vintage San Francisco shirt – thrifted, a million years ago
sunglasses – Beacon’s Closet

I have enough clothing to outfit a small army, and yet I always go back to a few staple pieces. One: that ubiquitous moto jacket that I don’t even need to link to, because I have worn it that much. Two: cutoffs, every day, all day. Three: my Ampersand heels, which I have in three colors. Four: this shirt. Actually, it’s a handful of old shirts – but this one, in particular, has truly withstood the test of time. Along with my NKOTB shirts (ohhhh yeahhh). I’ve said this before, but I’ve never actually been to San Francisco. The day I actually make a trip out there, I will absolutely wear this shirt and an epic instagram will be made. Either that or I’ll forget to take a picture and then I’ll be like, “You guys, I went to San Francisco and wore that shirt. I swear.” And then you’ll say “pics or it didn’t happen” and then I’ll look like a schmuck because I forgot to take a picture.

This shirt, and thinking about its many wears throughout my teen and adult years, has made me realize two things: I need to clean out my freaking closet and I need to travel, next year. Obviously, the former will be completed before next year…fingers crossed. I will definitely be organizing another charity sale for the holidays, but I would also like to start selling some of my old stuff and putting the money toward something more important, like my little sister’s college fund. Tessa just started her junior year of high school and I am having a heart attack just typing that sentence. Come to think of it, I was probably her age when I bought this shirt. I want to say it was a dollar, but it was probably 25 cents. That was when Goodwill had their awesome 4 for $1 t-shirt bin and you could literally get inside of it and dig for shirts. Then they jacked up the price to 50 cents and I remember being really bummed, because I only made $5.15 an hour at Auntie Anne’s. I digress – back to my realizations.

Traveling is more of a selfish want than a need; like much of the US population but seemingly not anyone in NYC according to the looks of disbelief I receive, I have never been outside of the country. It’s called growing up poor, with a single (but awesome and hard working) mom and a deadbeat dad. Actually, it’s called real life – I’m sure there are families who were way better off than us who never took any vacations abroad. No worries, though – I will soon travel and I will probably appreciate it a lot more as an adult. My goal is to make enough money to be able to take my mom, too; she certainly deserves it. But at the moment, there is still much of our own country that I have yet to see, and this shirt is a reminder of that, as well. I can’t wait for our fall road trip – hey Kim, hey Erin. Pack your bags.

Somehow, this post turned into a livejournal entry. I don’t drink, so I can’t blame it on drunk blogging or anything. I blame it on being sick and sleep deprived. Heyyyyyyy girl.