding guest procedures since I never used to be one.

9:15AM – 10:15AM, Hearst Tower Cafeteria, 3rd floor

Darla & Sammy ——-> SDS meet with Diana Vilibert of Marieclaire.com

One-pagers in front of us. We hit it. And we hit it with wit, style & grace — because we’re both more than just a pretty face.

Boo-yah.

10:15AM, Foyer of 3rd floor by Hearst Tower escalator

Run into my first Hearst friend. Travel with her to 10th floor.

10:15AM-10:30AM

Run in with more Hearst colleagues. Ugh. This is awkward.

10:30AM

Leave Hearst.

11AM

Arrive in Spanish Harlem. Find car at 118th & 3rd Avenue, that I have no checked on for two days, unharmed and OK. Phew.

11AM-11:30AM

Move car for street cleaning purposes

11:30AM-1:10PM

Blog, blog, blog, blog.

Throw all of my clothes on the floor of my room [see below] to grab hangers for Jenna Arnold’s holiday party, that I will be catering tonight.

MY ROOM IS A MESS!

After babysitting my UWS children. Who now say that my “job” when I “grow up” [I’m seriously quoting them here] is to be a “babysitter.”

OMG.

1:10-1:40PM

Frantically get on the 6 train to head to Bleeker Street to meet with Hearst colleague at UGO.com: gamers, gadgets & girls.

LATE, I meet him at the proposed cafe. He’s not there. Give him a call — he’s running late, too.

Phew. Thank goodness for the “15 minute window” of NYC time.

We meet at UGO offices [that are pretty sweet, and you gotta love SoHo along Broadway]. Talk about my past few weeks, my sort-of-life-goals, and a possible freelance job at UGO for the month of January.

YES. I enthusiastically reply. I could get into editing stories about Modern Warcraft 2.

2:35PM, Bleecker & Lafayette

Get on the slowest train in the CITY, the B train, to bring me back to UWS. Where the children have been all day because the water at their school wasn’t working, and so the parents had to stay home and watch them until my arrival because I couldn’t come any earlier.

Opps. Guess babysitting really isn’t my full-time gig, right?

3:05PM, UWS arrival

I’m there. Ready to play until 5:30, when the children’s father arrives home to relieve me of my duties early to go cater for Darla’s sort-of-but-yes-really sister’s holiday party. Jenna, the creative mind behind MTV’s Exiled. Yes. I’m serious.

Need evidence? Her apartment at 23rd & 8th had a staircase in it.

6:15PM, arrival to party location, Chelsea

Change into LBD, heels, and get my cutting on. And more cutting on. And carrying on. And charisma on. And all those important C’s that go along with the “C” of Catering.

It’s a long — but awesome — evening. I don’t know who I rubbed shoulders with [I mean literally, I was the caterer, I couldn’t help but bump into just about everyone as I cleared plates and dishes]. I  heard a lot of political talk [Jenna’s boyfriend previously worked on the Obama campaign — word up!]. And I also heard some gossip [like, about cheating husbands and their wives] since I was uh, the caterer who is technically the fly on the wall. Good stuff.

2AM

Become very tired. Heels hurting badly. Back … ouch.

Catering full time? Hmm. Like babysitting, not sure if it’s my dream job.

But I did get the chance to talk about vintage to the very nice military man who lived next door to Jenna. He arrived home that very day – from studying in Grenada, a small island in the South Caribbean about 100 miles from the Valenzuela coast. And Jenna had Skyped him — through his real estate agent — so ask if we could use his apartment’s kitchen. Seriously.

I was running between two apartments all night. It was awesome.

Anyway, nice military man was in his 40s, and here I am in a LBD running to and fro and making a proper mess in his kitchen. Oy vey. What do you think I thought when he said, “And here I have a sexy woman cleaning my kitchen floor? This must be a fetish, I think”

Oy vey!

But no worries, nothing between an exhausted 20-something and a man in uniform hitting his mid 40s.

Life is funny, though.

