Pantyhose and/or stockings are not for everyone. Some think they're old fashioned or don't like the feel of them but I, however love my hosiery. There's something very glamorous and feminine about them and being a mom of two, I love that instant tummy tuck that I get with hose. Not to mention, my inner thighs are...less than svelte shall we say...and pantyhose can be a real life saver in the summer.




 Some of my favorite seamed stockings are from stockingstore.com They have a variety of colors and seam colors to choose from and offer plus sizes and affordable prices.

 Are you a hosiery kind of gal or do you prefer bare legs? 

It's been storming on and off for days in St. Louis so I prepared myself for puddle splashing and rainy afternoons.

vintage bird on polka dot umbrella brooch

 I thrifted this vintage WeatherBee rain jacket a few weeks ago at a Salvation Army store in middle-of-nowhere, Illinois.


 I also found this adorable vintage umbrella print scarf at the same store. I have many scarves with really neat prints but it's a challenge to wear them while displaying the designs. I've seen a lot of photos and advertisements with women wearing scarves tied behind their heads like this so I decided to give it a try.

 
With humidity so high, I pulled my hair back into a snood and rolled the front to keep it tame. The snood seemed to help keep the scarf in place.
 

My vintage galoshes were a Christmas gift from Pj. They work with many different heel sizes and shoe styles and really do protect my lovely suede pumps from mud and moisture.

 What's under the galoshes? They aren't vintage or repro, they're made by Mudd and are, without a doubt, my new favorite shoes.



This fantastic green box purse was an unexpected flea market find recently. It was one of the only vintage fashion items in the whole place and I spotted it sitting on a table on our way out. It has some scuffs but I hope to be able to revive it with a little TLC. At any rate, I love it!

Outfit
Vintage Green Weatherbee Rain Coat- thrifted, Salvation Army
50's Umbrella Print Scarf- thrifted, Salvation Army
Bird on Umbrella Pin- Antique Shop
40's Green Leather Box Purse- Wentzville Flea market
Green Clip earrings- Value Village Thrift Store
Brown A-Line Skirt- Target
Green Sheer Blouse-Target
Shoes by Mudd- Thrifted, Goodwill
Antique Umbrella-St. Charles Antique Mall

This afternoon, Pj and I took the kids to historic Main Street to enjoy the beautiful day. I wore my plaid cotton day dress. I love the rhinestone buttons and unique looped fabric detail of this dress. It has gold metallic threads running through the green, blue and yellow plaid pattern.



Yesterday afternoon, I watched Ball of Fire with Gary Cooper and Barbabra Stanwyck. If you haven't seen it, you must! It's so funny and cute and left me wanting faux bangs today. The hat/snood combo makes another comeback this week. I'm just way too tired to pin curl and it's too humid for hot rollers to work on my hair so the snood keeps my pin-straight hair off my neck. I jazzed up this blue felt bonnet with a little antique lace ribbon. Rhys was not happy in his stroller. He wanted to be in the picture too!


 I had a lot of fun accessorizing this dress today. I wore my cute little vintage fox hunt clip earrings (even though fox hunts are not cute!) and paired green and porcelain beads with butterscotch bakelite bangles


I'm such a fan of socks and mary janes. They make heels much more comfortable to wear. I think I need to get some lace to sew on the tops of all of my socks. Ruffled socks for size 9 feet are so hard to come by!


 Vintage Day Dress: Retro 101
 Cream Belt: Thrifted
 Felt Bonnet: T.F.A. St Louis
 Antique Lace for hat: Antique shop in Alton, IL
 Vintage Fox Hunt CLip Earrings: St Charles Antiques
 Green Beaded Bracelet: craft festival a few years ago
 Butterscotch Bakelite: various antique malls
 Brown mary Jane Heels by Mudd: Thrifted, Goodwill
 Snood: Designs By Kate online

One of my dear readers, Miss Mary Sue has an awesome retro kitchen but like all things vintage, it can use a little bit of repair work.

 We can help this vintage gal and her kitchen by voting for her in the Making It Lovely Social Space Makeover Contest. Mary Sue's kitchen is already one of the top 10 finalists! The winner will recieve 150,000 membership rewards points from American Express and a custom design plan from Making It Lovely. She has my vote, how about you? Vote for Mary Sue's sweet space here

see all of Mary Sue's kitchen pics on Flickr

p.s. when I move to a house where I can paint, I'm totally going to paint my walls that color!

