The Jersey City Resevoir

Over our blogger break we took our first visit to the jersey city reservoir.  This is a park made in a former reservoir that has been closed for decades.   Its so very much under constuction and the walking areas are limited because most of the park consists of the lake and a heavily wooded area that even in the middle of the city is heavily populated with birds and other wildlife.  The reservoir is a popular setting for fishing and kayaking.   On the day we took Norbert it was hard to see too much but you can see the potential for a really love park.  If you live in the area I would encourage you to visit and support the park.  I can definitely see a dog beach on the shore of the lake, its the perfect spot.

On a very sad note we were heart broken to learn that our friend Gretta from the Idaho Pug Ranch passed suddenly at a very young age.

At times like this I can think of nothing to say, but every time a someone passes I am reminded of this quote from Carl Sagan, one of my heroes.

Vintage Style Icon Olive Thomas -The First Flapper

 

 

Image Source

While other cinematic flappers, primarily Louise Brooks and Clara Bow, remain well known decades after their deaths, the first actress to carry the flapper moniker has been largely forgotten.   Olive Thomas who began her career as a model and Ziegfeld girl was widely considered the most beautiful women of her time.  Her career begain in 1914 when she won the "The Most Beautiful girl in New York city contest."  Modeling jobs



image souce                   

 

image source

and a spot in the Ziegfield follies followed.  Olive would perform clad in balloons which the wealthy spectators could pop. 

 

 




                                          Image Source

Soon Olive was appearing in films

image source


and in 1916 she married Mary Pickford's younger brother Jack.

image source

  In 1920 Olive made one of her final films, The Flapper, which fortunately survives to this day.  

 In The Flapper Olive plays Ginger Thomas a high spirited 16 year old girl in a small town with a conservative father. 



Concerned over her adventurous spirit Ginger's father decides to send her to a boarding school in chilly Lake placid New York.  Where Ginger and her class where charmingly nautical uniforms and plenty of lovely early 1920s winter gear.

I was kind of excited that Olive's hat rather resembles one of my own vintage hats, a tam from the early 1900s that I got from Adeline's Attic on Etsy.

And yes I know the gloves look quite goofy with this outfit but I forgot to take them off when I removed the coat to photograph the sweater.

 Of course in the film Ginger is not thrilled with the uniforms and winter coats and hats.  She is bored with the isolated school and when she meets an handsome older man, she decides to lie about her age in order to get a date.  With the help of her boarding school companions Ginger sheds her modest school girl clothes and undergoes the transformation into a "flapper."

image source

image source

 

 

Of course complications ensue and the film is a typical charming 1920s comedy with a fantastic performance from Olive.  

 

  Sadly Olive made only one other film after The Flapper, 1920s Everybody's Sweet Heart. On September 10, 1920 she died after accidently drinking mercury bichloride.  Olive's death was one of the first real Hollywood scandals, but a decade later she was largely forgotten.  Thanks to efforts of film preservations and historians she is now enjoying something of a revival.If you would like to see more of the charming Olive you can rent The Flapper from Netflix or watch the entire film on you tube.

 

 

 

 

Product Review-Star Strek Scarfs from UndMyUmbrella

As a n unapologetic life-long trekkie, although one with a sense of humor about my favorite show, I have a weakness for all things trek.  I particularly enjoy Star Trek themed dog accessories.  Already they have t-shirts:

 

 

Sweaters:

 



Tags, Collars:

 

 

Uniforms and Toys:

 

 

 

Now thanks to  UndMyUmbrella on Etsy they can add Scarfs to their list of federation approved accessories:

 

 

 

I love these scarfs!  Easy to slip on over the collars, easy to clean in the wash, inexpensive; the entire set was only 11 dollars, and super cute.   These are the perfect comfortable, low key,  accessories for my dogs to wear to declare our love of our favorite show.   Well, while they may not love the show, they sure love spend the hours we spend cuddled on the couch watching it together.   I strongly recommend UndMyUmbrella scarfs, and if Star Trek is not your thing, not to worry because they have many other scarfs.

 

 

 

Vintage Outfit Post-Summertime Checks and Cherries

 

Summer is officially winding down with the last official day around the corner, September 21st, and the generally accepted last day, Labor Day, in the past, but it has been hotter around here this week then it has all year long.   So I thought one last summer vintage outfit post was appropriate.  I've always been a fan of 1940s style pinafores for summer, they are sort of casually comfortable vintage clothes that most appeal to me.

Add caption



image source

image source                    

Maybe it goes back to the jaunty pinafore my American girl doll sported and which I always coveted.

 

 

What ever the case pinafores are comfortable and fun.  Which is certainly the case with my summer pinafore from Hey Day Vintage, one of my favorite sources for repro clothing.  Hey Day clothing is indistinguishable from genuine vintage, accept that it arrives at your door in flawless condition.    My pinafore looked quite reminiscent of the one my doll wore so long ago, and though at 36 I may be getting a bit old for pinafores.  I still love this one and plan to wear it for many summers to come.

 

I took some shots of my pinafore when I took the dogs for a walk in the park.

 
 

 



 

I paired my pinafore with a late 1940s hat from Adelines Attic on Etsy, a red bakelite bangle I found at a thrift shop, and my favorite vintage scare crow barrette. 

 I like to think the barrette made reference to my all time favorite vintage pinafore sighting:
 

 

 image source





Worldess Wednesday-Late Summer Skies

 

 

Tasty Tuesday-Whisker Biscuits Product Review

With a family of dogs with a wide range of sizes, 14 lb Ping to 95 lb Norbert, and a range of tastes, it can sometimes be hard for us to find a treat  that everyone agrees upon. 




 However, over our blogger break we tried a treat that met with everyone's approval, Doggy Donut Holes from Whisker Biscuits. 


 The pups dad and I picked up a mixed sampler of these treats at the Milford Oyster Festival and honestly I didn't figure they would be much of a hit.  Since they were hard I thought the older pugs, Tubby and Ping, wouldn't go for them as they generally only like soft treats.  Well I couldn't have been more wrong all of our dogs went crazy for these!!!  They were gone in a day and Norbert, our pickiest eater who has been known to turn up his nose at pancakes, was actually barking at the empty container hoping it would magically refill.  (Note the only reason Weasley and Ping aren't pictured below is  because they gulped the treats so fast I couldn't get a picture).

 

 

 

 

Thankfully Whisker biscuits are a healthy obsession.  Made in the USA with USDA certified human grade ingredients they offer a wide range of products from biscuits to chicken and beef jerky to healthy beer flavored treats!  They have something for every dog.  They also offer a variety of monthly plans
to insure your pets will never run out of their favorite snacks.   Or  you can order treats one time for a flat shipping rate of $4.95, orders over 50 dollars ship for free.  I'm quite sure that our dogs pumpkin this Halloween and their stockings this Christmas will be over flowing with Whiskers Biscuits.