Celebrate my Etsy shop's 2nd birthday with a 32% off flash sale!

Two years ago, on a day both much akin to, and also very different from, today, I took my life - and career - in an exciting new direction and opened an Etsy store dedicated to selling vintage and antique treasures of the sort that have brought me joy ever since I was a young child.

This wasn't a decision that I rushed into, nor that I came to lightly. I poured countless hours of thought, discussion, and research into the topic before Chronically Vintage on Etsy came into being.

No matter how long I live, I will never forget the rush of emotions and thoughts that were swirling through my mind and heart alike when the big day came! It was a magical experience and I was touched to my core to receive some of my very first sales (as well as plenty of others since then) from my very dear blog readers here.

In the twenty-four months that have passed since that day in 2014, my shop has grown and flourished in ways I could hardly have conceived of back then. I've gone from less than a hundred listings initially to having as many as 1,100 items in the shop at once (a record that was hit last November and which I hope to surpass later on this year).

I've been honoured to receive a good percentage of my business from repeat customers around the world, supplied items to dozens of brides for their special days, sold vintage goods to numerous Hollywood production and theater companies in both the US and UK (including having some of my vintage gloves worn on the TV series The Astronaut's Wives Club), and grown both as a person and a business woman with each every piece that has sold from my shop.

With all my heart, I want to thank you, my readers and customers, for your fantastic support and business over the past two years. It has been an incredible experience selling to many of you and I look forward to continuing to do so as Chronically Vintage head's into its next year of life.







Whether you're a returning or first time customer, to celebrate this joyful occasion, I invite you to pop on over to my shop, where you will currently find every single item on sale for 32% off (I was planning to offer 30% off, but it struck me that since this is my shop's second birthday, "32" would make more sense :)).

This flash sale is on from today, May 6th, until Wednesday May 11th. All prices have already been marked down and no coupon codes are needed. Simply add any item(s) you wish to your cart and watch the savings pile up!

A lot has changed in my world and in some respects, with my shop as well, since this same date two years ago, but what remains the same is my commitment to providing top-notch customer service, wonderful vintage treasures, and a fantastic buying experience for each and every person who visits my shop.

These points will never waver and you can bet that as Chronically Vintage on Etsy heads into its next year of life, things will only get better and more exciting there!

On Being Married to a Time Traveller

Today, on our 11th wedding anniversary, I have a special treat for you: a deeply beautiful - and incredibly touching - guest post written by my beloved husband, Tony, who wanted to share some of his poetically eloquent thoughts on what it's like to be married to a vintage lover with the blogging world.



I met my wife on the first day of spring over a decade ago. It’s the only day of the year in which day and night are equal in length. Just as she, I would later come to find out, lives equally in the present and in the past.

Before meeting in person (we met online) Jessica described her hourglass figure as akin to that of a lady of other times. A ‘Renaissance painting’, I believe, was the term that she used. Though she was referring to her curvaceous body, her description betrayed a certain nostalgia. A wistful affection for the past that I'm no stranger to myself.

Her brand of nostalgia is a special kind however. Her longing is not just for happy times lived a decade or two ago when everything was a possibility and the world a wondrous place in the eyes of our younger selves.  No. Her nostalgia is for times never lived firsthand and long gone. Times forgotten by most. But not by my wife.

The past was after all the present for so many now forgotten souls. Their hopes and dreams, their fears, their daily struggles and joys, their accomplishments and failures, their style and mannerisms, their recipes. All overlooked by most of society as quaint or even unimportant details these days. We have to live our own present and focus on the future. No time to look back; there are bills to pay, apps to run on glowing screens.

Time is a gentle wind, but it never rests. And we are all but leaves carried away, flying in the air, stumbling, touching the ground, hitting a tree or two, and then soaring, before falling again. Merely passengers sharing the same sky, occasionally flying into each other. "Avec le temps, va, tout s’en va."

Those forgotten, expired leaves in the wind deeply matter to Jessica. She takes stock of their passing like she would do for friend who left too soon, without a chance to exchange a few more tender words.

My wife is not normal. Not even close. Everything about her is shaped by her passion for the past. Her taste in movies and music, her vocabulary, her clothing, her class, and her graceful elegance. Each aspect of her reminds you of a lady living in another time.

{Image from Tony's Instagram account}

"Are you an actress in a play?", we often hear from inquiring minds. Her reply, "No, I just really love, and therefore choose to wear, vintage style all the time", surprises people. Some can hardly contain their suspicion for a person who has violated the social norm by simply showing up and being herself. A different self from what is expected. Others root for her, clearly wishing they had the same courage. Because courage is what it takes to break rank so conspicuously.

