What Maysie saw

Maysie and I went for a walk through and around the old Town Hall park in Barkly Street the other day. A hint : Don't ever go there. It's creepy and I had not one, but two people yell ridiculous and offensive things at me. Is it just me, or do hoons in Ballarat tend to spend a lot of time yelling things out of their car windows to people walking their dog or riding their bike?

On the up side, I did see some intersting things....



































And some pretty things...

Christmas in November

My extended family find it impossible to catch up, so it has become a yearly tradition to have Christmas at least a month early. This year I was actually able to make it. It was a lovely day of food, wine and catching up on family gossip. My Aunt and Uncle own a beautiful 1860s cottage on the outskirts of Woodend and have done an amazing job of renovating and extending it.














While driving back home through Woodend I found my dream house. It needs a bit of work and I think I'd need to employ somebody to clean it for me as I don't think I could handle cleaning a two story house on my own.














And this is what I wore. The dress is one of the first things I ever bought in an op-shop and is something I wear to death every Summer.

Dress : An op shop many moons ago
Jacket : Review
Wooden necklace : $2 from Diva a few years ago
Shoes : Big W
Bag : Oroton, op shopped in Canberra
Sunglasses : Wen and Ware, Bridge Mall, Ballarat

The best of times

I've been having such a good time lately that blogging has kind of gone out the window. Here's a little update on what I've been up to:

*Spending lots of time in the sunshine with my little family. It was especially lovely to have my gorgeous husband home from WA for a whole week of food, cocktails and gardening. I was so selfish that I shared him with as few people as possible because I won't be seeing him for another three weeks.































*Building a dinosaur found in an op shop for $1.














*Buying little bits and pieces to put around the house.














*Spending a few days in Sydney to celebrate my friend Shawn's birthday along with my great friends Mel and Max. Happy birthday Shawn! To Shawn's birthday celebrations I wore a dress I borrowed from Mel who has an endless wardrobe of little black dresses. I love this one because it felt a little 1920s flapper-esque. And it only cost her $10!



































*While traipsing around The Rocks in Sydney and having an amazing time at the Museum of Contemporary Art, I wore a great green and white striped dress I bought from the new Dear Prudence vintage store in Sturt Street, Ballarat.































I'm heading back to Ballarat on Monday and am very excited to be starting my dream job at the Ballarat Art Gallery on Tuesday. Life in Ballarat just keeps getting better and better!

Starburst

This wooden starburst clock from Antiques, Goods and Chattels on Main Road would look so great on my wall. A little out of my price range at the moment though. Yours for $125.

Model citizens

Yesterday was the Fashions In Time Vintage Fashion Parade. Around a dozen members of the Ballarat Fashions In Time club dressed up in their favourite vintage outfits and paraded down the catwalk. Although I often wear vintage clothes while running errands up the street in Ballarat and am used to the occasional stare, it was an entirely different experience to walk down the catwalk in front a room full of people. In fact, I was extremely nervous! All in all, it was a fun afternoon and a great experience. To the event I wore on of my favourite 1950s dresses which features padded flowers and embroidery on the front panels of the skirt. I paired it with my silver fox, a black 1950s hat and my needlepoint purse.


















For the parade I was lucky enough to wear another member's 1950s emerald green ball gown which she purchased from a Ballarat op shop for $5. We paired it with opera length gloves, a beaded cocktail hat, an art deco style brooch and a white fur stole.


















The back of the dress is amazing and features a huge bow.


















Here's what some of the other lovely ladies wore. Don't forget to click on the images to view larger versions. Sorry about the background and the dodgy quality of some of the photos but backstage wasn't the most photogenic of locations!





































































Everybody looked absolutely gorgeous and it was a very successful afternoon. Many thanks go to Lynne and Dinah for organising a fabulous event. I hope we get to do it again.

A reminder

Just a quick reminder to come along to Brown Hill Hall today at 2pm for the Fashions in Time Vintage Fashion Parade. I'll be in the parade and will be serving afternoon tea afterwards. So please do join us for a lovely afternoon.

National Gift Week

There's unfortunately no such thing as National Gift Week, but wouldn't it be lovely if there was? It would be made all the more special if nobody was actually allowed to purchase gifts, but had to find them in their own home or pass on unwanted gifts to somebody who will appreciate them more. This week I've been lucky enough to receive three special things.

The first was from my next door neighbour who I've recently befriended. It's so nice to live in a town where people actually know their neighbours by name. It was her husband's 80th birthday the other day, so she bought me some amazing profiteroles from a Ballarat bakery which I'm yet to discover. I don't know why I was lucky enough to receive a sweet treat to celebrate my next door neighbours birthday but I'm not complaining. She brought them over on two cute little dishes with an image of a man serenading a lady and insisted that I keep them because I love pretty vintage things.














The second gift was from a friend who is a member of the Fashion's In Time vintage club. She recently purchased a dress on ebay but had been sent the wrong measurements. As the dress didn't fit when it arrived, she decided to pass it on to me. It's a beautiful red cotton 50s style dress with a matching belt. The top half is a little bit too big for me, but that's easily fixed.


















The third gift came from a lovely reader of my blog. She had purchased this hat on ebay and decided it didn't suit her, so now here it is on top of my head.


















What a lucky girl I am. I'm going to return some of the love by baking something special as a thankyou. Time to get out my vintage apron.