What's Penny Wearing? #133 A Thrift Shop Outfit

Penny is sporting an outfit today that, in it's entirety, cost just around five dollars at a thrift store.
She's wearing a scarf, a shirt-jacket and a denim skirt.

This jacket has such a great, colorful paisley pattern on the fabric:

And so many nice details - buttoned pockets, a nice wide belt:

 The jacket is from Charter Club (sold at Macy's), and the style of it leads me to believe that it is vintage.
The scarf may seem an odd choice with this, but I LIKE them together, so I threw it on over the jacket, with a devil-may-care attitude.......

It's really quite a large - and truly pretty - fabulous scarf:

I just realized I didn't get much of a shot of the skirt.

It's just a fairly simple (yet nice) denim skirt in a nice color that works really well with the jacket.

You might be surprised to find what a nice outfit you can put together if you visit your local thrift shops with any regularity!

Cleo, Making Herself At Home

When Lori had to move recently, she found a cute little rental and the property owner did not want pets.
She tried in vain to find someone who could take her cat.
Well, to make along story short, we wound up taking her. The last thing I wanted was for Lori to have to take her to an animal shelter.

Meet Cleo - she's a pretty kitty:

She is curled up on the red vintage Cosco stepstool that was always known as Dizzy's stool.
I can't believe our beloved Dizzy Kitty has been gone for almost two years, now.
We had some concerns about having a cat again, but she's here - and we are all adjusting pretty well.
She can be a bit ornery when she does not get her way - and I admit, I'm having a bit of a hard time with that.

But she's a pretty good kitty, MOST of the time!

Lounge Chair Road Trip No. 13: Gold Beach Park

Good morning. Tina here.

I feel like going to the river. We are going to go south today, we will take Highway 193 into Placerville and then hit Highway 49 and head south to El Dorado and then on towards Plymouth.

Gold Beach Park is a good place to dip our toes into the water.

The Gold Country Girls grandpa and uncle used to go gold dredging here on the Cosumnes River just south of Gold Beach Park and just west of the bridge. I think they managed to dredge up a bit of color.

We went there to go swimming. It was a fun, mellow, not-to-swift swim area, also not too deep and usually other kids were there to play with.

You could take a picnic or buy something at the store. We usually brought a picnic.

There was always plenty of parking, and I think we knew the owners, because it would have been very unusual for my parents to pay for us to go swimming at the river! The brochure says it is free to swim but entrance is 25 to 50 cents.

Today the store and campground are closed, there is still a trailer park located near there. It unfortunately doesn't have a good reputation.

Quite a few years ago, a pickup full of young men who had been drinking too much attempted to drive across the river at Gold Beach. One of my in-laws sons was in that truck. Unfortunately, one of the men lost his life when he drowned during the aborted off road trip. The water can be treacherous.

This calm-looking river has been known to flood, and the water has reached the roadway and flooded the houses and trailers which are wedged between the highway and the water.

The one old postcard I have shows the swimming area. It really was a great spot to swim.

Above, the back of the postcard has a very common misspelling of Cosumnes. This spelling has made it to postcards and maps. Even the brochure above has the river name spelled both ways. The other day a friend on facebook showed how even Google has become confused on the correct spelling (see below). The correct spelling is with one N.

If you look at the road on the map, they have spelled it right on the top right. But due to the common misspellings like this, the error just continues on.

Well, whether you spell it correctly or not, the Cosumnes is a great river to swim in, and Gold Beach Park was a great spot to do it! 

Vera Neumann Finds - I Have More Of Them To Share This Time Around!

I've found a few more vintage Vera Neumann items, and I always like to share them with you.
First up is this fabulous scarf:

I love the design AND the colors on this one:

But I also love this one with lovely hues as well - and sweet narcissus flowers:

Vera and the ladybug logo:

This bright and groovy paisley one is pretty cool:

My pictures didn't quite capture how almost- neon bright this one is.

And then there's one more, with flowers and shades of purple (which looks kind of brown in the pictures) and yellow:

Again, I think this one looks better in person than my photos show.

And there are three of these small linens, which are rather an odd shape but I guess they're supposed to be napkins.

Pretty flowers in blue and green - marigolds?

