Introducing a fun new post series: Links, Life, Love

 Soooooo, you guys remember back in early January when I decided to retire some of my long standing reoccurring blog post series? (As discussed in this post.) Though I've not yet regretted that decision for a moment and have greatly been enjoying exploring other writing channels in place of where they once occurred, the more time that goes on, the greater the sense of longing for some sort of regularly occurring link sharing post becomes.

I didn’t want to revive my "Vintage Link Love" series however, as I stand behind the reasons why it was handed a gold watch and sincerely thanked for its diligent years of loyal service. Instead I want to launch a new post right here, right now, that will combine elements of that past series with others topics that I often want to discuss with all of you, too, but don't always have the ability to set aside a whole post for right in the moment.

By the same token though, I don't want these posts to be a million miles long, nor will they necessarily be occurring here on a month-by-month basis. In fact, I want them to be as "on the fly” as possible.

They're going to combine a small smattering of (mostly vintage related) links from around the web that have caught my eye lately, include a (likely) brief look at some of what has been transpiring in my personal life lately, and also share some of things - online or off - that I've been loving and/or feeling deeply inspired by in recent weeks.

Generally speaking all of these are points that most of my readers really enjoy hearing about, so without further ado, may I present you to the first ever edition of Links, Life, Love.


Links:

I swear it was you, my dears, and your plethora of awesome posts in the first few weeks of 2016 that ultimately birthed this series. Try as I may, I couldn't stop bookmarking articles that spoke to me and that I, in turn, wanted to speak to each of you, my lovely readers, about. There's just too much awesomeness being created each day, week and month of the year online not to shine the spotlight on at least a wee fraction of it here.


-Detroit in the 1940s: Then as now, Detroit has not been without its highs and lows, struggles and beauties, as this striking photo filled piece from The Atlantic about the Motor City and its inhabitants during the mid-twentieth century heyday.


-The Ultimate List of Maternity Friendly Retro Clothing: Recently the immensely lovely Bethany from Miss Betty Doll gave birth to her second child, a gorgeous new daughter and little sister to her first sweet girl, and as she rocked vintage/repro/retro styles through her pregnancy, she decided to put together an excellent and very thorough list of some of the best sources for just such fashions when one is expecting. It's a must bookmark no matter if you ever plan to have wee ones of your own or not.


-Women of the Big Band era that everyone should know: My good friend - and fellow Canadian gal - Liz from Vintage Inn excels at penning informative, exciting, and just plain awesome history filled posts and one of her latest, which takes a gander at some of the female stars of the big band era, is no exception.


-Things Pale Girls are Sick of Hearing: Given that I've actually been called "a vampire" before in public by complete strangers, even when I wasn't wearing goth fashions or makeup, simply because of my light complexion, this great Forever Amber post hit home for me big time!


-How to alter clip-on earrings into post earrings: Let's face it, objectively, few people find clip-on earrings to be as comfortable as pierced styles, provided you have holes in your lobes, so if you've ever wished you could comfortably sport a pair of clip-ons without their pinchy pain, this wonderful DIY tutorial from Christina, that shows you how to convert clip-ons to post style earrings, is definitely for you!


-Vintage stocking guide: In need of a vintage stocking 101 class or just want to brush up on the details of sporting old school hosiery. Emeleigh to the rescue with this terrific entry on the subject.


-6 ways to temporarily trim a plain hat: Ever wanted to jazz up a ho-hum hat without permanently altering it? Enter these six stellar tips from endlessly talented milliner, my dear friend, and fellow vintage blogger Tanith Rowan to the rescue!


-And speaking of vintage hats (something that one should do often! :)), how fabulous is this detailed look at How to refresh vintage hats/veils from none other than the thoroughly lovely Emily from Emily's Vintage Visions. You'll never look at a bedraggled hat the same way again!


-And last, but definitely not least, a really sweet Facebook friend, and fellow old school adoring lady, of mine, Elizabeth, recently took the plunge and launched her own mid-century fashion blog called Gloriously Vintage. If you haven't caught wind of it already, I highly encourage you to go check Elizabeth's site out and shower her with love and comments as she begins her own exciting vintage blogging journey.

{Those hats though!!!}

Life:

First and foremost, thank you very, very much to all those who shared their thoughts with me in the comment section of last week's post about some of the substantial changes that Etsy has been making lately.

