Finally Fall

I have been so super psyched that it's finally fall, and the weather has been really quite nice, here in south east PA! It's been a great October so far, with a few events and my vacation to boot!

Earlier this month my friend I went to a fun little street fair in a beautiful 300 year old village rich with history and culture. I ended up making a few purchases: homemade dip mixes and horseradish mustard  (made by a really super cool local guy who also does insane hot sauces), a pair of gorgeous turquoise earrings and a quirky pair of windmill earrings.

I also decided to get a hair cut:

I'm a much happier person with bangs, to be honest. I think it gives my face something....else...Anyway, I also decided to get the rest of my hair cut all the same length around too, because layers were getting raggedy on me and I was tired of it. I feel I have a more modern look.











Last Friday was a faaaaabulous gallery opening at The Grounds for Sculpture! It was a fantastic evening! I fell completely in love with the new installations by Edwina Sandys, William Knight and Katie Murken. I also got to meet J. Seward Johnson, an artist and founder of the grounds, so it was pretty magical. He told us a silly story about meeting a German couple on the Queen Mary II. I think he was a little tipsy.

Katie Murken

Katie Murken 

Edwina Sandys

And of course:

Dress: Bettie Paige Clothing via ModCloth
Sweater: Target
Stockings: Torrid
Purse: Target, two years ago

The outfit of the evening! It was also a cocktail hour, so I felt this dress was appropriate. The color and the print make it so vibrant and eye catching. I got tons of compliments and my friend Becky said people were turning their heads with appreciative glances. A success! My hair looks a little effed up because I didn't have time to refresh it before leaving.

The accessories:
Shoes: Seychelles Footwear
Necklace: Forever21
Lipstick: Flower
Quotation Earrings: ModCloth










There you have it! The month is almost done, but I'm not!


-GG

Vintage Finds of the Pyrex Kind

Wait, whut?

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. Pyrex. Vintage Pyrex to be exact. It's kinda my new thing, which pretty much happened out of nowhere.

It started when I felt that I needed new mixing bowls and I wanted vintage mixing bowls to give my kitchen a special touch. I recalled from my distant childhood seeing sets of bowls with handles and printed flowers. That's pretty much it. I set about finding the these bowls, first at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market. Um, yeah, fucking awesome place, lots of cool vintage and handmade items but no vintage cookware (I was totally cool with that as I scored a ton of awesome shit).

So, I decided I should try the local antique mall. For those who don't know, an antique mall is usually a large space divided up into stalls or separate areas. Vendors rent these spaces out and carefully tag their items with a code so when you go to pay at a central register, they get paid. I really like the place I go to, it's stuffed full of awesome vintage and antique items and the prices are fairly decent.

I scoured the place, and found exactly what I was looking for:

Pretty much EXACTLY what I had in mind. I was STOKED. I browsed around and found this:

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is awesome.

Pink, 1950's divided casserole dish. So very cute, right?

At this point I was happy. I found the bowl I was looking for, and a really terribly adorable casserole dish that was cool for just being a piece of cookware older then me. I also discovered what this stuff actually was - "pyrex". It gave me some pause as I knew I had some random, yet rather ugly, piece of pyrex in my kitchen. Who knew it came in colors?

A few days later a co-worker, knowing my recent proclivities, brought in this really nifty article for me to read. The piece detailed a local couple who transformed their boring kitchen into a 50's style diner kitchen, complete with Juke Box, teal blue booth and kitchen accessories. Whilst finding the right accouterments for their kitchen, they started collecting vintage Pyrex. The article pretty much ends with how the guy got into collecting cookware and basically how awesome pyrex is.

Whut?

This stuff is collectible?

The article mentioned a website, called Pyrex Love, which was my next stop. Pretty much it's an online compendium of everything pyrex and related to pyrex. Extremely useful for collecting.

From there, I was off and running:

Meet (from left to right): Butterprint refrigerator dish, Friendship round cinderella casserole dish, and Butterfly Gold small cinderella mixing bowl.

Two things: YES, I use most of my pyrex for it's intended uses. No, I don't nuke it in the microwave. Also, I discovered my red guy had a lid, after some research on Pyrex Love. First ebay pyrex purchase, and I was SO nervous it would break. It arrived in perfect shape. (The home made mac and cheese was also delicious!)

