New Look!

Hi! Did you catch the snazzy new design when you loaded the page today? After five years, I finally finished the new design for ATV. It didn't take me five years to put this together, it took me that long to figure out what direction I wanted to take the design in. I'm sure this post interests exactly nobody so by all means, please go take a look around. If you've been here before then it won't be difficult at all to see the changes. The old site design and the new one are night and day. I wish the page had been registered at the Wayback Machine before I redesigned it, but the design was tragically basic. Gray page, gray background, no header, the only bit of color was the pink menu bar going across the top of the page. The blog had no voice, no personality and it showed. It was boring. 
One of the main reasons it took me so long to get it together was because I like a lot of vintage themes, so my main thing was trying to find the blog's identity. The main two themes I was stuck on for the longest were Art Deco and atomic/diner, and trying to find a background that I felt spoke to the tone of the blog was actually what took the longest. I love Art Deco but it felt a bit too formal, too stuffy for what I consider an informal, casual blog. That left me with the atomic/diner theme, but I couldn't find any patterns that I wouldn't have to pay to use. Vecteezy is actually what saved the day; once I found a pattern I could edit and use, the rest of the design fell into place. 
 As for the site layout, because I don't run the site full-time anymore it was important for me to highlight the various series on my blog because I'm proud of them and there was no way to see them with the previous design without searching the archives. My top four series, TNT, SUTS, Octoberfest and BHS are at the top because they're my pride and joy, but the other featured series are all longtime staples of the blog that I want newcomers to see.  
The main pages I'm excited for you to see are the TNT and SUTS pages, which have undergone a major facelift. Before, the TNT page looked like the rest of my site--sad--and only had the links. Now, there's a cute little header and the poster for the movie alongside the link. The SUTS page is similar; rather than just linking you to the label it now has a designated page so you can see all of the entrants and Daily Cinemas I chose since I started covering the festival back in 2013. 
I don't often do Vintage Spotlights, but I'm proud of the ones I've finished and would like for people to see them. They're the longer, more in-depth informative pieces on the site. If there's a particular topic that I don't think is talked about much but I'd like to delve into, I condense most of the essential parts into a Spotlight. They're my very amateur effort at educating someone who doesn't already know about the subject. I haven't done one in quite some time though, so they're pretty deep in the site's archives. I included them in the sidebar so that you'd be able to see them.

I basically made this post so I could promote the site design lol, but I wanted to walk you through a couple of the new changes as well. The series that don't yet have a page are still grouped by label, but the individual pages are coming. If you want to know where I got any of my graphics from, the Attribution page is the last link in the menu and everything is sourced and linked there. Either way, I hope you enjoy the new look and I'll see you soon!

Read More »

Mandy's Note: BHS Wrap-Up and Chit Chat

Hi! As I usually do at the end of my month-long promotions, I wanted to hop on and chat with you for a minute (by minute I mean an hour). Yesterday we ended our second annual Black History Spotlight series, and even though a great majority of the posts were late, I'm still proud of the series overall. Now as for why those posts were late--February was a hectic ass month for me. I wasn't initially expecting it to be so busy, which is why it caught me off guard, but once that snowball started rolling I couldn't stop it. Here we go. My birthday was two days before BHS started, so that halted some of my prep work. I had a meeting with my mentor the afternoon of the 1st, which took me away for the afternoon, so I only had the 31st to prep anything. That first weekend of the month I was still trying to fill in a few missing spots because my initial entrants didn't work out so that caused a bit of a snag, as did Super Bowl, which was on the 5th. But the following week is when the snowball started to roll. The 7th was my niece's birthday, I had to go to court on the 8th, I was busy a lot of the following day, which was also my uncle's birthday. I was busy Saturday the 11th making my niece's tutu for her birthday party, which was the following day. 

I was busy all day Sunday with the party and trying to avoid falling out with a sinus infection I'd been fighting off. I clearly failed, so Monday through Thursday I was barely even coherent. Thursday through Saturday I was having some personal issues at home, and Sunday my mom went into the hospital for a surgery that was supposed to take place on Thursday. I took over the house and Monday was hectic having to get everyone off to school, check on my mom, get some sleep, clean and fix dinner. Monday I also ended up getting a 2nd degree burn on my arm so I was tied up with that for a bit, which threw off the rest of my schedule. I went up to the hospital Tuesday morning because my mom's doctor recommended a smaller procedure so I wanted to be there when she came out of the OR and I ended up staying all day because her doctor decided to release her. Wednesday and some of Thursday I was mainly focused on catching up on the sleep I'd missed while my mom was in the hospital, and personal (then health) issues caught up with me again from last Friday to Sunday. Monday and Tuesday (when I'm writing this) were more or less fine, but by the time you read this on Wednesday I'll be at jury duty, hoping I get disqualified because I'm busy during March too and don't have time to sit on a jury for days. lol (Update: Sat in the jury assembly room for two hours this morning then got released. They never even used us. LOL) But between the times I've mentioned, I was working on posts pretty much non-stop, for both here and RRNT. I can promise you that the delays in posts weren't from me just being a lazy asshole. Believe it or not, that was actually the abbreviated version of my month. So I wasn't able to put my full effort or dedicate a ton of time to my BHS posts, which is why the schedule may have looked so clusterf*ck on your end if you were following my social media. That wasn't the intention, but then again, it never is when I get behind on month-long promotions. 

Regardless of the busted ass schedule though, I really do hope you enjoyed this year's series. I had a ton of fun learning about this year's entrants and even though I wasn't able to roll out everything for BHS that I would have liked to, I'm still pleased with the end result. I have to admit, finding entrants for the Art and Fashion Spotlight, despite it being one of my favorite categories to learn about, was the hardest for me. Because the slope was so slippery for Black designers back in the day, tons of them never got their due. As a result, there aren't a ton of designers from the time periods I start looking in. I think I'd like to eventually integrate more modern-day designers into my BHS series, but keeping to the theme of ATV, I wanted to focus on the pioneers of yesteryear first and foremost. 

