Vintage "Carmencita" dress, Chanel bag, Sesto Meucci heels

Vintage "Carmencita" dress, Chanel bag, Sesto Meucci heels, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

What a weekend! Last Saturday was J's birthday, & for once, I didn't have to work. I love what I do for a living, but this time of year tends to be busy & I often end up with gigs on J's birthday, our anniversary, or both. We decided to celebrate by making the weekend revolve around two of our favorite things: food & movies.

On Saturday afternoon, we saw "Contagion", which is brilliant & very scary because the plot line is so realistic. The characters are well-written & acted & there are several strong female roles, something one doesn't always get from mainstream Hollywood. Following the movie, we went home, changed into dressier attire, & headed to The Prime Rib, our favorite steakhouse, for dinner.

When we arrived at the restaurant, the manager came out to meet our car. How often does that happen? Okay, he's a great guy & we're Facebook friends, but really, J & I felt like movie stars! Once inside, we had delicious drinks (a rye Manhattan for J, a Champagne cocktail for me) before settling into our cozy table. There, J feasted on roasted tomato soup & the "split cut" of Prime Rib (despite its name, not a small steak!) while I tucked into a Caesar salad, followed by the most perfectly cooked piece of rockfish I have ever eaten. We shared a fabulous bottle of Chianti & two side dishes: green beans & tomatoes as well as mashed potatoes. Dessert was a slice of chocolate mousse pie, gratis because we were celebrating J's birthday, & of course I had to accompany my share of the sweet with a glass of Chartreuse. If the food sounds old-school, well, it is, & it's the sort of cuisine that's becoming increasingly hard to find on restaurant menus, especially high-end ones. Service was marvelous, as always; we left full, happy, & in my case, slightly tipsy.

J & I love all kinds of food, from fine dining to street-fair fare. We can both find dishes we love from almost any culture or region. When dining out, we just want to have a great experience, especially on a birthday, anniversary, or other "big night." Alas, many establishments fall short in at least one of the areas that matter to us on all occasions: food, wine list, atmosphere, & clientele. Gimmicky menus, bar food at crazy prices, & snobbish customers who are rude to the staff (& perhaps even to other diners!) are not for us. Fortunately, none of the above was in evidence on Saturday night.

One great meal deserves another, no? That was our line of thinking on Sunday, when we headed to Gertrude's, another favorite spot, for an amazing brunch. J had a mimosa & a garden omelet; I chose a "Dirty Gertie" (spicy Bloody Mary, garnished with a shrimp) & Eggs Gertrude (eggs Benedict, but with crab cakes instead of meat.) Naturally, we each had a cup of red crab soup to start - not doing so would have been unthinkable! Again, food, drinks, & service were superb.

We finished off our festive weekend by watching Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" on satellite TV. Missed this one in theaters; & what a shame - the special effects are marvelous & actually enhance the plot rather than being an excuse for lack of one. All of the performances are terrific, as is the script. Even on the small screen, not to be missed.

And now it's Monday & we're back to reality, but our anniversary is at the end of this month, so perhaps more weekend decadence awaits!

NY skyline skirt detail

NY skyline skirt detail, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

I just had to add a detail pic of today's find. Check out the Chrysler Building at top left!

NY skyline skirt

NY skyline skirt, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

I can be a snob about antique/vintage reproductions. Many are dumbed-down in design & quality, usually with the excuse that they've been "updated", but it always looks to me as if the manufacturer just didn't want to put in the effort to make a good copy of the older item. When J & I stopped in our favorite antiques mall this afternoon, I found this skirt on a rack & gasped. I was sure it was "the real deal" - from the 50's - but in amazing condition. Was it dead stock? I looked inside the waistband for a tag & nearly fell over when I saw a label that read "twenty one". Yes, as in Forever Twenty-One, the mall store. I've found some cute things in there over the years, including an embroidered satin cocktail dress that some of my friends still insist is D&G, but this is the best retro-repro piece I've seen them produce. Even if this isn't a copy of an older garment, it's brilliant IMO; nothing ersatz about it. The fabric is nice, the colors & pattern are true to the era it's trying to evoke, & it's got enough of a sweep that I can definitely wear a crinoline under it. I have no idea when this skirt was in stores & our clothing dealer friends weren't in their booth today, so if you're after it for yourself, my advice would be to check F21's website & then eBay. Snagged this baby for $18 - a steal, even though it's several inches too large in the waist. I know a very good alterations lady, but I may have to belt this baby & wear her once before surrendering her to needle & thread.

Jet parure, probably mourning jewelry, circa 1860

Jet parure, probably mourning jewelry, circa 1860, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

More fabulously unaffordable goodies from last weekend's antiques show. This is probably the nicest complete parure of jet jewelry that I've ever seen. If I'd had $4500 to spare, it would have come home with me, but alas, we had to give it back to the dealer after he was kind enough to let me take a pic. J loves this sort of set, too, as much for the case (original & bearing the name of the Regent Street shop at which it was originally purchased) as for the contents. Every single piece in this group was in amazing condition, no mean feat given its age & the fact that many women wore mourning clothes & accessories for four years or more after the death of a spouse or child.

The aesthetic beauty of antiques is only part of their appeal, at least for me. I'm not interested in collecting for reasons of status, either. I love the social & cultural significance behind the objects, even when, as here, they were most likely purchased during less-than-happy times. I wonder how I would have dealt with wearing mourning? The nonconformist in me would have been appalled at being expected to wear only certain styles & colors due to societal expectations lest I be accused of not grieving sufficiently or having loose morals. Both men & women wore mourning attire during the Victorian era, but standards were stricter for women. The feminist in me bristles at that, as at many things, but I must admit I'm glad beautiful objects like these were created & that some have survived for us look at & ponder.

