My dear readers, Happy Good Friday to all! I put a post on this morning, but lo and behold 95% got lost in transit when I hit “publish.” That has never happened before and I did NOT have time to do it again at that moment. At any rate, at least my pictures were ready to quickly upload again, so here I have returned to wish everyone a Happy Good Friday!
Yesterday was a glorious day off, and celebrate I did! I visited a local store called Vintage Revival. I have taken you there before, but I think it was back at Christmastime! Now all has been transformed to pink and white and all the lovely pastels of spring!
There were lots of flowers.
A vintage red dress.
Lots of lovelies in a Hoosier.
Dresser tops.
And be still my heart, I do not remember seeing all this the last time I was there! Do you know just how cute cowboy boots are with a vintage dress?’
And wouldn’t ya know! Right across the room! Vintage dresses. Ahhh.
I caught a glimpse of the prettiest little hat stand. And myself.
I found a vintage dress to try on.
Or two.
The polka dot was cute…? Well, not really. And the arm holes were just too small. Wondering who wore it! But the first one was way cute! And I love the way the bodice was made. I did not get it, but left to think it over. I am in no way a label connoisseur yet, so perhaps a bit of research is in order first.
I drooled over this beautifully lit bed.
The pictures, as you may have noticed, are not the best quality, and really do not do the store justice, but all I had with me was my camera phone. Still, I thought you’d want to see something from my visit there!
On another beautiful note, I stopped by a friend’s antique store and added about 15 more vintage postcards to my collection, three of which are rather timely!
Happy Thursday, dear readers! Is spring in the air for you? Are you enjoying spring blooms? Are you thinking of cleaning out and making your homes nice and bright and airy for summertime? I know I am! And it feels so good!
Let’s get right to the point. You know I have veered way off the path of my normal clothing habits back at the old house, when I was running outside throughout the day to care for bun-buns and pull a few weeds on my breaks. I suppose without a garden to care for, my interest had to be focused on some sort of fun, new hobby to entertain an idle mind. We don’t want to be idle! At any rate, I have just become totally fascinated with not only the clothes but the culture of the 1950s and 1960s. And even 1940s. And maybe 1930s. Not that I want to live it. I don’t mean that. It’s just that I have always taken for granted that I just knew what that time period was all about! After all, it’s not that far removed from where we are on the timeline now! But I don’t really know. I keep uncovering ideas and trends and thoughts that have piqued my interest to no end!
So I realize that this outfit is not anything authentically vintage. In fact, the shirt is a stretchy 1970s looking knit with a pattern that I would not have given even a second glance to a year ago, but here I am wearing it, and with a white ruffled skirt! And a belt. And anklets. And platform sandals. Yah. Honestly, I think I may be too old to run about town in anklets and sandals, but it is way fun for the apartment, for walking Annie, for keeping my toes warm while I sit and type all day. And here again, Lynn has lost her mind over retro, so bear with me!
Maybe the main thing I want you to take from this picture is the very fun chain of paper dolls that my mother made for me. Do you know I can remember sitting in her lap or snuggled close beside her in the 1960s and having her teach me how to do this myself? How to fold paper and cut a doll so that when you opened the paper up the dolls were all attached? Yes! And my mother has recently taken this craft to a whole new level for her farmer’s market booth, with painted dollies on heavy paper! What a smart, industrious lady she is! I feel another request for a guest post coming on!
My hair is tied up with a scarf-turned-headband and then put in a very loose bun on top of the scarf. It works. The pins just go on and around the scarf — whatever it takes to hold the hair. My general rule for holding up a hair bun is 10 long bobby pins. I count usually. One through ten.
Interested in a tutorial? Maybe I can combine the updo with a skin care tutorial — not that I am so perfect in the skin department. I have loads of laugh and smile lines! But I do have some ideas about things!
On the food front, I have tried to be really good, but the flesh is weak! I have had a very hard time finding time to get to the gym (although I have been fitting in some situps and pushups around the apartment in the evenings) and my sweet tooth has acted up a few times!
Enter a little cup of cherry vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup.
Yum!
Now, as a final treat for you, not that you don’t already seen enough of me (sorry) but I wanted to share another grandmother picture. My paternal grandmother. And let’s test you to see if you see her in me. Several of you saw my maternal grandmother in me. Are you ready?
She was another one who loved clothes! And hats! Oh my, did this woman love (and could so wear) a hat!! Both of my grandmothers, I can easily say, were fashionistas!
My dear friends, Happy Tuesday morning! It’s a beautiful day here today! The air is perfect — not too hot, not too cool. The sun is shining. It feels like a beautiful spring day!
Recently, my sweet mother gave me some bits and bobs from an old jewelry stash. In it was this very cool vintage pin. Neither of us knows how old it is, but it has a lovely patina and it feels and looks quite vintage. The only problem was that it was missing some of its faux gems.
