If you happen to be on Vancouver Island for September 25th - 26th...

Last year, as many of you may recall, Tony and I had the great pleasure of taking a two week trip to Vancouver Island, which I documented in the weeks and months that followed through a series of blog posts, including this one that recapped some of the biggest and best highlights of our time on this southerly part of the province.

Absolutely, hands down, no questions asked, one of the coolest and most memorable of those experiences was attending day one (of two) of the annual Victoria Vintage Expo, which is being held on Friday September 25th and Saturday September 26th this year.

Though, (very!) sadly, for a host of reasons, including Tony's work travel schedule, it isn't possible for us to venture to Vancouver Island again this year (*sad face*). However, I had such an amazing time there last year that I wanted to let all of you guys know about the fact that another Victoria Vintage Expo was coming down the pipeline soon.




I fully realize that the bulk of my blog readers do not reside in British Columbia or anywhere near it, but for those who happen to or who might, by pure coincidence be in the area at the end of this month, I would be remiss if I didn't let you know about this event.

BC, and Canada in general, as I'd mentioned many a time before, does not have a lot of vintage related events, let alone one of the caliber, scope, and attendance of the Victoria Vintage Expo. Coving two floors of the historical Crystal Garden building in downtown Victoria, this awesome event sees dozens of (mostly vintage, but also some handmade, artisanal food, and vintage related) sellers coming together to peddle their fabulous wares (including a tons of vintage clothing, jewelry, and accessories, with no shortage of early and mid-twentieth century offerings).

While at the same time over the course of the those two days, there is plenty of live entertainment, a vintage fashion show, great on-site food and drinks, and even some folks dressed in vintage - which believe me, is an exceedingly rare sight usually even in a big city like Victoria.

It was, bar none, the biggest, most enjoyable, and busiest vintage fair (or any vintage event for that matter) that I have ever attended and I truly can't urge you enough to schedule a few hours on one or both of those days to head on down to the Victoria Vintage Expo and check out this thriving, incredible vintage event for yourself, if you can.


This year's expo will be taking place on:

Friday 25th from 4pm – 10pm

Saturday 26th from 10am – 6pm

Admission is just $8.00 single day or a mere $9.00 for a weekend pass, with kids 13 and under and getting in for free.

It will be held at the Crystal Garden building located at 713 Douglas Street in Victoria, BC.

Should you have any questions, you can send them to vintagefairvictoria@gmail.com and/or connect with the organizers via the event's Facebook page.


So while I won't be there this year in person, I will most certainly be attending in spirit and hope that some of you will be able to take part (for real) yourselves. Definitely feel free to share your Victoria Vintage Expo experiences with me if you do go.

Fingers crossed we'll be able to make it to 2016's – my vintage loving heart gets giddy at the mere thought! :)

In which I feed a little herd of seals - also known as one of the best days of my life!

Outfit details

Blue and white bandana: eBay
Red plastic rose earrings: Claire's
Red plastic vintage necklace: Gift with online purchase years ago
Plaid shirt: Warehouse One
Burgundy lace trimmed camisole: Fairweather
Vintage reproduction green knit bolero: Miss Beta Knits
Vintage white, blue and red enamel anchor brooch: (probably) eBay
Side button 1940s style jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Blue and white plastic stretch bracelets: Both thrifted
Red cross body mini satchel bag: eBay
Black and white saddle shoes: eBay
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red


Photography by Tony Cangiano

♥ ♥ ♥

The past four months have flown by nearly at the speed of light. A mixture of marvelous holidays, poor health, bursts of productivity, powerful snow storms, and the start of 2015. Some days it feels like a rather long time since we were on Vancouver Island and yet there are also moments when it's almost as though we're still there. Those two weeks were the one of the biggest highlights of the past year for both Tony and I, who adore traveling to no end, so the latter point comes as no surprise to me.

Ill health and equally poor weather has not made for the best of conditions when it comes to taking photos around these parts lately, so before January wraps up entirely, I wanted to share at least one outfit post with you this month and thus I'm dipping into the Victoria trip vault and pulling out these snaps from what was truly an incredibly fun afternoon.

You may remember from my post 10 highlights from our awesome trip to Vancouver Island, that I chatted about the rainy day on which we had the immense joy of feeding a small herd of harbour seals at the wharf in Victoria.

Seals have been one of my favourite animals for as far back as I have memories, but never before that day had I gotten the chance to get anywhere near that close to them - let alone help to give them a free lunch! :)

The seals that congregate at the wharf there know that tourists and locals alike want nothing more than to provide them with freshly caught fish (which one purchases from a small fish monger's shop a few feet from the water's edge), but even if they're used to interacting with humans, that doesn't mean that they're not still entirely wild. They most certainly are and it's important to keep that in mind if you're interacting with these darling creatures.

