Vintage Family Photos

The Sartorialist is holding a Vintage Photo Contest in which readers can submit their favorite photo from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. The photo must convey an inspirational sense of style and should be from one's personal collection. After the passing of one of my granduncles last year, my aunt scanned his collection of old photos and shared them on facebook. I submitted my favorites to the Sartorialist but thought there were too many good ones that I should share them on the blog.

Hope you enjoy :)

One of my grand uncles in the 1940s in Manila. I love the bow tie.

I completely love how time stands still and gives us glimpses to the past in vintage photographs, how fashions and style evolve through the years, and how familiar faces look back at me.

My grandmother spent a few years in Madrid, Spain where she was immersed in the culture, food, and language (still very fluent in Spanish and Catalan). Being the only daughter, she was very much into fashion, accessories, and make up. Here she is leaning against the family car, in a knit blouse and patterned skirt. Madrid, 1945.

Great grandparents and my grandmother. My great grandfather was the Philippines' Consul to Spain so they spent some of the 1940s living in Madrid. There is something so casually coordinated about their outfits.


Great grandmother and friends. Look at those shoulders.


My grandparents' wedding. Her lace sleeves, neckline, and hair piece are fun dress details still worn today.


My mother's baptism.


My mother and two aunts as children in 1959. They are in their Sunday best in front of the Manila Cathedral. There is something so timeless about kids' day dresses, white socks, and sandals.


Nothing says 1970s like bold prints, bright colors, unbuttoned collars, bell bottoms, and big hair.

Looking back is always so fun, I cannot imagine what my future grandchildren will say about my photos!

Hope that you liked the photos, I would love to see fellow bloggers' vintage family photos :) Please post!!

Happy Spring

The past week and weekend blessed us with amazing weather, sunny skies, and everything in bloom!



I love flowering trees with colorful petals that make the ground beneath equally colorful.


Bright and vibrant colors are always nice to see.




I am so happy that Spring has arrived. It is my favorite season, when days are longer and weather is perfectly 72 degrees and flowers bloom and outfits are colorful once again.

Have a great day everyone :)

The Sweet Escape: Wedding Cupcakes

We love to eat cupcakes. We indulge in them almost weekly. We think they are cute and yummy and perfect in size. We knew cupcakes were a must instead of a wedding cake.

Our cupcakes, by the now defunct Crumbs of Santa Barbara, were so delicious. We had our tasting and decided on our frosting & flavor combo in Dec 2008, so by the wedding in September 2009 we were excited to eat them up!

Our flavors were:
White cake with strawberry butter cream
Almond cake with blueberry butter cream
Chocolate with hazelnut butter cream
Brownie with dark chocolate ganache

Because the cupcakes would be sitting out for hours, we opted for butter cream as the choice topping. It would not get hard like icing and was some serious yummyness for the week to follow.





Is it bad that I can still remember the taste and texture and how much I love all of these?


This cupcake menu was my favorite of all the menus I made. The colors, which represent all 3 bridesmaids' dresses, were my favorite purple and yellow combination.


Some time after dinner and during dancing everyone was called to the cupcake table for the cutting and serving. Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape" played as we cut, took bites of, and let our guests enjoy the cupcakes.




Kids curiously approaching.


Trying to feed each other quickly so everyone (kids) could enjoy these delicious things.


Nothing is holding the kids back now!

I probably ate 3 cupcakes that night and 10 more in the week that followed, they were just so good! We are bummed that SB Crumbs is no longer around (no anniversary cake for us) but were very happy to have worked with them.

Now I think we have to head to a local cupcake place this weekend. Enjoy Cupcakes might just be the place :) Happy Friday!


All photos are by the sweet Sarah K Chen

Say what you need to say

Toasts and speeches are such a joy to experience at weddings. I remember being 11 years old and watching my uncle's best man pull out his acoustic guitar and serenade my uncle in lieu of a speech. It was amazing. Eventually the whole room was singing the chorus.

Since then I had wondered about how the speeches and toasts at my wedding would be presented, what would be said, and how much fun they would be to hear. Lucky for us, we have such loving and wonderful people in our lives.

First up was Todd for the best man speech. He later said he was nervous, but no one could tell. We loved how his speech was like he was talking to just us.


At the end, Todd told hubs to hold my hand and then place his other hand on top of mine. Todd the said this was the last time hubs would have the upper hand and the room erupted in laughter. Funny part though, after hubs placed his other hand over mine, I was going to place my free hand over his! Good thing I didn't ;)


Capturing the moment after his speech :)


Up next was my sister. This fine young thing spoke in such a poignant and mature tone. Those who did not know her age were surprised to hear she was 18. We loved it. I love this photo because it looks like she is rapping.


We toasted a lot :)


A little time later, my dad had a toast and said a prayer before dinner.


More great words were said.


And mom laughed :)

We are so fortunate to be surrounded by love.


All photos are by the talented Sarah K Chen

You and me in the Photobooth

When I learned our photographer was starting to offer photo booths during receptions, I jumped at the offer. I mean, everyone needs a photo with their grandma in matching hats :)

We had the booth open for about 2 hours and had our DJ announce it a few times to get everyone excited to get their photos taken. A white backdrop was set up with a box of props to add to the silliness.

Below are a few of my favorites from the night. Guests loved posing with props and receiving a keepsake photo, but I think the kids had the most fun.


My kind of family portrait: us with our parents.


Brother and his friends.


Lovely cousins.


All of the cousins! We used up every prop that P was left with a little flower which she used to cover one eye ;)


Friends.


High school buddies.


Sword fighting. I think the sword was very popular.


Honey. The girls and the gays.


Some of my Titas getting into it.


And the kids having too much fun!







I printed out duplicates of photos with 3 people or more, and mailed them off with our thank you cards :)

Will you do a photobooth? What are your favorite props?

All photos are by the amazing Sarah K Chen

Bag Lady

I am all about purses. They are my favorite accessory. Top handles, totes, satchels, hobos, clutches. I love them all.

And I love this LA Times Magazine feature of 50s on Signature Handbags, Cachet and Carry. Illustrations of classic styles by Jameson Simpson showcase the designers and details of some very iconic handbags.

Source

Below are some of my favorite bags. I am no bagsnob, but do hope to add one of them to my collection, eventually.

All images below are from LA Times Mag.












What are your favorite styles? What bags do you covet?