My Week According to Instagram

This week was pretty good, though it didn't end on such a positive note.  I came home from work last night after midnight and it was quite cold in my flat.  I looked at the thermostat and it read around 60 degrees Fahrenheit.  I turned the hot tap on and it just ran cold.  It was a miserable night's sleep.  Smudger and I were all bundled up in bed and still couldn't sleep well.  When I woke up this morning it cooled down to about 50 degrees (which is quite cold when the wind is howling)!  It was too much to bear.  Poor Smudgie was shaking like a leaf so we packed a few things up and went to my mum's house until the landlord refueled at our flat.

Thanksgiving ended up being quite nice, although a bit hectic.  Mum and I spent all day cooking and baking (me being the genius that I am, did it in high heeled booties).  It was really fun.  I enjoy cooking and baking but don't do it that often myself since I live alone and also work second shift.  It was just three of us for dinner but then my brother, his wife, and my nephew stopped by for desert.  After they left Mum and I watched a bit of a film called Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I've seen it already and it's a really cute movie.

1. Adorable vintage looking hand mirror from the Dollar Tree.

2. Handmade Christmas gift tags available here.

3. Gone With the Wind marathon on AMC.

4. Mummy holding me when I was a wee lass.

5. Thanksgiving day outfit; soaking up the sunlight.

6. Five homemade pies: 2 pumpkin, 1 lemon meringue, 1 apple, and 1 cran-apple.

7. The apple pie I made.  I love the lattice work.

8. Lemon meringue pie.

9. Misty waking up from her nap.

10. Thanksgiving before the feast begins.

11. Thanksgiving outfit again, including the jumper and handbag.

12. My partner in crime, my mummy.

I'm so excited for my next day off on Tuesday.  I'm going to be spending the day decorating my flat for Christmas.  I love decorating for the different holidays or just in general.  There's a house a few minutes away that is selling boughs from their pine trees so I'm going to get some, put a red ribbon on them, and hang them under each window.  I also got a great CD yesterday full of old Christmas music from artists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and others.

When do you normally decorate for Christmas?

For Those I Am Thankful For

As we all know, this time of year, especially today, is the day to give thanks for everything in our lives that we are grateful for.  I'd like to share with you the things that I am grateful for.  This post is dedicated to those special people in my life that make everything worth while.

I am grateful for my family.  Though some members I don't have as close of a relationship with that I'd like to, I'm still hopeful that one day things may change around.  I am so thankful for the rekindling of relationships that have long gone neglected.  It means the world to me to be reconnected with my family from Maine.  Especially having Kathy and Karen in my life.  They are like the two aunts I never had.  Their contact in my life means so much.

I'm thankful for my friends who are there for me through thick and then.  They understand and accept me just the way I am.  Even though we are growing up and developing our own adult lives, I know who the ones are that will always be a special part of my life (you know who you are, Michelle and Sarah).

Me and Mum at the Renaissance Faire, 2011.

Harry and Ginny. Er...me and Steven.

Shelly and I at a Halloween party.

A rare Christmas where my siblings and I are all together.

Knowlton family reunion. I am so glad I know these people.

My dear Smudger; he is such a great companion.

My brother's wedding in Boston.

My best friends Michelle and Sarah.

I miss the sleepovers and laughs we used to share.

The best hairstylists out there. Erica, Tiff, me, and Amanda.

Karen, Mum, me, and Kathy at the Renaissance Faire this year.

I love these ladies.

My dear nephew Evan and I last Christmas.

Great Uncle Bud, gone but not forgotten.

Grandma Parker, missing you.

Grandma and Grandpa Beitler. I never knew him and I miss her desperately. I am so grateful for the time that I did have with her, even though it was very short.

My mummy and I.

The person in my life whom I am most thankful for is my mummy.  She has always been there for me and supported me through every mad whim.  She's always accepted me for who I am and let me coming into my own person without judgement.  She is my best friend, my mentor, my mother.  I am so grateful for our bond and I couldn't ask for anything more.  She means the world to me. 

What are you thankful for on this wonderful day of family, friends, food, and fun?  I wish you all a wonderful day of thankfulness and celebration.

My Week According to Instagram

Sorry I've been so naughty with posting!  I've pretty much only been doing my weekly Instagram posts, and this one is even a day late.  I really don't have any excuses except laziness and back pain.  I got injured at work a few months ago and have yet to heal from it.  Actually, the pain has increased the last few weeks.  I ended up having to go home from work early because the pain was so unbearable.

But onto less depressing things.  The Christmas spirit is really starting to bubble up inside of me.  I know Thanksgiving hasn't even come yet.  But I can't help it.  I blame the Hallmark and Lifetime channels for having Christmas film marathons that I can't resist.  I'm so looking forward to the decorations, the music, the movies, and the smells of wondrous things baking.