A diva can dream, can't she?

A diva can dream, can't she?, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

Last week was pretty weird. First we had an earthquake, then the entire eastern seaboard anxiously awaited the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I'm pleased to say J & I only lost power for about 30 minutes, & overnight at that. Many of our friends & colleagues weren't so lucky. Our sun porch roof also leaked a bit. but it's been known to do that in far smaller storms.

In the midst of Mother Nature's drama, I paid 3 visits to the Baltimore Summer Antiques Fair. I saw lots of friends, including some European dealers I only get to chat with once a year, & of course I had a chance to ogle all sorts of fabulous old stuff. At this point, our house is pretty well-stocked with furniture, china, glassware, etc, although you'll never catch me admitting that around J ("But we don't have *green* wineglasses yet, honey!") I'm still on a budget, too. So, the show was primarily a social event/learning opportunity for me, as it has been in some years past. I've been attending this temptation-packed show for over 15 years & have learned to set my budget before leaving the house. If there's nothing truly amazing in my price range, I leave empty-handed.

Enough maturity, sense, & good financial judgment for now. Time for a trip to Fantasyland. In this pic, I am wearing the most amazing necklace I have ever seen. I often go for elaborate designs - think Moderne pieces from the 1940's or delicate-but-not-cutesy Deco filigree - but here is photographic proof that simplicity need not be bland. Not if you have big enough rocks, anyway. I can't even remember the total carat weight, but yes, those are diamonds - big ones - all the way around my neck. They're set in gold topped with sterling silver, which was common practice before white gold & platinum came into use. The necklace dates from the Victorian era & I would love to know who has owned it over the years. It's obviously been lovingly cared for, & who wouldn't treat such a spectacular piece like the work of art it is? I hung out at this booth for a long, long time - two days in a row - just so I could enjoy the sensation of having all this gorgeousness around my neck. Okay, the fact that the dealer was hot & all of his merchandise was spectacular didn't hurt, either. I think he actually believed that J & I were going to buy this fabulous bit of bling, which is too hilarious for words given its price tag: $130,000, a/k/a more than we currently owe on our house. Yes, you read that correctly. Most reluctantly, we gave the necklace back to the jeweler.

I know there are people who love to moralize about expensive wearables, especially the kind that sparkle. "There are people starving", "No one NEEDS that sort of thing", blah blah blah. That's very true, but do most of us *need* our of-the-moment tech gadgets, super-duper coffee makers, pricey jeans, or "good" bags? Of course not. We buy them because we like them. If J & I had the wherewithal, this necklace would have been mine in a second. We don't. We never will. We're both perfectly okay with that. There's more to life than obsessing over material things you'll never be able to own. Cool stuff enhances life - a lot! - but it won't make up for being in a career you hate or a soul-crushing relationship just to have a certain amount of purchasing power. Leave that to the Joneses & enjoy your life.

Deco Etc's booth at the 2011 Baltimore Summer Antiques Show

Deco Etc's booth at the 2011 Baltimore Summer Antiques Show, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

It's that time of year again. The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show is going on through Sunday at the Baltimore Convention Center. I've been going to this show for over 15 years & jokingly (?) refer to it as a religious holiday. If you are even the least bit interested in antiques, regardless of period, & can get to this event, you must. All of the "usual" stuff is available: jewelry, handbags, china, silver, furniture, etc., but you can also find super-binoculars that came off of the Berlin Wall & a US Navy ship, an actual lobster cast in nickel, & other fabulous oddities. The dealers at this show tend to be fun people who really know their stuff, so it's easy to spend half an hour or more chatting at one booth.

I cruised the show for about four hours last night & didn't see half of it, even at a rapid pace, so am going back today & tomorrow (have to work Sunday, or I'd probably go then, too!) Favorite booths this far: Deco Etc., Frank's Specialties, Jo & Olly, Daniels Antiques, Deco 2 Midcentury, Bridges Over Time, & Jane Fletcher. And now, if you'll excuse me, I must get dressed & head for the show!

Shabby Apple dress. This could be yours... or mine, hehe... free!

Shabby Apple dress. This could be yours... or mine!, originally uploaded by retrogemkitty7.

I'm half-Irish & I'm told I wear jewel tones very, very well, so you can imagine my reaction when I saw this gorgeous green dress on my friend's blog, Consume or Consumed. I'd never heard of this brand, Shabby Apple, but apparently their designs tend toward feminine/vintage-inspired styles. Uh, count me in!

So here's the deal. If you'd like to win this baby in your size, *free*, you need to be a subscriber of Consume or Consumed. You can gain extra entries (one possible entry per action) by doing the following:

Blog the giveaway with a link to the post.
Like Shabby Apple on Facebook.
Like Consume or Consume on Facebook.
Tweet the giveaway at jesspgh (with a link to the tweet.)

Here are some more contest deets, lovingly ripped off from Consume or Consumed:

The contest will close at 11:59pm EST on Thursday, September 1, 2011.

The winner will be chosen one week from today via drawing on random.org to receive the Mariposa Grove dress which will ship directly from Shabby Apple. I will contact and announce the winner on Friday morning.

If you can't wait that long, Shabby Apple has offered an exclusive 10% off discount to readers of Consume or Consumed. Use coupon code consumeorconsumed10off (available and active until September 24th, 2011) at checkout. Have fun exploring the adorable women's dresses, little girl's dresses, and maternity dresses available on Shabby Apple's website!

Here's a link to the original contest on Consume or Consumed:

http://consumerconsumed.blogspot.com/2011/08/win-adorable-dress-in-your-size-from.html