2:15AM, Jenna’s living room

Toast with the remaining late nighters. I think some of them were equity bankers. I’m not really sure. But we played Coldplay and toasted life. It was pretty beautiful.

2:30AM, arrival home, East Harlem

You mean my apartment doesn’t have a staircase or cost $5,000+ a month to rent?

Psh.

FLASH PRESENT & FORWARD

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18th

Here I am. It’s Friday. And it’s 10:38AM.

9:30AM, wake up

Coffee, coffee, coffee, COFFEE.

NOW, East Harlem

Blogging.

NOON

Picking up my UWS children from their early dismissal at school.

NOON – 6PM

Pretending I am a giant with said UWS children. We’ve moved onto “pretend.” When I get bored with “pretend,” I show them Looney Tunes on their parents computer. They’ve never seen Yosemite Sam — I’M SERIOUS!!! — so I introduced them to the slightly negative influences of 1950s Saturday morning cartoons.

Shh. Just don’t tell their parents.

6PM-9PM

Comment moderation for an entirely different age group – teens – on Girlslife.com

I don’t even want to get into that one. Another day, another blog.

9PM - ?

A networking event with my girls over at The Pink Brick House. Lots of support heading their way. Just wish I could make it at the start time of 8PM.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19th

My brother’s birthday! My girl Tammy’s birthday!

11:30AM, Midtown

Lunch @ Bergdorf’s with my new girl crush, Greta of Greta Girl Guide.

We’re going to talk about sustainable & ethical fashion while sipping bellinis, I think.

Can’t.freakin’.wait.

1-5PM, any random cafe I can find with free internet in midtown

Comment moderation for Girlslife.com

5PM-7PM

Running to my storage space to organize & get a vintage get-up for my friend at Always Order Dessert’s vintage 1963-themed [year of Mad Men!] holiday party in Sugarhill, Harlem.

Should I dress like Joan from Mad Men?

7PM-11PM

Party party party

11PM-1AM

Drive to Philadelphia [or more appropriately, Huntingdon Valley] to arrive at Darla’s abode, The Creek, to pow wow the next day.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20th

Pow wow pow wow pow wow pow wow

Woah. Say “pow wow” a few times really fast. Bet ‘cha can’t do it.

MONDAY-TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY

You don’t even wanna know what’s lined up in my sched.

Bet you can’t do my life like me.

I’m beginning to wonder if even I can! BIG BREATH.

FLASH FORWARD

How many more days until Christmas, again?

If you don’t hear from me until after the holiday … just email me for the latest deets!

XO

SD

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Thursday Thanks: People I’m Thankful For

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Despite graduating with a WRITING degree, my writing style on this style has been very conversational, at-ease, sporadic, and slightly [in]sane.

But I think that’s because I have no qualms with just being myself. Because through my pursuit of career/life happiness within entrepreneurial drive, I’ve decided that life is too short to be anything but yourself.

But life is never too short, or too long, or too fast not to remember to give your thanks. And if it weren’t for the support of my friends – especially my friends with media power behind them – I may have caved and started searching for a full-time gig again. And in all honesty, I think about doing just that everyday.

But with a little ego-boosting affirmation that my platform of ME is having a positive influence on YOU, I can carry on without wavering too far off the path I’ve chosen for myself at almost 24 and two years out of college.

This list is not complete. I can’t forget my friends over at Technically Philly, She’s the First, Brotherhood Productions, Kim Last Designs, The Happy Hill Vintage, & Might Like You Better.

These “Thursday Thanks” could become a regular occurrence. Because honestly, I wouldn’t be where I am without anyone. You are only as strong as the people who give you strength.

Enough of the wax poetic. Let’s get real here. Thank you very freakin’ much.

Some specific shout-outs:

Met this gorgeous chica while interning at Life & Style Magazine in 2006. She’s come so far – I know she works her ass off, too, and when she finds time she adds in some booty-shaking work for me, too.

You thought they were two dudes … nope. They’re two gals. Kick-ass ones. Their side hustle [and it’s resulting success/humor to all hipster lovers/haters] is an inspiration.