I won't lie, I was pretty shook up by the major overhaul of that site (chiefly in terms of how seller's shops now look) and am still battling some stress and anxiety from it, but being a glass half full kind of gal, I'm trying to just buck up and make the best of things, believing wholeheartedly that when the reno dust has finally settled (even if that takes a few months) things will largely get back to normal there and my shop and I will have weathered this suddenly storm intact.

Secondly, it's spring! I know, stop the presses! But seriously, it is and that has me beyond jazzed. Though I was going through a rather rough patch on the health front throughout all of March and very early April (I was only well enough to leave the house twice in six weeks and then only for a little while each time; this sort of thing is super common for me, so it didn’t phase me too much, but I was starting to get cabin fever a bit as the sunshine rolled back into town and I really hope that April will be kinder to me in so much as my health is concerned).

Things are well here in our wee abode. March 19th marked the three year anniversary of the day that we brought home our darling dog, Annie, and the following day marked the 12th anniversary of when my husband, Tony, and I first met back in 2004. How time massively flies!




Speaking of my Italian cutie pie, he's headed to Austin, Texas at the end of this month for a brief work trip. It's not possible for me to tag along with him (it just doesn’t make sense for us to spend several hundred dollars on a ticket for me when he’ll be there for such a short time), but I'll definitely be saying hello to the Lone Star state in spirit and can't wait to here his first impressions of this very famous corner of the U.S.A..

With spring's arrival, even in the face of not doing too well health wise in recent weeks, I've been in a very creative, energetic mindset lately and have been a seriously productive panda in many areas of my life and work. Trust me when I say that, thanks to such, there are so many fun new posts coming down the pipeline this spring and summer - and I can hardly wait to share all of them with you!



Love:

Before I go any further, I would be truly remiss if I didn't thoroughly thank my beautiful friend Vanessa, from the blog, Nessbow, for inspiring this portion of my latest blog post series care of her own terrific ongoing series called Things I Love Thursday (in which she details some of the various things that she's been wild about lately).

These posts of hers have long struck a chord with me and I always knew that it wasn't a matter of if, but when, I finally took her lead and implemented something similar here on my own site.

So far spring I've been seriously crushing on the following things:


-Purple - as in the colour: Suddenly, I can't get enough of it in any form. Clothes, flowers, desserts, craft supplies, home decor, you name it, violet is my new game!

-The fact that, for the first time ever, my Instagram account hit more than 5,000 followers. This has been a milestone number that I've been working diligently to reach for quite some time now and I can't thank every who follows me enough for making it happen.

-Baby/new potatoes: A timeless favourite, I've scarcely been going more than three or four days without serving these scrumptious little nuggets up garden grown goodness - often with fresh mint, dill, or chives, a ribbon of butter and a glorious springtime sunset cascading over our dinner table to help make things even more sublime.

-The smell of fresh cut grass wafting through the breeze again (it is, after all, one of my top ten favourite scents of all time).

-Fellow vintage blogger Sabrina’s super cool newly launched Etsy shop, Inky Notions, which abounds with her splendid hand drawn illustrations, many of which are thoroughly vintage focused (watch for a collab post between Sabrina and I a little later this year – it’s going to be a blast!).

-The latest season of House of Cards. Action packed, riveting, and so full of that characteristically conniving, brilliant, megalomaniacal Frank and Claire Underwood goodness that we all adore.

-My new oversized blank page notebook that I've been cramming full of hand written notes and simple sketches for blog, Etsy and crafting related ideas that have been flowing like a waterfall from my mind in recent weeks.

-The Daily Otter. No matter what life throws my way, this site never fails to perk my mood back up in 0.005 seconds flat.


{To learn more about a specific image used in today's post, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

♥ ♥ ♥

So there you have it, sweet darling, links are back, you get to find out more about what's taking place in my life outside of the vintage realm, and I cap off the whole kit and caboodle by sharing a wee array of things that I'm crazy in love with right here and now. Delightfully fun, oui?

Again, I'm not setting a schedule for these posts. They'll appear here every so often, once I've built up at least a few entries for each of the three sections they entail and, you know, the fact that I have a place to share these things with you all again is my final "love entry" for this inaugural edition.

Have a marvelous Monday and gorgeous week ahead, everyone!

