My God...Dior

From Tom and Lorenzo:
John Galliano once again goes back to the archives of the House of Dior for his inspirations, offering beautiful, whimsical, feminine looks that remind you of classic Dior without replicating it outright.

Calling Nora Charles

Via a link from Mary at Vintage Kitsch & Collectibles.

Winter in the City 1940's....

Downtown Little Rock in the 40's.....or is it?
Click to see the full photograph.



Nice bit of luck makes for a fun composition.

How to Respond

On Little Green Footballs some mook posted this about the shooting today:

I believe that people are ultimately responsible for their own actions. If it turns out he is a lefty wacko who thinks she did not go far enough provide health care or some other lefty cause who will you blame then?

In response a most awesome regular poster responded:

People are ultimately responsible for their own actions. However, if it turns out that the shooter was motivated by violent rhetoric from left-wing figures, I will hold THEM accountable for what they said.

See, this is the thing. If the Baader-Meinhof Gang, or the Weathermen, or WTF, come back from the crypt and start spewing hate and blowing shit up, I will not be backing them, because, you see, I am an American liberal, and they are freakazoid assholes, and will be even if I find one or two basic ideas we agree on. If their rhetoric starts to be parroted by Democrats in Washington, I will not vote for those people, and will actively campaign for non-crazy Democrats.

And I certainly won't be caught dead on LGF pretending that the Weathermen are 'really a mix' of extreme right-wing and left-wing ideas, I will just be condemning their asses as radical terrorists. I don't like radical terrorists.

This isn't so hard. No conservative is diminished by the actions of radical wingnuts. It's a fucking radical wingnut! But pretending that there is no problem, that the rhetoric isn't out there, that it isn't bad, and that we don't have a problem, is just plain dumb.

And all I can say is THIS!

Dear Sarah.

Dear Sarah step up, be an adult and please take a bit of personal responsibility for your part in how crazy things have gotten. It does not matter why. What matters is that what you said could have resulted in a shooting. As a public figure you have a responsibility for the tone of the conversations. In an effort to tone down the rhetoric you might want to apologize for the targets and vow to never use gun/violent language when it comes to political rivals.
Or make maps.
Maps seem to get you in trouble.
There should be no place in our society for that type of talk.

and I'll begin by apologizing for anything I might have said in the past.
Now it is your turn Sarah.

And a Happy New Year (with the Thin Man)...

Happy New Year....

Enjoy some epic drinking with the Charleses.

Oh Yeah....Merry Christmas!

Time for my yearly "Christmas Nap", but before I lay down, here is the most awesome creepy Christmas poem ever by Neil Gaiman (NICHOLAS WAS) and animated by the folks at Vimeo.
If you enjoy Nightmare Before Christmas, you will enjoy this short video.

39 Degrees North: Christmas Card 2010 from 39 Degrees North on Vimeo.

Christmas Tree

Oh Ye Of Little Faith

In light of today's historic nature this is just a reminder for those who were bitching how much Obama sucked and was so weak just a few weeks ago.

Cats in Planters

I'm sure there is a website that collects pictures of cats curled up in planters somewhere...here are mine.

Baby It is Cold Outside!

Two great vintage coats listed today!

1940's Black Gabardine swing coat with swanky top stitching.



1950's Brown wool swing coat with velvet inserts.

Adorable

I got this adorable desk calendar in the mail today...it is too sweet and just right for my desk.
Purchased from Sweetlifepaper on Etsy.

Haven

I'm sick of all the "Obama is the worst President evah" from all the libs/progressives/whiny ass babies on the internet.
So here's a haven from the crazy:
The Only Adult in the Room



EDIT:
I just wanted to add that yes, not everything Obama has done or is doing or will do makes me happy, BUT I blame the majority of our problems on the Congress he gets to work with. I think instead of bitching about how Obama has failed Progressives and liberals and talking about primarying him in 2012 (and screw you Daily Kos I can't even visit you anymore) the true conversation should be how to get rid of the Blue Dog Democrats in the House and Senate who refuse to support the President's (or the Democratic party's) agenda.