To those who think she is weird I say that they are right. She is weird to the minds of those who never allowed themselves to color outside the lines. To the rest of us, she is wonderful, imaginative, unique, herself, original, colorful. She's a 1940s feather hat in a hat-less world; a poodle skirt in a crowd of leggings. Seeing her amongst 21st century society is like a sudden rain shower in August that penetrates your clothes, to refresh and surprise you as it kisses your skin.

Being married to a time traveller is an adventure at the edge of multiple ages. Every new place that we visit is examined through the lens of the past that led to its current state. I tag along as I see her approaching this past with the respect of someone who is happily willing to listen without interrupting.

To some she is embodies a unique style no longer in vogue. Other see her as an eccentric. Less understanding eyes might go as far as considering her an attention seeker. That's not what Jess is about in the slightest. The moon doesn’t put on a show each night to be seen and admired. She does so because that’s who she is.

Make no mistake. Much like fictional time travellers, Jess cannot stay in the past indefinitely and has no desire to actually live indefinitely - where such possible - in the decades she hold so dear. Her chronic medical conditions alone wouldn’t have allowed her to survive even a few short decades ago. Her trips to days long gone then must be brief.

With each one she brings the most worthwhile elements of the past into the present. Elements worth preserving and celebrating. Never to be forgotten again. Not if she can help it at least.

So she goes on, preserving the past, surviving the present, taking romantic dates in nostalgic lands and times.

I know you by your legs

Okay, potentially creepy/stalkerish sounding post title, I know, but I promise you there is an entirely innocent explanation behind it! :)

You see, as a general rule, when reading posts in my feed reader (Bloglovin'), I do so by starting with the oldest posts first, which are at the bottom of the page of new entries. Thus as I work my way from the end of the list to the top, I often see a person's feet and/or legs first as a photo accompanying an outfit post appears.

{1940s image source}

I've been reading my feeds like this for years now and have been following many of the blogs that those gams belong to the authors of, for far longer still. As such, I can often tell who a new post is from before I even scroll up to the part that says the blog's name, simply by seeing their feet/legs. I find this rather charming and hope you'll see it as such, too, for it leads me to a far greater point.

In about two weeks from now, this blog will hit 6.5 years of life. In that time I've had the great pleasure of getting to cross paths with literally thousands of fellow bloggers (vintage and otherwise). Some for the briefest of spells, others for multiple years, and some for longer still than I myself have been penning a vintage blog (I started following their sites prior to launching to my own). Quite a few of these folks have become friends - also for varying lengths of time - and a few have become so dear to me they feel like sisters.

It's scarcely a state secret that the vintage blogging world has shrunk somewhat in the last (roughly) three years (a point that I briefly touched on in this post). There are a plethora of reasons (the rise of certain "instant share" sites like Instagram certainly being one them) for this and I won't go into great deal about such here now. Suffice it to say, the vintage blogging pool is not as vast as it once was and that makes me all the more grateful for those who are still keeping at 'er, as I myself am, too.

No matter if such folks are blogging peers, personal acquaintances, friends, or die-hard BFFs, I know them - or in other words, I know you. Whether we've only talked through our blogs - perhaps even one sided-ly (in other words, I've commented on your site, but you haven't on mine) - or have conversed elsewhere, too, by sheer virtue of the fact that you've been sharing part of your life with me - and the world - online for quite some time, I genuinely feel like I know you and this is a beautiful thing unto itself.

I appreciate all of my fellow bloggers, particularly the vintage ones, as we walk a similar path in this new found digital world of ours. I find myself remembering fellow blogger's birthdays, anniversaries, and even due dates. I know who adores 1940s swing dresses, who can't get enough of two tone 30s shoes, and who 1950s circle skirts make go positively weak in the knees.

From BF/GF/husband/wife/partner's names to what people studied in school to favourite colours and foods, a body of knowledge has been acquired and cataloged for many of my fellow bloggers simply by virtue of the fact of how long I've known them and how frequently I've read their wonderful blogs. I have know doubt that many of you reading this post today can say the same about me and I love that fact.

Even the most raw, open and honest person never shares everything about themselves online - and that's a good thing (we all need and deserve some privacy, after all), but we all present a certain version of who we are to the world via our blogs (and social media presences) and what we opt to divulge or not.

Whether we chose to be an open book or present a very curated picture of ourselves and our lives, we still share who we are and those who give of themselves and their time to kindly follow our sites, learn about us through our photos, what we write, and sometimes even what is left unsaid.

