Love | Archives Vintage

Moving On…

December 4, 2012 by archivesvintage · 3 Comments

My last post was certainly not a lighthearted one! It was definitely written from a place of anger, frustration, disappointment….and extreme honesty. Sorry to be such a downer. Time to change up the mood, eh?

My birthday last week was actually (aside from the shitty stuff) pretty great. The day before my actual b-day I trimmed the tree, and Mark took me out for a very indulgent meal at my favorite Italian place. The day of I had to work for a few hours, but they surprised me with a delicious cake! That was followed by meeting my family for pizza…not exactly a light calorie day (or week, really)!

Mark and I have done a lot of talking (sooooo tired of talking/thinking about my feelings) since last week. I’m not sure what’s in store for us, but I’m still moving forward with buying a car and staying with family for a while, though that probably won’t be until early January. I’ve lived here for almost 5 years and have amassed a lot of stuff during that time. Over the weekend I started packing up some non-essentials. It’s weird.

And finally…with all of this crap going on, I’m trying to remember to indulge and treat myself a little. Mostly, that has meant lapping up wine as much as I like. In lieu of doing the life change/drastic hair change thing and chopping it all off, I’ve been straightening it, wearing it down (GASP), and sweeping my bangs off my face. Small changes that seem like a big change (at least to moi).

Thanks for the insanely supportive and sweet comments on the last post. I honestly don’t think I would be able to get through this confusing time without the support of internet friends. Love you guys ♥

Filed Under: archives vintage, birthday, life, love

Fresh Start

November 28, 2012 by archivesvintage · 11 Comments

On my 18th birthday, I remember thinking I wanted to somehow log the milestone, so I would have some way to look back when I’m older and remember where I was at that point in my life. I never did it. Yesterday I turned 30 and found myself wanting to do the same somehow. I have this blog I pay to host and haven’t been using, so I guess here we are…

My dog was ill for a long time, and a week and a half ago, I had to make the very painful decision to put him down. It was awful. Beyond awful. About a month before all this started happening, my boyfriend of 6 years and I were coming to the decision that we should go our separate ways. Things got a bit confusing as we grieved over little Atlas, but yesterday, on my birthday, I was unfortunately reminded why things had soured in our relationship.

I’m trying so hard to not see this as failure, but rather as an opportunity for a fresh start.

The healthiest thing I can do for myself is remove myself from the situation and move on. My plan is to stay with my family while I save some money and figure out what’s next. Staying with them means I have to commute from the suburbs to work, and I don’t own a car at the moment. So I’m scrambling to get some cash together and pack my shit up so I can get out of here as soon as possible.

I had some great, witty way of laying this all out as I was tossing and turning last night. And now everything seems flat and depressing as I write it. I tend to bottle things up and ignore them rather than addressing them. This is a (weird) attempt to (publicly) do not do that. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll regret it and delete this later. But I have to start over somehow, and I guess getting some of this off my chest is step one.

Filed Under: atlas, life, love

Road Trip Recap

May 23, 2012 by archivesvintage · 8 Comments

I’m back! As you know, Mark and I packed up the car (and Atlas!) and headed out on old historic Route 66 to Albuquerque (someday I want to do the whole thing!). Unfortunately Mark had to work most of the time, but that gave me plenty of time to scour through the town, which I hadn’t visited in a few years. If you haven’t been, Abq is a sleepy but beautiful city with some really REALLY great food (if you’re not familiar with New Mexican cuisine, you should seriously get on that).

Here are some photos from the trip!

Atlas had his own little perch, complete with a comfy blanket to navigate from.

Oklahoma wind farm.

Neither Mark or myself are into country music, but when we saw this sign, we realized we both have weird stories about meeting Garth Brooks. What are the odds?

Just in case it wasn’t clear what this gas station didn’t want your dog doing, they spelled it out.

He loves Combos. So gross.

This awesome vintage Airstream! I so want one.

Just when we entered New Mexico, we hit some crazy storms.

The Sandia Mountains.

Being from flatland Illinois, I find mountains insanely fascinating and beautiful. I took a drive up a scenic byway to Sandia Peak. You basically drive up a curvy mountainside road until you hit over 10,000 ft above sea level. It’s amazing.

Albuquerque down below!

Lots of shopping was had. I passed this thrift store a few times, and then one day this perfect sign was outside! $1 sale? YES PLEASE.

We stayed at a cute place found on AirBnB most of the week, but extended our stay one night and our place was unfortunately already booked. So, we checked into a nice hotel, where Atlas enjoyed his first hotel stay in a king size bed!

The view was nice, too.

Last but not least, I treated myself to this lovely antique celluloid & rhinestone bangle from a tiny antique shop run by the sweetest old man. I’ve worn it every day since!

It was a very relaxing week in which I learned the very real difference between dry and humid heat. Also, I am ready to live near some mountains. Like, NOW. In the mean time, let the post-road trip diet detox begin…

Filed Under: archives vintage, atlas, history, love, shopping, thrifting, travel, vacation, vintage clothing

One Year: A Milestone

March 16, 2012 by archivesvintage · 12 Comments

The day I made a very important sale!

Feel free to skip my emotional ramblings if you want (I wouldn’t blame you); here’s a summary of this post: I’ve been self employed for a year! THE SHOP IS 20% off through March 20, 2012 to celebrate!

A year ago nearly to the day, I went into my job of five plus years and walked out a self-employed woman. This past year has absolutely flown by. It really feels like just yesterday I had insurance! And a steady paycheck! And a savings account! And was miserable. And was becoming a very angry, bitter, sad person.

This past year has been equally as rewarding as it has been challenging. I look back at all the hard work I’ve done to grow a business that I love, and am immensely proud (cue: me now in tears). I didn’t finish college; I don’t have a business degree – I’ve had to figure things out on my own through a lot of trial and error. I don’t have wealthy parents or anyone else to support me when things seem to be falling apart. This is something I have done myself.

Well, almost. I’m insanely fortunate to have a boyfriend who has been a pillar of support, advice, encouragement and witness to my successes and failures (not pretty, or easy…the man deserves sainthood for putting up with me). I was terrified to tell my family I took my quirky hobby of selling old stuff on as a full time business. In turn, they have been extremely kind, interested and emotionally supportive. Even Mark’s family has been overwhelmingly supportive! I’ve made some incredible friends through blogging and in real life (those lines are eternally growing blurrier by the day) throughout all of this, and sadly lost some as well. That’s been one of the most surprising things – losing friends when you need them most. True colors, as they say.

Balancing a business, domestic responsibilities, a relationship, friendship, family….shit – some days just getting dressed…it’s really fucking hard. I often fail at being a decent girlfriend/daughter/dog owner/friend/human. But this isn’t unique to me, or my situation. This is just being an adult, right? It’s impossibly hard to do ALL the things gracefully.

All this is to say that it’s been a crazy year.

Thank YOU. Thanks to every single one of you for reading, buying, window-shopping, commenting or even just quietly lurking. It means everything to me. Really.

Here’s to year two!

Filed Under: archives vintage, family, friends, history, life, love, vintage clothing, work

When Pigs…Dance

February 14, 2012 by archivesvintage · 9 Comments

Let’s be real: as far as holidays go, Valentines Day is pretty ridiculous….the perfect occasion to wear the most absurdly awesome vintage sweater in the world! I bought this months ago for the shop, and it never made it. Straight to my sweater drawer it went!

Now imagine me wearing this and listening to this song on repeat while I work with some white girl chair dancing goin on, and you know what my day looks like. Tonight we’re “celebrating” by ordering pizza and watching a movie in our ‘jams. Perfect.