But what did you think about this year's series, busted ass schedule aside? Did you learn about anyone new this month? I added a new section to this year's BHS by adding a "Quote of the Day," which I wanted to add last year but because I came up with it at the last minute I didn't give myself enough time to properly execute it. It may sound silly, but I love quotes. I love reading the thoughts and little nuggets of wisdom that people can condense into a couple of sentences. The goal was for each day's post to also feel a bit more personalized to the entrant, so I thought closing out the post with their personal thoughts rather than my usual awkward outro would be better. And it was. There were also a couple of "Excerpts of the Day," because I was in love with that part of the person's speech so much I couldn't separate a portion of it. I chose the quotes intentionally, some of which were about being Black or overcoming racism while going on to greatness, which was my nod of sorts to current events. I don't like speaking on my views publicly, mainly because I don't know that I can express them as eloquently as I'd like, so if I can insert my thoughts or feelings authentically into the content I create then I'd rather do that. I'm pleased with the layout and separation of the categories as they are now, but I'm also open to hearing what you think. Is there a category or subject that you feel I haven't covered enough, one that I've covered too much? Should I disperse a couple of Black History Spotlight entries throughout the year or just keep it at February? I can go on and on with the questions, but I'm sure you get my point. Let me know what you think!

Finally, let's talk about where this blog--and I--are going. I remember mentioning during this year's BHS Preview post that I wasn't sure what was going to come of ATV after February was over. My feelings haven't changed much, to tell the truth. There are still a few things that really excite me about creating posts for ATV, namely my Instagram series, the "From the ...Files" series, and my TNT posts. Minus the IG series which is a bit newer, these two series are the foundation of the blog, so to speak. This probably doesn't make ATV look so good when you consider that the Files are essentially just lists of vintage items, and TNT is just the site's movie of the week. When I don't add anything else in there to balance those posts out, it can come off rather monotonous and I didn't want that. I wanted the blog to have something meaty, something different in addition to the Files, IG shops and weekly movies. But over the years, I felt my interest starting to dip. At first I didn't think anything of it; I go through periods of not being as interested in something as usual and they don't often last long. It often accompanies the burnt out feeling, which I usually feel after a month-long series and towards the end of the year. But when a couple of months had gone by and I hadn't gained that interest back, I started to see that my tastes were just shifting. I fought it like hell but I finally had to just accept it and get over it. I'm still struggling with it a bit, honestly. Being interested in vintage and blogging about it was a large hobby of mine for years and it's weird to not be as into it as I used to be. 

Now there are still tons of posts I'd like to create; the inspiration well is far from dry. It's not about a lack of sources I can blog about; quite the opposite actually. I find material for future posts all the time. I still think about creating new posts and new series. What's missing is the desire to actually do it. I'm not sure how to get that back yet. But back to my point. Where is the blog going? Right now, I don't know. I do intend to bring TNT back, but I'm considering changing the day from Thursday to Tuesday because when I go through TCM's schedule, there are a lot of Previous TNT selections in our regular timeslot. So I'm looking into that. The IG series is coming back for sure; that's not a question. I've steadily been building up the next few editions of the series for months now so there was never any doubt about bringing that back. The Files series.....I'm not sure yet. I haven't even looked at eBay or Etsy for vintage things in....probably over a year now, so I think there could be something worth bringing back about it. I've struggled with this blog from pretty much the minute I revamped it and I've learned something important, which is largely why I'll never make running this blog a full-time thing. While I already know that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, I've also learned that insanity is also continually doing different things but getting the same result or none at all. As far as ATV is concerned, I feel like I've hit certifiable status. On an unrelated note, does it feel as though the landscape of blogs in general, much less niche blogs like vintage, has changed or is that just me? It feels so different. 
But anyway, I've taken up too much of your time as it is so I'm gonna get going. I just wanted to explain why BHS didn't come out as planned and what I intended to do now that it's over. 

Read More »

Where I've Been

Hi! I know I went ghost after Octoberfest was over (this appears to be a recurring theme with me after I do a month-long promotion, huh? lol) and even though I'm quite sure nobody noticed, I still wanted to explain in the off, very rare chance that someone did. In the first few days after Octoberfest, my primary concern was finishing all of my late posts in the series and keeping TNT going. At some point, I realized I didn't feel like watching any movies this month so I was a bit undecided about it. By the time the month's 2nd TNT came up, our election had just happened and the results left me in a funk that honestly, I'm just now starting to come out of, so TNT was definitely off the table for November at that point. Maybe I sound dramatic, but there was this level of terror and uncertainty following the election and I debated continuing anything at all for a few days. Everything I read online made the future sound near apocalyptic and my entire livelihood as an African-American, as a woman, as a disabled person on government assistance, seemed to be up in the air. 
And there are no guarantees that it isn't still up in the air. There are no guarantees or promises that it won't be every bit as apocalyptic as I initially feared. But life has no guarantees or promises. Even though Obama didn't do all he said he would do, there was still a level of safety there for me. I know that there were others who probably felt the fear I do now when he was elected both times and while I don't understand why, it's not for me to judge. For me, there was safety. But that security blanket, that sense of safety, was completely obliterated for me following the election. For the first few days following that night, I didn't have the desire or energy to write. Writing about vintage was the absolute last thing on my mind, even more so because history, which is a large part of my view on vintage, is a painful reminder that in some ways, as much as things change they stay the same. Many of my favorite decades take place during a time where things were segregated, where Blacks and other minorities weren't free to go where we pleased as we pleased. But I don't often talk about that. I try my hardest not to, because for the longest time I thought that we'd moved past that as a country. But the events following Election Night showed me that if I felt the country was already doing badly, it could certainly be a lot worse. I couldn't see the logic in hopping on here, talking about times gone by, and continuing to ignore the racial tension so I can focus on the pretty things. What POC went through (and in some places, are going through now) was not pretty. It wasn't fun, it wasn't safe and it wasn't pretty. That I know from experience. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to start talking about these things, in an effort to bring awareness in a way that made sense for this blog, but to continue to not talk about them seemed like intentionally pulling the wool over my eyes and I found myself feeling conflicted. 
But I also don't want to make that the point of this site. Vintage for me is both a hobby and an source of escapism. I love history and certain things about vintage, but there are also things I detest about it and for the longest time, I didn't talk about them because I felt comfort in assuming we'd (mostly) moved away from those things in present-day. But have we really though? I feel this obligation now to at least mention the ugly parts, the real. Maybe not on a regular basis, but at some point. So there was this uncertainty with what I wanted to do with the blog, whether or not I even wanted to continue doing it, and I made myself have several damn seats until I got my head out of my ass about it. lol 
I'm still not completely out of my funk, but I'm not doing the most about it anymore. lol I'm not changing shit. Because I'm such an anxious person, fight or flight often results in flight for me. And that's what I was going to do here, for no good g*ddamn reason at all. I don't even have readers, the f*ck am I gonna leave for? LOL I think I will probably integrate more of the serious things into the blog over time, but I don't want this to become a politically charged blog. I don't want racial issues to become my mantle. I want to speak on the topic in general because being intentionally oblivious is dangerous in this day and age, but I don't want to become a voice for it. I stopped writing about my anxiety partially because I realized I didn't want that to become my 'thing.' I wanted to educate and support others, but I didn't want that to be the primary thing people associated me with. I don't want to be a voice for racial issues either, mainly because I don't know enough about all of them to speak as eloquently on the topic as I would like. Maybe that sounds bad, but I'm being honest. 
After all that died down, I turned my focus to RRNT, which as I continue to whine about, has been neglected in lieu of what I do over here. I'm going to learn how to balance these damn blogs one of these days. There are a lot of drafted posts that have yet to go up, so for December the focus on both blogs is going to be to finally publish a lot of those drafts. I call them the Vault posts, but really that's just my nice way of saying that I'm posting a bunch of late shit I hope you'll read. lol 