It's been scorching hot in St. Louis this past week, keeping the kids and I in the house most of the time. On Sunday, we got a break in the weather and were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful day. We went to a festival in Tower Grove Park in St Louis. My mom vends at several area festivals every summer.
 Here's her booth set-up with lots of new merchandise for her art


You can see more of my momma's fantasy and fairy art on her website or at her etsy shop



 

Grandma Mickie and Lulu

Since it was still a bit warm outside, I wore my nice, cool feed sack dress and matching red, straw hat. I adore this hat but haven't had a chance to wear it till now. I got lots of compliments and even had a few people stop to take my picture, which I always get a kick out of.


I also got to bust out my awesome carved fish shoes, which were a gift from Pj on our honeymoon in St. Augustine, Florida.



In other news, I am -totally- getting into the groove of being a mommy of two! The kids have regular nap schedules now so I've been able to sew and keep up on housework again. I hope to get back to blogging more this week!  Rhys has gained just over 3 pounds in 8 weeks, can you believe it? He's such a big boy!! Here he is with his daddy...


Outfit
feed sack dress: ebay
vintage straw hat from Stix Baer and Fuller: antique shop
red snood: Designs By Kate
cream belt: thrifted
vintage red enamel earrings: antique mall
carved fish shoes:Blue Moon Boutique St Augustine, FL

First, I want to thank you all for your prayers, kind thoughts and condolences on my last post. I really can't wait to share all of great grandma's stories and photos with all of you. I talked to my grandma about digging through photo albums one afternoon and she thought it was a great idea! We both agree that grandma would have wanted those things to be shared here.

 Now on to more inappropriate things...
 My best friend posted this link on facebook this morning for Bluntcard.com and it really cheered me up. Seriously, I probably spent an hour clicking through these cards, laughing out loud. Think Anne Taintor but more crude. These cards make me think of my sister in law,  who tells it how it is, never holds back and says things like "Well, then don't be such a shit-ass!" (Ninja, you know what I mean!) They're all quite wrong but every once in a while I need some of that to get me through the day. Here are some slightly less offensive ones that made me laugh out loud:



 I hope they made you laugh as much as I did. Pass them on!

My Great Grandma Alma passed away last night at the age of 92, which I think is pretty amazing. Of course, that's Grandma for you- she had an amazing life!

 She was born in January of 1919 during the influenza epidemic. Right after her birth, she stopped breathing. Her mother's midwife ran outside and filled a bowl full of snow. She filled another bowl with warm water and dipped the baby from the freezing snow to warm water over and over until she suddenly started breathing again. Grandma said with her smart little smirk "So that's why I always did run and little hot and cold!"

She told wonderful stories of growing up during the Great Depression, being a one room school house teacher and living in Hawaii after the war. She was a wonderful writer and often boasted
" I was even published in a few little literary magazines!"
I'll have to get a hold of some of her stories and share them with you here! She was an accomplished quilter and dedicated many of her years researching our family's history and genealogy. She was a 50's housewife and looked exactly like Bette Davis when she was young. I think she hated that people said that, but I swear to you, it's true! She helped teach me how to crochet and sew and through the impact of the Great Depression, she helped to teach me how to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. She saw so many incredible things in her lifetime.

5 Generations with Great Grandma Alma, Olivia and I, my momma, my grandma and sister

On Saturday, the whole family came in from out of town to visit her in the hospital. We had a little party in the ICU room. We laughed a lot and made inappropriate jokes, which made grandma smile. She got kisses from Olivia and got to tickle Rhys's feet, which she loved. I can't imagine living long enough to see two of my great great grandchildren- but she did! She wanted to be cremated and buried in Springfield, MO so that's the plan. We're going to pack up the family and caravan to Springfield, singing along with the radio the whole way in celebration of her amazing life.

When everything settles down a bit, I'll see about getting some copies of her stories and pictures of her when she was young so I can share them with you. I think everything is packed away at my grandma's country house so it may take a while but it's worth it.  I think you'll get a kick out of them!