Last Weekend's Outfit & A Wedding Sneak Peek!

 Last weekend was a routine "Calvin's visiting" weekend. It was full of grocery shopping, baking, and laughter. We didn't really do anything special. I did finally get Calvin to try the local vegetarian restaurant, The Owlery. Just why can I never do stuff like that with tofu?!
 Even though we did nothing special, I still had to look pretty at least one day of the weekend, right?

I'm that loser that never got around to carving their pumpkins!

Details:

Cardigan & Skirt: A.Z. Vintage

Shoes: Ione in Black from B.A.I.T.

 I forgot to get a close up of this cardigan. I have had it for quite some time now, and it has been one of my favorites. This is one of those outfits that I put together late at night when I can't sleep.

 Halloween is this Friday. I've got no plans for it. Last year I bought candy and got no trick-or-treaters! I ended up bingeing on all that candy. This year I just made Calvin go out and get the good stuff. We devoured it last weekend together along with some pumpkin cookies that I made. 

 I can't keep eating like that though because...I GOT MY DRESS TODAY! That's right. I won the Ebay auction and scored myself a 50's wedding dress for $350! It is too small, but that's okay. I have a little over a year before the wedding, and I now have a great weight loss pal: Fitbit! It's been awesome so far. Hopefully I can stick with it. Want a sneak peak?? (;

This is even the necklace I plan to wear with it.
Yay for winter weddings and snowflakes!

 Jameson would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween while posing by the Cinderella pumpkin. Isn't he precious?

Snaps of Summer

 It was positively freezing this morning! With morning temperatures in the 30's now, I thought it would be fitting to share snapshots from this summer. I had quite a great summer this year. It was full of work, love, pets, and time on the river.

From a date day with Calvin.
Hawaiian dress: Donna's Dress Shop (Instagram)
Purse: Leather and Knot Mall (Logansport, IN)

I picked wildflowers while walking the dogs.

One of the many days that my piggies got to spend outside.
Nom, nom, clover!

My new sewing machine.
I do have a vintage dress pattern.
I also have vintage fabric, but I am terribly scared to cut into it!

Ah, butterfly nails using a holographic polish.

Arista.
She was very sick for part of the summer. )=
Poor old kitty.

And, I was in a wedding for the first time!

Of course our anniversary was in July. Three years together!

 Summer was so good to me, but I'm ready for the snow! I love snow. It's so beautiful. The one thing I don't like about winter is trying to dress vintage. It's very difficult to stay warm in beautiful 50's dresses! I've been hunting for a coat that doesn't have real fur on it because my all faux fur coat is a bit over the top for me to feel comfortable wearing to class.

Sleepless Nights

This is going to be brief.
When I can't sleep at night I turn to wedding planning. My wedding isn't until January 2016, but doesn't mean I can't plan! And last night I found my dress. I FOUND MY DRESS. I literally "oh my god"-ed for a full minute and gasped several times when I saw it. It's 50's. It's extravagant. It's got pearls on it. But it is too small. I don't care. I'm still getting it. I'll have it taken out as much as possible and then lose the rest of the weight. This dress is just that perfect!

One Pearl of a Gal

That one time we threw her a birthday party and hired Elvis. (= She lovvveeedddd Elvis!

 That was the title of a paper I wrote in 5th grade, One Pearl of a Gal. We were asked to write a paper about a grandparent. I chose my father's mother: Nora Pearl Gradowski (Carter). This post is going to be about her.
 My Grammy was born April 9th, 1932 in Greenville, Tennessee. Somehow, details are unknown, she ended up in Chicago, Illinois. (But she still loved to make that Southern sweet tea!)

Grammy is on the left. Isn't she just beautiful? Center would have been my great-grandma. Right is a family friend.

Another fabulous picture. I wonder why they are so dolled up?
Grammy is on the left again.