Known, entirely affectionately, to locals as Rock Sausages, the seals are a hearty, friendly bunch, each with their own distinct personalities. It was fascinating to kneel down on the dock, heavy raindrop all but landing with a thud around me, and gingerly hand fish to these beautiful marine mammals. Their behaviour struck both Tony and I instantly of being incredibly dog-like and indeed, one of the sweetest of the bunch reminded us a great deal of our own dog, Annie.

It doesn't take long to feed a hungry pack of harbour seals a small plate of fish, so once we had (and after we'd taken no shortage of photographs of them), Tony and I ventured a little further down the wharf to a walkway that runs between the rows of vibrantly coloured floating homes that also reside in this corner of the mighty Pacific Ocean.

Knowing this was going to be a rugged sort of outdoors-y day, I'd dressed the part in an outfit centered my beloved Freddies of Pinewood 1940s style side button jeans and a truly fantastic bespoke pine green knit bolero that my dear friend Beta from Miss Beta Knits created for me as an incredibly kind review gift last year.

Beta, a passionate knitter, mother, wife, and fellow vintage loving lady resides in Portugal and is truly one of the kindest and sweetest people you could ever cross paths with. Her charming Etsy shop is filled with a carefully curated selection of knits that she creates using genuine mid-century patterns, such as scarves, gloves, berets, and boleros akin to the one I'm wearing in these photos. Beta also takes custom orders, so if there's a knit project you've been hankering to have made she may very well be the gal for the job.

This is the second product that I've received and review from Beta (the first was one of her fabulous Miss Marple scarves) and I truly hope that it's not the last that I'm able to add to my wardrobe from her talented knitting needles, because both are extremely well made, comfortable, soft, and delightfully vintage appropriate.

I have sported this dark green knit bolero more than any other sweater of cardigan in my wardrobe this fall and winter (especially during Christmas time, when its holiday tree hue was especially fitting) and I absolute love it to bits. It's chunky and cozy and as every bit as sweet as those precious harbour seals were.

Though four months have passed since we left for our two week holiday to Vancouver Island, the memories of that adventure packed fortnight are crystal clear in my mind still and I know that many of them, especially those of the day we fed a little heard of uber adorable seals will stay with me always. A dear and beautiful reminder of just how special Mother Nature and all her wild children are - not to mention how much they adore being handed platefuls of their favourite food!

Bar none, this was/is one of my favourite days in my whole life and I'm so happy to that we captured it on camera. You can bet your last smelt that I'll be down at the dock tossing fish to the seals the next - and all future - time(s) I'm in the majestically lovely city of Victoria and should you happen to be there yourself, I can't recommend doing so highly enough. It really is one of the more enjoyable experiences that you could ever have!

A hearty, classic meatloaf recipe - plus just one more day until we go to Vancouver Island!

Travel has always been incredibly important to me, just as it is for many folks the world over, but the older I get the stronger I feel a powerful pull to venture forth and see more and more of the world, be it new destinations or returning favourites. Tomorrow, as we head off for two weeks spent savouring beautiful Vancouver Island, the latter will be the case.

As I haven't been there since I was 14 and my darling Tony has never set foot on the Island, there will certainly be an element of newness and discover to the journey for both of us. We hope to balance "doing" with relaxing, as we're both been working exceptionally hard this year and massively need some genuine R&R of the sort that our lovely fortnight on British Columbia's largest island will hopefully deliver.

Before we tuck the last suitcase in the case however, I wanted to take a quick moment and share a delicious, stick to your ribs kind of recipe that is so awesomely well suited to these early (very nearly!) days of fall: Vegetable Beef Loaf.
 
A few simple, relatively low cost ingredients, many (if not all) of which you may have to hand already, are all it takes to create this filling, taste bud pleasing take on one of the most classic dishes of all time. I love a hearty meatloaf like this, but as red meat and some my GI conditions are anything but BBFs, I always make mine with ground turkey or chicken and both do a wonderful job here. You could of course, if you like, create this dish with your favourite meat alternative crumble, thus making it vegetarian or vegan, just depending on what substitute you used (and if you forgo the eggs and use a vegan type of fat).

I make this with gluten-free bread that I dry out for a few hours on the counter first and enjoy playing around with the seasoning and vegetables, just depending on my mood and what's kicking around in the kitchen on a given day. It both reheats and freezes very well, and can also easily be multiplied many times over, depending on how big the hungry crowd you're planning to feed might be.

