What I Wore: Spring Flowers

Outfit:

Dress: Estate Sale (vintage)

Belt: Forever 21

Shoes: Payless

I remember finding this dress at a wonderful estate sale and being amazed that it was so old.  It's so funny how something from nearly 50 years ago fits in perfectly with today's fashions.  Whenever I get around to repairing my sewing machine, I want to use this dress as a base to make more dresses.  The lines are simple and it has pockets, so it's the perfect dress!

As you can see, I've been sticking with the purple hair lately.  It's certainly my favorite and I love that the dye that I use (N'Rage- can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply) is demi-permenant, meaning it doesn't wash out after 2 showers like some brands.  In fact, the only reason I've had to re-dye my hair is to cover my roots.

Is it just me or does everyone else feel super awkward posing for pictures, especially when you're using a tripod?  I feel like Ricky Bobby.

The Bottletree

 

Last Friday my husband and I went on a little date just to get out of the house.  I've been wanting to eat at Bottletree for ages, and I can't believe I waited so long.  The Bottletree is a vegetarian cafe by day and a music venue by night.  I have been to a few shows there but have never tried out their food.  If only I knew what I was missing.  

First off, they have awesome vintage decor.  Their velvet painting collection makes me drool every time I see it.  They also have a vintage/craft flea market once a month that is awesome.

My husband rolled his eyes a little when I told him it was a vegetarian place, but they also serve meat, so he got a Thai burger.  I got a Thai tofu wrap that was really good.  The best thing though was a dish called "Viking Funeral" (best name ever).  It's sweet potato fries with their homemade pimento cheese covered in vegetarian chili.  This, my friends, is one of the best things I've ever eaten. My husband agrees that next time we go there, we're just going to get a huge order of this and nothing else.  It's SO GOOD.

And since I haven't done an outfit post in ages, here's a glimpse at my new hair!  This is by far my favorite color so far.  And yes, it matches my lovely vintage dress!  I've been waiting for a lovely spring day to wear this and last weekend was beautiful.

I hope you all are having a great week!  I'm still trying to adjust to the time change, but I'm SO happy to have some extra daylight.  It at least lets me believe that my day is longer, even if it's not really!

Thrifty Thursday- #13

1.  Half finished quilt

2.  Bird measuring cups

3.  1970s sewing machine

4.  Curtains

5.  Office chair

6.  Story of my life

7.  Awesome unicorn mug

This week's Thrifty Thursday is a little different.  I didn't actually thrift any of these items, but rather obtained them from my husband's grandmother's house.  She passed away about 2 years ago and they are trying to sell the house.  It's a long story, but we were entitled to receive some of the items from the house.  Of course, she had some pretty awesome stuff.  What I've shown isn't even the half of it.  She had all kinds of antique furniture, scraps of vintage fabric, dishes, books, record players, ect...  Needless to say I was more than willing to help them clean out the house.  We've made two trips up there and we still need to make another!  Unfortunately we've had about 4 estates to go through in the last 2 years, which means we are beginning to look like hoarders (ok, it's mostly my fault!), but I'm not passing up anything vintage!  Especially when it belonged to either of our families.  I'll have to show you the rest of the items I get when we make our next trip!

 

Owls & More Owls...

It's no secret, I like owls.  I've got a full-blown owl collection going on and I'm trying to embrace the idea of having a collection of anything.  I've stopped myself from buying anything owl-related in the last few months because I don't want it to get too out of hand.  However, while going through my husband's grandmother's estate, I found that she had her own little owl collection.  How could I resist these little beauties?  I absolutely love the little bell.  So despite my best efforts to not look like an owl hoarder, I've managed to increase the number of owls in my house.  

What do you all collect?  Has your collection taken over the house or have you managed to contain it to one room?

What I Wore- Ivory & Bows

Outfit:

Dress: Vintage Thrifted

Boots: JCPenney

Earrings: Alabama Art Kitchen

Bow: Those Bow Times

What's this?  An outfit post?  Yes!  It's been way too long.  I got this bow from Those Bow Times because it was a collaborative effort between Daisy of BouxWho and Bethany.  I'm in love with all the art that Daisy does.  The cards she made for the Dickens Festival were just entirely too cute.