 At that time, World War II was ending. My great uncle Eddie brought home a friend from the Navy. His name was William Arthur Gradowski. He and my Grammy fell in love and were married August 14, 1948. Yes, that made her 16 years old! But you know what? She loved that man forever. My Papa ended up with Alzheimer's. She cared for him day in and day out. Even when he was bed ridden she continued to lovingly care for him, turning him to avoid bed sores, feeding him, cleaning him, etc. My Papa passed away when I was just a baby on January 26, 1995. Years later she found a boyfriend, also named William, but she refused to remarry. I admired her dedication to my Papa so much.

Loving gaze.

And now he is looking lovingly at her.
As a Christmas gift a few years ago, one of my aunts put together a film full of family photos and videos. There is one video in which Papa is behind the camera and gets a bit, shall we say, distracted by Grammy.

 Growing up, my dad's family was always very close. Grammy lived with my aunt Deb and uncle Gus. We went there for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and frequent visits. I'm fairly certain that I was the only grandchild that didn't get in trouble and have to fear the wrath of Grammy's house slipper. That's saying a lot since Grammy had over 20 grandchildren! I like to think that I was her favorite. (; Just like my dad likes to think that he was her favorite out of the 7 of her children.
 Grammy taught me many things like how to play card games: King's Corners and Solitaire. But most importantly she taught me to never let your man see you without your eyebrows and lipstick on! Seriously, this lady always used to say "I've got to go put my face on. Bill is coming over soon. I can't let him see me without my eyebrows!" (She was one of the unfortunate ladies that didn't have any eyebrows and therefore had to pencil them completely on.)
 Grammy passed away January 9th, 2014. I was so grateful to have been home on Christmas break. I was so thankful to be one of the few to spend her last moments with her. For the past two years or so Grammy had been hospitalized a lot. I lived in constant fear that she would pass away while I was at school and I would never get to say goodbye. Grammy was no stranger to the hospital and has been known to make miraculous recoveries.

I believe this was after open heart surgery. Her response to "How are you feeling?"

 This time was different and everyone knew it. She was no longer awake and talking when I arrived at the hospital with my family, but she stayed like that for days. I was there all day, everyday. On the last night I insisted on staying the night in the hospital. I told my dad that I wanted to be there. Honestly, I wanted to be there for him more than anything. He was quite the mommy's boy and I felt horrible for what he was going through. I loved my Grammy, but that was the woman that raised him.
 That night my dad, Calvin, and I ate a pizza from a place across the street from the hospital. Calvin left. I told him that I'd call him if anything happened since Grammy loved him so much in the short 2 and half years she had known him. It was getting late and my dad decided to take the leftover pizza to the car. One of my cousins and I decided to ask the nurses for some pillows and blankets and try to find a place to sleep. My cousin leaned over, gave our Grammy a kiss, and as we walked out the door to the nurses station. They said they would find what they could for us. We walked back to the room where one of my other cousins, a nurse who had been timing Grammy's breathing, said that she hadn't taken a breath since we left. She brought the nurses in and they checked her pulse. They sadly shook their heads at us. I instantly looked up at the clock; 1:20 am central time. Her last breath had been when my cousin had kissed her.
 I waited by the elevator for my father. I was so upset that he wasn't there all because of a stupid pizza. I was so angry at that darn pizza at the time. As soon as the doors opened he knew she had gone. He could read it on my face.
 Immediate family was called first. I then took off to a private room to call Calvin and give him the news. Within hours of all the calls, all of my aunts and uncles were in the room with us (the only person missing was my uncle Tom, but he had also been having health problems). My uncle Bob had even come all the way from Chicago to be with us.
 It was in that moment that I realized how much I idolized my Grammy. Standing there seeing the love coming from her children, I realized that she was the reason that I want to have a big family. Why had it taken me that long to realize this? Did Grammy ever know how much I looked up to her?
 I still struggle with missing her. About two months later I tried to call her on my way home from class only to realize that I couldn't call her ever again. And just about a week ago I was thinking about how much I'd love to play King's Corners with her again. In fact, the day after she passed away I had Calvin run me back to my apartment in Bloomington so that I could pick up one of my black dresses to wear to the funeral. While there I bought a fancy pink pack of cards and taught Calvin how to play King's Corners.
 Grammy loved the Chicago Cubs and bingo and hummingbirds. I played bingo this summer. I sat right where she used to sit. She must have been mad that I was in her spot because I didn't win anything! And now every time I see a hummingbird I think of her. April 4th I'm getting a memorial tattoo for her. I told the guy I'd like to incorporate the Cubs, bingo, and hummingbirds into it. We will see how that craziness works out!