They don’t front [hence coming out about being behind the blog] and most important, they won’t ditch you at the bar, the dance floor, or on the side of the road.

End of stories, they’re two ladies I know and trust. And they’re a helluva a good time and have a helluva good blog. Check it out.

We met when I spoke at a Temple University [my alma mater] journalism class as a happily employed, slightly egotistical assistant editor. She reached out via email. I reached back. She put me on her mass email list when she traveled the Middle East and played in Hawaii, keeping a blog of her travels. I was slightly jealous.

I reached out to connect over a Philly trip. My car was broken into. It wasn’t meant to be. But we still connected – a week later – over drinks in NYC. I emailed her about my “idea for a road trip.”

It grew. We bonded. We fell in love with the idea and our creative collaboration.

Can’t wait to see how our meeting of the minds – and our mutually strong sense of self and strength in seeking challenge – will take us.

We met over sangria & chips on one fateful summer night in ‘07. She’s spent the past year and a half traveling the world, writing, and waxing lots of poetic. Oh, and she wrote about me for the Sundance Full Frontal Fashion channel.

Thanks! And welcome to New York on January 4th!

Erin and I pretty much fell in love. In a completely, 120% platonic way, but I’ll still sleep in the same bed as you and rub your back.

We founded AWKWARD is Awesome together.

I moved to NYC in June 2008. She moved out of NYC in June 2008.

She moved back recently. Now, she’s en route to San Jose, California, for a new life and a new start [back] on the west coast.

But in between, she was my best. She was the one I could call and just … be me. And be a little crazy. And cry, and laugh — all the same time.

And when I apologized for the lunacy, Erin would just say, “No, Sam. I like it when you’re this way.”

You know you have a best friend for life when she prefers you at your worst.

Love you, Erin E.

I met June when I did my first pop-up vintage sale last June, Dirty Pretty Things. I fell in love with her style, and the fact that a hipster girl could like a corporate girl like me. We’ve collaborated and supported one another on our respective journeys, and I’m so thankful for her in my life.

Oh, and she’s also a DJ. She’s certified in yoga instruction. And she loves Marilyn Monroe.

What else could a girl ask for in a vintage biz confidant?

  • Katrina Mitzeliotis

A fellow perma-lancer at Hearst, Katrina and I randomly met at an ED2010 event.

She gave me my FIRST bit of web press on The Examiner.

She was the positive push I needed in my final weeks of full-time work. I thank her for the ego-boost — I may not have been able to do it without her request to interview me.

That’s when I knew I had something to offer — and wasn’t going to stop there.

I remember when I first met Pam. We were both selling at Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg [she was helping a friend] and in her friendly manner, we got to chatting. She handed me a postcard about this “online vintage marketplace” she founded. I took a look at the site when I got home. I realized Pam wasn’t just another friendly vintage girl.

She was a pretty big deal.

And in this picture above, she’s wearing a SDV fav — a sequin blazer from the collection!

A few weeks after realizing that YES, I was going to start selling vintage clothes, I reached out to Jessica of What I Wore thanks to the email introduction of Suzanne Xie at Weardrobe. Just being with Jessica makes you feel centered & grounded, and that the world is a better [not to mention stylish] place.

I simply love looking at pictures of Jessica. She doesn’t create envy or jealously — just warm affection and inspiration.

It’s one of the most competitive flea markets in the country. And I sold at it. I’m grateful for the chance and for the confidence.

Founder Eric Demby continues to wow my pants off … the new “Gifted” market in Manhattan for the holidays, and a new venue for the winter Dumbo market coming up soon.

If you haven’t been to Brooklyn Flea before, and you live in NY, well psh. I’ll take you there myself.

StyleCaster is a new site with a fresh concept using understandable, relatable ideas: How to create social community and service around personal style and trends.

Assistant editors and digital style gurus Rachel Adler and Haley Mufson [who hails from Philly!] gave little itty bitty me a chance to be a stylist for the site, using the latest pieces of the season combined with my classic favs from the SDV collection.

