Saturday, Mel and I both woke up supremely cranky. There’s just so much heart-wrenching, close-minded madness going on in the world, so much to make you feel hopeless or despondent or pissed off or numb any number of other things, and too many people with their heads screwed on poorly or just not even paying attention at all. And so we were cranky. Really cranky. We needed a distraction. Sometimes you have to at least try to find a little joy when things feel a bit hopeless, or you’ll lose your mind. We needed to get out of the house and just… away. But we didn’t really want to drive anywhere, as we’d just come back from a road trip camping in Wisconsin the weekend before. But we needed a small joy, somewhere.
So we decided to talk a walk along the lakefront through Lincoln Park. Chicago might be in the middle of the country, but we sit right on Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes (and small factoid, the only on that’s entirely in the U.S. and doesn’t share a border at some point with Canada). We had a several mile walk through the park along the lake, stopped for drinks and a snack along the way at a lakefront restaurant, and ended the day with tapas and sangria. It was pretty blissful. When we bought our house four years ago we moved considerably further west within the city, so we really miss the lakefront sometimes, and it was a much needed mini vacation day all within our own town.
We didn’t go to the lake with the intention of taking photos, just wanted to enjoy ourselves. So there’s a whole beautiful lakefront and skyline out there, but you’ll just have to trust me! We did get a few photos of our outfits.
You can see the golf course and a teeeensy sliver of the lake behind Mel in this photo. This wasn’t exactly a halfway point, but a good excuse to stop and enjoy the weather at a lovely location for awhile!
I sometimes forget that we dress different than most people. While we were walking between the park and the actual edge of the lake, a man smiling rode by on his bicycle and said, “I feel like I’m in Hawaii!” Until he was already past us, I totally thought he was referring to the weather, not clothing… duh!
This is a vintage Hawaiian barkcloth maxi dress, I wore it to our friends’ summer wedding last year, and it was great for a breezy walk (well slow walk, as it’s an a-line skirt so no huge steps allowed). I posted the above photo on Instagram and an observant follower noticed the bodice was a dead ringer for an out of print Butterick pattern, 5917. And she’s right, it’s almost exactly the same bodice! Everything old is new, and all that. My dress is from the 60s or 70s, I’m not familiar enough to be sure.
Mel’s shirt was a great find from vacation, like the vintage hand-painted Mexican circle skirts, but on a shirt! And it was a local label from New Mexico, too. The colors are sooo vibrant!
This is a spot at the lakefront between the beaches (yes, we have beaches, quite nice ones, too). You’re apt to find sun bathers who don’t want sand up their read ends, people running or biking, leisurely walking like us, sitting in camp chairs reading a book, you name it. Even on a beautiful day when the bike trail is mobbed with bikes and runners, you can walk towards the lake and get a much quieter experience. Pretty amazing for a huge city.
As we made our way towards the restaurant where we were going to have dinner to cap off our day, our walk took us away from the waterfront, back into the park. It’s amazing that you can stand by a gigantic body of water, then walk through a prairie restoration, or by a playground for kids, or a trail past a museum, or a pond, or a zoo, all in the same area! Here we are playing around on the edge of North Pond, which is within Lincoln Park still and has been turned into a natural area over time.
You can juuuuust see the edge of the pond behind my head in this one.
We had such a lovely day filled with quiet joys. It was exactly what we needed!
You are both so #teamcolor – I love it! Pinned your dress to my Color Two Snaps Up board.
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Im totally with you on the world being depressing these days its just so heart breaking and recently I thought we were making so much progress, I hope thats still the case. You both look great and your outfits would brighten any day. Im with you on forgetting your dressed vintage thing. Sometimes I get looks or comments and Im like what and then I remember or its me and my outfit
Retro Rover
You are both too cute! Glad you had a lovely day!
What no lippy??? X lovely photographs of you both xx
Wow, what a wonderful place practically on your doorstep! It’s so important to celebrate the small joys in life at a time when everything around us seems like madness and you both did in in such style…love your outfits as always!xx
I definitely know what you mean with the current happenings in the world. Sometimes even having a small outing like yours can get one in a much better state of mind about things. Love the glasses on both of you two!
This post brought me a lot of joy. Until 2 years ago, I was a lifelong IL resident (last 7 years in Oak Park, worked in Chicago nearly 20 years). Then I moved to Las Vegas. All I can say is, “I WANNA GO BACK!!” I miss the Midwest. I miss the lakefront. And even though there is a vintage cult here in LV, it doesn’t compare to the Chicago vintage lifestyle where people live it instead of “fad” it. So thank you and Mel for giving me some happy remembrances at a time when just about everyone needs some comfort and joy.
I totally agree that sometimes world does find its way to make you cranky and a good walk on a sunny day sure helps! I do that with my hubby all the time – the two of us against the world hahaha. And you two are so well-dressed you must’ve brought smiles to everybody’s faces!
How lovely you both dressed up for a simple walk! Personally, I’d just throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, but your cheerful looks certainely contributed to eliminate any cranky mood and make this life nicer! Something I’ve got to do on cranky mornings!
So very true regarding how it can become easy to forget that, when sporting vintage, we’re apt to stand out a great deal. I’ve been doing so for over half my life now and feel extremely out of place in most modern styles, so I rarely think of myself as standing out, even though I do, objectively, know full well that such is the case.
You both look awesome (Mel’s shirt is a thing of beauty!) and I hope that this fun excursion in your own town helped to melt away some of the stress you’ve been feeling lately.
♥ Jessica
You are both inspirations to me, and such a joy to have as friends. I agree, the world is bleak and that’s why friendship and community becomes even more important. You’re both amazing! Right, off to buy fabric as retail therapy…
your outfits bring joy to the world:)) you are a very inspiring lady, btw. do you still do your nails at home, the gel thing you wrote about some time ago?
I just got eloped on the shore of Lake Michigan last week! It wasn’t fancy and I didn’t get a chance to wash the lake water from my hair (I was late!), but I was so happy to enjoy such a beautiful day doing something that mattered so much. Three other couples were there and so I didn’t have to stress about performing for a bunch of people. There is something healing and relaxing about being on the lake.
I truly understand…yes, the world can be depressing sometimes, we had better have fun when we can.
Your outfit/hair are wonderful, I love them !!
Love from France…
Y’all just made ME smile!! Thank you so much for your awesome ensembles, your words and your smiles! This is is what will make the world a better place 🙂