I did not see the need in running out to try and find something exact for this piece of costume-style jewelry when I could fill in the gaps with similarly-colored, tiny beads from my craft stash.
The large center “gem” was missing too, and I have no idea what had been there originally, but I decided to use a large, pretty bead from my bead box that seemed somewhere in between the dark blue and the bright white of the other “stones.”
Friends, while this is not a professional jewelry repair tutorial, I suspect (if you are like me) you have seen costume jewelry pieces before that you passed over because they were missing stones or gems. Quality beads and Krazy glue did the job! I say quality beads because truly these are not simply the easily-scuffed plastic beads you find in children’s bead kits, but rather beads I have purchased for the purpose of brooch making and other clay crafts that I do. Actually, these came from Rare Earth Beads.
As I mentioned in a comment from yesterday, I have been drawn greatly lately to plaids, stripes, polka dots, and lots of blues and reds! It’s amazing how huge life changes and times of challenge and growth change us in every way and make us look to things we had not considered before.
Today’s Outfit:
tan ruffled skirt, thrifted, (no tag)
plaid shirt by Lots of Love, thrifted
over the knee socks, new, Rue 21
platform sandals by Report, thrifted
vintage pin, gift from mom, repaired by me
My dear blog-land friends, Happy Monday Morning (poo)!!
I missed you over the weekend, even if I did squeeze in a tiny post on Saturday morning before work; but I feel like I haven’t really been here since Friday!
Azalea bloom in Yorktown, Virginia.
And in a way, I haven’t! I had the opportunity to visit my sweet sister in the beautiful Tidewater area of Virginia! Oh my, be still my heart, I love that place! My sister’s garden was just coming into bloom. There were lots of pretty flowers, but truly my sister was the most beautiful flower in the garden! We had such a nice time catching up, even if we did not have long together during this particular visit. We drank coffee. We walked around her yard. We talked. We visited a thrift store. We went to Starbucks. We drove the girls around. We talked. We ate at a favorite seafood joint — Harpoon Larry’s. We visited Fort Monroe. We watched part of the Goodys 500 Martinsville race on TV. We didn’t want to say goodbye.
Birdbath, columbines, azaleas.
Heart-shaped trellis and soon-to-bloom rose.
There are many things to share with you from the visit, but I cannot possibly pack them all into one post! I don’t want to overwhelm you and I must get to my work desk soon! I hope you all had a marvelous weekend! I hope it was as pretty and special as mine turned out to be!
Now, since this has evolved into apparently a thrift store fashion blog (among other things), without further ado:
Introducing the first dress in my vintage dress collection! Well, I do have some vintage dresses from the 1980s, and some reproduction things, but this is an honest-to-goodness Sears and Roebuck Kerrybrooke dress, maybe from the 1950s or 1960s? Anyone care to take a stab? I do wish I had time to research it this morning, but I really do not!
I look at this 1959 vintage GE ad and see the dress length, the full skirt, the belt, and I think 1950s. The dress I have on, however, has a mandarin-type collar.
At any rate, I nearly fainted away when I saw it on the GW Boutique rack, for I of all people should know if it is quite the rare thing to find such a dress in GW Boutique, and I do say that it is!
I could almost be standing on Walton’s Mountain, except for the cell phone.
The detailing of the dress is amazing! And it is in FINE shape! During the 4-hour drive to Virginia, I made this lovely fabric flower brooch. I think it fits the dress perfectly! I made another brooch on the way home, which you will see some time this week!
While this dress currently fits like it was designed with my size in mind, I really could not afford to gain even 1/2 inch in my waist and be comfortable! What shall I do!!?? Ahhh, enter the corset. Yes, friends, no wonder ladies wore them. This dress has lots of room in the sleeves, in the chest, but the waist is certainly meant to fit someone who keeps her waist under control! Thank goodness my corset supply closet is stocked up!
Just look at the large buttons! And every single one is present and intact. Like I said, the dress is truly in fine shape. It makes me guilty that I paid only about 4 dollars for the dress, but I ain’t gonna complain!
Here’s a picture of the label — in case my dream comes true and someone comes by who can “date” the dress for me!
As much as I hate to run, I simply must. Will be putting together some fun posts for this week! Lots of pictures! More mystery and intrigue! Shopping galore! And cleaning out to offer items for a fundraiser yard sale! So stay tuned!
Happy Thursday, dear readers! I am now 49 years old and 2 days. I was wondering this morning, what if I really paid attention to every single day? I try to do that anyway, but counting the days… Anyway, the days sure do fly by! I have 363 more days as a 40-something.
A recent, very sweet dress find is a little dress that fits like a glove and has beautiful detailing!
