Baking Magic

Okay, well maybe it wasn't actually magic. Maybe it was actually chemistry. But still.

Today I walked by my pantry and saw 4 jars of peanut butter. That's right 4. Who even does that? We do. We are a peanut butter loving family. I also saw baking chocolate in the cupboard and thought to myself, "Self, you are going to make some peanut butter and chocolatey goodness today." And that is precisely what I did.

Took photographic evidence too of course :)

 Vintage Pyrex mixing bowl!

The apron is one I made for myself 2 years ago. When I was little I always wanted a pinafore like the one Alice wore in Alice and Wonderland......Only with more ruffles (hence my blog name, I always wants more ruffles!) This apron blends perfectly my love of Alice, 40's fashion, ultimate girliness, and baking.

I wish you could taste these through the screen. Absolutely divine. When I took a bite I made lots of noises and said "ohmygosh". That is when you know a recipe is a keeper.


Stay tuned for Norway trip post! :)

Veterans Day

Veterans day is, of course, very important to all of us because it's a day commemorating people who so selflessly defend our freedoms.

My father served for 27 years in the Army, and my brother Micah is currently overseas. I am so proud of both of them!

Today I thought I would share some vintage photos of some of my family members who served in the military.

 My Great Grandfather Charles who served in World War I

My handsome Dad. About 1973.

 My dad's father, Jack. Served in the Navy during WWII

 My Grand uncle Jim. 

 My aunt Irene and her husband Bill. 

 Irene and Bill again...how cute is her outfit?!

One more... My cousin said I look like her! I don't really see it, but I take that as a great compliment, she is beautiful!

A Day in May

Well hello there!

Today was one of those those spring days that reminds you that it is still, in fact, spring and not summer. It was about 52 degrees today so I took the opportunity to wear stockings, tweed and wool.

 I had to run some errands involving school today, and after I was done I  stopped at a thrift store and got a few things for the shop. I was in the mood to go garage sale-ing, but there were not very many today. Instead, I browsed the realtor websites looking at homes in my area that I can dream about fixing up. One of my very favorite things to do is look at fixer-upper houses online. I think it probably has to do with the fact that there are endless possibilities.

 This sweater is one of my favorites, it's warm wool without being too itchy/scratchy. I believe I have featured all of these articles of clothing on here before, but never altogether. Having separates is really nice, and it's one area of my vintage/retro wardrobe I would like to increase. Anyone have an extra few thousand dollars laying around so that I can dress well? If so, let me know please :)

 Kitty kisses!

In other news!

I am working on a party dress! I think I may finish it tonight, and post about it soon

I am going to Las Vegas for a month! My sister, Nikki, lives there and I will be gone for about 6 weeks. I am bringing my camera with me, and hope to blog while there, but if I am slow, that's why. :)

Have a great day!


Outfit
Red Pendleton Sweater & 40's Skirt ~ Thrifted
Stockings ~ Gift from my sister, Jaime
Shoes ~ Modcloth

Healthy Living

Hello there!

It's completely gorgeous now. Today it was 80 degrees and sunny! I took some pictures by the creek near my house and I am so happy everything is turning green again!

Ok, so this post is going to be a little bit about health.

Recently my sister had started a new thing called Whole30. It's basically Paleo eating, only with more restrictions. No grains (not even corn or potatoes!), no dairy, no sweeteners (sugar, agave, stevia, honey) and essentially no processed foods. After my sister said she lost weight, felt better, and had more energy I was definitely interested!  Here is a great Paleo eating blog, NomNomPaleo.

After looking at it all day and considering it, I checked my blogs to see if any of my favorite Bloggers had posted anything new, and what do you know, Brittany of  Va-Voom Vintage had blogged about fitting into a snug dress. I took it as a sign. But the final push was reading Dita Von Teese's week long food journal. Just as soon as I finished reading it, I started planning meals for the Whole30.

I am only at the end of day 3, but let me tell you, this is different. I don't want to call it a diet because it's not. I am not counting calories, or worrying about points. I am eating real, delicious food and I don't feel deprived. I eat whenever I want and snack on veggies or fruit instead of chocolate or something with a ton of grains. I am drinking more water and tea. No soda pop and I really don't miss it (I wasn't a big soda drinker to begin with though). As far as weight loss, clearer skin, and an uptake in energy goes I don't know yet, but we will see at the end of 30 days. The call it a cleanse, and you are not supposed to weigh or measure yourself because it's not about losing weight, it's about being healthy. I highly suggest reading about it here.

A Very Blustery Day

I love the word blustery. It makes me happy. However, when it's below freezing and blustery it does not make me happy. But I do love a good warm blustery spring day.

With wind chill factored in, it was a whopping 18 degrees outside. I have a ton of pictures for this post because I was having way too much fun with my camera's self-timer.

