What to play blog tag with me?

If I were to assign a theme to this month, it would most definitely be "catching up". When I took a few days off (from blogging) earlier in February, I made a list of things that I wanted to try and devote some time to catching up on. That inventory included no less than twenty eight different online activities – and twelve “real world” ones – that I planned to focus a percentage of my time on. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get completely up to speed on such a tall stack of projects, commitments, interests, etc, but so far I have made noticeable strides towards brining several of these areas up-to-date.

As to be expected, some areas have required more time than I’d initially suspected. With others however, I was able to take care of much quicker than I’d initially suspected (and a few haven’t even been touched yet, but I will get to them sooner or later!). Along the way, as certain “catch-up” jobs were checked off my list, others (that I’d either forgotten about or which emerged through the process of working on different tasks) popped up and are now goals for the next few weeks (and months).

I plan to keep pushing myself quite hard (but not, I hope, too hard) to catch-up on various tasks over the last few days of February. When the first of March rolls around, I’m going to revise my list and readjust where I’m spending my time, as necessary (and will be spending more visiting other people’s wonderful blogs again). I’m finding that having a working list like this is really helping me feel less like I’m falling hopelessly behind on everything I want to accomplish online (and to a less extent, off-line, too) – a sensation that had been plaguing me for years, I came to realize this month.

All work and no play however, is bound to burn anyone out! (And, let’s face it, even when you enjoy writing most of them, anytime you reply to more than four hundred different emails in less than three weeks, that constitutes work!) So I thought that I’d put my goal (perhaps the largest one on my list) of reaching "inbox zero" on hold for a few moments and have fun answering some questions that I was tagged with, by the immensely sweet Nicolette of Simply Colette, all the way back at the start of last October.

If you’ve not had the great pleasure of visiting Nicolette yet, I highly recommend you zip by her site. It’s a treasure trove of beautiful and imaginative images, inspiring ideas and terrific writing from one of the loveliest souls I’ve met online.

Today’s game of blog tag consists of answering five questions (the replies for which sound like the makings of a fantastic party or evening in with friends), so I’m going to do just that – followed by a list of ten other bloggers who are welcome to carry on this enjoyable post, if they’d like (as always, anyone who reads this post is welcome to keep the meme going themselves, even if I don’t specifically tag you).


Tag, I’m it!


{Two adorable children run gleefully after one another down a street in New York, perhaps engaged in their game of tag, in this snapshot from 1942. Vintage photo via epicharmus’ Flickr stream.}


What books are on your favourite shelf?
As a lifelong bookworm and very avid reader, this question is always tricky for me to answer concisely for there is such an overabundance of books that I consider to be true favourites. However, if I stick to the parameters of the question and base my answers of off books that I actually own a copy of (and thus have on my bookshelf) at the moment, a roundup of my favourites would have to include the following (which I think lend credence to my deeply eclectic tastes).




-Forties Fashion: From Siren Suits to the New Look by Jonathan Walford (Without a doubt, this is the most in-depth, well researched, engagingly written book I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading on the subject of fashion and the impact that clothing had on the world during the 1940s. If I could only have one title on my shelf about clothing from the forties, hands down, this image laden book would be it.)




-Collected Poems 1947-1997 Allen Ginsberg (Legend, master, artist, historian, inspiration, Allen Ginsberg was all these things and countless more. His work, at times avant-garde, at others hauntingly ageless, was one of my first introductions to the world of The Beat Generation writers as child, and remains to this day a beloved favourite of mine.)




-Pattern: Using Pattern to Create Sophisticated, Show Stopping Interiors by Tricia Guild (While I can see their appeal, I’ve never been a fan of stark white, minimally furnished rooms – even if my husband fancies them! Give me colour, depth, artistry, soul and intrigue on – and between the – the walls of a home and I’m a happy interior design camper. No other book I’ve encountered thus far brings so much beauty, vibrancy and allure into the rooms it highlights – all the while melding a menagerie of design styles and decades together – as this beguiling title does. From the moment you pick up this hefty book with its flocked flower pattern bedecked cover, you know you’re in a massive treat - and each page that follows confirms and exceeds that expectation.)




-French Inspired Jewelry: Creating with Vintage Beads, Buttons & Babbles by Kaari Meng (Whether you love to create your own jewelry or wear the works of others, this book – by celebrated jewelry artesian owner of the famed Hollywood store French General - is an absolute must for those who adore shabby chic, French provincial, Victorian and vintage styles. Aside from being easy to follow and well explained, each project is presented against a backdrop of the incredibly pretty little treasures, turning the images into scrapbook-like works of charming, timelessly wonderful art in and of themselves.)




