Looking back at April 2013 (and a huge thank you!)

Good morning, my sweet dears, before launching into a recap of some of the things that have transpired on the blogging front over the past month, I want to take a moment thank you from the bottom of my heart for the outpouring of incredibly caring, thoughtful, touching comments I received on last post about the surgery that I had a couple of weeks ago.

I truly cannot begin to express how very much they each meant to me, as did those I received on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, too. Your absolutely lovely well wishes helped to brighten my spirits and help make getting through a challenging time considerably easier to deal with. Again, thank you so much for making this gal feel so much better.

Though I've by no means recouped from my surgery completely (that will be a while still), I feel like I've reached a point in my recovery when I can ease my back into my usual routine of blogging again, and so without further ado...

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Given that this is the first post in two weeks, April 2013 certainly wasn't as chocked full of entries as the previous three months of this year have been, but we still got in a number of posts before my short blogging hiatus came into effect and the following stand out as some of my favourites.

Early in the month I explored the power and importance that the sense of smell has in our lives and on our memories, in a post that detailed Ten of my all-time favourite scents. Also in the first week of April, I cordially invited you to Follow me on Instagram (I'm @chronicallyvintage there), in a post that talked about the seriously awesome gift of an iPhone 5 that I received from Tony this past Christmas.

Only one vintage outfit post popped up this month (due to my surgery), but I think you'll agree with me when I say that it was quite noteworthy - as it highlighted what I wore on my first ever day (day) trip to the States. Earlier this year, Tony and I spent a few hours in the charming town of Omak, Washington, and the red, white and blue ensemble (pictured below) that I sported that day was in honour of the fact that, after 28.5 years of life, I finally got a chance to step foot on US soil (I can't wait until the next time!).




On the 10th, I looked back on Four wonderful years of blogging, in celebration of Chronically Vintage's fourth birthday, which took place on April 17th. It has been an incredible four years of sharing my love of all things vintage with you, and I cannot wait to enjoy the next four years - and beyond - as we continue to explore and chat about the endlessly interesting world of mid-century history and fashion.

The very next day I delved into Discussing hats and medical hair loss with Kathleen (from the wonderful blog That's A Pretty Hat), in my first post here that really touched on this intimate subject since my wig unveiling at the start of this year. I love that Kathleen - who is not experiencing hair loss herself - wanted to post about this topic, which affects a great many women at some point (be it temporary of long term) throughout the course of their lives, and have to say thank you again to her for honouring me by asking for some of my thoughts and insight on this topic.

Mid-way through the month, shortly before all went (temporarily) silent on the blogging front here, I rounded up ten images relating to the passion for the colour green that I'm experiencing this year in April's edition of Flickr Favourites. I really am smitten with all things verdant at the moment, and just as this wasn't the first post to mention this topic (I touched on it here, for example), I highly doubt it will be the last before 2013 wraps up either.

Elsewhere in the great, wide interwebs, I was thrilled to recently hear from Sammy of Sammy Davis Vintage that she included Chronically Vintage in her new e-book that's devoted to the The 100 Best Vintage Shops Online, where she super sweetly listed me on page 46 amongst her top sources of vintage style inspiration.




Sammy is a gal with a massive passion for the past (who enjoys writing about and sporting looks from a wide range of twentieth century decades) and a substantial body of knowledge on the subject, stemming in no small part from the fact that she's been selling vintage and writing about the subject of old school fashion for many years now. As such, it was no small honour when she emailed to let me know that she'd included me in her lovely, informative e-book (which you can pick up for just $4.95 here).

As you know, I absolutely, completely adore vintage hats, and my involvement with Kathleen's aforementioned post wasn’t only time I got to discuss this awesome subject over the course of April. Early in the month Katy from the stellar UK blog Vintage Wife interviewed me and a few other (wildly stylish) vintage ladies about our hat collections and some of the reasons why we adore yesteryear chapeaus so very much. If you haven't had a chance to read this delightful post, entitled Top of the Vintage Toppers yet, run, don't walk over to the Vintage Wife, and find out more about how I store, and why I adore, collecting and wearing vintage hats so much.

I won't beat around the bush, April hasn't been the easiest month of all time for me, but the worst is behind us now and instead of focusing on the unpleasantness of serious surgery and how rough I've been feeling ever since, I'm much more interested in looking ahead to May and all that the fifth month of the year holds in store here on the blogging front.

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As a general rule, May is a gorgeous month, sometimes offering up just about the loveliest weather you could ever possibly hope for and a return to spending as much time as possible outdoors, soaking it all up with the gusto of a hungry kitten going to town on a bowl of milk. It's too soon for me to say how much I'll be able to get out and enjoy the glorious sunshine, but at the very least I'll be keeping the blinds open and letting every precious ounce of it stream through the window and onto me as I set about writing May's posts.

In the coming weeks, we'll be reviving the Vintage Fashionista Friday series, reviewing the most recent dress that I've received from eShakti, taking a gander at the history of Cutex nail polish, enjoying a couple of terrific springtime recipes, and holding a giveaway for a newly released page-turner that's set in the 1920s, amongst numerous other posts that I have in the works.

Thank you again deeply, everyone, for your support and care over the past couple of weeks. It never ceases to touch me to my core that I am so blessed to be a part of such a sweet, understanding, wonderful online community. I have a ways to go before I've fully recovered from surgery still, but I'm really looking forward to blogging here again and in savouring each wonderful moment of May that lies ahead.

Have a beautiful last day of April, everyone, and a thoroughly stellar month ahead!