My Week According to Instagram

It's my birthday!!!  Today!  Right now!  Today I turn 27...Yikes!  I'm the same age as my mum when she had me.  By the time she was this age she had three children.  I feel so behind.  Though things nowadays are a little different and there isn't as much pressure to get married and have children straight away.

But now that I am getting into my late 20s (geez), it really starts to get me thinking about the future and really paving the path for the things I want out of life.  I'm tired of going from job to job and would really like to find a career.  I have no idea what that is though.  Definitely something where I could dress up and be creative.  It also gets me thinking about how much I'd really like to meet a good man so I can take those steps towards settling down.  I don't have to get married and start popping out babies quite yet, but I'd at least like to be on my way towards that, even if it's a few years off.

1. Mmm, Daryl...

2. A great fashion book by the stylist of Mad Men.

3. Those arms... *swoon*

4. Playing with a new app.  This look is rather true now.

5. Entered a giveaway to win Julianne Hough's new shoe line.

6. Made a (at the time) truer to form comic self.

7. Shared this post on Instagram.

8. Gave myself glitzy nails.

9. Loved this photo from this post too much to not share it.

10. A stack of Jean Harlow films from the library.

11. Shared this post about Chuck from Pushing Daisies on Instagram.

12. A vintage Valentine.

13-14. Got gussied up for myself on Valentine's Day.

15. Vintage 1932 La Belle Chocolatier cookbook.

16. The recipe a used, a little well loved.

17. The finished result, which I then gave to my mum.

18. Haha, love this!

19. Oh The Notebook...I had to watch this for Valentine's Day.

20. Oh man, look at all that hair I chopped off!

21. My new haircut, au natural.

22. All styled up.

23. Ginger Rogers looks so stunning here.

24. What I wore thrifting yesterday.

25. A close up of my 1930s fur trimmed jacket and vintage hat.

26-27. Made out like a bandit at the thrift shop.

28. Throwback of me in a bonnet with my mum.

29. Vintage pink and cream Elton's square hatbox.

30. Vintage tan snap wrist opera gloves.

31. Vintage Miss Liberte hatbox.

32. Vintage rabbit fur coat.

33. Vintage dressing table powder dish.

34. Vintage floral tapestry bag and vintage gloves with blue knit trim.

35. Vintage t-strap heels.

36. Faux fur bolero.

37. Charcoal grey faux fur coat.

38. Vintage wooden hangers and vintage copies of Sherlock Holmes, The Hobbit, and Gone With the Wind.

39. A stack of vintage vinyls.

40. Vintage silver serving spoon, 1950s cookbook, and vintage Alka-Seltzer song book.

Yesterday my mum took me thrifting as part of a birthday present.  She could have spent that money to get another gift for me, but she knew how much I enjoyed going thrifting.  As you can see above, I made out like a bandit.  I didn't get as much clothing as I would have liked, but I did find some really amazing pieces.

Today my mum is taking me to go see Warm Bodies.  I am excited to finally go see it after reading the book and seeing constant advertisements for it.  We will then divulge in some yummy Pizza Hut pizza and of course my favourite, their breadsticks with extra seasoning.  Yum!  I'm starting to feel really sick so I hope it goes away so I can enjoy today.

Then tomorrow my dad is taking me out to dinner, so I'll get two treats two days in a row.  It will also be nice because I hardly ever see him.  Maybe twice a year.  And in that time we don't really get much quality time together so it will be nice to see him.  The last time I did something that was just the two of us was at least two years ago.  Ever since my parents got divorced and then he remarried, our relationship just started to suffer.  I wanted to have a closer bond with him, but he's not particularly the most touchy-feely type of person, so it's hard that I don't have the type of relationship with him that I'd like.  It makes me all the more grateful for how close I am to my mum.

But enough about that drama!  It's my birthday and it will be a good day.  I'm off to go see a sexy zombie Nicholas Hoult and eat some yummy, greasy food, if I can stomach it.  I hope you all had a grand weekend!  And please cross your fingers for me that I may start to feel better so I can enjoy the day.

