Emily, my daughter was just in town for a week. It is really wonderful to get some family time to enjoy each other’s company, and to focus on running around the city having a good time. I missed my daughter so much, since last year I only had part time work so I wasn’t able to go to Colorado like I usually do. We hadn’t seen each other since when we went to Florida last May and stayed at my mother’s house for a week. Emily lives in Denver, not too far from where I raised her in Boulder, Colorado. Now we both are tired from the going, going and running about that we did all week but we had a great time together!!!

Friday Kirsti, Emily’s half- sister came in from Long Island, where she grew up. It was fun to see her and she stayed with us for a couple of days. Kirsti has a beautician license, yet at the current time she is studying mortuary, and Emily is studying English and photography. Both are very creative and kind of quirky, which is charming, and of course only natural when one’s parents are also creative.

We went to the Moma to see some art and the Yoko Ono exhibit. That was exciting, though very crowded. Then we stopped by David Owen’s Vintage so the girls could meet David. After that we walked down to PHO Vietnam, a lovely noodle shop in Chinatown at 87 Chrystie Street. They have these massive bowls of rice noodle soups, filled with vegetables and shrimp, tofu, whatever is on the menu for $6.99 to $7.99! It smells so delicious when you walk in. We really enjoyed that and the food was as delicious as the aroma of the restaurant.

Vintage fedora and vest

Saturday we had another busy day of running around. Emily and I went to a memorial service for a friend that helped us years ago when I was a very young single mother and my daughter was a toddler. It was good to see our Dominican family that adopted us. They really were a huge part of our lives for years and helped us tremendously.   Later we met up with Kirsti in Washington Square Park. Then we roamed around the East Village. We had lunch at Mamoun’s, then stopped by Obscura, a shop with oddities that are antique, and then enjoyed shopping at a sidewalk sale where a young lady Emily’s size had some lovely clothes for sale. Emily bought a bag full of nice blouses and dresses and I found a black wool coat in really nice shape for a mere ten dollars. The lady was having a five dollar bag sale in New York, which is a real steal, especially when she had good quality clothing for sale. This is what I referred to in another post as a “good karma donation.” Our family is very into this recycling and enjoying thrifted items. Plus it is a quieter, more peaceful and more personal than shopping in loud, crowded chain shops. Earlier in the week Emily found the fedora hat in this post at No Relation, a vintage shop in the East Village.

Saturday evening we spent some time with a friend of ours JD, whom Emily met first and there was much storytelling and laughter. JD won’t tell any of us how old he is, but he has a very full life and has ten grown children. Even though he is in his eighties, or possibly ninety he still leads a Boy Scout troop group in Bed Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and goes camping with those boys. He had woken up in the snow on camping trips. I find it admirable that elderly people are still so active in the community like this, and being mentors to youngsters. From what he has told me several scout leaders are in their eighties or nineties. We hung out at the Outpost Café and had a lovely evening there.

Sunday we went to brunch at Alice’s Arbor, one of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn, NY. The inside is all upcycled with various kinds of woods, old doors and the walls are covered in wood pieces that are fit together into a very pleasant, rustic look. We then took a long walk to Park Slope. There we walked up to Prospect Park and met up with Kristi’s mother, her brothers, and one of her friends. We had a bit of a reunion as Kristi’s mother and I hadn’t seen each other in about twenty years.   Later we all went to Two Boots for some lunch and good pizza. This was followed by more roaming about looking at shops and later on when Kirsti and her family left, Emily and I went to Beacon’s Closet, another vintage and resale shop. Emily found some nice clothing there. The Texas shirt in this post is one item she found there.

Sunday evening and Monday Emily and I enjoyed our time alone and took the photos for this post, walked all around the Village and then later went to have a drink at Chelsea Piers on a tug boat. That was truly a lovely experience. There was a larger boat bar, then stairs where we climbed up to the tug boat. I had walked by it weeks ago and thought it looked like a place she’d enjoy.

1950’s dress

I also finished making a half apron for Emily while she was here. I made it from a “recipe” in the Granny Chic book by Tif Fussell and Rachelle Blondel. I have a couple of photos of it I am saving for the post about this delightful book. I worked on a bit every morning while she was here. I started it the weekend prior to her arriving but as things go it is taking a while to finish. A couple of times she told me “You are so productive!” as she rolled over to sleep a bit more.

The first photo of Emily here shows her current “prairie mode” of dressing. She looks as if she just blew in from the prairie; which she literally did actually the day before! Kirsti is the other young lady in the photos and I took a photo of her lovely hair colors which she did herself.

Thrifted black eyelet blouse and Liberty skirt

Vintage 1970’s house robe

Vintage 1950’s sweater

For these photos of retro and vintage clothing we went to the local graveyard. Aside from Prospect Park it is the closest place to be with nature. The Liberty skirts in this post are from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, when I worked at Liberty of London at the Rockefeller Center shop. The business gave us sales ladies a few items a year as allotment to wear to work. I have treasured these skirts through the years as some of my favorites. The lovely black vintage dress and the sweater with seed beads and small sequins are both from the 1950’s and were my great grandmother’s originally. My grandma, whom I called Nanny Lavender, made the black dress. Her sewing is excellent. My grandmother used to work for Singer sewing machines so she was very talented. Actually all my grandmothers were very creative. My one grandma still alive sewed as long as her fingers would let her. At ninety four that isn’t really possible anymore, but her mind is still active and she does what she can. I know I inherited this love of arts and crafts from my ancestors.

When I was growing up I really admired my great grandma Stamey. She lived way out in the country in Georgia in a small cabin and lived there until she was ninety six. Only the last few months of her life did she go to live in the nursing home. At that point she had them cut her incredibly long hair and she wore it short and with a perm like the other ladies. The bath robe from the 1970’s was hers before she passed away. In the early eighties I patiently rethreaded every seed bead, small sequin or tiny shiny leaf on my great grandma’s sweater, so as to strengthen it and be able to treasure it for years, as I still do. I was pleased that Emily finally asked me for my grandma’s dress and I hope that now she can enjoy it and wear it for several years.

The vintage bed jacket is from the 1950’s and is just part of my collection. The lacy lingerie top underneath is from my collection and a piece my mother gave me back in the 1980’s. She most likely used it a lot during the 1970’s.

Well my daughter and I had an awesome visit and some fun time with family and friends. I hope you enjoyed these photos and are inspired to rewind, reuse, and recycle some lovely vintage or retro pieces in your own wardrobe!!!

Retro Liberty skirt from 1990

1950’s bed jacket with 1970’s lingerie top, Liberty skirt

   All photos by Marilyn Lavender or Emily Owens.  All written material by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015.  “All Rights Reserved.”