aquarium and my dad's birthday.

 



 Yesterday was my dad's birthday, he would have been fifty. Instead of staying home all day and being upset like I did last year, my brother and I decided to do something special that would take some of the sadness of the day out of focus. My dad loved the beach and the ocean, we were always out on our boat or visiting the beach when we were growing up, so I figured we would at least stop by the beach (I live maybe five minutes away?) but my brother suggested we visit the Marine Science Center, where my father built the main bird sanctuary enclosure. I had never been there, and it seemed like the perfect way to honor my dad on his birthday.

We arrived a bit late, making it just before last admission, but we had just enough time to tour the whole center and even spend maybe a bit too much time at the sting ray tank. There were fish and turtles and eels, and probably my favorite, seahorses, and of course as I mentioned, sting rays, which were located in the middle of the main room in an open 'touch tank' where you could stick your hand in and pet them. They were so cute and had such funny little faces that I spent most of the time trying to capture a cute little face in a photo (they're so fast!).

Outside of the center is where the keep the 'ICU', for sick or injured sea turtles to be rehabilitated and re-released into the wild. They were all so huge but had cute names like Buster and Bunny and made me really sad for them that they were hurt and had to be contained in tiny (for them) pools but I knew it was the best for them. I made a little donation in honor of my dad because I know he would have been proud as he was a big supporter of sea turtle conservation.

We made our way over to the Bird Sanctuary to visit the enclosure built by my dad, and looked at all the eagles and falcons and owls, and even got to see one of the owls super up close when a lady was taking him out of his cage to bring inside for the day (he wasn't very happy about it).

the enclosure my dad built.

When we left the Marine Science Center, we stopped to get iced coffee and made our way to the beach. Despite the mid-ninety degree temperature that day, down by the water under the pier felt nice and breezy, a bit chilly even, it was so windy, and even though I'm not a beach person it was nice because I felt close to my dad. It was really hard because the whole time I was just wishing he was there, but I think he would have approved of the way we spent the day.

dress - borrowed from my shop
heart locket w. photo of my dad - gift from my aunt

easter.

Easter was pretty low-key this year, I spent the day at my mom's house with my family, my mom cooked on the grill and my brother and I sat around eating jellybeans and peeps and playing nintendo. I wore this little seafoam ghost of a dress, I've had it for several months and had been waiting for an excuse to wear it, so I decided I might as well throw it on for Easter since it's such a pretty pastel color and light enough for the hot weather we've been having. I ended up changing out of it after not too long, as it's super delicate and I'm not ready to retire it to hanging on my wall just yet. I was so nervous steaming it the night before because I didn't want to damage it and I know steam and olde fabrics are not always friends. The necklace I wore came from the estate of a woman named June Rose Gader who was a writer and major clotheshorse and travelled the world with her husband and owned a second home in France.

I took a bit of hair inspiration from Zooey Deschanel at the NY Times Wine Festival, but the weather sort of ruined/flattened it, which is strange because I have wavy hair and the humidity usually makes it look like this naturally. I already had blown it out that day and added the curls with an iron, so maybe next time I should just leave it wavy to start.

Overall it was a lovely day, I ate so much potato salad and so many deviled eggs and possibly some other mayonnaise-y based foods, and more jellybeans than anyone should ever be allowed to consume, but eating is the best part of holidays, after all. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

credit

seafoam 1920s flapper dress - greatest friend on etsy

cream 1920s flapper necklace - etsy

ring - antique store

St. johns flea market

Saturday I went to one of my favorite flea markets, the St. Johns flea market. It's always so much fun to poke around in all the olde junk to see what I can find, and I usually leave with at least few little treasures. I only left with one dress this time though, it was just way too hot and it made it really uncomfortable to be under those hot tents and I just wasn't in the mood to shop after being in the sticky air for so long. I did however spy a few cool things that I was able to snap some photos of.

When we left, we went to lunch and I saw these pretty flowers planted outside. I'd really love to have a garden like this, only with ranunculus and poppies and sweet williams instead. After lunch I bought some taffy, which came in probably the prettiest candy box I've ever seen. As soon as the candies are gone (which shouldn't take long at the rate I'm eating them!) I'll probably use it to store olde buttons or other odds and ends.



I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter! I'll be posting some photos from today very soon! xx 

tracks.

The other day when I was driving to my brother's house, I spied an abandoned train a ways down the track. I've always loved exploring olde abandoned houses and structures, so I made my brother accompany me today to take a peek and snap some photos. Sadly, there was lame graffiti on many of the cars, which took away from the nostalgic feel quite a bit, but it was still fun to poke around and see what we could find. I joked with my brother that I hoped I would find some gold doubloons, but at the end of the day I only ended up leaving with a few olde railroad stakes and some giant rusty screws, which was just as well.

I really wanted to wear this little edwardian inspired dress but did not have a proper slip, so I ended up sticking some 1920s tap pants under it, which did not quite do the trick and also made me end up looking about three sizes bigger than I actually am. I think I'll hold off on wearing this one again until I can acquire a decent slip!

dress - urban outfitters

vintage belt - thrifted

brown 1940s oxford heels - ebay

vintage straw boater - borrowed from my shop