House of Maryanne Vintage

 

I'm super in love with these 1960s inspired looks from House of Maryanne's fall look book, True Prep. Every fall, I always dream about all the stylish outfits I'll wear, but I almost always end up wearing my favorite yellow cardigan and worn leather boots every week. Maybe I need to remedy that with an oxblood capelet. Who am I kidding, I would never really wear a capelet. That lacy white dress is another story, though... 

via One Sheepish Girl

Olympics of Summers Past

Multiple exposure of the 1972 US rowing crew in Munich, Germany

Have you been following the Olympics this summer? I honestly haven't been able to catch very many events since Netflix is my tv at home, but Chris and I try to watch what we can at his parent's house. Our favorite weekend pastime of late involves parking it on their couch and watching the finest examples of the human form sprint/swim/jump across the tv screen as we stuff our faces with guacamole and Little Debbie treats. That's real life.

In between events last Sunday, I caught a little segment about London's previous Olympic games, held in 1948, which were the first games since WWII. The nerd in me was loving it... interviews from 1948 US Olympians looking back at the past, grainy video footage and photograph stills that were spotted with age. The footage sparked my interest in Olympic games of summers past, so I decided to do a little digging on previous summer games.

1772 Canadian Olympians at the opening ceremony in Munich.
Special thanks to early 1970s fashion for the pimp hat/feather combo.

This is my favorite photo of the batch -- US hammer thrower Harold Connolly
with his wife, Olga, at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Isn't it dreamy? 

1936 US Olympians St. Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe.

The 1968 opening ceremony in Mexico City. No fancy fireworks here, just loads of colorful balloons.

A 1964 medal ceremony for the women's 4x100 relay in Tokyo, Japan. 

Cyclists race on a distorted track at the 1952 summer games in Helsinki, Finland.

1960 US gymnasts clownin' around at the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome.

Am I the only one who feels nostalgic for times I never knew? I wish I could just jump right into the photos, which I pulled from the LIFE archives on Google. I love the history of the Olympic Games and the tradition of worldwide sportsmanship that carries on today. I hope it never fades.

It goes without saying, this weekend I'll be catching up on all my favorite events (swimming, gymnastics, diving) and chanting USA! USA!

Ikea 1973

Someone please time travel with me to an IKEA store, circa 1973....

 

 

Is that the BOKSEL coffee table I see??

My grandmother had a very similar sunflower pattern in her kitchen...
and how great are those lightbulb pendant lamps?

I love it all... the early EXPEDIT-style modular shelving, the chocolate brown bedding, the model's awesome yellow plaid shirt in the second photo. This is the stuffs of dreams, friends. Mustard and orange are obvious color choices for the decade, but I had no idea kelly green was so popular in the 70s. It's also interesting to see how early IKEA designs influenced modern-day pieces like the above bed compared to the MALM bedframe and add on nightstands. Who knew?

Thank you, Sweden. Thank you. 

Images from Retro! via Scrap Hacker

Garage Sale Season!

Although the official first day of summer isn't until June 21st, it's pretty much a given that once Memorial Day hits, the temperature stays above 80, you break out the sunscreen, listen to the Beach Boys' Sounds of Summer album, and according to Christopher, it's the first weekend you take the boat out on the water even if it's too cold to swim.

All this, of course, also means garage sale season.Who doesn't love cheap stuff, vintage treasures, and the occasional "whaaa.... seriously?!" items.

Last weekend's treasures and some of today's finds, including a 1950s five volume "Do It Yourself" encyclopedia set for 50 cents!

Last weekend was my first round of garage sales. I went to quite a few good ones, including a church rummage sale and an estate sale that was overpriced but amazing. You may be concerned about that hideous silver and blue Christmas wreathe and the weird fruit cheese-dome thing, but don't worry. I have DIY projects in the line up for both items.

I have a bit of a problem with garage sales, though. I tend to pick up a lot of small vintage items because I love their patterns, colors, and histories... but when I bring them home I have no place to put them. So they sit around in piles until I get around to packing them away (until I have a bigger house, of course.) My house is full of knickknacks but lacks hefty decorative items. My goal for this summer is to focus on large scale finds instead of little 5 cent ceramic owls. I have quite the list of things to buy shaping up, and I thought I'd share a few...

I've wanted something similar to these stadium seats for several years now. Perfect for an entryway.
(sorry, I can't find the source for this image, but I'm almost positive it's from an Etsy shop.)

Our bedroom gets so warm at night, so a nightstand-sized midcentury fan is at the top of my garage sale list. Bonus points if I find one this awesome shade of blue-green.

Flat files. Old library card catalogs. Postmaster storage slots. They look great and provide tons of storage. They're so hard to come by cheap, but Chris and I want one real bad.

