There are so many wonderful tutorials, both old and new, on creating the perfect vintage hairdo that I wanted to pile as many as I could into one place! While my hair is too long to really take advantage of many of these styles, I am still fascinated with the variety and elegance the pin curl can create in one’s hair.
“About the only time we ever stop to realize how glorious it is to be well enough to go and come as we will is when we are indisposed for a day and have to stay at home. Funny thing the way we accept good health as a matter of course, just like good drinking water or hot coffee for breakfast! We never think how seemingly unnecessary it is until we are deprived of it.
It’s a pity we take so much for granted – our food, our clothes, a bed to sleep in – why of course, we have all of them. But go roughing it some time and sleep on a sparse, ill-equipped bed for a night or two. You will then appreciate, as you never did before, your own good bed at home.
We all grow so used to having things done for us – this is taken care, that is looked after – that we get out of the habit of doing them for ourselves. But let the paper boy forget to leave the paper just one evening, and we are lost completely. We would insistently help to get him “fired” from his route; yet day after day, sun or rain, he brings the paper, and we are conscious of its importance only when we miss getting it just once.
Habit causes us to accept family, friends, comforts, and pleasures as a matter of course. Every now and then we should find ourselves without them all, just to learn to appreciate them more.
I have always felt I could be grateful for charity, but I could appreciate love and kindness. And that is what we need, it seems to me, more than anything else – to be kind…to help, to encourage, and comfort those who need us, to say a happy word is wanted, but never to be guilty of doling out kindness as we would plant beans, never more than the specified amounts.
Not long ago I was in Philadelphia, and I visited Independence Hall. Everything there reminded me of the sacrifices that were made for our freedom, comfort, and well-being, and I wondered a dozen times and more whether we appreciated it all as we should or whether were were in the habit of accepting it as we do the daily paper, forgetting how much real effort had gone before to give out many great privileges.”
Source: Thimblefuls of Friendliness by Mary Brooks Picken, 1924
Simple, natural, and eternally chic, brown is a color in which the name does not do it justice. While you can describe it in its various tones of chestnut, sienna, or even walnut, the color brown encompasses a wide array of flattering hues.
A very common color in both house and walking/day dresses, seamstresses of various decades created outfits which let the skill and design of the gown shine. I often notice the lines of a dress more when it isn’t competing with a bold pattern or bright color.
Brown is earthy and grounding. Synonymous with all things Autumn and harvest. It is one of those neutrals that can instantly warm the face and evoke a mood much more uplifting than black.
Take a look at this magazine cover…you notice the brown but you also notice the face…a delightful combination.
And for a more old fashioned take on the homey, albeit domestic, appeal of a brown dress, here is an excerpt from a poem entitled “My Apple Tree Neighbors”
“In her modest brown gown she flits quickly about,
to make the home neat while her husband it out –
Providing the dinner which she must prepare
They have fruit every day, and their meat they like rare.”
Now for this month’s collection of historical brown gowns:
It is that time of year when you switch your thermostat from “cool” to “heat.” For me, it is a symbolic switch and indicates my acceptance of the oncoming cooler season that sees not only a change in my use of jackets but also a switch to my warmer pajamas.
The evenings are cozier now. Candles are lit at a more regular interval than the previous months. Hot chocolate is seen more in my coffee mug and I start searching for soup recipes on Pinterest. I have already found quite a few I can’t wait to try! 🙂
I also begin to crave family more as the weeks to the holidays fly by and I look forward to those upcoming get togethers…even though I struggle with large crowds…just ask my poor family! 🙂 In addition to the holidays, I find the desire to nest up at home overpowers my desire to venture out into the chilly air. To keep myself busy I have begun small crafts that I can work on in the evenings…and yes, some of them are for Christmas!
I hope that last month you took some time to appreciate the little things in life and will continue that viewpoint as we begin to round up 2015. While the snow may start to fly, I hope that you can create a home that is warm and cozy.
In planning for this month’s theme and subsequent posts, I was enchanted to find so many wonderful articles and posts from past writers that surrounded the idea of “hearth and home.” From dinner menus, to advice to get through the holidays, to perfecting the fashionable Autumn ensemble, November’s blog posts promise to be a virtual cornucopia of ideas and inspiration!
Happy November my friends!
~Aimee
“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireside.”
