You said you'll pay me to take the day off?

Monday will be my first paid vacation in three years. I've really forgotten what it is like to know it is Monday and not feel guilty about not waking up early and flipping open my laptop to hop into the, "yes I get to work from home and it is so great*," mindset. 

 *it is great, just not when everyone else gets paid to take days off

I've decided that all I really want on Monday is a vintage, mint green, Hamilton Beach milkshake machine and a bunch of friends to share it with. Who's in?*

*I'm going to need some takers here, these things can get pricey

Here's something the world forgot about...

The slip! It seems ladies today have forgotten how great a good slip can be (I've got a bunch). They truly do make dresses lay better and keep your outside layer from sticking to you in the hot sticky weather of a city in the summer. I highly recommend owning one, or seven. Not only are they practical but they make you feel like a real wo-man and they show your guy that you're not all about the show, you've got the goods to back it up. 

A great under-layer can perfect an outfit while never being seen.  The trick is - almost nobody sells slips these days. That is except those vintage vendors we love so much. Modern satiny unmentionables can run you upwards of $300 - like this oh so lovely Stella McCartney chemise - while you can grab her vintage counterpart for under $20.  So do yourself a favor and get out there in the vintage market and invest in a slim fitting slip. It'll change the way you think about your dresses. 

*side note - not going for full matching here, just providing some silky and inexpensive alternatives to the modern day pocketbook killer.

I wear my black slip all. the. time. 

$15.50 @ Red Dolly

I don't think I need to explain how fun it will feel to wear this under something demure. 

Starting bid $14.99 on eBay

This is just lovely. And it is my favorite color. 

Starting bid $5.99 on eBay

Now go be a real wo-man and buy yourself a slip.

What's for dinner?

I have to admit, I never really thought of vintage cookware being usable. Oh, I was wrong. I picked one of these up at Brimfield for $25. A vintage Le Creuset dutch oven. With the new versions going for upwards of $200, this was a steal and it works just as well. Nice score.

Oh Brimfield Lampshade, How I Love You!

Now here are the fruits (or some of the fruits, more photos to come soon) of our weekend-long labor. Oh what a weekend it was. We found incredible treasures and drank a lot of these while sitting around the fire at my parent's house. 

The crew was delightful as always and particularly cute this year. If I might say so myself. Brimfield was ready for us. Among the things we found:

1. A 1920's flapper dress

2. A mid-century bar cart

3. A green pony lamp

4. A mid-century nestling coffee table

5. A early 1900's self wetting tape dispenser

6. About a dozen lovely 1950's + 1960's dresses

7. One magnificent gold costume ring

8. Two pink sweaters

9. A great lampshade (of course!)

10. Scarves!

11. A yellow, vintage Le Creuset pot

12. A lot of lemonade and a sunburn

Brimfield May 2012: Day One

A patterned pencil skirt (that is silver!), a shift dress with sleeves (which needs to be altered around the neck) and scarves!

Two needs down - lots more to go.

Must. Find. Lampshade.

Brimfield Countdown! Music!

Pretty much the object is always music, isn't it? In a fit of anticipation the rad guy and I dropped by Generation Records lat night (we have spent way too much money on being "analog" in that store) and I picked this up. Clouds has the song Chelsea Morning on it. If you haven't heard it, well, just listen to it. It might make you realize that a piece of you was missing.


That's how I felt when I first heard it, I was 15, but still. Joni has a way of making you feel that way.


Anyway, Brimfield: search item - records!

Brimfield Countdown! Lampshades!

In our apartment we've had a lamp that has gone without a lampshade for about three months. It is a beautiful antique lamp and remains naked for two reasons. Lampshades are expensive. Lampshades do not live up to my high shade expectations. It is a great lamp, why put a mediocre shade on it?

I shall not. That is why I'll be looking for a lampshade at Brimfield. This one would work perfectly, oh so perfectly. Perhaps I'll find one just like it. But in red. 

Red would be better. 

Brimfield Countdown Continues!

The countdown to the best vintage experience ever continues and today I'm dreaming about skirts. 

Specifically pencil skirts. Specifically pencil skirts with patterns. Specifically I want a skirt like this and a crisp button down. Separates are such a great way to go.

The Brimfield Countdown Begins!

This is going to be so fun. Brimfield starts officially tomorrow - tomorrow! - but my friends and I are being responsible adults and only taking one day off of work this week. So t-minus 3 days and counting until we jet out to the wild antique horizon. We'll be driving up on Friday and hitting the stalls through Sunday - we decided on a leisurely 3-day trip this year, instead of a jam packed 2 day trip. 


So, in honor of my favorite shopping outing of the year - of the everything! - I'm going to give you a list, one thing each day, of what I'll be searching for in those jam-packed old farm fields. 


Today, today I'm looking forward to buying scarves, which, I've decided, are the perfect accessory. I'm going to come back with a bundle of scarves. And perhaps, if I'm lucky, some pins to secure them with. Sparkly pins, flower pins! Pins and scarves: Brimfield search items #1 and #2. 

a search resolved...

The search for a great, inexpensive chandelier has ended. We are now the proud owners of an art deco, slag glass shade chandelier. It once belonged to my great guy's grandmother and we came into possession of it about a month ago. Isn't it lovely? 


It took awhile to figure out how to hang it (well, it actually took a visit from my Dad to figure it out) but it is now up and looking lovely in the living room. I'm enamored with it and a family heirloom to boot!


Now the only search left is to figure out exactly what it is and who made it. It isn't marked anywhere but is such a beauty, I'd really love to know where it came from. 


Do you know where it came from?


*It looks brown in this photo - but it is really purple. Purple!