TL;DR=The election results made me question everything for awhile, I got in a funk and at the worst of it considered closing down my blogs for a combination of reasons, but after a few days I took my head out from its resting place between my bumcheeks and realized that running scared wasn't going to help anyone, least of all myself. Now I'm on the review blog cleaning out my drafted posts and publishing a few, and I'll be spending December doing the same over here when I'm finished. I considered doing a few new posts, but decided against it. 
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon.

Read More »

Brief Chit-Chat

Howdy! I just wanted to check in really quickly and let you know that I haven't forgotten about the rest of the Octoberfest posts. The month is nearly over and I haven't posted a lot of what I wanted to include in this year's series, but those will be coming soon. I am in the process of switching computers right now because I was (finally!!) able to get a new one, so I'm going to be a little busy trying to get the most important stuff off of the laptop I'm on now to the new one. 
Just wanted to check in and apologize, as always, for the clusterf*ck these month-long series of mine usually become and let you know that the other posts will be coming. We should be all caught up and I should have everything switched over to the new laptop by the weekend. Just bear with me for a day or two and I'll start cranking the rest of the series out. I hope you're having a great Monday and I'll see you soon!

Read More »

SUTS 2016 Wrap-Up Chat

Howdy! Can you believe SUTS is already over? It feels like August flew by but this time, I'm more sad than relieved to see it go. I've had more fun this year than I think I've had any of the years I covered SUTS (probably because I was smart about the prep this year, which gave me time to actually enjoy the festival) and even though I'm excited about Octoberfest coming up soon, I really love getting back to the roots of why I created this blog. TNT's are a smaller way of keeping the movie half of the site alive, but they are by far the most consistent type of post on the blog and can sometimes become a little monotonous, even for me. But SUTS always has a different feel to it for me and I miss that throughout the rest of the year. Not only is SUTS during August, but so is the blog's anniversary and it's always a treat to celebrate the anniversary doing what I initially created the blog to do--expose myself to more classic films and hopefully find others to partake in them with me. It's always my hope that more people will join me for the Daily Cinemas and TNT's over the years, but I'm just as happy now watching the films by myself. I keep the tags going because they're fun and if anyone were to join, there'd be a way for us to connect. Now I'm not going to lie and say I don't feel like a loser of epic proportions sometimes when I scroll back through the tag and see that I'm the only one using it, but like I said, it's my hope that eventually there'll be some engagement here. 
It was kind of weird checking my post list and not seeing anything published at midnight today. There were quite a few good films throughout this year's list but there were quite a few Previous DC/TNT alerts too, right? I think in future SUTS promotions and as we watch more films, this will gradually start to increase. It's kind of crazy when I'm going through the month's schedule and seeing previous films we've watched; sometimes I forget what we've watched because there's been a film nearly every week for over 3 years now. The list is growing quite steadily between that and the Daily Cinema choices. When the site finally reboots I'll be able to include the Cinema choices in the overall list. 
There were a few DC picks from this year's festival that I enjoyed; some of my favorites were Dinner at Eight from Day 7, All About Eve from Day 16 and Gold Diggers of 1933 from Day 19. Did you have any favorites this year? But anyway, I've rambled long enough. If you did participate in this year's SUTS with me, thank you. If you didn't, you missed out on some good films. And now with SUTS finished, it's time to turn our attention to Octoberfest next month. I've got some really fun posts planned for this year's installment of the series and I can't wait to show them to you. I hope you're having an awesome week and I'll see you soon!

Read More »

2016 Goals

'Ello! In lieu of a Files post this week (and also to stall a bit since I'm clearly not finished with the design lol), I wanted to chat a bit. I didn't get to make a post about my goals for 2015 because I was still on timeout then, but I wanted to make one this year. I know it may sound silly, but I'm a list girl and making a list of goals helps give me direction. They give me structure and help me get my ass in gear when I'm dragging it. lol Resolutions don't move me quite as much as they used to, but goals do. Here's my list of goals for ATV this year:




1. Try to complete more posts on time!
2. Do better post and research prep
3. Be more creative
4. Start all of the other planned post series 
5. Maintain a better social media presence
6. Aim for more variety with post ideas
7. Grow my audience
8. Be more consistent with posts!



1. Try to complete more posts on time! The first goal is probably the most obvious. It's no secret that many times, I struggle with keeping to the deadlines that I set. After so many failed deadlines, one would wonder, "Then why make deadlines in the first place?" Because I need to get better at keeping deadlines, and I prefer having a blog schedule. It goes hand-in-hand with the last goal on my list, so completing things on the time I schedule them will accomplish the goal of me being more consistent, as that is how I often schedule my posts. The schedule itself isn't the problem; I don't prep enough beforehand and this causes me to constantly run late with posts, which brings me to the next goal. 

2. Do better post and research prep When I schedule my posts, I often don't prep for them because I already have how I'd like the post to progress in my head. This is often the case when I'm planning out monthly themes and Spotlight topics. I'll think of something and I'll figure out a skeleton for it in my head, but I won't prep after that, which then causes me to either delay the post, scrape it together quickly and ultimately post it late, or scrap it entirely. I'd like to get better at that, which will allow me to post on time and achieve the consistency I've been chasing.