I guess what I'm trying to say is how much I care for and appreciate every single one of you, my fellow bloggers and friends. Thank you for opening up your lives with me and allowing me to do the same here day after day, week after week, and ultimately year after year.

We've shared so much and I hope that a great deal more lies in store for all of us who continue to keep our blogs alive and going strong. I look forward to getting to know you even better - shoes and all - and hope that we can keep on supporting one another's sites, efforts (long term frequent blogging is a huge amount of work and very often a sheer labour of love for those doing so, especially in a relatively small niche like the vintage world), and cheer each other on as we continue to blog, share and grow as both individuals and an online community as a whole.

Looking back to move forward on the eve of Chronically Vintage's sixth birthday

Do you ever stop and think about when your blog was brand new? When you were a novice blogger and everything felt exciting and challenging and like you couldn't soak up knowledge fast enough? There was joy and trepidation, rocky starts and times when you felt as though you’d hit the ground running so quickly you could have broken the sound barrier.

Your blog might have been your first adventure in online writing (Chronically Vintage wasn't mine; I'd been running various websites since 2004, a full five years before this site sprang to life), but chances are it quickly became one of your very favourites and a place where, understandably, you devoted a substantial amount of your time, attention, drive, and perhaps even resources.

Though I don't view them through (vintage) rose coloured glasses, I often look back on the early days of this site with great fondness and appreciation for the plethora of lessons it taught me (very much including the 10 harsh truths that will make you a better blogger). The blogging landscape was a vastly different place at the time in many ways (for example, social media didn't have quite the massive foot hold in this world that it does today and the notion of microblogging though sites like Facebook, Tumblr and Instragram was scarcely a concept yet). Though I do get nostalgic and yearn for those "simpler times" some days, I also very much enjoy seeing how the web continues to expand, grow and change.

Tomorrow Chronically Vintage will turn six years old. I have run and drawn joy from this website for a full 1/5th of my life now. That is not a small amount of time by any measure and as my blog jumps into its sixth year of life, I find myself thinking about those early days a lot. There was a different sort of joy and wide-eyed wonder back then. It was a honeymoon period of sorts, of course, or like the flush and rush that come from a great new relationship, where everything thing seems new, colours are more vibrant, the littlest things take on deeper meaning, and all we want to do is share about our newfound love with anyone who will listen.

I haven't grown jaded about blogging or vintage over the years, but naturally that initial thrill and awe has rubbed off a bit. I'm more realistic and the longer I stay at 'er, the more I realize that returning to my blogging roots, simplifying things (we don't all need to devote ourselves like slaves to social media day in and day out in order to succeed online, for example), and remembering to adhere to a piece of advice I've been slinging here since day one - to only blog if doing so has both a purpose and brings you joy - rings all the more true for me as another blogging anniversary rolls around.

{Image via a sold listing from Amelia Bedelia Vintage}

The past six years have been unlike any other I've know. I never dreamed when I began Chronically Vintage that it would grow into the popular site and (more recently) accompanying Etsy shop, that it is today. I didn't know it would turn into my full-time career, bring some of the best friends I've ever had into my life, give me the opportunity to work with some of the top companies in our field, open up many doors for me, land me in the pages of numerous magazines, and perhaps most poignantly, help me to grow and develop as a person on countless levels.

That has been the greatest gift of blogging and one that, along with my online friendships and desire to share my knowledge and life with all of you, keeps me blogging even when things get rough. I'm a billion miles away from being super human. I have days when the last thing on earth I want to do is even think about blogging, when my energy levels are so nonexistent that I can't even pick up the computer, and spans when my health is so poor, I think that I should stop blogging and spare myself the work, stress, and even physical challenges that it (and my Etsy shop) bring into my life.

But so far at least, I haven't. That day may come, one never know what life holds in store, but I shudder to think of it and have learned along this long blogging road that usually the answer - as with so much in life - doesn't come from throwing in the proverbial towel, but from getting back to your roots, remembering why you started blogging in the first place, enjoying the experience, doing more (or less, as the case may be) of those things that truly matter, and cutting yourself some serious slack if your plans don't always go as you'd hoped they might.

None of us is perfect and neither are our blogs, but for many who have been blogging for any real amount of time now, we deserve a massive pat on the back and to be reminded of just how awesome we're doing. Success has many faces and takes on many forms, and chances are, you've reached more of those than you realize.

I cherish you, my dear readers and online friends, and want you to know that you help ensure I keep on keeping on, as the old saying goes. When things get tough, when they're fabulous, when I'm uncertain, when I have a crystal clear vision, when I'm especially sick, on my rare good days, when tomorrow seems like a question mark, and when I have it mapped out down to the last detail, you've been there and have helped to spur me on in my life as a blogger in so many, many ways.

