Silver Cat Tea Party

Monday, May 23, 2016

Tea Time At the Golden Tea Garden

Hello Kittens!

This weekend I got to get an itch I've been feeling lately and went out to tea with some lady friends. It feels like it's been forever since I've been out to tea but it's probably really only been about a month or two. ;)

For our tea time ladies' day out tea date we decided to go to the local tea house, the Golden Tea Garden in Hayward. I haven't been here for a while for tea and the last time I was here I was actually giving a helping hand in the kitchen! So it was especially nice to pop in for a spot of tea and see the ladies that work there.

My friends got champagne with their tea while I opted instead to go for the full high tea service without champagne. For my tea I picked a tea called Roastaroma which was super earthy and full which was surprising for an herbal tea! It had chicory, barley, chocolate, and cinnamon flavors to it. The service of our tea was impeccable and everyone really enjoyed the warm towel service they do their before our teas were brought out.

It was a wonderfully overcast day, a perfectly cool day for a tea, and it was a great way to spend the morning-- sipping tea and eating scones, tea sandwiches, and sweet treats while having lively conversation in the great company of friends.

As always, I'm looking forward to my next tea outing and looking forward to coming back to the Golden Tea Garden again!

The Golden Tea Garden, Hayward, CA

Out table waiting for us, the Golden Tea Garden, Hayward, CA

Full service menu

Tea Menu

Champagne and Tea

Cup of Roastaroma tea

High Tea Service

Outfit of the Day:

For our tea outing I decided to wear my Trashy Diva Doris dress in Cool Watercolors. I paired this with a blue Sweet wrap cardigan by Heart of Haute which I bought from them last year. I also paired this with a pair of blue Chelsea Crew heels I got last year from ebay. For a finishing touch I wore a blue fascinator I got from ebay, also last year, a pair of purple bow earrings I got from a local vintage shop, Vintage Alley, and an Erstwilder Rosy Lee brooch which I bought directly from Erstwilder a couple months ago! Amazing customer service from them by the way! When this pin was out of stock on their website they went out of their way to help me look for another vendor how had it and when they couldn't find another vendor, they let me know later on when they happened to find this last one hiding in their warehouse!

Trashy Diva Doris dress in Cool Watercolors- Front View

Trashy Diva Doris dress in Cool Watercolors- Side View

Trashy Diva Doris dress in Cool Watercolors- Front View

Trashy Diva Doris dress in Cool Watercolors- Side View

Erstwilder Rosy Lee brooch and Blue fascinator- Close Up

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Outfit of the Day: Two From the Week and Two From the Weekend

Last week was a bit busier for me than usual!

Outfit of the Day (Tuesday):

On Tuesday Tim took me out for a mid-week movie. We saw Captain America: Civil War. For this occasion I decided to wear one of my 1940's style dresses, the Suzy Parker dress from Hell Bunny (A.K.A. the East Coast Swing dress) which I bought from Modcloth a few years ago. I paired this with a true vintage Ethel of Beverly Hills cardigan which I found on Etsy a few years ago and a pair of basic black flats.

Hell Bunny Suzy Parker dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Suzy Parker dress- Side View

Hell Bunny Suzy Parker dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Suzy Parker dress- Side View

Outfit of the Day (Wednesday):

Then on Wednesday I took the day off of work to get a some doctors appointments done and to go see the dentist. I wasn't really in the mood to put on a dress (shocking!) so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get out my Collectif Lorenza Houndstooth Swing trousers! I got these a few years ago from Modcloth. I paired this with a blue sweater and purple beret I got several years ago from Nordstrom Rack as well as paired it with a pair of basic black flats. For a finishing touch I donned on a monogram brooch which I got from either Etsy or Ebay a few years ago.

