I supposed friends-since-third-grade counts as retro, yeah? Truly, Marian is one of my nearest and dearest friends, though she lives in Chicago and I'm located in Canton, Ohio. We spent our elementary school mornings on the long bus ride to our private school where we eventually played high school volleyball together and bonded over silly and serious things. You know, boys, and literature.

When I was a sophomore in high school, we decided to get dressed up in 1950s dresses for homecoming. Truly wishing we could go back in time and not get our dresses from Macy's, but buy legitimate period dresses, we have spend the past eight years dreaming of doing a vintage-themed photoshoot together.

So, here we are. College graduates, and finally getting around to that little photoshoot. Of course, my dress is a standard 1960s semi-casual/almost semi/formal dress, while Marian's is a legit 1950s cocktail number. It's very typical, if you know us. Casual versus Fancy Pants. (I know, you never thought I was casual, but you just don't know Marian. heh) It's just I've simply had the most horrible luck in finding a 1950s cocktail dress in my price range, and so we decided to go for it anyway! It's all about juxtaposition, yeah? And also, it's her birthday in a week, and so this was my gift to my dear friend.

All of the photos were taken in/around a building on Main St. in downtown Akron. Afterwards, we went to Bricco for pasta, pizza, and cajun martinis. Perfect day.

Hi friends! I would like to introduce to you the five lovely ladies who are sponsoring my blog for the month of September. I am so pleased at how unique each one of their creative views is and am delighted to share with you their corner of the interweb.

Stacey sells to you the fashionable clothes she has known and loved. If you adored it on her blog, you might find it in her shop!

Patty loves vintage and keeps an eye out for unique gems which she stocks in her shop for other vintage loving friends. There's plenty of drool-worthy treasures at Patty Cake's!

Hannah inspires with her well-curated blog posts as well as providing graphic design services. I'm particularly pleased with her love for old Hollywood!

Kari has a shop on Etsy full of original designs to wear and accessorize. She also blogs about fashion and fun day-to-day things which are sure to charm you.

Sarah loves to be crafty and share a bit of her creative life with us. She also has a shop where she sells pretty bits and bobs for scrapbooking, crafting, and even accessorizing yourself.

Do visit these wonderful women and say hello! I'm sure they'd be charmed to meet you, if they don't know you already.

Guess what? I'm in Chicago for five days, and my wonderful trip begins with one of my favorite festivals of all- The Renegade Craft Fair. I will be wandering around Wicker Park (and other parts of Chicago) this weekend, soaking in the sights, and buying some handmade goods. If you see me out and about, do come say hello!