Christmas Party Outfit

Last night was my annual Christmas party with some of my friends from high school. We all go to different universities so we rarely get to see each other. It was really nice catching up with everyone. No one else every dresses up, but I am always looking for an excuse to put on a nice dress.

Dress: 1950's Jonathan Logan Dress from an antique store in Orono
Scarf: A gift from my mother

Earrings: Red bow mini Christmas ornaments I stuck on earring hooks

I wasn't expecting any presents from my friends but a few people brought me a lot chocolate. I will be lucky if I can still fit into my dresses by the new year! One of my oldest friends (we have known each other since we were about 4 years old) also completely surprised me by giving me this darling teacup! I realised after my last post that I had completely forgotten to share with you my favourite Christmas present. My mother passed down this old family ring. During the summer she let me look at all the old family rings and presented me with my favourite for Christmas! Yes it is a mans ring. I have man hands and none of the women's rings would fit...
I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday! I have a few posts planned but those will have to wait until I have enough time to gather pictures.

That's All.

Birthday Aftermath

Well, my birthday was a lot of fun. I had to work on the actual day but it was an easy day at work so it didn't seem so bad. I ended up listening to old radio shows most of the day since not many people came into the museum. It was Fab 50's in downtown Bowmanville and although there were a lot of great old cars I was a little disappointed. I was the only one dressed in a 1950's style!

I then rushed back home to have dinner (takeout from the Jasmine Garden in Whitby. They had really great vegetarian food), open presents from le parents, and get everything ready for my party. Whew! It was a lot of work!





I didn't have time to take photos of the decor but here are a few snapshots of the evening. It was a 1920's themed party (since I just turned 20!). We got a little silly in the photos by the end....

And no, I did not cut my hair. I just pinned it under the hat so it looked shorter :)
It was a really great evening. Thank you so much to every one who came.





And now for the presents! Everything I got was so beautiful! Here is a picture of most of my gifts (well everything I could find when I was taking the photo). I was given some lovely cards and gift cards too.

This is the magazine I mentioned a while back that my Grandma gave me for my birthday. It is from 1921 and I absolutely love it!

And you may notice something new on my shelf. That's right, my friend Carly gave me an absolutely stunning vintage teacup for my collection. I was looking at it later and noticed that it looked very similar on the outside to one of the ones my Grandma gave me. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was made by the same company! Carly, I don't know how you got me such a perfect gift but thank you so much!

And the last of the gifts actually arrived in the mail a couple days late. I finally have Vintage Hairstyling by Lauren Rennells! I am already trying out some of the hairstyles and I must say it is a fantastic book.

Tea Time

So remember that teacup I posted about a couple days ago? Well guess what was 50% off at the Bay... Happy (very) early Birthday to me! I always buy myself one present and this is it for this year. Yeah, that was the only way I could justify buying it....


On the plus side I now have a teacup I can actually drink out of. I have two from my Grandma that she gave me for Christmas. They were wedding gifts she got in the 1940s when she was married. I love them but am way to terrified to even pick them up. They just sit on my shelf and look pretty. My mom says I can have all her teacups too since she never uses them but I am afraid that will have to wait until I move somewhere else, since I don't have the room for all of them at the moment.


Here are the ones my Grandma gave me. The Peacock one is my favourite but I love them both.




Tea according to Homemakers of Tomorrow (1958)




In other news, I am considering cutting my hair. The problem is I am terrified to go too short. I really love short hair but I would want it pin-curled all the time (and I just don't always have the time). I was thinking about going for a Veronica Lake style cut but I plan on trying to cut it myself. This may end badly.

Any suggestions?

No more classes and a few goodies to celebrate

Today was the last day of classes for this term, so to celebrate I went to the large antique market. I was expecting to pick up a few more postcards and some depression glass but I ended up buying some completely different things. (Apologies for the blurry pictures of me. I need a camera with auto-focus....)

OK so this one isn't too different from my normal purchases. It is a magazine from 1953 and was only $2!!! It does have quite an odor though....

I was so surprised by this little dress. I have never bought (or even seen many) clothes at this antique market before but then I saw this darling dress and I really wanted it. I wasn't sure if it would fit but there was no where to try it on. So I pulled it on over my clothes. A sales lady walked by when it was halfway over my head. I was worried she was going to yell at me but she just laughed and walked away. So end result? Super cute dress for only $25 that fits me perfectly! (I am not sure about its vintage. I think it is handmade but newer than it looks)

I love this hat! It is from the 1930's and, although not in the best condition, it is completely wearable. For $18 I just couldn't leave it! Now if only I can find a way to keep it from falling off my head.....(it needs an elastic strap or a hat pin or something)

After the antique market, I headed over to the outlet mall across the street. I saw a few cute shoes but figured if they hurt after just a few steps then maybe, just maybe, they might not be good for walking in. But the mall has a Royal Doulton outlet store so I had to stop and drool for a bit. I still couldn't afford anything but this teacup set caught my eye. It is their 1930 Polka Rose 3-Piece Set. No wonder I love it so much. It would make a lovely birthday gift (Mom, you reading this :) ?)

Valentines Day Tea Party

Here's some photos from my Valentines Day Tea party. :)

Notice how I am the only one who got dressed up?

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The Menu:

-Lemon Strawberry Squares (from scratch)

-Vanilla Cupcakes (almost from scratch)

-Strawberries

-Chocolates

-Mini Biscotti (not from scratch but still tasty)

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The Tea:

-Vanilla Strawberry Rose tea

-Sugar Cubes (including some hand decorated ones I got as a Christmas gift)

-Milk (instead of cream since with all the other goodies I figured we should try and be a little healthy)

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The Table Setting:

-An antique lace table cloth over top of a pale rose pink table cloth

-My moms Royal Doulton teacups, saucers and plates (with a paper doily between the saucer and place)

-My white teapot and creamer

-Pink flowers from the farmers market ($10 for all of them including the pink roses!) in decorated jars (actually spaghetti sauce jars that I revamped)

-Biscotti wrapped with a paper doily and with a pink gift tag (with the guests name on it) attached with pink embroidery floss

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The Decorations:

-Silhouettes I made with my face on them

-Some red heart shaped balloons my Grandma bought for me

-A book on roses

-The pink cards are actually Victorian Parlor games I wrote out in case we got bored http://oldfashionedliving.com/parlour-games.html

-More paper doilies!

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The Outfit:

-Dress from Smart Set

-Crinoline from Hey Viv (see previous post)

-Black pantyhose from Giant Tiger

-Necklace made by me (go figure!)

My hair was done with hot rollers :)