Why I Go to Wisconsin with a Half-Empty Suitcase

...because of the thrifts. And also because of the need to bring back cheese. But this post is about clothes not cheese.

It's no secret by now that going to thrift stores is one of my most favorite activities. It's a fact that has been well documented on this blog. I just love the hunt. And the uniqueness of what you can find. And the deals. And the timelessness of it. With the way that "fashion" swings through the decades these days, it's just so cool to me that you can find great vintage stuff that is totally back in style. It's also that I just really love clothes. I think I always have. I like putting fun outfits together, thinking of looks I want to add to my wardrobe and then hunting them down. But I also hate a ton of things about what has come to be known as fast fashion. I'm not going to go into a huge rant here. This is just supposed to be a fun "look what I found!" post. Go ahead and google "what is fast fashion" if you're not sure what I mean. To put in plainly: thrifting is simply my favorite way to get new clothes, for a myriad of reasons.

Okay. Back to the good stuff.

We were able to hit quite a good handful of thrifts on our most recent trip to Wisconsin. It's really a must. What makes the Wisconsin thrifts so great? Honestly I don't really know. And they're certainly not the best for everything. Mostly, I think they're the best for vintage / retro clothes. Think fancy grandma. Is that a fashion term? If so, I think I'd like to co-opt it as my personal style statement. Or how about this: what your mom wore in the 70s and 80s. Well, at least what my mom wore? I have the photographic proof. She was a total babe.

OMG I cannot stay on topic today! How about I just put the pictures in now.

I am totally in love with this entire outfit. I found both the shirt and pants at a little church-run thrift store in my hubs's hometown. They had the shirt on one of those half-bust hanger things. You know. The kind they use for the stuff they think is really good, and then they hang it up on the wall. Yeah. One of those. Clearly the retiree volunteers really knew what they had with this one because, lemme tell ya, it is fantastic. 100% silk (minus the sequins obvs) with a beautiful shape. And I'm sure it was still under $5. THANK YOU WISCONSIN! The pants are pretty killer too. Super high waisted, as you can tell, with a nice little semi-cropped leg. I think they're Route66 brand from K-Mart, which I kind of love.

Now here's what I'm talkin' bout with the 70's mom jeans! These are so fabulous. I've been wearing them almost constantly since we got home. This high waisted, wide leg, slightly flared style is so totally back. I had been hunting for a pair here in Seattle for several months with no luck. Well, no luck that went over a size 4. Which I am definitely not in vintage jean sizes (side note: Do you love or hate vanity sizing? I'm undecided. Mostly I just wish it was consistent). Normally I wouldn't want to be broadcasting my bum on the internet, but those back pockets are just too good! 

Also, please excuse my need to place my hand on the window frame for some reason. I have no idea where that came from. It must be something they teach in model school. If there's a window frame use it. 

Mom jean look number two! Although now we've drifted decidedly out of the 70s and landed in....what? Late 80s? Totally morphed into the 90s? It's possible my ideas of the decades are not entirely accurate. Either way, I'm super smitten with these. Goodbye skinny jeans. These have become my other constant wear jeans (sorry to anyone who sees me on a weekly basis for just showing you a bunch of pictures of what you have been experiencing in real life). 

Next up we have this crazy little two piece number. Two piece outfits are my new favorite thing to hunt for, ever since I found this fantastic pant and short-sleeve button up combo in a teeny black and white polka dot print that looks like a jumpsuit when you tuck the top in. Who can resist a jumpsuit? People with long torsos (points to self). I always have this constant-wedgie problem with pretty much every jumpsuit I've tried on. So a two piece number that looks like a jumpsuit is super fantastic for freaks like me! Anyway, I found this skirt and shirt combo and was (and still am) a little hesitant about it. The skirt is kind of long and I kind of wish the top was a button up. But ultimately I couldn't resist the huge floral print and the fact that it has pockets. I've worn both as separates, and I actually really like them that way. My other thought is that I could possibly turn the skirt into pants. Like, really billowy palazzo style. The only problem is that they'd be ankle length, which is sort of trend right now? But also a little weird and maybe not super flattering. I could also just shorten the skirt a bit, but I can't do both. I think I'd prefer it as pants, but it may be a bit beyond my sewing level and I don't want to ruin it altogether. AH! Decisions!




Jewelry! I got some good bobbly bobbles, which is my favorite kind of jewelry. Statement pieces, amiright?!? The one on the left is made out of actual stone beads, rather than my usual plastic. That probably means it's higher quality or sumthing. Its also got this really pretty little brass closure thing. Totally classy. The red one on the right is a style that I've been keeping my eye out for recently. It's the same shade of red, but a different length as one that I already have. That one belonged to my grandma. It's a little bit longer than this one, so I wanted to find one in the same shade that I could wear with it. Because of course one bright red plastic bobble necklace is not enough. My favorite is the one in the middle, though. BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A MIRROR! It's like a functional sun medallion. Which I am all about. Sure, it's a tiny mirror. But it's perfect for touching up one's lipstick, which apparently I wear a lot of these days. I blame Andi. 

And last but not least we have Kevin! With his bestest thrift find of the trip: this fantastic coat. (Why do I suddenly sound like I'm MCing at a beauty pageant?) He found it at the Dime and Dollar in Wausau, which is definitely one of our favorite places. It's fantastic that it actually fits him, slim dude that he is. That fake fur cape thing zips up into a hood, too. So rad. Also: DIDN'T I MARRY THE STUDLIEST MAN EVER! I think so.

All the Wisconsin Things

We recently took a week-long trip home to visit some of our family in the central Wisconsin area, and realized it was basically a mashup of super Wisconsiny things. Which makes sense. It is Wisconsin after all. Mostly for my own amusement, I present to you a selection of some of the week's activities in pictures. Staring off with a snowy road on the way to Kevin's Mom's house in the country.

