April 2011 - Page 2 of 3 - Veda House Veda House

let's talk vintage

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DISCLAIMER: This post wasn’t written to be a stab at any vintage sellers out there and it really isn’t intended to stir things up. My intention was to propose a conversational topic that people in my blogging community could chit chat about…because we’re all friends and share similar interests, right?? (this might be a lengthy post)

Actually two articles got me think. Read through them and I’d love for you to share your thoughts.

What All Vintage Clothing Sellers Should Know (an eBay Review)
Far too often new vintage clothing sellers enter into the vintage board with questions about how to sell and in particularly how to source vintage items. It’s not the questions that are unfortunate, it’s the replies that never cease to amaze me. Most responders politely reply that it’s a secret, many years of sourcing and building contacts and no one in their right mind would divulge their secrets to potential competition. Many others are not nearly so polite.

If you were to lurk on the boards long enough you’d see, as I have, that these questions are repeated like clockwork every few months. This guide is to dispel that myth and will probably annoy many vintage sellers but it’s necessary. It’s not my goal to annoy anyone, but it’s counterproductive to not educate potential vintage sellers. Every day mass produced copies of once rare vintage items are rolling onto docks across the world. Vintage sellers need to be educated about what they are selling or the entire market suffers. Buyers lose trust in the very term vintage and before you know it, selling vintage for a living becomes less and less a viable option.

Just about everyone wears clothes so finding vintage is far from a mystery. All it takes is knowledge, a willingness to learn from your mistakes and an outgoing personality helps. A vicious rumor has started in the vintage world, propagated on fashionista blogs, that vintage sellers simply head to the local Goodwill store, buys mounds of great clothes and jack up the price on eBay. They’ve made it sound simple, like anyone can just go and grab a handful of dress and make $2,000+ a month selling clothes from their living room.

Far too many potential sellers believe this and jump right in head first, last few dollars in hand, hoping this will be the way they finally make money on eBay. Yet another reason why the market is slowly collapsing. JUST BECAUSE A DRESS IS OLD DOESN’T MEAN IT’S VINTAGE!!!
Keep Reading this beauty–>

Why do I care? Why did I post this?
I’m a lover of most things old (I like to called them previously loved) and my collection of previously owned items is constantly growing. I value my collection because each piece was hunted down over a period of time. My knowledge of what makes something “vintage” is evolving and I’m learning little nuggets of information from all of you. Sometime in the near future I hope to own my own online business where I can extend my love for vintage/old items into the digital space and share my love with my readers. Before I take that leap I thought it was important to be knowledgeable about what classifies something and in turn, what kind of price tag you can put on something.

I thought this article was perfect in stating the facts. Having a vintage store on etsy is becoming a growing trend and I think a lot of people are jumping in without being educated. I would love the value of vintage to withstand the current trends, so we all need to be aware of what are treasures are really worth.

Here’s what I really want to know:
Where are vintage sellers sourcing their vintage? And how are vintage sellers determining the value of their product (price of product)?

I know I’m not going to get a single person talking about where they get their vintage items. There is a secrecy attached to this business. Its a no boys allowed type of thing. So if you’re brave. Spill the beans and educate us. True vintage sourcing takes LOTS time. I hear sellers of true vintage say they been pounding the pavements for years looking for the next best item. Curious what everyone has to say.

Alright, I’m signing off and leaving the “forum” open. Speak your mind and lets talk vintage/old pretty things!!!

I also thought this would be the perfect time to mention that I’ve got a lot of great vintage blogs in my Daily Reads link above. Check out those lovely ladies and buy their gorgeous products from their shops! (who cares if it’s real vintage or not)

yoga visualization

veda news

Yoga teachers: please stop giving potentially harmful dietary advice to your students.

I write this as a yoga teacher, and as a yoga student. I write this as a dietitian and nutritionist who sees the women and girls in clinic at the back end of yet another gruelling 10-day juice fast, or another winter freezing through raw foods; their thyroid, adrenals, and/ or reproductive health just a bit more depleted.

Their relationship with food and their body having slid yet another few degrees backwards into disordered and potentially dangerous territory.

Their self-confidence and self-trust bruised and just a bit weaker. Some of these people are yoga teachers themselves.

I write this with deep concern and remorse for any past student to whom I may have passed on potentially harmful nutrition advice before I learnt more about diet culture. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that diet culture, and the body hatred and dysfunction around food it creates, was such an insidious and widespread problem.

I didn’t know that “clean eating” was just another code word for dieting. “Dieting” is any way of eating you are emotionally attached to. For instance, do you feel anxious and off-kilter when you go out with friends and can’t find something that’s 100% “clean?” You’re on a diet, baby!