From what I understand, the refrigerator sets are not terribly rare, just terribly popular. Probably for the age, kitsch factor, colors and dead usefulness. This set was missing one little red box, I picked it up for 25 bucks, quite a steal.

One of my more recent finds, from the antique store, the Daisy mixing bowl set. It's in really good shape and has already gotten lots of use.

PLATES?!? Yep, they match the little tea cups pictured with the refrigerator box set. I love these. They are so sturdy and extremely pretty. I got mine a little faded, but I don't care.

Above is probably my best piece. I wish I could brag that I found it in the "wild", but it was really on ebay. It's called Balloons, and is a limited edition promotional set called a chip n dip. You see, people in the 50's were more civilized, and seemed to have eaten their chips and dips from actual bowls and not just shoved a mass of chips and dips into their craws as we do today. Anyway, I just have the chip bowl. The dip bowl is hard to find and forget about the bracket to put it all together.


This isn't even the start of what I have. I have acquired more since there pictures were taken (all from my Instafeed, lawl) and I keep getting more. What is it that draws me to this? I couldn't tell you. I love to cook, so having quirky conversational cookware is pretty ballin to me. It's also a no-brainier as I have developed a fascination with all things vintage. I love the idea of a different time, where you brought casseroles to a new neighbor in a pretty dish to welcome them to the neighborhood. Or served up something delicious at a BBQ in a beautiful bowl. The presentation was just as good as the food itself. Perhaps it's that attention to detail and craftsmanship we lack in today's world. Go to Wal-Mart and browse the cookware department. You'll see the same sturdy names from yesteryear - Pyrex and Anchor-Hocking, but the designs are boring and plain. A one size fits all approach to individuality. For someone who embraces her uniqueness and je ne sais quoi, the crap on those shelves is not worth it. It's worth noting that some of my bowls, dishes and bakewear is nearly older than me and my fiancee - combined. That these items have held up over the years speaks volumes about the quality. I have a set of dishes from Target that's pretty much chipped to hell and that was bought only seven years ago.

So, where do I find this stuff? It's tough to find anything good out in the "wild". Thrift stores are usually my first place to stop. There is one large thrift store near me that sometimes has some good finds, like the large yellow mixing bowl from the primary set and red and blue fridge boxes (I bought the blue one, it looked so sad). I see more Corning items and Glassbake than anything. I have also seen the ubiquitous fruit pattern from FireKing countless times. I am still waiting for that ultimate score. I can't help but think the guy from the kitchen article above is picking everything over in the area, haha.

I get frustrated from scouring thrift stores and then go to the Antique Mall to get my fix. I'm not lying, it really is like a fix. The prices there are good, sometimes better than Ebay, and ALWAYS better than smaller boutique like antique stores. I have just recently tried flea markets, one nice one my mother dragged me to as a kid was called "Golden Nugget" in the Lambertville area in New Joisey. They have an outdoor area filled with wonders and an inside building area filled with wonders. One stall like area is JUST PYREX. Well, mostly. She's got Jadeite, Corning, and some other random items. But her prices are astronomical. She knows how much she can charge and has had issues competing with Etsy. I don't buy Pyrex from Etsy. It's overpriced for the idiot hipsters who don't know how to use Ebay. I tend to use Ebay with great sucess and get some amazing deals on there. I've never had a mishap in shipping and never felt I was overpaying.

All in all, Pyrex is pretty much my new thing. It's a fun and fairly cheap collectible. Just...where the hell am I going to put all this stuff!?!

Cheers,
-GG

Hello, lover

So, last week this happened:

HOLY FUCK.

What exactly is that thing, you say? Well, that would be an onlay filling, which I have conveniently rocked a wiki. It's like a cross between a crown and a filling, except there's no root canal and it's porcelain and doesn't cover the whole tooth like a cap. That's why it looks all jacked up on the right hand side, as it just fills in what the dentist drilled out. So, the logical question is, "Why, is it out of your mouth and in your hand?". Because it fucking fell out of my tooth. I was eating lunch at work, admittedly, a fruit strip (um yeah, they are THAT GOOD) that was a little chewy. And it just...fell...out of my mouth. I had the typical panic attack that accompanies anything like that this that happens to me, calmed down and made a call to the dentist. I have a new dentist (as IF I was going back to the hack who put the damn thing in, in the first place) who saw me on Monday, popped the sucker back in while I was comfortably relaxing in a big cushy chair whilst watching Alton Brown. WIN.

