Winter Sailor

Who says it has to be Summer to rock the sailor look?  I bought this dress with Summer in mind, but if you know me you know I can't let a new dress hang in my closet for too long. There's something I LOVE about red and black and white. 

Another great necklace from TopShop to complete my Sailor look...

No, it's not Ed Hardy. I just love swallow birds. I completed this look with a favorite apron...

Swiss Dots! This beauty was dropped off at the tea shop by a very thoughtful lady, her grandmother made it! And she knew we would LOVE it, and of course we do! 

This lace border is amazing. I'm sure this isn't the last you'll be seeing of this apron, like I said, it's in my top 10. Not because it's beautiful and goes with everything, but it reminds me of the kindness of strangers...and that's nice. 

Polka Dots and Tea Pots

It's sad to say I'm sick of Winter when it's just begun. But mostly I'm getting sick of wearing black, and wearing layers, and clunky boots. Since I'll have to deal with this for at least a couple of more months, I try to liven it up as best I can. 

Red and white polka dots and tea pots! It's no secret that red with white polka dots is my favorite color. I do love this tweed jumper, but nothing compliments as well as this  collared shirt, necklace, and apron...

This necklace is from Top Shop. Of course only an English company would make a necklace with a teapot, a cupcake, and a heart! And only a girl that works at a Tea Shop could wear it so proudly. This teapot-polka dot combo of course is carried onto my apron...

This is a new apron I got at Home Goods. I had to modify it a bit (it was a whole apron, but way too big). But when I saw it at the store...

I couldn't leave this lady behind. She's adorable. This is one of my favorite winter outfits.  I only have a couple of favorite winter outfits, but looking at the forecast...I better come up with some more!  

My Day Off

 I have this vintage maids dress my lovely sister gave to me for my birthday. Although I think  she meant as a joke, the joke is that it has become the LBD of my wardrobe. My GMD (grey, or great, maids dress). It is so cute and comfortable, I wear it all the time. 

look at this lace collar! And of course it has a matching apron and a matching headpiece (which is maybe a bit too much!) Much like you're ready to party in your LBD, I in my GMD am ready to do some serious errands. Banking, grocery shopping, laundry...no problem! I even was inspired to polish the silver I've been finding around the house. I've been collecting odd pieces of silver to maybe sell, but it's

all so pretty I think I'll keep it. 

And when you can find great uses for such odd pieces of silver...

If only all household chores were this rewarding!!!

Snow Day

Well it was a snow day/slow day at ye old tea shop. We showed up but didn't even bother opening when we realized how snowy it actually was. But I used my couple hours there wisely. I vacuumed all the deep corners and I did my favorite chore...Organize the Apron Closet! Although it's a fun  task, it is the most time consuming. And with dozens and dozens of aprons, organizing them can be a bit tricky. In the past, we've grouped them according to length, color, decade, patterns, seasons, we've even had  a "novelty" and a "tex/mex" pile. Once we even did the video store thing and had "Mary's Top Picks," "Sam's faves," "Kelsey Likes These," but that didn't last too long. So the best way to start is to take ALL the aprons off the hangers and put them in a pile:

Then put them in smaller piles. I did full aprons in one category and the rest  I did by color:

Red, orange/yellow, green, blue/purple, pink, black and white. But they're all multicolored! And two of the white aprons are Christmas themed! And the red and pink owl, is that "red" or "pink" ?  And we only have one brown apron, but it has a pink cupcake on it. I could seriously drive myself crazy with this one, but have to remember it's really in the grand scheme of things not a big deal...plus Joanne said she'd take me to LaPetit when I was done, so I sort of hurried through it! When do we ever get to have lunch together???
Here's to starting off a busy weekend with an organized apron closet!

You can't talk about Aprons without talking about Grandmas

My Nana passed away when I was six. Although I didn't get to spend much time with her, I think about her a lot. Sure, I have been wearing her engagement ring for the past five months, but long before that I've found my thoughts with her. In 2003 I had a meeting with a medium and she was the first person to show up to the party (much like me),  and boy did she have a lot to say (much like me). She snuck up on me again last week...

I found this picture in an album in a box in the way back of the closet. I never saw it before.  I think it's at her house in Florida. What really struck me about this picture was her dress and (perfectly) matching apron. She looks so charming! I thought I was the only one who really mastered the "cute dress, matching apron" game and pulled off so well. I guess I was wrong and I guess I had to be reminded. The funny thing is we always quote her as saying (something along the lines of) "they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but I don't give a damn." Oh Nana, you've got quite the sense of humor. 

I may not have any of her aprons, but I do have her butter cream recipe! 

My First Blog

Hello Cyberspace!
Starting a blog is one thing I've been wanting to do...so here we go. I work at a Tea Room and get to wear some great aprons everyday. I coordinate aprons with dresses, holidays, seasons, the mood I'm in, I even wore a Mexican apron when Mexico played their first game of the World Cup. I started my apron collection with two vintage aprons I got at the Salvation Army in Dunkirk, NY. Last time I counted the apron collection, I stopped at 54 and wasn't even half way through. The more I wore aprons, the more people gave us (the tea room staff) aprons from yard sales, antique stores, even their own mother's  and grandmother's closets.
So, to me the apron collection has become much more than a work uniform. It's a patchwork of family histories, grease stains, silk and terry cloth, gingham and paisley, and of course  endless potential for really great outfits!
So I'm sharing it with you.