twig and sparrow: Every Girl Must Accessorize, and That Also Goes for Her Bike!

This obsession I have with melding the two beautiful worlds of bicycles and fashion has become such a delicious combination for me. On the one hand, you have this amazing piece of art that you customize little by little and slowly evolves into this one of a kind, dreamy fabrication; on the other hand, you have this wonderful opportunity to dress in such a way that your mode of transportation spotlights your ensemble to a tee. A car certainly can't do this, because you are hidden within that massive, cocoon-like gas-guzzler. A midi-length skirt doesn't flow as well when you are driving the 405 (most likely you are stuck in traffic, hence no breezy movement of clothing).

But see, here's the thing: out here in Southern California, there really is not much opportunity to pedal around on a bike everywhere. Sure, we do have our pockets of areas where you definitely can, ie, part of beachy LA, and many parts of coastal Long Beach. But for the most part, we are in the car a majority of the time. I have recently taken up the habit of taking my kids in the bike trailer to my son's school. He takes his bike, I follow him along, and the two girls go in the trailer. When I drop him off, I tie his bike onto the top of the trailer and ride back home. Yeah, it might look funny, but it has worked for the past two months. And once the two year-old changes her nap schedule, we will be picking him up from school the same way.

It's funny to me how in Europe, riding a bike is very much the norm. It is a necessity, since most people don't really need a car or outright can't afford one. And why have one when it is not really necessary? As a result, we see countless images of Europeans, wearing their couture, out in the rain, riding their two-wheeler. Because that's their primary mode of transportation. They ride in dresses, heels, with four babies in tow, with groceries, in the snow, at night, all the time. There are not a lot of gyms out there, but there are plenty of well-dressed people raising their heart rates several times a day (in a good way!), doing their everyday stuff on a bike.

Ah, if only we could adopt that right where I live! I imagine myself trekking down the hill to Stater Brothers with my three kids, yelling at them to keep up. Then schlepping all those groceries back up the hill and yelling once more to my kids to keep up as we WALK up the hill because it's too darn hard. Yeah, this is what I think about at night...

In the meantime, I continue to restore my old bike. In the meantime, I perservere forward to perfecting my little garage sale gem. So what do I need next? Accessories, of course!

So here is what is on my bike shopping list: