Happy Weekend

Happy weekend everyone! We are getting quite a bit of snow here in Vermont, and its feeling nice and cozy and warm inside my house looking out. My plans the next couple days include some shifts at the restaurant, yoga and brunch with some ladies, organizing my inventory and snuggling up with a good movie. How about you? Hope its fabulous ; )

Organizing

Today I tackled a few projects that have been on my to-do list for a while. One of them was to create a better organization system for all our household paperwork, which just seems to turn into a big jumbled mess every few months no matter what I do. My skill set has never included great

 organizational abilities. I have to every once in awhile press "reset" on things and get everything back in order, which is probably not the best life habit to continue on with.

So in trying to come up with some solutions I might stick with, I've come across a few things online that seem like they could be helpful. I figured I'd share a couple here, in case anyone else has the same problem keeping some sort of system in order:

You Need A Budget

Free Organizing Printables

A "Command Center"

Color Coding Binders

Hopefully I'll have a post soon showing how my new system worked miracles! (fingers crossed) Hope everyone's having a happy Thursday : )

Recipes : My Daily Smoothie

So yes, I do realize that there are about 45,483,394 different smoothie recipes out there already. Many are much more interesting than the one I'm giving you here. But I realized lately that whenever the topic of smoothies comes up, I always immediately drill the other person about what they put in theirs, just in case they have some genius idea that I haven't tried yet (this is probably an annoying habit to have - sorry friends).

So I figured I'd share what I have in my daily (4-5 times/wk) smoothie, in case you're weird like me and like to see what other people do. I love my smoothies. They give you such a boost of energy and all around good-for-you stuff. I'll have them sometimes for lunch, or sometimes as a mid afternoon snack after the gym.

My basic, usual recipe always includes:

Banana
Strawberries
Greek Yogurt
Orange Juice
Almond Milk
Baby Spinach
Ice Cubes

Other variations I like to throw in are:

Chia Seeds

Kale

Apple

Mango

Blueberries

Granola

Peaches

Ginger

Coconut Water

Avocado

I have been meaning to try a peanut butter / cocoa variation but haven't yet. If you have any other suggestions for me, you know I want to hear them!

Vintage Inspiration 2

Photo Source Coat Sweater Skirt

Photo Source Hat Blouse Shorts

This and That : Around Here Lately

Working on new ideas for the blog, getting excited!

The view from my desk - sunny, snowy neighborhood streets.

An amazing cheese plate brought over by a friend for girl's night! With pâté, who knew I liked pâté? Also I've been on a goat cheese craze lately, so addicting.

I signed up for a half marathon in April. Yikes! We'll see if I can make it to the finish line without passing out. Its definitely been great motivation to keep going to the gym though. 

I love coming across old childhood toys at the thrift store.

Happy weekend everyone!

Coffee Date

This morning Owen and I braved the cold weather and decided to go for a walk downtown since it was so nice and sunny outside. For those of you who haven't been to Burlington, our downtown go-to is called Church Street Marketplace, which is a blocked off brick street lined with fancy restaurants, cute boutiques and cozy cafes. During the summertime its completely filled with people walking around, street performers playing guitar or violin, and on the weekends lots of different festivals. One of our favorite things to do is to grab a cup of coffee at a table outside and people watch. Let me tell you, you see some good stuff. And some weird stuff (I'm looking at you old hippie man with no shirt). But mostly good stuff. Lots of cute babies and dogs too : )

During the wintertime its still pretty fun to walk around, you just have to brave the brain numbing cold wind. There's white twinkle lights in all the trees and people bundled up going from store to store. Today we decided to do a winter version of our summer activity, and sat upstairs in a bagel shop drinking coffee, eating egg sandwiches and people watching from the window. OK, after writing all this I now realize we sound like creepers. We aren't the only ones who do this, are we? Maybe we need to get out more...

Anyways, it's been great having Owen home more lately, as he spent the last five months student teaching in a middle school as well as working at a restaurant four nights a week. Between both our jobs some days we barely saw each other, and I missed him! I'm glad to have some husband hang time back (and also to have one who's not nodding off every time we talk because he's so tired!)

Lots of shipping to do tonight and listing some new items, so check in with me at the shop!

Oldies but Goodies

My mother-in-law recently sent us some photos she took over Thanksgiving, and although I already wrote about our time in Plymouth here, I had to post a couple more because she's just so darn good! I love how she can capture moments when people are relaxed and not so posed. We are having a sunny day in Vermont (freezing cold, but sunny) so I'm happy to be sitting in my window filled office with a busy day ahead of me : ) Hope everyone has a great day!