I have been on both the giving and receiving end of bad nutritional advice from yoga teachers. I don’t remember a specific incident of telling a student, “wanna lose weight? do this cleanse!”, but I do remember recommending a particular book containing what I thought were healthy recipes – a book which also happened to contain extremely dangerous dietary advice along the lines of “eat just one meal a day for optimum health”. Not a great blanket recommendation nor goal to aspire to.

I know that posting this is going to piss some people off. But if I can prevent just one more confused, health-conscious woman (and increasingly, man) from being more deeply sucked into diet culture, then it’s worth it.

Diet for End-Stage Renal Disease (Dialysis): Care Instructions

You need to change your diet when you are on dialysis for end-stage renal disease (kidney failure). You will need more protein than you did before you started dialysis. You may need to limit salt and fluids. You also may need to limit minerals such as potassium and phosphorus. A diet for end-stage renal disease takes planning. A dietitian who specializes in kidney disease can help you plan meals that meet your needs.

Your nutrition needs depend on the type of dialysis you get. Talk with your doctor or dietitian to make sure your diet is right for your condition. Do not change your diet without talking to your doctor or dietitian, get the best renal diet app.

Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse call line if you are having problems. It’s also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take.

How can you care for yourself at home?

Each person’s dialysis diet may be a little different. Work with your doctor or dietitian to create a food plan that guides your daily food choices. Here are some tips that may help you follow your plan.

Do not go for many hours without eating.If you do not feel very hungry, try to eat 4 or 5 small meals instead of 1 or 2 big meals. If you have a hard time eating enough, talk to your doctor or dietitian about ways you can add calories to your diet.
Get the right amount of protein.
- Ask your doctor or dietitian how much protein you need each day. You will probably need more protein while you are on dialysis than you did before you started dialysis.
- Choose high-quality protein sources, such as lean meat, poultry, fish, or eggs.
- If you are a vegetarian, your diet may require extra planning with your dietitian to make sure you’re getting enough protein and nutrients.
Limit salt.
- Look at food labels to see how much sodium is in each serving. Make sure that you look at the serving size. If you eat more than the serving size, you will get more sodium than what is listed on the label.
- Do not add salt to your food.
- Buy foods that are labelled “no salt added,” “sodium-free,” or “low sodium.” Foods labelled “reduced sodium” and “lightly salted” may still have too much sodium.
- Limit processed foods, fast food, and restaurant foods. And avoid salted snacks, like pretzels and chips.
- Try lemon, herbs, and spices to flavour your meals.
Know how much fluid you can drink each day.Every day fill a pitcher with that amount of water. If you drink another fluid (such as coffee) that day, pour an equal amount out of the pitcher. And remember to count foods that are liquid at room temperature as fluids. These include ice, gelatin, ice pops, and ice cream.
Limit potassium.
- Choose low-potassium fruits and vegetables. These include things like grapes, pineapple, lettuce, green beans, and cucumber.
- Choose low-potassium foods such as pasta, noodles, rice, tortillas, and bagels. And avoid high-potassium foods, including things like milk, bananas, oranges, spinach, tomatoes, and broccoli.
- Do not use a salt substitute or lite salt unless your doctor says it is okay. They can be high in potassium.
Limit phosphorus.
- Follow your food plan to know how much milk and milk products you can have.
- Avoid nuts, peanut butter, seeds, lentils, beans, organ meats, and sardines.
- Avoid cola drinks and bran breads or bran cereals.
- Take phosphate binders as directed, if prescribed by your doctor.

Always check with your doctor if you have questions about your diet. Do not take any natural health products without talking to your doctor first. And check with your doctor about whether it is safe for you to drink alcohol.

4.17.10 (on a Monday)

veda news

I’m back to blogging. I took a 3 day break away from blog/twitter land and it felt really good. It was the first time since starting this blog back in January that I had taken a day “off”. I had waves of guilt that I was leaving my baby unattended, but at the end of the day…it was exactly what I needed. I’m back into the swing of things today and thought I would post my Sunday portrait on Monday since I took the time to take the pictures. My family was in town this weekend and we spent the entire weekend in and out of antique stores! I’ll post pics from our adventure this week.