1. A beautiful 1957 Packard for sale.

2. A picturesque property.

3. 'Army babe' costume at the thrift shop.

4. Grandma's hat.

5. Outfit photos.

6. My great uncle's Navy photo.

7. Grace Kelly.

8. World War II Weekend, June 2011.

9. 200 followers!  Wow!

10. Sophie Kinsella marathon.

11. The one that got away.

12. Vintage-inspired gloves from Target.

13. Smudger is getting in the Christmas spirit.

14. Breaking Dawn Part Two.

15. Wearing the dress my mum made in middle school.

16. Mad Men, anyone?

Closer to the horizon is Thanksgiving.  That will be my holiday off (I'll have to work Christmas) and I'm excited to be able to spend the day with some family.  I'm most looking forward to spending the morning cooking and baking with my beloved mother.

What are your favorite parts of the upcoming holidays?

My Week According to Instagram

Another week passes us by.  I worked all week except for Thursday.  I was rather productive that day.  I finally got my hair trimmed after not doing so for the longest time, I started my Christmas shopping, went grocery shopping, and did some sewing with my mum.

I am working this weekend, so I usually don't do much when I work.  I have off tomorrow but it's going to be another busy day.  I like having off a weekday each week, but then again at the same time it's not very relaxing if you try to cram too much in one day.  I always long for my weekends off when I can have two days in a row.

1. Pumpkin spice latte on the way to a flea market.

2. Vintage nails and a Singer light bulb shield.

3-4. The lovely Vivien Leigh.

 

5. Stockings and garter belt.

6. Gorgeous blue Orchids.

7. Handmade Kindle case.

8. Battle wound from Smudger.

9. Lee Pace in Breaking Dawn Part Two.

10. Exploring Maine in July.

11. Hitchcock time.

12. Lovely fabric I need to buy.

13. Making an apron from this pretty fabric.

14. Saving the eggs from spoiling.

15-16. Stunning Waterfall furniture.  I desperately want the wardrobe on the right.

17. The third piece at the thrift shop.

Vivien Leigh

99 years ago today, on 5 November 1913, Vivian Mary Hartley (most famously known as Vivien Leigh) was born in Darjeeling, India.

I can remember the first film I saw with Vivien Leigh in it.  It was Waterloo Bridge.  This was also my first Robert Taylor film.  I fell in love with him instantly and adored her straight away.  It was such a magical, bittersweet story.

Vivien and Robert Taylor in Waterloo Bridge

Touching up her makeup on the set of Waterloo Bridge

Vivien and Laurence Olivier

Vivien with Maureen O'Sullivan and Robert Taylor

Clark Gable and Vivien in Gone with the Wind

I have since then seen subsequent films that Vivien has been in.  And her talent never fails to amaze me.  She is a delight to watch.  I have only had the pleasure of seeing a few of her films.  They were Gone with the Wind and A Yank at Oxford (co-starring Robert Taylor again).  But that's a problem that I seriously want to remedy and am able to do a little bit today.  TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is having a marathon of some of her movies which I am recording to watch later.

Vivien is definitely one of my top 3, favourite old Hollywood actresses along with Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth.  What are yours?

Happy Birthday to the stunning, always glamorous Vivien Leigh.

My Week According to Instagram

So I survived Frankenstorm!  Though I didn't go unscathed.  I had leaks in my ceiling that caused some damage.  But thankfully I managed to be one of the lucky ones that didn't lose power.  I was very grateful for that fact.  I was also off on Monday, which was the worst of the days.

I had off yesterday and today.  I spent the weekend with my mum sewing and hanging out.  I made a case for my Kindle and began on a dress.  I think the Kindle case turned out well enough for my first stab at it.  I also had to tweak it a bit to fit my specific Kindle model.  I'm excited to make more now that I've got the hang of it, and put them up on my Etsy.

1. Recently acquired vintage luggage.

2. Grilled cheese on a rainy day.

3. Rice cereal pumpkin treats for Halloween.

4. Ceiling leak because of Sandy.

5. Ceiling rain water dripping in a pot.

6. 1920s inspired hair.

7. Ceiling damage from Sandy.

8. Hocus Pocus on Halloween.

9. Smudger in his hot dog costume...he's not that amused.

10. World War II Weekend, June 2012.

11. Knowlton family coat of arms.

12. World War II Weekend, June 2011.

13. Vintage back seam nylons.

14. Vintage coat.

15. Braving the cold for outfit photos.

16. Sewing time!  A vintage pincushion.

I don't really have much else to report.  I'm a bit tired from Daylight Savings Time, so I believe I will call it a night.  Did you do anything fun this week?