When I look through my grandmother's scrapbooks from the 1940's, I get the strongest urge to jump in my time machine and travel back 70 years to be her friend. Throughout my childhood, she made a practice of calling me up and seeing if I wanted to come over and hang out with her, go garage-saling, catch a baseball game, or maybe even go fishing. I used to love spending time with her, riding around in her red Mustang convertible and always joking about one thing or another.

The other day I spent some time in my Grandpa's basement and just looked through her old photos. I chuckled at some of the funny photos she had taken with her friends when they were in high school. Dancing on the rooftops, pushing each other out of boats, or just making silly faces for the camera. It reminded me of my own life now. You might even catch me wearing the same fashions too!

I wrote about my Grandma, Beverly Jo, a while back, and will probably do it again. March is Women's Appreciation Month, and this lady is most definitely my hero. I miss her a lot, but I cherish her legacy the most.

Resolution #5:
Explore your town.
Guest Blog post by Jennifer
Photos by: Tom B. 

Hi y?all!  It?s Jennifer from Sally Jane Vintage here, pitching in for Mandi while she?s taking a break.  When Mandi asked me to do a little guest blog here, I was tickled pink to help out.  And when she suggested an ?around town? post, I knew just what I wanted to do? a vintage shopping guide of Lancaster!  So, one day last week Tom and I headed out for a day of walking around town and stopping in all the vintage shops along the way.

I always joke that vintage shopping is my therapy, but really I?m only half-kidding.  Searching for hidden treasures in vintage stores and flea markets always takes my mind off anything that?s ailing me.  When we made the move from Los Angeles to Lancaster nearly three years ago (I can?t believe it?s been that long!) I was so sad to leave behind all of my beloved vintage stores.  Los Angeles has such a wealth of vintage shops and I was quite spoiled by it all.

Luckily, Lancaster?s vintage shopping scene is nothing to scoff at!  There are some real treasures here and if you?re ever visiting the area you shouldn?t miss them.  We started out the morning with a stop at Mammalicious.  This was the first store in Lancaster I discovered, and as soon as I walked in the very first time, I knew my worries were over.  It?s stocked from floor to ceiling with quirky home accents, vintage clothes, accessories and at this time of year, vintage Christmas ornaments.  A little piece of heaven!

Right across the street is Zap & Co, a Lancaster landmark.  Zap was found in 1973 and is one of the nation?s oldest vintage stores.  As soon as you walk through the doors, you?re overwhelmed with the sheer amount of vintage stuffed into one small space.  There are cabinets full of deco and Bakelite jewelry, racks upon racks of clothes and an amazing selection of hard to find books.

Next we wandered down the block to Building Character.  This isn?t strictly a vintage shop, although it does house Smilin? Gal Vintage, which you may recognize as my Etsy selling partner.  Kris always has a great selection of dresses, shoes and hats to pillage through.  Once I had sufficiently rummaged through all the vintage, we wandered back to the warehouse portion of the store that serves as an architectural salvage yard.  There are piles upon piles of old doors, windows, school chairs and desks.  Every time Tom and I walk through there, we want to start redecorating our house.

Last, we stopped into the newest vintage shop in town, Hinesite.  This place has quickly become a favorite of mine.  The owner, over the last 30 years, has curated one of the most amazing collections of vintage I?ve ever seen!  It?s quite a magical space, filled with everything from 40s rayon dresses to vintage wool Pendleton blankets.  Tom tried on a 30s wool blazer and looked like he stepped right off the set of Boardwalk Empire.  I tried on several 40s wool ski sweaters but none of them were quite right.  Then I was heartbroken over a 1910s striped wool jacket that was wonderful in every way except that it was a wee child?s size.  In the end, I didn?t leave empty handed.  Tom was sweet enough to surprise me by buying a lovely Jonathan Logan dress I?d been eying in the shop for a while.

We finished up the day with lunch at a new Thai restaurant? coconut soup and fried tofu wedges for both of us, then Pad See Ew for me and Thai Basil tofu for Tom.  Yum!  It was pretty much a perfect day.

Well kids, I've experiences a tragedy today. My camera died! It's at the doctor right now, and it looks like I may finally be upgrading to a better camera body. I had planned to take photos of my ascot dress and sweater look that I'm sporting today, but it looks like that won't be happening. So, instead, I thought I would share the inspiration behind the outfit!

Images: 1: Life Magazine, 3-5: Valentino Vamp