3. Be more creative Because this isn't the normal vintage-themed blog, I find that I have to think outside of the box in terms of what I post. I would love to have tons of outfit posts and give a first-hand account of what repro designers to try because it looks like tons of fun, but I can no more afford vintage today than I could three years ago. I also don't have the audience for companies to just send me stuff, and that's okay too; I'm not in this to get free stuff. That's my review blog. LOL joking. Anyway, as a result, I have to find topics that I haven't already posted about, that interest me and might interest my audience. I've always struggled with this one, but I'd really like to get better at it and have more creative posts this year. I think having more posts that are creative, unique in terms of the subject content and well-written would help a lot with my confidence in promoting the blog. 

4. Start all of the other planned post series  That brings me to the next goal, which I've unsuccessfully been trying to launch for a couple of years. I have several different series that I'd like to rotate on the blog, both to prevent things from growing stale and to help me get out of the house a bit more. A few health complications keep me from going out as much as I'd like, and I don't always have transportation so that stands in the way of me starting these series as well. I don't have quite as much control over this particular goal as I do over the others, but I'd still like to get my health and transport issues in order so I can finally start the series this year. 

5. Maintain a better social media presence Much like my habit of posting late, it's also not a secret around here that I don't care much for social media. I don't mind reading other people's social media, but I don't care much to maintain it for myself. I've been blogging long enough to know that one of the most, if not the most, important tools a blogger has is self-promotion. Gone are the days where blogs are a novelty and people are prone to find your blog sooner rather than later. You have to know how to properly market yourself and draw people to your blog now, and while I don't lack the ability, I have to admit that I lack the desire. You can chalk that up to nothing more than my reclusive tendencies with a healthy dose of insecurity and maybe a splash of forgetfulness. I used to live-tweet TNTs regularly, but live-tweeting to yourself, after a couple of years, is not only a bit tedious but it also makes you feel just a tad pathetic. lol I've decided to resume live-tweeting TNTs every week whether I'm talking to myself or not. I enjoy it and it makes going back through my Twitter feed a lot more entertaining. LOL I need to get better at social media in general, especially if I expect to accomplish goal #7 at any point in my blogging career, so this is a goal that I need to work steadily at. 

6. Aim for more variety with post ideas This goal comes back to the creativity goal, in the sense that when I find tried-and-true posts that I enjoy and can find a good deal of information on, I'll post on them frequently. One of the problems, especially as we get further and further from the decades I like focusing on, is that the ability to find material from those places and times begins to dwindle. There have been quite a few post topics I've had over the years that seemed like they'd be great on paper, but once I started to research, came up with very little or no material to build a post. Because I didn't do that research in enough time, I usually ended up scrapping the post. That would lead me back to my tried-and-true subjects, which, in time, grows stale. This year, I'd like to bring a bit more variety to the topics that I post about and keep things lively. 

7. Grow my audience Growing my audience is hand-in-hand with maintaining a constant social media presence, and in order to grow my audience, I need to promote myself. If I'm on more social media outlets, I can promote my posts, which will bring more people to the blog. If I start reaching out to other bloggers (which they all recommend that you do, yet I haven't) not only can I get opinions and constructive criticism from those bloggers if they come over, but maybe someday one of my posts will be worthy of a share or repost, which also brings over new eyes. It's funny, my main blogging goal was and is still to find new people to share my love of vintage with, but the main thing I need to do to accomplish that goal--market and promote myself to tell people about my blog--is the one thing I struggle with the most because of my own insecurities. I can't grow my audience if I don't put myself out there, which I won't do if I'm not satisfied with the content. 

8. Be more consistent with posts! And finally, I want to work on keeping to my schedule and being more consistent. If I continue to do the proper amount of prep for a post and remain consistent with my posts, I'll be able to stick to schedule which will give me more to promote on social media, which will eventually help me to grow my audience, as long as I don't allow things to grow stale in terms of creativity or variety with my content. See how it all comes together? lol


I guess there was no explanation needed for any of these goals, but I realized that listing my goals was also an opportunity to explain things a little bit. It really isn't my desire or my intention at all to have things as stagnant as they tend to get around here, but unfortunately many times it ends up that way regardless. My issues, I've noticed while writing this post, are largely cyclical. Progress in one area, if handled correctly, can equal progress in several areas. That's what I'm hoping for this year. I won't accomplish any of these goals overnight and I can guarantee that I'll still be late with posts, but all in all I hope I can take the blog up a notch this year. Mostly though, I hope you'll be along for the ride. Tell me some of your goals, what do you hope to improve this year? 

Read More »

