It's only a day away...

Dresses, shoes, purses, scarves, coats, drinks, snacks, prizes...!!!
6-9 pm Saturday January 29th 5134 SE Hawthorne #1
(Invite by Emily PFDM)

Word on the street...

advice for 2011 from the city itself.

Looking ahead...

...expanding the offerings beyond dresses...

Puddles won't stop us. They'll just...delay us, slightly.

This past weekend to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, my mother invited my brother, his girlfriend and me to the beach. There was significant flooding on highway 101 just south of Seaside but we figured we'd just go for it anyway. Turns out, the highway was closed to low profile vehicles there (i.e. my mom's WRX). Alone, I probably would have convinced myself that there were things I really wanted to do back at home and turned around. My mom, however, had reserved the penthouse for a sweet deal on her vacation points plan and was not about to let some swollen rivers stop us. My brother was also of this persuasion. So we drove an extra hour and half all the way around the big puddle on highway 202 to Astoria and then down 101 to Seaside. On the upside, we saw two herds of elk before it got dark and my brother was ultra motivated. On the downside, the puddle was seriously, 2 miles south of our destination and was clear the next day so we discovered JUST how close we'd been before nearly tripling the travel time. Anyway, we made it to the penthouse. The fireplace didn't work because it was too windy and the window dripped, but it had a bedroom AND bathroom for each of us plus a really nice view. I also got a Yahtzee. My mom and brother+girlfriend spend their whole morning earning $100 visa gift cards by withstanding a time share sales pitch geared at citizens who earn over $60,000 a year. I decided I would spend my morning taking photos for free.

Ladies night

Musical Monday #7: Iggy Pop

Not much to say except hanging out with your bff David Bowie in West Berlin of the late 70's fighting a heroin addiction and recording great albums must have been the real deal. Also purportedly the first artist to "stage dive" (wikipedia), Iggy is classic and so is this record.

Paaaatrick, baaaaaa-by boy

My Verhuisdoos FINALLY Arrived!!!

In the interest of not lugging a bunch of bs around during my weird 2-day international journey back to the US and avoiding possibly life threatening luggage fees on one particular short flight, I sent a box of things back to the US from Amsterdam. The Dutch post will deal with up to 20 kilos (44 pounds) of your junk at a fairly reasonable price (half of what said short flight could have potentially charged me) so I bit. I carefully packed in less valuable but still important items into a Verhuisdoos ("Moving box" and for any of you who do Deutsch you can see just how funny Dutch is: "Verhausungsdose" instead of "Umzugskarton" anyone? Hahaha) and taped that biznass up. I even put the Dutch xmas treats I was planning to dole out in there, having great faith in the postal system. Two packages I'd sent previously arrived in 7 business days! Even the guy at the counter I mailed it from assured me it would be 1-1.5 weeks tops. L-I-A-R! It arrived WEDNESDAY JANUARY 12th! One month and one day after sending it. But you know what? It arrived and I am glad to have my vintage dresses, shitty shoes and llama yarn back. You can look forward to Dutch treats for Xmas NEXT YEAR, everyone.

Intergalactic you and meeee...

Introducing: Space Traveler from another galaxy! This guy's quilts are totally off the hook, I mean, you see them here. Words cannot describe the dude quilting genius that spawned them. I was lucky enough to run into a video of the maker one night trolling through Etsy. Jimmy McBride. Many of you already know how deeply I appreciate unexpected contrasts. Well, meticulously mapped nebula-inspired space quilts hand sewn by a man certainly hits that one on the nose. Please check out more of his work at jimmymcbride.com or his Etsy shop at stellarquilts.etsy.com. Thank you.

New Year, New Dresses

Oh hay! Whatup everybody. Welcome to 2011. This year there are bold prints, minimalistic shapes and some fantastically faded party dresses coming from idea to reality. Riot Siren is sticking with retro silhouettes + futuristic details and as always, keeping it handmade. As much as possible, fabric and notions are vintage, second hand, or salvaged.

Thank you again to all my wonderful friends and family who have supported my dirty doll dress endeavor in 2010 (and before) by sewing into the wee hours, organizing sales, baking cupcakes, posing like maniacs for photos, treating me to dinners I would never be able to afford and rocking your custom-made dresses with pride. I am so excited to go full steam ahead in 2011!