over the river & through the woods

Let me just start by saying how lovely it is to have a female visitor for once! My brother's friend is in town and she graciously agreed to accompany me into the woods this afternoon for a little photo shoot. Isn't she darling?

I. Absolutely. Love. NOT. Being. In. Front. Of. The. Camera. Love. Love. Love.

Speaking of love, these lovelies will be up in the shop tomorrow morning so check in soon if you like what you see.

strawberry jam

I finally did it! The strawberry jam hath been made and boy is it tasty. If you decide to try out any of the kitchen projects I've been listing lately, this is it. I snagged it from The Anne of Green Gables Treasury I mentioned the other day. All it takes is two simple ingredients, strawberries and sugar.



Chop the tops off 2 cups of strawberries and toss in a pot with 1 1/3 cups of sugar. Heat slowly until the sugar begins to melt. Then bring the mixture to a boil and stir frequently for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. You'll probably have a light pink foam on top. Scrape this off then pour the mixture into a pan. Cover and let sit overnight. Grab a jar and pour the jam in for storing. Strawberry jam!



I'm no jam expert, but I would say making jam this way you'll want to eat it up in a week or so, as it won't keep. But seeing as this makes about one jar, you shouldn't have a problem! It's quite tasty as a topping for that shortbread I made the other day.

oh my! love charles vintage giveaway

Happy Sunday morning to you! I wanted to spice up this lovely lazy Sunday with a little mystery giveaway from the adorable Lily over at Love Charles. Lily not only runs the vintage clothing boutique, Love Charles, but also an inspirational blog of the same name. In fact, at this very moment she is having a sister giveaway over on the Love Charles Vintage blog.

Our Love Charles mysterious vintage goodie bag giveaway features the bright and sunny hue, yellow! However, if you're not a yellow gal have no fear, just head over to the sister giveaway where you can enter to win a more subtle gray-themed mystery bag.

Here's a sneak peak of what the lucky winner is in store for...

Entering is a simple as can be, just have a look over at Love Charles Vintage and let me know your thoughts on the shop. This giveaway is open to folks in the US and Canada only. Sorry my international loves, I'll have something for you soon. Promise! Giveaway closes midnight CST on August 1.

For extra entries, feel free to do the following and remember to comment for each...

Follow this blog. +1
Follow the Love Charles Vintage blog. +1
Follow DalenaVintage on Twitter. +1
Follow Lovecharles on Twitter. +1
Become a Dalena Vintage fan on Facebook. +1
Become a Lovecharles fan on Facebook. +1

Whew, now how is that for extra entries!? And I almost forgot...Love Charles is offering 15% off purchases made during the giveaway with the code Dalena15.

peggy sue & a q for u

Earlier in the week I got a little tip on a couple of vintage chiffon gowns hiding out at the local thrift store. Of course I headed over as quickly as a I could to check them out. There were three, all 1950s and all gorgeous! Only two were for sale, a lovely pink chiffon and a classic black lace. After a whole lot of pondering and shop rummaging, I decided I would only get the black lace party dress as the pink chiffon was just a little too worn for my liking. Isn't it just lovely? I'll be listing it in the shop tomorrow morning along with a few other pieces.

I also did a bit of experimenting with indoor photography. I'm not sure what I think...How about your thoughts?

After playing in the dress for a few hours this afternoon, I thought it probably made some gal quite the happy lass at her 1950s prom. Which in turn had me wondering if I could find footage of such a thing. Alas, I could not, but I did find this clip of Buddy Holly performing Peggy Sue in the late 1950s. All the ladies standing so prim and proper in the background are wearing dresses of a similar style. So neat!

shortbread a bakin'

Last week I mentioned I had a little canning project. Well, it obviously hasn't happened, so I'll go ahead and spill the beans on what is was...You may have guessed as I don't know how much you can do with strawberries and jars but I'll tell you anyway. I was going to try my hand at strawberry jam! In all honesty, I've just been too lazy to pick up the jars so I thought I'd go ahead and bake the other half the kitchen project seeing as I already picked up the supplies. Hello shortbread!

My inspiration came from a little book found in the children's section of my local library. One I used to check out at least twice a month in elementary school, The Anne of Green Gables Treasury. You're probably wondering why on earth someone would continuously check out the same book but the thing is I used to do that with quite a few books. This one in particular was filled with recipes and small projects based off the series. How could I check it out only one time when there were so many projects to be crafted? From tea time baking to pressing flowers, this little treasury had it all.