So, to make myself feel better I decided to go to DSW for some late night shoe shopping! I had a lot fun trying on shoes and taking pictures, for what is really my first shopping trip that I am blogging about!
Without further adieu:

Okay, I need to work on taking selfies.

Getting better?

...I gave up and just took the damn shoe off.

 I saw these pretty quickly and made a bee line. I believe they were Steve Madden or Madden Girl and can be found here, interestingly enough, by a different company. Anyway, I loved the colors and the print. I have a pair of flats from Target in a similar style and I love them, as this type of print is pretty versatile. However, HOLY CRAP these are high. Like, four inches high. I almost DIED wearing these shoes, no lie. I tripped around the aisle getting a feel for these bad boys and felt they were comfortable, but just too high for me. I am already about 5'5", so I was close to six feet tall in these, which was just too weird for me. As a clumsy person, I need my center of gravity to be MUCH lower. But very tempting and fairly comfortable.

Yeehaw?

Look, I am getting used to this picture thing, okay?

 Okay, a secret: I have ALWAYS wanted a pair of cowboy boots. I looooove the look and feel and decided to try a pair on! Yay......Okay, so, not so great, but that could just be the pair I tried. I liked the pretty blue paired with the brownish color of the rest of the boot and the pattern. But they felt exactly how they should have - fake. The material was this strange puffy fake leather stuff that just felt weird. I was expecting something stiffer and hardier. I think I am going to hold out for real cowboy boots.

lol, they blend into my tights.

Yep, that would be me in my tatty green coat.

Oh, these shoes! I have a bad weakness for flats and patent leather. And recently for the color blue. Even though they made me look kind of like an elf with my tights, I pretty much loved them. They were tight, but I like to buy my flats tight as they tend to stretch out for me. I couldn't remember who made them in the slightest. But they were on clearance and seriously wanting to come home with me. 

this mirror was awesome for pics

Oh, I loved these shoes sooo much. Again, I can't remember who they were from - an expensive department store brand -  but I do remember loving them. I love wedges, as they are comfy and easy to wear for work, so these caught my eye. The leopard print was just too good as well. I don't usually go for animal prints, but the black wedge heel really toned the print down in a classy way. Unfortunately, I couldn't justify the $80.00 (clearance!) price tag, no matter how much I loved them.

Not bad, I think.

I wouldn't mind looking down at these

I look confused,ha.

I have been trying to explore more shoe options and one of them was the idea of boots. Especially ankle style boots. Scary because I feel I have thick calves and I worry that boots like these would make my legs look stumpy. I was pleasantly surprised in the end. At first I thought these were too tough looking and very grungy, which isn't me in the slightest. Turns out that paired with a skirt, boots can be quite cute! I was really happy to see the laces had military style eyelets, which helps customize the fit. Hooray, my big calves fit! The soles felt nice and cushy too. For being on clearance for 20 bucks, I could over look the fact that the materials were not real leather. You know, saving cows and whatnot. I didn't get them, but I will be back for these. If they are still there - it was meant to be!

Gold and purple, oh, myyyyy!

Okay, last pair and only one picture. A DSW employee started to straighten up the clearance are I was playing around in, casting glances in my direction. An overly polite way of saying, "Stop taking self photos, you're scaring the customers." Anyway, these are Jessica Simpson, another overpriced brand I don't like to wear. I thought these were cute, but big! You can see the space between the back of my heel and the shoe. I liked the two tone color scheme, and the fuzzy suede upper of the shoe, but I could tell these would get real uncomfortable real quick. Plus, gold really isn't my thing, but it looked so cute I was willing to give them a try. 

So, in the end, what did I end up buying? (durrrr, we all know I don't leave the shoe store without buying something, ha!)

I got these! Actually, these pretty brogues were half the onus of going to DSW, aside from making myself feel better. I saw them on ModCloth, and went out hoping I would find sometime similar and ended up finding the same damn show. I LOVE them to pieces. They are comfortable, breathe and move well and weren't too expensive. My only complaint is that the creases from walking show up, badly. It's minor and can be justified that it gives the pair character.

Oh and my reward for that hard shopping: a salad from Saladworks!

It was really good.

Until next time!

-GG