A few days ago, I posted a little something to this extent on Chronically Vintage's Facebook page, but I'll say it here as well - I've been burning the candle far too much at both ends lately and I absolutely know, and feel, it.
There has been so many exciting changes and launches in my life this year, from my Etsy shop to YouTube to selling vintage in person for the first time (at fairs, etc), all on top of blogging at the same kind of full time pace I have been in recent years, plus of course helping Tony with his/our company (Netrich Media), taking care of and running our household, and all of life's usual going ons.
{I've been burning through proverbial candles - and a few real ones - faster than the speed of light this year! Vintage candle ad image source}
My health and energy levels are feeling this intense surge of activity and physical demands big time, with flare-ups of some of my conditions frequently resulting from it (and various members of my medical care team telling me to take things a heck of a lot more easy). I do think that in the short term, pushing myself so hard, for so long is worth it and I don't mind that this summer has been one of far more work than relaxation for me. Looking ahead to the future though, I definitely will need to pace myself in new and better ways, rework how I balance/spend my time on certain commitments, and quite literally schedule true days off, if I have to, as I don't want to risk potentially extremely serious consequences with my health if I don't.
There is so much that is new in my world that wasn't there in previous years and I think anyone would take a while to adjust to this exciting, extra busy schedule. I wanted this 2014 to be a year of immense change and growth, both personally and especially professionally, and that it truly has been. I've sowed a lot of very exciting new seeds, now the time has come to tend them (instead of doing further planting, so to speak) - and to tend to myself in the process, too.
On that note, let's take a few tranquil moments to relax and have a gander at several engaging, delightful, and flat out interesting vintage and history related posts and stories that have really been capturing my attention lately. It's hard to believe, genuinely hard, that we're sitting here on the cusp of September already, 2015 just four short months away, and that we're rounding up another set of vintage links again (this summer felt so incredibly fast, didn't it?), but that we are, so let's get right to it! :)
♥ 8 tips on creating your own vintage style: Individuality is hugely important to me when it comes to style and that very much includes having your own unique, fabulous vintage style, something that the fabulous Daffny from the blog A Vintage Nerd delved into recently in this handy and helpful post on the subject, which is sure to resonate with vintage fashion newcomers and veterans alike.
♥ Top ten tips for your first pin-up photo shoot session: By way of marvelous vintage and reproduction clothing seller Blue Velvet Vintage's great blog comes a terrific post all about tips for helping you with your first pin-up photo shoot (many of which apply to other types of shoots, too, if doing pinup type photos isn't your cup of tee).
♥ Vintage wear for yard work: Brittany of Va-Voom Vintage has done a wonderful job of rounding up some seriously charming vintage yard work tips and photos (such as the fab 40s look below) that are sure really appeal to many folks as we transition into autumn, a season that often abounds with raking leaves, harvesting produce, pruning summer growth, and hanging festive decorations on the outside of our homes.
♥ My costumer's library: getting started: Though not every one who sports vintage fashions and/or accessories would classify themselves as being a historical costumer (nor do they have to be to enjoy and wear lovely old school styles), many of us - myself included - do have a deeply rooted passion for the costuming arts and frequently read a good deal on topics pertaining to this awesome area of study. To that end, the Witness 2 Fashion recently put out a seriously splendid list of books that be of help to new (and long time) historical costumes fans alike, while also discussing some very insightful points on the topic (such as the importance of often using more than one source when putting together a historically accurate look).
♥ A fascinating look at the not so ordinary beginnings of modern luggage: This fast paced image filled slide show takes a peak at the history of luggage as we know it today, tracing the roots of wheeled luggage, for example all the back to the 12th century. For major travel (and/or vintage luggage) fans such as myself, this post is sure to provide plenty of fun facts that you'll be rearing to share with your neighbour the next time you're on an train, plane or ferry boat.
♥ The top Paris designers of 1954: Ahh, the gloriously stylish mid-1950s! An era I hold near and dear to my own heart - and wardrobe! - and never tire of looking at images of, such as the enchantingly pretty array in this great post from Glamour Daze (including the Dior stunner below), which shines the spotlight on some of the most iconic Parisian designers (and their work) of the day.