Collectif Lorenza Houndstooth Swing trousers with blue sweater- Front View

Collectif Lorenza Houndstooth Swing trousers with blue sweater- Side View

Outfit of the Day (Saturday):

On Saturday my friend and I went out to a vintage fashion faire in Alameda. I usually like to dress in vintage when scoping out vintage dresses but this time I decided on my Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral. I paired this with a black bolero by Elle which I got from Kohl's a couple years ago. For a finishing touch I paired it with a red floppy hat from Anthropologie from a few years ago and red Ecco flats I found on ebay last year. Also because it was Friday the 13th just the day before and I failed to remember to wear anything Friday the 13ie, I wore a pair of black cat earrings by Rosita Bonita which I got from Trashy Diva last year.

Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral- Front View

Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral- Side View

Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral- Front View

Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral- Side View

Trashy Diva Lupe dress in Forget Me Not Floral- Close Up

Outfit of the Day (Sunday):

On Sunday I left the house for a bit to run some errands. The day started out gray and overcast so I picked out the Trashy Diva Americana dress in Mini Fleur to wear! I love the sleeves on this one-- perfect for a cooler day! I paired this with some basic black flats and for a finishing touch a pair silver fleur de lis earrings which I got from an arts fair from a few years ago.

Trashy Diva Americana dress in Mini Fleur- Front View

Trashy Diva Americana dress in Mini Fleur- Side View

Trashy Diva Americana dress in Mini Fleur-Close Up

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Dress Review: The Blanche in Deco Daffodil

Deco Daffodil is the newest print just released from Trashy Diva earlier last month.

It is my favorite prints released by them since the Green Kimono print released in December 2014! And considering how much I love the prints Trashy Diva releases I feel like that's saying a lot about this print! (Though now I must disclose, as I edit and finish writing this review an even newer print just got released by Trashy Diva, Ruffled Feathers, which sends my heart aflutter so... but more on that print later!)

The Deco Daffoil print is a stark and contrasting two color print featuring ghostly white Daffodils against a midnight dark navy blue background. And to say midnight dark is not an exaggeration! The navy is almost pitch black though not quite. The daffodils have a flowy, darkly whimsical, almost like a gothic rococo, feel to it. The all white daffodils are given visual depth and texture though the use of pointillism shading done in navy within the stark white daffodils. There is so much for the eye to take in with this print. To me, it's a mysterious print which divulges to the viewer upon repeat views a sense of melancholy movement, flow, depth, and dark dreamy moodiness.

Perhaps for this reason the Blanche was the perfect choice in this print. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche was the mysterious debutante who arrives to New Orleans from her home of assumed opulent splendor in Laurel, Mississippi to visit her sister Stella. Like the character Blanche, the Blanche dress is all femininity with flowing flutters and delicate lady like ruffles. However, through the unfolding of the story told in the midst of the shadows and fog of its setting we find there is more to Blanche's story than first meets the eye. And perhaps, just like Blanche DuBois, the Blanche dress is more than just feminine flutters and ruffles. The Deco Daffodil print adds a decided air of dark mystery to the print while the true cross over design of the wrap style of the dress adds an element of playful energy.

A bit more about this cut... one thing that I did not immediately notice viewing pictures of this dress online is that there are actually double ruffles at the shoulders as well as a double layer of fabric along the skirt. Furthermore, the ruffles in the front of the dress extend around the neck which, in my opinion, gives it a bit of a sailor style silhouette to it. There are so many gorgeous features such as these which I feel can so easily get overlooked when merely looking at stock photos of it online. The material is made from a stretch rayon knit much like the glorious fabric used the in Trashy Diva's Victory Floral print. Regarding fit, I found this dress to fit true to size and took it in my usual size.

Trashy Diva Blanche dress in Deco Daffodil- Front View

Trashy Diva Blanche dress in Deco Daffodil- Side View

Trashy Diva Blanche dress in Deco Daffodil- Back View

Trashy Diva Blanche dress in Deco Daffodil- Close Up

Trashy Diva Deco Daffodil- Close Up

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Dress Review: Dearest Crimson Clover

Here's a dress I've been meaning to review for a while

I got this Ashley dress in Crimson Clover back in March when Trashy Diva's Crimson Clover collection was first released.

