Leap Day - February 29th.......So what gives?

Today is a rare occasion and therefore by that very fact.....a special one - and no it's not my birthday :) - today is a leap day...February 29th.

First the science......apparently we need  to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. Allegedly...and who am I to dispute such a fact...it takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (a tropical year)– to circle once around the Sun.

However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn't add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days - so there you have it.

It was Julius Caesar who first introduced the leap year in 46 bc but the Julian calendar did this by simply stating that any year evenly dividable by 4 would be a leap year. Seems good enough but this led to far too many leap years being created and eventually it was rectified 1500 years later....one assumes they just muddled through in the mean time!

So how do we do it now? Well it goes something like this; three criteria have to be met for it to be a leap year and hence have February 29th (the allocated leap day...although why this date remains a mystery to me); these are that  the year is divisible by four and if the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is not a leap year unless, the year is also divisible by 400 - then it is a leap year. Clear as mud huh.

So what does Leap Day mean to us mere mortals? Apparently as tradition has it and according to legend or was it history???? Anyway allegedly St Bridget struck a bargain with St Patrick to allow women to propose marriage to men, once every four years (we could talk about discrimination here but let's move on...).  This was introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how Leap Day balanced the Calendar.  Doesn't seem a particularly even balancing act but I guess it was a start.  

Leap Day has also been known as Bachelors Day for the same reason and a man was expected to pay a penalty such as clothing or money, if he refused a proposal from a woman on Leap Day (I'm all for equality but again this seems a bit unfair). In many European countries the story goes that if a man refused the proposal, he had to buy the woman 12 pairs of gloves (one for each month? Shoes would have been so much more exciting!) so that the woman could hide the embarrassment of not having an engagement ring and during the middle ages there were actually laws governing this.  Thankfully times have moved on.....So anyone proposing to anyone today????

          

         

Derby Affordable Vintage Fair

After what seemed an eternity.....two hours and fifteen minutes to be precise....we finally arrived at The Venue for Derby's Affordable Vintage Fair - with only a few wrong turns and one minor mishap where stress levels shot sky high when the car decided it had 35 miles of petrol left and then suddenly went to zero! (well before the allotted 35 miles had been used). However disaster and more importantly, having to push the car were averted, and the car was gratefully refueled courteousy of Sainsbury's (boy were we glad to see the petrol station).

It is never easy when you first arrive, as there is the usually feeling that all eyes are on you, and you have to locate your space, and then unload the vast bags of vintage clothing and all the rails, poles and baskets before you can begin to set up.  This is time consuming and there is the edge of worry that your pitch doesn't look as good as anyone else's and also the concern that no one has yet spoken to you (actually this is just paranoia kicking in as all the other traders are also busy setting up and probably feeling the same way - not - of course - that I have asked them....duh!).

Finally everything is in place, the doors open and the hoards of vintage loving buyers come in. This is the fun part. You get to sell your lovely vintage goodies to people who have a love and appreciation of them, you get to people watch and view the amazing vintage outfits some of these buyers come in, and of course now talk to the other traders, who prove to be both human and friendly.  The downside is five hours standing on your feet (note to self....Do Not wear boots with a heel next time!), the constant desire to eat due to the relative inactivity of the situation and dehydration as you can't drink the usual twenty cups of tea that your body seems to have become dependent on!  But it was a lovely day, met some really lovely people, made some money and collected some lovely memories and stories to tell in the future.

The drive home - another two and a half hours was not quite so amusing...as at one point we had gone round this large roundabout three times and seemed to have little chance of getting off (such huge roundabouts with odd lane requirements etc!) but obviously finally did, only to have the consul lights in the car go out completely and this meant the heater, the cd player and speedometer were now invisible and in darkness.....which was just about ok but made driving more difficult and temperature and volume control a hazardous occupation. Still we arrived home safe, sound and grateful and ready to do it all again next week in Nottingham. 