When I find a dress or blouse or skirt, or whatever, looking at the tag is NOT the first thing I do, though I do eventually get around to that. The first thing I do is actually be drawn to something. The color. The cut. The feel. Then I check the size. I can wear a range of everything from 4 to 12. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I am tall and have long arms and legs, and you know how very different brands are in their sizing.
Getting back to the label.
And the brand name is, I think, Qiamyili. Anyone know this language or what the brand name might be?
Anyway, on to putting this dress with accessories. In the first picture I have it on sans hosiery, for walking Annie on a very warm and pleasantly breezy afternoon.
The stripes in this dress make me feel quite ELECTRIC. And you wouldn’t know it, but Princess of the Universe was standing there cheering me on, so I was moving and posing under her watchful and careful eye. I think you can see, though, the white tights, red leather shoes, bright shiny red bag, and a rosy red brooch that I pulled on for going out and running my daily errands.
I leave you with a few spring flowers!
You might imagine what all is blooming in The Little Wild Garden right now…
Yesterday was lovely; perfect, in fact. One of my favorite days ever.
I was happy all day, something about which to be very, very thankful indeed, when one stops to consider the news of the day and the emotional stress that some of us live in all the time and that all of us live in some of the time.
I was in at least two, er three outfits yesterday, and I recently found some AMAZING vintage dresses! You just wait. They are being lovingly laundered and ready to show off to you lovelies!
Yesterday was mostly a messy hair day.
New Vera Wang shoes. Enough said.
The days have been beautiful and sunny, but the wind breezy and chilly. Ahhh, such is March.
One of my favorites of trees, the crepe myrtle, begins to bud.
The bright green, springtime grass has Annie rolling!
…and rolling…
…and rolling!
Long days turning into long months and then into a new year and a new chapter in life, a beautiful story unfolds. In time.
My dear readers, there is no other way to say it: Happy Birthday To Me! Yes, today marks my 49th. This will be my last year as a 40-something!
And, for the most fashion fun I have had in a long time, here’s me rockin’ some PINK BIRTHDAY SHOES!
Well, they are not truly birthday shoes per se, but I have never owned pink shoes before, and I consider these quite the serendipitous birthday gift from G.W. Boutique! Yes, brand new looking and 4 dollars, just in time for my birthday. Happy Birthday to Me.
You might wonder about the bright blue scarf, but I will show you up close that the scarf has the exact same pink as the shoes! And as little pink as it is that shows, it is truly amazing how the shoes bring out the pink in the scarf and make that pink POP from head to toe!
As per our usual, Annie leads the way.
It has been quite lovely here weather-wise, with springtime ebbing ever closer to our windows and doors. One can hear birds singing in the mornings! The windows can be opened up in the afternoons. And looking at the trees whose bareness we had begun to take for granted, suddenly there are leaves!
And now, to share with you another very SWEET — or should I say SWEETE? — birthday gift that arrived, again quite as the happy surprise, at exactly the very hour I had finished with my craft space! A beautifully handmade ROSE COTTAGE banner from Marqueta of Sweete Felicity.
Each triangle is perfectly made. In my excitement, I hung it right up, before pressing out some of the upturned corners from where Marqueta had carefully tucked it into a package! But don’t be fooled! They are perfect little triangles!
I absolutely love it! Thank you so much, Marqueta!
I have really been trying to buckle down and spend more time in the craft area, using up supplies I have purchased. The goal is to get some things in the shop and then have a big SPRING SALE!
And with that, I must say goodbye! I do wish I could hang around and play all day, but I must run into my office and work!
Thank goodness for Annie Fatso Beagle (or, as Jen calls her, A.F.B.)! She gives me intermittent excuses to go outside and admire the newly emerging leaves!
Good morning, friends, and if you are like me you would be called Monday morning sleepy heads. Yes, it’s true. And Michaela too. As we prepare for the day we are grateful for the sleep we got last night, but we are also wondering why we did not sensibly fit a nap in somewhere along the way! Nevertheless, we have so much to be thankful for and we know we will get more energetic as we fully wake up and go out to greet our days!
I am still using and loving my recently discovered and purchased Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil. It is absolutely dreamy! I need to get myself geared up for something of a tutorial soon for skin and hair care. Not that I am an expert by any means, but because I think we can all learn something from each other.
It might seem unlikely: stripes, polka dots, and floral print, all in one outfit. But I was totally drawn towards putting these all together. In fact, one of the most delightful challenges when shopping G.W. Boutique is to try to put an entire outfit together in one visit. Just keep looking until you find it!
It is delightfully springy!
It is most feminine.
It is slightly daring. My kind of clothes.
