Vintage Adventures

Howdy! I'm a crafty gal living in the Golden State of California; all about vintage clothes, swing dancing, knitting, cooking, books
and adventures!

Monday, January 31, 2011

{Calm}

A cup of steaming tea and comforting creatures to soothe my agitated nerves.
The movers will be five DAYS late!
 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Saturday, January 29, 2011

{Moving Day!}

The movers are supposed to come today and take my things away to Oregon.
Sure wish I knew what time they were coming.
Last night I fell down a flight of stairs whilst taking out the trash.
My spine still hurts.
Blaah.
Hurry up movers let's get this freak show on the road!!

Friday, January 28, 2011

{The Old Seelbach}

Last night Travis, Crawford and I went to The Old Seelbach hotel/bar in downtown Louisville.
The reason: to celebrate Travis getting out of the army, our impending cross-country move back west, and Travis and my 5 month anniversary!
It was simply the cat's pajamas.. and filled to the brim with history!
I wore my red 1940's taffeta party gown, accessorized with my white beaded 1920's purse.

The Old Seelbach hotel 's construction began in December 1903 by the Bavarian Seelbach brothers, Louis and Otto.
They were inspired by the grand old-world hotels of Paris and Vienna.
By May 1905 the hotel was finished, complete with marble imported from Italy, France and Germany as well as wood from Europe and the West Indies.
The ceiling and walls of the basement (the speakeasy area) are made of hand-stretched and hand painted leather.
The vaulted ceilings were painted with the different signs of the zodiac and German coats-of-arms.
25,000 people visited the hotel on it's first day of business.
Louis Seelbach died in 1925, and in 1926 the hotel was purchased by a Chicago businessman, Abraham M. Liebling for $2,500,000.
Throughout the years the Seelbach changed owners and actually closed down in 1975 after the owners went bankrupt.
in 1978 Louisville actor Roger Davis took an interest in the Seelbach and began it's restoration.
The grand re-opening happened on April 12, 1982.

F. Scott Fitzgerald took inspiration from the Seelbach for one of my all-time favorite books, The Great Gatsby.
Al Capone was a frequent guest at the Seelbach.
I asked the bartender about it and she told me that the [Ohio] river is only 5 blocks away.
There were [are?] secret passages and rooms about the bar and the basement.

We had champagne, wine and whiskey.. all quite delicious!
It was amazing walking down into the basement














Tuesday, January 25, 2011

{Cold Country}


Having a camera-friendly boyfriend is terrific!
I got everything here except my boots from The Nitty Gritty.
I'm sure it's quite obvious that I've been watching a lot of British movies and t.v. shows!

Coat: 1950's children's coat from England
Blouse: 1950's
Knickers: Vintage riding knickers
Boots: Franco Sarto

Monday, January 24, 2011

{The Busyness}

I shall be taking a hiatus.. disastrously behind on packing!
The movers come in 4 days and I'm about oh.. 20% through.
However I have had amazing luck shopping at the local flea market and vintage stores.
I'll photograph when a spare moment comes around ^^

Thursday, January 13, 2011

{Old wooden chair}



This is my great-great-great grandmother Martha Jane Fox.
She was born on August 21, 1847 and died October 29th, 1930.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

{Makeover}

Time for a new look ^^

{In other news}

So ya.. just found out I'll be moving in approximately 2 weeks to.. Portland, OR!
I am both excited and terrified.
I'm only terrified because I need to get out of my current lease.. and I've never organized a move by myself before.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

{I'm home part IV}

::Warning- image heavy post::

On December 23rd Travis, Juri and I went to the ruins of an insane asylum near Battle Creek.
He was told that it was built around the turn of the last century and that it had mysteriously burned down in the 80's.
Also, that a reporter went there to write about it and he disappeared.
He was eventually found.. he hung himself in the highest tower!

We walked on a wooden bridge over a frozen lake and through some woods to our destination.
I googled "insane asylum Battle Creek" and couldn't believe what I found!
No definite record of one.. but it did appear in a tall-tale type thing..

The Legend of the Michigan Melon Heads via Wikipedia:

"The melon heads of Michigan are said to reside near the Felt Mansion in Laketown Township. According to one story, they were originally children with hydrocephalus who lived at the Junction Insane Asylum near Felt Mansion. The story explains that, after enduring physical and emotional abuse, they became feral mutants and were released into the forests surrounding the asylum. The Allegan County Historical Society asserts that the asylum never existed, although it was at one point a hospital;[1] however, the story has been part of the local folklore for several decades. Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin told the Holland Sentinel that he had heard the tales as a teenager, noting that his friends referred to the beings as "wobbleheads". Some versions of the legend say that the children once lived in the mansion itself, but later retreated to a system of underground caverns. Other versions of this legend say that the children devised a plan to escape and kill the doctor that abused them. It is said that the children had no place to hide the body, so they cut it up in small pieces which they hid around the Mansion. There are still rumors that teenagers who had broken into the mansion saw ghosts of the children. They also claimed to see shadows of the killing of the doctor through the light coming from an open door."