 I love you Grammy. I'm sorry that the Cubs never won the World Series for you.

I started stitching this the last night in the hospital. I finished it the next day and placed it in the casket with her. It match the embroidery on the inside perfectly. My family had picked a casket that had a hummingbird embroidered on the inside!

Cinderella's Pumpkin (And What I Wore)

 Today was Bloomington's Great Glass Pumpkin Patch! They were selling a bunch of glass pumpkins to raise money for a glass studio in Bloomington. They currently have to go to a studio in Indianapolis to make their pretty glass goodies. The event started at 10 am and Calvin and I arrived at about 10:30 thanks to my primping this morning. We had to wait in line and by the time we got our pick of the pumpkins there were less than 100 left! They had started with over 500. One of the ladies working the event said they had 400 last year and sold out within an hour. It looked like that was about to happen again.
 After scowling at several little girls that grabbed up all the small pink pumpkins, I picked out a seafoam green one with hints of purple.

 I'm a little upset that I didn't know about this event last year. Pumpkins ranged from $30 to $250! Of course Calvin loved the $250 one, and my pumpkin was $40. Since when does he have the expensive taste? I wanted to get my mom one, but the one I liked best for her was $135. 

 On to the reason why we were late! I FINALLY got to wear my squirrels!!! I fell in love with this dress when one of the Etsy sellers posted it to their Instagram. I snatched it up before it had a chance to make it into the Etsy shop. How can you turn down such an epic novelty print? Oh, I also had a chance to wear my new DEADSTOCK cardigan!

Outfit Details

Scarf: great grandma's

Dress: Stutterinmama

Cardigan: Cherry Canary

Shoes: Modcloth

Purse: Power of the Past

My simple front roll hair again, but it looked better the first time.
Also, a close up of my scarf!

 Today's makeup was simple and my go to look. I used my Naked Basics palette on my eyes and some smudged black eyeliner, but I wanted to talk about my lips for a second. This lipstick is my absolute favorite. The shade is perfect for my skin tone, and this picture was taken AFTER eating and drinking! Amazing, right? It gets even better: it smells like vanilla.

Besame Dusty Rose

 Today was a great day! I now have a huge mess in my living room from Calvin building a computer. Ugh, he's like a tornado every time he visits.

Happy Saturday!

A Purse to Remember

 Have you ever been watching a picture and realized that you OWN one of the props or wardrobe pieces that they used? This happened to me last week while watching An Affair to Remember on Netflix.

 Look closely at the above photograph from the picture. The small, gold purse on the table is the exact purse that I own.

 Okay, maybe it's not the EXACT one shown here and carried around by Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, but it is definitely the same model from the same company.

 This is my gold purse. Unless that lady at the Power of the Past was Deborah Kerr, and I highly doubt that she would be at a dinky get together in Indiana, then this is simply the same purse from a different owner. 

 The lady that sold it to me said that she had owned it back in the 50's and that these sorts of purses were all the rage. I believe I paid $40 for this purse. It is in mint condition, so I felt it was well worth it.

 Now let's take a closer look at both purses together.

 As seen here, they are both gold and the one from the picture even appears to have the lines in it. Both have a gold cord-like handle. If you look closely in the photo from the picture, you can make out two bumps at the bottom of the purse which I believe to be the two crystal embellishments at the bottom of my purse. And if you look even closer, there appears to be a bump at the center top in the same place where the large crystal embellishment is on my purse.

