Flickr Favourites: August 17, 2014

{1950s orange juice advertisement ~ Christian Montone}


{Summer School Spanish Language Program Festivities, 1951 ~ Duke Yearlook}


{Farm fresh ~ Magalie L'Abbé}


{Rose 'Love' raised in USA ~ naruo0720}


{57 Ways of Summer Eating with Heinz ~ alsis35}


{Beach Blanket Bingo 1930s ~ Vintage car nut}


{Vegetables ~ katinthecupboard}


{Beach Bum ~ Ross Harvey}


{Montgomery Ward summer 1959 catalog ~ Capricorn One}


{Sarasota Sun-Debs training at Lido Beach, Florida ~ State Library and Archives of Florida}

{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on its title to be taken to its respective Flickr page.}

♥ ♥ ♥


It's human nature to find ourselves constantly looking forward. Even the most die hard of nostalgists amongst us are prone to setting their sites on tomorrow far too often sometimes. I count myself amongst the guilty there at times, but this week isn't one of them. No, as we savour these last few weeks of summer, the worst of the dog days behind us now, though the temperatures still feel warm enough to bake a cake on the sidewalk, I am incredibly content to live right here in this glorious moment, the sizzling August breeze that blows off of Okanagan Lake some days tickling my skin through the open bedroom window.

Soon enough, it will be my favourite season, autumn, but as much as I madly adore it, I have no desire to turn my thoughts in that direction yet. I'm too busy buying succulent peaches and late season cherries, walking barefoot on the dry summer grass as the heat baked straight into the earth rushes up to caress my soles, and flat out delighting in the fact that I only need to wear one layer to be more than warm enough when I go outside.

I'm star gazing, yard saling, watching Annie jump merrily through the sprinkler, feasting on barbequed foods like there's no tomorrow, sitting in the sand at the many local beaches and holding my darling husband's hand as we gaze at the almost hypnotic little waves lapping eagerly at the shore, enjoying sunlight well into the early evening still, and reminding myself to soak up every last precious moment of summer while it's still here. That famous Canadian winter sets in swiftly and rarely shows mercy, and when it does, though I love that season in many of its own ways, I know that I will pine for these days immeasurably.

They, like fall however, are not now, and I am very grateful for that. No, now, is alluring, resplendent, and scented with wisteria, honeysuckle and generously sized roses. It calls for ice cream cones, boat rides, long walks as the wind rustles and plays with the still green leaves, and as many memories created in the great outdoors as humanly possible.

All of these things are reflected in today's Flickr Favourites images, which serve as a powerful visual reminder to let tomorrow be tomorrow. You and I and all of us need to just enjoy, appreciate and savour today. Glorious, sun drenched mid-August gem that it is. And on that note, I'm off to take my beach towels out of the dryer, pack a picnic lunch in advance, and spend another magnificent day out enjoying the Okanagan at its very best and most beautiful while summer is still here.

The Dog Days of Vintage Summer Fashion

Right this very moment it’s early August, and for the vast majority of us in the northern hemisphere that means means the temperature outside is currently trying to give the surface of the moon a run for its money.
While I do thoroughly love many aspects of the most sizzling season of the year (a topic that I delved into last month in this post) and am grateful for every moment of summer we get in Canada, there can be times when these stifling days with their glaring sun and 100+ degree temperatures leaves one, well, a little frazzled and beat.

This problem is anything but new - much like the dog days of summer themselves (the name of which has been in use since at least the time of the ancient Romans, who associated them with Sirius, also known as the Dog Star), who called them diēs caniculārēs. Though, even to this day, debate continues as to which days of the season officially fall under that heading, it's generally excepted that much of July and August make the cut for sure.

Even though I've experienced the toastiest Canadian heat waves of my life in July (while living in Toronto), if you were to stop me on the icy street in January and ask what I thought that hottest month of the year was, I'd always answer August. Though, technically, July can sometimes be the hotter of the two months (depending on where you live and what your weather is up to in a given year), there's just something about August that makes it feel skin tinglingly hot and, at times, a bit hard to slog through.

During these wildly warm days, it's important - one might argue vital even - to have plenty on hand to help take our mind off the the heat, the staggering, mind-blowing heat. To that end, in the spirit of celebrating the name of these scorching August days, I thought it would tons of fun to gather up fifteen of my favourite vintage images and ads that just happen to include fabulous fashions and darling dogs in them.

