Tag Archives: family

In the Land of Cars

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After visiting with my grandmother, Patrick, my dad, Ann, my sister Shannon and myself made it into Anaheim for three fun filled days at the Disneyland.  Taking cues from our relative who has worked at the park for 45 years, we chose to go to California Adventure first to experience Cars Land and all I can say is WOW!

 

After a late breakfast at Flo’s we spent the rest of the day in Disneyland with a few cousins and as dusk arrived, we headed back over to Cars Land to enjoy the absolutely stunning neon.

Stay tuned for more pictures!  I’m about to step out the door to drop off our 120 film to be developed. I can’t wait to see how they turned out!

Buying Extravaganza

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At the last minute, Patrick was called upon to attend a conference out of state Sunday through Wednesday, so I telephoned my dad to see if I could come down to Eugene and spend some time down there.  He very graciously took time off work and we spent four days shopping. Yes. All day, every day. Well, and partially cleaning out the attic. Which was almost shopping in a sense because we were cruising for inventory.

We visited thrift shops, junk stores and antique malls.  At one shop we spoke with the owner and the conversation ended with us purchasing a vintage rickshaw/pedicab as well as a 1970s Schwinn tandem to add to our bicycle collection.  We also dropped off fresh inventory at the second location of The Atomic Hideaway, located inside my friend Lyndsie’s brand new antique mall Retro Rejuvenation.  (You can read more about her shop in this entry.)  Where I happened to pick up yet another little sheer nylon blouse that I’m sure you’ll see plenty of in these warm summer days.  Cleaning out the attic some revealed some of my old Batman toys, coloring books from the days when my mum was a kindergarten teacher, as well as stationary from the trucking company my dad’s dad was vice president of! Pretty nifty!

  

  

Needless to say I purchased a lot of stuff…our car was pretty full when we hit the road to head back to Portland on Wednesday, but instead of just shooting straight up I-5, we drove over to Florence and took 101 up the coast visiting more antique malls.  By the time we finally arrived in Portland, the car was packed!  Much of what was bought is going into either of the Atomic Hideaway locations, but I did picked up a few things for myself, including a few slips, five pairs of shoes and a handful of other bits and bobbles.

I was also graced with some clothing by my dad’s girlfriend, Ann. Her mother is moving, and subsequently getting rid of a lot of stuff.  I felt very honored that Ann thought of me.  There are a handful of pieces that I will be keeping for myself, including a bubble gum pink Lipman’s sweater set! It’s super adorable!  Other pieces will make their way into the Portland location of The Atomic Hideaway in the very near future.  So keep an eye out!

Mail Call!

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One thing I truly love about the vintage community is that we look out for each other in the sense that many of us have a niche style and when we see something or have something another gal might be interested in, we offer it up, link to it, or, thanks to the 21st century, snap a picture and send it via text message.  Another thing about vintage girls is that we don’t really like to let things go.  Even if an item might not fit anymore.  We just kind of hoard dresses and such until, one day, you meet someone who you know will love the dress just as much as you did, and you know they’ll fit into it.  And recently, this fabulous dress was bestowed upon me due to my love of novelty prints…

Can’t quite tell what’s all over the dress?  Take a closer look…

Yes, those a tiny little postmen and itty bitty letters!

I was simply giddy over it.  It was just so silly!

And did I mention my grandfather was a mail carrier? My mum’s dad spent the majority of his years after the war delivering mail in Nampa, Idaho.  So, I think the dress will hold a pretty special place in my heart. And closet for that matter.

Getting My Mad Men On

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Last night we enjoyed yet another lovely evening at the historic Hollywood Theatre to watch Mad Men on the big screen.  This evenings outfit was brought to you mostly by my grandmother.

I took home this dress (and necklace) during our period of cleaning out her things after she passed away.  Sadly, she didn’t keep much of her clothing from the past.  You can actually see her wearing this dress (and belt!) in this family photo from 1965.

Check out all those nifty glasses everyone is rockin’! My mum is the one on the right in the red sweater.

And guess what! This girl won Best Dressed! I competed against some very lovely gals and one gent, actually! One girl had a marvelous mod coat that I would love to have in my closet one day! Last night’s prize was not just two passes to the Hollywood, but also a jar of Pink Slip Jam!

Okay, I am not joking at all when I say that this is seriously the best jam I have ever had grace my lips. And you want to know what makes it so yummy? The fact that it is made with organic strawberries, cane sugar and lemon juice. Yes, that is it!  It is perfectly sweet with a slight tang due to the lemon and is simply delightful.  I could eat it all day.  You can get your hands on some of this deliciousness (which is Naked Fraises, along with many other flavors) by purchasing on-line using the above link.

