Wednesday, August 09, 2017

Shift Gears

Shift dress, geddit? More like a sack. Next time, belted.

 I have a great story about shifting gears. I was driving home recently, when I noticed a big white, "N" on my dashboard. Our car was having transmission issues, so my first thought was, "Oh no, it slipped into neutral". Never mind that the car was still happily chugging along, which it wouldn't be doing were it in neutral. This is what's so maddening about digital readouts in cars. It took me a few moments after pulling over, parking and re-starting the car to realise, The "N" stood for "North."  Sigh. There's apparently a compass I hadn't previously noticed. Great, I'm never going to live this down. Go ahead and laugh-someday you'll be old too.
I really wouldn't laugh if I were you. 
I have a heavy purse I can hit you with.

Outfit Particulars:
1960's/70's barkcloth shift dress-thrift store in Fitchburg, Massachusetts 25 years ago
Naturalizer bag-Goodwill (I know there's matching shoes somewhere)
Shoes-K Mart
Sara Coventry brooch and earrings-Garage sale
Quartz bangle-Goodwill
I bought the Guerlain compact new about 20 years ago. I have another that holds small brushes as well. I miss living in a city that has a Guerlain counter in a department store. All we can get here is Shalimar and Samsara. 

How about some migraine inducing patterns?



It is August, and I still hadn't worn my vintage pink heels-what is wrong with me?! I righted that wrong today, and broke out my pink bag as well. I do like matching shoes and bags, particularly when the colours are uncommon. 
 "Stubbornly Matchy-Matchy Since the 60's."  I have been, but I blame my mother-she would match her undies to her outfit along with a hair bow, shoes, bag, etc. I guess knowing she could drop dead at any moment convinced her she should wear matching undergarments-don't want the paramedics to gossip. It was so unfair she died in hospital after surgery in a bloody grey hospital gown.
Outfit Particulars: 
Ann Taylor skirt-Goodwill
Jacket-Hand-Me-Ups
Knit top-Can't remember-quite old
Belt-yard sale
Vintage handbag-Hand-Me-Ups
Carved plastic bangle-Goodwill
Pink and black bangles-Both Goodwill
Vintage Flings shoes-Sequels
Vintage seashell and plastic earrings-Estate Sale


The bake-a-thon continues. Today, we finished up the Speculaas and Springerle.  Tomorrow, it is sesame honey candy, and graham crackers (wholemeal biscuits). If time permits, the coconut washboards can get baked as well. I always thought I owned a large number of biscuit tins-turns out fifteen won't make it. I'll try the shops tomorrow. I stopped in Michael's but they apparently only sell them at Christmas. I've always bought mine year 'round at Hobby Lobby, but I can't bring myself to shop there anymore. Believe me, I find it painful as I loved that place, but this case with the stolen antiquities is just too much to overlook. Anyway, if anyone knows where I can find inexpensive metal biscuit tins new when it isn't Christmas, I'd be thankful for your guidance. I noticed Big Lots was getting their Christmas stuff ready, so I'll try there tomorrow.

I'm off to get some sleep. Hope your week is going well.














14 comments:

Bibi Maizoon said...

!!!! That Guerlain compact is stunning! The last time I saw a Guerlain counter was in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district 10 yrs ago.
Love the boldly printed barkcloth.
The pink & black ensemble reminds me of good'n'plenty candies!
I'm matchy-matchy forever 2!
The strain of swine flu they found here doesn't require an animal host. Unlike the equally noxious strains of dengue, leptospirosis, trichinellosis, toxocarosis, diphyllobothriosis, foodborne trematodosis, taeniosis, and multitudinous zoonotic intestinal helminthic and protozoal infections.

Polyester Princess said...

I am not laughing! Mainly because I don't want to get hit by that purse, but still, it could have happened to me. No need of a sense of direction if your car's got a compass, though. Personally, I think it's hard to get a shift dress to fit just right. Always too big or too tight on me. I love that Guerlain compact. And that pink bag! Nothing wrong with a bit of match-matchy!
xxx

ThriftyParka said...

Sorry to hear about your mum.

Wow! I am loving your patterns!! That knit top with Ann Taylor skirt and patterned jacket is AMAZING!! I love the pink pop!!

The first dress and the Naturalizer is the stuff that my dreams are made of. I.LOVE.THEM. You must have squealed when you found that dress and purse.

Sounds like you and Danny are a baking factory!! Keep going team ETB!!

I truly love your outfits and the magnificent array of skirts and dresses, sigh, if only my closet were larger.

