My new yellow bag!!!!!!

Hello all!

Sorry I've been kinda MIA lately. My laptop is on its last leg so that has kept me from being as inspired lately. However, a new one is arriving Friday so I should be posting again soon, although I am going to California for a week, so I don't know if I will be posting or not. In recent news however, I think I just might have located my yellow bag and it's at a great price. It's leather, it's from Italy, it's the right shade of sunshine yellow but it's made by a label that I have no experience with, Tosca Blu. I saw some info on purseblog.com that said that it was a good quality brand so I'm hoping that's true. It will probably arrive while I'm away so it'll be awhile before I can post my reaction to it. I got it here.

Eames Stamps!

Here's a notification to all you MCM lovers out there. The Charles and Ray Eames stamps were issued yesterday in Santa Monica Cali! Now run right out and get you some, I know I am, like 4 sheets!

Film Clip of the Week

I was going to start a series of posts on Friday to end everyone's week with film clips that I am inspired by. Friday was however, a little more chaotic than I had anticipated so I'll start these on a Monday. Happy Monday everyone!

Carroty Goodness

I think I now have in my possession the most delectable soup recipe ever concocted. I would like to say that I am the originator of this recipe but alas, I am not. The soup that I am talking about is carrot ginger soup and it is oh so good. The origination of my desire for this soup started when I went to Ireland with my husband's company last July. We were taken to a really cute restaurant called the Quay Cottage Restaurant, quay being pronounced like "key". Here is a pic of it. I didn't take one myself, but this is the largest one I could find on the Internet.

I had the soup of the day, which happened to be carrot ginger soup. This was my dinner since my husband's company is so cheap and doesn't pay for spouses and when in the EU you have to look at all the prices and multiply them by 1.5 to understand what you are actually paying. But anywho, the soup was great! I came back home and searched and searched for a recipe that I thought would have the same end result as the soup I had had in Ireland. I happened to purchase a cookbook online, without really knowing what recipes were in it, simply because it looked like a cool book. This is the book:

Lo and behold, there was a recipe for the soup, I made it, and it tastes EXACTLY like the soup at the restaurant. I was smitten! Besides this recipe there are numerous others that I have made that are fabulous as well. If you are looking for a new cookbook, this is definitely one that should be in your collection. I was craving the soup again the other day and so here is a pic of it with fresh cream drizzled on top. Delish!

Dress Inspiration

Among all the other crafty, homey things I've been doing lately, I think I have decided that I will finally attempt to make a dress. I was inspired by the designs of Lilly Pulitzer on my recent trip to Key West. The 1st pic is of the Lilly design. The second pic is of the comparable pattern I found, not exact but a close match, and the 3rd pic is of the fabric I chose. Now if I could just find some trim similar.........

An Ongoing Obession

So among all the other things vintage that I collect, I collect vintage cookbooks as well. As I'm getting older I'm finding that I have a somewhat pack rat quality, which is unfortunate because my husband is one as well. You can imagine what our house must look like, just inviting someone over for dinner is at least a 2 day overhaul on the house to just make the kitchen, dining room, and living room presentable. I also have a tendency to also buy massive amounts of stationary, whole bean flavored coffee, and bed linens. I know I must sound like I have some sort of mental disorder, and I'm sure upon close inspection, that I actually do. But getting back to the original topic, vintage cookbooks. I love to cook, it's very soothing to go through methodical processes. Following instructions step by step and then having a wonderful result are very rewarding to me. You also know by now my love of anything vintage as well. So here is the best of both worlds. They often come with cute kitschy illustrations, especially if they are from the 50's or 60's and they often offer a plethora of casserole recipes, which in recent years have been sadly overlooked. I also have recently purchased the Cooking for Christmas one and I am in LOVE with the illustrations. I'm currently doing research on the illustrator and will have more information for you soon. These are a few from my collection and I just love them and will continue to buy more...........even though I shouldn't.

Gripe of the Day

So when I got my latest issue of Lucky in the mail the other day, I was really excited to see Zooey Deschanel on the cover. She's cute, she's quirky, she doesn't run with the crowd when it comes to fashion, and she's a brunette, I'm sorry, I'm biased. But anyway, as I sat down with my magazine, eagerly anticipating a nice size spread on their chosen cover girl, much to my disappointment there were only 2 pages devoted to her. TWO! The magazine has 130 pages in all. I know that in the fashion mag world that the July issue is one of their minor ones, the major ones being in March and September, but seriously, if you're going to feature someone on your cover, shouldn't you want to devote more than just two pages. Also within these two pages there was very little dialogue from herself. It was actually just advertising the companies related to her makeup and clothes that she wore on the front cover and then only a few pieces that she had something to say about. Lucky, come on, get it together and beef it up a little. If you aren't going to put a lot of effort into some of your magazines, then you should reduce the number of issues that you publish to like 9 or 10 a year, and reduce my subscription price in the process. Thanks!

Preparing for Christmas '08

Ok yeah I know, it's June. But I have to visit my husband's extended family this Christmas and I have to be fashionably prepared, and I think I just might have found my Christmas dress. Here is yet another example of where the fashion gods have smiled, I think they knew I needed a break. I went to the outlet mall in Allen this weekend and walked up to one of the sale rack and found an all silk plaid dress that had been marked down to $30! Not only that, everything that was marked down was an additional 30% off! I mean, like woah! I have found a pic of the style of the dress but the plaid that I have has red in it and is definitely a little more Christmasy. Also, I thought it would go great with my severely reduced Kate Spade cage heels that I got at Nordstroms Rack for only $65 because they had been previously worn! So what do you think? Now all I need is to find the perfect little cardigan and I'm set!