Brief Chit-Chat

Hi! I know I dropped off the planet after Octoberfest ended last weekend, but honestly I needed a little break. With that being the last big thing of the year for me, I was undecided about what to do with the blog next, which is why there wasn't a TNT yesterday. I've been debating a partial or full hiatus for the blog so I can finally get the visual elements changed, but I didn't actually make up my mind until sometime yesterday. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get through November and put the blog on hiatus for December so that I can come back fresh in January, or do it the other way around since I don't have much planned here for this month and I wanted to be around for the holidays. I've always tried to work on the design while simultaneously running the blog because unless I have to stop blogging for some reason, I really don't like putting either of my sites on hiatus. The problem with that is that since I'm doing this myself, I have a lot to learn, which I can't do while researching topics and worrying about reviews. I just don't have the time to do all of that and still put out content on time that I'm satisfied with. I struggle plenty with just getting the posts out on time. lol  I'd start out trying to learn the coding that I needed to learn, then remember I had a post due in a few days so I'd end up working on that, and before I'd realized it, I'd pushed what I was originally doing to the bottom of the priority list again. It was on my list of goals this year to get the design of both blogs done at some point before New Year's, so now that there are less than 60 days left in 2015 I really need to get on it. 
I'm still not comfortable with (or willing to) put the blog on full hiatus, so it'll be a light schedule for now, probably on through December. I'll go back to doing TNTs on Monday (another reason why I wasn't sure about a TNT for the week was because I'd bombarded you with so many movie links during last week's post) and the Instagram series will be continuing as well. I probably won't do a Vintage Spotlight and the Files posts are questionable. Don't be surprised if you see one pop up, but don't be surprised if you don't. I'd rather not be inconsistent with those though, so it's leaning more towards don't be surprised if you don't see one. The TNTs and the Instagram series are the main things I'm concentrating on keeping around for now. I usually do Instagram posts on Saturdays because I figure that's when people have more time to browse and check the shops out, but since the Files posts are up in the air for now, I figure I might move IG forward a couple of days. Tomorrow's entry will be up, but any posts afterward will be moved up to Wednesday or Thursday just so I can maintain some semblance of a consistent posting schedule, which is usually twice a week. I hope that's okay with you, if you have any suggestions for other smaller posts I can do during this time so things don't grow quite so stale, let me know! 
That's really all I had to say for now though, so as always, I ask for your patience (some prayers that this time I can finally get it finished wouldn't hurt either) while I try to get this done. I have no damn idea what I'm doing so all I can hope for is that I learn everything properly and quickly, and the end result is something close to what I envisioned for both blogs. I hope the chit-chat posts like this aren't tedious for you; they certainly feel that way to me sometimes. From the POV of a reader, I like knowing what's going on with the bloggers I follow and finding out about any changes that are to come, because it can feel like a blog's dropped off the face of the Earth sometimes and I don't want to do that again. I've done that before, but I understand when it happens bc life happens, which is oftentimes more pressing than trying to sit down and explain it. On the off-chance that I do have a few regular readers, I try not to do that anymore because I'd like to keep them around. LOL I'd just like you to know what's going on, especially because I know it doesn't often show on your end that I'm doing anything at all. But I've rambled long enough. I hope you have an amazing weekend and I'll see you soon!

Read More »

Super Late Update!...and Chit Chat

Hi! I'm sorry for the really late update but this week has been crazy with family issues, so I wasn't really thinking about TNT for a lot of the time. Needless to say, there won't be a TNT this week. lol I've been caught up with that and arranging the last bit of posts into a schedule for what I'm calling the ATV Octoberfest, which I'll get to in a minute. But because of all of the frenzy with figuring out a schedule for that, I debated whether or not to even do TNT for this month. I was hoping that there'd be more scary flicks to feature but TCM surprised me this month by making the majority of this month's TNTs comedies instead. It kills me because I always hope for that but don't get it, now when I actually don't want them, there they are. Story of mah life. lol I think what I'm going to do this month is feature a classic horror film that we can watch online instead. If you'd like to see the original TNT choices for the month instead, I'll still post them per usual, but the horror flick I chose for the week will also be featured and I'll leave it up to you. 
Now on to ATV Octoberfest. For the past couple of years, October has become that time for me to celebrate all things creepy, haunted and scary (I don't do gore lol) but because this is a blog that celebrates old things, I want to look at old creepy, haunted and scary things. I didn't get to participate last year because of my blogger timeout, but my laptop has held up so I want to do as much as it lets me. It won't be a daily thing like SUTS; this one is every other day, with the final post being on Halloween. Most of this is pretty common knowledge stuff if you like to research creepy or haunted places, but I wanted to include them anyway. I just thought it would be fun to go through some of those things and places and get ourselves in the Halloween spirit. I think I've cooked up some fun posts, the first of which you'll see later on today. It should have been up yesterday, but....it's me we're talking about here. Are you really surprised that it's late? lol After today though, everything should be according to schedule so let's see if I can rise to the occasion and stick to it. It's a weird thing, my brain. I am the type of person who thrives and feels more organized, more sure of what to do, when there is a schedule of some kind to keep me in line. But I am also a raging procrastinator/perfectionist, and I usually have trouble sticking to said schedule. I am a walking contradiction. SMH Again, story of mah life. lol See you later today!

Read More »

Mandy's Note: Another FML Post

So guess who's having another FML episode? This girl! I mean, if I'm being completely honest, my life is a series of FML episodes that have culminated in a 28 year FML biopic, but I can usually roll with the smaller stuff that goes on. That's just the ebb and flow of life, I would assume. Roll with the punches for the smaller stuff, save your energy for the big stuff. What happens in my life though is usually a series of big stuff, in just about all areas of my life. I'm saying all of this to lead into the really irritating point that my laptop is having issues. Again. Almost a year to the day that I had to put the blogs on hiatus last fall, it's happening all over again. Summer before last, my hard drive on my main laptop cracked up and I stopped being able to use it. It still turned on just fine, but I couldn't open anything except for the Control Panel. I was given the replacement laptop and it held up until last September, when the motherboard crapped out. I put the blogs on hiatus around the 4th or so and wasn't able to come back until February. I had to take out a small loan to get everything fixed because my budget was way too tight to accommodate the repairs on my own, then I came back at the end of February. Everything was fine--or so I thought--but for the past month or so, I noticed that I've been having little issues here and there with the laptop, but nothing major that I felt was cause for concern. Until the other day, when I went to use my laptop and was greeted by a message from Windows that my hard drive (the one I bought less than a year ago) is getting ready to fail. Again. For the moment I can still access everything on the laptop and I've downloaded some diagnostics tools to make sure that I don't just have the HDD fail virus, which would erroneously cause both Windows and the Toshiba Health Monitor to tell me that my hard drive is failing, but really, other than basic tech support stuff I have no idea how to fix it if that was the issue. The issue becomes a financial one again, and my budget is still just as small as it was the last 2 times that this happened, so I end up stuck again. This is just one of the many problems going on in my life, but as is the case with 99% of those issues, the root of it all is money. I really hate that.
So why am I telling you all of this? Mainly because I want to warn you in case I go ghost on here again, but also because I guess I just needed to talk. I'll still be active on Twitter and Instagram, but the blog itself may be quiet for a little while. I'm going to try to get as much done now while I can still use my laptop so I'll have a few entries set to autopost like I did with SUTS, but if it suddenly just falls off then I wasn't able to finish everything and my hard drive has gone off to tech hell; that's when I'll be on Twitter and the 'Gram for anything that I can condense into a few smaller posts. There wasn't too much going on this month on ATV anyway; after the busyness that was SUTS for August I figured you (and I) could use a break and have a light month, especially since I'm planning to go all out again for October. The goal is to get the laptop fixed this month and be back in time for October, but let's keep it real--wasn't that my goal last year when this happened? LOL I've been trying to get my life as a whole back on track for a while now, and it seems that every time I start to hit my stride, something happens. Our vehicle breaks down again, the family has drama, my agoraphobia flares up or one of my many recurrent health issues returns, my laptop goes down again, unforeseen issues hit my wallet and I'm left short for the month, there's always something with me. Just when one issue has settled down or I've made peace that there's another problem to contend with, something else happens and the situation gets even worse. Pardon my rambling, I'm just frustrated. Anyway, I'm going to get to work now on this month's Files posts and a couple of late Instagram posts that'll be up throughout the month, but I just wanted to let you know that if I go ghost yet again, it's because my laptop conked out. eBay's post should be up tonight or tomorrow with any luck so keep an eyeball out for that. I hope you're having an awesome week though and I'll see you soon! 

