These are some of my new things from the shower. My cupboards just looked so shiny and pretty, I had to share.
So far, I’ve been sleeping on satiny new sheets, dining off these lovely dishes, and stocking my gourmet kithen and it’s enough to make a girl feel like she’s on holiday!
Also of note: look how my Fire King collection has grown! My lovely aunt Lisa did a little bit of sleuthing and found out that I love old fire king mugs. So she ordered a pretty little lot of them on eBay for me! Isn’t that so thoughtful! I particularly love the old pink one. I’ve never seen one like that before – isn’t it cute?
I went to a costume sale last weekend where a bunch of vintage clothing sellers, and movie costumers were selling off old stock. I expected to find a few wedding related bargains, and boy, did I ever!
I came home with a lovely old antique kimono that I’m going to wear when I get ready – vintage boudoir style! It is bright green, with pink lotus flowers painted on it, and a bright pink silk trim on the inside, that coyly peeks out (it doesn’t seem to photograph so well, unfortunately – at least not with my crappy little iPhone camera!). It’s much brighter than I originally pictured, but I’m a pretty bright person, and it matches my bedroom – so I think I could probably hang it up in there as art when I’m not wearing it (double score!).
It was – get this – 30 bucks! And it’s real, direct from Japan! The idea of vintage clothing – clothing someone else wore once – sometimes creeps me out a little, but I love the idea that some little Japanese girl once wore my kimono – maybe to a happy picnic under cherry blossoms!
I still need to figure out some sort of belt for it – I was thinking of going a non traditional route and buying one of those metallic bow belts from American Apparel. But if I find an more appropriate obi-like solution, I might go in that direction too.
I have been searching for old fireking mugs, for pretty much as long as I’ve been thrifting – and I’ve been hitting the sally annes and charity shops for a very long time (I did grow up in the nineties, after all). I only ever find ugly orange and brown seventies ones, or McDonald’s branded eighties one. Ideally, I’d like the pretty primary coloured fifties and sixties ones.
There is a beautiful diamond patterned set my family shares up at our cottage, in all 4 colours (red, yellow, turquoise and dark green) still in great condition… But of course I can’t just take those. They belong to the cottage.
Finally, a few weeks ago, while thrifting, I ran across this old beaut! He’s not in perfect condition, but he’s charming nevertheless.
Most mornings now, I fill him up (rather triumphantly) with some good South African rooiboos.
1. I had vegans over for dinner last night.
2. I have a pile of vegan chocolate-zucchini-masala bread in the fridge (and some in my tummy from breakfast too).
3. I made butterless, chickenless vegan butter chicken last – and it rocked! There are leftovers for lunch!
4. I am working on an album cover for an indie rock band.
5. I have the prettiest vintage dress ever making it’s way to me from Kansas via etsy. As. We. Speak.
A couple weeks ago we cleaned out my grandfathers house (he died earlier this spring).
I dug these two awesome vintage fans out of the dumpster because I loved their art-deco lines – and you know how I am with beautiful vintage machines (typewriters, alarm clocks, transistor radios…). We plugged them in when we got home and found: they still work! They work so well, we won’t need to get an air conditioner anytime soon. I feel pretty good about rescuing them from becoming landfill.
It’s very hot today, so me and the cats are taking full advantage of them.
The two chairs you see (one danish teak, and one velvet club) are also inheritances. Also pretty awesome.
It’s strange to have had grandparents with such good taste. Stranger still that they’re no longer around.
Well, it’s the first long hot weekend of a long hot summer, so we are going to take advantage of it.
Our weekend is going to be positively packed with farmers markets, and golfing, and shopping, and eating, and probably a little bit of gardening (although, other than a little watering, things are looking pretty self-sustaining at the moment).
To celebrate, you should watch this clip of a pretty good old movie (with a script by Billy Wilder, and opening credits by Saul Bass – how can you go wrong?) about the beginning of another long hot summer in the city (just ignore the slightly racially offensive bit in the middle – kinda hard to find an old movie that doesn’t have a couple moments like those, unfortunately).
And then Marilyn Monroe shows up. You should really hunt this down and watch the rest of it though. It’s one of those classics that’s a classic for a reason.
I just finished Micheal Chabon’s Yiddish Policemen’s Union and the cover reminded me of my favourite, prettiest typewriter (which I had yet to mention exists).
The book itself was also pretty, though solely stylistically speaking. I think the fact that I tend to be fascinated by the same things Chabon is fascinated by seems to help, to be honest (Jewish culture, world’s fairs, superheros, detectives, writers, artists, architecture, antiques, modern American mythology, history).
I don’t think you necessarily need any knowledge of Yiddish to get through it, but you do at least need… well… A brain that works, to put it politely, to figure out what’s going on.
One might compare Chabon’s writing to Shakespeare’s – all the clues to figuring out what the heck he’s talking about are in there, you just have to be paying attention – but that’s the kind of literature I like.
A mystery to be solved not just in the plot, but in the understanding of the words.
An intricate knot to be pulled at.
A Yid with a slug in his head and a dead chess player for an alias, to borrow a vernacular…
Man, that was a loooooong cold. Long and especially unpleasant. The kind of overwhelming illness where your brain ceases to exist and your body aches with every movement and your nose refuses to be used for breathing.
And by the way, by saying I’m feeling not so sick, I mean that I still have a nagging deep and unpleasant sounding hacking cough, and a voice low enough to tackle the men’s parts of my classic rock songs in their proper key.