Upon seeing Trashy Diva's Crimson Clover print I immediately swooned! I love the sweet pale and raspberry pinks against the rich navy blue. I also love the unobtrusive addition of green and white to the color scheme which pairs so sweetly and gently together in this print. Looking closely at the print, the shading in the flowers and leaves is so dainty and pleasant. For all of these reasons, I am reminded of illustrations in vintage children's books looking at this print. It's such a dear and charming print I could not let this one pass me by.

While this print is uniquely it's own, I will probably not be the first to admit that when I first saw the Crimson Clover collection I immediately made a connection of how similar this print is to the recent Deep Sea Coral print (which I last wore here). Both prints feature a predominately pink design against a navy blue background. However, the similarities end there. Even so, because I bought the previous Deep Sea Coral print in the 1940's cut I was sure to pick a different cut when picking a dress to buy in this collection. It was not hard choosing the Ashley cut in this print though.

The Ashley cut is an often picked fan favorite out of Trashy Diva's many dress cuts. It has a classic late 1930's to 1940's look which features slightly puffed cap sleeves, figure flattering darts along the shoulder which end in gathers under the bustline, a fitted waist, and an a-line skirt. The side zip on this dress ensures the top back of the dress to have an uninterrupted panel of fabric to best feature the print and to give the back a smooth look. Also, like most of Trashy Diva's dresses, this dress is made of a period appropriate rayon material which also gives this dress a great feel and flow.

As for fit, I found this dress to fit true to size for the Ashley cuts... basically any Trashy Diva cuts with a fitted band under the bust I usually size up one from my usual size 10 to give extra breathing room though it probably would have been possible to have squeezed into my usual size.

If this is a print you've got to have, you can check out the entire collection here. But don't hesitate too long as most of Trashy Diva's dresses do tend to sell out in lots of sizes before too long.

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Front View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Side View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Back View

Trashy Diva's Ashley dress in Crimson Clover- Close Up

Monday, May 2, 2016

Outfit of the Day: A Walk in the Woods and A Day With Keanu

Last weekend was a well spent one

On Saturday Tim and I took a walk around one of our nearby lakes, Don Castro Lake. This is one of my favorite lakes to walk around because the footpath becomes very narrow in places and is little more than a patch of worn bare dirt surrounded by trees and lush undergrowth for the better part of the path. Walking along this quiet lake, tramping through this densely grown footpath, it is easy to forget we are so close to civilization, and not hard to image we are deep in a forest somewhere.

On Sunday, we changed it up a bit by going to the nearby historic waterfront town of Alameda where we met up with a friend and saw the new Key and Peele cat comedy movie, Keanu, at the newly renovated historic Alameda theater. We all enjoyed the movie a lot. And then, for an extra treat, enjoyed playing at the 80's arcade, High Score, across the street.

It was a great weekend and was definitely good to get out in a relaxed kind of way.

Outfit of the Day (Saturday):
For the walk around the lake I picked my Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka. I love how easy to wear and how comfortable this dress is. Because we were going to do a lot of walking, I paired this with black Sketcher Go Walks, my go to shoes for heavy walking while in a dress.

Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka- Front View

Trashy Diva Dorothy dress in Irish Polka- Side View

Outfit of the Day (Sunday):
Because we were off to see a cat comedy I knew I had to dress in cat theme. I figured my Trashy Diva Cage dress in Smoke Leopard would be the perfect dress. After all, it was a gangster themed cat comedy. ;) I paired this with a black knit bolero by Elle which I got from Kohl's a couple years ago, and a pair of basic black flats. For a finishing touch, and to add some fun little cat details, I also wore this with a pair of oversized cat cameo stud earrings I got a couple years ago from a local retro shop, Vintage Alley, and a cute kitty brooch by Lumpy Buttons which I got c/o Cats Like Us last year. I also added a black sequin headband to my outfit to jazz things up even more.