{The combo of a red wiggle dress and darling white pup is bound to ensure you take home best in (fashion) show!}






{Model Anne St. Marie and her sweet little Yorkies shine in this elegant image from 1957 featuring a Jaguar.}

{One of my favourite dog breeds, the Boston Terrier, stars in this lovely photograph from 1952 that first appeared in Glamour Magazine.}






{It's safe to say that no other dog calls to mind the fabulous fifties quite like the iconic poodle, especially when you see ones as adorable as the pink bow adorned duo in this beautifully illustrated Pepsi ad.}






{There no need to beat around the bush (or fern), this chic, lightweight spring suit is thoroughly beautiful - as is the wee little corgi pup.}






{Spots of both the fabric and fur kind abound in this immensely pretty Harper's Bazaar image from 1952.}

 





{A teenage Shirley Temple and a beautiful black spaniel give RC Cola their vote of approval in a 1944 colour photo and illustration filled ad.}







{Hailing from 1937, this image of a blonde model and shepherd type dog is the oldest featured in today's post. I adore the casual elegance of her look and am especially fond of the stack of blue bangles on her wrist.}





{Calm poise and riled up excitement stand side-by-side in this fashion shot of a woman sporting a wool day suit as she walks her Boxer through town.}






{Another image featuring a completely cute Yorkshire Terrier, this time partnered with a lady decked out in a stylish autumn look from 1961.}






{Though it took a little searching, I was delighted to find an illustrated 1940s ad featuring my all-time favourite breed: the British bulldog.}







{Whether you spot the poodle or the woman's shocking hair colour first, there's no denying this pinky-mauve filled paint ad  is definitely an eye-catching!}






{The ravishingly sophistication and mid-1950s beauty of this wonderful autumn ensemble is only heighted by the presence of a preciously sweet little furry friend.}






{For just about as long as there has been cars, there have dogs who loved riding around beside their owners in them, whether they were pint sized pups or colossal canines like this fellow!}






{Completely cute chihuahuas, stylish pleated skirts, and pointy toed shoes all ad up to oodles of late 1950s glamour.}


{All images above are from Flickr. To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective Flickr stream or page.}







These photos and illustrations are not all summer themed by any means, but it's my sincere hope that the cuteness overload - and distracting enjoyment of the sublime mid-century fashions - they offer up will help to distract you enough that you're able to forget about the searing heat, if only for a few delightful minutes.

How I celebrated my (awesome!) 28th birthday

Like the gulls that crowd around the local beaches here, summer seems to fly by as quick as you can blink. I nearly had to do a double take today when it struck me that we'd come to the end of July. Perhaps I'm biased (given that it's the month that I was born in), but I rather love July - even with its sweltering dog days, scorching sun (poor Tony got a terrible burn earlier this month, but thankfully he's recovered quite a bit from it at this point), and scads of insects (I'm looking at you, mosquitos!).

The same sun that can sear flesh in a matter of minutes can also feel as sweet and welcome as a hug from an old friend, and though - thankfully - summer is not over yet, today does mark the end of one of its most wonderful months. As such, before we kick off August anew tomorrow, I wanted to share some of the highlights of my birthday back on the 10th with all of you.

The day began bright and early - and in fact it was gloriously bright out, the rain that has plagued this summer pausing for this particular Tuesday (a birthday gift from the universe perhaps?). My mom and Tony busied themselves downstairs for nearly an hour, sweetly, beautifully decorating the dining room with streamers, oodles of pink and white polka dot balloons, festive place settings, and even a generous sprinkling of lovely little decorative plastic crystals all over the (pink plastic tablecloth clad) table.

Growing up my mom always made a point of decorating the kitchen and/or living room for our birthdays each year, and this being the first one that I'd been back in Penticton for in several years, I adored the fact that she was as keen to festively kit out out house as I was to bound downstairs with the same enthusiasm I used to have as a youngster on this special morning.

We only stayed a moment to admire their work however, as we had a full day in Kelowna planned and were already running a little behind schedule. The drive out there was quick and beautiful, with scarcely a single wisp of a cloud to be seen in the sky.

The first place we stopped at was an charming shop that Tony and my mom had recently been to, but which I'd never visited before, called Dragonfly Quilts that specializes in selling handmade quilts and vintage houseware items.

Fantastic as I think quilts are, as you can imagine, it was the vintage pieces that really caught my eye. The store is beautifully arranged, somewhat by colour and somewhat by type of item, amongst which one could spot everything from a late Victorian era biscuit tin to several different mid-century Pyrex colours and patterns.