With all my heart, thank you for that and the countless other positives you've brought into my life. So here, sweet dears, is to the prospect of Chronically Vintage's sixth year of life and all the good, grand, exciting and, yes, even (hopefully momentary) stressful things it will bring my way. Blogging, like life itself, is never perfect, but it sure can be fun and worth every second of the ride.

Of rodeos, vintage copper accessories, and true love

Outfit details

Brown 1950s nylon scarf: Gift from a dear vintage loving friend ♥
Plastic peach rose earrings: Handmade by me
1980s denim shirtwaist dress: eBay
Vintage clear lucite horse head brooch: eBay
1950s tooled copper belt: eBay
1950s Renoir copper "flame" bracelet: eBay
Camel coloured faux leather cross body bag: eBay
Nude seamed nude stockings: eBay
Brown 1940s style round toe pumps: Consignment store
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Nail colour: Aco (from Ardene) Vintage Blue


Photography by Tony Cangiano

♥ ♥ ♥

This past Victoria Day long weekend saw the return of the annual Keremeos Elks Rodeo. Though a tradition for the last few years in the area, this was the first time I'd ever had the pleasure of attending and was the only rodeo outside of Calgary's world famous stampede ones that I'd been to in all my life.

For a day of good, old-fashioned wild west inspired fun, I knew that a thoroughly cowgirl approved outfit was in order. This denim dress is straight up 1980s to the point that, while still somewhat older looking, I stop just shy of calling it full on 1980s does 1950s, though some might do just that. To add to the southwestern charm, I reached for two beloved 1950s copper accessories: a gorgeous tooled rose pattern tooled belt and an eye-catching Renoir copper “flame” (as I've seen this design called before) cuff bracelet. Believe it or not, I don't actually own a cowboy hat (I have to remedy that for sure!), so instead I opted for a classic 1950s nylon (chiffon) scarf in a desert sand inspired shade of brown.

I've said it before (such as in this post), and I'll say it again here, I have a bit of an inner cowgirl and I flat out love those rare opportunities (since moving from Calgary back in 2003 at least) when she's able to burst forth in full force as she did with my outfit choice in these photos.

On a sizzling hot Sunday afternoon we headed south from Penticton to the small, and very charming, community of Keremeos, which long time readers may recall for its famous fruit and vegetables stands (such as Bear's Farm, which I blogged about back in October of 2012), stood in a lineup of plaid shirts and straw cowboy hats, got our hands stamped, and moseyed on over to the metal bleachers, front and center, to gaze upon the day's festivities.

Calf roping, barrel racing, bull riding, and plenty of humorous banter between the clown and the MC were amongst the rodeo's highlights, all set against the smell of fried onions, open beer bottles (from the beer garden), and popcorn being gobbled up by youngsters in every direction. Though the bleachers were anything but comfortable (we'll be taking our camping chairs next time we go for sure!), we still had a wonderful afternoon and didn't even realize as the sun was ramping up its fiery wattage that we were both getting just a wee bit pink on our cheeks and noses and dehydrated in the process.

Nothing serious, thankfully, but enough for me to notice as much when I look at the photographs we took after we returned to Penticton (the light was too harsh and the setting too crowded during the rodeo to do a shoot there). I see a lot more in these photos however, in no small part because one of them includes my darling husband's hand.

A few weeks ago, in the third entry in this year's delightful vintage honeymoon destination post series, I chronicled the fact that Tony and I began our life together in the Emerald Isle, including the fact that my beloved proposed to me in a centuries old Irish castle. He did so on July 6, 2004, which means that in just three day's time, I can officially say that it's been ten years now since we became engaged.

In the days, weeks, months and ultimately - as time is so keen to play out - years since then, we have faced as seemingly insurmountable numbers of challenges, curveballs, stresses, and worries, thrown at us my a universe so very often beyond any speck of one's control. Through it all however, our love for one another has never faltered. Like any couple, we've had our spats, our tiffs, and even a few blowups, but we've always quickly made up and moved on. We need one another. Always have, forever will.

We have a decade of life together, having gone from little more than mere babes (I was 19 when we meet in March 2004, Tony was 23), with heavy pasts and hearts full of hope about the future, to proper adults with a car, house, pets, businesses in our names, hefty tax bills, fewer hairs and considerably more wrinkles.