I have to tell you a little story, and I hope it doesn't sound like I am being too snarky.
 I was at an antique show, and I was looking at a vintage Vera Neumann linen calendar towel.
It was really nice, and I actually wanted it, but I decided against purchasing it.
It was more than I wanted to pay, and besides that, I pretty much only buy calendar towels if I am planning to use them as an actual calendar when the year on it matches the current year. This one wasn't coming up for a long time
 I looked at it more than once, and the lady who was selling it spoke to me each time. Naturally, she was hoping I would buy it, and she was saying things about it, "it's a nice one", "aren't the colors nice on that one" - you know, things like that.
And it WAS a nice one.
But then she came over and she opened it up and then she said "Oh, and it's a "Vena" - those are really collectible". And I murmured something politely, like "Oh? mmmm hmmm...".
And I walked away. I wasn't going to correct her.
But I thought to myself "A "Vena", huh? Right. Okay. Sure it is." (So, yes, I suppose I am being a bit snarky. I'm sorry.)
I guess she just didn't really know too much about her merchandise.
Nobody can know everything about everything, after all.
I have overheard women talking before about Vera and thinking it's Vera Wang or maybe even Vera Bradley - sometimes a cashier will say something like that.
But I don't think I've ever heard anybody say "Vena" before.
I will admit that her signature is written in an unusual way - part of what I love about it. I still get a major kick out of pawing through a basket of scarves until a pattern or color combo catches my eye and I think "oh - looks like this could be a Vera!" - and it's always rather a thrill for me when I spy her signature in the corner or on the label.
Anyway - this is the end of my story - I just thought it was interesting.
Would you have said something?

A Trip To Ikea On Lori's Birthday

Lori and I took another trip to Ikea on her birthday last week.
I love wandering through and checking everything out!
Like the gorgeous fabrics in the first two photos, below:

And kitchen wares:

There were some toys I wanted - I adore this kitchen back drop:

And the living room - I wish I had gotten more pictures of the furniture.
(Lori ended up going back and getting these for her granddaughter's birthday - I might have to go back, too...)

We had a nice lunch there, too.
Mine was salmon; it was fabulous:

I just now realized that I didn't take any pictures of what we bought that day.
Lori needed some stuff for her new place, since she just recently moved again.
We're hoping she stays put for a while!
I was happy to get to spend the day with her on her birthday. We were kind of worn out, but we had a great time.

A Single Illustration By John Alcorn, Simply Because I Love Them

I've written before about my love for the artwork of John Alcorn (see this post). I found another of his illustrations in a Seventeen Magazine (1967) recently and just snapped a photo of it:

His unique style completely captivates me.
Just wanted to share it.

Museum Time Once Again

Good morning,Tina here.

I am making this short and sweet this morning.

Next Sunday I am starting back at the El Dorado County Historical Museum. I will work there once a month with Kay Murdock, who you met in my post about Huell Howser's links with Placerville.

I am looking forward to new experiences, meeting new people, and viewing wonderful items, such as the lovely quilt above.

Come in and see me this Sunday starting at noon.

Sweet Things For Valentine's Day

I found an adorable vintage tin tray (which I assume was part of a children's tea set) at a thrift store:

I'm pretty sure he is getting ready to steal those tarts from the Queen Of Hearts....
.. you know, like in the old Mother Goose nursery rhyme?

 And these are sweet things - our Valentine cards along with a box of See's Candies - only my favorites chocolates EVER:

I also found a lovely ceramic cameo heart vase to add to my Valentine's Day decor:

And these little cupid silhouettes - sorry my photo is so blurry:

More sweet things - from the pages of a Wilton book, if I remember correctly, in the following two photos:

And one more thing - another heart vase in my last photo, here:

It was sitting on the counter, just like you see here with a little bouquet of narcissus, at one of my favorite thrift stores.
 I had already paid, and then I asked if it was for sale, by any chance?
She said yes, and would I like the flowers, too?
Definitely!
And certainly well worth the one dollar I paid to have their sweet scent (which happens to be one of my favorites in the entire world!) in my house for days!
Hope you are all enjoying a delightful Valentine's Day, and holiday weekend!

Patterns From The Past - With A Little Help From Betsy McCall

Today's edition of "Patterns From The Past" features McCall's patterns from a Betsy McCall paper doll page out of a 1959 McCall's Magazine.
Betsy McCall Makes A Rainy Day Surprise:

 Her blazer and slacks are from pattern number 4728:

Perfect for riding her bike....

And here is the front of that pattern:

Betsy's flowered cotton shortie pajamas are pattern 4501:

Shortie pajamas - too cute - I remember them also being known as "baby-doll" pajamas when I was little::

Here is an outfit for Betsy featuring a pleated skirt and a top, from pattern number 4944:

And the pattern:

Pattern 4503 was the only one I couldn't find - her little play suit and shorts:

I love these old Betsy McCall paper doll pages.
Tina gave me a number of them for my birthday one year.
I used to cut them out and save them and play with them when I was a little girl.

I've written about them before; I wish I still had them all!