Last year I scraped, primed and painted almost all the exterior wood work. This year I concentrated on the front porch. Hopefully you can figure out which ones are the before pictures but just in case you can’t they are the ones where everything is white and peeling. Go here for larger pics.

I’m not all that particular about my joe, (not like my friend Tim at Dine in or Take out where his tag line is “Some people eat to live; I live to eat.” He should change it to “I live to eat and drink Starbucks!” ) but I do enjoy good coffee. We usually have multiple bags of coffee beans in the house to grind & brew. Since we live in PA and I work mostly in MD I have to leave early a lot of mornings. If I brewed coffee in the morning most of it would be cold till the Vintage One got downstairs so I usually stop at our local Rutters (Southern PA equivalent to Super America, 7-11, WaWa, Sheetz - you get the picture) for coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

I took a slightly different route to Rutters this morning and WHOA - is that a coffee shop on Main Street? Just a half block from the house? As we learned to say in Minnesnowtah - Ubetcha! I parked the car and went into the Red Lion Whistle Brew Coffee Shop and was warmly greeted by Chelsea, one of the two sisters who opened the shop just a week ago.

There are plenty of tables as well as sofas and comfy chairs to sit in. I asked Chelsea about WiFi availability and she said it’s in the works. I really hope they do well and it catches on in our little corner of the world.

At the turn of the Millenium JoAnn & I sold our house in Minneapolis and bought a sailboat which we spent the better part of a year on. One of the places we stopped and stayed for awhile was Beaufort, NC (the one pronounced Bofert, Beaufort pronounced Boofert is in SC) and one of the things I really liked about Beaufort was the coffee shop close to the City Dock. There was a core group of locals that hung out there in the morning dunking pastries in their coffee. Transients like us were warmly welcomed. It was a great way to start the day. I hope that the Whistle Brew turns into that kind of place.

We have a menu at Vintage JoAnn so you can hop on over for coffee or a snack before or after you stop at VJ. The Whistle Stop is located at 23 S Main Street in Red Lion in between Rep. Stan Saylor’s office and the Fitness Factory. Hours are currently 6:00 am to 7:00 pm but that’s subject to adjustment as the girls figure out what works best.

I think the Whistle Brew will very nicely compliment my other favorite eating establishment in Red Lion - The Ice Cream House - which we also have a menu for. I love the pulled pork and burger in sauce sandwiches here and they also have salads and soups and - well just stop in for yourself and try it out. The ice cream is excellent as well and they have usually have at least two flavors of sugar-free.

Julie is an artist and spent weeks planning and assembling props and decorations from her garage sale shopping.

She totally outdid herself and the decor was really cool and spooky.  There was everything from a full graveyard in the garden complete with wheelbarrow of dirt and shovel to a haunted staircase full of creepy original artwork and paintings.

Every time I would think I’d seen everything, I’d notice something new like the rat coming out of a hole while I was using the bathroom!!

Costumes were mandatory and it was so much fun dressing up.  Rick was Al Capone and I was his “moll”.

Julie was a fortune teller and Marv was “Mad Marvin” the evil scientist.

Julie’s kids had their teenage friends over and their costumes were cute and hilarious. Their daughter Meridith tried to look scary but the girl couldn’t help still looking cute!

More pictures are posted in my photo gallery under “Halloween 08“.

Rick looked great in his vintage cuffed black wool slacks with suspenders.

He wore shiny black shoes and a black shirt and striped tie. A fedora hat topped off his look.

I was attired in a black and gold beaded dress. Not vintage but vintage looking. I wore my favorite red feathered hat- headdress and was dripping in all the sparkly vintage jewelry I could pile on.

My outfit was topped off by a fabulous old fur stole complete with tails.

We had a great time!

I had sent fliers and e mails to every one I knew and my store mailing list advertising sales, discounts, and coupons.

In retail one never knows how things will turn out, even bad weather can depress sales.   During the York Fair my business was really slow since every one was there!

Much to my delight and gratitude the anniverary sale was a hit!   All week sales were great, and lots of new folks came in plus all my regulars.

Everyone that came in was rewarded with a discount on something.  I had a few baskets filled with 1 and 2 dollar items and they were a big hit.

The week was my highest weekly sales ever!   Thank you everyone!

I made my bank deposit and Mon. morning was out looking for more treasures of which I found plenty!

Lately people are coming in the store selling the coolest vintage clothing and accessories.  Almost every day something new is put out.   This morning a neighbor stopped in to sell me 3 lovely vanity fair nighties and a leather frame purse.

2 of the nighties were bought by noon.   I try to give fair prices because people bring in the best stuff that way.

Halloween continues to bring people in for costumes and we still have loads of great items left including a size small flapper costume and a size small red poodle skirt, a grecian goddess costume, plus lots of period looks.

