October 24, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

A Mythical Creature

What would you do if you met a mythical creature in real life?

Would you run? Panic? Take pictures? Scream? Laugh? Cry?

Here is what you need to know about these pictures. Five minutes after they were taken, my husband and I went to our favorite Cuban restaurant to get a coffee.

I had chosen my dress that day because I wanted something fun and fantasy-like.

I chose the tights, because I could.

One day purple legs will be all the rage, you’ll see. Or is that just another fairy tale?

At the restaurant, we saw a real-life mythical creature.

One that made me blush and then quickly leave. But for now, let’s look at pictures of Jenni without any coffee. She is a beast, all by herself.

This dress is old. It was called The Myths and Legends Dress from Anthropologie. I love the creatures on the dress. I think they are plain ol’ animals but I like to squint at the pattern and pretend that the deer are unicorns. As one does. I found my dress on eBay a few years ago. I would link to a similar dress, but I do not think there is one out right now. If you are looking for whimsical clothing, I have this shirt in my wishlist in two different colors and I purchased this skirt last week (review coming on Monday).

The purple tights were $1 last year in Nordstrom Rack’s clearance bin (I cannot imagine why) and the boots can be found here.

If you are into the fantasy genre, then you might understand that I did not buy the dress strictly for the fantasy creatures. I actually purchased it for the tower-like fortresses (um, the designer might call them something odd like…trees) in the middle of the forrest pattern.

They remind me of where druids dwell in the Shanara fantasy series by Terry Brooks.

Wearing this dress always makes me feel a tad bit braver and a touch more childlike. The brave feeling turns out to be a farce, as we will see further down, but for now we can still believe.

I wonder what is behind this door?

Ancient druids practicing magic?

In five minutes, Jenni is going to wish she could figure out how to melt into this wall.

But why?

Because as I was sitting in the restaurant enjoying my hard won coffee, someone walked into the restaurant.

You know how they always say kids are amazed when they see their teachers outside of school? As if they were seeing a magical creature come to life?

Well, that is exactly how I felt when my gynecologist walked into the coffee shop as I was innocently drinking my coffee. My good looking gynecologist. With his family.

Here was my dilemma. I could go say, “hi,” but would he have recognized me? And then his four kids (in their teens and twenties) would have turned to look at me. And know. In that coffee shop. That their dad had seen all of me.

With my husband next to me.

Too many people had seen me naked in that coffee shop. There were only ten of us in there. I did not like the number equation.

So, I did what any person would do when confronted with a real life mythical creature.

I left as quickly as I could.

Went home and booked my overdue doctor’s appointment (because I believe in signs).

And am patiently waiting to see the fearsome creature in his natural environment.

Without coffee. Kids. And clothes.

Exactly the way I would greet a unicorn. Just so ya know.

October 12, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Ollie and Me: On The Prairie

Ollie loves car rides.

No. I mean really, really loves them.

He doesn’t care where you take him. He just likes to get into the car and go.

The sad part is that he is so short he cannot really see out of the window. This does not bother him. Ollie is a glass half full kind of dog.

On this day my husband decided to take him a little bit past the house. I asked my husband if I could join him and perhaps get some pictures of the outfit I wore that day.

He agreed.

Ollie did not.

When we got to the location I decided to see if Ollie wanted to pose with me.

You would think based on the photo above that he was not so happy about this (seriously though, how funny is that face? His is pretty hilarious, too).

I decided to show him how much fun taking pictures can be.

He decided he really, really liked getting his picture taken.

I think it is because he got a lot of love.

Who am I kidding?

He always gets a lot of love.

Dare I say it? It looks as though he enjoyed it more than a car ride.

Blasphemy!

I think he might be happier than I am with this outfit, too. I paired my grey dress from this post (which has become a layering piece ’cause I shrunk it) with a flannel skirt (similar here) and fringe vest (similar super fabulous vest here) that I scooped up for $10 each at a consignment store last winter. The belt was from Anthropologie.

If you have a dog do they like car rides or walks better? What is your best score at a consignment shop?

Ollie did so well taking pictures with me that I might do it again soon. It was much more fun than taking pictures by myself.

And the best part was… He got to get a ride back home.

His modeling fees are odd. But cheap. I pay him in car rides.

No need to tell him we were going back that way anyway.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Because Shanna Said So!

*two more photos that did not make it to the blog post can be seen on my Instagram Account (thegnomelover).

September 29, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Past Cards: I’m Still Waiting For That Letter that ancer

I like to share my collection of vintage postcards here. I have not done one of these posts in awhile and I figured it was time again (other past card posts here and here).

It seems throughout time there have been unanswered lovers and letters.

