Kind of working

Ariella has been joining me down at Miss Wonderful on Saturdays, both earning herself some spending cash money/cool vintage digs, and learning life skills. Extra bonus, we get to hang out during quiet moments and play. Here's us vogue-ing.

spent time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo

Trash Can Annie's. Where my dreams come alive.

I am lucky enough to be surrounded by vintage objects daily. I'm privileged in that way. I caught a good break having a job I adore, with people I adore.

Cut to the chase. I am always secretly hoping to stumble on under appreciated treasure for my enjoyment. Like tap shoes in my size, for instance.

Recently I had the greatest pleasure in venturing to Davenport, Iowa. Here you too can find, the powerhouse of awesomeness, also known as Trash Can Annie's.  Conveniently and lucky for us, Ragged Records, obviously, a record store, is contained within the same building. Let that soak in. Vintage clothes and records...vintage clothes and records. Give yourself hours. I mean it.

With Annie's comes one of my favorite ladies in the world, who I am honored to say, I kiss smack on the lips with, a dear heart, Laura Heath.

She is not in these pictures as much as I would have liked. She was too busy being awesome, teaching curious people about the objects in the store they are admiring. Almost all of the clothes are individually tagged, often with year, or a note, and the size of the garments.
How does one know their size, you ask?

Laura measures you. Stand there, still, your arms extended. She writes them down for your safe keeping.  Having my size helped me to move on from the objects that would not fit. I saved a lot of time not trying on everything I loved only to find out I am not the right size for it.  It is so smart too. Probably saves half the life of the garment not having to be tried on every time. We all win. I had armfuls. Dresses. Skirts, Shawls. Pants. Tap shoes. Coats. Hats. Like this one. Which I learned, from Laura, that this was her coat when she was a little girl. She salvaged what she could and this headpiece is what it became. I was so happy to know I was taking home with me a memory of Laura.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of some of my favorite items I picked up that day. My sister, Dena Pickering, photographer extraordinaire, took all these shots. Thanks be to her for that. Laura was zipping in and out, helping me decide which fit me the best, thinking of alternatives, and helping me to piece together a large chunk of my new wardrobe.  Kisses for that.

        sister sister

I left, feeling like Pretty Woman on her shopping spree.


Ta Da.