-The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (While my fashion preferences veer towards the 1940s and 50s, my taste in music encompasses groups and artists from every era, and like many people, I’m a massive fan of the Beatles. From their early bubble gum tunes to the soul-gripping songs like "Let It Be", and everything in between, there is so much to adore and extract inspiration from in the Beatles’s work. This book is a thrill for the senses. Each pair of pages highlights one of the many songs from the Beatles' vast catalog, coupled with a mod era illustration that promises to evoke memories (even if you weren’t alive during the 1960s) and help you fall even further in love with the Fab Four.)


What DVDs are on your favourite shelf?
Truth be told, we really do not own many DVDs. We tend to watch our movies at the theatre, on TV or via services like zip.ca (a Canadian site that's similar to NetFlicks), so my answers come from the “shelf of life” rather than the literal spot on our little TV stand where our teensy DVD collection residess.

Five fantastic movies that I would recommend everybody watches at least once in their lifetime, and each of which has impacted me deeply for various reasons, are:




The Pianist (2002)




La Dolce Vita (1960)



The Secret Life of Words (2005) (I saw this movie last year for the first time and must say it was the most stirring and touching film I watched in 2009. In my opinion it truly should have been an Oscar nominee – if not a winner - in two categories: best actress [Sarah Polley] and best film.)




8MM (1999)




The Illusionist (2006)


What are your two favourite cookbooks?
It’s impossible for me to narrow down this epically diverse category into two all-time favourites. For as long as I can recall, I’ve adored reading and learning from cookery and gastronomy related books. I read them with the fervour and intensity that many do novels, and value the wisdom and inspiration that comes from cookbooks no end. To that extent, I would say two of my perpetual favourite cookbooks are:



-Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes by Tessa Kiros (For me cookbooks have always been about so much more than just recipes on paper. What endears me to a title that devotes itself to the realm of food is the writer’s ability to draw me into their kitchen, their relationship with what they eat and prepare for their family, and their admiration for culinary ingredients. Few writers have mastered the skill of transmitting this information – nor presented it so exquisitely beautifully – as Tessa Kiros does in this visually lyrical tome of recipes gathered from her diverse travels around the globe.)




-The Silver Spoon (The use of the word "tome" is often applied liberally to books of all kind, but this classic Italian masterpiece (first published in 1950) truly qualifies for that prestigious title. Overflowing with more than 2000 recipes from every corner of Italy, this book jumps right to the point, filling each page with an average of two or three different recipes, from those that almost verge on being ostentatious to the most humble of “cucina povera” dishes. If you’re serious about cooking, eating, and getting to be know the world of Italian food, The Silver Spoon is worthy of a spot on your kitchen counter and bookshelf alike – it certainly has one on mine :-))


Select 1-3 recipes you would cook for your guests

{Nothing like the joy of whipping up a wonderful meal for a group of dear friends! Vintage image from 1948 of a woman hard at work baking bread from the pages of the Life Magazine photo archives.}


As some of you may know, cooking is a profound passion of mine and there are few things in this world I gather pleasure from more than preparing a meal for those dear to me. Given that many of us are still trapped in the throes of winter, I would invite every one of my dear readers over for a warming, relaxed weekend lunch, during which I’d feed you my Creamy Gala Apple, Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup, Balderson Cheddar and Fresh Thyme Country Biscuits, and Cinnamon, Vanilla Bean and Bosc Pear Bread Pudding for dessert.


What will be drinking that’s available?

{It would be so marvellously lovely to partake in afternoon tea with all you! Glamorous vintage image from ∆Sabine Davis∆’s Flickr stream.}

Sticking with the theme of ensuring we’re all toasty, I’d heat as many kettlefuls of water as needed and lay out a spread of teas and tisanes for all of us to pick and choose from. Naturally I'd ensure they were served with a selection of honeys, sugars, milk, cream, soy milk, cinnamon sticks, and citrus slices.


Tag, you’re it!


{Though this photo which hails from 1901 is technically more on the antique side, I thought it was too preciously adorable not to include in this post centred around playing tag. Image from jflangjr’s Flickr stream.}


A Vintage Chic

Just a Happy Housewife

The Frog’s Eyebrows

A Chock-Full of Rants and Raves from a Thirty-Something Mama

Roses R Red

The Art of Living Beautifully

Random Thoughts of a Very Boring Girl

Rue and Hyssop

It’s All Make-Believe, Isn’t It?

Madeleine’s Wunderkammer

I should note that if you want to carry on this game of tag, there are no real rules. I answered the same questions that Nicolette had on her blog, but you could change them up if you wanted. Please let me know if you keep this game going, I’d love to read your replies!


Thank you very much for this delightfully enjoyable tag, Nicolette dear! It was oodles of fun to escape from more mundane activities this evening and share some of my favourite books, films and recipes with my treasured readers.

