1960's Purple Bathroom

Walking through estate sales we see very unique homes. Sometimes it’s been an interesting room layout, tile and counters with gold glitter and of course pink and teal bathrooms. Most of the homes we enter are Ranch homes built between the 1950s and 1960s so we keep an open eye for pink stoves, teal bathtubs and even yellow kitchen sinks. All eye candy to us! 

Recently we were exploring the upstairs of a home and I happened to walk into the bathroom and immediately had a smile on my face. In front of me was a toilet and bathtub in purple! I had never seen bathroom fixtures in purple so I knew we had to capture them. I was glad Jeremy had his phone on him because luck would have it that I had left my camera at home.

There were no company markings that we could see on either fixture, but I did some investigating and found that the house was build in the early 1960s. The homeowner must not have loved the Mamie pink bathrooms of the time, or decided to go against the trend. Whatever the case, they are pretty awesome.

Just a Vintage Kinda' Girl

I wore my hair in 1940s faux bang with a high pony tail yesterday and was called Rockabilly. I don’t claim that label, mainly because I’m not a hillbilly (insert laugh here). I like some of the music, after all my favorite Elvis song is “That’s Alright Mama” but I’m not too big on hot rods. I prefer muscle cars. Really it doesn’t matter if we give ourselves an era specific label as long as we are true to what we love, right?

In honor of being a plain ol’ vintage lovin’ gal, here’s a few things I love.

P.S. This is a treasury to support the Vintage Etsy SocietyTeam. Enjoy.

'Just a Vintage Kinda Girl' by TheSunshineGrove

Enjoy!

Brown and Yellow Cat Ey... VintageCatEyeG... $124.00	Retro Bow hair tie Rose... OhHoneyHush $10.00	High-Waisted Piped Shor... LizzBasingerDe... $195.00	Vintage Retro Pinup Hai... ArtheliasAttic $19.99
Clear Anatomy Phone - S... TheRetroStudio $40.00	4 Pc Vintage Pyrex &quo... CedarRunVintag... $125.00	1980s Vintage Plastic C... MoniquesLilBou... $4.90	Rad 1980's Pink Rol... TheVintageRhin... $35.00
Dress 1950s Vintage 50s... BombshellShock... $56.00	Little Golden Book Poky... OldVintageGood... $10.00	High Waist Pin-Up Panti... TwilaJeanVinta... $12.00	Vintage Wallpaper Mega ... UnderTheRedRoo... $20.00
11 x 24 Vintage 1950 ... DearWillowphot... $55.00	SALE Taupe and Ivory Le... jdotdesigns $39.00	Instant Collection, Old... FalconandFinch $40.00	Owl Coaster Set, Upcycl... BlissandVinega... $15.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio

A Place I Live: Anaheim Flea Market

For the first time in a while we didn’t go to any estate sales, garage sales or thrifting. It felt like something was missing to the weekend but luckily my mom reminded me of the Anaheim Antique Flea Market. This was only the second time the event took place but you wouldn’t know it with the long street full of vendors and lots of shoppers.

 

The day was overcast but not too cold so we brought Sophie out since she loves vintage hunting too. Her favorite vendors were one who made dog beds from old barrels and another who had free almond toffee samples. She was pretty tired by the time she got some water and back in the car for the ride home.

I loved seeing the vintage ovens in great colors like aqua and green that were on display. This flea market was very well rounded with vintage clothing, kitchenware, oil cans and other knick knacks. There were food trucks, kettle corn and the Good Food food court was open with treats and drinks.

Before Jeremy and I even had a chance to buy anything my mom had already bought us the perfect gifts! Jeremy got a white bow tie with red and blue paisley print, perfect for wearing with his vintage vest. My gift was a Bakelite brooch in the shape of a black Schnauzer with a little fake diamond for the eye. It was just perfect I had to put it on right then! 

Who knows, you might soon find The Sunshine Grove at the Center Street Promenade in Downtown Anaheim on the fourth Sunday of the month.

