Eat Eat

 I wore so much black in my youth that I've made an effort to avoid it in later years. To be completely honest, I don't know what to do with it. My younger self would go for pearls or silver, perhaps a nice scarf but 2017 me? Oh hell, I haven't got a clue. The selling point for this vintage 50's dress was the buttons-I mean, my god, look at 'em! That, and it cost me $7.99. I have a hard time passing up pristine vintage when I can grab it for a song. That day, Hand-Me-Ups had a cache of vintage dresses that the lovely saleswoman pointed out (they know me too well!). I ended up buying four black dresses and one pink-ish silver silk number from the early 60's. I do not require four black 50's dresses, though one is at present too snug to be worn comfortably. For someone that never wears black, I found myself unable to resist the perfectly cared for clothes. I'll find a new home for the too-small one, but I'm going to consider it a challenge finding ways...

The Jaeger jacket gets the yearly wear. I own three, but this one is by far the strangest. The crazy, long lapels, the goofy shoulder pads, the pockets so low you'd need absurdly long arms to reach them. This jacket is every bad idea from the 80's rolled into one. I'd never part with it! The skirt is equally bonkers. Prince of Wales check and gingham in alternating panels. The fabric is a very stiff cotton that would be best used for upholstering outdoor furniture, and the heavy, industrial zipper better suited to a duffel bag. The length is quirky too. There's a very old label in it, in Hebrew. It looks like something put together in a home ec class on a kibbutz. Needless to say, I've been wearing it because I like oddly constructed clothing. I just wish I knew the story behind it.  The socks are of course the Ouija patterned ones I bought at the Halloween shop. They're quite tight on me. I have, thanks to all the running larger-than-typical calves. Most days I...

I've run across my share of odd items in thrift shops, but this gold-plated seashell is certainly one of the strangest. I have to wonder at the artist's thought process that finally arrived at, "Hey, I'll gold plate a seashell." It is a genuine shell (you can't quite see inside in the photo) which also makes me wonder how many tries it took to get something that didn't break. This isn't very carefully made, but it was just so odd, I felt compelled to purchase it. $1.99 has been spent on sillier things. I have no idea what this basket's intended use is. I'm using it as a straw handbag, but I suspect it began life with other use in mind, I've thought about decorating it with some pom-pom trim but I also like the plain look of it. I still feel like I ought to be carrying tamales in it or something.  I'm wearing it here with a favourite skirt. The belt is another oddity-the edges of the brass disks are sharp and thin leaving me terrified I ...

The first photos were taken earlier in the spring. I wrote the post, and I'm just getting around to publishing it. I've added on a recent set of photos for the second part of the post. As I have several older, half-written posts in the folder, expect to see a few of these over the next month or so as my schedule becomes crazier. Thanks in advance for your understanding.  So bad, I simply couldn't resist.  I'm calling these trousers late 80's by the designer and the style, but the fabric has a sun and moon motif which I associate closely with the early 90's. I remember trying to buy a shower curtain that didn't  have a sun and moon pattern and finally ending up at Bloomingdales where I paid more than any sane person should for a solid colour, unadorned curtain. Twenty five years on, I bought these trousers. It seemed like a suitable amount of time had passed. Looking at the photos, perhaps that's not an entirely accurate assessment. I'm not sure enoug...

More awful news day after day. I find it interesting that for someone who's so quick to tweet (blurt) out whatever unfiltered rubbish courses through his head, the bully been maintaining complete radio silence the past few days. Interesting, eh? Well, no role model there I guess. I mean, come on-not even a completely hollow and meaningless, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims"?  Okay, just had to get that out of my system.  Here, have some cake. On to nicer things. Happy Midsummer! We make this cake every year for Danny's half-Birthday which happens to fall at Midsummer eve. He spent the first nine years living in a very small town that was settled by Swedish immigrants that came to Nebraska as homesteaders in the 1800's. The real reason we save this cake for Midsummer is because you can't get raspberries in December! It is a very special cake that takes three days to complete, and as a result isn't the sort of thing I'd want to undertake ba...