Ink-n-Iron

This was my third Saturday in a row in Long Beach, CA.  I was joined by Dave,  and my lovely lady friends Natalie and Angie.  We had a blast at Ink and Iron!  There was so much to see and do and we sadly missed a couple shows in order to see other acts at the same time slot.  The day went by way to fast.  Dave and I arrived to at the Queen Mary at around 11:30am and by complete coincidence ran into my friends in the parking structure; in fact I almost ran them over :)  Below are a couple pictures we snapped before heading into the venue.

It was overcast when we first arrived but it soon turned into an amazingly beautiful day.
The Queen Mary is a beautiful ship and I had such a blast cruising around the ship and taking in its beauty.  It had so much Art Deco detailing everywhere.  Dave was in his element pointing out all the deco designs throughout the ship to me. Below are pictures of my favorite Deco detailing. This painting can be found above the bar of the observation  deck.  I love the girl that has fallen and lost her shoe.

Another highlight of the day was coming across the band D.on Darox and the Melody Joy Bakers during an impromptu performance in the hallway of the ship.  They were great and we were lucky enough to catch them on the Tiki stage later that day.

Below are just various pictures from the day.  We got to see Calabrese, Legendary Shack Shakers, Dave Alvin, and support the San Diego Palominos.  There were tons of vendors and just a few vintage merchants.    The second day Dave and I went back for a few hours to do some shopping and enjoy one last walk around the ship.

Dave and I left the event early as to stop into a few thrift stores before heading home to San Diego.  We hit up a Good Will, St. Pauls'. and cute store called The Closet.  Below are my finds.  Dave scored a pair of cream colored fleck pants from the 50's that don't look like they had ever been worn. 

I found this dress at the St. Paul's store.  It's a silk material and I believe it was hand made by looking at the seams and stitching on the inside of the garment.  I loved the pattern.  It fits me perfectly and I can't wait to wear it.

I was so ecstatic about my western wear find.  I love peach color (which always compliments my red hair and fair complexion).  The flowers are too cute and I love the detailing on the back.

I finally found my first circle skirt!  It's a blue gabardine material that has the Union made label inside.  It's a little small but with my shirt pulled over no one can tell the difference. 

Lastly I found these pieces to add to my kitchen.  The colanders are not vintage but are vintage inspired.  I think they are actually from the Martha Stewart line that is sold at Macy's.  The pictures don't do the color justice.  They are a very retro sea foam green.  They replace my crummy plastic one I have been using for years.  The ceramic Peter Pan peanut butter bank caught my eye.  I haven't been able to find anything else like it online which brings me to believe it was hand made.  The label is definitely an old label. 
Well, that's it for now. Till next time!

- Suz

First Designer Purse Purchase

At the end of every tax season (this last was my 13th tax season) I always award myself for a hard work done by buying myself or treating myself to something special.  This year I decided my treat would be the new retro Dooney & Bourke Disneyland print purse.  I have a couple desinger purses that I either thrifted or were given by friends but have never made a huge purchase like this for a brand new purse and it couldn't be a better fit for me.  The purse line went on sale in Downtown Disney (in Anaheim, CA) on May 13th in the Vault Disney store.  They had many different options from small handbags to day bags like the one I opted to purchase.  I've had it for a couple weeks now and absolutely love it!

I have many pictures to share from Ink & Iron (Blog coming soon) as well as some great buys from some thrifting Dave and I did in Long Beach before heading home to San Diego on Sunday.

Till next time,

Suz

Graduation and Redlands

Another few weeks have blown by since my last entry.  I've been a busy bee and I have a feeling it will be the trend for the entire summer.  Tomorrow Dave and I and friends will be going to Long Beach for Ink & Iron.  I am very very excited for this event! I've had my outfits picked out for months and am stoked to finally be able to wear them.  Pictures and blog to follow soon.  So lets back track a bit.

Graduation:

Dave and I attended my cousin's graduation from California State University Long Beach a few weeks back.  It was a great day and it was Dave's first time meeting my grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins.  We did not prepare for the warm weather and ended up with some killer sunburns.  I forget sometimes that the sun can be my arch nemesis.  I just need to remember to always bring sunblock.  I should actually just put a bottle in my car and leave it. 

Anyways....my grandma had many boxes and goodies to give me coming from her, my parents, and other friends and relatives.  My favorite thing given to me by my grandma however isn't even vintage.  About a year ago I asked my grandma to paint a picture of my favorite spot on their property in Mariposa.  It turned out fantastic and is now perched on my bedroom wall and is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning.

I also received some other fantastic goodies.  My favorite from my mom is this Ultralite Samsonite green train case.  I'm using it this weekend!

She also gave me the gray train case which I remember her using over the years which I always admired.  The beige Samsonite suitcase was a great buy which I actually purchased from a neighbor's yard sell. She has a fantastic website with tons of great buys.

http://modernlovevintage.blogspot.com/

The following are various goodies from my grandma and other purchases from the past couple of weeks:

I bought this box of 45s for the steal price of $15 from The Rock Thrift store in Point Loma.  I have yet to listen to them all but it is a fantastic mix of music from the 1940's through 1980's.  I have a blast choosing one at random and playing it.

The peaches wall hanging came from my grandma and actually hung in my great grandma Lou's kitchen for years.  It's so cute.  My grandma found these Harvey's tiki mugs at a thrift store in Mariposa.  They come from Lake Tahoe.  Dave picked up the ceramic Hawaiian bell for me recently.  I'm running out of space for my tiki decor fast!