Jeremy's Bow Tie, my Schnauzer brooch & tired Sophie

Being Green is Easy

I’m green and not ashamed. I carry reusable bags in my car and in my handbag. I like to stay hydrated and carry around a BPA free reusable water bottle. At home have 3 gallon water jugs that we fill up once a week at our local water store. I buy and sell vintage which is a great (and fashionable) way to reuse and recycle. We have a garden where we grow some of our food, albeit not the majority of it, but maybe one day with more time and space it will grow.

I’m here to tell you that being green is much easier than you’d think. It was a slow process for me, but these days there is much less plastic waste in my home with just as much recycling as trash. In the kitchen we have two trashcans which makes separating trash and recycling so much more easier. Break that cereal box down, shake out the inside bag, toss both into your recycling trash can and you’ve just recycled my friend!

Earth Day Chico Bag

Ok, it isn’t always that easy. When I started my transition from disposable water bottles to a reusable water bottle I would forget to bring my water bottle out with me. Slowly I started to remember more often and am now at the point where I rarely have anything but a reusable water bottle. It also took a while for me to find a water bottle that I liked. Since we don’t use a dishwasher I couldn’t use an all aluminum bottle or the kind with straws since there was no sure way to disinfect them. I do make sure to only put water in my bottle which eliminates gross smells and stains.

I use a DFL 24 ounce flip top water bottle for everyday use and when running take the Nathan QuickDraw plus bottle with carrier. A site that I came across but haven’t purchased anything from is reuse it. You can shop by country of origin which is pretty unique.

By the way, I am a water bottle snob. When I’m at fitness boot camp or at a workshop I feel a bit of sadness for the people who have disposable water bottles. I do think water bottles have their time and place. For instance on vacation! We can’t very well carry water bottles with us on planes or we’ll have to throw them away. Does that make me less of a water bottle snob? Hope so!

With more cities joining the effort to ban disposable bags the options for reusable bags is growing. You can get big ones, small ones, ones just for produce and others for your fave retailers. I wish it was smooth sailing when it came to using reusable bags at stores. I won’t go more into this because as I was writing I realized that it started to sound like a rant. I’d rather celebrate reusable bags. Just know you might have to guide the cashier who isn’t used to handling reusable bags. Oh, and don’t let them try to charge you for it. They should be giving you a 5 cent discount!


I love, love, love Chico Bag! I was gifted my first Chico Bag in purple for a birthday and can’t live without it. I also love my Recycle Heart which is a limited edition Valentine’s Day bag and another limited edition green bag with the earth wearing headphones and “Listen to Your Mother” across it. There’s no way you can’t find a bag you won’t love!  The best part is that they fold into themselves as a little pouch that fit in your pocket, handbag or car.

So now that I’ve shared a little about recycling, reusable water bottles and fashionable bags, I hope you will join me in being a green snob!

How to use your reusable bag:

***Keeping it real: No compensation has been received for including the above items or dropping names. All photos used were with permission - please take advantage of the links back to their site

Weekend Finds

While preparing our picking list for the weekend we came across an interesting event in Buena Park across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm. The estate sale was advertising carousel horses and a tea cup from a ride. Our interest was definitely peaked.

After browsing the large workshop we found out that it had belonged to “Bud” Hurlbut who was an innovator of trains and other amusement park rides. The workshop was complete with Bud’s silversmith shop and countless memorabilia from Knott’s Berry Farm, Castle Park in Riverside and other amusement parks.

Bud was the creator of the Calico Mine Ride and the Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm in the 1960s. He went on to create and own Castle Park in the 1970s. He was involved with the creation of Fiesta Village at Knott’s as well. In fact the office at the workshop had many blue prints for existing rides at Knott’s.

It was amazing to see so much history from the 1950s forward!

It's My Birthday and I'll Party If I Want To!

