That’s my gorgeous mom circa 1970-something. Note the long flowing hair, grass grazing cotton dress and leather pocket book. The VW beetle in the background is her’s too.

By the time Cath and I were old enough to go scavenging through our mom’s closet, shoulder pads were in (sadly that was roughly twenty years ago and we didn’t have the prescience to hold on to those pre-Balmain geometric shoulders). Gone were the days of Frye boots and suede vests of her hippie years, but a few things sneaked through her closet, and then my closet, in the decades that followed.

Exhibit A: teeny Moroccan-looking coin purse:

I think it coexists beautifully with my UO embroidered vest, but looks a little more Eastern European than George Harrison.

I’m not sure if my mom hung out with any AsianCajun hippies in her day (doubtful to be sure), but I hope I have some of her Howie’s Happy Hippie House (honest to goodness name of a house she lived in) je ne sais quoi. True to recessionista form, everything I’m wearing is not new: Blank jeans from Rockit, A&E boots (4+ years old), UO top and vest, purse via Jacquelyn’s closet.

Oh and a huge thank you to the beautiful Sher at Beneath The Crystal Stars for this lovely award! Let the 10 random facts commence:

1. I’ve had a crush on Hugh Laurie since his Jeeves and Wooster days.

2. Before our communal ballerina dream, Catherine wanted to be an astronaut and I wanted to… wear glasses (I punched out the lenses of magenta sunglasses and wore them around the house). Shortly after the magenta frames DIY, I did have to get actual glasses and now can’t see a thing without contacts- oh the irony!

3. I consider watching Sister Wendy talk about art a spiritual experience. Watch the Bill Moyer’s interview here.

4. I read three to four books at one time and finish one of those four 50% of the time: I am a promiscuous reader.

5. I’m currently reading a biography about the intrepid Beryl Markham, a few spiritual books, and Water for Elephants.

6. I rarely finish nonfiction books, so it looks like this round Water for Elephants will triumph- possibly.

7. I’m a little book-centric at the moment because I’m excited about this weekend’s Decatur Book Festival (the largest book festival in the South East. Book worms unite! Huzzah!).

8. Cath and I can’t tell each other apart in pictures where we are five years old or younger. I’m guessing I’m sporting the uneven socks- intentional of course, and Cath has her eyes closed. Cath, any guesses?

9. In 2010 I will travel to at least two new continents.

10. Hillary Clinton was the speaker at my graduation from college. I shook her hand before I received my diploma!

I’m supposed to pass this award a long to 10 other bloggers, but I hate having to choose amongst so many wonderful blogs. Whoever hasn’t yet given 10 random facts about themselves, please feel free to leave at least one in the comments section. We love reading those!

LL

Usually I get a little peeved when a celeb or model says, “I’m really just a t-shirt and jeans girl.” It seems like such a cop out. It’s so not descriptive. Thin, tissue shirts with skinny jeans? Baggy boyfriend jeans with baby doll tees? Frumpy denim with old boxy Hanes tees screen printed with company logos?

I could say the outfit below is just jeans and a t-shirt, but it’s a bit more than that, right? At least I’d like to think so. Thin, slightly oversized white tee with cropped skinny jeans, brown leather belt and my favorite platforms.

UO t-shirt, Bitten jeans, secondhand belt, Frye heels.

Lar took this pic of me right after we met up with a friend at Tap in midtown. I’m a big fan of Tap: good food (they use to have the best fried okra ever, but sadly no longer have it on their menu), good beer list, wine on tap and an unusual understated interior (red stained wood paneling with a modern take on a rustic look). Also the special that night was pate wrapped in bacon. What’s not to love?

-CL

Cath and I consider ourselves pretty staunch recessionistas. Most of the clothes in our respective closets are not new, and the few items that are new we tend to wear repeatedly (as evidenced on this very blog). For instance, that hat above is from an Urban Outfitter’s sale last year and the flower attached to it was swiped from costume wardrobe for a ballet we were in (not that I condone swiping generally).

