Astral Boutique's blog

Dandelion Daydreams

Dandelions, I love how you all decide, on the same day, that it is Spring, and you pop up everywhere.

When I see your yellow heads nodding, my mouth begins to water.

You know what I am going to do, Dandelions? I am going to eat you up. I am going to eat your serrated green leaves, your big yellow flowers, and especially- yum- the swelling buds of the flowers that are not quite open yet. Some people call those "pig noses" and they are sooooo tender.

At the grocery store, the price of food goes up and up, but out here in the meadow, there is a feast for free. You are going to keep making new flowers everyday for at least a month, and your leaves will just keep getting longer. You are good for my liver, good for my stomach, good for my skin. 

I don't have to drive anywhere to get you. I can walk in the sun and watch my cat take a cat nap while I gather my breakfast right outside my door.

Then I can saute you up in butter, toss in some leftover asparagus from last night's dinner, top you off with feta cheese and lemon, with a side of pumpernickel toast with avocado spread, and I can eat you all up. Yum and thank you.

Portland Calling

Almost all of very best friends will all be in the same room at the same time playing music for you this Friday night... I wish I could be there! I am going to a dear, dear friend's wedding, and that's the only reason I am not roadtripping to Portlandia for this musical summit of the coolest girl rockers ever... but YOU can go, you lucky duckies!

My San Francisco besties Linda, Tammy, Wendy and Rob are Excuses For Skipping

My Portland bestie and oldest friend Automne leads the Cat Fancy! gang

Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. 

Gypsy Moon

She invited us over for Movie Night: Gadjo Dilo, full of Gypsy music and dancing and flirting and colorful headscarves. There were bowls of popcorn seasoned with truffle oil, and accordion and fiddle musical interludes when the Netflix stream puttered out on us.

 

Then, after the movie, she stoked the bonfire, and we circled round with tambourines, baptizing ourselves with smoke.

The girls took portraits by firelight.

Then we lined up, boy-girl, boy-girl, and she taught us old dances, which we did by the light of the full moon filtering through the clouds next to a blossoming fruit tree: the weaving, mesmerizing Chain Dance, and the wild Irish lightning-fast-partner-switch-up Strip The Willow. Someone said that the fruit on that tree was going to be very, very plentiful this year. 

I went to bed late and woke up with very sore dancing muscles the next morning. It was well worth it.

Big thanks to Bluebird and Dylan, who made the magic happen.

 

In Praise Of The New Favorite Things

Oh rare

And perfect dress

Cotton gypsy colors

Cut like a dream

Fits like a glove

Oh beautiful Necklace

I dreamed of you before I ever met you

Perfect shape, perfect weight

Perfect creation

Dress: Crimson and Clover, Sacramento

Necklace: also Crimson and Clover, made by Nicole--- who can also be reached via her Etsy shop, Flaming Hag Folkwear. I think she might have made a couple more of these, so make your move quickly and contact her if you love it as much as I do.... several people have already written me about it on Etsy, after seeing the necklace used as an accessory in my photos. (-:

(Both items are new to my personal collection- they are not for sale, sorry!)

Lose The Layers

Still too chilly to go without a cardigan this week... though I want to.

Scarf, cardigan: thrifted

Dress: Freestyle Clothing Exchange, midtown Sacramento

Necklace: handmade, used to be for sale in my shop, but I fell in love with it and "bought" it from myself! Ya snooze, ya lose........ (-:

Around The House...

Looking inside people's houses is my number one favorite thing... I bet some of you love it, too. Here's how the loosely controlled chaos is arranging itself in my house this week:

Daffodils have come up everywhere in my neighborhood, where they have gone totally wild. These white ones with yellow centers are my favorites:

Someone once commented that everything in my house "has really big eyes". I guess they have a point.

The top of the heater is an ever-changing tableau of (fireproof) random objects. Note the carved (Polynesian?) statuette that was meant for the shop, but which I can't bear to part with: 

Sedimentary layers on the fridge, presided over by Rufus Wainwright, for some reason. I mean, I like him, but- I'm not sure why he appears to totally rule my fridge. After I put this up I learned that he and his husband are having a child.... no biggee... but get this: Rufus is the dad, and the mom is Leonard Cohen's daughter. Can you imagine the music that child is going to make? Think about it. 

And yes, that's little Sasha hugging the Golden Retriever..... (-:

Off To A Meeting About Bunnyhenge II, With A Little Help From Lene Lovich

That's right- Bunnyhenge II: This time it's personal. More on that to come.

Meanwhile, here I am looking "Business-like". When your business is planning a music festival, you are allowed to wear whatever the hell you want.  

Dress, shoes, necklace: thrifted

Scarf (on head): vintage Givency, a gift from my mom

Arm warmers: formerly socks, altered

I go through intense clothing phases, and this scarf on my head has been my "uniform" lately. The colors are so Spring-y, and it allows me to do my hair by not doing my hair..... my hair is pretty wild, so this is a huge time-saver. Here in this photo I am looking a little more peasant-like then I imagined myself to be in my mirror.... but there is nothing wring with being a peasant, I guess. Later on I changed my necklace to a sparkly one and went to a birthday party, where I was told by a friend that I looked like 70s/80s New Wave singer Lene Lovich. That comment made me revisit Lene, and goll dang it, I think it's true! I'll let you judge for yourself:

Do you remember this, her hit song? It still sounds awesome.

Springing Up

From the magical world of the Share Garden.....

Hanging with the girls:

 

 

We spent Sunday hauling manure and minerals into the garden, where we fluffed up three beds and got starts in for broccoli, kale, mustard greens, and chard. Here is Leonna in her beautiful pink hat:

The Green Man seems in his element in Spring. Here he is welcoming us into the garden:

Friends!

 (and yes, I do wear jeans and sneakers..... at least when I am shoveling chicken sh*t!)

Going To The Post Office...

Scarf: from a vintage silk kimono, gifted from a friend in Japan

Dress: from a yardsale put on by Jessica from Brightest Star (I got some awesome stuff from her before she opened her Etsy shop!)

Cardigan, rayon jacket: thrifted

Shoes: Bows And Arrows, Sacramento

Tights: Anthropologie

Earrings: Corvid Delights

Great Beginnings

Thanks so much to everyone who looked at, Hearted, Liked, and tweeted my new listings from my Handmade line this week.... the response has been amazing! I was so nervous when I listed the first piece, I kept checking the view counts every five minutes to see if anyone was looking. Thank you all for making me feel seen. 

Time Of The Season

My Favorite Muse

The Secret Queen

I cleaned and reorganized my work/storage/shipping space-- which is a serious challenge, since I do all of these things in a tiny space under the eaves upstairs-- so that I can find my materials more easily. Now that I've made a handful of pieces, I have so many ideas for the next batch, but I need to be able to actually see and get to all of my fabric and trim.

I don't usually post pictures of my workspace, since it's so small... it seems like so many Etsy gals have their own studios or at least their own rooms to work in! I remind myself that rents are a lot less in other parts of the country.... and of course there have to be plenty of people who use the kitchen table as their office like I do. Here is my workspace- where I do all of my storage, sewing, and shipping. I hope it inspires someone to realize that you don't need a lot of room to get a lot of stuff done:

The laptop sits here when I am shipping:

I use the stock and props from my store to decorate my work space:

Waiting to transform into something new:

I am so excited to see what the future holds....