Hannah's Friday Favourites

So this week has been all about researching for my sisters wedding, first off I have been trying to find a Where's Wally costume for the hen do in Magaluf, and also looking for my bridesmaids shoes. I love this pair from Kurt Geiger but not sure of colour or price-so back to the drawing board. I have also renewed my love affair of Gossip Girl this week and have been religiously watching it from season 1.I also had a make up tutorial this week and although came out of it knowing a lot more about what looks good I also surfaced with a bright red face-damn sensitive skin!
On Sunday we have our first vintage fair in Derby-very excited by also quite nervous will blog next week to let you all know how it goes!

 

Sally's Friday Favourites

Well personally this week has been a hard slog....as I have been dying.....okay slight exaggeration.....only slight though as I have had an awful head cold......and I don't do ill graciously or well so make it worse for myself. Found this delightful picture, which summed up how I felt even if, hopefully, I didn't look quite this bad!

Mind you...can now feel the side's of my nose eroding after constant wiping and a cold sore may be making it's way there as we speak....so could look this bad...shortly! Watch this space! Being ill did give me space to reflect a little - as living in my head seemed the only possibility as lifting it for manual work was too painful! I found this lovely quote, which meant something personal to me and inspired me as I move forward with my life.

As the weather improved this week and the sun shone....it was so beautiful to see it and feel some warmth...my thoughts turned to the garden....it is a jungle out there with a whole host of dead stuff that needs to be removed. There was one live yellow crocus which I was very excited to find, and then promptly took a step backwards and trod on it.....don't think it is going to survive....broken stem (guess that's equivalent to our neck)! R.I.P Yellow Crocus. Noting that gardening is not my strong point, I sat and dreamt of a hunky gardener coming in to sort it all out, so that in the summer, I could sit out there with friends (in a delightful floaty frock of course) and have a drink as the sun goes down - may even invite the gardener back...seems quite nice from the photo!  Being slightly more realistic....was thinking of where, in this large garden, we could have a bonfire to dispose of all the debris - I do love a good bonfire - but despite it's size, couldn't really think of anywhere that we would not be in danger of setting fire to something else......like the house!  Oh well, gardener it is then :)

Buffy's Friday Favourites

 

                    


                                       

This week has been overshadowed by my first assignment for my Business Course...and I'm almost finished!! Also I bought these shoes for when I'm bridesmaid at my sisters wedding, so fingers crossed they are a colour match to the dress. I'm in love with the whole of Prada's RTW Fall 2012-2013 collection-especially this orange suit!!! And hopefully others will of noticed the sunshine the last two days...it may not last but its made be happy all the same, and finally I found this lovely quote which I feel is very true.

The Irony of Life

Have spent the week dying........okay, slight exaggeration...........suffering with a horrible head cold!.. (origins unknown - but I have my list of suspects). Unfortunately, I don't do ILL very well and certainly not graciously. Always feels slightly as if it's a weakness and I have succumbed.

However.....in among my sufferings and losing gallons of fluid via my nose (and the wondrous reality of knowing that when this little delight passes me by....my old best friend the cold sore will no doubt come to visit and stay with me a further ten days or so...... usually placed strategically, half way up my nose!) I realized something almost profound....

Racked with cold, and with a head that seems to weigh a ton with all the fluid retention .....I realized that facially.....I actually look better than I have done in a while (years to be truthful!). The extraneous fluid has plumped up my contours and wrinkles and filled in those  lines and my face looks smooth and much younger.    So does snot rock?  No...associated symptoms outweigh the benefits.....but it is nice to know...that whilst I feel like I'm dying....I'm actually looking pretty good.

Sally's Friday Favourites

The week started on a low for me.....giving up smoking......have done it before for three years but after a major relapse....here we are again.......not going well....have cheated several times - mainly because I didn't throw them all away and so I could and have spent many days convincing myself that having only a couple a day is no different than nicotine replacement therapy. It is so easy to delude yourself at times like this and despite all the knowledge of "it's killing me...it's disgusting" etc.....feel like I'm in mourning for a old friend.  Next week it's cold Turkey for me....Lent would seem the ideal solution and motivator.......well it does now.....next week...who knows!