A League of Their Own: one of my greatest childhood muses {Monday Muses, July 6th}

The evening dusk rolled in like a jukebox tune, warn, pulsating and full of vibrant energy, as eager young eyes peered up from the back of a minivan at what seemed like a mile-wide screen. Barely eight years old, I was enamoured from the split second the opening credits began to roll, the thermal crackling of the summer air mixing with a parade of drive-in theater sounds. By the time film’s main characters Dottie and Kit were chasing each other down the dusty country road, I had a newfound favourite childhood movie.

Set in the heart of WW2, the movie I’m talking about is A League of Their Own, staring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna. A dramatic comedy about the founding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that came into existence in the wake of thousands of US men (including many professional ball players) being deployed overseas during the war, while the US public back home still pined for a day out at the field.


{Movie poster for A League of Their Own. Image from the blog Sports Talk 90.3.}

More than just the historical context of film, I was enthralled by two distinct elements: the fashions (both on and off the diamond) that the early 40s ladies wore, and the sense of independence and determination these headstrong gals put forth in an era when women were still by-and-large expected to follow traditional roles (of which being a ball player did not fit the mold).

Though I was already a tremendous fan of the 1940s and 50s thanks to movies like Grease, White Christmas and Meet Me in St. Louis, and the influence of a close friend whose parents were really into hot rods, this movie embedded an even more profound adoration of the forties deep in my young soul. Lifting it beyond just a beloved film, and into a muse that to this day is no less inspirational than it was back in 1992, when this movie hit the big screen.


{Tom Hanks and Geena Davis sit in the dugout during a scene from A League of Their own. Image from the blog Alien Citizen.}

This week, with my birthday approaching in a few days, I wanted to pay a homage to one of my greatest vintage influences, by making A League of Their Own not just my Monday Muse, but also by indoctrinating into my Lifelong Muse Hall of Frame.

While this movie is fiction, it is rooted strongly in actual fact; the AAGPBL was real, existing between the years of 1943 and 1954. Today a terrific website exists that's dedicated to preserving the legacy of this fascinating slice of American sports history, as does a National Baseball Hall of Fame exhibition about the AAGPBL.


{Lovely photo of assorted ASGPBL memorabilia and a uniform. From the Baseball Hall of Fame's website.}

In reading about the real ladies at bat, it’s interesting to learn that much as in the film itself, the players were required to attend Charm School, had female chaperons and were expected to follow a set of dress code guidelines both on and off the field.


{AAGPBL players in uniform. Photo via the San Fransisco State University's website.}

If like myself, you’re an avid fan of this movie and/or mid-century women’s baseball, you may have thought to yourself before how wonderful it would be to own a real AAGPBL uniform. No doubt this would be amazing, but it would likely also cost you a small fortune (unless you were lucky enough to have a relative who played for an AAGPBL team who would be willing to let you have her uniform), based on the prices I’ve read that these beautiful pieces of baseball history now sell for.


{Examples of reproduction uniforms from K & P Weaver's website.}

All hope is not lost though, K & P Weaver, LLC, a US based historical baseball uniform seller reproduces AAGPBL uniforms and ball caps in the original styles and colours of the teams that composed the league. Whether you want to be a Rockford Peach (the team Dottie and Kit both started out playing for) or a Racine Belle (the team Kit was traded to towards the end of the movie) – or any of the other teams that comprised the AAGPBL, for $225 (US) you too can own a cotton twill uniform that looks a far sight prettier than any of the modern day iterations of women’s baseball wear. It is my sincere hope that one day I’ll be able to purchase one of these gorgeous re-creation uniforms, not only to wear from time-to-time, but also as a means of further honouring my love of a League of Their Own.


{Gena Davis and fellow Rockford Peaches team members excitedly embrace each other after winning a game. Image from Hollywood.com.}

While this film (and the story of the real-life AAGPBL) didn’t inspire me to become a world class ball player, it did touch my life on a profound level. It helped to show a young girl an era which was comprised of hardship and glamour, tenacity and the emergence of women’s empowerment; spawned my love of swing dance, forties hairstyles and headstrong female characters, who, as this movie’s tagline proclaimed, believed that “To achieve the incredible you have to attempt the impossible”. Like the title of one of the songs in the A League of Their Own's soundtrack, Now and forever, this movie will be one of my all-time greatest Muses.

Pretty Link Roundup {June 14th}

This post began its life on Saturday, but I must confess to falling asleep quite literally with my laptop alongside me on the sofa yesterday evening. While I cannot call the day immensely exhausting from a physical standpoint, I think I was worried into slumber over money and the fact that earlier in the day darling husband and I had returned from the bank whereat we paid our income taxes in full (it’s the first time either of us has had to pay, and boy howdy, was it a hefty chunk of change to dole out in one go!).

