Weekend Wrap-Up: Special Vintage and Cat's 50th Birthday!

Hello, my friends! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend! There are signs of spring, and it feels like there is a little hope in the world. 

This weekend marked our dear friend Cat's 50th birthday, so I hope y'all will forgive my indulgence in sharing a ton of pics with you. We planned a very big surprise for her!

Let's kick it off with what I (and L) wore for brunch, and for Cat's surprise birthday, and for the Zoom Happy Hour on Saturday night. 

I had to share this new-to-me special vintage skirt right away! 

• Velvet jacket (below) - Talbots, thrifted; last seen here in December 2020 with shiny paisley
• Blouse - Nygard, consignment; last worn here in October 2020 with casual plaid
• Skirt - Arola, vintage 70s, consignment vintage; purchased here for $23.00
• Boots - Mini Babycakes, Fluevog; last seen here earlier this month with vintage mermaid

I also wanted to showcase some of my special vintage copper pieces - I have quite a collection and I'm wearing a lot of it in this outfit. 

I did this sheer dark green pussy-bow blouse to both go with the turquoise accents in the jewelry and to bring in that really 70s colour palette. 

I just loved wearing this skirt - I had it on for close to 10 hours, including sitting on the couch reading/napping in the afternoon (I divested myself of the accessories/belt/boots for that). 

That is a solid copper - yes, metal! - belt that I'm wearing. It's a special vintage piece too. 

Trying to show my copper cuffs, which kept slipping under the blouse. 

I have a full vintage slip on underneath. 

Plus fleece-lined tights. Despite the skirt being wool, it's not that thick - I was just right, temperature-wise.

Masked up. This is a pinecone pattern. 

This velvet blazer was my outerwear, and gave me the opportunity to add another piece of my copper collection with the lapel brooch. 

All done up. 

Adding a faux fur scarf and matching gloves for extra warmth. 

And of course, my copper leather purse! 

We drove to Pluto's due to the tight timing to get home and be ready for our part in the surprise. 

Outerwear stuff: 

I love the bright shiny leather of the purse. 

• Purse - Arcadia, consignment
• Scarf/gloves - Parkhurst
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

Although I love these boots, they won't be worn with that skirt again - the buttons on the sides ripped out several of the wool loops of the fringe on the skirt hemline. There's three of them there beside the boots. 

Copper bling: 

Isn't that belt spectacular? I bought it for $40 at a vintage fair years ago. Money well spent!

• Belt - Renoir, vintage 60s, vintage fair
• Feather cuff - thrifted
• Enameled cuff - Matisse by Renoir, vintage expo
• Copper/turquoise pendant - vintage 60s (Vix's twin!), consignment
• Copper/turquoise ring - vintage 60s, Grandma J's
• Copper brooch - thrifted
• Copper earrings - vintage expo
• Copper necklace - vintage 60s, Grandma J's

L dressed up too. 

A thrifted patterned cotton shirt, a Syrian brocade vest and Etro wool trousers (purchased in Florence, Italy). 

L went full 70s too with his wolf-fur trimmed leather coat. 

So badass. 

Now, time to share all kinds of pictures from...

Cat's 50th Birthday Surprise

The four other core Winesday gals - that's Yvonne, me, Caro and Vero - had been plotting for about a month, in consultation with Cat's husband Ross. We booked a Zoom call on Saturday morning for Cat's birthday reveal. We're all at various states of morning readiness, including Vero, who just taught a Zoom exercise class (that was attended by Cat, well done!). 

I'd created a Top Secret document, which you can see Cat holding, containing a musical card (re-used from Ron's 50th!) with heartfelt sentiments from all of us, cut out and pasted in by Caro. She got it to me last week, and I arranged a drop-off with Ross a few days ago, all ready for him to hand over the big envelope for Cat to open onscreen. She was completely surprised! 

We're still under our non-socializing measures, so any kind of party or gathering was out of the question for Cat's 50th. Instead, Caro had the brilliant idea to give Cat a two-hour limo tour of the city, with four stops where small groups of her friends would be waiting for her. We emphasized safety and wearing masks, and maintaining our distance, with a 20-minute limit per stop. Safety first, kids! 

Stop #1 - school parking lot

This was my and L's stop, along with Nick and Casey. We arrived to find the Daimler pulled up and our Birthday Queen waiting for us with her driver, Gilles. 

Cat's wearing a lovely vintage faux fur coat (courtesy of a swap/donate from Caro), with a burn-out velvet floral dress, and her "Bonnie Henry" Fluevogs. 