I usually don't like any light colors on me, especially white or cream.  But I love this dress!  It's so comfy and light that I can wear it year-round.  I've also been at war with my hair.  Apparently, it's decided to become an absolute tangled mess, so I've been wearing it up most of the time.  I just bought some new hair products, so hopefully they will help (if not I'll just have to shave my head....I kid, I kid...).  

This week I'm finishing up my semester (THANK GOODNESS).  I'll be school free for a blissful 3 weeks!  I have gotten so behind on reading everyone's blogs, but I promise to catch up this week!  I hope everyone has been doing well!

Cyber Monday!

 

It's Cyber Monday and I'm still offering 15% off your whole order at Quiet Owl Vintage!  I've added several items of clothing plus these cotton coasters.  They would make great stocking stuffers!  If you're online today looking for some more sales, Etsy is definitely the place!  Just browse for "Cyber Monday Etsy" to find all the deals.

15% Off Quiet Owl Vintage

It's that time of year again, and I'm doing my first ever Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale over at Quiet Owl Vintage!  From November 21 thru November 28, you can enter the code THANKS15 at checkout and receive 15% off your entire order (excluding shipping costs).  I've been a busy bee and have listed lots of new items, so go check it out!  I hope you find something special for you or a friend!

Thrifty Thursday #11

1.  My first paint by numbers picture.  I don't know why they are so hard to find, but this one is beautiful!

2.  This blanket had a hole in it, but I fixed it right up.  It's now adorning my banister for the rest of autumn.

3.  This coupon file from 1980 is pretty neat.

4.  My Beetlejuice (Beetleguese?) mini-collection.  They all came in a bag together.  I love the little snakes!

5.  Someone left this crochet pattern book at the counter of the thrift store because they didn't want it.  Well, I did and scooped it up.  It has the most awesome patterns from the 70s.

6.  More Pyrex...with the lid!  I will never get enough.

What neat stuff have you all found lately?  The holidays are approaching (gah...I know), so I'm going to be adding more and more clothes to my shop.  I've decided to scale back on household goods, mainly because they are just to darn expensive to ship.  I'm packing a lot of them up for inventory for our future store. 

What I Wore- Election Day

Dress: Vintage-Thrifted

Cardigan & Tights: Target

Boots: JCPenney

Sweater Clips: Grandmother's

Glasses: Coastal.com

I wore this outfit last week on Election Day and asked my husband to snap a few pictures of me (ok, only one turned out really good).  I really didn't realize at the time that I had a little patriotic thing going on here.  This was the first time I had worn this dress because it's made out of that thick polyester fabric from the 60s and it's just been too warm.  I love it for the cooler weather though!

I really can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Where does the time go?  Speaking of time, I just finished the first season of Doctor Who.  It's great, but it has yet to convince me that it's cult-worthy.  Maybe I just set my standards a bit too high with all the hype that's around it.  I'll just have to keep on watching!

What I Wore- Yellow Bow

Outfit:

Dress: Thrifted Vintage

Glasses: Coastal.com

Bow: Crocheted by me

Shoes: ? but with grandmother's shoe clips

I do apologize for the graininess of these photos, but apparently waiting until about 7PM to take outfit pictures is a bad idea once the seasons start to change.  Why does it have to get dark earlier when it feels so good outside?  Anyways, I made this hair bow on a whim, just because I love the color of the yarn and it matches my hair.  I found these brown bow shoe clips while going through my late grandmother's things, and I might be wearing them with these shoes all the time.  There's no doubt that my grandma had great taste in accessories!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week and are enjoying some cooler weather!  It's just lovely here in Alabama.  I bought my husband a basketball goal for our anniversary (weird gift- I know), so we're going to put it up in the backyard and I'm going to school him on some hoops.  He's not the only one who played basketball as a kid.  Hopefully it will give us both some much needed exercise and some fresh fall air!

What activities are you all doing to take full advantage of the fall season?  I have a few outdoor activities planned, but I'd love you hear what y'all are doing.