Yup, I was a bit of a nerd, okay I suppose I still am! I had such an obsession with the series though. I read each and every book, had VHS tapes recorded from TV and so on. My parents were even kind enough to take me to Prince Edward Island to see Avonlea and the whole spread before it burned in the 90s.

I could go on and on but I'll spare all you non-Anne fans. So to the point...I was thinking about all that the other day, and decided to see if the library still had it, and you bet they did!



Like I said, it's filled with good looking recipes, but as I've been drinking tea in the afternoons lately, I decided to try out the shortbread recipe. A perfect compliment to afternoon tea. The recipe consisted of a simple list of ingredients, just how I like them.



* 1/2 cup butter
* 3 tbsps sugar
* 1/4 tsp vanilla
* 1 1/4 cups flour
* pinch of salt



The rest is easy...Just preheat the oven to 325F. Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla until it's light and fluffy. Gradually add the flour until the mixture becomes slightly crumbly. Roll into a ball. Set on a cookie sheet and flatten to about 1/2 inch. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20-30 minutes and...Done! Ready to enjoy with a nice cup of tea. Now let's hear about your childhood obsessions!

bits of love

Black and white dreams in a world where things are never such...



whirling and twirling
('til the night is one joyful blur)



peek-a-boo belly buttons
(and barely there happy trails)



strolling town, arms around
(through cobblestone squares)



lingering light
(on lonely streets)



halos of light
(best black and white)

photo credits: gustavo minas, torbettl, laurent filoche, sechsmalsechs.blogspot.com, liekeroomijs

and the winner is

Shairberg of The Knit Wit by Shair! Happy toting to you and congrats on your new-to-you sequined chainlink purse from Darling Nikki Vintage.

a lil' update

Exhaustion! I'm feeling it after a long and fun filled day. But alas, I'll be listing the three vintage lovelies in the shop including those adorable wool swim trunks straight for the U.S. Navy. I was going back and forth over keeping them but after some thinking decided I wouldn't get much use out of them up in this great state of Washington.

holly golightly & a bit of a crush

No I'm not talking about the eccentric lady we all know and love from Breakfast at Tiffany's, but an equally crushable lady from across the ocean. One whose voice I can't get enough of lately. This isn't my favorite song, but I do love the old-timey video.


Oh and just in case you're wondering was is my favorite Holly Golightly song, it's There's an End. PS. Apparently that thrift I spoke of yesterday is only open on Tuesdays and Fridays, so my kitchen project is pushed back yet another day. C'est la vie.

strawberries & cream

Today's kitchen project is brought to you by the sweet and delicious fruit of the season, Miss Strawberry. I had things planned a bit differently, ie. not strawberries and cream. However, the thrift store was closed today and I couldn't pick up the jars I needed for Plan A. I suppose I could have headed back to the store, but I'm kind of against buying new jars when I can get perfectly good ones at the thrift store. That said, I decided I would have to save my canning project for tomorrow.

When I came home though, I had a flat of fresh strawberries staring at me, begging to be nibbled. I had to do something with them in the meantime. With all the cream I've been keeping in the fridge lately for butter, I decided to fix myself up a little evening snack.




Looks pretty tasty, right? If you're curious, here are the easy steps for making this delicious snack a reality.

• Rinse your strawberries, chop off the tops and cut into quarters.


• Pour the heavy whipping cream into a bowl with a spoonful of sugar (or two!) depending on sweet you like your cream.


• Whisk until the cream becomes stiff and you can make little peaks.


• C'est fini! You can put your strawberries in a bowl and top with the whipped cream or serve it up parfait style like I did, simply by layering.

Voila! A simple summer treat. Now that you know my original plan involved canning, stay tuned for tomorrow's post. I'll give you a hint...It involves tea time.

Walk Don't Run

Let's start this evenings blog off with a little guessing game. Are you up for the challenge? Well here it goes if you are...Can you guess the reason behind this sub par photo I've taken below?

You: Oh! Oh! You dig their surf rock music and are listening to it at this very moment!?

Me: Well, yes and yes. But also no. Congratulations on being partially right!

You: Hmmm...You finally decided to follow through with your promise of a sleeveface attempt?

Me: Geez, that's not it either but now you're just making me feel bad! Any other guesses?

You: Ok. Well if it's neither of those, then it must be something about that adorable gal on the cover. Am I right?

Me: Jackpot. And oh how right you are!

Here's the story morning glory. I was taking photos of a few pieces for the shop last night when I walked in the living room, only to find myself face to face with that very record seen above. I know, no big deal you're thinking. But that's where you would be mistaken my love.