Sponsor Chronically Vintage in July

Last month saw the first ever official call for sponsors here on Chronically Vintage, a step I'd been wanting to take for this blog for quite some time now. I'm really happy that I finally did, because it resulted in several new, wonderful sponsors for June, three of which were introduced in their respective sponsor spotlight posts throughout the month (with others to follow throughout the summer).

{Original image source}

 

I would love to have you sponsor Chronically Vintage in July, if you have a business, blog, etsy shop, website or anything else that jives well with this blog and its fantastic audience. Spots are limited and some have already been spoken for, but a few remain – so grab yours before its gone!
 
For more information, or to become a sponsor in July (or anytime), please email me and/or see my sponsorship information page.

Thank you very much for your consideration, and to all those who became Chronically Vintage's latest advertising partners this month. It's been nothing short of a sincere joy to work with each and every one of you.

Spring has sprung!

Cue the chorus of songbirds chirping merrily, the woodland critters prancing through newly sprouted fields of green, and the heavenly rays of sunshine slicing through the clouds. Ok, so this might be a slightly Disney-esque version of what this morning should look like, but it doesn't mean we can't envision it appearing this way all the same.

Today marks the first day of spring 2013, and with it a season of renewed life, scrumptious fresh garden eats, and of course the return of warm weather dressing, a point which, quite frankly, I'm ecstatic about. I've enjoyed my tweeds and tights, bulky sweaters and snow boots, but it's high time we parted ways and my trusty sundresses came back into heavy rotation.

A breezy wardrobe isn't the only thing spring has on the horizon for us. No, this is always a busy season, filled with energy and loveliness, and an inborn desire to be productive, as we shake the proverbial cobwebs of winter out of our soul. So, just want are some of the things that spring has in store for us this year?

Well, there's always these early signs of the season...




And in a few days time, we'll gather to celebrate Easter with all manner of eggs, chocolate goodies, and if we're really lucky, a new festive bonnet.




Falling on Easter Monday this year, we run into April Fool's Day next (I'm not one for pranks myself, but I do enjoy looking at vintage French April Fool's Day postcards like the lovely one below).



April usually means the end of snow and the start of warm weather dressing. Sporting a bathing suit in the great outdoors is still always off, but that's completely ok, it gives up plenty of time to done of favourite vintage springtime fashions, such as this immensely elegant floral adorned look from 1945.




One thing that comes part and parcel with spring for most is taxes. Whether you dread them or eagerly await the potential refund they might yield, there's no skirting around the fact that they're a necessarily part of this time of the year (note that the following image is from a 1944 Life series of people dealing with their taxes at an Internal Revenue office in New York City).




We all know the old expression about April showers, and goodness is it true sometimes! To help make those rain soaked days more bearable (and protect your shoes), why not slip into a pair of vintage rain boots or overshoes like these charming Rain Dears from 1952?




May 1st means it's time for May Day once more. I don't have a pole to prance around, but that doesn't mean I don't feel giddy when the fifth month of the year begins.




If you haven't done so already, now is the perfect time to set aside a day or two (or however long you need) to give you home a thorough once over as part of the annual tradition that is spring cleaning.




Without a doubt one of the loveliest - and most highly anticipated - elements of springtime is the seemingly endless array of blossoms and blooms that, as if by magic, pop back into existence once more.




Of course, now that the warm weather is here again, one will also want to sport a bevy of flowers in their outfits, too (especially for days with delightfully fun outings such as an afternoon as the fair).

♥  ♥  ♥

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

Though we didn't endure an overly harsh or long winter (I've certainly known far more brutal), there was something about this past season that seemed to drag on and on and...you get the picture.

I think that it largely has to do with the fact that we own a car now (something that we couldn't claim prior to March 2012) and as such, when spring starts, we're able to take off and explore the world, bathed as it is in pale, gorgeous sunlight, once more (in a way that, let's face it, you just can't without a set of wheels).

Having a car also makes getting to a large number of yard sales all across town a whole lot easier, and as I love yard sales with an ending passion, knowing that their season was going to commence again soon, really made the last few weeks of winter feel like they were a decade long a piece.

I'm wholeheartedly happy that spring is here. It won't all be cute Easter bunnies, blooming lilacs, and rainbows after a thunderstorm of course, but I sense that it's going to be a terrific season, and I can't honestly recall the last time I was looking quite as forward to spring as I am this year.

