Baby it's cold outside!

In lieu of the insanely frigid cold weather we're having, I thought I'd share some of my coats with you. Most vintage, some not~

First is my favorite "everyday" coat. It is ultra-thin. It's probably 10+ years old but I don't care, it's warm and easy to handle while shopping, ect. The lining zips out, but I always leave it in.

This is Kevin and I on our honeymoon out west. We drove everywhere~ on this day we were at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. It was my second time there. If you haven't been, it's an absolutely MUST see!





Here is my next fave... a vintage sage green coat from the late 50's. SO warm! A client of mine once gave me all of her vintage garments, and this was one of them. This was taken a few years ago, we were going out for a romantic dinner. The hat had been my Aunt Maudie's. This is one of my favorite pics of me because it shows how red my hair acutually is! (In most photos it looks brown!)



It has a real fur collar that I can stand up and hook in front. The gloves are new, chenille with faux fur cuffs. I have a fur scarf that matches beautifully, and I use it around my head instead of my neck... I'll have to snap a pic of that later!



I LOVE the great woven buttons!


Oh~ found one more. This was from last Christmas~


You may have seen this one before. What can I say, I adore this vintage leaopard set. It was my Grandma's.
It is too big for me, but there's no way I'm altering this vintage gem. I've got it cinched in back~

I'm wearing this with a 60's knit outfit from the same person, (Mary), who gave me the sage coat above. Modern vintage inspired shoes...

A closeup of print,


This next coat was givin to me by someone who just "knew I loved vintage"! I'm uncertain of it's age. It's wool and has a vintage Famous Barr tag inside, which was a grand department store here in MO until Macy's took it over in recent years. I like this one because it has an Edwardian look to it, I can wear it with my Titanic or Victorian looking garb. You can't really tell in the photos, but it has a great gimp/braided trim. It's too big for me too, but looks easy to take in... one of these days!
I also like to call this my Mary Poppins coat~

I'll try to get a better pic later!


Light leather jacket~ Kevin says he doesn't like this coat. I think my mom said that too? I don't know why.... but I LIKE it!

Kevin looks nice in his leather jacket too.... I SO wish this wasn't blurry. It's rare to get Kevin to smile for the camera. It's also rare to get a family shot of us!

BTW, Nova only had his jacket off while I was trying to get photos for our Christmas card that year! See~


OK... this is getting LOOOOONG, so I'm only going to share one more. But believe me, I have others!!!
A beautiful white faux fur coat that was also my Grandma's...(Dad's side), as well as the beaded handbag. These photos were taken for a special occasion, but I'll save that for a another post. (It was an internet thang!)
Anyhoo, these were taken at the Arch in St. Louis, which my Grandpa Nova, (Mom's side), helped build. He did concrete work.



Ok, I lied. I'm going to throw in a few more because they were taken on the same day... and since we're already here.... LOL!
Mom got me this vintage faux mink stole for Christmas last year. Snazzy eh?
I just love going to the FOX.

I bought this vintage 50's shelf bust taffeta dress at an antique store for only $15! It's WAY too big, I've got it cinched in about 8 inches. Needless to say I do NOT fill out the shelf bust area.
(BTW, I only mention that things are too big for me because I am proud that I have lost a ton of weight; success story in side bar. AND because I do not like to alter vintage clothing if I can help it.)
This photo was taken inside Union Station in St. Louis.

Once home, I did not want to take off this gorgeous dress but I was chilly... what to do? Put on a vintage angora sweater of course! It has the most gorgeous motif on the top. I'll try to get a closeup another time.

Walk along with me...

Since Nova started preschool in August, I've been walking in the park after I drop him off. You might have noticed on my sidebar that I've lost 80 pounds. I did it with Weight Watcher's CORE and without exercise. But I'm going to have to *step it up* to get the last few pounds off and tone up.

It's so peaceful. Hardly anyone there at that time.

I love the curved pathways.

Here's a glimpse of the lake~ I didn't walk around it this day.
Can you smell the fresh morning air?

Big beautiful trees, like a forest in a fairytale picture book.

A beautiful newer home across the street from the park. All I want to know is, what do these people do for a living?! Actually I believe they're retired, I see a guy putzing around on a golf cart all the time.

Y'all know I LOVE old houses, but ~ I could live here. I could LIVE here.