Perhaps because I'm used to a.) the astronomical prices vintage pieces often commanded in retail setting in Toronto and b.) because I see what things are listed - and sell for - on etsy every day, I was absolutely pleased by how reasonable the sticker prices were at this shop.

Adding to that lovely factor was the very friendly proprietor, who sweetly complimented me on my vintage style and struck up a conversation about vintage stores (fashion and otherwise) in the area, as well as other points pertaining to a topic that - as you all know - I can talk about until I'm blue in the face, vintage collecting.

We chatted as I took in the shop, which while not overly large, is carefully, wonderfully curated and filled - but not unpleasantly crowded - with a very tempting array of vintage houseware items. Though Dragonfly Quilts doesn't stock vintage fashion per se, they do have a small number of yesteryear accessories, such as gloves and brooches.




A pair of the former (pictured above draped across the radio in our living room), as well as an utterly darling trio of vintage chalkware bluebirds (pictured below) came home with us that day, and believe me, it was tricky to stop at just those purchases, as there was so many terrific, well priced items to be had. Needless to say, we shall be returning to that shop again (especially as there aren't too many vintage stores around these parts at all, let alone ones with such an amicable, enthusiastic staff).








After that we headed over to my little sister's house for an afternoon visit. I was delighted that she wasn't working that day, as it meant I got to spend time with her on my birthday for the first time in far too many years (this being due to the fact that I'd been living in far flung corners for the past several years, not right here in the gorgeous Okanagan where she resides).

She gave me a darling pair of gifts, both of which I just love to pieces - are using around the clock. I couldn't help but smile and feel touched when she said that she absolutely wanted to make sure she gave me something that involved the word vintage for my birthday, and the set of Minnie Mouse OPI nail polishes does just that.







Fabulously, and purely coincidentally, the cute towel and washcloth set she gave me matched the balloons that my mom and Tony used as part of my decorations incredibly well.

As the sun was shinning like mad, we popped into the backyard for a little bit, with my sister's incredibly adorable Olde English Bulldogge, Beau, in tow, where Tony used my sister's Nikon camera to take a really lovely photo of my mom, sister and I (yes, I know, I don't exactly look like either of them that much, but that's ok, I like being the redheaded sheep in the family).

This picture means a lot to me, as it really drives home the fact that, after so many years away, I'm actually living in the Okanagan again and that I get to celebrate important events like birthdays and everyday moments alike with my family once more.





And here's me (I think my sis took these pics) with my ultra precious canine nephew, Beau (he's almost a year old and just the sweetest, friendliest, wrinkliest thing imaginable), who is making his Chronically Vintage debut here today.








After that our little group split into two parties. My mom and I wanted to do some intensive consignment store shopping, which wasn't of too much interest to Tony and my sister, so the went off to go fishing at nearby Shannon Lake, while my mom and I hit on of our favourite Kelowna consignment stores, called Second Time Around, for a couple of hours (we would have stayed longer, but they close at 5:30pm, which is a rather odd in between kind of time to shut their doors, if you ask me).

Though this shop doesn't specialize in vintage pieces, and I didn't find any pre-sixties items, their prices aren't too steep (higher than say Value Village, but not unreasonable by consignment store standards) and I did pick up several tops, a marvelous grey cardigan with beautiful beading on it (that my mother spied first - stellar find, mom!), and a few purses, all of which were on sale for $2 to $4 a piece.

Once we were done shopping we called Tony to come pick us us, dropped my sister back at her house, and headed home to Penticton for the evening. After a lovely, summery meal (including a big bowl of a gluten-free version of my all-time favourite pasta salad that I'd whipped up in advance the night before), I got to open my birthday presents (Tony and my parents spoiled me with really thoughtful, terrific gifts, some of which I plan to chat about in future posts for sure), and then tucked into a big dish of homemade (by my mom) gluten-free Rice Krispie Squares (which is what I requested when my mom asked me what I'd like for my birthday dessert).

I hadn't been feeling to great the night before and didn't sleep one wink (though I did veg in bed for five hours straight), so by the time time the end of the day rolled around, I'd been awake for something like forty hours straight. Not, mind you, that I really felt tired until after we'd eaten - must have been all the excitement of the day keeping me going.

Hands down this was one of the best, most enjoyable birthdays I've ever had, and I can't begin to thank Tony and my family enough for everything they did to ensure that I had such an amazing time. I hope with all my heart that this birthday represents that kind of year that lies ahead for me, and after such a top-notch celebration, am already counting down the months until my 29th rolls around!