But I’m not immune to shiny new purchases. I whimper and drool and if I decide to go for it, I feel a little guilty. Unless… unless, it’s something so versatile and practical that it pays for itself as you unwrap it from its packaging: enter Free People’s Stripped Seamless Tube.

Here are just a few ways to wear it:

 As a tube top.

 Layered under a jumpsuit.

 As a skirt.

Three outfits for a measly $28! Not bad, eh?

Do you have a piece in your closet that does the same? I’m addicted. I need to find more of these chameleon articles of clothing that masquerade as tops, bottoms, slips, under-things and guilt-free consumerism (truly guilt-free would also somehow help others and save humanity in some way- expecting too much?).

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

LL

When Lar and I took our quick trip to Maryland a few weeks ago we made sure to spend a day in D.C. (“downtown” is what we grew up calling it). The one thing that I’ve really missed since I’ve moved away is the free museums. Growing up I completely took the Smithsonian for granted and always thought every kid was less than an hour away from a free National Gallery.

So now every time we go back home to visit, we almost always make a point of going to the Mall to stop by our favorite museums/galleries. My top two absolute favorite are the Hirshhorn Museum and the Freer Gallery. We didn’t get a chance to stop by the Hirshhorn (so I didn’t get my modern art fix), but we did have a few minutes to go to the Freer and check out the Peacock Room for the 100th time.

I wish I could take photos in the Peacock Room to post on this blog because it really has a magical feel to it. A few photos from outside the gallery will have to do.

Here I am hiding behind a large plant in the back of the Freer:

An outfit pic in the Freer courtyard:

H&M tank, AA skirt, Dolce Vita sandals and UO purse.

I should have figured that my neutral-colored outfit would fit right in D.C. Blacks and beiges are never out of style in our nation’s capital. My mom refers to it as the attack of the “bland Washingtonian beige.” I don’t really mind the blandness – at least not when there’s free entry into world renown museums to be had!

CL

I’m still pretty stoked that high-waisted things came back into style. I know they aren’t for everyone, but for a petite lady who would sometimes like to fool the eye to look taller, I’m pleased as punch when I put on a pair of shorts like these. The additional beauty to these is that they are made of lycra and cotton- all stretch, but still chic in seamless black. Now why is this so alluring? Well,the only drawback that high-waisted pants and shorts that I’ve discovered is they don’t encourage eating. And I like to eat. I really do. In my high-waisted jeans I’m often at the mercy of that upper-button (or two or three) and they don’t stay fastened through dessert- very ladylike, I know.

With these deceptively chic babies, I can eat creme brulee until the cows come home. Now tell me that’s not the perfect pair of shorts: leg lengthening and dessert-friendly. Just the way I like my bottoms.

Shirt is thrifted, bag from Ann Taylor, shoes from F21, shorts from Free People.

Lately I’ve become obsessed with, what I like to call, the “Dwell Magazine look”: clean, modern lines, warm woodstains mixed with an indie lifestyle (preferably in Brooklyn). I love the idea of making a modern home feel homey and lived-in, but organized and simple, and Dwell completely captures that.

Well, one look at Pauline Forster and Toby Penrose’s George Tavern and home on The Selby has kicked me out of my modern mood and into a more artsy/fartsey, loose, chaotic sensibility.

This imagine makes me wish I had a turquoise silk robe to putz about my house in.

I don’t think you can get any homier than hanging cups on hooks. Now I’m itching to install a few hooks in my apartment kitchen. If it happens, I’ll post pictures.

The answer to what you do with all of your red and purple shoes you no longer wear.

I think ultimately I’ll find a middle ground between modern clean lines and broken china while I’m decorating my place, but it’s nice to dream every once in a while about living above some crazy London tavern with water-stained walls and original art everywhere. That being said, living in a newish, loft-like apartment just outside of Atlanta is pretty nice too. Once Lar and I finish organizing everything I promise well post photos of our place!

To see the rest of Pauline and Toby’s tavern and home, click here.