Dr. Bonnie is our Provincial Health Officer, and has been our voice of calm and reason in this pandemic for the past year - she was featured in the New York Times (link here) and John Fluevog created a shoe in her honour (here; she often wears Fluevogs in her nearly-daily news conferences). 

Even Cat's mask is stylin'. She bought it and the dress on our trip to Sidney last fall. 

Of course, Ross was included! 

His mask has roosters on it. 

We placed her gifts and kept our distance. 

All of us posed. 

Oops, Casey is hiding behind Cat. 

I've lost track of who took what pictures! This post has something from everyone - thanks, gang! 

There's Casey - so good to see him! It's been months. 

Nick and Casey. 

Keeping our distance. 

We were so lucky to get a sunny day! 

Thanks for the pictures, Nick! 

Ross, strike a pose! 

Yeah, man! 

We caught up, and chatted for a bit. 

A few more pictures. 

L and Casey were wearing the same pair of Fluevogs. 

L's (the red ones) are an older version - they've tweaked the style slightly for the new version that Casey bought this year. 

So dashing! 

Nick's hair is getting long. 

L is so snazzy. 

His mask has an elk on it (Mom made it). 

Ross and Nick with the driver, Gilles. 

He was apparently very entertaining, with loads of interesting stories. Link to his company here (all links 'cause I love, of course). 

This limo belonged to the Mayor of Birmingham. 

It was only appropriate that it took up both the Vice Principal's and the Principal's reserved spots! 

What a sweet ride! Cat and Ross had champagne on ice which was topped up at the other stops. 

Cat was so awed and happy about the whole experience. 

And after our 20 minutes were up, we bid farewell...

As they headed off to the next stop. 

Stop #2 - St. Ann's Academy

They're here!

Who are these suave and obviously important people? 

Where are our peeps, waiting to surprise them?

Here they are! 

Yvonne in the orange raincoat (that used to be mine) and Caro (floral coat) and Ron (orange jacket) are waiting under the tent. Randall took this picture. 

Flowers, more champers and a golden tiara for the Birthday Queen! 

Balloons too! 

Randall is very dapper with his knit scarf. 

Aw, yellow roses! 

So pretty! 

Why yes, more champagne is needed!

Distancing was observed and as it was windy out, masks were off. 

This looks like a raucous stop! 

The chill couple. 

Hey, gang! 

Aw, my gals. 

I wish we could have all been at the same stop, but this is the best we could do. 

Ron's got this - they must be using the timer, as they're all in the shot. 

Wait, should we have more champagne?

Signs point to YES. 

And before they knew it, their 20 minutes was up.

Off to the next stop!

Stop #3 - Chris and Ali's

They're here!

I think Chris' Tesla is jealous of the Daimler - or maybe not, as it's a bit of a gas-guzzler! 

Milady - a good shot of her dress' pattern. 

Chris and Ali, and Tracy who was also there, but no pics of her (but she took lots, thank you!), made pizza and had more drinks and gifts for Cat.

That looks like one of Chris' special hi-balls. 

I bet the pizza was good - he's a great cook. 

Hey, I know you! 

Ross and Cat spent some time chillin' with the gang there. 

A masked bum-rub hug. That's two meters!

This makes me laugh. 

Pandora is eyeing the pizza. 

Not for you, little kitty! 

Excuse me, Birthday Queen, it's time to go!

The time flies, but one more stop! 

Stop #4 - Rainbow Park

Aw, there's Sarah on the left, with Vero and Justin behind her. 

Sarah and her wee son Magnus made that sign. It says:

Happy B-Day Cat

COVID [two thumbs down]

We love you, you triple rainbow thumbs up pizza champagne queen!!

Sarah Jim Magnus

Brad and Linda showed up at this stop (on the left), and there's Sarah, Vero, Justin and Ross. 

Django the dog is in the middle. Looks like more champagne was had! 

After a whirlwind of driving and seeing everyone, Cat and Ross headed home. Much love to you, Cat!

From Cat:

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for you all. I feel so fortunate to have you amazingly thoughtful, generous, beautiful and exuberant folks in my life. This morning, I couldn’t have imagined a better day than the one you all gave to me. Seeing you all in person was just what I needed. Using Yvonne’s words, my cup is full.

We laughed so much during the day, and had a hilarious (and drunken) recap that night on our Happy Hour Zoom. 

And now, off to enjoy the remnants of the weekend. 

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Stay safe, be calm and be kind. May all your cups be full.