But I can think straight! And take a walk to the corner store without blacking out! So I’m proclaiming myself better!
Thankfully, I got better in time for this glorious weekend we just had. I think I may have to have some words with the weather again, because, really, it’s only April, and they don’t turn the air on in this building till June 21st – that’s a long, long way off. It’s all pleasant and everything to have this nice summery weekend, but if it keeps up… Well, I am not looking forward to it. So let’s hold off with the heat waves, ok? Got that weather?
My weekend was especially delightful. Especially after being stuck inside all week.
I enjoyed the following:
wearing my new short pants (slim cut and black – very Audrey Hepburn).
finding the perfect, cheap (if in slightly rough condition) vintage, modernist, thonet chairs (they look a lot like the eames plywood chairs – but with a padded seat)
So due to the blizzard of the century that is continuing to fill my window panes with snow we didn’t get to have Tapas yesterday.
Which is too bad, but also okay because instead we had Portuguese churrasqueira – chicken (with sticky piri-piri sauce) and a HUGE dolce de leche and strawberry torte. My family came down from the suburbs for post-birthday celebrations (my birthday was on Sunday), and it was pretty a cosy event.
We’ll make it to tapas eventually – specifically this place which looks AMAZING. I’ve never seen so many things on one menu. Certainly not so many that I actually found intriguing.
We did get buttons (big swirly plastic horn ones) for my coat.
We also found two brand new jackets for Liam (black velvet AND brown suede). Plus a bunch of adorable skinny ties, (that I’m going to make even more adorable) at the thrift store. He will be styling and suave next time he get’s a big interview. No more scouring the house for his one nice tie.
No yarn yet though. Got a bit distracted by the jackets, and then we had to beat it back to home to meet up with my little brother.
It’s too bad about the yarn. Would have been nice to curl up in this Winter Wonderland that’s going on out there with some knitting. Will have to make due with some button sewing.
Buying some yarn to make something with (maybe I should decide what I’m making before I purchase not enough yarn in the wrong size… – another scarf?)
buying some buttons for my currently button-less pea-coat so I don’t catch my death of the cold (it’s khaki cotton duck and goes with everything – I’m thinking of going in a tortoiseshell, or military brass direction)
thifting up some ties I can alter and make fashionable for the boy (with silk screen and embroidery and felt maybe?)
crossing my fingers that Liam’s interview yesterday went well (I’d really, really, really enjoy being the well-heeled girlfriend of a hot young copy writer for an advertising firm)
This little Panasonic sixties era AM radio was a Christmas present from Liam.
It’s called the Toot-A-Loop. Isn’t that great? You can squash it back down into a ring and hang it off your wrist when you go to sunbathe by the pool (or whatever they used to do with their AM radios back then).
We went antiqueing at the St. Lawrence Market yesterday afternoon (yes, we as in me AND Liam – and yes, he enjoyed it – he likes – as he calls it – “old timey” stuff).
These little teacups were a steal. They’re confetti melmac (if unmarked as such – but you can’t have everything) and came with their original saucers.
I am becoming addicted to melmac.
I’ve been on a thrift shopping kick. Ideally, I’ve been looking for a collegiate outfit for my first day back to school. But my recent trip wrought the above beautiful vintage pillowcases instead.
Soooo sweet, huh?
My favourite types of vintage fabrics are either the funky, graphic, brightly-coloured Scandinavian-style, prints from the sixties (think marimekko; or the sweet, little, silkscreened, fifties-homemaker specials (like those cases).
On my most recent trip to my super-secret special thrift shop I found stacks of perfect, perfect cottons: HAND PRINTED table cloths, cases, and raw upholstery for very, very cheap (Now you know why I don’t share my secret).
But alas, I seem to be having more success knitting at the moment than sewing. Or, actually not alas at all.
I can knit! Really and truly! It’s pretty exciting for me, since my first attempt (in the second grade) didn’t exactly go as smoothly.
Wait ’til you see what I whipped up for my blythe doll!
Before I left this last weekend, I actually did some art!
I painted this little painting/collage for my studio. It turned out pretty cute for a last minute project. Nicely graphic and cheerful (which is just what I need for inspiration).
Also on view, is my new red glass candy dish, and german transistor radio (from the early sixties), as well as a few of my little friends.
I was out with friends, scouring the suburbs in search of a specific sample sale (that ended up being hidden away in a corporate office up a flight of stairs) when I stumbled upon a Goodwill.
And what a Goodwill it was!
I still say they are far superior to either Value Villages or Sally Anns.
I was about to give up hope, when I noticed a (mostly empty) rack that had a few interesting boxes lying on it.
One of them looked like this:
So (very intrigued at this point) I cracked it open, and found…
This marvellous, little, portable typewriter! For only ten bucks!
I love mechanical things. I have wanted a typewriter for soooooo long (mostly just for decorative reasons, but also maybe for the occasional art project). I have been looking for one in a sweet pastel, but for ten bucks, I didn’t really care that it was greige.
It works too! It even came with the original manual! I just need a new ribbon (which is looking like it will be more expensive than the thing was in the first place).
If you click through the pictures you’ll find more pictures on Flickr because, well, she’s a sexy girl.
Just tell me she isn’t hot.
Cara (@Carachan1) on 
Minaa on 
Aeada on 