Style Crush: Charlotte "Chuck" Charles

Sorry this post isn't coming out at it's normal time in the morning.  But at least I am getting this out on my newly titled Style Crush Wednesday!  This week I am featuring fictional character Charlotte "Chuck" Charles from the short-lived cult hit Pushing Daisies.

From IMDB: "A pie-maker, with the power to bring dead people back to life, solves murder mysteries with his alive-again childhood sweetheart, a cynical private investigator, and a lovesick waitress."  The show stars the puppy dog adorable Lee Pace as Ned the Piemaker, Anna Friel as the stylish Chuck, Kristin Chenoweth as Olive, and Chi McBride as Emerson.

I especially love that Chuck stays true to her vintage heart and wears lovely lingerie underneath her ultra feminine outfits.  There's just something so sexy to me about the older style undergarments like the ones above.  The lace ruffle on the panties is especially cute!  I'd love to get a set like these someday.

Anna Friel is so lovely as Chuck.  She is the type of girl that you'd want to become best friends with and also raid her incredible closet!  Above is an outfit someone compiled to replicate Chuck's awesome fashion sense.

Chuck tends to stick mostly with fashion from the 1950s-1960s and pulls it off effortlessly.  Sometimes it's not easy to wear a headscarf and vintage sunglasses along with vintage clothes without looking like wearing a costume.  And even though technically the actress is, it doesn't seem this way on this sweet show.

She has the most beautiful floral dresses.  Chuck definitely has an incredible closet!  The shoes, hats, and sunglasses are all to die for.  It just shows that a woman can be beautiful and sexy without wearing a skintight super short outfit.  To me, this is classy and it's so much more attractive.  The dress below is sooo beautiful!  I love the muted colours, the print, and the cut.

Here is another outfit inspired by the character.  I think it resembles her style perfectly.  It shows off all the best parts about being a woman.  Besides having great clothing and accessories, her hair always looks lovely.  Whether it's in an updo or down with tousled waves, it suits her.  It's one thing to have a great closet, but it's the accessories, hair, and makeup that ties the whole look together.

 

To quote my friend Kristi at Eccentric Owl, "It's my goal to dress like Chuck from Pushing Daisies."  Mine too!  Besides Chuck's beautiful clothing, and Lee Pace being super dreamy, this is an amazing show.  So cleverly written and entertaining.  Sadly it was cut off in the middle of it's second season.  But I still highly recommend watching it regardless!

Do you have a style crush on a fictional character?

Goldfish Crackers and Ginger Rogers

I was tempted to do a post about the fashion from the Grammy's Sunday night but then I just didn't follow through.  There was some good fashion, but not enough so like at the SAGs for me to dedicate a whole post to it.  So instead, I bring you an outfit post.

After playing with fire for the past month by babysitting my nephew every Saturday, the inevitable has happened-I finally got sick.  I don't know what it is about five-year-olds and rules saying they have to be so germy and constantly sick during the winter.  But my nephew has been sick for the past month and I have unfortunately succumb to it.  The only god this is at least I got my flu shot.  But now that means if it worsens, I will be quite sick on my birthday this Sunday.

I don't have parties to celebrate my birthday anymore, but I will still be doing something for it.  Saturday I will be sadly attending the funeral of a beloved teacher that has passed away, and then do a little thrifting as part of my gift.  Then Sunday I will be finally seeing Warm Bodies with the luscious Nicholas Hoult as R.

The one consolation for becoming sick is that I have plenty of black and white films to keep me company.  There are several Ginger Rogers and Rita Hayworth's on my DVR and I just picked up a whole stack of the gorgeous Jean Harlow that came through my library today.  Despite loving Jean, I have never gotten to see any of her films yet so I'm very excited to spend my convalescence getting better acquainted.

I finished watching It Had to Be You starring Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde.  Now I'm currently watching Flying Down to Rio with Dolores del Rio, Gene Raymond, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers.  This was the beginning of the dancing partnership between the incredible Fred and Ginger.