Unfortunately I don't have a tri-pod, so I have to put my camera on something. Here, it's propped up on the fence.

I wore this running errands. I had to go the post office and grocery store today. I always feel like I accomplish more when I wear a nice outfit.

Usually my mom (or someone else I can rope into it) takes the pictures, but the house was pretty empty today.

This is an outfit I have never worn before because the skirt is new (hahaha, well new to me). I found it thrifting a few weeks ago and it looked too small but i bought it anyway because I am crazy. It ended up somewhat fitting, but was still too tight for comfort....And then I noticed something awesome.

Someone had taken it in! So I promptly took it out and now it fits wonderfully! I am calling it my good lucky skirt because the previous owner lost weight, maybe some will rub off on me :)

I have had this blouse for about 6 years. I remember wearing it for my final speech in speech class freshmen year. I wore it with wide leg pin striped grey slacks and ballet flats. And I killed my speech. I never understood why people didn't like that class, I absolutely adored it!

Also, I am kind of confused about this hat. It looks 30's or 40's, but I really don't know a time frame. It's just the cutest bonnet-style hat. I wear it slightly crooked so the back is to the side on my head rather than at the back of it.

This outfit has an adventurer vibe to it. I felt like a female Indiana Jones when I was wearing it. Don't you just love clothes that make you feel like you can be anything? It's the best. I'm a paleontologist, or an archaeologist, or a sleuthing reporter!



Outfit

Cardigan ~ Thrifted
Bow Blouse ~ Forever XXI
40's/50's Skirt ~ Handmade vintage (thrifted)
Boots ~ Macy's (Zoe & Luca)

Hats Off to You!

Well hello there, sailor! I have not great quality photos again, because I couldn't manage to get any before the sun went down. I was just not going to do any pictures, but I really liked this outfit, and took a bit of time on my hair. This is the result of rag curls. You see, last night I watched the movie, "You'll Never Get Rich" with Rita Hayworth and I was loving the chorus girls curls! (By the way, it's a really cute movie, you should watch it!

Whenever I wear this hat,I also feel like I should be saying, "Hello Sailor!" hahah, I have no idea why, because doesn't even look nautical.

I went out tonight with two of my friends to the movies and we had a fun time. The movie we saw was not that great (Beautiful Creatures) but the costumes were pretty. During the movie I got up to go use the restroom and I got so many looks because two movies were just getting out. It's hard to fly under the radar as it is when you wear vintage, but when you wear vintage and happen to be 6'1", it's entirely impossible. So I just toss my head, hold it up high, and strut like I am on the runway. If they are going to look, I might as well give them a nice show!

This is one of my favorite dresses of all time! It fits me almost perfectly....if it were only about an inch or two longer in the waist, but it still fits very well. I just adore all the details (whoever made it sewed a metal bar across the low part of the neckline, so it would stay flat!). I think it's a late 40's piece because of the construction and the 16 gore swingy skirt.


Have a good weekend guys!

Outfit
Navy 40's Dress ~Antique Mall in Columbus
50's Hat ~ Thrifted
Purple Shoes ~ Kohls

A New Jacket

So, as everyone probably knows, the frigid, arctic, terribly cold weather is still here. Booo! I suppose one benefit to colder weather is the fabulous coats and stockings you can wear.

Speaking of which....

So about a week ago I was at a thrift store, but only had a limited amount of funds. I came across a coat that was really cute, but alas, I did not have quite enough money. So I thought I would wait till I had some more money and then go back and see if it was still there. I was pretty sure it would not be there because it had been a few days, but I went anyway, and to my surprise, it was there! Along with another lovely coat that I bought intending it for my shop.

It's probably from the 70's, but has a very 40's feel to it. With the swing style, the buttons, the fur, and the hood!

In case you were concerned/curious, I wasn't very cold. I know my legs look partially bare, but I was wearing pale pink tights under the lack open-work tights. I actually went to the theater tonight with my friend Caitlin and her family to see a movie that she was an extra in. They filmed the opening scene on location at the Ohio State Fair, and she got to be a pageant contestant. You can actually clearly see her for about 5 seconds!! It was pretty exciting, hopefully she will remember me when she is famous. The movie was called "Parker." Not exactly my type of movie (R rated action flick with tons of gore and cursing) but it was a good time. Especially when our group saw her and all cheered for her.

I blow dryed my hair here. I hardly ever use heat or product on my hair, but I just felt like blow drying it today.

The dress is also 70's with a 40's vibe, but it was probably made for a petite woman, so it looks totally different on me.

As much as I hate the cold, the snow does make for some pretty pictures!