When I saw this post card, I knew I wanted to own it. It combined both of the above. This is what it says:

“hellow Jettie

Say I would like to no the reason I havent never got my ancer from my letter
Looks like you wood ancer
do so at once
ha ha
So good By

a Friend R”

I cringe at the grammatical errors, however, the postcard was sent in 1912 from a rural Kentucky town with a population of less than a 1,000. There were probably not a great many schools to choose from and a lot of hard work to be had.

The post card makes me sad. Sometimes it makes me wonder. Did the girl respond to the boy? Did they get married? Could I send this postcard to their children? What happened to the two individuals so long ago?

I wondered so much about this postcard that I did some research into the name that the card was addressed to. It seemed curious to me that if the girl in question did not want to answer the boy, then why would she keep the post card all of those years? Why not throw the card away? If she had thrown the card away, then I never would have purchased it. And I would not have looked up the girl to find her fate.

The woman who received this postcard was eighteen when it arrived in her mailbox. Her name was Jettie. I find that I like that name.

This is what I learned about Jettie:

She never married.
She lived near a railroad.
Her family were farmers.
Her occupation is unlisted, so I assume she did not have one.
She passed away at the age of 59 in her home she shared with her sister.
She was buried in the family cemetery.
A Kentucky census listed her age as 19 in the year of 1910, but she was born in 1894, so the census was incorrect.
She was an Aquarius.

I wonder if the boy waiting for his ancer ever received one. If he did, it is obvious, it was not the one that he had been hoping for.

Did he ever marry? Did he attend Jettie’s funeral? What made Jettie keep the postcard all of those years (neither her, nor her three siblings, ever married. There has to be a story there. And I assume the possessions, including this post card, were sold or donated after the last sibling’s death by a distant relative or by the state)?

When I began researching this story, I had hoped for a better ending. One in which the boy won the girl over with a relentless stream of letters.

But maybe Jettie liked being independent. Or maybe she tossed and turned dreaming about the boy in another town as the train rumbled on the track and shook her bedpost so that it tapped against the wall in the exact rhythm of her heart. Or maybe she lost no sleep at all.

I, myself, toss and turn. And I wonder.

August 25, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Our New Coffee Table

When we were at the Rose Bowl Flea Market a month ago, we purchased a new coffee table/ottoman from the booth of the Los Angeles based store, Uber Chic Home. They have an amazing set-up each time I am at the flea market and it seems they always have something new and crave-able that I want to purchase. In fact, I have never gone to this flea market and not purchased something from them.

All of the grain-sack pillows I have made in our home are from their booth. We also recovered our piano bench in one of their feed bags.

Now they are creating furniture. We fell in love with their coffee table/ottomans. The one we picked out was covered with a vintage Czech army blanket. It is soft and I like the interesting striped pattern that matches the lamp shade that we purchased a few years ago from Pottery Barn.

The piece boasts two large drawers that are actually vintage food crates. With my two children now both in junior high school and high school, we have a copious amount of books to store at home. These drawers actually hold all of their books and then some. And by “and then some,” I mean I still have half of the storage room left for other things.

Even Murphy loves the new coffee table. Although he is so short, he can almost not quite see over it.

The colors match the room perfectly. I have many custom slipcovers for my couch, but I have not changed the cover in years. This fall and winter, I plan to put on my grey velvet. I am hopeful it will work well with it.

Our old coffee table was from my first apartment before I met my husband. It matched the side table on the right. It had a glass top and when my son was one, he flipped over the couch backwards and knocked his head on the coffee table, requiring us to get him staples on the cut. I was glad to be rid of the thing. It only took us an extra ten years.

Speaking of side tables, we also acquired the small little one on the left of the couch (not from the seller above) on the same day as our new coffee table. I do not know its function before we purchased it, but we use it to store video game remotes.

I am pretty confident with saying that that was probably not its original purpose. Please excuse the mess. This is just what it looks like everyday. It was the cousin of the ones my husband truly wanted that were sold while we deliberated over them. The twin cousins had two drawers apiece and were slightly taller. We are happy to have grabbed the one we did. He was incredibly inexpensive.

Because I dislike change, it took a lot for me to finally make the decision to splurge on a new piece. We got a fantastic price for the beautiful item and we are extremely happy to have made the choice that we did. Now I just need to make the choice to get the carpets cleaned.

What was the last piece of furniture you purchased for your home? Was it vintage? Do you love it?

I do not know what to call our coffee table/ottoman. Two parts of it are made from vintage pieces, but the base is new. I will just call it pretty as I put my feet up on it and indulge in some wine.

And Rice Krispie Treats.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

vintage

A Mythical Creature

Ollie and Me: On The Prairie

Past Cards: I’m Still Waiting For That Letter that ancer

Our New Coffee Table