♥ Traffic jam stuck in a Belgian forest for 70 years: This story made the rounds on Facebook earlier this summer, but in case you didn't happen to catch it there (or elsewhere), I wanted to share it here today as it is truly a unique, amazing, mysteriously haunting sight to behold.
♥ 1900s Life Hacks: Useful skills and information don't generally lose their merit simply because times change and/or other ways of achieving the same task come along. This delightful, you'll-want-to-bookmark-it-for-sure post takes a peak at some particularly handy life hacks from the 1900s that still pass muster today more than a century after they were printed on (now highly collectible) cigarette cards.
♥ Bombshells and Bomb Girls: By way of author and historian (and fellow British Columbian) Elinor Florence comes this excellent, informative piece, complete with oodles of photos and illustrations, on the history of female WW2 war workers that sure to appeal every bit as much to history buffs as it to early 1940s fashion fans (and of course, plenty of us fall into both camps!).
♥ The Way We Eat: This link is to a Tumblr account, not a specific story, but it is too sublimely lovely and well executed not to share the whole thing with all of you. Teeming with vintage images primarily sourced from culinary magazines that have partnering with a selection of beautiful modern photos of vintage dishes (from said types of magazines, such as Gourmet) that have been recreated nowadays, this elegant, tantalizing Tumblr food history blog is a must visit for all those who love gastronomy.
♥ Free download of Hollywood Patterns – March 1941: The immensely talented, sweet-as-can-be Rochelle of the vintage sewing and lifestyle blog Lucky Lucile (who I interviewed here last year), periodically creates and shares free downloadable vintage sewing/fashion related offerings, and her latest is eight pages of seriously swoon worthy early 1940s spring styles that would work splendidly for the coming autumn months as well.
♥ Boola boola and rah rah rah: College in the movies:: This post, which rounds up some of the most iconic collegiate themed Hollywood films over the decades, harkens back to 2011, but it's fairly new to me and as the world is gearing up to head back to school in just a couple of days, it seemed like an ideal not to wrap up today's lovely list on.
{All images throughout the list of links above come by way of the post that they are displayed
directly beneath the write up of here. Please follow the links provided to learn more about these images.}
♥ ♥ ♥
As summer's days grow shorter and a bracing, beautiful nippiness slips into the breeze, I will be devoting myself wholeheartedly to my career and passions, but (again) working on pacing and remembering not to burn the candle to the point that the wick runs out entirely. I'll also be, as many of us will, gearing up for a seriously lovely, exciting autumn, both on the online and personal fronts.
From travel plans (more about that here very soon!) to Canadian Thanksgiving, our 10th wedding anniversary to Halloween, picking juicy red Okanagan apples to busting out the seasonal decor (tomorrow - I almost always do so on September 1st), I'm delighted to be welcoming my favourite season back once more and equally look forward to sharing it with all of you.
I sincerely hope that this summer has been a terrific one for each of you and that its last few days fill your life with sunshine, joy, and tons of delicious end of the season eats. It won't be long now until we're up to our eyeballs in pumpkin spice everything, candy corn, roast turkey with all the trimmings, and pillow cases full of Halloween sweets, and while I am a touch sad to see summer wrap up, with each passing day, I'm looking more and more forward to my beloved autumn and hopefully settling into a work/productivity routine that is more conducive to my health and lifestyle.
Here's to a gorgeous, fun filled September and fall ahead for us all of! Remember to always try to hold onto a few your candles, my fellow hard working ladies and gents - after all, you're going to need at least one of them for your jack-o-lantern this year! :)
I love the traffic jam one, it's weirdly creepy and so interesting. It's wonderful that someone was able to get photos of it before it was removed.
ReplyDeleteAs am I - the fact that (based on that post at least) no one seems to be able to definitely say how that "graveyard" of cars came to be only heightens the spookiness factor further. It also makes one wonder, are there possibly other such forgotten parking lots hidden in the woods (or elsewhere) still out there waiting to be rediscovered?
Delete♥ Jessica
Life doesn't operate according to neat rules, so it's best to let experience guide us. What I've learned is that while balance is prudent over the long-haul, short bursts of passionate activity are good and even inevitable. We get wrapped up in something and it carries us into over-exertion. Which is okay if we then get some rest. So your hyper-activity this year is actually good.