Read More »

Happy 5th Anniversary, All Things Vintage!

Today is the 5th anniversary of this blog. I just wanted to share some thoughts about my journey with it thus far. Blogging did not come as naturally to me, a born talker, as I thought it would, and as a result I went through it for a little while. There were quite a few times in these past 5 years that I was thisclose to calling it quits, but I hung in there, so for me this is a very significant day. 
Five years ago today, I started a blog called Classic Reviews for Classic Movies. At the time, I had no real direction or view other than to review some of the many classic films that I'd watched so far. I had no idea about Summer Under the Stars back then either; I just wanted to share my love of black and white films with others and find other young folks who were as obsessed with them as I was. I'm pretty used to being the odd duck in my family in that nobody else shares my interests, so I usually turn to my BFF, the 'Net, to talk about the things I like in hopes of finding someone else with the same interest, or if nothing else to get my thoughts off my chest. It's a little ironic now to realize that I began what was initially a classic movie review blog during SUTS, and now that Classic Reviews has become ATV and I've found my stride, it's all come full circle with how active I am during SUTS, a classic movie promotion. 
I loved the concept of Classic Reviews, but I figured out rather early in the game that 1-my reviewing skills needed a healthy amount of work, and 2-I wanted to blog about more than just movies. As I've mentioned over the years, I was a late bloomer when it came to enjoying vintage things; my entire teenage years were spent rejecting anything that could be considered even remotely 'old.' I think that was something like a rite of passage as a typical teen, however, because I grew out of it pretty quickly. I had never read a review blog before starting both of mine (at the time, I had a soap opera/tv blog also, which is now, ironically, my review site Random Reviews 'n Things, where I still don't review movies lol) so I really had no clue what the hell I was doing. I'd just write a run-down on the movie, followed by my thoughts about it. Looking back on them, they really weren't very good so even though I tried to keep that part of the blog alive when I'd review our TNTs, I realized that reviewing movies just wasn't my thing. After an unintentional year-long hiatus, during which I learned more about how I wanted to blog, what I wanted to write about and what I wanted from the experience, I came back and made peace with letting go of the idea of being a classic film reviewer. Looking at classic film reviewers now (keep that in mind) further confirms that movie reviewing just isn't for me, and that's okay.
January 2013 came around and I relaunched the site, which had been re-dubbed All Things Vintage, because it encompassed everything that I wanted to blog about. I didn't want to feel stifled in any way, so it became an all-inclusive thing. But I really loved the original concept of my blog, even if I had since realized that I was no good at it. Starting TNT was my way of keeping it alive, which is why at first, I live-blogged throughout each TNT. Then I saw that live-blogging wasn't really what I wanted to do because it was tedious and the readers wouldn't see it until after the movie anyway. Even though I hadn't yet found any followers, I thought creating a Twitter would probably serve my purpose a little better, so in July of that year I finally created the account I still use today. I started on that year's SUTS, but for everything I had learned to that point, there was still a plethora that I hadn't yet learned and a combination of self-doubt, impatience and disillusionment caused me to drop the blog mid-month. I stayed away for a few months afterward, mainly because I was too much of a coward to come back and face the music. I felt like an idiot because I don't usually quit things halfway through. I think what got me the most was that I really wanted to create the feeling in others that I felt myself when I'd read other people's blogs, but I wasn't entirely sure how to and I definitely wasn't seeing any results. I'd vowed to be myself, but being myself wasn't getting me anywhere. I hadn't learned one of the biggest lessons in blogging, and that is patience. Just a quick tip: if you're an impatient person, prepare to be disappointed more than a few times as you build your blog. Rome wasn't built in a night, and neither is a successful blog. Another quick tip: A successful blog isn't just about having consistent readers. For me, it's a lot of things: consistent posting, a design synonymous with the personality behind the blog as well as the content, content that shows that effort at some level was put into creating it, and a consistent ability to both be true to oneself and improve. 
I had to learn how to properly promote my blog, but to be quite honest I was scared even as I wanted more people to read my thoughts. It wasn't necessarily about being popular for me; it was about wanting to actually connect with people and maybe make some new friends, and thankfully that goal hasn't changed. I'm deathly lonely sometimes, and I really wanted to connect with other people who shared my interests instead of having to justify them to people who didn't understand or like them. But even though I wanted to accomplish my goal, I was afraid. I was afraid of getting negative comments, I was afraid of setting the bar too high for myself, gaining followers and not being able to live up to it, I was afraid to put myself out there, but I was mostly afraid of not being good enough. I still struggle with that today, especially in comparison to other blogs, but with some of the disadvantages that I have I've had to force myself to firstly and most importantly stop comparing myself and my site content with others. I've had to be more creative with my posts, which I think makes ATV its own site rather than a replica of the sites I admire, another thing I was afraid of becoming. I didn't want to be a replica, I wanted to have a sense of individuality about my site and I struggled with knowing how to create that for quite some time. Anyway, those disadvantages (mainly not having vintage fashion, therefore limited personal posts and the like) have allowed me to challenge myself to give ATV a different niche that ultimately, has been pretty damn fulfilling for me, if I'm telling the truth. It would be even more fulfilling if I posted shit on time, but nobody's perfect. LOL 
I have gone through a lot of ups and downs with this blog in the 5 years I have been running it and just speaking from what I have learned from running ATV, Random Reviews not even being considered, I could fill a book with everything I've picked up along the way. Even after finding my niche and widening my perspective on what I wanted to blog about here, I still stumbled trying to find my voice. After finding my voice and seeing what I wanted to say, I struggled with articulating it. Every step in the process, each year that I blog, is filled with its share of obstacles, pros and cons, but ultimately they all serve to make me a better blogger. There were more than a few times over the years that I wondered, "Why am I still doing this? Why do I bother?" because of various complaints and points of dissatisfaction that I have with elements of the blog, but the answer is always the same. I love being a blogger, because it's more a labor of love than something that I can actually use as a profession. I don't gain anything by being here, I don't gain anything from posting except views and the knowledge that someone may come across it someday. Because I have nothing to gain, I have no obligation other than the one I've created for myself. Everything that goes up here is something that I've worked hard on and genuinely want to post. I love learning more about times gone by and I love relaying the information. There are a lot of useful skills that one can pick up by taking this seriously and really dedicating oneself to it, and I'd like to think that I'm better in general for having done so. This blog is my baby, and even though it's not yet where I want it to be, I feel like 5 years later, it really has come full circle being able to celebrate still being here during a classic movie promotion, being able to enjoy the original concept of this blog and still encompass the things that I love discussing now. 
I've done a lot of growing, both personally and professionally, in the last five years and I think this blog is a testament to that. It's shown every step in my journey as a blogger, from my unsteady first steps, to my stumbles and falls, and to my successes and now blog staples. The goal of being able to reach and connect with others for our love of vintage is still there, but more so I'd just like to be satisfied with what I post. I'd like to be satisfied with my efforts and the result of said efforts. If that is accomplished and ATV is still here in five more years, then I'd call it a success. I actually didn't think I'd make it this long. I've had more bumpy patches than smooth ones in these five years, but overall I've had such a fun time with All Things Vintage. I've watched it grow and really come into its own, mainly because I was growing as a blogger and hitting my own stride as well, but I've enjoyed it immensely. If I had to sit and explain why this blog as well as the review one were so important to me I'd probably sound like a fool, but to be quite honest it is these two sites that play a large part in keeping me afloat during certain periods in my life. 
People in my life have come and gone, some have come and gone twice over, and while I've gone through all these different phases and places in my life, these blogs have been here through it all. A blank slate for me to relay my thoughts and put my energy towards something productive has always been here for me. A safe haven of sorts, I guess you could say. These blogs have helped change my view on what I want to do with certain seasons of my professional life, they've helped me to strengthen some of my weaknesses and given me more than a few points that I still need improvement on. When I first started this blog, I knew that I had different interests than many others I was around and it gave me a sense of individuality that I was proud of, but it also made me feel weird. Running this blog and reading the ones I read made me feel accepted somehow. I've become more comfortable with being myself and allowing vintage to have a bigger place in my life rather than just a compartment in my mind. I've had to come out of my shell, stop shunning social media, and stop being so afraid. The thing with blogging is that there's never a ceiling for you to hit as long as you constantly challenge yourself, and even if you eventually leave a blog alone, it will always be there, waiting for you to return. Running ATV has been a blast so far, and I'm looking forward to the next five years. 
I hope you're ready for more rambling, more late posts (I could put the rung really high and say there won't be anymore late posts, but I know me and if you've been here any length of time, then you'd know me well enough to call me a liar if I'd even tried to say it), and more of me, because they're coming. I might still slip and fall sometimes, I may still become overwhelmed sometimes and have to step away for a little bit to collect myself, and I will most definitely continue to make posts that are probably too long for comfort. I know making this post to celebrate a blog might seem stupid to some, but it was important to me. It's been a really nice day to reflect for me, but it also gives me so much more motivation to make the next 5 years infinitely more fun than the 5 that preceded it. So here's to you, crazy little site of mine. 

