Lately I've only been posting about food, and mostly (or exclusively) Meatless Monday posts. So, I thought I'd share some of the rad things I've picked up in various locales as of late. The dress I found at a great little vintage shop on a recent trip to Portland, Oregon (can't remember the name, but it was on Mississippi). I wore it to me and Matt's fourth wedding anniversary dinner.
60s wiggle dress, $25
American Tourist "Tiara" suitcase, $15
I got the perfect travel accessory at a little antique store in Dickeyville, Wisconsin, home of this place:
Dickeyville Grotto
Luckily, the church adjacent to the grotto had a garage sale! I grabbed this super cute sewing box (the chimney is a pin cushion!) and also a coat, but it's way too hot right now to even look at a wool coat.
sewing box, $0.50
Matt and I also had a very successful trip to our favorite local consignment shop a few weeks back and got the following items:
Over my break from grad classes, I finally put inspiration from Casey's blog to work and made this jewelry holder.
I painted an old bulletin board with an old off-white paint on the cork, then taped the cork off and spray-painted the frame glossy black. Then all I had to do was screw in some inexpensive gold cup hooks and I had a much more attractive and organized way to keep my jewelry. The cork holds my brooches and pins as well as extra pendants on straight pins.
Next up is a new Madison spot we like that is not really all that new to the city. In the past year or so, Madison Sourdough opened a restaurant featuring their yummy breads.
I got a the bacon/goat cheese deal, which I liked better than Matt did. He got the chicken salad, which he liked better than I did. Both were really solid sandwiches with tasty side salads. Plus we ordered a chocolate croissant, too quickly inhaled to be photographed. We will be returning.
bacon with fig marmalade and goat cheese on five grain sourdough
chicken salad with apple, pine nuts, red onion, aioli, and greens on country sourdough
Right after the holidays, Matt and I had a very successful trip to Good Style Shop, which has just changed hands but will likely still be providing a great deal of my vintage wardrobe. I found this lovely spring coat. Let's hope the groundhog was right so I can wear it soon! It has a nice houndstooth wool lining, but it's not nearly heavy enough to tackle these below-zero windchills. And, since I've been practically living in my boots this winter, I was thrilled to pick up this cute new-old pair. Apparently, I've got a thing for camel-colored clothing right now.
Below is a video of my favorite new song, played live. It's from Ty Segall's last full-length, Melted, which came out last summer. I'm just a little slow on the uptake sometimes. (I'm working on getting the sizing of the video right...) Edit: I finally got the size of the video right!
Finally, just for fun, is a brand-new picture of my old dog. Not all the white on that face is snow!
With all the restaurant posts I've made lately, one might think we eat out all the time. Here's a recipe to prove that we do still eat at home sometimes (or about 6 nights a week!). As things are starting to sprout again, I'm enjoying using fresh local veggies in my cooking. The asparagus and spinach are from the season's first farmer's market here in town. The eggs come from my school custodian's chickens, and the chives are from the art teacher's garden. I love spring!
Oh, and there are shots of a favorite "new" vintage dress.
vintage dress and shoes, Good Style Shop
tights, Target teardrop necklace, thrifted
Green Goddess Frittata from Anne Louise Gittleman
I halved this from the original recipe, which made two frittatas. It would be easy enough to double up again if you were cooking for company.
6 eggs, beaten 1/2 c cottage cheese 1 1/2 c chopped fresh spinach or asparagus 2 scallions, minced 2 tsp chopped garlic handful chopped chives (optional--I just had them on hand) 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs, cheese, veggies, and seasonings in a large bowl. Melt butter in an oven-safe skillet on the stove. Add egg mixture and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Place skillet in oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until eggs are just set.
The ladies at Little Rascal and Freelancer's Fashionblog have given me Ladderax fever. Ladderax is a British-manufactured mid-century shelving system, named for the metal or wood "ladders" that make up the sides of the shelves. Then a combination of shelves and/or desks and storage units can be attached.
photo from Freelancer's Fashionblog
photo from Little Rascal
It is gorgeous but quite difficult and expensive to find in the states. I'm afraid that obtaining the shelving for myself will remain a dream for the time being. If you happen to have a tip for where to find Ladderax in the US, I would be very much appreciative.
photo from Little Rascal
Ladderax aside, these girls have adorable homes. I'm crazy for the rug in this photo. And the curtains. Chair too. Also, I've had an eye out for a pretty vintage globe like in the Freelancer's photo. I want so much. Sigh.
I'm enjoying my first snow day at home for this school year. We have several inches of snow and more on the way. It's a sunny and pleasant day to be inside and cozy.
our backyard
It's lucky that I picked up a warm new skirt this weekend from Good Style Shop. It's a handmade 1950's wool circle skirt in red, blue-green, and brown, perfect for wintry weather. I also love this double-breasted cardigan as it winterizes many of my more summery dresses. I'm not sure what it is about this outfit that made want to stand with my hips pushed forward.
cardigan - H&M top - Urban Outfitters skirt & shoes - Good Style necklace - thrifted tights - Target
The past week has brought me some great finds. And with the return of "Mad Men" to AMC in the past few weeks, I'm even more excited when I come across beautiful vintage dresses that would have fit right into the office at Sterling Cooper.
flower & cross-hatch dress, Good Style Shop, $28 tie heels, Good Style Shop belt, Target
close-up of fabric pattern and button
cotton block dress, Good Style Shop, $20
wedge sandals & locket, thrifted
The second dress has a couple of small tears at the seams that will need to be fixed, but nothing major. I also picked up two cute and very cheap items at garage/estate sales on the way back from the farmer's market Saturday.
Comments about Fred MacMurray's cake that I baked are now posted at Silver Screen Suppers. Yes, I am "Shirley", named for Shirley Maclaine's adorable and sassy but distressed character, Fran Kubelik in "The Apartment".
Tonight we took advantage of Madison Restaurant Week and had dinner at fresco for a great price (I'll post pictures of the meal later). When we left, I had Matt snap a picture not unlike one he took of me on Valentine's Day, the first time we went to fresco. They are both on the steps from fresco to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
7/26/09 navy shirt-dress, Forever 21 belt, shoes, and feather pin, thrifted bag, Etsy (click photo to enlarge)
2/13/09
Today's outfit included a lot of new summery thrifting finds, which I will share here as well.
shoes and belt (same from photo above), thrifted, $2.65 and $0.99 respectively pleated wool skirt, Good Style Shop, $5
tassel necklace, Good Style Shop, $10 leaf necklace, thrifted, $1.99 feather pin (same from photo above), thrifted, $1.99
Also, here are a few snippets of wintery finds that I picked up for a good price. Yes, that is a fur collar you see, but I don't feel so bad since it's second-hand. The coat is also in pristine condition, so it was hard to resist. Then, below is the interesting collar and scarf of a gorgeous, albeit slightly smelly and holey, 60's Italian virgin wool dress. It fits like a dream, so there's a lot of potential to be had--once I sort out the stink and the holes.
3/4-length coat, thrifted, $14
wool dress, thrifted, $6
Finally, possibly the best find lately, a set of iced tea spoons from the great Atomic Interiors in Madison. I know iced tea spoons seem like an unnecessary purchase, but I really do love my iced tea. Plus, these are amazing.
Ever since I went to Kansas and saw my friend Cass with an adorable rattan purse, I've been a woman obsessed. I was thrilled to find this one in near-perfect condition.
swimsuit, vintage, $17
Though it looks blueish, the swimsuit is actually a royal purple. It came with two different tops, but this is the one I prefer.
