Outfit Of The Day: Out By The Still Lake

This past weekend Tim and I went out for a walk around nearby Lake Chabot.

Although we could definitely feel the Autumn chill in the air, it was a perfect day for a leisurely walk. It was a nice change of pace getting out in the fresh air and taking in the scenery.

Outfit of the Day:

For this day's activities I wore a dress I got from Forever 21 some years back with black sweater tights from Kohl's and black Sketcher Go Walks, a super comfy pair of shoes for walking!

Peter Pan Collar Dress, Forever 21- Front View

Peter Pan Collar Dress, Forever 21- Side View

Peter Pan Collar Dress, Forever 21- Close Up

Outfit Of The Day: Goodbye Halloween

Goodbye Halloween. A tout a l' heure. Sayonara. Until we meet again!

The day after Halloween it is a tradition of mine and Tim's to go to the Spirit Halloween stores to see what is left and what we can pick up for 50% off. I was surprised to see this year that the day after Halloween sales were now 50% home decor and 25% off costumes and accessories... I thought I remember everything in the stores being 50% off. In any case, we had a fun time browsing though the last of the store even though we didn't find much. I account the slim pickings this year to be due to the fact that the day after Halloween was Saturday and more people than usual were able to go to the stores early.

After our stop at the Halloween store Tim took me out the a new crab restaurant in Hayward, Bubble Crab. This new crab restaurant along with another crab restaurant in Union City, Backyard Bayou, kind of make up for my favorite crab place, the Hayward Fishery/Art's Crab Shack, closing. We didn't get a chance to try the crab since both Tim and I opted to try Bubble Crab's gumbo along with a plethora of sides (Cajun fries, lobster balls, and fried zucchini). Even though we didn't try the crab, what we had was delicious! I look forward to going again!


Outfit of the Day:

For this day's activities I wore a forest green Ixia dress from Modcloth, the Convivial Celebration dress, along with a black cardigan, black tights from Forever 21, and black flats from the Gap Outlet.

Ixia Convivial Celebration Dress- Front View

Ixia Convivial Celebration Dress- Front View

Ixia Convivial Celebration Dress- Side View

Ixia Convivial Celebration Dress With Cardigan- Front View

Ixia Convivial Celebration Dress With Cardigan- Side View

 Do you have any after Halloween traditions? What about Halloween traditions?

Halloween SCream Tea

I hope you all had a great Halloween!

This year, I unfortunately had a night class Halloween night but my friends were kind enough to come over to watch some Halloween themed movies with me keeping me company while I cut my husband loose for the night.

To make the night extra special I prepared a light cream tea... or scream tea it you prefer. ;) I got out my favorite Autumn tea set, Johnson Brother's The Friendly Village, baked up some warm pumpkin current scones, made little zombie sugar cookies, and put a pot on the stove!

For the evening we watched the classics, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and Disney's Icabond Crane. 

Zombie Sugar Cookies For Halloween

The Halloween Cream Tea Spread

Warm Pumpkin Current Scones

Zombies!

Halloween Tea By Candlelight and Glowing Pumpkin

Toasty Scones

Outfit Of The Day: Autumn Double Outfit Post- Last Weekend Until Halloween

This past weekend was a fun filled one with two outings each day of the weekend!

On Saturday I went out with my ladies to a vegan restaurant called Soulfully Vegan in Oakland. The food was excellent (much better than I expected ) ;) and the company, as always, was great!

Then on Sunday Tim and I went to a pumpkin carving party at our other friends' house. We had lots of fun hanging out with good company and good pumpkins!



Outfit of the Day:

On Saturday I wore my Havana Nights dress in Warm Toned Cabana Stripes by Pinup Girl Clothing. With its orange and purple stripes, I thought this was the prefect dress to wear for the weekend before Halloween! I paired this with a black cardigan, a maroon beret from Forever 21, and my favorite black flats from the Gap Outlet.

