I'm Not Like Everybody Else

First things first-it snowed! I took Roland (The snowman's head that lives in my freezer) out to frolic in the snow with his favourite bottle of gin. Yeah, the neighbours all saw-along with some random person driving down the street 😀. So that was fun, and it gave me an opportunity to wear a dress in this year's Pantone colour-Living Coral. Finally, a colour I can wear.

Roland

Most of my frolicking has been indoors of late as it has been cold, damp, and windy.

Finally got round to wearing this sweater/70s bath rug I bought last year. Sometimes I need to live with a piece for a bit before deciding how to wear it. If I owned white polyester flares, that would make a good early spring look, but I don't so it was gold trousers and a black long-sleeved shirt beneath for warmth. I remember similarly shaped/cut clothing, but never anything made of this yarn/carpet material.

Outfit Particulars:

Gold Kay Unger trousers-Hand-Me-Ups

Clogs-retail about 15 years ago

Vintage tote bag-Goodwill

Vintage top-Hand-Me-Ups

Earrings-Sears

Gold bangles-all over

Fragrance-Norell

Sometimes, no matter the weather, I need a little glam in my life. Enter the mesh romper/playsuit.

 Yeah, I went out like that. No, I have no idea what I was thinking.

 You might be noticing the big earring trend has taken hold over here at Eat The Blog. Earrings are such an inexpensive, fun way to give yourself a boost-why not?!

 I'm rediscovering scarves as well. There's no quicker way to add interest to an outfit.

 The romper was completely sheer on top except for a bit of lining around the boobs. I don't have a problem with that, but it is January in Nebraska-so I wore a tunic beneath it. I'm actually pretty covered-up by typical American standards, especially with those tights being closer to leggings.

I bought the jacket because I loved the buttons! I probably won't remove them because it is St. John Evening and I respect quality clothing enough to leave it intact if possible. I didn't think the jacket would fit when I bought it, but luckily, it did. It would look amazing with wide, white trousers on a summer evening with a sequin shell beneath.

Outfit Particulars:
Playsuit/romper-Sears (at the clearance sale before the store closed)
Vintage St. John Evening jacket-Goodwill
Tights- K Mart (also now closed)
Scarf-can't remember
Boots- K Mart
Vintage hat box/travel bag-Antique mall
Earrings-Target-Clearance
Vintage necklace-Goodwill (I think?)
Beaded bracelets-Shop Ko about 15 years ago
Fragrance-Burberry Classic


Before I get back to the clothes, I must show you Mr. ETB's birthday celebration. He's (a youthful) 58 and to celebrate I made him a steak and ale pudding. That was interesting for me as a vegetarian (and have been since the early 80s) because I had to completely rely on following a recipe without any intuition about how it would turn out.

It turned out perfectly!

Recipe found here.  I don't have a proper 6 cup pudding basin so I used my Corningware casserole dish and it worked fine. I had to order Atora suet online because suet in the US is sold in an un-processed block with membranes and all. That's fine if you want to render it, or grind it up for sausage-making, but just to make a pudding, that's a bit of work. Thank goodness for the internet.

 I bought Mr. ETB a vintage lunchpail as we had been reminiscing about the old ecology stickers and badges that were everywhere in the 70s. I don't think it gets any more ecologically responsible than a 50 year old lunchpail-and it stays out of the landfill. This will also encourage him to take lunch from home more often.

Possibly the best part of the meal were the balsamic onions. This is my own invention.

You Will Need:
1 bag of frozen pearl onions, thawed and patted dry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt to taste
About 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the onions, sugar, thyme and salt. Cook until they start turning transparent. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring once in a while until onions are soft and deeply golden. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and cook a few minutes longer until most of the liquid cooks off. Serve hot or cold. Leftovers can be mashed up and spread on bread or tucked into a cheese sandwich.

Oh my gosh-I just posted a recipe! Been a while, hasn't it?!

I wish I'd written down what I did here. It was soup with chickpeas, white beans, kale and hot red peppers. Anyway, it is the sort of thing you could probably improvise easily. I served it over some farro.

Back to the vintage clothing...

I've lived in Nebraska long enough now (18 years) that I don't give a second thought to wearing Western wear. It feels quite natural here. This top and matching skirt were a very lucky find at Thrift World a couple months back. It isn't the nicest shop (or the cleanest) but sometimes I find great stuff there.

This stuff ain't cheap😁. I didn't know anything about the company until I did a bit of Googling, but I could tell it was well-made clothing.

 I wore some bangles, as you do...

 ...and a tooled leather belt.

And a handbag to match the belt.

 Outfit Particulars:
Vintage (is 90s really vintage?!) top and skirt-Thrift World
Vintage handbag and belt-both New Life Thrift
Gold boots-Goodwill
Vintage Ultrasuede jacket-Goodwill
Vintage Mexican necklace-Goodwill
Vintage bangles-various places but all thrifted
Shell earrings-World Market about 10 years ago
Fragrance-Aramis-and plenty of it!

The big earrings continue! I'll probably cut my hair at some point and go back to smaller clips, but for the moment, I'm enjoying something a little different.

The pale blue earrings were a perfect match for this faience scarab necklace I found on a recent thrifting trip.

These earrings were heavy, and clanged with every move. Sort of like wearing a cowbell. Moo.

These however have to be the biggest earrings I own. I was worried my hair would get caught in them, but after a windy New Years Day outing, they were still free of knotted hair. Yes, I wore a velvet track suit with big earrings. I also wore boots and a vintage fur. It is a look. Or it was...at some point. At least I don't have, "Juicy" emblazoned across my rear end.

 Crazy 70s mink and leather coat over track suit? Why not?!

 I would wear these boots absolutely everywhere if I could get away with it. They are so warm and comfortable. One of my best Goodwill finds, ever.

Big earrings are giving me life in 2019. Really, I don't need much to be happy.

 I will leave you with a look at my mother's Cazal frames  I once again had set with my lenses. I had them tinted blue last time around, but this year went clear. I wear trifocals and were it not for super-thin plastics these would be what we used to call, "Coke bottles" due to the thickness. I can't imagine how heavy these must have been back in the 80s when my mother was wearing them. Even with ultra thin plastic, they're still plenty heavy. I still have the black round frames as well, but thought I should get a spare pair as I am now at the point where it would be difficult managing without them if something happened. Spare specs-I feel like such an old lady! I am an old lady, but still.

 They are slightly too big for my head (my mother had a big head-don't laugh, she did!) but I think they are wearable without looking silly.

Well, maybe not too silly. 

How is January treating you? Anything new you're trying to incorporate into your wardrobe? Do tell!