The tiki chair was a fantastic find at the Good Will in Imperial Beach and was the very first thing I spotted when I walked into the store.  It bought it for $29.99.  It's in great shape and I love the burgundy pineapple print on the cushions.  I think this may be from the 1970's.  I purchased the princess shoe roller skate as I have seen many variations of the princess shoes but never a roller skate one!

I have seen the glass apple shaped snack plates all over the place and was finally sold on buying a set of four plates for just $3.99. Below that is a quick picture of some recent Pyrex purchases. My grandma gave me the set of the red, blue, and yellow dishes which have been in her possession longer than I have been alive. 

This was one item I found at my return to the hoarder estate sale. It's a show schedule that was given to guests who attended Frank Sinatra's stint at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in 1978.  I probably purchased this for $0.05 as it was a combined in total with other items.  I looked on eBay and people are selling them for $100 a piece!  Great find.

Redlands:

Dave and I took a mini road trip up north for Memorial Day driving through Riverside and his native Redlands.  He took me to many spots from his past and showed me some beautiful Victorian homes in the area.  We also stopped in at the Mission Inn as a friend of mine will be getting married there this coming November.  This is also the same place my grandparents were married 62 years ago.  It was just beautiful! Below are a few pictures from our day.

I found the glasses at the Mission Galleria which is this huge three story antiques store just across the street from the Mission Inn.  They even have a restaurant and bar in the store.  Don't pass it up if you are ever in the area.  We spent an easy two hours in here.

Well, that's all for now.  I will try to be better about being on top of my blogs and not flooding them as I did with this one. 

Till next time,

-Suz

Lots o' Goodies

Hello!

It's been a  couple weeks since my last blog.  I've been busy, but there is always time for thrifting!  I have  a lot to share and will upload pictures followed by a brief description of each of the items shown.  I hit the mother lode of Estate sales this last weekend.  I overheard one of the gals working the sale mention to another customer that the lady that once owned the property was saving up to one day become a vintage dealer.  She was essentially hoarding vintage clothing and other vintage related items.  She had two house jam packed with stuff on her property. She had so much stuff that they had to break up the Estate sale in two weekends.  The items shown are from week one of the Estate sale.

It was sort of a wake up call for me and I have immediately made plans to have a garage sale in the coming month and do a massive spring cleaning and charitable donation to local non-profit organizations.  Hoarding is no joke and I would never want to have my love of things vintage get carried away and turn into hoarding.  Dave made a joke as we pulled up to a Salvation Army store saying we were getting our "fix" on.  It was definitely no joke as we were sprinting through the store realizing the store would be closing in 20 minutes.  I ended up finding two Fire-King sauce bowls that cost me $3.  Fix fulfilled; no joke indeed!

 This is an Amelia Earhart train case I found at the Am Vets located in the city of El Cajon.  It is in excellent condition and even came with the key.  I can't wait to use it!

This is a cute black purse from the 50's or 60's from a company called Colbentz.  After doing some research on ebay and etsy these sale on average for around $35 online.  I purchased it for $0.99.  I've already used it several times and am very happy with this find.

My eye was drawn to this little jewelry box.  There are no visible marking so I was unable to determine where or what time period it came from.  The interior is in great shape and looks as though it was never used.  I tested the green plastic on the top and it tested positive for Bakelite. 

 I scored a vintage cowboy shirt (which I found just in the nick of time to wear to a Honky Tonk show featuring The Palominos, Roy Rapids and the Rhythm Rock Trio, and Mary Simich and Mr. Tiny).  I also found a Miss Pendleton blue sweater, and teal Stitches in Time sweater.  Saving them for next fall.

Couldn't pass on the Geisha Benihana Tiki mug.  So cute.  I now have The Budha, Geisha, and Sumo wrestler mugs.

 I've been going crazy with purchasing LP's.  Above is just a few new purchases.  My most recent is one Dave bought for me.  He found an Elvis 45 which I have yet to listen to.  So excited for that find as you don't come across those too often.

 This was a Good Will find from a week ago.  It's a hand made straw Mexican tourist bag most likely purchased in the 50's to 60's.  It has a couple torn yarn strands but is otherwise in great shape.  I plan on using it as my new pool bag.

 

I found these plates (a set of five) at Good Will as well.  They are marked JAJ made in England.  After doing a little research I found out that JAJ was a British dishware brand that was eventually bought out by Pyrex in the mid 60's.  Another score find!

 

Dave surprised me by buying me this little table which works perfectly as my record player stand and even has shelving underneath it to store albums.  It is the same wood type and style of my coffee table and side end table.  What a great guy, and a good eye.

The following pictures are my finds from part one of the Estate sale.

 I bought this little painting for $5.  I love the colors in it and thought it was quite beautiful.  I don't know anything about the artist or when it was painted. I just really liked it and decided it had to be mine.

 These were $1 each and worth every penny.  I noticed that it reads "Patent pending" on the bottom. After doing some research I found out they are from the 1940's.  They resemble fire fighter and or police officer boots.  They remind me of Santa Claus boots though.

The following are various clothing and accessories I purchased and only spent a total of $10 for it all.  My favorite find is the plaid skirt which still has the original sales tags intact which means it was never worn and has been stored for more than 50 years!  It fits me perfectly and I plan on wearing it in the future for sure.  The purse is reversible and is from the 50's. It has the fleck design on one side and red with floral design on the other.

Well that is it for now.  I will hit up part two of the Estate sale this weekend to see what other awesome vintage items are for sale.  Ink and Iron is just a couple weeks away.  Before that I have a day trip to Redlands, CA (where Dave grew up) planned and I will take plenty of pictures of the beautiful victorian houses to share with you all.  I got word from my grandma that she has a box of goodies for me when I see her in a week.  I will be sure to share those all with you as well. That's it for now.

Till next time,

- Suz