Read More »

Catch Up July

Howdy! I know you've already heard from me today, but I won't keep you too long. As you're aware by now, I've been having a problem with posting this summer, but I went completely ghost for the last week and I apologize. Independence Day happens to be one of my favorite holidays, so I'd planned a party for the family and that kept me occupied for the entire week, which means I paid even less attention to trying to keep to my blog schedule. That's my fault for not balancing the two, but the week was so hectic I had to choose one over the other. Having a large family isn't always the bee's knees, and I am never reminded more of this fact than on holidays and when planning events. It gets crazy around here. But anyway, I said all of that to say that this past week not considered, I know there have been more than a couple of posts over the last few months that should have gone up, yet never did. That is where Catch Up July comes into play. 

It was a goal of mine this year to get rid of some of those drafted posts that I never got around to publishing, and it was also a goal to get some different content up on the blog this year. Catch Up July accomplishes both of those things for me. Now that the 4th is over, there won't be another holiday for awhile, so I have the time to dedicate to getting both blogs back on track. Remember that Vintage Spotlight from March that I never posted? Or the one from May? June? lol I didn't forget about them, but as I moved into the next month, that theme was what I had on the brain, so that previous post ended up falling by the wayside. By year's end, I'd like to be able to look back and see 12 Vintage Spotlights. I'd like to have 12 of each Files series, and I'd like the SUTS posts to be completed in full. Catch Up July is going to be a busy month, so I figure I'd warn you now, if you're subscribed to me on Twitter or Bloglovin' there will be a lot of activity going on.  By the time SUTS premieres on the 1st of next month (it's already that time again! ATV's SUTS Preview post is in the works as we speak), I hope to have all of those anticipated posts up so let me stop rambling and start writing. This blog also turns 5 next month, what should I do to celebrate? Let me know and I'll see you in a few days!

Read More »

Hi!!

I'm back!!!!!! I got my original laptop fixed this week (finally) and just picked it up a couple of hours ago. I installed Chrome, signed into my social media accounts, then came here. I'm probably the only one excited about my return, but I don't even care. I haven't used my laptop in almost 2 years and the replacement has been down since September. I'll gladly party alone tonight. lol Anyway, this was just a quick note to let you know that I'm back and will hopefully be getting back to our normal posting schedule within the next couple of weeks. I'll be on Twitter for our TNT in a few minutes (I'm awake this week LOL) so I hope you join me!