My birthday is a week from today and I LOVE birthdays, especially my own. My mom always made sure my sister and I felt extra special on our day. When we were little she would bake cupcakes for us to take to our class, and sometimes even come have lunch with us at the school cafeteria. As we grew up we’d have a family dinner where we choose what was on the menu. Sometimes it’s my grandmother’s enchiladas, my husband’s vodka penne pasta or my mom’s egg flower soup with chicken stir fry. I haven’t made my choice yet for this year, but I’ve been into turkey cutlets lately so maybe I’ll have mom bake some of those with sweet potatoes sprinkled with cinnamon on the side.

For dessert my mom always makes me yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Don’t worry, we don’t forget to have ice cream on the side. There’s always the joking “oh, that’s a lot of candles – can you blow them all out?” I just try to not catch my hair on fire.

Every year I’m met with the question of “What do you want for your birthday?” The last few years I really haven’t wanted much. When you are younger there are so many big ticket items you want for birthdays and Christmas but I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve received or bought for myself that I really have to think hard.

Last month we spring cleaned our way into getting rid of a substantial amount of stuff. For me it was mostly clothes that I’ve had since my college days, you know skirts that really will be too short to wear as a thirty year old and “skinny” jeans that really weren’t that expensive in the first place so when I do fit into them I’d might as well just buy a new pair. I tried on every single piece of clothes that I owned. If I didn’t like the way it fit, wasn’t comfortable or didn’t fit my style any more it went in the Goodwill pile.

It feels really great to turn thirty with just the right amount of want. Here’s a short list of what my husband and family shouldn’t make me live without.

Doris Design petticoats are all over the place. I see their petticoats on the blogs I read, on Facebook and in my dreams. I LOVE the grey petticoat and would probably wear it every day if I had one. What I love about Doris is that you can wear their petticoats under dresses or on their own as a skirt. They are versatile and beautiful. Plus they look like they’d be super soft. I have a tea party to attend later this summer where Doris would fit right in!

The first time I fell in love with Seychelles I was in Santa Monica at a shoe boutique. They were a beautiful stacked heel in soft blue leather. And they were on sale. Sadly they were too high for me to walk in and a tad too big in the size they had in stock. I have a hard time walking in heels so I’m grateful that Seychelles has a 2.5 inch heel shoe and the higher heels are nice and thick so I don’t have to wobble. The vintage inspired styles are to die for too. So far I’ve added three beautiful pair of heels to my small but (fingers crossed) growing collection. The pair that tops the list is the “CouldaDanced All Night” in tan.

Recently my subscription to Vogue expired (which I’m not planning on renewing) and noticed high waist shorts all over the ad pages. Now tell me what main stream store is actually carrying these retro inspired shorts? None. I’ve checked. Pin Up Girl Clothing sure saved the day with their high waist shorts in lots of fun colors like white, red and royal blue. I’d settle for black and denim.

Here’s a confession. I’ve always wanted a beach cruiser.  Since I was a kid I’ve had geared bikes up until a few years ago when Jeremy accidently gave my bike away by leaving our garage door open overnight. During the holidays I saw a purple Schwinn cruiser with gears! How thoughtful of Schwinn to make a hybrid bike so that I can enjoy the best of both worlds! While checking out Schwinn’s full line I discovered the Gateway; it’s teal, has room for a picnic basket on the back and a comfy looking seat. This one just needs a cute basket up front so I can finally return all of my checked out library books at once. Now if they could figure out a way to not get helmet hair…

***Keeping it real: My birthday wish list is of lovely objects that I really do wish for. No compensation has been received for including the above items or dropping names. All photos used were with permission - please take advantage of the links back to their site. Maybe you will add them to your birthday wish list.

Wednesday Treasury

'Freshen Up For the Family Photo' by TheSunshineGrove

Join the Vintage Etsy Society Team challenge: vintageetsysociety.blogspot.com

Polaroid Land Camera Mo... RecentHistory $48.00	Wonderful Vintage Famil... CassiesTaleVin... $4.49	1970s Sundress Day Dres... fluffie $39.00	Black Striped Vest. Vin... ArmorOfModernM... $29.00
1960s top Tiered ruffle... LaMeowVintage $45.00	A smile affirmation pri... mobijo $15.00	Vintage hat - off white... reconstitution... $24.50	Vintage Photo - Adorabl... CassiesTaleVin... $3.49
SALE- Swanky Vintage Ha... elizabethwrenv... $32.00	Vintage Original Photo ... wolfmansmummy $2.00	Boy's Bow Tie - Bla... HandmadeByEmy $26.50	White Tutu Trimmed With... FabTutus $72.00
Family Rules Sign in Wo... SignsofVintage $80.00	Vintage 1950's Crea... pursuingandie $55.00	The Delila - Retro Kno... itssewcutebout... $35.00	Black and White Enamel ... topsysattic $10.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio

Guest Blog: J's Workbench Takes On Ties

Most of the items in our shop are chosen for women customers by my wife, who coincidentally, is a woman.  Vintage jewelry, dainty white gloves, dresses and Pyrex dishes make up the majority of our inventory.  Not to say that I don’t like some of the bar ware or books we sell, but there isn’t anything really manly in our shop.  That my friends, is about to change.

For most of us vintage lovers, the show Mad Men has become our mid-century ideal, with the décor, incessant drinking and of course, the fashion.  I am here to announce that I will be educating myself in vintage men’s wear, specifically ties.  Hopefully in the future I would like to increase my knowledge to include hats (I personally love wearing hats), suits and other accoutrements that make the likes of Don Draper and Roger Sterling look so awesome.  To go along with my newfound interest and knowledge, we have found almost 2 dozen vintage ties from the 50s, 60s and 70s.  Skinny ties, wide ties, thin stripes, wide stripes, and plenty of colors to go around. 

I was surprised to find that men’s fashion world is surprisingly small, so even though this might sound like a short history lesson, every name that I drop is represented in our current collection of ties. Christian Dior (you probably have heard of him) was a French designer that helped train and groom Yves Saint Laurent as his replacement during the 1940s and 50s.  He also trained Pierre Cardin in the 1940s who went on to be one of the first ready-to-wear designers in France.  He essentially made high fashion clothing more available.

Moving on to Italian designers, we have Angelo Correlli that designed in Italy with fancy smancy imported silks.  Oleg Cassini came to America in the 30s, designed for Hollywood actresses and eventually became Jacqueline Kennedy’s one and only clothing designer.  He also popularized men’s turtlenecks and colored dress shirts.

Don Loper was an American designer in Beverly Hills and was actually featured in an I Love Lucy episode as himself.  His ties have a certain old Hollywood feel.

I also want to mention a tie manufacturer and a material manufacturer that I learned about in my research.  Wembley, named not after the stadium in England where Queen recorded their live album, but the city where that stadium is located, has been making ties in New Orleans since 1925 and is still one of the world’s largest tie manufacturers.  The material I found out about is called Trevira, a 100% recyclable polyester.  First made in Germany in 1956, it was used in clothing into the 70s.  It is still used today as a material in industrial applications. 

There are a few other names of retailers, labels and designers but I haven’t been able to find any information about them as of yet.  When these ties are listed in the shop I hope to include at least a little bit of history on them.

I want to thank Burl Veneer’s TieBlog for some great information and being a springboard for other research, as well as his fabulous tie collection.  Another great source of information was TheVintage Fashion Guild which I hope to join and contribute to as I learn more.

Finally, (since I don’t know when the wife is going to let me write another one of these) I want to talk a little about the other stuff I learned while learning about ties.  The words dextra and sinistra (right and left) are Latin and were used to describe crests on shields.  From what I understand, dexter and sinister, the modern versions of the words, are used to describe a diagonal stripe from the bearer or wearer’s point of view.  A dexter to sinister stripe is one that would begin on the wearer’s right shoulder and extend to the left hip while a sinister to dexter pattern would be from the left shoulder to right hip.  It is possible that the reason the sides are described in respect to the wearer is because the words were originally used for weapons training in ancient Rome.  I like the idea that a technique for training Roman soldiers has made its way into the modern world to describe the orientation of a striped tie.  And I bet you all thought ties were mundane!

For more from the manly side of The Sunshine Grove, visit J's Workbench!