I will not have an entry for next week’s episode, since Patrick and I will be up in the air, flying back from San Francisco while the episode is airing, and will have to catch it on OnDemand later in the week.

Outfit
Earrings & Bracelet: Gift
Necklace, Dress, & Belt: Were my grandmother’s
Shoes: Yeah, yeah, I know you’ve seen ‘em before! I simply don’t have very many pairs of 60s (or 60s style) shoes…Anyhow, Hollywood Babylon, Portland.
Purse: The Clothes Horse, Eugene

Other Episode Outfits
501/502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513

Read about the episode (spoiler alert!) after the cut!

Continue reading →

Mad Men a Go-Go

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Last night once again found Patrick and myself at the Hollywood for an evening of drinks and the shenanigans of SCDP.  And this time, I couldn’t help breaking out the go-go boots…

The dress was my mother’s.  I love having things from her closet.  Here you can see her in the dress in front of her college graduation presents.

These later 60s fashions in the show have really given me a bit of a throwback to my early days in vintage when I relied upon my mum’s high school and college wardrobe.  And just like my outfit from episode 503, this dress also once belonged to my mum.  And despite how amazing I thought I looked, I lost out in the Best Dressed contest, to a gal in what appeared to be a late 50s or early 60s black lace party dress with a lovely boat neckline.  She also rocked a crinoline, and although crinolines were just about out of vogue by 1966, they’re always good in my book.  Patrick made the observation that it isn’t who’s the most period accurate, but who is dressed the fanciest.  Oh well.

Outfit
Dress: Was my mother’s
Headband: The Clothes Horse, Eugene
Earrings: Antique Alley, Portland
Brooch: Don’t remember…I’ve had it since middle school.
Bangles: Gifts over the years
Go-go boots: Ebay

Other Episode Outfits
501/502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513

Once again, the rest of the entry discusses the episode and there be spoilers ahead…

Continue reading →

100 Percent Less Joan

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Last night brought another flock of people to the Hollywood Theatre to watch Mad Men on the big screen.  And another Best Dressed contest.  For the evening, I wore a number that was my mum’s from her years at college…

Take a peek at my mum in the dress.  She enjoyed pairing it with a red with white polka-dot bow.

While there were about 30 people who came up on stage for the season premiere, last night only four, including myself, braved the stage lights.  I didn’t win, but I was okay with that. I lost to a well dressed older woman.  I think next week though I’ll break out my fringe dress, and that’ll wow ‘em!  And at some point the go-go boots will make an appearance!

As for the episode itself…it was tad disappointing, I won’t lie. As our host Nico Bella put it, the episode had “100 percent less Joan than last time”.  Instead the episode brought back Betty, in a manner I wasn’t quite expecting, and focused on Peggy being passed over for “someone with a penis” as Roger put it with regards to the return of Mohawk Airlines to the agency, as well as some more insight into Roger and Don.  I enjoyed their private conversation over Pete’s dig, and Don discussing Betty’s possible cancer.  I am also eager to see if Don’s new, African-American secretary, Dawn, will become anything aside from being part of a Don/Dawn joke.

Outfit
Dress: Was my mother’s
Earrings: Antique Alley
Shoes: The Clothes Horse, Eugene

Other Episode Outfits
501/502, 504, 505, 506, 507, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513

The Perfect St. Patty’s Day Dress

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With St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday, shop windows are filled with green shamrocks and red-headed leprechauns under colorful rainbows.  For me, St. Patrick’s Day has always been a holiday I ignored.  To be quite honest, leprechauns give me the heeby-jeebies.  But when I saw this dress I knew I had to buy it, not only was it drop dead adorable, but it was rather St. Patrick’s Day-y…

The dress appears home-made, and the pink fabric is dotted with tiny rosebuds.  I couldn’t get over the adorable little keyhole sleeves! Talk about too cute!

Another reason I’ve never been too keen on the holiday is that I’m not a big drinker, especially of beer. (*gasp!* A Portlander who doesn’t like beer! I know!) and I’m not all that familiar with my Irish heritage to know of anything special to do for the holiday.  However, I am hopeful that the lack of knowledge regarding my heritage is going to change real soon.  Patrick bought me an Ancestry.com membership and I’m diving into my background.  My mum has pretty well taken care of her side of the family, tracing us back to 495 AD in England, and we were among some of the first people to come to America in the 1630s.  And we may or may not be related to Myles Standish who came over on the Mayflower – that connection has yet to be solidified.  I’m looking forward to learning where I came from, as well as learning more about Patrick’s side of the family.  His grandfather on his mother’s side came here from Italy in 1932! And there has been rumor that his grandmother on his dad’s side was part Cherokee, so I’m looking forward to learning more about that.

I hope you all have a lovely and safe St. Patrick’s Day!