A Valentine’s Day postcard from my blogging vacation

Greetings, sweetest readers, how have you been lately? I really cannot believe that a whole week zoomed past this my last post. In the time since then I’ve accomplished some – but not all – of what I’d wanted to (as well as other things that I’d put off and suddenly realized I had the time to complete), done a lot of thinking regarding how to approach blogging in the future, and have also just breathed, allowing myself (for whom having idle hands never feels natural) to do nothing but relax here and there.

Last weekend I estimated that I’d return from my “blogcation” today, however some of my conditions are flaring up (not because I pushed myself too hard during my time off, but simply because no matter what, several of them act up every month due hormonal reasons relating to my monthly cycle) and I’m on bed rest at the moment. Thus, I’m afraid that I am going to have to tentatively extend my blogging break until this middle of this coming week (hopefully no longer than that!). Provided I feel well enough, I’m aiming to post the next weekly recipe this coming Wednesday – and launch back into more frequent posts after that.

During these days off I’ve continued to contemplate how best to approach the blog comment situation that had been weighing so heavily on my mind recently. I still do not feel like I’ve come with the “perfect solution”. As I stated in my last post, I think that I simply have to accept that I’m not always able to visit every one of the blogs of those who visit me (much as I truly wish I could, both because I want to say thank you personally for visiting my blog, and because I love and gather immense inspiration from your own sites). Yet, I will continue to try my best to get to as many as I can, when my health allows.

I want to extend my sincere thanks again to everybody who has provided me with their own insight and suggestions regarding this situation. I value and appreciate your wise and deeply caring words greatly.

(On a different note...) Tomorrow marks the annual day of love and romance. It provides us with an ideal time to pledge (or perhaps reveal for the first time) your adoration towards someone special, to reflect on past and present relationships, and embrace the joyful spirit that love inherently imparts to the world.


{This tremendously cute pair of Kewpie dolls is here to help me wish you all the loveliest of Valentine’s Days, no matter how you choose to spend it! Vintage postcard via riptheskull’s Flickr stream.}


I realize that Valentine’s Day is not everyone’s cup of tea, but even if you can live without the flowers and chocolates, the cut-out tissue paper cupids and sentimental love poems, I hope that you’re able to join in the greater sense of amicability that February 14th represents.

Today and always, know that I love and cherish each of you, dearest friends and visitors, so very much and that from the bottom of my heart I am wishing you a delightfully beautiful Valentine’s Day!

Trying very hard to find the right balance (but I could really use your help)

{Vintage photo via cessnal152towser’s Flickr stream.}

Last night I could not sleep. I tossed and turned (thankfully my husband is a fairly sound sleeper and didn’t hear my stirrings), repeatedly got out of bed only to lay back down moments later. Such an occurrence is by no means entirely uncommon for me, but there are times when something is weighing heavily enough one one’s mind to the point of robbing them of slumber, that it is best to seek advice from those near and dear you. I sincerely value each of your opinions and friendships, and want to talk bluntly to you all about something that has been eating away at me for quite some time now, in the hopes that you could help me out with it.

A recent conversation with a very dear friend (and fellow blogger/photographer) of mine in which I spoke candidly about certain elements relating to my health helped to give me the courage I needed to turn to my readers for their impute on this matter. (Once the flood gates have opened, as they say...)

I’ll spare you the details (trust me, you want to be spared), but in short I am not in a good state of health. I have not been since I was 18 years old (I’m 25.5 now), as that was the age at which I developed almost all of the chronic illnesses that I now have (more recently however, one cropped up about three years ago). I’m not, truly thankfully, dying or facing a massive medical crisis at this moment, so please do not think that I was leading this post in that direction.

One of the by-products of some of my conditions (I have about a dozen different major, chronic illnesses and a small number of lesser, but still chronic, problems) is that they greatly impede on the amount of time I’m able to spend on the computer each day.

On what I’d dub a “fantastic day”, I’m able to devote about 1.5 hours to being at my computer (many days this number is smaller, very occasionally it’s slightly higher). Due largely to one of my conditions in particular, I’m forced to break my computer usage time up into approximately two to ten minute intervals throughout the day. While I wish I could spend hours on my laptop daily, doing so is not possible at this point in my life and I have come to terms with this. I’m grateful for the time that I do have on the computer and try to use it as wisely as I can.

However, it is virtually impossible for me to stay on top of everything I need (let alone “want”) to get done online, because my computer time is so greatly limited. Between emails, writing blog posts, administering and maintaining a website (that I founded in 2004) for people who share one of my conditions, devoting time to my photography, doing research, and a trove of other online activities (which, believe me, I’ve already greatly scaled back over the last few years), I continually feel as though I’m falling further and further behind on almost everything I need to do online and on my desktop (e.g. writing blog posts).