Happy thrifting ;)

Anonymous said...

I love that skirt!
Any chance of just borrowing cake pans etc from friends and neighbors?
Didn't you post last year how much butter you got through? I think I remember that it was a LOT! JanF

Vix said...

I've sen some fabulously cheap biscuit tins in India but I expect that's a bit too far to travel! I've always wondered what Graham crackers were, thanks for enlightening me!
That shift is a stunner, what a groovy print. I'd be tempted to shorten it and stay beltless, you've certainly got the legs for it.
That compact is utterly lovely. xxx

Emily from Etsy said...

Those are some fantastic outfits! I especially like the red, black, and white purse.

Don't feel stupid about the compass you never knew your car had. I only recently learned that all cars (modern ones, anyway) tell you right there on the dashboard if your gas tank is on the left or on the right, so that you don't pull into the gas station with the tank facing away from the pump. Just look at the picture of the gas tank on your dashboard, and there will be a triangular arrow pointing either to the left or to the right.

I don't often have a need to rent a car, but when I do, I now know to look at the arrow before I pull into the gas station.

Congrats on all of your baking progress! You two are unstoppable.

Miss Magpie said...

I have serous handbag envy right now, well grudging of the pink, I hate pink.

Goody said...

@Bibi
I hope you're stockpiling antivirals with a list like that!

The compact came with pressed meteorites powder, which I can no longer wear as it makes me look pinker than I already do.

@Ann
I agree about shifts. This one has annoying sleeves as well.

@Thrifty Parka
Can you use a few rooms at the boarding house for storage? A woman needs a place to keep her handbag collection!

@Jan
I don't buy used tins or borrow them because of severe nut allergies in our family. Those tiny crevices are enough to trap and cross-contaminate our kitchen. I will buy used cookware or dishes if they can be sterilized in the dishwasher, but I stay clear of bakeware-not worth the risk. I found some tins at the Container Store. They weren't cheap, but they have steel lids, which is always the first thing to go on a tin.

@Vix
That would be a good excuse for a holiday ;)

@Emily
Mr. ETB had to show me the gas tank thing, and even then I didn't believe him and thought it was something else.

@Miss Magpie
I can understand disliking pink. I really shouldn't wear it as my complexion is already pink enough.

Jayne H said...

Okay, I laughed at your car story but also because that's exactly the sort of thing I would do . . .
Just off to take some meds as I can feel a migraine coming on 😀

Goody said...

@Jayne

I feel better knowing I'm not alone!

Rebecca said...

That shitting gears story brought back traumatic memories. I will never live down the family road trip during which I threw my mother's brand new Camry (first and only new car) into Park when we were on the freeway doing 70. P is for Power, right? I adore those pink shoes.

Mim said...

That dress and bag combo in the first picture is flawless. You are my inspiration for matching things! I like matchy-matchy, it's fab. I like the pink too; it suits you.

I've had at least once. The first time was during the big scare, so I got Tamiflu on the NHS. I'm pretty sure the last time I got flu it was also swine flu. I all but slept through the first two days of it - even drinking water was tough. Though I did make it to the loo. That's what makes me think it was swine flu, it affects your digestion (I'll leave it at that...). Worst I've felt in years. Now it's made the person-to-person jump it just stays in circulation like regular flu, and I'm a virus magnet. It's really bad for pregnant/postpartum women for some reason, the death rate for them from it is higher than other groups.

Good luck on the quest for biscuit tins!

Goody said...

@Rebecca
Oh, that's MUCH worse! You win ;)

@Mim
I had a mild case of it last time it circulated in the US, but I'm told that was because I still had some immunity from the last time it passed through when I was young. No idea if that's true or not, but thankfully I've only had a really bad flu once in my life (on my 21st birthday). You'd think with all the immune suppressing drugs I take I'd be a magnet too, but for whatever reason viruses take a look at me and are like, "Er, no thanks."
*taps wood not to jinx it*

I found the tins at the Container Store. I think a steel lid is probably overkill, but we'll use them again next year. I bought out their inventory!

Radostin said...

So many delights in this post! I highly approve of everything! Your quartz bangle is very interesting. I do love your pattern mixing outfit of course, this swirly jacket and the similar blue-green one you wore recently are just great. I may not match very often myself, but I certainly admire it hugely - especially, as you say, in unusual colours.
I do things like your neutral/north mistake all the time - I tell myself it's coz the kids are constantly distracting me, but perhaps it's simply that my brain's getting soft.