Pinup Girl Clothing Havana Nights Dress In Warm Toned Cabana Stripes- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Havana Nights Dress In Warm Toned Cabana Stripes- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Havana Nights Dress In Warm Toned Cabana Stripes- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Havana Nights Dress In Warm Toned Cabana Stripes- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Havana Nights Dress In Warm Toned Cabana Stripes- Front View

On Sunday I wore my Hell Bunny Emilie Black dress. I liked the easy wash and wear factor in this dress which I figured would particularly came in handy after a night of pumpkin carving! You can't be too careful carving pumpkins even in a skeleton printed apron! Actually, truth be told, I didn't do too bad and didn't get any pumpkin guts on my beautiful dress. :) I paired this with an Ethel of Beverly Hills vintage cardigan which I got from Etsy and my black flats from the Gap Outlet.

Hell Bunny Emilie Black Dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Emilie Black Dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Emilie Black Dress- Side View

Hell Bunny Emilie Black Dress- Front View

Hell Bunny Emilie Black Dress- Close Up

A Lucky Find! Another Trashy Diva Dress From My 2014 Wishlist

Trashy Diva is easily my favorite vintage reproduction brand.

While they can be pricy, what I really love about Trashy Diva is the prints on their dresses. Year after year they come out out with a selection of dresses in fun prints that won't be found anywhere else. Also, sadly, once that year's line of dresses are sold, it is unlikely you will ever see that print again. The upside to this is that if you have an older style print dress, especially if it's in a common size, it would not be too hard to find a buyer on ebay or through a swap and sell group online to make some of your money back when you are ready to part with your lovely dress (given that your dress is still in good condition). ;)

Another thing that I really love about Trashy Diva is that their styles are so unique, varied, and period appropriate. First off, they offer a great selection of dresses in 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's style mainly finding their niche in the 1940's era.

Secondly, while they seem to have a handful of styles that may come back into play year after year such as their Alison and Ashley dresses, some styles only come back after several years have past such as is seen with their Sweetie and 40's Flutter dress. And even with their staple styles, because their prints are so varied and not often reproduced, even when a new Alison or Ashley comes out it seems like a completely new dress. They come out with so many different things it's hard to get bored of their designs.

Last, I love that they release their dresses in mostly rayon which is very period appropriate for their dress style and cotton which is also a fabric which would have been used in the era they are trying to reproduce. I have never seen them use polyester. They used to have 100% silk dresses which I would have loved to see, but then again, I cringe at the thought of how much they would charge if they went back to 100% silk.

With all that being said, every year they come out with their new line of dresses and separates and every year I pine over several of their styles. This has been my biggest year of pining, but then again, because I only took my first plunge into buying TD two years ago, this is also my first year of watching their designs come out from day one of the beginning of the year.

In any case, when their Crepe Myrtle Ashley dress sold out in my size (as well as a size up and a size down from my usual size), I was resolved that it wasn't meant to be. But then one day, what do you know, my size mysterious popped back up on their site. And knowing that most likely that meant they only had the one dress in that size, and having a coupon burning a hole in my pocket, I decided it was now or most likely never and took the plunge again and bought it! While I'm still waiting to see if they will release Sweetie dresses in solid colors this year (they were expecting a summer release in this style), thus far, this rounds up my Trashy Diva wishlist for 2014 with the exception of a Streetcar dress in Cherries if I can find her. And here it is, another dress review!


Dress Review:

The Ashley dress is a 1940's style dress which features super cute capped and puffed sleeves, a slightly crossover v-neckline with small pleats at the shoulders and under the bust, and a thick, wide, fully-lined waist band. The back of the bodice is fully covered with a high collar, and also has small pleats just under the shoulders for easy movement. The skirt is flared yet slender as is the fashion for 1940's style dresses and this dress has a side zip. The print of this dress is the Crepe Myrtle which features white and very slightly bluish grey flowers with plentiful green leaves on a black background.

