Yesssss. That’s right. I’ve caught the wanderlust again. We’ll just try and forget that this idea is way beyond my means, that i just spent the hottest months of the summer in the southern Arizona desert, and that I’ve been keeping nothing but my pet flies in my wallet… The itinerary is set, the fingers are crossed and I’m headed north at the coldest time of year to some of the chiliest and most stylish cities in the northern hemisphere.
My mission? To see how I, a Bona Fide Desert Child, will keep warm and functional but still, er, Painfully Hip, while traveling solo with nothing but a tiny backpack for awhile.
Something tells me that this little number just won’t cut it.
via LOOKBOOK.nu: “woodland creatures, plaid, houndstooth, zigzags and argyle” by Painfully Hip
I’ve come up with some janky schemes in my life, but this one’s a doozie.
So far I have a one-way ticket to Reykjavik and enough dough saved to get me to Copenhagen if I couchsurf. Inter-European travel is ridiculously cheap, so if everything goes as planned, I would like to chase the sun all the way through Spain and/or Italy to Marrakech and/or Athens. My return ticket will just have to wait. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself now, I need a plan. And I can’t let this muggy, monsoon-baited weather make getting stranded in Iceland sound like a good idea.
First things first.
Ideas:
- Read the new eBook, The Wanderlust Workbook by Sarah of Yes and Yes, who just happens to be leaving on a well-planned, perfectly executed 9 month long journey across the opposite hemisphere departing on almost the exact same moment as my janky one.
Seriously, this book rocks. If I didn’t pay heed to this delightful publication, I’m pretty sure I would have ended up in the fetal position in an shitty airport hotel in Copenhagen snotting into the phone at my mommy.
- Throw a Fashion Show and Benefit for Hope Animal Shelter on Aug 27th at Club Congress and schedule a million photo shoots (yes, I realize these won’t help with either problem, but at least they’ll keep me distracted)
- Start a Wardrobe Consulting Business – will travel (duh)!
- Get a Second Job (ooh Arizona, your minimum wage makes me saaaaad)
- Put myself under house arrest till October
- Lend my body to medical studies (thanks, Sarah!) or sell my plasma in spite of my irrational fear of needles
- Ask you guys what your best travel tip / get rich quick scheme is.
GIVEAWAY: The TOP TWO TIPS in the comments on this post will get a FREE download and mp3 of Sarah’s gem-laden eBook, The Wanderlust Workbook (plus some extra feel-goodies!
Have you ever had that feeling that life is happening at you? That you’re suddenly caught up in a wave of good news, exciting prospects, turned corners and open doors?
I have.
How did I possibly manage to: score a room at an historic luxury hotel from the City of San Francisco), model for an incredible photographer in clothes dropped at my hotel by up-and-coming local designers, encase my face in faux lashes and whopping earrings courtesy of Mac Cosmetics and a collaboration with Wingflash Designs in bustling San Francisco locations, attempting to echo one of my favorite personalities, Edie Sedgwick…. and NONE OF IT WAS MY IDEA??
And that was only the beginning of this epic tour. Right now I’m in Chicago receiving more luckbombs, having a soul-illuminating few days with close friends and bracing myself for:
-another roadtrip, starting wed, with a rough and tumble all girl band who just happen to be as obsessed with thrift stores and fashion as I am.
-a stylist gig back in San Francisco with my first legit celebrity, the Hipster Prime Minister himself. I will not deny it if you guess correctly! Think ironic. A little Brilliant, slightly sleezy. Think vacant, traffic-stopping gaze…
I keep having to check for the horseshoe in my ass. That would be embarrassing…
Thank you all so much for reading.
Continue reading…
photography by Cecilia Austin
couture fray dress by Abi McCannon, Your Crutch
t-shirt dress from Painfully Hip Vintage
other clothing by Danielle Due Citta, Dyno-Solo
earrings by Laura Adney-Kepner, Wingflash Design
hair by Addam Moreno, Iso Hair
makeup by Oaeza Pathan, retail manager at Mac Cosmetics, Nordstrom – Westfield Mall San Francisco
styled and modeled by Amber Mortensen
Continue reading PHDC Painfully Trip: Edie Sedgwick Takes San Francisco
I’ve lived in close proximity to San Francisco (as it has to my heart) for most of my life, but I’ve found only one way to properly explore its bohemian charms.
My trip to San Francisco, Day One.