I perked the evening up by making my (very North American-ized) version of chicken and mixed vegetable yaki udon (with perhaps what might be called a slight French hit thanks to a little pat of butter I used to enrich and thicken the sauce, of which I prefer their to be copious amounts), that hit the spot wonderfully, but I think helped lull me to dreamland as well. I awoke this morning perhaps no less consumed by thoughts of finances (story of my life for...well, ever! ;D), but ready to continue hopping to and fro among some of my favourite blogs, looking for all sorts of vintage goodness to share with you.

Immersed in an online universe centred around the bygone days of earlier times it’s tremendously hard not to shake off at least some of one’s worldly woes for a little while. Escaping to – or perhaps more aptly, peeping in on – the past is great joy of mine and a huge part of what drives my love of vintage. No matter how dreary, rough, fantastic, ordinary, strange, or “taxing” the day is, I know that the pursuit of vintage images, fashion, music, films, decor and the like will always transport my heart and soul to a relaxing place that is full of mystique, allure and beauty.


{Was life truly any less carefree in the 40s or 50s? Who’s to say for sure? One thing is certain though, the majority of magazine photo spreads – such as this jolly balloon filled beach scene – would have you believe that it was. Image via Party Perfect’s Flickr stream.}

And on that note may I present to you this week’s roundup of diverse vintage links, spanning everything from Wizard of Oz inspired red heels to movie ads from the thirties. I really hope you enjoy them!


* Quick Vintage Up-Do: Every hair style I’ve ever seen Atomic Mama sport looks nothing short of fabulous, and in this post her speedy vintage do is absolutely no exception. Be sure to check it out if you’re looking for an awesome vintage style in mere moments.

* In Praise of (Vintage) Shorts: With summer’s heat bearing down on us it’s time to shake off long pants and don some shorts. In this article Lizzie of the Vintage Traveler takes a journey through the subject of vintage shorts, complete with a lot of history and lovely images featuring these pint sized trousers.

* Bathing Beauties (Volume 2): Betsy eye for beauty, timeless style and immensely wearable pieces is a joy to behold each week in her blog posts, such as this terrific piece full of summer bathing suits that tickle her fashion fancy.

* A Return to Vintage: Some Like It Vintage observes the excellent point that in times of financial troubles and/or world crisis, a return to the art of good tailoring, investment pieces, and timelessness over quick flash-in-the-pan styles often appears on the fashion scene.

* It’s all about the Betty’s: The mid-twentieth century is peppered with marvelous stars who had more than just lovely bodies and faces in common, some of them also shared a common moniker: Betty, as highlighted in this lovely post by Darla.

* Come Fly With Me: The first time I flew on a plane I was 14, I was not entranced by the world of sky travel as a child, and I have a small pocketful of less-than-glamorous airline stories, and yet there is something so immensely appealing to me about the styles and aura that surround vintage airlines hostesses and the yesteryear world of aviation. As such I just about squealed with delight when I saw this image packed post on the subject vintage air travel from Moonspinner of Dust Jacket Attic.

* 30s Film Ads: Images of quirky, charming, and absolutely delightful black and white movie advertisements from the 1930s are on the bill in this cinema themed post.

* Hosiery Fashion Timelines: The older I get (ok, at a month shy of 25 I don’t think I’m quite out to pasture yet, but nevertheless...) the more I find myself in love with hosiery. Giddy about denier and pattern, hue and material, tights and stockings alike, it’s always a pleasure to encounter an article on the subject of this wardrobe staple, such as this lovely one from Glamour Daze.

* There’s no place like home: Arrive wearing a pair of sparkly, glitter encrusted red shoes and chances are people anywhere will instantly think of the footwear Dorthy wandered around Oz in. This fun post gathers a slew of glistening crimson heels together into one spot, making it even easier to agree “there’s no place like a shoe store!” :D

* Wardrobe Staple: Shirtdress: Teaming with photos and interesting facts (plus styling tips), this post does a wonderful job of highlighting and displaying the subtle, ageless beauty that emanates from the humble shirtdress in all its past and present iterations. (And for more on the subject of these practical yet deeply pretty frocks, be sure to see Miss Ruby La Mour’s post on the same topic.)

This week the video in the limelight comes care of LadyMakeup1, and features a handy-dandy tutorial on how to emulate the make-up style that Lucile Ball sported throughout the I Love Lucy series. So fun and adorable!

{I Love Lucy Makeup}



When you jump into the online cosmos of all things vintage, how does it make you feel? I hope that as I do, you find tranquility, enjoyment and inspiration as the days of the past do their best to make the present world better, brighter and more joyful for those of us who admire them so dearly.