A summery watermelon skirt and a cute little snail

Outfit details

Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
White hair flower: Ardene
Red plastic rose stud earrings: Claire's
Pearl necklace: Birthday gift from Tony ♥
Red ruched neckline t-shirt: Forever 21
Black thin knit shrug: Fairweather
Bangle bracelets: assorted sources (Forever 21, Claire's, thrifted, etc)
Green faux leather skinny belt: eBay
1950s corduroy bucket purse: etsy seller Rue 23 Vintage Clothing
Vintage watermelon pocket a-line skirt: etsy seller Cricketcapers
Red and white stripped wedge sandals: Payless
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red

Photography by Antonio Cangiano
♥ ♥ ♥

Earlier this summer, on a very rainy day, Tony and I stopped by to visit my sister in Kelowna for a little while. We didn't know in advance that her boyfriend (the two live together) was quite ill, but when we found out we opted not to pop into their apartment (lest either or us should catch what he had), instead we visited with my sis for a few minutes in the very, very dimly lighted - but chicly decorated - lobby of her apartment.

 We'd hoped to get in a proper photo shoot that day, but the rain ruled that out in an outdoor environment and then when we didn't hang out in my sister's place, we lost that setting, too. Not to be detoured though, Tony grabbed a few quick iPhone photos of me, which, given the massive lack of light, still managed to turn out alright. I'm very glad they did, as this adorable a-line skirt with its darling watermelon pocket is one I've been eager to share with all of you since the moment I got it several months ago.

 I'm sure you'll see it again in future warm weather outfit posts, but as we're heading in fall and winter pretty soon, in case it doesn't get worn again this year, I thought I better post these pics now, two days shy of the end of the season.

As we were making our back out to the car, I spotted a sweet little snail on a fence and asked Tony if I could borrow his phone to take a quick photo of it. One doesn't encounter all that many snails (especially if you don't have a garden) in this part of the province (unlike in the Lower Mainland, where snails and slugs alike often abound), so - as a lifelong fan of snails - when I do see one here, it's cause for momentary celebration.

 On a different note, though we're not been able to get to very many of them this season and I've only unearthed a tiny handful of vintage pieces over the course of the summer at the ones we did visit, as many of you have expressed an interest in seeing a "best of the summer" yard sale find post (akin to my best of the spring one from last June), I plan on putting together one in the near future.

 We're having particularly lovely weather this September and as a result, yard sale season is still going relatively strong. In years past I've seen it stretch into October, and I'm hoping such will be the case in 2012, too, as it may mean that (assuming I'm feeling well enough to hit them up) that there are still a few more weekends this year in which to potentially find some wonderful old school pieces.

 When it finally looks like the locals have packed it in for the season (quite literally) and there aren't likely to be more yard sales this year, a "best vintage finds of the summer" post will appear here. I really appreciate the enthusiasm that guys you had for the spring one and am super excited to share my summer finds with you, too, even if their numbers pale in comparison to the especially good spring garage sale run we had.

 So while it will likely soon be time to wave good bye to watermelon skirts, sizzling rain storms (and the cute little snails they bring out), and yard sales, I'm not too blue about the fact that summer is wrapping up. Despite being very ill for August and much of September, this was still, bar none, one of the best - and happiest - summers I've experienced as an adult and I'm extremely grateful for that.

 The memories and smiles gleaned from this season will stay with me for the rest of my life, and - I truly hope - stand to indicate how future summers may be often be from here on out now that we're in beautiful British Columbia.

Honoured to be featured on That's a Pretty Hat

Though, like many of you, I (proverbially) eat, sleep, and breath vintage fashion day in and day out, that doesn't mean I'm not inspired by other peoples' styles, too, even if they veer more on the modern side of things. This rings especially true if a fellow fashion blogger and I happen to share a passion for a particular brand, garment or accessory.

Earlier this year I discovered a wonderful blog that's helmed by a very stylish lady named Kathleen Lisson (pictured below in a sublimely lovely Ellen Christine hat and Reiss dress). What makes her site - called That's a Pretty Hat - especially noteworthy is the fact that Kathleen in a hat loving woman after my own heart. From casual to royal wedding worthy, this well dressed blogger's posts are jam packed with one inspiring, beautiful hat after hat another, each of which is paired with Kathleen's refinded, elegant modern style (which strikes me very much as being 21st Jackie O or Grace Kelly).

