Mary Van Notes

I found this adorable pink gingham dirndl top with embroidered and scalloped sleeves at a vintage store on Haight street.  It makes a cute little crop top.  I paired it with this ultra high-waisted skirt with suspenders that I found at Ross years ago on sale for $2.  I’m still debating on whether to take off the gigantic buttons.  What do you think… buttons yay or nay?

One of the purses I’m toting is a purse by Mugwump made from recycled materials and features an Auto Bingo card on the front.  It’s exactly like the ones I used to have as a kid for long road trips.  It’s handmade from an artist in Portland, OR.  When I went out later I donned a little cropped jacket because it was nippy and I exchanged the purse for another.

dirndl blouse/crop top: vintage, skirt: Ross, shoes: TUK, jacket: Tulle, purse 1: Mugwump, purse 2: found on the street, seamed stockings: Sacramento antique fair

Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco today.  On my way doing errands I snapped some outfit shots.  I included the scenic views you can see from this one hilltop near where I live.  I’m a lucky girl living in such an awesome city.

jumper: Down at Lulu’s in Oakland, CA
tube top: J Crew thrifted
espadrilles: vintage via ebay
vintage 60s wind-up watch necklace: ebay
hat: Berkeley Hat Company
purse: found on the street

Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!

My sister is in town visiting from Portland, OR.  We had a big day starting with a good lunch with our Dad and step-mom at Burma Superstar and then ice cream at Toy Boat on Clement Street.  Then we drove to the Sunset and our Dad showed us the house he grew up in until he was 11 years old.  From there we went to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park and went paddle-boating!  We stopped by the conservatory of flowers and peeked at the dahlia garden and then my sister and I did some quick shopping on Haight Street.  I scored an amazing black and lacy vintage Jantzen swimsuit (I’ll definitely do a post on it), and a nice white blouse.  Phew.

I wore some shorts I picked up at a thrift store.  I added a scalloped hem, much like the other pair I did.  This time I left them a little longer.  Unfortunately because they’re lighter you can see any mistakes I made from sewing, but whatever, I love ‘em!

outfit one- Top: F21, Shorts: thrifted and hemmed by myself, espadrilles: ebay, watch necklace: ebay, hat: JJ’s Surplus, purse: found on the street

outfit two- Top: thrifted J Crew, Jeans: Alloy, Jacket: H&M, espadrilles: ebay, watch necklace: ebay, hat: Berkeley Hat Company, purse: found on the street

Don’t forget to enter my bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway!

I had a jam-packed weekend, hence a picture-heavy post that spans three days or so.  I’ll try to be brief.

On the fourth of July my sister and I visited the Marin County Fair, the fair we went to as kids.  We got there around 5pm and stayed until the fireworks, so I didn’t get to see all of the fair.  There’s always next year!

I felt like my mom a bit because I dressed festively — kind of like the way my mom wears glittery puff-paint holiday sweaters.  Here’s me at the fair, and a picture of corn on the cob cupcakes!

top and skirt: F21, espadrilles and watch necklace: ebay, hat: Ross

We spent the night at my grandfather’s house:

dress: Red Light in Portland, OR, shrug: some store in a mall

And while my sister was visiting with a friend on 4th St in San Rafael, CA, I went for a stroll and picked up some 7″ records for my boyfriend at Red Devil Records and found an amazing dress at Aubergine.   This was my first time in this vintage store and I was completely wooed when they had me pick a vintage scarf for them to wrap my dress in.  They made the scarf into a bag!  It’s eco-friendly and I got a cute scarf for freebies!  I will definitely go there again.

My sister and I then drove up to Sacramento.  My boyfriend Ben made us a delicious dinner and even baked a strawberry pie!  KEEPERS!

I wore the dress I bought at Aubergine to a show I was hosting at the Sacramento Punch Line.  This dress was hanging out in front and was the first thing I picked up.  It has the most unique neckline and pattern.   I love it!  I think it’s late 40s, early 50s?  What do you guys think?  I need to get better at dating garments…

Tomorrow I’ll post the winner of the bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway.

All 1920s photos from Vintage Ladies.

Thanks to all who entered the bloggiversary Laurel’s Bench necklace giveaway.

The prize is the lovely Silence Between necklace from Laurel’s Bench.

And now for the winner:

Congratulations Jacqueline L.   I’ll be emailing you soon!

Leproust Vintage is having a $25 and under sale, so I snagged this darling blue 50s dress with an amazing collar and neckline.

Dress: Leproust Vintage
Hat: Sacramento Antique Fair
Purse: found on the street
Heels: MIA

I recently came back from a family cabin weekend.  I’ll post pictures soon.  Going up to my step-mom’s cabin and paddling around the lake in an inflatable boat is now one of my favorite things to do.  This last trip I taught myself to knit and made 3 mini purses and a sunglasses pouch.  I’m eager to start working on some 1950s patterns from a couple knitting magazines I picked up at the antique fair.  Specifically the adorable sweater and shorts set on the cover of that one magazine, and the one piece bathing suit (seen on that woman lounging by the pool).  I gotta get good at this! There’s too many things I want to make!

I’ve got a lot of comedy shows coming up.

Monday, July 26 at 10pm I’ll be performing on the Bay Area’s best burlesque and variety show – the HUBBA HUBBA REVUE at The Uptown in Oakland, CA.  Here’s the event on facebook.

Tuesday, July 27 at 8pm I’ll be making my debut at Mark Pitta & Friends at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley CA.

Wednesday – Saturday, July 28-31 I’ll be opening for John Mulaney and Sheng Wang at the San Francisco Punch Line. On Sunday I’ll be hosting the local comedy showcase at the Punch Line.  Get tickets here.  Both of these guys are HILARIOUS. Check them out:
Television Appearance

John Mulaney | MySpace Video

Saturday, August 7th at 10pm I’ll be on the 5 Funny Females show at The Purple Onion.  This is the event on facebook.   I made this promo video for it:

To reserve seats, please email reservations@5funnyfemales.com for August 6th & 7th shows.

vintage blouse and high-waisted wide-leg trousers: secondhand via GoodByes
belt: thrifted
oxford heels: Payless
tapestry bag: garage sale

The tapestry bag I found at a garage sale filled with knitting needles, a 1950s how-to knit booklet and other knitting odds and ends.  I’m continuing where the previous owner left off.  Whoever she was, she passed the knitting torch on to me I guess.  I’m using some needles that were in the bag and am starting on my first shawl/wrap/scarf.  I went to a yarn store on Divisadero, but realized that as a beginner I should probably stay away from expensive yarn.  Yarn is expensive!  Can any of you knitters suggest decent yarn I can get at an affordable price?

This outfit was inspired by this photo posted by danielle likes art.  My outfit is definitely less colorful though.  I love that color combo with the yellow, red and that stone teal color.

I wore this dress last night on the first night of my week performing at the SF Punch Line with John Mulaney and Sheng Wang.  The pictures don’t do the dress justice.  It’s an incredible 1940s peplum crepe dress with amazing beaded sleeves.  It’s in great condition for its age and fits me like a glove.   And best part:  it was $10 at the Sacramento Antique Fair.  Score!  A dress like this would sell on Etsy for at least a hundred bucks.