 So, what do you think? Same purse or not? 

 Oddly enough, I had a similar close call while watching Mad Men. I noticed that Betty Draper was carrying a white purse that looked just like one I had had on my wishlist for years. When I checked that item, I had seen that it had sold. I often wonder if it was that same purse that I almost bought.

Red Lips, Wide Hips

 Last night I was feeling absolutely, horribly sick. I didn't post because of it, but I'm here today! This is a good sign. (=

 Today I actually took the initiative to dress up in full head to toe vintage style, from my hair to my stockings.

The Details

Dress: The Vintage Studio

Scarf: great grandma's

Shoes: Modcloth 

 This Dress is one of my newer purchases. I went crazy and bought three dresses from The Vintage Studio in one day. I was originally going to wear a different one of those dresses, but I was too bloated (girl problems time of the month!) to wear it. Shhhh. I may have ripped a hole in one of the pleats when trying to zip it over the spot all of my water weight tends to settle. Grrr. At least it's an easy fix that tends to happen to me all too often. Anyways, this dress is a muted blue color with a green, white, and navy atomic print. There is navy lace around the neck of the dress.

Let's Talk Underwear

Stockings: What Katie Did Fully Fashioned in nude

Girdle: What Katie Did Glamour in peach

Petticoat: Vintage Malco Modes in white

Slip: Vintage half-slip from my grandma

 I know. I stole this right off of my Instagram. Oops. 

 My great grandma's scarf may not be the same green as what is on the dress, but I felt so boring wearing nude shoes and a nude belt with it. I needed a pop of color somewhere. My only issue with it is that it's 100% silk and slips easily out of my hair. I had to redo do it while walking to class because it slipped off the back of my head!

 Since I was not feeling well at all last night, I did not feel up to putting my hair in curlers. Instead I left my hair straight and added a barrel curl to the center front. I hate that my hair doesn't have any natural wave whatsoever and that it doesn't hold a curl well either. I think I made this style work. I also think it will be my go-to hairstyle on days where I just don't have very much time! 

Make-Up Details

Foundation: Cover Girl Outlast in shade 810 Classic Ivory

Eye Liner: Avon SuperShock Gel in Blackout

Mascara: Clinique Lash Doubling in Black

Lips: Urban Decay Revolution in F-Bomb with their matching lip liner

 My makeup was also simple today. I started out with my usual foundation routine. I do have light pink blush on too, but didn't list it because I'm not sure of the brand. It's just some cheap stuff I have had forever. I'm slowly transforming my makeup bag. As you can see I have some high quality, higher end products mixed with some drug store products.

 Once I finished with my foundation, I started on my eyes. To keep it quick, I slipped eye shadow and went straight to eye liner. I started with a winged liner look. Because I was in a hurry, it didn't look too great. I decided to smudge it to create a smokey look instead. I don't think I would recommend doing this with a gel liner, but I do think it would work with a pencil liner. By the time I got home at noon the gel liner had creased at the top of my eye lids! I then curled my lashes and topped it off with my mascara. I swear by my Clinique mascara. I absolutely love the length it gives my lashes!

 Last were my lips. I lined them with the Urban Decay liner and then also filled them in with the same lip liner. Then I applied to lipstick. Wah-la! All done.

 I'm feeling a bit better today, but I have lots of stuff to do! I misjudged the guinea pig food and ran out this morning. My fiance won't be here until Friday and I don't have a car here. The Petsmart is all the way on the other side of town. The bus doesn't get me close enough to it and it would take 2 hours anyways! I'm not sure what to do other than to go to the other pet store and try to find a not too terrible food for them. I also ran out of vegetables! The pigs need this and so do I! I guess it's going to take me a while to get back into the swing of things, aka, buying my food to last 2 weeks. Sort of a difficult thing to do with fresh fruits and vegetables.