Vintage Fashion Faire

Friday evening was the preview party for the Vintage Fashion Faire being held at the Officers' Club on the former naval base here in Alameda, also known as the O Club. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time as I had not yet been and had heard good things. I headed there with a couple of friends, armed with my measuring tape and fingers crossed for a good find.  St. Georges Spirits was there providing a special cocktail being served by none other than my old friend Andie! A delicious concoction made with fresh strawberries and absinthe, among other things.  It was a successful evening as we each walked out with a thing or two.  I only bought one item since I was not getting paid until midnight.  No problem though since I returned Saturday by myself and found some great things!  Some of the vendors had outrageous prices but thankfully there were others that were rather reasonable.

 Me and Joann

Joann and Monique

Me and Andie

My first purchase Friday evening, another hand painted Mexican circle skirt to add to the collection.  Saw practically the same skirt for $100 more from another vendor.

I love the fabric of this skirt!  Though it does not show in the photo, 

the whole skirt is covered with little gold specs.

I was amazed to actually find something like this for less than $100 since it seems anything remotely Hawaiian has a price tag of $200 or more lately.  Was able to get it for $15 less what they were asking as well!

It does not look like this cardigan was ever worn!  Bought this from the same vendor I bought the painted skirt from Friday evening.  He had the most reasonable prices of anyone there.

Everything's coming up roses...

We have been having some wonderful weather here in Alameda and everything is in bloom!  There are so many lovely gardens that we pass by on a daily basis and roses are everywhere.  So glad our new place has a beautiful red rose bush out front.  We have lots of planting that we have been wanting to do since we moved in but just have not yet had the chance.  In the mean time we have this to enjoy...

 

Hayward Airport Open House

Saturday was an open house at the Hayward Airport.  There were some great planes on display and some Tuskegee Airmen were there!  I would have loved to have taken a photo of them but did not get the chance.  It was a nice event and free to get in.  The highlight was of course the B-17 that was there.  As we were driving to the show it actually flew over us in Oakland.  Amazing to see it in flight.  No wonder it was nicknamed the Flying Fortress.  We got to go inside it in Hayward for a small fee.  Very cool.  This particular B-17 was named Aluminum Overcast and had adorable pinup art of a girl riding a lighting bolt.  My grandmother worked on B-17s at McDonnell Douglas in Southern California during the war.  DC-3s were made there as well.  That's always been one of my favorite planes.  Wonder if she had anything to do with either the B-17 or DC-3 that we saw on Saturday.  Fun to think about.

Diagram of how the soldier was positioned in the lower ball turret under the B-17.  

Looks like an awful job to have had.

Ben in his original WWII aviators

Not sure the type of plane but I loved it!  So shiny!

One of my favorites, the DC3.

Vintage Shopping - Relic Vintage & La Rosa

In these times when many vintage shops have closed and most have turned to selling online, it was so refreshing to actually go into a shop and try on some vintage clothing.  This past weekend I dragged Ben to the city so I could do a bit of shopping.  I dropped him at the pub, and after partaking in a pint myself, headed up Haight Street to my first stop, Relic Vintage.  This shop is beautiful and has been open about 6 weeks according to the owner, Oran.  Every piece I looked at was in beautiful condition and I was lucky enough to even find some items in my size!  Oran was very helpful and it made for a wonderful shopping experience.  I cannot wait to go back!

The first item I tried on and it fit perfectly!  This photo just does not do it justice!

Even the bolero fit!  Notice the cute pocket detail.

I do not think this red linen dress was ever worn.  Love the double darts at the bust.

And then this adorable homemade top!

This fabric was just too cute to resist.

I had already spent more than I planned but still couldn't wait to check out La Rosa since I had not been there in years.  And I got to see Kim!  She is doing a wonderful job there and the store looked fabulous.  Great to see how busy they were as well.  Made perfect sense since it was one of those rare days in the city when it was sunny and in the 70s.  I had to be good, but could not pass up this adorable pink top.  And to top it off, it is dead stock!  It buttons up the back and is trimmed in pink gingham with a little bow and buttons.  Just too cute!

Looking forward to the next time I can stop into Relic Vintage and La Rosa.  Until then, I will be heading to the Alameda Point Vintage Fashion Faire May 18th & 19th.

Skatalites

April 27th we went to see the Skatalites at the Uptown. It was fantastic! We started the evening off by hopping on the Vespa, along with a Darrel and Joann on their scooter, and heading over to First and Last Chance Saloon in Jack London. Thankfully our friend had a spare helmet since mine wasn’t at the house so I was able to ride with Ben. I had the best time on the ride! Ben has been on some east bay scooter email list for some time now and heard they would be starting at First and Last for an evening ride so we wanted to check that out before heading to the show. There were a handful of Vespas and Lambrettas and everyone seemed really down to earth and friendly. After a couple drinks there, we got back on the scooters and headed for the Uptown. I cannot believe we were, I think, practically the only people who rode scooters to the Skatalites show. There may have been one more I saw down the street but come on! Perhaps some people hid theirs. I cannot blame people for being nervous about their bikes but we went ahead and parked on the sidewalk. Of course Ben did run out to check on them a couple of times as well. We enjoyed both opening acts. I cannot remember the name of the second act but the first was The Champions. Once the Skatalites started, we had to stand at the very back so there was no way I was going to get any good pictures so I only have some random photos from that night. The last photo is a silly one of me in the helmet I had to borrow. We couldn’t resist stopping by Swell for last call on the way home and Ben insisted I put the helmet back on for a photo.

My handsome husband...