I could sit there for hours! Can you imagine getting lost in a good book and listening to the waterfall? If not, perhaps you should click on the photo and take a second look.

Fairytale-esque just like the trees~ sigh.........

Ah, but there's a gorgeous old home right down the road! They have a wonderful barn~

A fabulous four square home with an awesome tile roof~

And this beautiful creature. She's not out every day, so I was so glad to capture this shot!



I'm dying to know what that cool fern(?) is on the right. I should've knocked on the door and asked, lol! Click to see, it's really fat and bushy.



View of the park from the house above~

Stay tuned, I'll soon take you for a stroll around the lake! For now I'll leave you with this bright orange tree peeking out at you. This is just past the waterfall house.

As God as my witness...

I'll never be FAT (or hungry) again!

Today I want to share my weight loss experiences with you. I have lost over 60 pounds twice. The following is an essay my Weight Watcher's leader urged me to write when I hit my goal last February. I won second place! I'd like to lose a few more pounds though. And let me say I did not exercise this whole time. I think that's what it'll take to tone up and get to my personal (not WW) goal.

After 18 years of being overweight and having an obsession with food, I AM CURED! I started putting on weight my junior year of high school in 1989. I had always had bad eating habits, but cheerleading kept the pounds away. The exercise stopped and the pounds came on quickly. By 1995 I weighed 206 pounds at 5’4”. I spent many years depressed and became reclusive. I didn’t want anyone to see how fat I had gotten. I tried Weight Watchers a few times but when I would have a gain I’d get embarrassed and quit.

Finally after yo-yo dieting and trying every fad diet out there I lost 64 pounds and weighed in at 142 the summer of 2004. A few short months later my husband and I found out I was expecting! Ah!! Bring on the food! I’m pregnant, I can eat whatever I want…. And I did! pizza, powdered sugar doughnuts, Nutter Butter cookies, Cheezits and 100 Grand Bars were my staples. I piled on the helpings, especially at potlucks. Oh and cheesecake, I forgot to mention the cheesecake!!

Nine months later my delivery weight was 216+ pounds. I couldn’t wait to lose the weight again, as I had had just a small taste of how it felt! Plus I collect vintage clothing from 1800-1960 and it’s hard to find large sizes! I started right away with fad diet “A”. It just wasn’t working. Luckily a friend told me about the new CORE program from Weight Watchers. I decided to try it because Weight Watchers had always seemed like the most practical and realistic plan. This time I joined with no holds barred. I was going to make goal!

Core is absolutely wonderful! I can eat any time I am hungry, and as much as I need to feel satisfied. Plus I still get points to use for treats. Learning to listen to my body has made all the difference. I no longer gorge myself. I love the Core list and have tried many new recipes. Stomping out sugar and refined foods has done wonders for the way I feel. As long as my kitchen is Core friendly, sticking to plan is a breeze! I don’t feel I’m dieting at all. I love going to meetings and my leader is so fun and supportive. Journaling is key as well as shrugging off a gain.

After averaging about a pound a week I hit my goal plus achieved Lifetime status … and it didn’t take me 10 years to do it! I feel cured and so free from my food addiction. Core has also brought family time back to the table. No more running through the drive-thru in a hurry. We make meals from scratch and sit down at the table to eat. We can still go out for pizza or dessert and I don’t feel guilty. I’ve been maintaining my weight of 138 pounds, I’m dressing vintage and life is good!

To view a slideshow of my yo-yoing over the years, click here. Or use this link to see the photos and descriptions individually. You will also see a list of some of what I normally eat now.

I was a huge Atkins fan for quite some time. But it really only works if you do it correctly as written. And it's just not practical for life. I've got to have some different textured foods! I always said if they could mix Atkins with Weight Watcher's points, that would be the perfect diet. And basically, that's what CORE is. Core doesn't eliminate any food groups. There are certain foods that are not core, but you get so many points a week to eat those. It could be anything you want! If you are struggling with weight issues, I cannot reccomend Weight Watcher's CORE enough. Your pounds will be *Gone With the Wind*.....

And now for some Gone With the Wind trivia~ Did you know that Vivien Leigh refused to do the "wretching" noises in this scene? It's the gagging of Olivia de Havilland (Melanie) you hear!