Wednesday, August 31, 2011

A shoe success

I am still looking for comfortable (but cute) shoes to wear on my upcoming trip to NYC.  One easy option would be menswear flats -




They are so cute and so practical, but I haven't been able to make myself buy any.  After looking through our family's old photographs, I have figured out why.  It's because I've "been there, done that" -






That is me in New Orleans in the early 90's in menswear flats.  After you wear something for years and then graduate to what you think is a better look, it's hard to go back.  Maybe if I lost the socks, it would be OK...

Anyway, today I ran into Banana Republic with 5 minutes to spare and saw these shoes that I've had my eye on since last winter -




Originally $89 - I got them for $18!  I call that a success.  They are very comfortable, too.  I have some flat Aldo boots (on sale) coming in the mail soon.  So, I think I'm getting close to the end of my shoe saga.

Monday, August 29, 2011

A little fashion history

I organize by throwing things away.  We have so much stuff come into our house on a daily basis that if an object sits in the wrong spot unused for a few days, I will throw it away.    My mom is fortunately a "saver", because recently I found a bunch of old photos in her basement.  It was fun to go through them with her to not only hear the history of the family but also to look at how fashion has changed through the generations.

Here is a picture of my great great grandparents (on my dad's side) -




It was probably taken around 1920.  I can't believe my mom has a picture that old.  Actually my first thought was, "They could take photographs back then?"  So, I looked it up.  The first fixed image camera was developed in 1839.  Here's another from the early 1900's -




This was their daughter, my great grandmother, Maudie -


Of the same generation, but much later in life, here is my great grandmother on my mom's side (sitting in the middle of the 3 ladies) in church -




Front row Baptists.  A time when everyone still wore hats to church.

Jumping forward a generation, here is one of her daughters, my Aunt Lucile, in 1926 -




She may have been the most fashionable person in our family.  I remember going to her house and thinking she had a lot of jewelry.  It was her fur stole that I showed you in one of my previous posts.  It looks like someone "colorized" the photo, because I don't think color film was developed until the 1940's.


Here is my grandfather Doc.  They said that when he was young he wanted to be a doctor, so they called him Doc.  He ended up owning a gas station.  We probably appreciated the Cokes and bubblegum he gave us more than anything that could have come from a doctor's office.




I love the cars in the background.  The little one being held is my mother. 

Back to the other side of my family, this is my dad (on the left) with his brothers in 1960 -



Nice crew cuts.  It's actually a pretty cool picture with the car and the roses in the background.

And here is my dad's dad -



He's dressed like a farmer, but the only "farm" he had consisted of the racks of potted plants you see behind him.  He was a very sweet man.  One of my favorite relatives.


And here are my parents together (the two on the far right) at their friends' wedding - 


  
I love the dresses all of the ladies are wearing.  So cute and "60's" (although my parents think this photo was taken in 1971).


Move ahead to 1973 and here are the same friends lounging in our house -



My what a difference a few years can make in fashion.  I love the wide collar with the plaid suit that Peggy is wearing, and the striped pants on Dave are great.

Then here is a picture of me on the day my parents brought my baby brother home from the hospital -




I was not happy about having another child in the house, but I do remember loving this striped outfit.  Here's another picture around the same time.  Note the socks on both my dad and uncle -



I do like my dad's red and white checked shorts.


Finally, here are my parents around 1980 -




You could actually wear my mom's outfit today and look current.  When we found this photo, my mom said, "I wish I had kept that dress."

Well, I hope you enjoyed my family fashion history.  I don't think any of them would claim to be the most fashionable of their time, but they tried their best and looked pretty good doing it.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Nice and quiet

My husband and I always joke about when summer is over, because he thinks it ends some time in July.  I think it ended today, because PRESCHOOL started!  So, I went down to the fairly quiet (at noon) Virginia Highlands/Inman Park area.  I wandered around just enjoying the ability to go my own way and to think my own thoughts, and I took pictures of whatever caught my eye.

Old architectural details on houses -








Paper clothes -






Some people getting around town.  (I think the rest of the people come out later in the day.)








A dog guarding an antique store -










And tacos from my favorite Mexican restaurant -






"Are you meeting some people?" asked the host.  "Nope, I'm here by myself."  Isn't it lovely and quiet and peaceful?



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The day of small things


I woke up this morning a little depressed by the never ending cycle of laundry, house cleaning, cooking, and taking care of little children.  If you were to ask me, "How does your real life differ from your blog life?"  it would be that most of my life is comprised of those monotonous "little things" listed above - not creating anything grand or affecting anyone outside of my family.    

So, in order to perk myself up, we we made a little side trip.  Nothing puts your life into perspective like a cemetery. 




This particular cemetery is so old that there is probably no living person who could visit and say, "I remember when this person ..."  Some of the people buried here even fought in the Civil War.




My daughter had a fun time "exploring", as she called it.




She even found one living person -






At first, I thought it might be disrespectful to let her wander around the graves.  But then I thought that if these people could see her walking around them, big smiles would break across their faces. 




Bringing a little life to a quiet, lonely place.




And I think if these people were here today, they would say, "Don't despise the little things.  It's all of the little things that add up to the big things."


"Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless.  The end of every episode is the end of the world.  But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul continues its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged." - G.K. Chesterton, author and great thinker (1874-1936)

Monday, August 22, 2011

Piedmont Park Arts Festival

 On Saturday, I took my girls to the Piedmont Park Arts Festival.  I was looking for art, jewelry, and street style.  They were looking for food and fun.  Fortunately for them, the very first vendor was selling snow cones-



And what were they looking at in this picture?




So close... and yet so far.  I made them take the long way around through all of the art festival booths.  I showed you my favorite booths on Saturday.  There was some good shopping but also some good style. 




I really like this striped dress...and, of course, the hat as well.  Here's another cool hat paired with some stylish shoes -




This next dress has an interesting mod print -




This is also a cute print, and I like the wide brown belt paired with it -



I had to keep my kids well fed in order to keep walking, so the sugared up popcorn was our next stop - 



They drew me in with their sign - "Free samples!  Only $1.00." 




We finally made it to the kids area.  My girls spotted the train and made a run for it -






But the highlight of the trip was this - 











Lest you think our day was all jumping, food, and fun, this little jumper had a complete meltdown about 10 minutes after these pictures were taken.  It was blazing hot.  I don't think I have ever sweat so much in life.  I was wearing my fully lined striped skirt, which was cute but not very practical -




There was even some good midtown style in the kids area -




I'm looking forward to more festivals in Piedmont Park this Fall when the weather is cooler.