1^ I’ve decided that I will be taking two e-courses in the upcoming weeks. I’m really excited about them and they are an amazing deal for the amount of information provided. 1. Style Your Space by Rachel Denbow & 2. Dream Job by Elsie & Emma.
2^ I’ve been doing a lot of “market research” when it comes to vintage shops. I stumbled upon these gems: Peppermint Vintage & Little Bee Vintage
3^ My freelance projects have official wrapped up. This little worker bee is taking a much needed break. If you haven’t read THIS yet, do so now….
4^ I’ve joined in on is Stephanie’s 1,300 Things to be Thankful for adventure. Check out what it’s all about!
5^ I’m dying to get some plants in my loft to make things a little more “springy”. I feel bad that any plant I buy dies within weeks. (I blame it on our industrial air vents in our loft)
6^ The weather is stilling trying to make up it’s mind. If I ever have to hear the words “chance of snow showers” one more time this spring, I might barf.
7^ The puppy is getting his teeth professionally cleaned this coming Wednesday. I find this completely necessary and completely terrifying.

I just realized there are a lot of links in this post. O’well. Lots of neat-o things going on in the interwebs!

Happy Sunday/Monday!

*Have you jumped on the Google Friend Connect bandwagon? This is one of my favorite ways to find new bloggers to follow, so check it out!

my love affair

ART & DESIGN

Yes, I call it that. My love affair with Pinterest is getting a little out of hand, but who cares. If you’ve joined in on the Pinterest craze you know exactly what I’m talking about. The scrolling through endless amounts of gorgeous photos, pinning this…pinning that. Collecting amazingness.

Click on above image to start to “follow” my pin boards!

1_Pinned from Old & New Blog 2_Pinned from Anthropologie.com

1_ Pinned from Early Electronics Blog 2_Pinned from Design Sponge

There are a lot of sites out there that basically do exactly what Pinterest does, but this site is gorgeous! Creating virtual bulletin boards couldn’t get easier and what a great resource to visit when the inspiration is lacking. I’m addicted and you should be too. haha

Go pin something!

friday finds & favorites

FRIDAY FINDS & FAVORITES

This is one of my favorite posts I get to do each week. All week long I hop from blog to blog, website to website…soaking up all kinds of inspiration and keeping the urls bookmarked for Fridays. It feels like I’m in 3rd grade and showing you my rock collection during Friday Show and Tell.

*Porter and I picked up these pretty flowers on our morning walk this morning. He carried them all the way home in his mouth. He’s decorating for his grandma that is coming today.

Here’s this weeks round up:

1. This dress at forever 21. It’s affordable and I’m getting it!
2. I stumbled upon this blogger’s tumblr site and the visuals are gorgeous.
3. And this blogger’s tumblr site. I love how it’s a visual documentation of notable posts by other bloggers. I feel like I need this kind of thing to keep my flagged posts organized.
4. I’d like one of each please. Beautiful modern print quilts. (Down their PDF catalog)
5. One Day for Design. Check it out!
6. I’m terrified of moths, but this little locket is adorable.
7. Danielle’s inspiring summer goals. I need to jot some down.
8. This quote was posted on Chelsea’s blog Sea Blanket and I’m in love with it. Go check out her blog and other writing by Haruki Murakami
“Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads – at least that’s where I imagine it – there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library.”
9. This hair cut is adorable. If I had some balls and didn’t love having long hair, It’d cut my locks for sure. Anyone out there looking for a new do?
10. Print your own fabric. This has been on my to-do list for ages.

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend. I’m really excited because my parents are coming to St. Louis for the weekend and they are staying with the boy and I. I think we’ll being taking them to our favorite St. Louis spots and going to my very first auction! I’m sure you’ll all see the fun in next week’s posts.

Enjoy dearies!

bunny ring!

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A little over a month ago I fell in love with blogger LLYMLRS. She has impeccable care free outfits and amazing jewelry. Anytime she would post an outfit post I would envy her collection of jewels and dream to have them. Well guess what peeps??!! She has a little online shop and sells jewelry! (product is always being updated) It’s amazingly priced and really unique pieces.

I recently bought this bunny ring from her shop and patiently waited as it traveled to me from Europe. (this bunny has been getting around!) All week I have been getting double takes around the office. People ask “WHAT is THAT on your finger? It’s amazing!” I highly suggest checking out Lily’s blog and her cute little shop.

finding what makes you tick

veda news

This post was originally going to be about how I strive to make things “perfect” in my world and how I’m a classic work-a-holic. I read a post last week written by Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess and it really got me thinking.She explained how she was OK with her “work-a-holic” status because she is romantically in love with her job. At first I was really happy for her, then I was jealous, and then I was slightly annoyed. I wasn’t annoyed with Elsie and her ability to make her dreams come true, but annoyed with myself. One day I’m on edge with excitement about what the future has in store and the next day I’m frustrated that those days still haven’t arrived. I start to think that I’m failing and then I start to over think things.