We've fought seemingly countless medical battles (most mine, but a few Tony's as well), mountainous debts, uncertain immigration processes (chiefly the long process of more than six years that it took for Tony to work his way through the immigration system and officially become a Canadian citizen in June 2012), floods, storms, rodents, nightmarish landlords, the passing away of cherished family members, tears that ultimately made us stronger, calamities, injuries brought about from accidents, periods of tremendous stain, great personal growth, and a billion other occurrences as husband and wife. And through it all, no matter how hard the forces of life may have tried to wedge themselves between us, we've kept on holding hands.

Tony is my rock, my light, my love, and my soul mate, and I am his. Whether we're tired, happy, sad, peeved, hungry, anxious, serene, frazzled, in pain, scared, worries, elated, uncertain, excited, or anything else, through the good, the bad, and the - most of all - through the seemingly unbearable, we have been there for one another. I have no greater blessing in my life than my husband, nor he than I.

We grow more in love with one another every day and couldn't fathom a world at this point without another. Tony has been there with me every day now for a full third of my life. The memories we've made together could fill the halls and shelves of a thousand universes. We know each other's voices anywhere, delight in the scores of insider jokes and references we've amassed and pepper our everyday speech with frequently, understand what makes one of us tick and what pacifies the other in any situation, and we never let a day go by without kissing, even if it means planting a smooch on a furrowed brow, sweat drenched head, or - as was the case on the evening following the rodeo - a slightly sunburned nose.

So often in today's world we hear only hear about the negative relationships. The brutal breakups, marriages that went off the track, and those who are woefully unhappy when it comes to romance. I share some of my passionate feelings for my husband here today as an antithesis to such tales. True love is real and so are happily ever afters. I know because I'm blessed to wake up next to mine each morning and hope with all my heart that I'll get to do so for many, many more years and decades of celebrating all kinds of anniversaries to come.

Flickr Favourites – October 13, 2010

♥ ♥ ♥

{Autumn Girl ~ Jacquelyn Portolese Photography}

{Sterling Silver Spoon & Rosebud ~ Romantic Vintage Home}

{Autumn Apples 2 ~ Gary Hickin (Gazart)}

{1940s ~ hastingsgraham}

{A Lonely Tree in the Bluffs ~ ablankface}

{Little Pumpkin & Tiny Bottle ~ lost_and_fawned}

{Jester Naefe ~ Truus, Bob & Jan Too!}

{Spools of vintage thread: reds ~ litlnemo}

{Junior Bazaar Cover 1954 ~ tompalumbo}

{Your Life Is Not Needed Here ~ .CellarDoor Photography}

♥ ♥ ♥


Thoughts of love, the merry-go-round of emotion that besieges any intense relation, the power of a bond unbroken, the soul-soothing beauty of having a companion to call your own in this world, and of the realization that the world makes both much more and much less sense when you fall head-over-heals for another, are all on my mind at the moment.

Why is this, you may ask? Well, aside from the fact that I’ve always been a starry-eyed romantic, it’s because tomorrow just happens to be my 6th wedding anniversary! Though an encyclopaedia volume of events have transpired in the half dozen years since that day when, in a very small, intimate wedding held at my mother and step-father’s house, my husband and I tied the not, we are closer today than I could ever have dreamed possible when my hand, trembling with happiness, reached out to have my wedding band slipped gingerly onto it back in 2004.

Like most couples we’ve weathered storms, fought battles (though, I really must say for the record, not often with each other, a point I feel very blessed about), overcome rather profound adversity, and ultimately forged ahead, more devoted and in love with one another than ever before.

To celebrate tomorrow, the next six years (and I hope scores more), and the wondrous being that love (in all its romantic incarnations) is, the Flickr group featured in this edition of Flickr Favourites, is one that is devoted solely to pairing two of my favourite themes (love and vintage) together to get the Vintage Romance group. (A Flickr must for all those who also draw inspiration from, and can relate to, these timeless subjects.)

{1. , 2. Untitled, 3. 1940's, 4. Robert G. Harris (All images via the Vintage Romance Flickr group).}

♥ ♥ ♥  
Egads, my lovelies, can you believe that we’re almost half way through October? (And thus have less than three months left in this year). October is always a busy month for me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because the things that occupy my time are generally wonderful ones (Thanksgiving, my anniversary, three family birthdays, and – my most beloved of holidays – Halloween). After that there’s a pint sized lull during November until the inevitable chaos of December comes storming in. I’m happy about all this though. Glad to see a very challenging year start to slip away, a new brand of hope for 2011 already taking seed in my mind.

Tell me, sweet dears, about the things that are one your mind and that you’re looking forward to this month and beyond. I always greatly enjoy hearing about your lives, and wish you each the same kind of bliss throughout October that I know tomorrow will bring me.