Now, dear friends, in finishing up this morning’s post, here is something so sweet, so precious, so moving! If you love animals, and in particular dogs, you will really love this! This is really more important than my silly outfit, but I figure when you click away you might not want to be troubled with the back button, so I got the frivolous stuff out of the way first. Now, without further hesitation…
Even as I was typing in the title of my post, I wondered: will anyone be interested enough in robots to come see? Perhaps I should be sure and include a line that says to moms to bring the scientifically and creatively oriented children along. Or, last but not least, is Lynn dressed like a robot today?
No, friends, I was at one of my favorite places yesterday! The Scrap Exchange. From the monkey at the counter…
to the beautifully old framed prints and pictures…
to the bright cardboard sunshine hanging up in the store…
to the — is that really a wall of cassette tapes? — yes, the wall of cassette tapes, I had a really good outing yesterday. I limited myself as far as time, because we all know I could spend the day in there! But I really went in search of more old magazines for my collection and I was not disappointed! I found a May 1931 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. More about that another day.
Usually The Scrap Exchange has some type of exhibit going on, where people create things along a theme and then those things get displayed. I show you, Robots!
This first one, below, is my favorite!! Does it look real or what?
Today’s a different sort of day for me, friends! Usually I dress up for ME each day, which is who we really should dress to please every day anyway, except of course that we would also dress for the standard we have set for ourselves as far as how we ought to dress. But the point is, whether I am here at home or out all day, I do dress up every day and treat the day like a work day. At any rate, today I will be working at the hospital! Oh fun!
Ready to go, but only after a quick walk with Annie.
And Annie says she wants to stay out all day long!
Oh, Happy Thursday, dear readers! My day off! And enjoy it thus far, I have! I am so glad you dropped in!
I started to call this post RETRO MEETS STEAMPUNK, for more than one reason, but I decided to go with something more fun. At any rate, Retro does meet Steampunk today, and I have loved the reaction my outfit has gotten today! But first, let’s talk gluten-free paradise.
I have been very good the last few days and had lots of fruits and vegetables, so yesterday when I saw buckwheat waffles on sale at the local grocery co-op, I was taken right in! Very nearby was the frozen fruit! Ahhh, big, organic blackberries.
First I popped two of the waffles into the toaster. Then I took about 3/4 cup of frozen berries, covered them in sugar and put them in the microwave for one minute to defrost them and melt the sugar.
I stirred the berries. I buttered the waffles and then topped them with the berries and syrup. Bad. But oh so good!
Now, let’s talk clothes! I had planned to wear a cute little springy shirt today but then I woke up this morning and remembered my new corsets! Why not dive right in, I said to myself!
I decided to go with a poufy but tame 1940s hairstyle.
Annie, of course, pulls one way while I try pulling the other. As far as the outfit, I decided to pair a retro style, soft pink skirt with a white tailored linen shirt. I felt the sleeves with their bit of puffiness would go well with the skirt and balance what was below the corset with what was above the corset. Make sense?
Running errands would be a treat; I wondered what sort of reaction I would get! After all, it’s not the usual middle aged getup for a grocery-shoppin’ mother of four.
I decided to dress up the corset with some things that felt very steampunkish, but STEAMPUNK is a style that I really am not sure how to authentically carry out, if there is such a thing!
Now, I knew the outfit would not be right without the right shoes. I chose some silver Amanda Smith sandals that fit like a dream!
I do hope you have had as much fun as I have with this new corset adventure! I questioned putting a corset on the blog. I questioned buying the thing! My dilemma has always been how to have fun with fashion, wear pretty things that ARE in style, but keep it modest. After all, I think that is part of what my personal goal is: modesty. There are places that I would not go in this sort of outfit. Places where reverence is expected. Places where I would not want to compete for the center of attention. But a weekday out running errands! A date? Of course!
Oh, and the reactions? Lots of looks — not bad ones, but inquisitive ones. Honestly, I did not get a ton of comments, but the comments I did get were very passionate comments. No just that is nice, but wow I LOVE your dress. I guess it appeals to some people and not to others. Hmmmm.
Approaching-50 mother of four. Thrifter. Content with lots of clothes bought for very little money. Loves retro. (That could be styles from the 40s and 50s. And sometimes stuff even older than that. And sometimes stuff from all time, all mixed up together!) Bluffs about decluttering but secretly loves STUFF. Goes through stages. Has standing and staring spells before rearranging the entire home. Just because. Tune in each day to see what new outfit comes home from G.W. Boutique next. (That's Goodwill, by the way.) Oh, and she owns a spoiled beagle named Annie. And this blog.
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To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do
Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Not that I want to live it. I don’t mean that. It’s just that I have always taken for granted that I just knew what that time period was all about! After all, it’s not that far removed from where we are on the timeline now! But I don’t really know. I keep uncovering ideas and trends and thoughts that have piqued my interest to no end!
Yes, today marks my 49th. This will be my last year as a 40-something!
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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