ReplyDeleteLove the links and info. Your blog remains the gold standard.
Thank you across the board, Ally. I appreciate, and agree, with your wise words. The key is just not burning out to the point where you risk doing serious harm to your health and/or mental well being. This year has been unlike any other for me and I've loved a great deal of it. I want to try and ensure the next (and on and on) are fabulous and productive, too, if at all possible, so pacing and taking intentional breaks between those bursts is a must. Thankfully, some much needed R&R is in the cards in less than two weeks and that should help there for the remainder of 2014 a great deal.
DeleteMany heartfelt thanks again - have a terrific Labour Day!
♥ Jessica
Dear Jessica, I'm worried for you. Gear down please, before it ends very bad. I've told you before to schedule and perhaps blog fewer posts than now. I think you have to do some math, how much could you do last year feeling fine? Then think of how much you are doing now (not feeling fine), calculate what you can do and cut down or away on some things. You should do what you love but don't do it so much it ruins your health. But I know all about doing too much and never having time, therefore I am having each Wednesday off, and I LOVE it! It is expensive, yes, but I have never felt better. You should have your free time too, doing what you want or doing nothing at all. I would love to read only one of you always thorough blogposts a week knowing you felt good at the other end of the world. I would love to look forward to it then. Please do some serious thinking and the math on what you are capable of, dear. lots of worried hugs from Sanne
ReplyDeletePS: Loved your link love as always and will send the car cemetery link to my vintage car loving dad. :)
Thank you deeply, sweet Sanne. I appreciate your care and concern immensely, as well as your great advice. That is precisely how I've been thinking lately. I plan to scale back blog posting a little next year and perhaps also write more short/photo filled posts that are quicker/easier to produce, punctuating them sometimes with longer, more in-depth ones (I know a lot of readers prefer the former anyhow, so it could be a bit of a win-win there). Doing videos (for YouTube) when we do photo shoots, as we've been doing, also helps, too, on saving a bit of time. And there are steps, which I'm already doing, to help streamline things on Etsy as well (for example, I usually shoot a round of photos one day, sort/edit them another, do research and listings on a third, and so on).
DeleteI really admire that you specifically, intentionally take one day a week off and genuinely relax/take things easy/have fun. I think that I should start doing that as well, most likely on the weekend, since that's when Tony is usually off and we do of course adore spending time together, but I do like the idea of a mid-week day, too. That couldn't really happen though at present, because there are several hours a week on Tuesday and Wednesday that needs to be done on those exact days for one of the income generating websites Tony and I run, but maybe Thursday - we'll see (and of course, nothing wrong, if you can swing it, with two different days a week off).
From the bottom of my heart, thank you again, Sanne - you are such a wonderfully nice person.
♥ Jessica
You are welcome, dear. I just wanted to add that I would love photo filled blog posts, since you always find such inspiring and lovely photos, both vintage and modern colour photos. So please do and spoils us now and then with your great text. :)
DeleteThat's really wonderful to know, Sanne, thank you. I've really been thinking in recent weeks about shaking things up on the blog post front in 2015 - I don't want thinks to unintentionally become staid here and some more majorly photo/illustration filled posts could go a good way there. I may also phase out (or less frequently post) some reoccurring series, perhaps creating one or more new ones or even bringing back some that haven't been around for years. We'll see - lots to think about and look forward to in the coming months. :)
Delete♥ Jessica
Oh dear, do take the time to relax! I know how you feel - life can be so hectic sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link to my older collegiate post :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great week,
From another Jessica :)
You are sincerely welcome, my fellow Jessica. It's such a fun, engaging read and one that I knew many of my fellow vintage/classic Hollywood movie fans would enjoy every bit as much as I did.
DeleteThank you very much for your comment - have a fabulous Labour Day!
♥ Jessica
my dear - you are so brave and strong! but don´t overdue it - please! we need you!
ReplyDeletethe links are very interesting as your collections of the month are always, lots of fun readings! thanx!
hugs&kisses!!!!!!!!