Ben, Darrel and Joann

Neon sign at First and Last Chance...

 Opening band from last night, The Satisfactions...

What a great couple of weeks for shows…Madness one week, the Skatalites the next! And it doesn’t stop.  Last night we caught our friends the Harrington Saints at John Patrick’s in Alameda and upcoming shows include The B-Stars (Tiki Trio) at Forbidden Island May 17th, Morrissey in Stockton on the 26th, Marti Brom at the Verdi Club on June 1st, The Polecats (with supporting act This Charming Band) at the Uptown June 7th, and then the Jesus and Mary Chain at the Fillmore June 14th! What’s next?!?!

Viva Las Vegas 2012 Round Up

Had an amazing time once again at Viva Las Vegas this year!  Already made our hotel reservations for next year.  Usually I do that upon checkout but this time I didn’t waste any time and booked next year as we were checking in.  Loved that our room was on the 3^rd floor and faced the pool.  We were able to just look out our window at all of the craziness at the pool party.  Very entertaining!  Here is a day by day taste of our activities at this year’s Viva!

Thursday:

We landed at 11:00 and headed straight over to McMullen’s Irish Pub across the way after dropping our bags in our room. This place always saves us.  It is a great pub and has really good food.  Being vegetarian in Vegas is not the easiest thing when looking for convenience so once I found out they had a veggie burger I knew I always had someplace to go where my only choice was not mozzarella sticks. They even had a veggie curry!  After lunch we continued with our Thursday tradition and took the shuttle to Bill’s Gambling Hall to catch another performance from Big Elvis.  Enjoyed him as we always do.  I also rather enjoyed the $2 margaritas!  We then finally checked out Sin City Brewery in the Flamingo hotel.  Tried finding this place last year with no luck.  A pitcher costs less than two beers so the choice was easy.  It was then time to head back to the Orleans to get ready for the evening and have dinner.

Pre-flight cocktail...

Big Elvis

Jodi and Zach being silly!

Friday:

Woke up feeling great and ready to take on another day.  After some lunch, we decided we finally needed to go to Frankie’s tiki bar.  We have been putting this off forever now since it is a pricey cab ride over there (roughly $20 each way) but we now know the cab ride it completely worth it!  Thankfully, we got there before the rest of the world decided to show up.  It was no trouble at all finding a seat or getting a drink when we arrived.  A different story when we wanted to order our next round and buy our souvenir mugs.  Seems Friday was the day to go so it ended up with a line form the bar to the door and only one poor bartender.  We gave up on a second drink and headed back to the Orleans.  After spending a bit at the pool party we headed in to change for the evening since we had to catch one of our absolute, most favorite events, the Charles Phoenix Slide Show at 5:00!  He was hilarious as usual.  We left there even more excited to see his next show on Sunday. 

We got a bit sidetracked after dinner since my stupid ATM card does not work in those little casino ATMs. So after trying several times, we headed to the gas station to try theirs.  No luck there but thankfully, the attendant told us there was an actual B of A right by there.  Of course the ATM could not dispense cash so we had to walk through the drive up ATMs.  What fun.  After all of that, Ben figured it best to stop back into McMullen’s for a bit ’o’ whiskey.  There was free music that Friday so we got to enjoy that before heading back to the Orleans for rest of the night.

Frankie's!

Ben, Zach, Scott & his brother...

Typical shoes off walk to the room to change into flats...

One of the best parts of the weekend, The Planet Rockers!

Saturday:

Amazing, we again woke up feeling fine!  Must be since we no longer stay up until 5 a.m. like we used to at Vivas past.  I figured the best thing to do first was to get shopping out of the way.  I tried on a handful of dresses with no luck.  I finally found a 1940s dress I liked.  Some guy from the local news stopped me but thankfully they did not use the footage with me in it.  I warned the guy I am not good on camera!  After giving up on clothing I headed to the Sounds That Swing booth to buy some CDs.  I always like buying from them as I used to shop there in Camden and always try to stop by there when we make our trips to London.  After shopping, we went by the car show to catch some music.  The sun was so intense we did not last long.  After catching a couple songs of Duane Eddy, we headed back to the pool party to meet up with some friends.  It was nice to actually relax for a bit and drink some tiki drinks out of coconuts in the shade.  Those hurricanes the bartenders were mixing were no joke!  After relaxation it was time to change into evening wear since the rest of the evening was packed with bands we just had to see.  It all started back again at the car show to see the Polecats.  Thankfully the sun went down so we could really enjoy ourselves. The Polecats were fantastic!  Cannot wait to see them in Oakland this June!  And of course the Big 6 and the Bellfuries were amazing!!!

Duane Eddy

Relaxing with some drinks in coconuts...

Boz!!!

The Polecats!  Playing The Uptown in June!

Rosa and I...lurex twins!

 I got to see Katie!

 The Big 6!

The Bellfuries!

Sunday:

Yet another hangover avoided!  We were on a roll this year though we know how Sundays usually end up and we still had Monday morning to deal with.  Charles Phoenix had one more slide show at 5:00 so this was the first main thing we were concerned with, the last being Jack Baymoore at the end of the night.  After the slide show we had a nice dinner.  Then we hung around some more and the cocktails were a flowin’.  Why does Sunday night always end up so crazy!?!?!  Makes sense why I do not have many photos from that night....

Monday morning was brutal!  The weekend caught up with us at that point.  Thankfully we did not have an early flight so we did some relaxing at McMullen’s.  We had to get one more visit to our favorite pub before we left!

I think we have finally recovered now.  Good thing Viva is only once a year!   Already counting down until the next one.