1. I'd love to find an upright camera (hopefully in working condition) for $5-7ish. Thanks to Arissa for this new obsession of mine.  2. I'm on the lookout for an industrial chair/stool for my studio area. They're practical, look great, and you don't have to worry too much about ruining them with ink, paint or other crafty things.  3. Who doesn't love globes? I'm hoping to find a great old one with a subtle color palette like this beaut.  

 Tandem bike! I found one last summer but they were asking $200 for it. Might as well buy a new one. 

 Okay, so I know perpetual calendars aren't exactly one of the large items I said I would be searching for, but I still hope to find one. I'm so jealous of Danni's collection.

I also always look for old lace, hardcover books with gorgeous covers, wooden frames, quirky mugs, and fabric. I can obviously find most of these things on Etsy, but where's fun in that? I'd much rather search through to musty, dusty garages and spend $2 than purchase a treasure online for three times the price. Here's to a summer full of awesome garage sales. Are you searching for anything in particular?

Midland Arts & Antique Market

Is it really Wednesday already? Yesterday was so warm and sunny I spent most of my afternoon outside reading on a blanket and doing housework with the windows wide open, and most of Monday recovering from all the awesomeness (and lack of sleep) that happened this past weekend. Goodness.

I took off work on Friday to venture down to Indianapolis for a girls weekend with Rachel and Arissa, two of the most amazing girls and the best college roommates ever. The drive down was only about 3 hours (although I somehow made it home in 2.5) and it was a wonderful weekend full of avacado-artichoke pizza, cute little shops on Mass Ave, pay by-the-ounce frozen yogurt, strange performance art, cheap sushi, and some of the smoothest espresso I've ever tasted.

Midland. Note teeny-tiny Rachel in the lower right hand corner for scale purposes. This place was HUGE. 

One of the weekend's highlights, by far, was Saturday brunch followed by hours spent at Midland Arts & Antique Market. Although only 2 of their 3 factory-sized floors were open, we still had an overwhelming amount of antique and vintage goodness to look at. I doubt we even looked at it all. 

Once inside, I nearly hyperventilated from the sheer amount of stuff -- and some of the prices. We decided it was best to start at the top where their cheapest items were located, and work our way down to the more expensive stuff. Rachel ended up with a few things and Arissa bought a wonderful vintage globe, but sadly, I walked away empty handed. I was watching my budget for the weekend, and since I didn't find anything I absolutely had to have, I window shopped instead. Here are a few of my favorites...

Clockwise from left: 1. This mustard mid-century chair was in pristine condition.  2. Under a pile of stuff I spotted a fantastic 1912 framed yearbook photo... too bad it was $92.  3. I had to think twice about buying this elaborately decorated reader, but because of the sticker damage I decided against it.

1. I'm kicking myself for not buying one of these antique apothecary jars, but I couldn't tell if the labels were originals or reproductions. At only $9, though, I should've picked up the center bottle anyway.  2. A few of the booths at Midland featured original artwork. These symmetrical rabbits by local artist MaryAnne Thanh Tam Nguyen were my favorite.  3. Hello, adorable typewriter. I like your coloring a lot.

1. This was the first display I saw -- vintage marquee letters! Sadly they didn't have an R available.  2. For some reason I totally loved these vintage high school storage bins... and vintage chemistry beakers were everywhere. Trendy, trendy.  3. A stack of well-traveled and well-loved suitcases to match my shoes. 

Booth #3 was one of my favorites... they had minty green walls, wonderful handwritten signage, and of course this German chicken skeletal chart. We all know how much I love charts. 

If you're ever in the downtown Indianapolis area and have a few hours of free time, a trip to Midland is a must. Like most antique malls, it's about 50% awesome and 50% junk, but if you look hard enough (or if you're willing to pay) you could walk away with quite a bit of beautiful stuff.

animal head vintage

I love etsy, but honestly, what creative with an internet connection doesn't? Today I found this wonderful vintage clothing shop, Animal Heads Vintage, through a few clicks on Oh Happy Day. The shop owner, Rebecca, runs the store out of her tiny SF apartment, and was recently featured on Martha Stewart Weddings. I can't get over how cute it is!

I'm not sure what I love about her shop more, the clothes or the artistic direction behind the photographs. All of her models wear paper-mache animal masks she bought on her honeymoon in Italy. A few of my favorites...

Clockwise from top left: 1. This 50s Black Party Dress reminds me of my roommate from college 2. Eventhough Spring is three days away, nothing is classier than a Cream Wool Coat   3. The eyelet detail on the 1960s Peach Lace Dress is amazing. So pretty and feminine.

I'm not usually fond of asymmetrical shoulders, but this Strapless Floral Tea Dress is gorgeous. The colors, the silhouette, the pleating. I want it. Too bad it has already been sold.

Of course, these images leave me wanting to draw girls with antlers dressed in pretty frocks. Not exactly original, I know, but I still love the concept. It's so difficult balancing a job, cooking/cleaning, and living with a husband that I haven't really worked on any art projects since being married. Perhaps it's time to change that...