Dear Yankee Candle,

Seriously?
There is NO FRAKING way it should take you 10-12 days to ship an order from your website. It would have been faster to have a friend go to a Yankee Candle store, buy what I want and ship it to me via priority mail.
And yes, I should have read the shipping info...but who would think it would take 10-12 fraking days to get an item from ya'll.
I would go out of business if it took me that long to ship an item.
Sheesh.

Signed,
a moron who is still going to patiently wait for my order because I really, really want that North Pole Reed Diffuser....it better smell good.

All Will Love and Fear Me....

Reality sucks.
Thank God for designers like Chinese Couturier Guo Pei who allows us to see inside her overthetop "White Witch-Red Queen-Scheherazade" Chinese fantasy:

Make sure you go to T Lo and checkout the whole set of photographs AND the video. You must watch the video.

So Sick

Yeah, not feeling well.
Head and chest.
Ugh.

My Kindle 2 just got here.
Pretty.
$89 Black Friday Bitches!

Paula Dean's Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf is just. so. wrong. for you, but it is what heaven probably tastes like.

Cake Tips

I have been messing around with cake recipes the last 6 months.
My favorite has been the Coconut Cake and an Italian Cream Cake I got from America's Test Kitchen.
Yum, but pains in the ass, so they are not cakes for just everyday.
I tried their newest yellow cake recipe and while it was very good, it was not that much better then a box cake mix. What I did take away from it was the trick of making the cake according to the package (in my case a Duncan Hines Moist French Vanilla) except in regards to the eggs. Here I put in one whole egg and 2 eggs yolks (set the whites to the side) then mix according to package...though I always add a bit more vanilla. After that is done you whip those egg whites into stiff peaks and then just gently fold it into your mix until the white streaks are gone.
You get a fluffier and lighter cake.
So I go for an easy cake in exchange for a homemade butter cream icing.

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (60-65) cut into chunks
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 Dutch Processed Cocoa (I use either the Hersey's)
pinch salt
3/4 cup light corn syrup
vanilla
8 ounces chocolate*, melted and cooled a bit*

So I melt the chocolate in a double boiler and set aside.
Put the butter, sugar, coca and salt in processor and pulse till smooth...maybe scarping sides once or twice.
Then add the corn syrup and vanilla, process until just combined
Scrape sides and add melted chocolate (see note*) that is 80-100 degrees
Process until smooth and creamy (10-15 seconds)
Use right away or make ahead and keep in fridge (it will stiffen up and you will need to get it back to room temp.

*So here are the notes about the chocolate.
They used Godiva baking chocolate (milk or semi-sweet) which I have, but today I used half Baker's semi-sweet and half Baker's German Chocolate and I like that mix better.

Enjoy.

20% Discount From Damn Good Vintage

Hope everyone had a fine Thanksgiving.
I had stove issues so you can guess how mine went....

Anyway, here is a Black Friday/CyberMonday coupon that you can use in my Esty shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/damngoodvintage
Use the coupon code BUYONLINE

I have all my items listed there so nothing will be missed.
IF you are interested in vintage patterns from Sew-Retro just drop me a line and I will send out an invoice for you.

Sexy, What?

I agree with the two lovely men over at Tom and Lorenzo:

Beautiful men, no doubt, but the only ones who strike us as sexy are Jon Hamm (who SHOULD have been at the top of the list, dammit), Joe Manganiello, and Robert Downey, Jr.

I don't find Ryan Reynolds sexy in the least.
Meh.

RDJ is always at the top of my list.


I will admit that my new guilty please is Benedict Cumberbatch who plays the lead in the BBC's new Sherlock Holmes series Sherlock. Lovely looking man.


And here is special RDJ bonus:



Enjoy!

Dog Funny

This post from Hyperbole and a Half on moving your dogs cross country is hilarious and spot on.
We live with both a "simple dog" and a "helper dog".....

Found via Balloon Juice.