On Finding a Classic at a Discount..........

This is a follow-up to the last post I did. And there will be more on other topics to come soon. So for those of you out there that might perchance be located in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, or just Texas in general, there is a great consignment store in Dallas which shall remain unnamed, unless of course you really want to know, email me and I will share my secret. There you will find the cast-offs of the upper echelon of the waspy University Park women. Of course I've also seen waspy women in there going absolutely mad when they have there "Banana Sale" to compete I guess with when Foley's, now Macy's used to have their Red Apple Sale? But anyway, here you will find many designer pieces in a wide range and GREAT prices. I went in this past weekend and lo and behold, on the floor, pushed partially under the shoe rack was a pair of black tumbled calf Bernardos. These retail for like $104 and I got them for $35! Score! And, to top it all off, the woman had like only worn them once. Isn't great when the fashion gods smile upon you? The pic is of the style I found by the way.

Classic is Best............

I think we all know by now that classic fashion is the best option. With the upcoming election there is of course stagnancy, (is that a word?) going on with what is "popular". We saw boho chic last year, we're seeing it again this year. We saw big floral prints last year, we're seeing them again this year. We saw the nautical look last year, we're seeing it again this year. Need I go on? So in spite of what all the magazines say is popular, I'm starting to believe that the best route in buying pieces of clothing or accessories, is of course the classic route. Not only because it lets other people know that you know how to dress well, but that it is also economical during these budget stretching days we are in at the moment. So with that little speech, let me introduce you to two classic shoe brands that were worn by the likes of Jackie O and numerous other cocktail drinking mavens of the 60's. Bernardo and Jack Rogers. The classic styles that were produced and are still being produced by these brands are absolutely essential to your wardrobe. While a bit on the pricey side for sandals, they wear like iron and if you live in a hot climate like myself, sandals are all you end up wearing 75% of the time anyway. The two styles that the companies are most known for are the "Miami" by Bernardo and the "Navajo" by Jack Rogers. If you buy a pair of each of these for the summer, you are set for a awhile. Of course, stopping at one pair of each is pretty much impossible. You can buy Bernardos directly from their website at http://www.bernardofootwear.com/ Unfortunately, Jack Rogers doesn't have their own website but there are a number of websites that do sell them. Here are a number of the sandals that I will be making a part of my wardrobe as well as some vintage Bernardo ads that you can view on their website.

More pics..........

Inspirational Pics from My Collection

Eloping in the 50's

So I found this suit online and got it for such a steal! It hasn't gotten here yet but I'm crossing my fingers that it fits. It's never been worn and still has the tags.
These are the shoes that I want to get to go with the suit. I'm thinking that the toe of the shoe is a perfect 50's toe and that the colors go well with each other. The suit hasn't gotten here yet and I won't get the shoes until it arrives. So we'll see. But I am so in love with my suit!!!!!

The Paris Apartment

So I went on one of my many excursions to Half Price Books yesterday and happened upon this really cool book when in the interiors section. I, like so many other people are on the endless hunt to find and accumulate all of this stuff to put it together in my home and call it my humble abode. I however, sometimes, or rather almost all the time have to turn to things for inspiration. And this book provides quite a few nice inspirations. The author has a store in NYC that specializes in French boudoir chic. You can go to her website http://www.theparisapartment.com/ and find all kinds of wonderful albeit pricey things but the book will definitely give those of us on a budget some interesting ideas for things to look for when going to a flea market. This look is of course somewhat a venture away from the mid century mod that I'm used to, but I'm never opposed to having a touch of opulence here and there.

Wedding Announcement Prototypes

So I haven't been able to find any invitations, excuse me, announcements for my upcoming elopement in the fall. So I decided to make some prototypes myself. I'm thinking that I like the one with the dark brown border. Invitations are one of those things that are so small but they have to be perfect because they are a reflection of you as a person, not to mention a reflection of the time of year you are getting married as well. I love the fall, but not "fall colors" per se. I do however love green and I think that the avocado and the dark brown go together nicely to evoke a fall feeling. I did however have to include a brighter green which is a little more "me". The stenciled designs are a little messy, but then again, these are only prototypes, as well as my first time doing this.

Continuation of life..........

So I thought that I was just going to use this blog as a means for discussing only fashion history from a purely educational standpoint. I, however, have come to the realization that there are too many other things that I want to talk about. Like life on a daily basis and the cool purchases I make. Which seems to be the topic of every other blog I run across, which is perfectly fine, I just feel, well why not me too?

I finished my internship back in July. I'm not gonna say where it was, I'll only post a picture, and it should do all the explaining for you. Yes, this is the kind of stuff we sold. I was definitely in my element. Too bad I couldn't stay. But it was a means to an end, which was to graduate, which I can say now that I have done and I am the proud owner of a BSFCS in Fashion Merchandising. It still hasn't sunk in that I have graduated and there is no more school. I guess that's cause I was in school for so long.

But on to other things........I promise to keep this updated to the best of my ability, full of my wonderful finds and experiences.