Loads of 60’s and 70’s looks plus 40’s dresses and hats from every decade are here.  I also have men’s hats, and accessories so your costumes can match.

By the end of season 1 Peggy has been promoted to copywriter. Instead of having an office like the other writers her desk is right beside the new fangled Xerox machine where she has to endure a parade of people all day long. Of course all of them feel like they need to talk to her.

Peggy is not part of the boy’s club the rest of the writers & account managers enjoy. After she repeatedly finds them having impromptu meetings about projects she’s supposed to be a part of, as well as after hours “meetings” with clients (most often at the local gentleman’s club) she gets a little, well, ballsy. She finds out about the evening’s plans for an out of town client & surprises everyone by showing up looking like none of the boys had seen her before and has  a good time.

Just because I have a vintage clothing store doesn’t seem to make it any easier!!!!!

I’ve outfitted a few people with 70’s era costumes for parties, dolled up one liitle witch and supplied a friend with a long sequined and beaded garment for her Gypsy fortuneteller costume.

I currently have loads of unique and weird stuff suitable to build costumes around.

Wigs, gloves, glasses, hats, clothing, etc.

Hopefully inspiration will hit soon and I will be posting pics soon of my costume!!!

Here are some pictures of our wonderful niece Kristina when she visited us on Labor Day.

At left Kristina models some kind of fur (JoAnn can fill in the details when she comes back!) and below she is wearing a nifty red dress.

JoAnn’s friend, Julie M, saw a California King bird cage at a garage sale and they both went back to see if it is still there. McBeth may be getting a new home!

This leaves me in charge and also gives me a respite from working on the front porch paint project. There is so much paint on the railing that all the detail is buried in it. The paint is at least 1/8″ thick. The side railing needs one more coat of pink and some touchup while scraping is almost finished on the front railing. Hopefully it will all be primed today depending on how long JoAnn & Julie are out at the garage sale. I’m sure they’ll just stop at the one with the bird cage and not look at anything else, Yeah - right.

The episode we just watched was about Heather who was born with congenital heart disease. She’s a gorgeous woman who has issues with the scars left from numerous operations and, up until Carson, had trouble feeling good about herself.

Carson helped her realize that while people may see her scars, they are really not focused on them as she is. I think it’s fairly common for people with scars to believe that other people must look at them and think how ugly while most people are really wondering what did this person survive or go through. And actually that’s after they finally see the scar. It is not the first thing they see as the person with the scar might imagine. (Another clip rom the show)

I know what you might be thinking. “Uh, so Rick, you actually watch this show? Why?” Hey I watch a lot of typical guy stuff too. Carson really seems to help these people understand that their biggest problem is really a perception issue.

This particular episode hit me because of two beautiful and wonderful people in my life; my wife, JoAnn, and my daughter-in-law, Aggie. They have both been through a lot more than their fair share of medical crap in their lives and they both have the battle scars to prove it. They also both love shoes & clothes and aren’t afraid to wear something other than jeans, sweatshirts and sneakers (which seems to be the standard uniform du jour for lots of ladies today). And yes, you can see scars on both of them and they don’t care.

 At the end of the show Heather and other adult survivors of congenital heart disease do a benefit fashion show for the Adult Congenital Heart Association. All in all it was pretty touching.

One year calls for a celebration and Wednesday Oct. 22  through Saturday Oct. 25 Vintage JoAnn is having a thank you celebration.

Food and refreshments every day and discounts . I will have many great items and lots of Halloween fashion and costumes!! It will be fun and I am looking forward to seeing my regulars and many new faces.

As usual I can’t stop buying..

My latest purchases include a stunning 1920’s beaded, feather trimmed flapper dress. It’s the real McCoy and in incredible condition thanks to the lady who lovingly preserved it all these years. I also bought more winter hats, including leopard and sheared raccoon.

I have a  Whiting and Davis gold mesh eve. bag from 1943 that is in mint condition in its original box.

This morning I acquired a 1946 black and white prom dress from a dear lady who shared her memories of being chosen prom queen wearing the dress. Unfortunatly it has been shortened but it is still a gorgeous dress, strapless and looking very contemporary! It is in perfect condition, having been stored properly.

Looking forward to seeing you at our one year celebration!

Have you seen the AMC original show - MadMen? If not click here for the schedule.

According to the AMC MadMen website the premise of the show is “The series revolves around the conflicted world of Don Draper (Hamm), the biggest ad man (and ladies man) in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. As Don makes the plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels. The series also depicts authentically the roles of men and women in this era while exploring the true human nature beneath the guise of 1960s traditional family values.”

Why mention this show here? It tries to very accurately depict not only roles and values of the era but also the fashion. Having grown up in that era and being immersed in it here at the shop it seems very realistic to me. JoAnn has trouble watching it because of the way the women are treated.

What do you think of the show? Either the fashion specifically or any other aspect. Feel free to comment below.

Here are some pictures from the show.