Continue Reading…
Saturday, Cecilia Austin and I had an Edie Sedgwick themed fashion shoot planned using this magnificent metropolis as a backdrop (featuring some local designers and some Edie-worthy custom earrings from Wingflash). Very late the night previous, I was informed that my makeup artist had contracted swine flu and couldn’t make it. What’s a girl to do??
Continue reading…
Ah roadtrips. It always surprises me what a sucker I am for the promise of all those endless asphalt ribbons luxuriating ahead of me. All that newness. All that possibility. All that Taco Bell.
This is going to be seriously next level. I am giggidy giggidy giddy about this trip.
November 20-23: San Francisco – For the SF Vistors’ Bureau. Feasting of San Francisco’s bodily delights and rooting out hidden gems, details forthcoming. A photo shoot with the indescribably talented Cecilia Austin featurning pieces by local designer, Danielle Due Citta with the theme: a stylized Edie Sedgwick about the City. Thanks to Cecilia for the concept. I believe she must practice mind-reading, I am loving this idea so much.
November 20-25: Sacramento, CA
November 26-27: Hawthorne, NV
November 27-December 2: Visiting dear friends, Ira and Andrea of Forkable and BTSIC fame, and then joining Agent Ribbons for the second half of their month-long tour. I might be drunkenly hawking vintage jewels at the merch table or attempting to infiltrate the spotlight with my sub-par ukulele twanging. Either way, there’s sure to be public apologies of, “Sorry, we only invited her because she is self-employed and has a drivers’ license.”
Here are all their entirely unmissable tour dates, in case you missed them in the summertime:
 photo by Ryan Mihalyi and the Painfully Hip Design Collective, Tucson
Agent Ribbons Tour Dates
Nov 14 2009 9:00P
Lil’ Red Lion w/ Monster Women and Barbara Manning Arcata, CA
Nov 15 2009 8:00P
Ground Kontrol w/ Swallows, Helen Money + DJ Nate C
Portland, Oregon
Nov 16 2009 8:00P
Rotture w/ Lost Lockets
Portland, Oregon
Nov 17 2009 9:00P
Sunset Tavern w/ Slow Skate
Seattle, Washington
Nov 18 2009 9:00P
Empyrean
Spokane, Washington
Nov 21 2009 9:00P
The Woodshed
Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 22 2009 9:00P
The Hi-Dive w/ Fissure Mystic and Weed Diamond
Denver, Colorado
Nov 24 2009 9:00P
The Zoo Bar
Lincoln, Nebraska
Nov 25 2009 9:00P
TheSlowdown w/ Beep Beep and Thunderpower
Omaha, Nebraska
Nov 27 2009 8:00P
Ames Progressive
Ames, Iowa
Here’s where I join up. Shall I see you there?
Nov 28 2009 8:00P
Turner Hall w/ Papercuts and Camera Obscura
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 29 2009 8:00P
Beat Kitchen
Chicago, IL
Dec 1 2009 8:00P
Daytrotter Session! (www.daytrotter.com)
Rock Island, Il
Dec 2 2009 8:00P
TBA
Chicago, IL
Dec 3 2009 8:00P
Bauhaus Kaffee presented by Unique Ink art
Fredericktown, Missouri
Dec 4 2009 9:00P
O’Dowd’s Plaza
Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 5 2009 9:00P
75th St. Brewery
Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 6 2009 8:00P
TBA
Oklahoma City, OK
Dec 8 2009 8:00P
Trunk Space
Phoenix, Arizona
Dec 10 2009 8:00P
The Bootleg Theatre with Finches and Evan Way (Parson Redheads)
Los Angeles, CA
Dec 11 2009 9:00P
Soda Bar
San Diego, CA
DO it. Please? If you miss it you will die a slow death of Ribbonless regret. Plus, I want to see how you’d interpret “cabaret-inspired victorian punk garage” in your garb. Best outfit gets a free beer.
PS Let us know if you live in Chicago or Oklahoma City and can help book those dates. If you needed an excuse to have a madcap house party and/or wedding, look no further.
One more thing! Jamaica of Sapphire Cordial designs and Concrete & Cashmere fame moves into the Painfully Hip adobe tomorrow! Its going to be a renaissance, I can feel it.
|
|
All images were either used with permission or found on the web and believed to be in the public domain. If any images that appear are in violation of copyright law, please let me know and i will remove them immediately.
Thanks for reading,
Amber
painfullyhip at gmail.com
|