Here's to the hope that this season sparkles with merriment, fun and tons of wonderful vintage yard sale finds for all of us!

What have you always loved?

The recent events surrounding our cross country move have had me reflecting lately on an interesting topic: what are some of the things (not people, that’s an entirely different subject unto itself) that I've loved throughout all of my life?

You may wonder how moving ties into this topic, so I'll happily dish the details. Two things in particular have brought this thought to the forefront of my mind. For starters, in the weeks immediately before we hopped from Ontario to B.C., I made the decision to sell off most of two collections of items (Japanese Re-Ment brand miniatures and Pullip dolls, respectively) that I'd been amassing for nearly five years.

The key reasons why I decided to do so were to a.) raise additional funds for the move and the expansion of my wardrobe (which, as you may recall, was/is one of my goals for 2012), and b.) because it meant that there would be a little less to pack with us (an important point when you dealing with movers who charge you both on distance traveled and the weight of your belongings).

These two collections - one (Re-Ment miniatures) much larger than the other - were no less important to, or beloved by, me than ever. Rather, I believed (correctly, I'm glad to report) that the money I knew I could get for selling them could be put to better use right here and now at this stage in my life. I'll always adore Japanese toys and dolls, but my interests at the moment aren't focused on those areas of collecting, so it didn’t make a world of sense to hold onto these items any longer.

The second reason that I've been reflecting on the subject of lifelong loves is because the town that Tony and I moved to, just happens to be one of the two in which I spent a solid chunk of my youth. For several years of my childhood and teenage years, the charming city of Penticton (located a few hours north east of Vancouver, in the gloriously sun-kissed Okanagan Valley) was my home.

From classrooms to skating rinks, quaint back allies to the bustle of main street, through some of the best and worst moments of my formative years, I lived, breathed, and walked amongst the buildings and landscapes of a town that now, for the first time, my husband and I get to experience together.

With so many thoughts pertaining to, and a solid knowledge of, the area, I've naturally been taking a long distance run down memory lane as of late. Starting many a conversation and observation with phrases like "Oh, I remember", "We used to", "Back when I was growing up", and other similar sentiments.

These sprints through the halls of time cannot help but make me take stock of what elements in my life I've loved, cherished, and held a vested interest in since I was a little girl (we moved to Penticton about a month before my 9th birthday).


{Life is abundantly peppered with all kinds of loves. Some are short lived, whereas others stick with us throughout all of our days and never fail to garner revisiting time and time again. Charmingly pretty vintage postcard image via Jerub Baal on Flickr.}


It's entirely normal like or love tons of things throughout your lifetime that only end being a part of your world for a while. From passing fashion trends to TV shows, childhood hobbies to food crazes, there's something downright wonderful about getting to experience new likes that eventually make way for others. Yet few amongst us are without a solid list of things that we've loved since we were little kids.

As someone whose tastes have always veered on the eclectic, varied, and abundant (as in I have scads of interests) side of things, I'd imagine that a complete list - if such a thing were possible - of things I've always adored would run well into the hundreds – or more!

It's easy to pick out some however, and I plan on doing just that in a future post. Today though, what I'm curious about, sweet friends, are some of things - they can be anything from a brand of soap to a breed of cats, vintage shoes to a sports team - that, for just about as far back in the pages of your own life's history, you can remember loving and which you still have a passion for today?

I believe that such ongoing interests shape and help define who we are. They can lead to careers, possibly contribute to how we meet our significant others, take us to foreign lands, bring us both joy and sorrow, and are amongst the topics we turn to first when carrying on a conversation. They've been with us so long as it's as though they've become an invisible part of our DNA. Always there, constantly important, and perpetually meaningful.

What have you always loved? Let me know in the comments below and next Friday (one week from now), I'll randomly select one person who leaves a comment as the winner of a little surprise gift pack of assorted items (think items pertaining to crafting, vintage fashion, etc) that tie into some of the things I've adored throughout the course of my own life.

We've come a long way, baby!

A (slight variation on a) Virginia Slims slogan that was coined in the late 1960s might seem like away a unique to begin a post, but I woke up this morning with those exact words at the forefront of my mind.

Yesterday, March 10th, is an interesting and important date to my husband and I, for it was on that day six years ago exactly, that we left Ireland for Canadian. While I'm Canadian (born and raised) myself, my husband - hailing originally from Italy - is not, and so fulfilling our dream of moving to Canada together for the first time was a monumentous occasion for us.

