Meandering down 23rd Avenue on a crisp, sunny, Autumn day has always been near and dear to my heart. Starting said venture with coffee, crepes, and wonderful charming company? The best. Let me tell you, did I ever need that coffee. After getting dressed and applying my makeup, I had made it halfway to brunch before I realized that I left out one crucial element. Pants.
Just kidding, it was only mascara. But boy did it feel like much more than that. At least my cat eye was on point that morning.
Despite having spent the majority of my high school and undergrad portions of life working at one of the boutiques on 23rd, I had never been to Vivace. Mostly because it was down at the far end of the street and about as far away from the main shop area than is necessary. Especially when it’s that chilly out. The crepes there though, absolutely amazing. Once again, we were so excited over actually getting the food, that we dove in and utterly neglected to take photos of it in all it’s glory. Whoops.
My absolute favorite store on all of 23rd is this cute boutique called Sloan. While I don’t make an effort to drop by as much as I’d like, I never fail to find something amazing here that I cannot live without. They have gotten me through last minute formal attire needs, countless ‘I don’t know what to buy for this person’ dilemmas, and too many a ‘if I leave the store without this it will haunt me’ moments.
Had my arms not been full to the brim of things I wanted to try on (even though the sweet shop girls routinely collected them from me to put in the dressing room), there would have been more photos. But, I was a woman on a mission. Scouring the store to make sure that I didn’t miss a thing.
I’ve had the notion that I need a sequin dress for the holidays, Alex being the only person I’ve really mentioned this to. Within moments of walking in, she pretty much handed me this dress that embodied everything I was looking for. IT EVEN HAS SHOULDER PADS. And it’s gold, which means that I can repurpose it next Halloween and go as the Golden Snitch from Harry Potter. Item I can’t live without? Check.
Next up was Blush Beauty Bar. They have a pretty great mix of harder to find brands, and the main staples of course. I also love that some of the sections are organized by product type instead of brand.
If you have never heard of Portland Black Lipstick, you guys are missing out. Though I’ve used their products before, I had never seen them in the wild. My swatch arm made me look like a monster from Goosebumps. The Blood Red was an instant favorite of mine, a deep brick red that makes a really nice stain if you just dab a bit on.
No one is more surprised than I that I didn’t accrue the debt of a small nation state at the sight of this Mascara end cap. I’d like to point out how nicely they have all of the wands displayed at the top too. Seriously, I wanted them all. However, having recently took a photo of the massive amounts of opened mascara tubes I already have at home, I enacted a “you can’t buy any more until you finish 3 of the ones you already have” rule. If you follow us on Instagram, you know what I’m talking about.
Had to pop into Lush to take note of potential Christmas gifts. That being said, I refuse to actually buy anything for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
Completely dumbstruck that we missed this on our way up the street, we were heart-eyed at seeing not only the cutest little shoe store, but it happened to be SLOAN’S sister store. Cha-Ching! They had the cutest selection of booties and hats. It was a dangerous place to be in. Definitely need to go back for these beauties after our next payday. Can’t wait until our next shop-venture.
♡Em
