What's been going on in my life this month and a VSS check-in

Yesterday marked exactly five months since my last birthday. It's staggering how quickly time flies, one month tumbling into the next, life a series of moments and emotions, smiles, highs, lows and memories. I'd hoped to get a new outfit post up this week, but there was no way that was going to happen as the days progressed.

This month has been - and will continue to be - staggeringly busy. The most jam packed, hectic one of 2015, topping even October, and while there will be outfit posts as the weeks progress, again, there was just no way for one to be squeezed in at present. Soon though, including a couple of stellar holiday season dresses that I can't wait to show you guys!

Since getting back from Vancouver last week, I've been crazy busy both vintage Vintage Secret Santa happenings, as well as packing up and shipping out a ton of wonderful Etsy shop orders that have been pouring in recently. I had some requests from blog readers for such to cover payday today, so I've extended the 25% off VSS coupon code there until tomorrow.

If you'd like to purchase anything for your VSS match, yourself, or someone else, you can take 25% off all orders when you use the coupon code VSS25 at checkout until December 12th.
 
Keeping pace with those happenings has been the holiday season itself, which as we all know, usually only gets busier and busier as the 25th draws nearer!

Also, before the end of the month, as a small business owner I need to file my Canadian PST and GST tax reports, which essentially means doing all of my 2015 taxes (in order to generate the precise numbers for each) this month, too. Not exactly what one wants to be dealing with for several days during Christmastime, but it must be done, so no sense in bemoaning it too much.
 
Further on top of those things - and very exciting - Tony and I recently decided that the time had come to get a new (be actually brand new or just slightly use) car. Our current one - which was actually our first car ever - was bought secondhand for a stellar deal back in early 2012 and has served us well for nearly four years now.

However, for a myriad of reasons, it's no longer the best fit for our current lifestyle (a big one being that we need a great deal more room than it provides, including for Annie, our energetic 65+ lbs dog, as well as for when we travel and for when I sell in person at vintage shows) and so this month we've been pouring our a lot of time, thought and energy into researching, test driving, and hunting for our next vehicle.

{The models – and prices! – might change, but the act of buying a car remains much the same as it did back when this photo was taken around the start of the 1950s. Vintage auto dealership image source.}

 
We haven't found "the one" yet, but we're getting closer and are both incredibly excited about this prospect. We've needed a bigger vehicle for ages and knowing that one will soon be ours is giving me some much needed pep to get through these crazy busy weeks!
 
Back, for a moment, to the VSS. For those taking part in this year's Vintage Secret Santa, 100% of the match emails were sent out to all participants by the (PST) morning hours of December 2nd. If you have not yet seen your email in your inbox (it should have been there about 1.5 weeks ago now), please check your spam (a lot of users who signed up with a Hotmail email are having their VSS messages land in their spam filters for some unknown reason - maybe Hotmail isn't in a festive mood this year ), deleted message, and archived message folders going back to November 30th.
 
If you don't see your VSS match email in any of those spots, please contact me by email right away and I get your match info out to you again. There's less than two weeks to go now until Christmas and if you signed up for the VSS, it's very important that you honour your commitment and mail out a gift to your match, who, just like yourself, is no doubt excited for, and expecting to receive, a festive gift as part of this fun online gift swap.
 
Definitely lots going on this month on our for sure, which is great! I've also been giving a lot of thought to the direction of my blog, my wardrobe, my social media accounts, and many other important aspects of my life and work as we head into 2016, so I've got oodles on my (vintage china) plate right now and am seriously excited to see how it will all play out in the coming year.
 
I hope that you're each having a terrific December and that, hopefully, yours is at least a bit less harried than mine!
 
Have an awesome weekend and countdown to Christmas, my dears!!!

Ten interesting things you don't know about me care of the Sunshine Blogger Award

Last spring, in the middle of April to be precise, as winter was just finally starting to pack its bags up once and for all (we had snow well into the month), my dear friend, German blogger, and fellow vintage loving lady, Beate, very thoughtfully bestowed the Sunshine blog award onto Chronically Vintage (she herself received it from Natalia over at In The Writer's Closet).

{Image source}

Unlike some of the blog awards I've very kindly been presented with over the years, if memory serves me right, this is the first time I've received the Sunshine Blogger Award. Thus, I've been eager since that mid-April day to post about it, as I do rather enjoy the fun set of random facts about oneself that this award, like many of its peers, gives the recipient a chance to share about themselves.

After five and a half years of avid blogging and numerous similar posts throughout that time (including receiving the Very Inspiring Blogger Award again this year, which I posted about in August), I won't lie, it can be tricky to come up with a brand new assortment of facts and tidbits of information that at least some of my readers don't already know about me.