To add insult to injury, so to say, on top of feeling under the weather, my back pain has also increased substantially.  Ever since I got injured twice at work, most recently in September, the past five months I've always had back pain.  The amount of pain would vary upon activity and whatnot.  But ever since waking up Sunday morning, it's been excruciating.  I don't know if I did something to it whilst watching my nephew or sleeping, but it needs to go away.  I can't handle feeling sick and not even being able to rest without pain.

 Outfit Details:

vintage hat, vintage skirt, sweater, belt {thrifted}

knit stockings, shoes {target}

vintage jewelry {paternal grandmother}

If my stomach continues to insist on feeling like a rocking boat during a wild storm, my new best friend is going to be the Goldfish crackers I just picked up at the shop.  So you know how I'll be spending the next few days: Goldfish crackers and black and whites, not too bad of a combination.

What's your go to items for when you don't feel well?  Or even just for a rainy day?

My Week According to Instagram

Normally most of the time I usually want to jump back in time into the 1940s.  But as of late, I've been a bit more inclined to indulge a bit farther.  I've just finished reading Austenland by Shannon Hale and am nearly done with Midnight in Austenland.  I've always been a big Austen fan, so reading these stories about women who take a holiday in England and immerse themselves in the world of Austen.  They wear the clothing (down to the chemise, bloomers, and corset), (try) to speak the language, and flirt with gorgeous male actors dressed in breeches that are there as a romantic diversion.  I know I wouldn't mind a little Mr. Darcy, Colonel Brandon, or Mr. Knightley fantasy.  How about you ladies?

 

1. My dear baby taking a wee nap.

2. A groovy shot from a 1968 Scrabble game.

3. Shared this post on Instagram.

4. Put this post up on Instagram.

 

5. Shared this post on Instagram.

6. Watched Midnight in Paris for the first time...loved it.

7. My backdrop on my iPhone.

8. Exactly.

9. My Titanic cross-stitch is nigh done.

10. There's a random TARDIS in the background of a morning news program (Need I say, I live in the States).

11. Not too pleased with this American Idol contestant complaining about not playing with a band when he did on The Glee Project.

12. Shared this post on Instagram.

 

13. DOCTOR WHO YAHTZEE!!!

14. So true...

I've also felt a recent attachment towards the Downton Abbey era also.  I love the 1940s-1950s, but there's something even more glamorous about the years preceding those.  Women had to change their clothing multiple times of the day.  Everyone dressed for dinner.  I just love watching Downton and pretending that I could be one of the Ladies Crawley.  I must admit that I'm a few episodes behind, so no spoilers!

What is your normal era that you wish you could transport back to?  Do you have any other time periods you'd like to visit if you could?

Nicking a Nurse's Cape

So today is the day of this big storm hitting the east coast.  Thankfully I'm a little further south, and it's mostly New England that's getting hammered.  It hasn't even started snowing here yet...

This was an interesting photoshoot.  I was photo-bombed by a random dog in multiple photos, which I'm sharing one of below.  And then said dog's owner decided to watch me take photos of myself, which is beyond awkward.  It would be one thing if I had a tripod and a remote, but I don't.  I have the lid to my 1960s typewriter that sits on top of a stool with the camera on top of the lid.  Then I set the timer setting on the camera, run into the frame, and strike a pose.  It's not something I like to do with onlookers, but with no choice, I rocked it.  Thankfully I was left in some peace for the very end of the photos, and then booked it out of there.

 

 

Outfit Details:

vintage 1940s nurse's cape, vintage dress, vintage hat, shoes, belt, bracelet {thrifted}

vintage handbag, ring {gifted}

vintage earrings {maternal grandmother}

I am very excited I finally got a chance to wear the 1940s nurse's cape.  It's technically my mum's cape that she bought at last year's WWII Weekend, but I have since adopted it since she doesn't wear it and only bought it at the event because of being cold.  So now it's "mine"...at least for now.  It's a navy wool with red silk lining and so warm!  The only bad part is it's hair attraction.  Oh well.

Do you have any items of clothing that you have "adopted", "stolen", or "borrowed" from a friend or family member?

Want to see what photos didn't make it onto the blog?  Head over to Facebook for a look-see.