Estate sale finds!

This morning I went with my grandma and Tia to a few estate sales around town, and found some great stuff! At one sale, a picnic basket full of pretty turquoise and pink plastic dishes (which just happens to be the colors of my kitchen), a doctors bag-ish briefcase that once belonged to a preacher, and some lovely little vintage hand towels. Including one that has my initials! How weird is that? Technically the "C" should be in the middle, but still, having all three initials there is pretty awesome.

At the second sale I found a vintage Christmas bath mat, a beautiful plaid wool blanket, and a brand new pack of 60s Christmas wrapping paper!

After estate sales I went withTwila Jean to The Red Light, where I found a funny little horse tie, girl scout tie, and best of all, a 1950s sequins costume. Not quite sure what to call it. Bodysuit? Leotard? Whatever, it's amazing :)

San Francisco!

Today we spent lots of time in San Francisco, starting out with estate sales!

They were worth going to just to see the interior of the amazing houses. One we went to was a dream, built in the 1930s, complete with a sun room in the middle of the house.
But the best sale was the first, we made out like bandits! I found a beautiful mink stole, some scarves, one of those hard case knitting carriers, and Paradise Kittnes, Kitten-ettes shoebox! I think I may have to start collecting these things.

Julie left with loads of great goodies, there was so much I can't quite remember all she bought. But of course you can see it sometime soon in her shop ;)

In between estate sales we lunched at The Cliff House, a stunning establishment which used to be a hot spot for celebrates, so old autographed headshots cover the walls. We had a beautiful view of the waves crashing on the beach and really enjoyed our lunch, my mushroom sandwich was very yummy. We did get stopped A LOT on our way into the restaurant, and inside, because of our outfits, it's funny what an impression vintage makes on people.

After that we hit Haight street, and browsed some vintage shops there. I found a stunning 1940s black rayon dress with the most amazing beaded flower I got to wear later that night, fits like a glove. In one shop we ran into a group of men and women from LA who wore vintage, and it was the first time in my life I felt underdressed. They all looked fabulous, and of course are in town for the same reason we are.

In the evening we went to Speisekammer and saw Lavay Smith perform while having a wonderful dinner.

Tomorrow, picnic! Though I probably won't do a proper post on that right afterward, I'll be tired, and want to do it justice!

Saturday morning

Saturday morning I joined Julie for a little estate sale hunting. We went to one in a pretty apartment, that from the description sounded promising, but turned out to be a bust. I did get a nice laptop case thought, even thought it was overpriced for an estate sale (everything was), but It was just what I've been looking for :)

After that we found a great sale held by a couple of girls who were cleaning out their closets, including a lot of great vintage. There were a few things I wanted, but as soon as I saw these Chie Miharas, it was love at first sight. They are still in the box, never worn, even have extra heel tabs. I've been wanting a pair of Chie Miharas for a couple of years, but even on sale they are out of my price range. These were only $50. Yeah, it would have been wrong not to get them.

Random pictures from Saturday

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:30 to go to an estate sale with my grandma in Camas Washington. My grandma has been taking me to estate sales since I was a teeny little girl, so I was trained well :) We had a lot of fun, the estate sale was great, I got some clothes I brought into work, a bit of fabric, a basket to take to the farmers market to carry produce, and a needlework picture of a kitty. I call him Flufferton.
We also spent time at a neighborhood sale, which was for the most part great. It was in a wealthier neighborhood, so a lot of the people selling were just downright greedy with their prices (for instance, $20 for a used girls easter dress). But we did walk away with some clothes for my cousins and nephew, and I got a spice rack I painted (pictures later). And I think my favorite and most amusing find of the day was a Coach mini tape measure, which is now in my purse. I always need to measure things, but never remember to buy a tiny tape measure. Problem solved!

After that I walked down to the farmers market to see my aunt who was working a space at the recycled arts festival. I got some fresh fruit to fill my new basket, and my cousin, her friend, and I could not resist the heavenly scent of the mini cinnamon doughnuts, made right before our eyes.