From calming my many manic moments of crying, withstanding my many late nights preparing for sales only to be awoken a few hours later with my early morning flea market ritual [aka 7AM on a Saturday & Sunday], Jesse has been the pillar of strength that I’ve turned to time and time again. And he’s never once asked for reciprocation, because he is a selfless giver.

Not only has he contributed to my site, but he’s kept my sanity stable here in our lovely abode on 117th & Lexington.

And he lets me steal his milk & cereal when I run out of soy milk and oatmeal, too. ;-)

  • My Mom



She’s the strongest woman in my life — and that’s all I truly need to say to give her the credit she deserves for bringing me up RIGHT.

  • My Dad

“It’s all about the balance,” he is always telling me. My father reminds me why life is beautiful when all you can do is stand still and let it just happen.

  • My Brother

He continues to be leaps and bounds ahead of me, not only in his hobbies [tattoos, road trips, music] but in his understanding of self.

“The path to Nirvana is not an easy one,” he once told me. “The Buddha had to fast for 40 days to reach it.”

Oh, George. Where do you get your wisdom from?

  • Philadelphia

If it weren’t for my friends back in Philly, who support me whenever they can and keep my confidence up even when New York puts it down and then throws it back in my face [love you, New York, but I also hate you at times] … I don’t know where I’d be, what I’d be doing, and what city I’d look forward to visiting the most.

And of course, I don’t think I could get by without any of the above. God bless the C’s that keep me going, and going, and going some more …

THANK YOU TO ALL!

xx, SD

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Why These Cowboy Boots Define My Father [and Me]

Friday, November 27th, 2009

My Dad was sort of a free-spirit/individual/hippie/forward-thinker for his day.

The man came from a blue-blood family following the standard American traditions so characteristic of the 50s and 60s: family cars, family meals, weekly family church visits, a family dog, a family business, and a family um, everything.

My father, now 58 years old, grew up in the middle of what was the dawn of the family-oriented suburban lifestyle. Not that generations before didn’t care about family. But post World War II, family was a marketable commodity. Housewives were sold everything from cleaning supplies to food, shelter, transportation, clothing, etc. to help raise and support “the family.”

Health insurance was for “the family.”

Fathers went to work to help bring the bacon home to “the family.”

What I’m trying to say is, the country ran on family values and a family-security-rules-all-priority.

There wasn’t a lot of room for individuality.

But then there was my father.

The “first” wear bell bottoms in Lancaster [or so he says].

The “first” to befriend a Jewish boy in the neighborhood and persuade the local YMCA to let him swim on the team [true story].

The “first” to see Jimi Hendrix perform live at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA.

And what defined his suburban rebellion the most, the “first” to go away to college nearly 3,000 miles away at University of Arizona in Phoenix [he also applied to Duke, University of Puerto Rico & University of Hawaii, true stories].

My Dad was a man of his own ways. He still is, and I freakin’ love him for it.

So, when my Dad handed me a Thanksgiving gift – his late 60s/early 70s cowboy boots [see pics below], I wasn’t surprised to hear that this hippie/free spirit/outspoken-individual-of-his-time stole them from the set of a Western flick he worked on as an extra during college [I swear to you, also a true story].

The boots are a men’s size 10, women’s size 8.5. That means my women’s size 10 feet can’t fit into them. Boo. But not boo for the customers of SDV.

What it does mean: Sammy Davis Vintage has another piece to her collection that tells a story, maintains a style, and fulfills the pursuit of individuality through vintage fashion.

Dad, thanks for your genes. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be the pioneer I am today.

There they are!


Label says “Crown boot company.” The other side of the boot says “RD.” No idea what that means.

Google results for “Crown Boot Company” couldn’t isolate a history for me.

More than 50 years old, and look at the sole of these boots. Nearly mint condition.

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Sustainable Style from San Fran: Rickshaw Bags [& thanks for the freebie!]