Vintage Inspiration 1

Photo Source Caftan Shoes

Photo Source Dress Heels

Sometimes when I talk with people about my vintage shop and I scroll through a few items with them, I can tell that some have a tough time imagining how someone could wear certain pieces or in what scenario they would work. I can totally understand, as it can seem scary to start to incorporate vintage into your wardrobe. My advice is always to start small, like with a pair of vintage leather campus boots or a retro wool cardigan. Mixing vintage with modern, more subdued items from your wardrobe lets the vintage piece stand out, but not too much. It's easier than you think!

I decided to start a little series on the blog where I relate pieces from the shop to inspiration photos as examples of how vintage can be translated into modern fashion easily. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

My Daily Routine

As I mentioned in my New Years Resolutions post, my goal for the year was to establish daily routines. Working mostly from home and trying to build my own business means I have a TON to do, but no set out schedule like in most jobs. I can wake up when I want, do work whenever I want, run errands when I want. Which is awesome, and totally a huge motivator for me to even be doing this in the first place. But I found that throughout this past fall (which is when I decided to really go for it) I felt like I was running around in circles every day, kind of keeping up but knowing I could do more. I also felt like I needed to fit some healthier activities in my life, like working out, yoga and more time with friends. It's easy for me to get stuck in the house because I can entertain myself fo' days, no prob.

So lately I have been scheduling out my days, and prioritizing things I wasn't before. And I feel GREAT. For example, I usually hit the ground running when I wake up in the morning; heading out to thrift shops, packing and shipping orders, and taking photos. So by two o'clock, I would begin to feel a little restless. This week I have been heading to the gym around this time, both as a break from work and a way to get some of my restless energy out. Totally working! I come back refreshed and ready to get started on the next project. 

I have a long ways to go to get my routine down (and let's be serious, I will never want a strict routine, that's just not me!) but I feel like I'm on the right track. I love to hear about how other people schedule out their days, so if you feel like it let me know how you schedule yours!
Happy Thursday : ) 

A Winter Walk Around Red Rocks

Today Owen and I got a little stir crazy in the house, so we took a break from our projects, bundled ourselves up and drove down to Red Rocks park by the lake. We love this park and are lucky enough to have it located pretty close to our house, so in the summertime we we ride our bikes down there for a swim. Even though it was fa-reezing out today, it was so great to get some fresh air and have the sun shining on our faces.

Friday Thoughts : Alone Time

source

Today I woke up knowing that I had the whole day to myself; to work on my shop, go to the gym, thrift a little and see where the day took me. No one expected anything of me, I had no previously made plans, and I felt great. I love waking up like this. 

As I've grown older I have realized more and more what an introvert I really am, and I cherish time with me, myself and I. Luckily I have a husband who understands this and lets me do my thang when I need to. I feel refreshed, relaxed and ready to rumble afterwards.

Of course you always need a balance, and I have been recently working on balancing out my much cherished alone time with some good old fashioned friend time - making weekend plans for yoga and brunch or calling a friend from home. A girl needs her girlfriends am I right?

Happy weekend everyone!

Side note : I was apparently the last person to figure out how amazing New Girl is, and since discovering it two months ago have watched all the seasons on Netflix twice. Love. It.

This and That : Around Here Lately

girls night with my mom and sister

champagne with pomegranate seeds and lime slices

husband hang-time

always making to-do lists : )

a nice place to sew

vintage wedding dress details. coming soon to the shop!

It's been a fun week around here. My sister is moving up to Burlington after graduating from Chiropractic school, so she and my mom came up for a couple days to check out office spaces and such. We ate a lot of goat cheese and mango jam on crackers, drank champagne with pomegranate seeds and lime slices (delicious), and watched some chick flicks. I love me some girl time.

Here's hoping the temperature rises around here so I can go outside without being covered up from head to toe!

Resolutions

Oh my New Years Resolutions. Usually so short lived. But what the heck, I'm gonna try again and keep it simple this year. They are all based around routine, which I really feel like I need to establish in my daily life in order to reach the goals I have set for myself. Here we go:

1. Establish a regular fitness routine

Real original, right? I, like many others, just joined a gym but I feel great about it! I find myself getting antsy in the afternoon and I think I just need to be more active. More energy? Better bod? Yes please!

2. Establish a regular daily routine

Since I work mostly from home (unless I am waitressing), I find I do much better and accomplish much more if I stick to a routine and map out my days. Then I am far less likely to get lost in blog-land, Pinterest or puttering around the house.

Any suggestions would be welcomed! Anyone else make any resolutions this year? Good luck if so!

2015

I had an awesome holiday season filled with lots of family time, board games, relaxing, wine and visits from friends, and now I am ready to start the new year off with a bang! 2015 will be filled with lots of new blog posts, tons of great vintage and some fresh inspiration coming at you daily, so stay tuned ; )

P.S. I got the Alexa Panama hat for Christmas, and I'm in love with it! Adding some new vintage versions to the shop tomorrow.