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress In Crepe Myrtle- Front View

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress In Crepe Myrtle- Front View

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress In Crepe Myrtle- Side View

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress In Crepe Myrtle- Back View

Trashy Diva Ashley Dress In Crepe Myrtle- Close Up

For reference, I bought this dress in size 12 and my measurements are 39-31-39, 5'3".

Sipping Warm Tea On A Saturday In October

In my last post I featured an Outfit of the Day for a Saturday of both tea time and a wedding. 

Well, since I do love blogging about tea time, here is my post on tea time with my mother-in-law.

The weather was fair and my mother-in-law and I had a morning of antiquing at My Friends And I during their annual Christmas open house. What makes it a Christmas open house you may ask? Well I asked the same thing, hence the reason I wanted to check it out. There didn't seem to be be anything super special about this day at My Friends And I other than the 10% off your purchase, larger crowds, and a few Christmas items out for sale. Still I had a great time browsing around and even picked up some vintage buttons and belt buckles for future sewing projects.

After attending My Friends And I's open house my mother-in-law and I went out to tea at my favorite local teatime spot, Tyme For Tea just a few doors down.

The food was delicious. The scones were detectible, the savories scrumptious, and the sweets decadent. It was everything I have come to know and expect from Tyme For Tea. I sipped on a nice warm pot of almond coconut macaroon black tea while leisurely sitting and enjoying good conversation and company.

The Table Is Set At Tyme For Tea, Niles, CA

Cute Teacup Napkin Ring At Tyme For Tea, Niles, CA

Tea Menu, Tyme For Tea, Niles, CA

Tea Menu, Tyme For Tea, Niles, CA

Warm Cuppa

Blueberry Lemon Scone With A Warm Cup Of Tea

Tea Sandwiches and Savories

(Photo Missing) 

Opps! I forgot to take a picture of the sweets. We were too quick to eat these. Petit fours, brown sugar cookies, and peanut butter honeycomb balls.

Time Well Spent

Outfit of the Day: Green Means Go- A Day For Teatime And A Wedding!

This past Saturday was a busy and wonderful day.

I started the day off with my mother-in-law in the nearby old town of Niles. We went to one of hers and my favorite antique stores, My Friend's And I, for their annual Christmas open house. Then after browsing around and picking up some vintage buttons and belt buckles for me and some other goodies for her, we went out to tea at Tyme For Tea just next door.

The lovely day continued after a dress change when Tim and I got to attend our friends' wedding in the beach side town of Monterey. The event was beautiful, the venue gorgeous, and the weather perfect! We felt very fortunate to be able to celebrate this wonderful event with them. It was a beautiful occasion!

Outfit of the Day:

For the open house and tea time with my mother-in-law I wore my Bettie Page / Tatyana green circle jumper with a black cotton shirt I got from Nordstrom some years back. I paired this with my trusty flats. Although I wasn't expecting too much walking to go on, I didn't want to tire my feet out before going to the wedding later that day.

Bettie Page Green Circle Jumper- Front View

Bettie Page Green Circle Jumper- Front View

Bettie Page Green Circle Jumper- Side View

For the wedding I got out my Stop Staring Timeless dress, one which I've been saving for a special occasion. I couldn't think of any occasion more special than our friends' wedding! I paired this with my BC Cat Kitten heels (In The Winner's Circle heels) because it was too hard to resist wearing them! I also wore a black fascinator to add a touch of extra fancy dress to dress up for this occasion. When the night got cooler I had my Trashy Diva Courtney Dress Coat to keep me warm!

Stop Staring Timeless Dress In Green- Front View

Stop Staring Timeless Dress In Green- Side View

 

BC In The Winner's Circle Heels In Animal- Close Up

Trashy Diva Courtney Coat- Front View

Trashy Diva Courtney Coat- Front View

Trashy Diva Courtney Coat- Side View