Though a hefty tome could be written about all that transpired before hand to make such a move possible, and an even thicker volume on everything it took to ensure we could remain here. For the sake of brevity though, I will not go into great detail about such topics.

My husband and I married (by modern standards) fairly young, two years prior to arriving in Canada. I was twenty, he twenty-four. Our wedding was, to say the least, extraordinarily humble and low key with a nearly non-existent budget, taking place just a few months after we met (to say we had a whirlwind courtship would be a substation understatement).

While not lavish, those initial beginnings were more than enough to cement our relationship however, which proved critical in the face of the myriad ordeals life would throw our way in the coming years.

Today however it’s not the trials and tribulations, the hardships or the sleepless night that I wish to focus on per se. No, it is the moments of accomplishment, the milestones and triumphs.

On that frosty day in March when we landed in Toronto six years ago, we each owned a couple of pieces of luggage to our name (having sold or given away our other possessions to help facilitate the cross Atlantic move), and little more.

Our first lodgings in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) left a great deal to be desired, and in those early years it seemed every day was presided over by a cloud of uncertainty pertaining to (my husband's) immigration.

By 2008 however, things had picked up a fair bit. My husband, Tony, received his Canadian Permanent Residency and, come summertime, we were able to move into a better apartment. Though my health (which has already been in decline for several years) took a dramatic nosedive that year, 2008 also saw a major positive milestone when Tony published his first book.

In the ensuing years since then, and some of the ones that proceeded '08, we each launched various websites and blogs (some of which are now important income generators for us), founded businesses, advanced our careers, and grew both as individuals and a couple. Though neither of us were tenderfeet when it came to living in the "grown-up sphere" when we married, the world - and how you opt to handle it - look very different when you 20, 25, or 30.

Last year was an extremely busy one for us for many reasons, not the least of which was because Tony wrote his second book (Technical Blogging: Turn Your Expertise into a Remarkable Online Presence), which - as with his initial book three years prior - I was the first line editor for.

As 2011 wound down, we made put our life under the microscope then whipped it over to the dissecting table, where closer inspection revealed - or helped to further highlight - areas that needed to change and/or improve, one of which was that we felt was that it was time for us to leave Ontario.

The rest, as regular readers of this blog know, is history. Once the decision to move from Ontario to British Columbia was firmly made, we wasted no time in channelling all of attention into that project. In late February we reached our new town in B.C., and this coming week move into our new home (a thoroughly lovely condo on a pristinely peaceful street, which by sheer coincidence alone, I was actually living on at the time back in 2004 when I met Tony - talk about a small world!).

{While online vintage photos of our new home town, Penticton, B.C., seem to be fairly scarce, I've found a few so far, including this charming 1950s postcard feasting a shot of the beach at Okanagan Lake - one of the areas loveliest attractions and ,most popular summertime haunts. Image via Neplains.}

Though many renovations have already taken place, there's much unpacking to do and arranging of belongings so as to create the groundwork of our new home. I'm extremely eager about the prospect of, over time, finding additional pieces - both big and small - to help decorate our home further, especially those of a vintage nature (yard sales and second hand shops, here I come!).

As if these points alone weren't wonderful enough on their own, yesterday, exactly six years to the date from when we hopped off the plane in Toronto, we bought our first car. Another coincidence which certainly did not go unnoticed by either of us.

This incredible step forward is one that I know will only further improve our lives and which will help grant us a new kind of freedom and independence as we settle into life in a picturesque town in the heart of B.C.'s sunny Okanagan Valley.

I don't share these things with all of you to gloat, but instead because I think that it's crucially important for all of us to take stock sometimes of just how far you may have come over the span of a few years (or even a single year sometimes). This, I feel, is especially true if you've juggled both highs and lows in your life, as the darker moments often have the ability to cloud the positives and push them to wayside.

On that late winter day in 2006, I don't honestly recall where I foresaw our lives in six years. At the time, all I could think about was how elated I was to be in Canada again, while at the same time stressed beyond measure about Tony's immigration. Life back then was heavily focused on survival and laying the groundwork for the dreams and goals we believed would form organically as time went on.

