Cape Escape and Beads With Bite

Top: k lab, Kohl's

Skirt: H&M

Shoes: Guess, DSW

Bag: Xhilaration, Target

Orange bangle: Mixit, JCPenney

Purple bracelet: Licorice Jewelry, Etsy

Green bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily

Bow barrette: The Tote Trove

For this post, I'm rewinding back to Labor Day.  Otherwise known as the bittersweet last call for summer, it's now a mere blink in the rearview mirror as we speed toward Columbus Day and Halloween.  But it was lovely.  The husband and I went to Cape May for the day with my parents.  For those not in the know, Cape May is New Jersey's southernmost shore point and is known for its Victorian houses.  To me, it's this old-timey charm that makes it the most civilized of our beach towns.  Its quaint shops, brick walkways, and horse-drawn carriages are straight out of a storybook.  Although I don't recommend getting too close to the horses.  Their smell is more horror story than fairy tale.  

Speaking of horses, I spied this one parked outside a restaurant.  At first I thought that some indie grrl had, ahem, hoofed it into town on its enchantedness.  But upon closer inspection I realized that it was part of the decor, a magical mascot-slash-silent greeter.  Walmart, you could take a hint.

Now on to the important part -- the shopping!  No outing is complete without it.  Just ask any elementary school kid on a class trip to a museum; whether it's American history or Impressionist art, her (or his!) favorite part is usually the gift shop.  I was lucky enough to score these five chokers for just . . . drumroll, please . . . $5!  They're different from anything else in my collection, and I look forward to layering them with long, beaded necklaces this fall and winter.

This house wasn't part of the shopping.  But it's beautiful, no?  It's name is the Merry Widow.

Some postcards for my stationery stash.

 Another belle of a building.  This one's called the Pink Lady.

 

And finally, the purchase that fueled this week's project: baby teethers!  I got these at Della's Five and Ten, a retro drugstore with a soda fountain at the back.  Although if I may say so, making the workers wear those paper hats seemed a bit much.  Serving snacks to tourists is humiliating enough without having to wear iffy headgear.  I was so excited when I found them (the teethers, not the tourists); I could just picture them on a harjuku girl as part of a grand rainbow ensemble -- or on, you know, me.  Stringing them onto plastic chain and ribbon to make a necklace was fun and easy.  I'm already plotting a way to work it into my wardrobe this week.  

 Baby, What a Bauble Necklace!

On that note, a good time was had by all.  Maybe we'll go back to Cape May in December for a whole other kind of festive.  

Until then, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-ha. :)