Instantly, I realized we were wearing the same pants! Me standing in my little living room in 2010. Her posing in a studio in 1960. How neat is that? True they're not exactly the same. Her pants are tan and mine white, but nonetheless I was quite excited about the whole thing. I tend to get excited about the small things though.

Here they are: The pants, the photos and a few new tops for the shop. If now, you find you have a renewed love for those pedal pushers (you know...being they're on the cover of The Ventures album and all) well lucky you. They're already up in the shop and you can snag them if your heart desires.

Hope you liked my tribute shot. That is to say, the one flipping my collar. Oh and tonight, I'm off to run not walk. Thank you lord!

New Top Broken Pot

If I remember correctly, one of my blog goals for this year was to take more daily outfit shots. I have to take a few minutes to laugh at myself because what was I thinking? That just hasn't happened nor do I think it will unless my backyard magically turns in a glistening lake or ocean. I'm going to take the time to make two excuses for lack of postings, and then I'll move on. Promise.

1. I just don't like taking photos in my backyard. It's as simple as that. Most days I'm too lazy to go down to the park multiple times. I'm already down there walking or running once a day. (That's right...My knee is feeling healthy again!) And who wants to get all dolled up and head back to the place where you just worked out? I certainly do not, thank you.

2. My move up to Washington was so crazy and last minute I only brought one suitcase of clothing for myself. Normally this wouldn't be too bad, I could remix and remix. But I didn't bring a single piece of jewelry or any accessories which makes it tough. And on top of that, some how I managed to pack quite a few pieces that I don't even wear anymore.

Excuses, excuses. But kind of valid I guess? So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. This afternoon though, I was lucky enough to get a package of vintage goodies from my mom back in Texas. Most of the pieces will be going up in the shop, but I decided to treat myself to a few...




How cute is this blouse? I couldn't say goodbye so I'm keepin' it along with a few other pieces. I also tried to photograph my attempt at a braided headband. Neither worked out as I had hoped, but I thought I'd show you anyway.

oh my! darling nikki vintage giveaway

This morning I'm happy to post my latest giveaway hosted by the lovely Nikki of Darling Nikki Vintage. How cute is this 1980s sequined chainlink purse? I could easily see it worn with a slinky black dress and a pair of heels to cocktail hour or a bit more casual with a slim pair of black slacks, an oversized t-shirt and red heels.

To enter, run over to Darling Nikki Vintage, have a look around, and let us know your favorite item and how you'd style it! Make sure to enter by next Saturday, as the giveaway closes July 17 at midnight CST. Now get going and check out her shop. Oh and be sure to visit the new Darling Nikki Vintage facebook page while you're at it. Happy writing to ya!

buttermilk biscuits

I told you last week to stay tuned for what to do with that extra buttermilk we had left over from the homemade butter. I know, I know, I'm a bit late. But better late than never, right!? There really are so many things you can make with buttermilk, but I wanted to share a simple classic...Buttermilk biscuits!

The first recipe I used several weeks ago was incredibly simple with only five ingredients, four if you think of the butter and buttermilk in it's original cream form. They were tasty enough I suppose, but last night I decided to test out a different one from a certain Colonel Sanders. So glad I did because they turned out softer and lighter than the first batch.



You can find the original recipe here and if you're as grossed out by the word lard as I am, just be aware you're going to see it in the recipe! But know that if you substitute butter for the lard you'll still end up with a yummy biscuit. I followed the directions to a tee and my advice to you would be to make sure your butter is as cold as possible. Cold butter is the key the flakiness! Enjoy and let me know how you batch turns out if you try it out.

red, white & bright

Once again, today's little photo shoot didn't go exactly as planned. I thought I had found the perfect spot yesterday, complete with the solitude I'm always desperate for when it comes to shop photos. However as soon as the sun began to set this evening, hoards of cars started pulling up and I got so embarrassed I had to leave. Do any of you get like that? Hence my emotions led to one bright and beautiful shot and three, well, at least the clothes are cute!

These lovelies will be up in the shop over the next couple of days so have a looksy over there if you see a piece you can't live without.

summer day two

Today's list of things to do included photos and a shop update. I had every piece cleaned, ironed and ready to photograph for the shoot I had planned for this evening. Alas as luck would have it, I loaded up my car, headed down to the shore and after photographing only one outfit...Dead camera battery. Indeed this sort of thing has been typical for me lately. Eh, no worries, I'll set my alarm for a morning shoot I suppose. Now that summer has arrived, midday photo sessions will be a rarity. It's morning and evening shoots for awhile.

I'll be listing this adorable 1950s summer clam bake dress in the shop tonight. In just a few short minutes to be exact!