old friends new chairs (and a sale)

One morning a few weekends ago, I woke up to a text message from an old friend saying that her neighbor was having an estate sale and that there was a chair that didn't sell and for some reason, it made her think of me. She sent a photo along with the message asking if I wanted it, and it just happened to be the exact kind of chair I've been scouring antique stores and estate sales for. Perfect pink tufted velvet, perfect high back, wooden legs, and matching ottoman. I told her, of course I wanted it, and she brought it over that very same day.

I guess it pays to have a consistent old lady aesthetic and have everyone know about it, because I've gotten all sorts of lovely gifts this way. And not only did I get a nice chair, I also got a nice catch-up chat with an old friend. Now if only someone could just come across an old wooden crate or two and think of me... (I need more shelves)

Things are going to be changing around here, shop-wise and blog-wise. I'm not sure sure whether they'll change a little or a lot, but I will be figuring that out very soon. While I work out all the kinks, I figured it would be a good time to make room for new inventory as well. So, I will be having a 'Christmas in July' sale in both shops (that's right, I still have a few trinkets in thefoxparade even though that poor little shop has been so neglected lately). The sales end July 19th at 11PM EST, so hop on over and take a peek! I will be pulling several things at the end of the month to sell locally, so if you've had your eye on something, now's the time! Also, there is a very good chance that this will be the last sale I hold until November. You can find the shops here:

FANCINESS

THEFOXPARADE

cat snaps / house peeks.

After looking in nearly every antique/used furniture shop in town, I pretty much gave up searching for a kitchen table... but when my downstairs neighbor was moving out I took a peek at that apartment to see if I liked it better and I noticed his kitchen table was the only thing not moved out, and it was exactly what I had been looking for. I asked him what he intended to do with it, if he was selling it, and he said it belonged to the building and had been there when he moved in, so I went right ahead and usurped it for my own apartment.

It's normally situated right under my front window, where there's lots of nice light to enjoy while drinking my coffee and eating blueberry scones and reading in the early afternoons, but the other day I tested it out on the opposite wall (where my elusive future yet-to-be-found settee will eventually go) and I quite liked it. It didn't stay for long, however, because Oliver and Gus were so excited to finally be able to reach all those frames they'd been so curious about, and they almost knocked one or two down. Oliver managed to grab that little dried pod/stem branch and pull it down, so I decided maybe it was best to move it back for now.

And here we have Oliver looking so fancy on the tabletop. The cats are normally not allowed on the table, and they're usually very good about it, but with the novelty of the new location they were extra curious so I let them hop up a time or two. (also, please excuse the mess that can be seen in my room. there were cat toys laying all over the floor that I couldn't be bothered to pick up for these photos).

I wore this dress on Easter but I only went to my mom's in it and no one saw me so I thought it'd be okay if wore it again a few days later. I bought it from one of those cheap mall shops about five to six thousand years ago when I was working at the mall, and I had never worn it all those years for some reason so I pulled it out on Easter and it seemed just right for the occasion. I was much cooler in this than in the 1920s dress and slip I wore last Easter. It seems the perfect warm weather dress so I can see myself wearing it a lot this Spring and Summer. The cream bow fascinator was a gift from my friend many many years ago, she bought it for me from an antique shop in Hawaii.

I found the pretty lace treasures hanging on my door at an estate sale a few weeks ago, the pink lace dress is 1950s and the ecru ruffle top is Edwardian. Both need a few mends and then they will be put right in the shop. The white one in the center is a big fluffy crinoline which I will be keeping for displaying clothes in shop photos. I have two others but neither is as full as this one and I've been searching for a new one for quite some time.

I hope you all had a nice Easter and have been enjoying this nice weather we've been having! (I'm just assuming here that we've all been having nice weather). I am still stalking craigslist for a new bike, which I'll hopefully find before the hot Summer rolls around.

gloomy days

It's such a rainy, gloomy Sunday. There was supposed to be a shop update today but there's no light for picture taking so I suppose that will have to wait. I have about five or six nice 50s and 60s dresses that would be perfect for fancy Spring lunch dates... they'll be in the shop before the end of the week, if the sun ever comes out, but who is thinking of Spring lunch dates when the weather is so gloomy anyway?

 oh- I got a bed! I put it together last night and I think it looks quite nice. And I managed to grab some shelves so I can finally unpack my books! No more boxes cluttering up my floor! I also picked up a few plants that I though would be okay for kitties- a peace lily and a cute but tragic looking aloe succulent- but it turns out that peace lilies can be toxic to kittens so that one is either going waaay high up on a shelf, or out in the parlor of my building where my kittens never wander. I'm researching cat-safe plants that are also easy to care for so any suggestions are welcome! I have visions of greenhouse-living but am completely inept at anything more than an occasional watering when it comes to plants. 

I bought this edwardian blouse at the beginning of Summer last year but had to wait for the weather to cool down to wear it because it has long sleeves, and you also have to layer it under something because it's super cropped, too cropped for even my highest of shorts! And then I sort of forgot about it over the Fall/Winter season but I saw it hanging in my closet today among the other pale/cream/cottony/lacy blouses that make up over half my closet and thought it would be perfect for a gloomy day like today. The collar is pretty amazing. I'll take a big floppy scalloped embroidered edwardian collar over a regular collar any day! 

The sweater is 1950s and the color is some kind of slate/lilac/gray hybrid which actually makes it a pretty nice neutral. The high-waist sailor shorts are from forever 21 (womp womp, I know), I do not typically shop there but sometimes they're okay for cheapish basics and I had been looking for a pair of shorts like this for aaaages and these happened to be just what I was looking for and so cheap too!