Just as when I was a little girl, my favourite way to serve meatloaf is with extra fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes and fresh carrot sticks (a little homemade cinnamon apple sauce on the side never hurt either), and that is how I generally serve it, but a nice rice pilaf, quinoa dish, big green salad, roasted root veggies, or any number of other sides also compliment this vintage meatloaf's juicy, wonderful flavour very well. This is definitely one of those dishes you'll soon find yourself weaving into your dinner rotation often during the coming chilly months as we part ways with summer once again.

{From potlucks to weekday dinners to Halloween party spreads, this timeless, budget friendly, easy to prepare 1950s vegetable meatloaf recipe is sure to be a big hit all through the fall and winter, when comfort food is a culinary must! Image source.}

♥ ♥ ♥

While I won't be blogging from the road (I will have my laptop with me though, but doubt I'll be on it all that much), I will be posting oodles of snaps and updates about our exciting adventures on Instagram and Twitter, if you want to follow along with our trip there.

Last year's travels to Calgary, Alberta proved to be one of the most poignant and important experiences of my adult life (as I detailed in this deeply personal post after we returned home) and while I'm not necessarily expecting this jaunt to Victoria to have quite such a profound impact, one never knows how travel will affect, better and alter their lives and I am 100% open to whatever Vancouver Island brings my way.

I love to grow and expand as a person, to broaden my horizons, to learn and to be reminded of just how much there is always is still to discover in the world, and travel excels on all those fronts - and so many more, too!

Until we chat again here, my dears, have a truly fabulous start of autumn and please enjoy (and be sure to leave comments on) all of the wonderful guests posts from the awesome group of vintage bloggers that I have lined up for you while we're off gazing out at the stunning Pacific Ocean for the next couple of weeks.

We're going to Vancouver Island for two awesome weeks!

At long last, after at least four months since the first major steps towards our next genuine vacation (aka, not a work related trip of Tony's that I tag along for, but an outright, good, old-fashioned holiday) materialized, I can finally reveal to you today that later this month, we're going to be spending two weeks on Vancouver Island.

{Image source}

 

We've rented a small, beautifully furnished and equipped private house (via the very handy online service and hotel alternative Airbnb) in Victoria, which will be our base while on Island. A lot of the time there will no doubt be spent in Victoria itself, but we also hope to take some daytrips elsewhere, such as Nanaimo, Duncan, and Sooke - perhaps even as far north as Campbell River, where I've heard very good things about a vintage clothing shop called, rather charmingly, Britches and Hose (though at some three hours away from Victoria, there's no guarantee we'll make it there - hopefully!).

Just as when we headed to Vancouver last spring, I've lined up a few really terrific guest posts from fellow vintage bloggers to keep things active here in my absence. My Etsy shop will also remain open while I'm away from home and new orders are certainly welcome, though it should be noted that they won't ship out until I'm home again in early October.

While I have been to Vancouver Island and B.C.'s capital city of Victoria before, I haven't set even so much as one foot on this large, majestically beautiful Pacific Ocean hugged chunk of land since I was 14 years old - more than half my lifetime ago and I don't profess for the tiniest of moments to know the layout of the city very well. In fact, save for a few major attractions and standout memories from my early youth, there's little I know firsthand about this vibrant city, which makes me all the more excited to hop in the car later this month and hightail down there to quickly learn a whole lot more.

We'll be leaving Penticton on September 22nd and returning on the evening of October 4th. As usual when we go away, Annie will be staying at the lovely dog boarding kennel in Oliver that she just adores and my sweet mother will be house sitting our place and looking after our cat, Stella in our absence.

{Image source}

 

As Victoria is situated on an island floating out in the ocean off the shores of our province of British Columbia, it can only be reached by air travel or ferry and it is the latter that we'll be floating on to reach our lovely holiday destination. I've always madly adored taking the ferry to the Island and am as giddy about the prospect of doing so as I am about any other element of this trip, which is a much needed breather from the daily grind for both Tony and I.

I (we) intentionally timed our trip to Victoria to correspond with the upcoming annual Victoria Vintage Expo, which is taking place there on September 26th and 27th. I'll be going as a shopper, not a seller this time around, but who knows, perhaps I'll be back in future years with a table of my own. There are so few events like this in our province, let alone ones I'm able to make it to (the few that do exist are are usually located hours away from Penticton), so I'm truly jumping for joy at the prospect of attending one of B.C.'s only vintage expos.

In fact, I'm hopping with happiness about this whole trip. We worked very hard, saved and sacrificed incredibly diligently, and put in a lot of effort to make this trip happen. I'm so glad that we did, because there are few things - even knowing that hitting the road will do a number on my health, as it always does - that I adore, or gain more from, in this world than travel.

Yippee! Hurrah! And three very big - and very excited - cheers! Here we come (okay, in three weeks time), Victoria - prepare to be two residents richer for a couple of weeks and a little lighter on the vintage clothing and jewelry front when we leave! :)