On our way from the airport, we stopped at an old favorite restaurant from our college days: The Thorpedo! We took a red eye flight, so this was very early in the morning. And on a weekday no less. So it was basically us and a bunch of retiree regulars, which was a pretty great way to start the trip. Like, yep, we are definitely not in the city anymore. 

Later that day, we had to stop for some other favorite hometown food: Taco Johns. Gotta love those potato ole's! I actually didn't know this until we moved away, but Taco Johns is not a thing that is everywhere. Sure, it's just fast food. But c'mon. POTATO OLES!!

Now this next thing is not strictly Wisconsin. I'm sure people smoke pipes pretty much everywhere. But it is an activity that Kevin and his dad both enjoy doing together. Especially while sitting in recliners under handmade blankets. What were we watching on TV that night you ask? Some kind of hunting show? Maybe some sort of show on how to distill your own whiskey? Nope. It was The Bachelor.

No trip to Wisconsin would be complete without a trip to the thrifts! We made several stops in a couple different cities, including the good 'ole Dime & Dollar. There were many pairs of mom jeans purchased by me (more on that later), an astonishingly large collection of clip-on ties at a church-run thrift, and this amazing vintage Eddie Bauer three piece snowsuit that I almost couldn't pass up. Unfortunately, the flare leg pants were a bit too teeny for my posterior.

Back at Kevin's Mom's house we did lots of lounging about (me especially, because GUESS WHAT: I got strep throat on basically the first day of our trip). The doggies were wonderful cuddle buddies. Although, I must say that I missed old mister Kit Kat, last surviving brother of a pair of perennial house cats that populated Kevin's childhood. He passed away last year at the ripe old age of.....I'm not exactly sure. Kevin says maybe 21? That's hella old. 

Another can't miss stop is, of course, The Cheese Factory. This one is in Kevin's hometown. They've got basically every kind of cheese and then some. Also ice cream. Which a surprising amount of people were enjoying despite the fact that it was about 20 degrees outside. For our part, we loaded up on cheese curds, cheese strings, extra sharp cheddar, and about six other varieties to take back to Seattle for ourselves and friends. If you look behind the rows of cheese in this picture you can see the big glass windows that look into the actual cheese factory part. It's pretty rad. 

Next we have another not-really-Wisconsin-only thing. Kevin's younger brother Scott taught us how how to play Boss Monster. Super fun! We spent many hours sitting around the big kitchen island, both playing this game and just chatting. Drinking coffee and sitting around the kitchen island is one of our main activities. 

Here's Kevin enjoying a Spotted Cow! It's a beer brewed by New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus, WI. They only sell and distribute in Wisconsin (not even Minnesota!), so it's a given that we're going to buy one or two (or fifty) when we come back. 

Here's another delicious thing: a hot steaming bowl of rabbit stew. Kevin and Scott did a fair amount of rabbit hunting in the field behind the house, and (eventually) came in with two rabbits. Did you know that the gestation period for a rabbit is only 31 days, and that typically they're mature at about six months old? Whoa. Seems like a pretty sustainable meat source. Not to mention tasty. The boys cooked up this delicious stew for lunch, and Kevin's mom finished if off with dumplings. Mmm hmmm. 

And finally we have a terrible picture of a delicious meal. Friday night fish fry. I had already polished off my potato salad, coleslaw, and Spotted Cow by the time I remembered to take a (blurry) photo. It was so fun to go out for fish fry! Of course we have a ton of fish and chips in Seattle, but there's just something about a Friday night fish fry.

FO: Kevin's Christmas Hat

This year, Kevin got a hat for Christmas! The funniest part of me making this hat for him is that I did the majority of the knitting while sitting next to him on the couch. And he didn't notice a thing. I mean, I'm sure he noticed that I was knitting. But I'm basically always knitting while sitting on the couch, so he's used to it and doesn't really pay attention to the particulars. Ha! No need for secret gift knitting over here!

The pattern is the Anstruther Hat by Erica Knits. I've had my eye on it for awhile as one of several allover colorwork hats that I was considering for Kevin. At this point he's got quite the little collection of hats going, but everything is quite plain and neutral-colored. They're also all worked at a fairly large gauge.  For this hat, I wanted to make something really bold and kind of crazy. I'm always trying to get him to dress more like me, in lots of colors and patterns ;)

Plus, after making the Charlie hat for myself, I knew how great it is to have a hat knit in fingering / sport weight at this gauge. And just like the Charlie hat, I decided to use Brooklyn Tweed's Loft has the main color. I just knew he'd love the fabric it creates - warm, lightweight, and soft yet structural. As you can tell, I'm pretty stuck on Loft hats at the moment. I'm pretty sure there will be more in my future! (er, probably the futures of next year's Christmas gift recipients - this family is good on hats for awhile. ha!)

I had quite luckily picked up this little almost-complete cake of Loft at Scrap in Portland (OMG I LOVE SCRAP SO MUCH!!!!!) over the summer, and knew it'd be the perfect color. The rust-red color (technically called Embers) is just the perfect mix of bold yet muted color. And I knew it would go well with Kevin's coats, which are all either navy blue or green. For the contrasting colors, I went to my stash and pulled out my leftover balls of Local Color Rambouillet 2-Ply Fingering from my Arionette Socks and chose the indigo and onion skin colorways. I also had enough of a skein of Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift leftover for the white from who knows how long ago. Hurray for stash busting! All of these yarns played very nicely together, and I'm so happy with the result. And judging by the amount of wear it's gotten since being gifted, Kevin's pretty happy with it too!