My Week According to Instagram

Finally the weather is starting to come back to spring temperatures!  All week it's been a bit cooler so I didn't get to take any outfit photos.  Yesterday was really nice so I went to my usual spot and took some photos by the most beautiful cherry blossom tree.  It was the perfect backdrop for spring photos.  Plus it smelled really nice.  I just had to be mindful of the bees flitting around.

This week has ended with my mood being inspired by the 1920s.  I re-watched Midnight in Paris so I could see Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald.  That film is just so incredible and I can really relate to the protagonists desire to be transported to the past.  Between that and the adverts I keep seeing for The Great Gatsby I've been going back a couple decades more than I normally do.

I was inspired and made two flapper-esque headbands.  I am absolutely going to dress up and go see Gatsby, even if no one else will dress up with me!  Though it would be preferable to have a few dapper people with.  I do love the twenties but only really have a few accessories from that time period including a hat and three handbags.  It would be really swell to find some pieces that if not actually that old, at least hold resemblance to that style of dress.

1-4. Last Sunday's outfit.

5-6. First time taking photos on train tracks.

7. Hats from another lady at church!

8. Hello, handsome...

9. I love Tom Hiddleston's curly hair!

10-11. Impossible Astronaut Day!

12. Reading lots of Tom or Benedict fanfiction.

13. I'm sensing a theme here...

14. Roller set and my grandma Charlotte's shirt.

15. Doctor Who + Sherlock = amazing fandom mashup.

16. These ladies are so inspiring!

17. The amazing Ella Fitzgerald.

18. Austen mood.

19. I love the Fitzgeralds in Midnight in Paris.

20. Getting excited for The Great Gatsby!

21-22. 1920s fever hit and I made two headbands inspired by Midnight in Paris/Gatsby.

23-24. Yesterday's nautical/patriotic themed outfit.

25-26. Gorgeous cherry blossom tree where I took outfit photos.

27. And another beautiful flowering tree.

28. I love this tree as a backdrop!

29. I can't wait to post these on the blog.

30. Black and white.

Inspiration has also struck in another way, though still keeping the roaring twenties in mind.  I think this spring/summer I'd really like to try to throw some themed picnics/afternoon parties.  I'm the only vintage lover/dresser amongst my mates but I think they'd still enjoy it.  I would do different things like the 20s and have food and beverages that were all the rage during that time.  Play music from that era.  Maybe even find some fun little games that were popular then.  The same for the 40s or other times like that.  We could even have an impromptu photoshoot or something!

So we will see...I really hope to bring that idea to fruition in the future.  What's been inspiring you lately?

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

I'm still going through my rough patch and have been pretty depressed lately.  But you all have your own worries and problems, so I won't trouble you with mine.  I do go back and forth a lot and quite easily from happy to sad.

Something to be happy about was baking cookies all day Friday with my mum.  By the time all was said and done, we made ten different kinds of confectionery treats.  It was exhausting but fun.  I brought Christmas music along which we listened to.  I had no idea how many different versions of the same songs I had on my playlist.

1. Dear Santa...

2. Willow, the newest addition to my mum's brood.

3. Nancy Carroll, 1928.

4. So true.

5. It doesn't seem quite right that this is in someone's scrap pile.

6. Googly eyed Reindeer socks.

7. Sleepy puppy.

8. Chocolate chip cookies.

9. Pretty rolled sugar cookies.

10. Snickerdoodles.

11. My favourite decorated cookies.

12. Peanut butter blossoms.

13-14. Outfit of the day on Saturday. I love this jumper.

15. I couldn't help it with this one.

16. Sam Palladio from Nashville. Handsome and talented.

Pretty much all the television I have been watching has consisted of Christmas films I've recorded on my DVR.  Let's just say the Lifetime and Hallmark Channels and I are as thick as thieves by now.  Some I have seen in the past, but most of them are new to me this year.  Whenever I get down, it's a surefire bet that they can cheer me up and spread warmth through my soul.

Today we hammered out the last three cookies that we didn't have time to bake on Friday.  All that's left is to decorate the gingerbread men that we weren't able to frost today.  Unfortunately, a bunch of them turned out all wobbly since we didn't have a cheesecloth to roll them out on.  They still tasted yummy though.

What are your favourite things you do to get ready for Christmas?

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.