Later that day, after painting the spice rack and taking a nap, I tagged along with my sister in law and her boyfriend to Forever 21 in downtown Portland. We stayed until they closed, Caitlin found an entire summer wardrobe, and I picked out a cute pair of pants and a boater style hat. You will see it so much over the summer, you'll probably get sick of it :)

Estate sale finds

This morning before helping Twila Jean move from one house to another, my grandma and I went to an estate sale held at a community center. The paper said the sale started at 9:00 so we got there early, but apparently they listed the sale on Craigslist as starting at 8:00, and had to open doors then. And while there were still some really good items remaining, the clothing rack only had a few late 60s dresses left, and since most of the other items were from the 20s to the 50s I just know there must have been some great feedsack dresses or nylon blouses someone grabbed. Sigh.
I did buy some really pretty things though, three aprons for my shop, and for me three 40s cotton kerchiefs, a big collar, 1915 and 1916 books on sewing and embroidery, the coolest address book ever, a plastic bead necklace, cat eye glasses, and an orange bakelite bangle. I was really excited to find the bangle, since it was only $1! So far I've found four bakelite bangles at estate sales for practically nothing thanks to people throwing them in boxes of junky jewelry and assuming they're just cheap plastic. You can tell if a plastic is bakelite if you press it against your clothes and rub it for a few seconds, and it has a chemical smell or the rubbed part feels warm. Some people always look at me funny when I walk around smelling jewelry ;)
I really want to be more educated about bakelite, so if anyone recommends any books or websites to check out, let me know!

There was a bittersweet aspect to the sale, which was that the woman who passed away wrote little notes and attached them to things, such as "I sewed this in 1942, with linen my friend Ethel brought back from France. I had to press it often especially when it got wet." All sorts of notes in beautiful cursive on yellowed paper. It was a vintage lovers dream, because it gave dates and history. Nothing I bought had a note, but I wish I had bought something with one just for that reason! It was so sweet, I wish they had pictures of her!

Things that are too small but I want anyway.

This seems like an ongoing segment in my life: Things that are too small in one way or another, but I pine over anyway. This week a pair of shoes came into work that are sooooooooo adorable! Black and white scalloped with bows, but a size too small. I tried, but my toes were begging me not to wear them more than 30 seconds.

The next thing is the most darling play kitchen set at target. How come five year olds get all the pretty colored appliances? I mean, a pink oven?! If I had a pink oven I might make more of an effort to bake (even though it makes me cry).

So there you have it.

The writer of the adorable blog Pugly Feet has featured me as her Style Muse! I just love the way that sounds ;) Make sure and check out her blog, it's decor makes me want to wallpaper all of our walls. But I don't think our landlord would approve...

And on another note:

My Aunt called me this morning while I was getting ready for work. Ok ok, thinking about not wanting to get ready for work.
But anyway, she was at an estate sale where there were a bunch of vintage square dancing dresses there. She called my grandma who would come and pick me up in five minutes. So I threw on my candy striped Swirl (I love those dresses), slapped on some makeup, and grabbed my gloves.
We got there and I seemed to be the only frantic one, grabbing everything I could since I didn't have much time before work. I got 14 adorable square dance dresses, some with matching mens shirts, lots of 60s blouses, some Jantzen deadstock blouses, and an armfull of pretty lingerie. Oh, and a 30s coat that I was going to keep, but its too big :(

Needless to say I was a bit late to work, but am exited for the frills and thrills going in my shop next week :)

Sunny Sunday

It was a beautiful day today, felt more like a nice summers day than a northwest spring, and it was kind of funny to see how people dressed for it. Some were in summer threads, shorts, tank tops, skirts, sandals. And some were stuck in sweaters and coats. Yeah. 70 degrees and I saw a girl in a coat. But I was delighted to get to wear the ensemble my Grandma got me at an Estate sale, upon closer inspection I determined it was handmade, I love the use of upholstery trim on the collar and hem. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Never too late

I went to the sale. Got 48 + pairs of vintage stockings for free because I bought so much. Yeah. Awesome. Pictures later.