Shoes and Pie

We Wish You a Retro Christmas

Wink — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:50:00 +0000

One of the things that I do well is shop. I have a bit of free time these days, which I can spend searching online for pretty, useful, and/or elusive things (like a faux-jaguar hat to match my ’60s-vintage coat). As a public service, and to further make it more difficult for me to find [...]

Mid-Century Sugar Dispenser

Wink — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:35:49 +0000

The above is a photo, hastily taken in my father’s kitchen, of my grandmother’s sugar dispenser. With full permission, my dad got it when my grandmother moved to her condo, and was no longer in the mental or physical condition required for entertaining. My grandmother had it for about as long as anyone can remember, [...]

My Autumn Vacation

Wink — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:24:46 +0000

Warning: The following post has nothing to do with sewing, cooking, or vintage shopping. I took the weekend OFF, yo. If you read me regularly, you know that my darling boyfriend lives in Sacramento, while I reside in Denver. This, as you might imagine, leads to a lot of travel back and forth. This [...]

This (was) Halloween

Wink — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:00:39 +0000

Present at the “The Future” themed Halloween party: Ripley and Kane (Alien) Obama Christ Dr. Who Axiom passenger (Wall•E) Miss Galaxie 1959 (yeah, that was me) Star Trek TOS and TNG Terminators Jayne, Inara, and the “Two by two, hands of blue” guys (Firefly) Seth Gecko and Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Til Dawn) OctoMummy and her archeologist 2012, uh, “ascenders” My New Bikini Body (STAR magazine cover) Illegal [...]

Feeling Stabby

Wink — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:57:40 +0000

I apologize for not writing more frequently. It’s my annual Halloween Madness combined with my free-time-management inadequacy. You may have notice that I’ve relisted some old items, but haven’t added anything new to the shop in a couple of weeks. I promise, I have a pile of stuff to list! Some housewares, more purses, and [...]

Lack of a Cohesive Plot

Wink — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:50:08 +0000

Forgive me, Readers, it’s been a week-ishy since my last post. The Department of Labor sent the letter with their Official Determination, which makes it Official: My contract work wasn’t as a contractor, but as an employer. Oooooooookay. However, the Determination of Benefits letter was based on very obviously (to me) incorrect earnings for when [...]

Doing the Right Thing

Wink — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:39:03 +0000

(Side note: Has anyone noticed how long it’s been since I’ve written about shoes or pie? I need to work on that.) Last week had its Not Good moments. Many/most/all of you know that I’ve been officially Not An Employee since August 26, 2008. That’s the date that “my” company laid me off, along with many [...]

And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!

Wink — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:05:47 +0000

Ah, Hallowe’en. The most wonderful time of the year. The time when I run around trying to put together no fewer than three costumes EVERY SINGLE YEAR. But no, not this year. This year is easy. One party. One. No separate costume for work, because I now work from home. No costume for answering the [...]

A Monday Update

Wink — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:49:11 +0000

I promised you all more sewing updates regarding Secret Halloween Costumes, so here goes: The costume that Erica hired me to construct is finally “done.” I use the quotes because I don’t think it’s true. You see, the costume has only one point of entry: at the neck. During the initial fitting, Erica and I [...]

Fireplace Colors, ca. 1960

Wink — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:12:21 +0000

As promised in yesterday’s post, here is the recipe for fireplace colors, as sent in to the 1960 edition of Maxine Mulvey’s “Hello, Neighbor” Book by a Mrs. Steve Shaball, P.O. Box 597, Rollinsville, Colorado. Don’t blame me if the purchase of any of the below mentioned chemicals puts you on some sort of watch [...]