This week has crawled by and I'm so glad that the weekend is finally here! This weekend, we're carving pumpkins and decorating for Halloween!

Since Halloween is right around the corner, this week's Fashion and Film Friday pick is the HBO series True Blood. Not a movie, but hey. it works! I must admit that True Blood has its fair share of fashion dont's but tonight, I'd like to share some of my favorite "vintagey" costume moments....

First, there's the eternally glamorous vampire queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne with her gorgeous red hair and elegant style fit for a Queen. I don't know about all of you, but if I were I vampire Queen, I'd spend most of my time in my sun room too!

 

 Even though she's obnoxious in that "ex-girl who can't get the hint" way, you can't deny that Lorena really paid attention to fashion in all of her years of being a vampire.






Although Pam's usual attire is dictated by her job at the vampire bar, Fangtasia, I still think she's one of the most fashionable characters on the show. While off the job, she loves couture pumps, designer handbags and all things pink. Her wardrobe before becoming a vampire was pretty wonderful too.

Happy Halloween planning!

  This week's Friday movie is The Cider House Rules, which I just saw for the first time two days ago. It was wonderful, sad, sweet and a really beautiful story

 The Cider House Rules is set in the 1940's at an orphanage run by a loving doctor and his staff of nurses. Dr. Larch develops a soft spot for Homer Wells, an orphan who was adopted twice and returned twice. As Homer grows up, he teaches him everything he knows about obstetrics.


    Many young, unmarried women come to the orphanage to give birth or have an abortion. Abortion was illegal in the 1940's but the doctor believes that the girls are better off having a real doctor give them an abortion than to do it themselves and end up dead from infection.



   One day, a beautiful young woman and her boyfriend come to the orphanage for an abortion and Homer falls in love with her at first sight. When she heals, he decides to go with her and her boyfriend and leave the orphanage for the first time in his life and set out into the world to make it on his own. Through his journey, he learns about  life, love, morals and self discovery.


   As controversial as the topic of abortion is, this film really does an excellent job of never stating weather abortion is right or wrong and simply presents the act in all different situations, leaving the final decision to the viewer, much like it did to Homer Wells.

   Costumes for The Cider House Rules were designed by Renee Ehrlich Kalfus who also worked on costumes for Chocolat and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. For anyone looking for inspiration for vintage autumn fashions, this is an excellent example.  The Cider House Rules is based on the novel by John Irving.
       

Freezing cold, icy weather is quickly approaching so I'm unpacking boxes and going shopping for my must-have items for cold weather

1.) At least one fabulous coat- In my neck of the woods, winter weather is often wet and bitter cold below zero temperatures so regardless of what I'm wearing, I can't live without a great coat. For the past several years, my winter coat of choice has been a dark-colored wool coat, reaching about mid-thigh length. Since I have 3 cats, I try to avoid black but Target has always been a source of gorgeous and affordable vintage-y coats. My very first vintage purchase ever was a lavender colored wool coat from the 50's which I bought in middle school from a posh vintage shop in St Louis. I wore that coat till it fell apart, then I sewed it back up and wore it till it fell apart again! If you're tall like me and vintage coats tend to have slightly too-short sleeves, you can either add a cuff made of contrasting fabric to elongate the sleeve or wear the coat as-is with long gloves for a "cropped sleeve" look.Check out these gorgeous, larger sized vintage coats for sale right now at Vint Condition on Etsy.




2.) Moisturizer and Lip Balm- Winter is always very harsh on my skin so I start stocking up on moisturizer now. I use regular body lotion all over, after a shower and use a separate gentle moisturizer on my face. My favorite facial moisturizer is Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer. Regardless of which moisturizer works best with your skin type, always wear something with sun protection, even on cloudy winter days.
I'm a compulsive lip-licker when it's cold and my lips dry out and crack within hours. I never leave the house without a tube of good old-fashioned (and dirt cheap) Carmex. Yeah, it doesn't taste or smell wonderful but nothing works on dry, cracking lips like Carmex! Slather it on before bed and wake up with renewed, smooth lips. Even though Carmex is known for being dirt cheap, plain and greasy goop, it has been saving cracked, dry lips since the 1940's when the inventor sold it from the trunk of his car. Today, you can buy Carmex in a tube and in strawberry flavor! You can read all about the history of this vintage lip balm here
3.)Lemons- lemons... the citrus fruit? Yes, I can't live without lemons in the winter! It never fails, every year, I succumb to the "winter blues". Many people with seasonal depression can be treated with medication, light therapy and other methods but I stick with what makes me happy.  Nothing says "summer time" to me like the scent and flavor of iced tea with lemon. Aromatherapy suggest that citrus scents relieve anxiety and depression. So, next time you're feeling down in the dumps, slice a lemon! Aside from the mood enhancing effects of lemons, you can also use them around the house and in your beauty routine. Check sense list for lemon uses
4.) Socks, socks, more socks- My feet get cold even in the summer so in sub zero temperatures, I keep plenty of socks on hand. At home, I like to wear big, fluffy novelty socks in crazy colors because they're fun and soooo toasty! I still wear skirts well into the coldest days of the year so I keep my legs covered with cute knee-high socks or stockings. This season, "sweater stockings" ( knitted hose)  are a hot item so us vintage gals can benefit from the trend by stocking up now!

Again, Target is my favorite place to shop for socks. They have such an excellent selection and often, you can find multi-packs on sale. Here's vintage newbie me last year in some of my Target socks...

5.) An Ice Scraper- Not vintage or fashion-related but hey, a girl has to be practical sometimes! When I'm shopping for winter moisturizer and socks, I always buy a new, awesome ice scraper for the car. It saves my hands from getting cold, dry and cracked and saves by butt from freezing! Do yourself a favor and buy one to keep in the car and one to keep by the door, for those mornings when the door freezes shut and the car is covered in snow.
Stay tuned for more cold weather fashions and beauty tips

I'm totally feeling the blog love today! I logged in this morning and had 499 followers and a lovely blog award from Leanne of Ramble On
I can't believe that I have almost met the 500 mark in nearly 10 months of blogging. Unbelievable!!! You know, I -still- get on here and do a happy dance every time I get a new reader. I click on your little picture and see if you have a blog so I can come read you too. And then I yell downstairs to Pj "Guess what?! I have another reader!!" And he probably rolls his eyes and says for the 499th time "That's great, honey!" Silly, but it makes my day to know that there are nearly 500 people in the world that like to read my musings. Thank you to everyone for your comments, questions, suggestions and support! When I started this blog at the end of December of last year, I had no idea how much it would impact my life...and how much I would love blogging! :)
Anyways, thank you so much to Leanne for my blog award! It's been a while since I've received one, and look how pretty it is!
I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15 bloggers. I read -so- many fantastic blogs (just check out my blogroll) so here are 15 blogs (in no particular order)that have been inspiring me lately. Do check out these fabulous, stylish ladies!
1.)Penny Dreadful Vintage
2.)Esme and the Lane Way
3.)The Girl with the Star-Spangled Heart
4.)Tea With the Vintage Baroness
5.)La Ville Inconnue
6.)Gatsby and Me
7.)The Musings of Miss 1941
8.)Tuppence Ha' Penny
9.)Temperamental Broad
10.)Betty's Vintage Musings
11.)1950's Atomic Ranch House
12.)Betty2Tone's Vintage Adventures
13.)Deer Little Fawn
14.)Inside a Black Apple
15.)The Lost Princess

Thank you again to all of my wonderful readers and do check out these beautiful blogs!

In St. Louis, the leaves are changing and the temperatures are dropping. We bought a pumpkin last night and I'm really getting into the Halloween spirit. I absolutely love Halloween. When I was a little girl, my mom would go all out in decorating the house and scaring the hell out of the neighborhood kids and sewing the most unique and awesome costumes for my sister and I. I could live in a constant state of Autumn and never tire of it!

To celebrate October and my favorite holiday which is quickly approaching, this week's Friday Night pick is the dark fairytale, Pan's Labyrinth.
Pan's Labyrinth tells the story of the young girl, Ofelia who travels with her pregnant mother in 1944 post-civil war Spain to live with her new stepfather, an evil and dangerous Spanish army captain.  Ofelia is a very imaginative little girl who irritates the Captain with her wild stories and nonsensical books. In the middle of the night, she is visited by a fairy who takes her to meet a creepy old faun. The faun tells Ofelia that she is a Princess and if she wants to see her father, the King she must complete 3 dangerous tasks.
Meanwhile, in the surrounding forests, rebels battle the Captain and his army with the help of some of the captain's own servants.  Ofelia's 3 tasks give her strength to stand up to the captain and help save her baby brother.

 * note: even though this story is a "fairytale" there are lots of extremely violent, scary scenes*

Hello, long-lost blogland!
 I'm at my momma's for dinner tonight and am totally taking advantage of internet access!
 Well, last week's "shit week" ended in a very positive weekend.

Olivia's birthday party on Saturday was aboslutely perfect! The food was delish, the weather was lovely, the company was fantastic and above all, Olivia had a -wonderful- first birthday! The day didn't begin well, however! It started raining around 9am and when we arrived at the park (we rented a pavillion) some guy's name was on the rental sheet! I was in such a panic, I almost tossed my cookies in the parking lot. Luckily, I had the phone number for the parks department so I called and confirmed that Pj did reserve the park and that we paid for it. After lots of panic, pointless questions and being put on hold, they said " No problem, the park is yours. If someone else shows up, call the ranger." Thank goodness for that! Then, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the fun began!

On Sunday, my fantastic mother-in-law took Olivia for us so Pj and I could enjoy a relaxing, quiet anniversary. After dropping her off, we tooled around my local craft store for a while (Pj and I both love crafty things), then picked up Better Off Dead on DVD and carside to go from Applebees. We watched our movie, had dinner and since I can't be drinking, we had a rootbeer toast in our wedding champagne glasses. :) It was great!

Anywho, we finally got a backup disk for windows this afternoon so Pj will be fixing my computer tonight! WHOOOOPPPPEEEEEEE!!!! So, I'll be back to blogging for good very very soon! I have so many pictures and fun things to share. See you again -very- soon!!
xoxo
p.s. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! :)