Have a good night :)


Outfit
Coat-Goodwill
Dress- Thrifted
Black tights- Gift from my sister Jaime
Pink Tights- H&M
Boots-Kohls
Heart Necklace- souvenir from a middle school field trip
Gloves- Antique shop

Inspired by Joan

Today I was feeling a bit Joan-ish. That sis Joan from Mad Men. I love her character on the show she's sexy, but at the same time very self-assured, witty, and intelligent. A few days ago I was at a thrift store, and found this great red sweater.

I looked for a tag and discovered it was an original Pendleton sweater! Judging by the style of the tag and the seams on this sweater I would say it could be 50's or 60's. I really love it. So very sweater girl.

Sorry for the dreary weather! But at least I have natural light. It's been in the really high 50's lately so I wasn't cold at all in this.

The necklace is not a pen, like Joan's necklace is, it's a key. My sister made this necklace and gave it to me. I love old skeleton keys. I did some research on this particular one, and found out it was from a company that manufactured door and locks in the 1800's! I always wonder what it was the key to.

The shoes are Paradise Kittens brand! I was so excited when I found them.

My hair was looking a bit bedraggled, so it put it up. The front part is a Dutch braided "headband" and the back I just pinned up in a lot of different places. I thought it was kind of cute.

It was a tad bit wet.


After doing a very "Joan" look I was thinking about doing an outfit inspired by all the main female characters on Mad Men. Not very soon, but I think it would be fun.

Have a great day!

Sweater- Thrifted
Skirt- Hand me down from my sister (it's Lands End from a few years ago).
Necklace- Made by my sister
Shoes- Thrifted
Handbag- Thrifted

The Plight of the Oddly Shaped

Women are so vastly different. Buying clothing from stores is frustrating sometimes because it is hard to come up with shapes and styles to fit every body. Even with specialized sections like petites and talls it's still hard.

source

Fit issues, for me, have been a problem my whole life. When I was a young child (from about 3-9) I was extremely thin and a little on the tall side. My mom had to buy pants from the "slim" section, and even those would fall off. It seemed I was destined to be naturally willowy. But that all changed in 5th grade. I hit puberty early, and fast. I was the only 5th grader in my entire school who had boobs. I wore a 34 B when I was ten and eleven. Not only did that happen, but I gained quite a bit of weight in my face and tummy as well. And along with puberty came a huge growth spurt and I was towering above all the girls and boys. Good thing for me I was never the type prone to low self esteem or depression because I was quite an odd looking duck. In 5th grade I also experienced one of the worst things ever...I had to start shopping in the women's section. I was in denial at first, but I finally gave in when my pretty shirts from Limited Too started to look more like sausage casings and less like pretty shirts. 

All through middle school not much changed. I was chubby and very tall. Around freshman year of high school my weight re-positioned into more of an hourglass shape than an apple, and I had finally stopped growing at 6'1". I never really regained my thinness, I am a definite full hourglass, even though my wrists and ankles are very thin.

A lot of people say that hourglasses look good in almost everything. Well that isn't true at all. If you aren't wearing something that accentuates your waist, you can very well appear larger than you actually are. For me, not only am I an hourglass, but I am also tall. Not just tall, but unusually tall. Most girls over 5'8" consider themselves tall, and maybe they are, but that just make me extra tall. Most tall items that stores carry are still a little on the short side for me. And a lot of the styles I like (vintage/vintage reproduction) don't even have tall sizes available. *sigh*

So what's a tall, hourglass shape like me to do? Or any other non cookie-cutter size for that matter. I would say the est thing would e to make your own clothes. Now I know a lot of women don't really know how to sew, let alone own a sewing machine. But it is really not all that difficult. If you want to learn how I suggest taking a few classes at Jo-Ann's or finding someone in your area who knows how to sew and ask them to give you a few lessons. Personally, I am kind of self-taught, but having a mother and older sister who sew has helped quite a bit. And if it's an expensive sewing machine stopping you, don't let it. If you want to make a good investment a quality machine is great. But you can find great machines at thrift stores, garage sales, or estate sales. I have 2 machines. One was given to me by mother, a 60's or 70's Singer model. And my other machine is another Singer from the 50's with it's own desk. It also came with all the original attachments and accoutrements. It was $75 at a church garage sale, but since I was volunteering at the sale, they gave it to me for $10, which was so very sweet.

Or maybe you simply won't be swayed, There are plenty of seamstresses out there! Find one to make a garment for you. Some people balk at the prices, but the quality is going to be much better, last longer, and fit better than anything else you own. Definitely worth it. And really the price isn't too bad.

If it's vintage clothing you are longing for and can never find anything to fit,I highly recommend the seller on Etsy, TimeMachineVintage. I have been ogling her stuff for months! I don't have the money right now, but eventually I would like to order something from her. Her work is amazing! She can take any vintage pattern and make it to fit you to a T.

All images from TimeMachineVintage on Etsy.

Anyway, hope I have given you something to think about. I am not advertising for her or anything, I just really like her stuff :).