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Back in the day of my old job app, one of my favorite work “responsibilities” [if I could fit it in] was having “desk side” appointments with publicists and founders of big brands, small companies, and up-and-coming consumer products.

So when a friend from Oprah Mag referred me to Lisa, a publicist representing Rickshaw Bagworks – I was totally game, not because RSBW is the Prada of bike and commuter bags [but maybe after reading this post, you’ll think just that] but because their products are made with social awareness and sustainable production practices in mind.

What does that mean, exactly?

  • Every RShaw BWorks bag is made from 100 percent recycled post consumer products [i.e. just about anything you recycle].
  • Then there’s the Zero-Messenger Bag. This little dandy is every RickShaw Bag, but on sustainable speed – for a little bit more $ [and trust me, it’s worth it for the positive impact] you get a bag that’s…
  • a.) made from domestically recycled materials [i.e. less fuel and carbon footprint to get those recycled goods]
  • b.) designed to use/waste less fabric
  • c.) completely waterproof so you can rock this baby for years and
  • d.) made from nylon, so if you do want to recycle in a good few decades … you got the perfect bag to do so.

Wow.

  • With the exception of a few parts from China here or there [you really can’t avoid it, unfortunately] the bags are born, bred, and crafted in the heart of San Fran!
  • You can bring in your own fabric [yes, your OWN!] to the Rickshaw manufacturing plant in San Fran and consult with them on how to use your personalized piece of materials to the maximum eco-friendly efficiency for a bag that illustrates your style and lover of life and improving it for others.
  • Bonus: Their mantra is “Change for Good.” It’s like the purr of a kitten – you can’t help but love it.

Want more info? Check out their FAQS page or watch the Zero Messenger Bag 101 video. Good times, good deeds, good things, good products. Lots o’ good.

Special thanks to Rickshaw Bag[works] for sending me this hip-hugging-fanny-pack delight!

There she is!

Macy, one of the co-founders, included a personalized note on recycled cardboard. Plus stickers! [which I can’t vouch for, but are most likely recycled, too]

How great does this little sustainable darling look with today’s thrifting outfit?

How sweet. Thank you again, Macy!

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Halloween ’09: Because ’63 Never Looked So Chic

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

The starring ladies of Mad Men

Joan is a seductive secretary in solids

Betty loves floral

Peggy pulls the school girl look

The inspiration for Bridget – purple!

Peggy as copywriter steps up her style

Betty sticks to solids for formal wear

Peggy & Betty in florals, Joan in solid

The stylish women of Mad Men have become a Halloween phenomena this year.

In talking with my vintage mentor June yesterday, she mentioned that girls at the Brooklyn Flea were pulling out her “ugly dresses” to channel their inner Peggy-Betty-Joan.

Expect to see more 60s on the streets this year – or at your local bar or house party – than that sickening post-Austin Powers revival about a decade back.

Dressing like one of the ladies from Mad Men? [even a side character?] Send me a picture. Do like the Mad Men do — it’s all about the advertorial publicity.

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SDV Halloween Special: Introducing …. Joan Holloway!

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

When my friend Bridget emailed me about helping to wardrobe her as Joan Holloway from Mad Men for Halloween, I knew that I had stumbled upon something good. Something that my friends (shout out to you, Miss Tammy Tibbetts & Rachel Draper Mount!) had even suggested weeks prior: to advertise myself as a “Mad Men” Halloween costume one-stop-shop.

She kept her question simple in the body of the email:

“Anyway, I have two questions for you. I’m thinking about being Joan Holloway from Mad Men for Halloween. Do you have a ’60s-ish red or purple dress in your collection?”

And one-stop-shop is exactly what I became, transforming Bridget from uptown NYC girl to Madison Avenue hyper-feminine chic.

I can’t post a picture quite yet, but I can give you a little preview of what’s to come. Check out the shoes, the bag, and the color of her dress. Then check out the pictures of the Mad Men mistresses above. Looking for some lace gloves, a feathered hat, a swing jacket or a pearl necklace? Sammy D Vintage gots it.

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