Ultimately, I don't think that one needs to pull skeletons out of the deepest reaches of closet or reveal anything that don't feel completely comfortable doing in public for the sake of a blog post of this nature, nor do you have to write down only facts that are complete and total secrets. As such, I've tried to find a nice blend amongst the following ten entries of things you may have heard me mention in passing before and others that (best I can recall) should be fresh, never before shared snippets of info about yours truly.








1. I don't drive. Despite a genuine desire to do so, between certain symptoms of some of my conditions (which can be very distracting), the side effects of various meds, almost always present brain fog, and around the clock severe chronic pain, I feel it is far safer for me not to be behind the wheel and I haven't had a license since I was nineteen years old (which then, was only a learner's permit).

If I walk into walls, fall down stairs, suddenly forget what I was doing, and am often so tired and/or in pain I literally cannot move while just on my own two feet, I truly feel its best that I'm not on the road potentially putting my own life, my passengers lives or those of other drivers or pedestrians at risk and instead have resigned myself to being a passenger. This is something that, believe it or not, I had a really hard time sharing publicly for most of my adult life and feel is the most private thing about myself that I'm revealing here today.





2. That said, if I could safely drive, I think I'd be out on the road every day and my dream car would a pink 1957 Chevy. They've had a major sweet spot in my heart ever since I was just five years old and I can distinctly remember seeing one zoom past for the first time.




3. I've lived in two countries (Canada and Ireland), three Canadian provinces, and around a dozen different cities, towns, and communities throughout my 30 years on this planet. I wouldn't say I love moving, but I have got it down to a pretty exact science at this point and can pack up a whole two or three floor house, or good sized apartment, in just a couple of weeks if I truly have to (ideally though, I do like to work at a more leisurely pace when moving abodes).




4. Ugh!!! Due, I believe, to a combination of certain medications I'm taking and the sheer act of getting older, for several months now, since about last New Year, actually, I've been noticing my face looking progressively wider. I haven't gained weight (like most of us, my weight fluctuates a touch over the course of a year, but has been within the same five or so pound range for a few years now) and yet I see my face looking less streamlined, so to speak than it was in my mid to late twenties. I can't do a thing about aging and absolutely must take these meds, so for now I just have to contend with my already anything-but-chiseled facial features looking even less so. *Sigh*




5. Though it sounds like something that might be fake, it is indeed bracingly real, and I happen to have telephonophobia, which is generally defined as a reluctance or fear of placing and/or receiving phone calls. Though it's not a story I'm comfortable sharing publically, I know precisely what events triggered this in me as a youngster (coupled with my fear of confrontation and also my immense shyness), and while I can talk on the phone if I truly have (and should note, I don't usually have an issue doing so with my very nearest and dearest friends and family members), I loathe it and feel anxious even just hearing a telephone ring. As such, the advent of the internet (and also text messaging) as a means of communication was all the more welcome by yours truly.




6. I am a very genuine and appreciative person. Sometimes throughout my life, when I've been expressing my heartfelt thanks, I know that people have thought I was being insincere because of how much I was gushing or using an abundance of flowery, complimentary adjectives, but nothing could be further from the truth. I take note of every kindness, thoughtful act, compliment, and sweet thing that comes my way and am incredibly grateful for each of them.




7. While there are scads of desserts and sugary snacks that I enjoy the taste of, I have always had a much bigger "salty tooth" than a sweet one. With some of my favourite savoury treats - that I can currently safely eat - being cheezies/cheese puffs (especially Cheetos, which, yes, are as processed and jam packed with chemical ingredients as the day is long and as such I only eat once in a blue moon), kettle chips, pepperoni, salted almonds, olives, crackers with cream cheese, and GF nuts and bolts (which, if I may say so myself, I make a fabulous version of).




8. My vintage glove collection, which longtime readers may recall from this post two years ago about how I store my beloved gloves, now totals over one hundred pairs. Because I have so many, I wouldn't say I buy them as frequently any more, but I still add a few to the ranks every year and am always on the prowl for styles and colours, as well as really unique varieties, that I don't already own.




9. Located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, my first elementary school was in a residential area but was hugged on one side by a patch of wooded area that just happened to be inhabited by a number of bears. As such, my school had a special bear alarm, which, if sounded, meant that all students instantly had to gather on a paved area at the front of the school, where we would be guided back inside by several staff members. It didn't go off to frequently, but there was always a distinct adrenaline rush when it did and to this day, I associate the sound of school bells with the idea that a bear might suddenly appear!