One thing you learn as you get older is that life will always throw curveballs your way. No amount of success or money, not the fanciest home, biggest portfolio, fastest car, largest circle of friends or any other achievement can protect you from the unforeseeable. I believe however, that something far greater than any of those things - the inner strength you develop as you age and build up a wealth of different experiences - can truly help make tackling the unpredictable substantially easier.

Where then, one might ask, do I predict our lives to be in another six years? That's an excellent question, and while I'm more certain of the future today than I was in 2006, lacking a crystal ball, I really cannot say. I hope that more great things come our way, that we'll be able to stay in our new house for several years, and that most of the unexpected events that occur will be positive ones.

So, looking back at the last half a dozen years and reflecting on the abundance of changes and accomplishments we've made, as well as where we're at today, I think it's more than safe to say - with a smile on my face - we've come a long way, baby!

Special Halloween edition of Hey, it's OK!

✯ Day 302 of Vintage 365 ✯

Earlier this year I wrote the first in what is to be an ongoing, occasionally occurring, series of posts called Hey, it's OK, modeled after a similar style of post that appears regularly in Glamour magazine.

More so, than perhaps any other post I've ever written for Chronically Vintage, I received private emails from people either relating personal stories that tied into what I said in that post or simply letting me know that they really enjoyed the idea of being told that things were "OK" for a change.

I strongly believe that most of all heap far too much unnecessary judgement on ourselves and fall pry to undo stress over what others may thing of us, so I can see can completely see why that post resonated so deeply with others.

I'm all about positive thinking and cutting yourself a much needed break, so in carrying on that spirit, yet also factoring in our delightful countdown to October 31st, today's post is a special Halloween themed edition of "Hey, it's OK", which I hope you'll enjoy and feel extra positive about yourself after reading.

...to completely adore making, not buying, your own costume every year.

...to love picking out the perfect Halloween pumpkins, but then much prefer to watch others carve them.

...to start planning your Halloween party in July.

...to be so excited the night before Halloween you can hardly sleep!

...to have no desire to wear a costume (be it nurse, cat, devil, police officer, or whatever) that looks like it would scarcely be big enough to fit your five year old niece.

...to stuff yourself silly on on caramel apples, kettle corn, iced sugar cookies, and mountains of candy all day on the 31st, without the slightest twinge of regret the next day.

...to have so many Halloween decorations you need to store them in multiple spots throughout the house.

...to delight in watching, and knowing every word of, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, each year.

...to still secretly fight the urge, tooth and nail, to go out trick-or-treating every year!

...to start counting down to next Halloween the moment the clock strikes 12:00am on November 1st.





{This All Hallows Eve, remember to cut loose, channel your childhood, and have a festive blast! Vintage Halloween postcard image via About.com.}



During the holidays, perhaps more than most other times of the year, it's important to try not to add to our personal stress loads. To cut ourselves a break and try to focus on the joyful spirit of the day.

Halloween isn't Christmas, New Year's or Easter. You don't need to cook a huge feast, worry about sending out tons of cards or buying countless gifts, it's a night of merriment and delight, when we get to reconnect with our youth and celebrate the timeless fun of jack-o-lanterns, scary movies, spooky costumes, miniature chocolate bars, and things that go bump in the night!

Joyful Thanksgiving wishes, everyone!!!

✯ Day 283 of Vintage 365 ✯

{Charming, cheerful vintage Thanksgiving Day postcard by way of Suzee Que on Flickr.}

 

From the Bartlett pear hued trees to the fabulously nippy breeze, the return of thick socks and cozy cardigans to the intoxicating aromas of seasonal cooking, autumn is fully, marvellously, here - and I couldn't be more delighted about that wonderful fact!

When last we left off (three weeks ago), fall was inches away from starting, now, well into October, it's in town and shining as beautifully as a full harvest moon.

Today seems especially festive because, well, it is! Up here on this northerly side of the 49th, it's Canadian Thanksgiving.

Though it's just the two of us celebrating at home together this year (three counting the mash potato loving Ms. Stella!), that doesn't mean I'm not pulling out all the bells and whistles to help make this day extra special.

It might only be 10am, but I've been up for hours, each of the four burners on, and two small racks in, my tiny apartment kitchen oven in full use, as the start of this afternoon's meal gets underway.

