Contest!

A wonderful blog I follow is giving away a $40 gift certificate to Fairyfiligree Vintage Fashion.  Check it out at http://www.chronicallyvintage.com/2012/07/enter-to-win-40-gift-certificate-from.html#comment-form.  Also, while you are there, follow the blog Chronically Vintage.  It is delightful, full of recipes and vintage fashion, and written so well.  If I win, I may just pick up the cute pink nighty pictured above.  What would you get?

Major Tooth Fairy Fail

Once again, I have failed as the tooth fairy.  Only this time I completely, 100% forgot to switch the tooth for the money.  In the morning, my daughter came upstairs and said, my tooth is still there.  Luckily, she already knew I was the tooth fairy.  She always jokes about it.  I still think she gets excited to see the exchange in the morning though.  Anyways, I said, "Give me the tooth."  She gave it to me, and in return I gave her the money.  It was like a little business transaction.  Epic fail.  I hope I'm not the only mom who did that.  Feel free to tell me about your tooth fairy stories in the comments section.

Little Black Dress

Although I love flowers, frills and romance, I am always intrigued by the macabre.  Every once in a while, I trade my pink dress for a black one.   I love fall, when all the colors turn, and the trees turn creepy, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and I hope to live in an old “haunted looking” Victorian house one day.  I was at a parade this weekend, and I saw the coolest old horse drawn hearse.  If I weren’t getting cremated, I would totally want to ride in one of those to my burial.  There is a city in Kansas where some of my relatives lived at one point, called Atchison.  It is supposedly the most haunted city in America.  They have haunted trolley tours that look so fun, and they even have a haunted tea party.  I tell you what, one day I am going to drive thirteen hours and spend the night in Atchison, and do all the haunted activities just for the chills and tummy butterflies.  I’m so excited to see where my relatives used to live, and check out all the cool old houses there.  Have any of you ever been to Atchison?  Do you have any real life ghost stories?  Please share in the comments.

This is the cool hearse I saw in the parade.

Gargoyle House in Atchison, KS.

The Haunted Trolley Tour

The Haunted Tea Room

My Great Grandparents who resided in Atchison

My Great-Great Grandparents who resided in Atchison

Jammin’

As Bob Marley sang, “hope you like jammin’ too”.  Perhaps he was talking musically, but I like jammin’ in the summertime with fruit.  My sister and I have a tradition where every summer, we get together and make jam.  She lives eight hours away, so we don’t see each other very often.  Jammin’ with her is a special time to enjoy one another’s company, while doing something productive and fun.  We even made up a fun little jam dance to help the jam “set”.   Below is a picture of my sister doing the Jam Dance.  Sometimes we laugh so hard, I just about pee my pants.  Unfortunately this year, we weren’t together in a location with a stove, so the Jammin’ didn’t take place.  I decided to make jam anyway in honor of my sis, after seeing her last week.  Although it was bittersweet without my sister, I did have some help from my two precious children.  I also took a pic of me doing the jam dance without her (shown below).  My sister may not have been there, but, hopefully,  she will smile when she receives a package in the mail containing her jam.

If you want to make the jam I made last night, buy a package of Sure Jell powdered pectin and about 4 cups of your desired fruit.  The pectin has the instructions inside for cooked jams and jellies.  I did the blueberry last night, but I did substitute some rhubarb and strawberries for part of the blueberries.  They all go well together.  I sanitize my jam jars and lid rings in the dishwasher, then I dry them thoroughly.  I boil the sealing lids and dry them before using them.  When the jam is done cooking, I put it in the sanitized jars wipe the lids, and invert them.  They seal that way, and you don’t have to process them.

Whoops, I dropped a blueberry....don't worry, this won't go in the jam.

My lovely assistant helping pick out the stems.

 cooking and smashing

 Inverted jars

Do you have any fun summer traditions with family or friends?  Please comment.

As I was reading my email today, I was so excited to see there is a fun vintage party in Monument, Colorado (only a three hour drive from here).  The flyer for it is above.  Surely, you will join me in this fun event.  Perhaps we could enter the vintage swimsuit contest together.  I searched online, and found my ensemble on Polyvore (the blog below). As for the cars that will be there, I went to my first car show this year, and it was delightful.  I fell in love with an aqua blue truck .  Isn't it perfect for errands?  Anyways, friends, I hope to see you at this fun party in Monument.  Join me, won't you?

Where's Rosie When I Need Her

Did you ever see the adorable photos of Rosie The Riveter?  I wish she was my neighbor.  Let alone the fact that I would constantly be borrowing her red head scarf, she would be my mechanical helper.  (I would wash said head scarf of its "Riveter Dirt" in reypayment for her mechanical deeds.  Today, after work, all I wanted to do was mow the lawn.  The &(&%&^% thing wouldn't start.  We just got a new battery, and have only used it once since then.  Hubby came home and said it would start in 20 minutes since the engine was flooded.   Wrong!  I still can't start it, and all I want to do is mow.  I wish Rosie were here.

Denver History

This week, I helped my husband chaperone some students to the great city of Denver, Colorado for State History Day.  We had a wonderful day in a beautiful downtown.  I loved the cool historic buildings on the 16^th street mall.  We took the kids to the Museum of Nature and Science, and there were so many beautiful old homes on Colorado Boulevard.  It reminded me of a book I read by native Denver author Sandra Dallas.  The book titled Colorado Homes, had so many beautiful photos of historic homes in Colorado.  Sadly, some of them are no longer in existence.  Being in such a beautiful city among these great old buildings made me wonder what it was like back in the day.  So I did some research, and found some terribly interesting facts about the capital of our great state. 

 In the summer of 1858, a small group of prospectors from Georgia found gold at the base of the Rocky Mountains, which caused people from all over to come to Colorado.  This was during the Homestead Act, so people could just lay claim to land.  General Larimer claimed a lot of land, layed out a city, and named it Denver City.  A year later Denver City was almost deserted when gold was found in the mountain town of Central city.  However, people came back when they realized how horrid the winter weather was. 

The Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861, and then in 1865, Denver City became the Territorial Capital. The name was then shortened to Denver. On August 1, 1876, Denver became the State Capital when Colorado was admitted to the Union.

 The capital had some hard times in the mid 1800’s.  In 1863,  almost all of Denver’s business district was burned in a huge fire.  Then, a year later, there was a huge flash flood  which killed twenty people and damaged the city horribly.  There was a food shortage after that due to the cutoff of supply lines due to the Indian war.  Between 1880-1895 the city experienced a huge rise in city corruption, as crime bosses, like Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith who worked  with both elected officials and the police to control the elections, gambling, and the bunko gangs.

However, these people who came out to Colorado were strong and determined.  They raised $300,000 to build a railroad which met the Union Pacific in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Silver was discovered, and that lead to Denver being a big deal.  Religious leaders formed the precursor to United Way in 1887 to help the poor.  I’m so grateful to these people for making Denver what it is, and I don’t envy their hard lives in the least.  Although, I can dream of spending a day in old time Denver.  If you know any other fun facts about Denver, please write them in the comments.  I would love to know more about this magical city.