What I Wore- Vintage Alley

Outfit: Thrifted

I just cannot even tell you how much I love this alley in my hometown.  I really wish there was a place like this in Birmingham (I suppose there is, but I'd rather not get shot trying to take outfit photos).  I took many more pictures in this little area that I'll be sharing later.  For some reason, I just get taken in by the run down, rusted, dilapidated old buildings.  

I hope you all are having a fantastic week.  I finally got an item that I'll be doing my first review on, so look out for that later.  I also have an interesting post for my Food Friday this week.  Let's just say that not everything I try to make turns out the way I planned.  Hey, at least I'm honest!  

 

Thrifty Thursday #3

I went thrifting at a few new places around town and was not disappointed.  The first place I went was Lovelady Thrift and it was recommended by Sadie over at Brambles & Honey.  This place was great.  I found that awesome black and white purse, along with a few skirts.  Then I went to another thrift store in Irondale that supports the Jimmy Hale Mission.  I had been to one of these in another part of town, but this one was great too.  I went to 2 more thrift stores that are west of Birmingham.  It was great to go to some new places!

Tonight I'm going to sit in front of the TV and get caught up on True Blood while making labels for the clothes in my shop.  I aim to make enough to last me about 20 years.  I wish I could look forward to going to yard sales this weekend, but I have to work literally from Friday thru Sunday.  It would be easier if I just took a sleeping bag to work.  Well, I hope you all have a good weekend.  I'll be jealously thinking of you while I'm stuck in a tiny office all weekend.

Vintage Birmingham

A few days ago, we went to downtown Birmingham, Alabama to roam around for a while.  It reminded me that I live near an actual city with big buildings and everything.  Anyways, we walked by this store called Reed Books and we just had to go in.  It was really cool.  They had every old book you could imagine, and it was packed from floor to ceiling.  They also had a ton of antiques and oddities, which are always interesting. 

Next, we went to a place that I had totally forgotten about, which is just shameful on my part.  We actually do have a vintage store in our own town.  It's called What's On 2nd, and it's really awesome.  They have a good amount of vintage clothes at fairly reasonable prices (not thrift store prices mind you). 

I think I should win a prize for finding the most adorable, awesome little girl's dress of all time.  Seriously, is this not the cutest thing ever?  I kind of wish I could wear it myself!

We had a lovely time roaming our city.  I complain sometimes that Birmingham is boring and has nothing to offer, but all it takes is a little exploring to find the good stuff.

What's a unique local store that you've discovered in your town?

 

The Big One

I apologize for posting so late today!  We drove from Birmingham to Nashville (and then back again) yesterday, and I'm beat!  It was a lot of fun though.  I believe now would be a great time for a cup of coffee and some anime to help get me going.

Anyways, I've been holding out on this post for a little while.  I got this dress several months ago and just hung it up with all my other dresses that I put in my Etsy shop.  I thought it was cute, but it wasn't any different from any other dress I got.  That is, until I was taking of the price tags from all of the items I was listing.

That's right people.  This is a genuine Missoni dress.  Not a Missoni for Target, but an actual freakin Missoni dress.  I though I was going to die when I took that price tag off.  BTW, I paid under $2.00 for this dress.  It's worth around $800.00.  I don't know why someone in Alabaster, Alabama had Missoni, or why they donated it, but I'm a super happy camper!

Even though it's pretty exciting to own a piece of clothing like this, I'm going to put it up on my Etsy shop soon.  In kind of makes me a little nervous to even have it in my house.  I'm also a little sad that this may be the biggest (monetarily speaking) find that I ever make!  I guess I just have to keep looking!

Columbus, Ohio Vintage

The only vintage store we went to in Columbus was Flower Child, but it was really the only one we needed to go to.  This place is mind blowing.  There are rooms and rooms of vintage.  It's ridiculous.  I really couldn't even concentrate on finding anything to get because I kinda wanted it all!

I am having some regrets about not getting this dress.  It was so pretty and had a pattern like a coloring book and the bottom had been colored in.  But, it was $24.00, so that's a little more than I'm willing to shell out.

I loved how they had everything organized.  They put all the owls together, all the mushrooms together, and color coordinated the kitchen items.

High Street was really cool too.  There were all kinds of neat stores and restaurants, a concrete sofa, graffiti, and even a protest for religious freedom (yay!).