One thing I fail to do often is recognize the small milestones that have been reached. I neglect the fact that I’m working hard every day to better my world and I’m not sitting on the couch waiting for things to happen. I’m an active participant in shaping my future. Patience is not one of my strong points and I need to keep in mind that my timelines are not always realistic. The universe is going to keep spinning no matter how hard you try to stop it.

I think I’ve found the key to feeling like you are living your dream. Find the small things that make you tick. Do you love crafts, but don’t have enough time to do them? Make it a priority to do little projects here and there and don’t use the excuse that there is not enough time. There is always a little time for what you really enjoy if you put it on the same priority level as doing laundry or cleaning the house. Life will go on if laundry isn’t done on the weekend.

Ok, so I’m rambling now. I just wanted to share with you guys how I felt about living your dream or having your dream job. If you are actively working to make things happen you need to be patient, I need to be patient. Fill your days with little things that make you tick and celebrate small milestones.

Would love to hear your thoughts on how to make your dream job a reality. Any insights?

Oh…by the way… Take this dream job e-course now!! (I’m signing up for this ecourse and THIS one.

the flower nursery

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One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is walking through a flower nursery and looking at all the flats of flowers. My mother has been working at a flower nursery for as long as I can remember, so being surrounded by plants/flowers is somewhat comforting and makes me feel close to home.

*Check out that pineapple thing above my head!

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve acquired my mother’s green thumb because I seem to have the hardest time keeping houseplants alive. I’ve never had the space to have an outdoor garden, so maybe my luck will change when I attempt a real garden. Let’s just say indoor plants hate me and I tend to go through them pretty quickly.

On Sunday I was in my normal Sunday Slump, doom and gloom mood and the boy did a really good job at filling the afternoon with things I really love to do. We visited the loop and spent a good amount of time at a thrift store where I found a perfect vintage white knit top and a denim sun dress. On our way home we stopped at Bayer’s Flower Nursery to check out there succulent selection. Succulents are my only real hope at keeping something alive, so I thought I’d restock. The nursery was bustling with weekend warriors and you could tell everyone was excited to bring their backyards to life. I came home empty handed, but really enjoyed soaking up the sun and smelling all the greenery/dirt. So refreshing!

Are you guys planting a garden this year?

*wow! Who knew I could ramble about plants.

a walk around the loop

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I’m going to take you on a little tour of one of St.Louis’ most eclectic neighborhoods. The Loop is home to a lot of St. Louis’ well known Landmarks such as the Tivoli Theater, Blueberry Hill restaurant, Fitz’s grill and bottle works, The Pageant concert center, and Vintage Vinyl. This area of town really comes alive when the weather is nice. “Starving music artists” fill the streets playing their instruments for eclectic crowds that pass by. It has a very artsy/hippy vibe and the stores in the area cater to this kind of crowd. If you’re not there for eating and shopping, at least there is great opportunities for people watching.

If you every have a chance to stop by St. Louis Missouri, I would highly suggest stopping by Jake and my favorite spots on the loop: Star Clipper comic book store, Avalon Exchange thrift store, Ziezo clothing company, Vintage Vinyl, and Cheeseology. (see our trip to Cheeseology and Vintage Vinyl)

Do you guys have your favorite neighborhood in your parts of the woods? Favorite places to visit that are iconic to your city? I’d love to see them. Post a link in the comment section and I’ll stop by to check them out.

4.10.11

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The Veda House had a really good week this week. Not only was it a good week for me personally, it was a really successful week for the blog. Thanks to Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet for choosing me as her spotlight blogger, I now have a bunch of new readers I can hopefully get to know better. Thank you Dani!!! I was also hit with a little bit of clarity about what my next big adventure is going to be. You could say I’m inspired and have a jolt of energy to share with you guys.

1^ I’ve been so inspired lately I think I have too many projects going on at once. I might have to streamline some things.
2^ It was a crazy week at the agency. Working on new businesses pitches are fun, but so exhausting.
3^ My family is coming to visit next weekend and I’m taking three work days off. I’m excited for them to come and for the couple days to recharge.
4^ St. Louis was hit with another heat wave this weekend. It was 85 degrees for both days with sun and a nice breeze. The humidity is also back.
5^ Check out this blogger. I’ve fallen in love with her style and free spirit.
6^ Taxes are done and I’m getting money back!!! yipee!!
7^ Are we friends with Google Friend Connect?? If not, all you have to do is click the button in my side bar and I’ll come check out your blog!!!

Happy Sunday!

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