We've been commenting on one another's blogs for a while now, and it was with much excitement that I recently received an email from Kathleen asking if I'd like to be included in part of a post she was planning about hat fellow loving bloggers. As you can imagine, I jumped at the chance and enthusiastically wrote back at the speed of light.

Kathleen asked me to share some of my thoughts on the wearing of hats as an accompaniment to the two photos of me (which long time readers may recall from this shoot last March) included in her post, which you can read here.

I adored getting a chance to share some virtual page space with a handful of fellow hat lovers, whose styles, though much more modern than mine, are certainly inspiring and joy to find myself amongst. If you haven't had an opportunity to discover Kathleen's blog yet, it's a definite must for hat fans of all sorts, whether you reach for the mid-century designs like I do, or straight-off-the-F/W 2012 runway styles. (and everything in between!)

Many sweet thanks for including me as part of your first post on fellow chapeau adoring gals, Kathleen. I can't wait to see, and be inspired by, future editions of this series!

Orange you glad we got these birthday photos?

Outfit details

Orange hair flower: Ardene
Prescription eyeglasses: (frames) Venus Eye Design V-12
Peach rose earrings: Handmade by me
White cardigan: Suzy Sheir
1950s silver coloured poodle brooch: Gift from Tony ♥ White vintage slip: eBay
Cobalt blue wrap top: Smart Set
Orange vintage a-line skirt: etsy seller Lady Kitschener's Vintage
Orange bangle bracelet: Forever 21
All blue bangles: Thrifted/second hand
White bangle: Me She Designs Striped bow adorned sling-back wedges: Payless
Lip Colour: Red Apple Lipstick's Almost Red lip liner

Photos of me and the dining room by Antonio Cangiano, photos of the two of us together, taken by my mom with Tony's camera.   ♥ ♥ ♥
                                          ♥ ♥ ♥  

For years Tony has maintained that we do not have enough photos of the two of us together, and he's completely right. I've always agreed, yet year after year, it seemed we'd be lucky if we got even so many as a few snaps of the two of in the same shot. In part this was because our social circle wasn't always huge, and also due to the fact that I was/am often not feeling well enough to accompany him when he goes someplace.

Fortunately however, since moving to Penticton and suddenly having lots of more friends and family members around, we now often have people at the ready for those times when we want a photo of the two of us together. Few times of the year lend themselves as naturally to the act of taking pictures then holidays and birthdays, and it was precisely the latter which we celebrated last month when Tony turned 32 years old.

Far and above Tony's favourite colour is orange, so ahead of time my mom and I decided that we'd adorn her dining room (pictured above, where we celebrated his birthday) with orange birthday decorations, and to keep the colour theme going, I slipped into one of the few orange pieces in my closest. This was going to be a day dedicated to both Tony and his most beloved hue.

As we all know, orange can be a tricky colour to wear. It's very easy to unintentionally veer into Halloween territory if you partner it with black, brown, grey, or even green sometimes, or to look a bit like you got attacked by a highlighter if you opt for head-to-toe bright orange. This punchy colour also looks better on some people than others, and certainly not every shade works on me (so hence the scarcity of it in my wardrobe).

I have a few orange pieces however, chief amongst which is this fun skirt. Knowing that I definitely did not look like I was ready to celebrate All Hallow's Eve, I opted to pair it with crisp white and a shot of upbeat cobalt blue (which, ultimately, is only one colour off of the classic red, white and blue nautical palette).

I liked how this outfit came together and would definitely sport these three colours together again. Had I not gone white blue, beige or pink might have worked, too. I don't wear this skirt all that often though (it will definitely need to get more play next summer), so it was a treat to bring it out for this wonderful occasion.

I'm happy to report that the birthday boy had a marvelous celebration from sun up (in the morning he and my parents went fishing at Skaha Lake where he was greeted by a lovely peachy-orange sunrise that he grabbed a snap of, pictured above, with his iPhone) to sun down (we shared a scrumptious bbq dinner with family at my parent's house where he opened his gifts - including fishing related ones from me), and that this was the most orange he'd ever been surrounded with on his special day.

Mission successfully accomplished - complete, finally (!), with photos to document this awesome birthday celebration.