A classic (save for the fact that everything is gluten-free) Thanksgiving turkey dinner is in full swing, the bird - laced with bacon and fresh herbs, a dab of honey mustard smeared across its skin for good measure and extra flavour; two kinds of potatoes, rice pilaf, oodles of veggies, homemade ginger cranberry sauce, every last tasty morsel is starting come together, as I peel, chop and prepare enough festive food to feed a small army.

I love the joy today brings, the peace that comes amongst the moments of business and merriment, when one can serenely reflect upon all that they have to be thankful for.

Against t the backdrop of a amber hued morning, pushing aside all the less-than-fabulous moments so far this year, it seems my mind can focus only on the blessings in life. Love that, treasure that, am grateful for the ability to smile and focus on the good.

I hope deeply that today, all my fellow Canadians and worldwide readers alike, are able to feel the same way, too.

It's awesome to be back after my little blogcation, dear friends, and I'm eager to enjoy every moment of this enchanting season with you.

For today however, I need to go baste the bird, but before doing so, I'll wish you all the most marvelous, tranquil, deeply lovely Thanksgiving Day imaginable!

Vintage 365: Delightful vintage inspired airmail make-up bag

✯ Day 23 of Vintage 365 ✯

There are few things more enjoyable and touching than receiving a letter in the mail - especially if it's one you weren't expecting. I recently received just such a letter from a pen pal of mine on the other side of the county. It brought such a depth of happiness to my week that not even the -24C temps we've been waking up to some mornings here in Toronto recently could shake the warm sense of joy I felt from my soul.

It's scarcely a secret that letters are not written with the same frequency that they once were. Of course we have methods such as email and blogs to help stay in contact with our nearest and dearest, but so long as their is a postal system to carry them, I will always continue to write (and I very hope also receive) good old fashioned ink on paper letters.

Whether you pen ten letters a week or two year, you can always fill your home with vintage letter inspired decor, thus giving you a postal mail-like object to admire anytime you please (if you'd like to write more, but often find yourself putting it off, perhaps such an item would help motivate you to sit down and zip off a cheery note to a friend).

With that thought in mind, I went search for a lovely vintage letter themed item and come upon a beautifully charming PVC make-up bag from UK seller Aspire Style that is designed to look like an envelope on one side and a postcard on the other. Soft hues, a darling pair of birds, vintage style stamps and postal cancelations, and embroidered detailing on the front, all add up to make this Air Mail make-up pouch (which measures 17cm x 12cm and sells for £14.95) nearly as wonderful as real piece of mail.

Looking at it, I was suddenly struck with the idea that this marvelous cosmetic bag would also make a whimsically pretty place in which to store stamps, thus ensuring you'd have the correct postage ready and waiting any time you want to bring a hefty dose of happiness someone's way and mail them a handwritten letter.

A very quick post to touch base

Good evening, sweet dears, how are you each on this last day in March? I hope that you’ve all been having marvellous weeks since we last spoke. My deepest and most heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who left comments (and emailed me privately) in regards to the health issue I mentioned in last Saturday’s post.

I had a very thorough doctor’s visit complete with various tests on Monday and also went for an ultrasound that day (which was preformed by the least gentle, most emotionally cold person I’ve ever encountered in the medical field, but I’m honestly trying to block the experience out of my mind, so I won’t be a negative Nancy (so to speak) and go into detail about it – let’s just say Genghis Khan would have been appalled by how viciously unkind and physically rough – for absolutely no reason – this woman was). I’ll be heading back up to the Dr.’s office next week to find out the results of all the tests and further discuss the situation.

In the meantime though I’m *trying* not to worry and am attempting to focus my thoughts on considerable more pleasant topics such as Easter, the inherent beauty of spring (which really has to arrive here any day now!), and my mother’s birthday on Friday. Even though we’re located on different sides of the country, I always get so excited when her special day rolls around – after all, of she wasn’t born, I wouldn’t be here typing this post right now!

Monday’s medical visits zapped my strength rather severely and I’m still recouping, so I’m going to continue resting tomorrow, but (baring anything unforeseen) hope to bring you a new edition of Vintage Friday Fashionista the following day.

Really and truly, thank you again, for your caring, understanding support and lovely comments. I can’t begin to tell you how much they helped lift my spirits over these past few days!


{A darling vintage card filled with springtime daisies to wish you the brightest and most lovely of April firsts tomorrow. Image via homanedheart’s Flickr stream.}


I hope that the month ahead is an amazing, sun-kissed, deeply joyful one for you all!