CL

Our parents recently moved down to Decatur/Atlanta from our hometown of North Potomac, Maryland (just outside of D.C.). I snuck into their beautiful new home this week to use their library as a back-drop.

One of our mom’s favorite painters is Whistler (see poster in middle of above photo) and he seemed to favor painting dark-haired women dressed in flowy white gowns. I love how natural the women look in his paintings. They don’t have diamonds dripping off them or silk gloves scrunched to their elbows, and their hair looks a bit wild (see here and here).

It’s not gown, but my Jovovich Hawk for Target dress is a good substitute. I rarely wear anything this girly (lace + corset + ruffles), so it feels more natural to toughen up the frills with those new buckle platforms. Nothing says Symphony in White more than faux black alligator and hardware.

Cath and I are still working out the kinks with WordPress, but we hope you are all enjoying our new home! We’ll let you know when we figure out how you can follow us (fellow wordpress users, any clues?). We do have a blue RSS feed button at the top (thanks for reminding me, Emily , so feel free to click on that- but as far as following us through Blog Loving, etc. – it might take us a few days to figure that out.

Have a marvelous weekend, everyone!

‘Scuse me. I’m still drooling over these shoes that appeared on my doorstep this afternoon.

{Halt drooling momentarily}

Aren’t these rather reminiscent of the extremely coveted Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony booties. Only these weren’t $650! This is the best part! Guess how much I paid for these beauts (which are actually quite comfortable as far as 4.5 inch platforms go)? $13.99!!! No joke. Go get yourself a pair here.

{Commence drooling and simultaneous hand-clapping at sweet, sweet deals.}

Find of the year!

Hope you guys have something equally sweet to get you through the middle of the week.

LL

So when I used this Band of Outsiders photo of Jason Schwartzman in an earlier post, there seemed to be something very familiar about his haircut. And then it hit me: his hair is just as overgrown and shaggy as mine. See?

The only thing(s) stopping me from calling up for an appointment is the lack of funds and laziness. Laziness also seems to be setting in with my summer wardrobe. I’ve fallen into a tank and skirt rut. I can’t wait until the fall when I can pull out my fall/winter clothes and start mixing things up a bit.

CL

We hope you guys are enjoying our new blog home. Some of you seem interested to hear why we switched from Blogger to WordPress, and we will most happily explain our decision in a forth-coming post. Keep the questions coming if you have them, too! We love inquiring minds (short of stalker like queries).

Something we are doing with our new revamp is making AsianCajuns easier to follow. We realized just recently that some readers didn’t realize we were in fact two different people (this happens in person too, so please don’t feel bad). In order to give you a better idea of who’s “talking” we will have headers like the one above. I (Lar) will have this header whenever I talk about my outfits, and Cath will have her own header when she talks about her style choices. We’ll also make sure to put these into the proper categories so they are easier to find later. 

You might have noticed we have some new pages (over in the left hand column). On the Lar’s Style page I will babble about my influences, ideas, favorite outfits, how I shop on a budget and attempt to curb my appetite for frivolous footwear, etc. and Cath will do the same on her’s. The pages are still a work in progress, but we’ll let you know when there’s more on them than just photos of us mugging for the camera. 

I love stripes in the summer. They make me think of strolling around the Isle of Capri, jaunty sailors and old Pablo Picasso. The striped tunic I’m wearing is from a local Decatur boutique, Boogaloos. Apart from the Nine West shoes, the rest of the outfit was a steal: skirt from Target, hat from Walmart. Everything I’m wearing is at least two years old. I would say “Huzzah! I’m so thrifty” except that when I think how everything I’m wearing is “old,” I get that itchy must-go-shopping feeling. That consumerism bug is a beast.

Stripes in the summer also make me think of Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis. Did anyone else grow up watching that movie? In the scene below, she has just returned from playing tennis (yes, that is her tennis playing outfit) and is pining away for the boy next door. We also dreamed of having her hair (are those bangs? I still don’t know).

www.rowthree.com

LL