10. The older I get, the more I find myself loving and wanting to wear early 60s fashions, in no small part because many of them have a powerfully ingrained sense of sophistication which suits a woman very well as she ages. Interestingly, my sweet husband predicted that I might gravitate towards such styles several years ago. Way to go, honey! I doubt I'll be filling my closet with early 60s pieces anytime soon, but I do foresee buying a new one every now and then and styling them in a very early Mad Men-esque way.

{To learn more about a specific image, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

♥ ♥ ♥

Like most blog awards, this one follows a fairly set pattern of what is entailed if you'd like to take part.

-Use a the graphics above, or one/those of your choosing, to denote that you've received the award.

-Link back to the blog of the person who nominated you.

-Share ten (or eleven, I've seen posts with each) random interesting facts about yourself.

-Nominate ten of your fellow bloggers "who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere" (and optionally let them know that you've tapped them for this award).


To that end, I'd love to present this award to the following group of talented, stylish, inspiring, and always lovely ladies, each of whose blog posts are a welcome ray of sunshine in my feedreader every week.

1. Amber from Original Vintage Queen

2. Beverly from Tea Cottage Pretties

3. Corilynn from Poodles and Pincurls

4. Emma from Little Miss Bamboo

5. Joanna from Dividing Vintage Moments

6. Katie from Butterfly loves Snapdragons

7. Leah from Confessions of a Vintage Hoarder

8. Liz from The Vintage Inn

9. Paige Virginia from Paigey the Vintage Dame

10. Randi from Sailing Over A Cardboard Sea

If you opt to play along with this 100% just for fun blog award (no worries if you don't, I know that such things are not a firm favourite with everyone by any means), please don't hesitate to leave a comment on this post with a link back to yours so that I be sure to enjoy reading your engaging random facts and perhaps discovering new blogs amongst those that you yourself pass the Sunshine Award on to.

♥ ♥ ♥

Thank you very much, dear Beate, for thinking of me and my blog and sending this delightful award our way. Its warmth and upbeat spirit are exactly what I need as we brace ourselves to head into the chilliest season of the year again!

Vintage 365: The 1957 Chevy, a beautiful classic car for the ages

✯ Day 57 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

It's rather funny, though I've not yet owned a single car in my twenty six years of life, I've long had a deeply rooted interest in automobiles - particularly those from the mid-twentieth century (natch!). Do I profess to be an expert - alla Top Gear (adore that show!!!) - no, not in the slightest, but there's something about certain cars that makes my pulse quicken, my eyes twinkle, and my imagination go wild (as I lose myself in a daydream about owning said vehicles).

From Ford's Model T to the Honda Clarity (a car which, I strongly believe will change the world of automotive forever - and for the better), over the span of the last 115 years the world has been transformed beyond measure by cars, and along the way some of those hulking, powerful, useful machines have looked rather gorgeous in the process of providing the invaluable service of "horse-less transportation".

Certain cars are icons of their age (think the Chrysler G-70 Roadster of the late 20s and 30s, or the Pontiac GTO of the 60s - both vastly different cars but ones that are no less embedded in eras they hail from), and when I think of the 1950s few automobiles jump out at me more than the 1957 Chevy.

Officially launched in September 1956, the 1957 Chevrolet was one of the most purchased models of it's time, and remains vastly popular with classic car collectors today. It's hard to pin down exactly why I adore the '57 Chevy, but I think it has to do with the fact that it was one of the first vintage cars I can remember seeing as a child. Much like poodle skirts, jukeboxes, Elvis, and saddle shoes, the 1957 Chevy spoke for an era that, even as a young child, I already felt undeniably tied to - and in love with.

{Vintage 1957 Chevy ad, featuring a darling couple and their energetic dachshund, via the site Beautiful Life.}

 

On this, the 57th day of the Vintage 355 series, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the beauty, coolness and timeless allure of the 1957 Chevy (which just happens to be one of my all-time favourite cars). This auto was sleek, yet solid; it had panache to spare, was roomy, delightfully alluring and downright fantastic (not to mention that it was the first Chevy to offer the option of fuel-injection).

The '57 Chevy is a juxtaposition of sorts. On the one hand it was clean-cut and wholesome, perfect for the Cleaver family, and yet (especially in the years that followed) it became a very popular model for hotrods and customization (giving it a daring, Brando-would-have-approved vibe, too).

It's sharp lines, marvelous tail fins, curvaceous top, and perfect dose of metal (chrome) exterior work all cumulate to make this one of the most memorable, and visually appealing, cars of the decade - and if, you ask, me of all time.