Thank you deeply, my immensely sweet and caring friend. Fear not, I will try my very, very hardest not to. I find, interestingly, that often posting about things here on my blog helps hold me extra accountable (even if it's just to myself) and ensure that I do what I said I planned to - in this case pacing myself and relaxing more. Hopefully such will be the case in this instance.
Delete♥ Jessica
I always look fwd to your link love posts! They are always such fun and I get to find posts and articles I wouldn't known about otherwise! Thank you! And thank you for mentioned me! So sweet of you hun. Now on the overdoing yourself. I am beyond happy for all the changes but please do pace yourself. I know too well how overdoing can be a bad thing. I find myself totally incapacitated on my bed and I cannot budge bc the fatigue has taken over, its not a good things when kiddies or anyone needs you. I try my best to pace myself but hey like you, I would rather be doing than not doing. But we have to remember that if we do too much we won't be to do things we need to do. Take care of yourself dearest friend bc its important!!!! HUGS!
ReplyDeleteThank you my sweet, caring, and very understanding friend. That's very true - we're not able to be there for those who need us when we reach that point (which happens unto itself often for me anyhow - no need to add to the problem) and that's not a place I like to be in, as I've always been a headstrong, independent, natural caretaker who likes to be the one helping/doing for others.
DeleteDefinitely going to be pacing and resting way more from autumn onward - it's the only way to keep so many balls, to speak, up in the air at the same time without one or more crashing down in a flash.
Huge hugs & thanks,
♥ Jessica
Fabulous links!
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to read your September posts!
http://balearaitzart.blogspot.com.au/
These are some of my favorite posts of yours, I have been going back and looking at your past Link Love posts as well. I am now following many of the blogs you have shared with us. Please take it easy gal, and hold on to some of your candles. I know we'll all understand, we all want you to be as healthy as you can be. I'm glad that you are evaluating all the things in your life and working on balancing them better to keep your health as well as possible. Your the best Jessica,
ReplyDeleteKnitting in Pearls
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI'm envious of those who have the time to gaze at these amazing posts.. but, I think today is the day that I too will get the time (since it's raining, and not much else can be done in the afternoon).
I long for a good reading-time.
And you are providing the matherial.
So - thank you for that. :)
hug
Marija
It is my absolute pleasure, dear Marija. I often find that when putting together this monthly post, I end up going back, once it's live, and rereading many (if not all) of the links in it again myself because they spoke to me so much in the first place that they landed a spot in this post.
DeleteOur September has started off on an uncharacteristically rainy note here as well. I think that summer is packing its bag early this year and that both fall and winter will be long and chilly.
Lots of hugs & happy reading wishes,
♥ Jessica
I hope that you are really proud of how much you have achieved already this year, you have packed a lot of great stuff in. I hope that you get some chances to sit back and enjoy the results of all your hard work. You obviously know that you need to take it a bit easier for a while so I hope that you start to feel better quickly.
ReplyDeleteThat means a great deal to me, dear Kate, thank you deeply. I do know that yes, but would you believe it - and this is me in a total nutshell - if anything, I've been putting in even longer hours since this post. Bad, Jess, I know, and do sincerely plan to scale back a bit in the fall. I know that I have to do. If I don't do it by choice, the repercussions it will have on my health will force me to and that's really not a spot I want to find myself in if at all avoidable. Please feel free to hound me about taking it a bit easier, if you want, I promise I'll appreciate it and try to heed what you say.
Delete♥ Jessica
That made me giggle. I know too well that knowing you need to slow down and actually doing it are two completely different things and it isn't always easy, especially when you are enjoying what you are doing. However, since I have permission, in the nicest possible way, go and take a rest!x
DeleteI remember seeing Brittany's post about vintage work wear and loved it!! :) Since I'm a budding pant connoisseur/lover I enjoy seeing all posts about vintage pants.
ReplyDeleteI've fallen for pants big time this year myself, in a way that I haven't in a long time, so I was all over Brittany's lovely post, too. As we head into fall and winter, I suspect my Freddies and Heyday's jeans and trousers will be out in even greater force, very much including on our upcoming trip to Vancouver Island.
Delete♥ Jessica