Over the past couple of days I took an earnest stab at trying to catch up on the wonderful comments that have been left for me during the last two weeks here on Chronically Vintage, however I wasn’t able to visit all of your blogs. This bothers me so, so much (I honestly get stomach pains just thinking that I’ve not been able to come visit all those who took the time out of their day to visit my site and share their awesome thoughts with me), yet sometimes in life one has to admit defeat. In this case, I’ve been whopped by the sheer volume of comments I’ve received lately.

As I say that, please know that from the bottom of my soul, I am massively appreciative of each of those comments. I cannot stress enough how much I treasure your visits and the wonderful words you leave beneath my humble posts.

And so in lies the predicament. As many of you know, staying up-to-date with your comments (by which I mean visiting and commenting on the sites of those who stop by your blog) can just about become a full time job – or at the very least, take upwards of several hours a day. I have to be perfectly honest, it is beyond my physical ability at this point in time to spend multiple hours a day on the computer (on any activity, be it writing posts, visiting blogs or otherwise), and so I’m left racked with guilt now because I haven’t been able to catch up with all of your comments.

Up until this point, about 98% of the time I have managed to catch-up sooner or later on your comments, but this time I simply cannot. I’m truly sorry. I fully understand (and am not upset in the least) if some of my readers opt to no longer comment if I’m not able to comment on their sites. Please know that I will always give it my “fighting best” when it comes to staying abreast with your comments, but that sometimes doing so isn’t possible for me.

I need your advice. I will always permit comments on my posts, and I love hearing from you all, but I do not know how to approach the fact that sometimes I’m simply not able to keep up with your comments. What do you suggest I do?

As my readers, will some of you be hurt if, from time to time, I’m not able to comment as frequently on your posts as you may on mine? How to I determine what a good balance of time spent on replying to comments is? Perhaps is there something I can do to make up for not being able visit you on certain days?

Am I, as I know my very level headed husband would likely say, worrying about this perceived issue too much? Please, I implore you, tell me how you would handle this situation if you were in my shoes? (Yes, I do see the irony in asking for comments.)

With every fiber of my being, thank you for reading this post and for your impute, sweet friends.

Is this normal? Question about new hot roller set

Hi my wonderful dears, just a quick question as the mister and I are heading out momentarily. I’ve been getting ready (hair, make-up, etc) to go and decided that I want to add a dose of curl to my (naturally) straight-as-an-arrow hair, so, after reading the instruction pamphlet and removing any packaging, I decided to plug in a new set of hair rollers that I recently picked up at Shoppers Drug Mart (a Canadian drug store chain).

I’d been wanting a set for ages, especially since I know some of you vintage loving gals have spoken highly of the merits of hot rollers. So having saved up enough “Shoppers Optimum” bonus points from prior purchases to be able to get a set for free (it took ages to save enough!), I recently grabbed the only version (“Solutions” by Vidal Sassoon) that the (fairly large) location I was at had on the shelf. (I couldn’t find an image of the exact model I have online, but did come across this one which looks extrememly similar.)

Today I plugged my set in for the first time and had barely had it on for two minutes when I began to notice a smell (sort of chemically) emanating from the unit. It wasn’t overpowering or enough for my husband, who was in another room, to detect from where he was, but I could definitely smell something (and not just that “hot” metallic smell that curling and flat irons sometimes get while they’re heating up). A few seconds later I thought I saw a teeny whiff of smoke, so I immediately unplugged the unit. As far as I can see it (the unit) looks entirely normal and it certainly did not feel overly warm (the instructions said to plug it in for ten minutes before using and there’s no way I’d had it on for any more than three minutes), so I was a bit baffled as to why it might smell.

I’ve never owned a set of hot rollers before and have no prior experience with them, so my question to all of you who’ve used this kind of styling product is, is it normal for your hot roller unit to smell the first time you plug it and heat it up?


{Just longing for soft vintage curls like the ones Ann Sothern sports here, I’m not trying to start a five alarm blaze with my new hot roller set! Gorgeous image via Myvintagevogue’s Flickr stream.}


As we’ve got to get going in a matter of minutes, I just turned off and unplugged the unit and figured I’d ask my question before attempting to heat up the set of hot rollers up a second time. (I looked all over the box and through the instructions, but could not find a 1-800 number anywhere to call and ask the manufacturer directly.)

I don’t want to risk starting a fire, so before I try turning my hot roller set on again, is it normal for them to emit a bit of an odour the first time or do I have a defective unit that should be returned?

Huge thanks in advance for your thoughts and insight on this matter, everyone. I hope you’re each having a marvelous Sunday evening!