Also this week...I have had my haircut......a most novel experience that I could write a whole blog on...but won't........below is how I'd like to look....complete with this girl's face as well preferably....but at least I now have shape cut back in and look slightly more attractive rather than the overgrown scarecrow look I was modelling before!

My eldest daughter is getting married soon and I've decided to go for a monochrome look, so spent time      researching hats...here are the current favs.                         

Whilst in Birmingham having hair sorted.......couldn't resist a sneeky peek into Primark and saw this lovely dress......but was really restrained and didn't buy it!  Regretted that action all the way home though......loving the look;

And finally....this week the sad death of Whitney Houston...so this week belongs to the memorable and immortal voice of Whitney....R.I.P

Hannah's Friday Favourites

This week I have been dreaming of winning he lottery and so scrolling through netaporter to find a new dress. The red one by Matthew Willamson is perfect but priced at £1595 I think slightly over budget :( My next two items are slightly more on my price level, the cream floral jeans and the navy stripe jumper both from River Island and a mere £35 each! Lastly I love the new songs by Emeli Sande 'Next to me' and Katy Perry 'Part of me' so have had them on repeat all week.

Buffy's Friday Favourites

 

 This week it's been about finally painting my nails...been a bit lazy with them lately so I treated them to some sparkle with this gorgeous Eyeko Chi Chi Polish, also getting closer to my sisters hen do...and the theme is sailor!! I have been dreaming of these turquoise trousers from Primark...only £12...got a bit too excited when I saw them yesterday...and continuing the theme of wanting if possible I wouldn't mind these Kurt Geiger Trainers...slightly more at £120... probably a little bit too naughty, and lastly I finally got round to watching The Blind Side...such a lovely film, it made me smile all the way through!!

Spring/Summer Trends Vintage Style

Tribal



Lace


All items above can be purchased from our ASOS Marketplace Store:
https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/allthingsvintage/collection

Spring/Summer Trends 2012 Vintage Style

Florals

Paisley


Pastel                                 Yellow

All items above can be purchased from our ASOS Marketplace Store:
https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/allthingsvintage/collection

Photo shoot Whoopsies :)

On ASOS Market Pace where we sell the vast majority of our vintage clothing, there is a requirement that photo's have to be real life ie someone has to wear the clothes for the photo's. Now this is not as easy as it seems as a lot of the vintage clothes we have are of differing sizes, whilst we three Vintage Vixens are all a size 10 and the only male we could persuade  albeit reluctantly to help us out,( family member so emotional blackmail was quite useful here), is a size Large. So clothes often don't fit,  they either squeeze the life out of us or hang off rather ungainly! Furthermore, a lot just don't suit us, colours are wrong, and we are all vertically challenged so heels have to be high etc, so photo shoots are a challenge...and often hilarious. They also have to be taken in natural daylight, and thus this means traipsing outside in sub zero temperatures...and then some bright spark screams SMILE! Not so easy when you are freezing your butt off, believe me.

And smiling, is suddenly not so easy......it apparently means bearing your teeth...and this feels very fake and inside you feel a right plonker...but I am advised, it works for the camera.  The other nightmare, which leads to photo after photo being taken is blinking!  The camera lies and always says it has detected a blink, whether in reality you have or not.....but blinking is an issue. Why is it that when someone says smile...you seem to blink....as if there is an invisible thread from your mouth...which is now being extended into a grin....up to your eyelids......mouth opens, eyelids come down....mouth open eyelids come down...mouth shuts...hey presto eyes open...or is it just me???

Then there is always the "mucking around                                            stage"...where you think you have a good enough photo, only to find the model was playing to the mirror.....or the intentional

 "I've had enough shot!!!!!!!!!!!!".

 I think after all this effort.....we deserve you to buy our clothes....even just out of recognition of all that we go through to get them online for you!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer; No model was harmed either during or after the taking of these photos :)