Read More »

Update

Howdy all! I'm sorry for the radio silence; it's been almost 2 months already! I never intended or figured I'd have the blogs on hiatus for this long, but spit happens, I guess. Just to update on what's going on, the problem with my laptop that I figured was initially a CPU problem ended up being motherboard damage, so now I'm in need of a new laptop. I decided to just get my primary computer fixed (the one that went belly up with hard disk failure last summer), transfer the stuff from this replacement back to the primary and be done with it, but of course these things cost money, which I do not have. So I have to wait until I can scrape the money together. I'm so mad I've missed this month of posts; I had so much fun planned and now with October nearly over I'll have to wait until next year. If you're a Twitter follower and haven't unfollowed my silent ass yet, thank you so much. I didn't get to make it back in time for Halloweenie, so let's shoot for Xmas. lol Please be patient with me for a little while longer, thank you for hanging in there so far, and I'll see you soon!    

Read More »

Hiatus...again

*If there are a lot of typos or grammatical problems in this post, I'm sorry. I'm on my phone and Autocorrect is the devil.*

I hate having to do this. I HATE it. I have to put ATV on hiatus yet again because of my laptop. I swear, this POS has given me nothing but problems for the entire year I've had it. I have 3, now 4, laptop carcasses spread throughout my room for various issues that I can't afford to fix. One has a cracked motherboard. Another, the one i had before i got this clunker last summer, has a bad hard drive. Yet another, my very first laptop, got the memory siphoned out of it by someone who was supposed to be fixing it and now the hard drive is bad in that one too. And now we're at the current one, which appears to either have a faulty processor or a bad motherboard. I just...and I mean just as in the last 72 hours....finished designing the icon headers and blog header for my review blog. I'm hoping that whatever's wrong doesn't result in a loss of information that I had on this computer bc I had a lot. Stories, poems, fonts, I have my entire life on that damn thing. I was starting on this week's File post and I had finally established a bit of a work schedule that I intended to implement when I woke up this morning. Unfortunately, it would seem as other plans were in store for me because when I woke up, my PS3 controller was malfunctioning so I thought I'd hop on Google to see if I could find out what the problem was. So I go to turn on the laptop and after a few seconds of the fan running, it shuts right back off. It crapped out sometime while I was asleep so I have no idea what happened.

All I know is that when I closed the laptop last night it was fine and by the time I woke up a few hours later, it wasn't working anymore. I've already had to replace both the charger and the battery within the last 6 months, now this. I'm not sure how long it will take to get this fixed bc I have to call around and get some price quotes and diagnostics done, but hopefully I'll be back by October. I've got some really fun posts planned for the entire month.

Its ironic though, I had just put the review blog on a temp hiatus a couple of days ago bc I wanted some time to roll out the things I'd been working on and start on this month's Files posts. Now i have no idea when I'll be back. Like I said a few months ago, I swear if its not one thing with me its another. Lol Anyway, I just wanted to make this post really quickly to let you know what's going on so that it won't be any surprise if I'm quiet for awhile. I'm sorry for having to take yet another break but hopefully this one won't be too long. I hope you're all having an awesome and productive week and I'll see you soon.

Read More »

I'm Back!

I'm finally back! I swear this has been the longest three weeks of my life. Scratch that, it's been a long year. If my problem wasn't health-related, it's been a personal issue and either way, it's been keeping me from posting like I want to. Like I mentioned in my hiatus post, my charger crapped out on me and I had to wait until I was finished paying bills for the month to see if I could afford the extra expense. Luckily, I found a 3rd party vendor last week who was selling the charger for cheap so I picked it up from them earlier today and here I is! 
I sorta apologize for the majority of my off-time tweets being about Skyrim. Sorta. It's a game that I actively play (obviously), I really really enjoy it, and I like posting about my thoughts on it sometimes. I realize that I haven't posted anything vintage-related in awhile, but hiatus aside I needed a little break from all of it. Funny that I say that but Skyrim is a game set in medieval times. LOL Moving on. I've been playing catch-up with posts for awhile and I was getting slightly overwhelmed and burned out (I'm suffering from a little writers' block, which is why there hasn't been much other than Files and TNT posts) so I turned what could have been a super inconvenient hiatus into a much-needed break. Unfortunately, it didn't stoke the flames the way I wanted, and I'm still falling short on what else to post. I'll figure it out. I'm still going to go ahead with the Vintage Field Trip series; I'll be making a more detailed post on that soon. I still can't watch TNT's with you yet but I'll still be creating the Preview posts every Monday. You already know what I'm going to ask of you--a little patience. Now that I have three additional weeks of posts to catch up on added on to the others I'd missed from when I was sick a couple of months ago, I'm going to need it. If you have any ideas of things you'd like to see on here, let me know in the comments! 
Anywhoodle, I just wanted to let you know that I'm back and since time waits for no chick, I'm getting to work tonight on those backlogged posts. I guess this means no gaming for a few days. 
Who am I kidding? I probably won't last the night. Have a fab week and I'll see you back here on Wednesday for our Pinterest Files!

Read More »

Temporary Hiatus

Howdy folks! In case you haven't noticed by the lack of posts, I'm out of commission again. I swear if its not one thing its another. If you follow ATV on Twitter then you may have seen me mention a couple of weeks ago that my sinus infection came back for round 3 and knocked me on my ass. It didn't bring the fever with it this time, but the infection itself has worsened significantly since March, which made the resulting chest congestion I usually get worse as well so now i'm going to need antibiotics. I'm feeling better now but i suspect it wont last long unless i get meds.

Anywho, shortly after I began to get better last week, I started prepping the week's Files posts and then got hit with obstacle #437. I was taking a break from a post and talking to my mom when we both heard a small 'pop' sound. When I looked in the direction of the laptop I could have sworn I saw a small puff of smoke, but by the time i blinked it was gone. When I checked the computer out everything seemed fine and nothing else seemed amiss, so we chalked the whole thing up to being the regular weird things we see and hear in the house and forgot about it. It wasn't until a couple of hours later when I was back in my room trying to charge the laptop that I finally noticed what had happened-as it turns out, that small 'pop' and puff of smoke were legit; my charger had crapped out on me.

That was a week ago and my pockets have been quite thin lately, so I haven't had the money to buy a new one yet. I'm typing this post up from my phone, i can't prep a post with links properly on it, and all my pages for the post I was prepping are on my very dead laptop, so I realized it would be easier to just put ATV on hiatus for a little while. I won't be able to write up my full TNT posts until I'm back on the laptop, but I'll still be writing them out on Twitter. Hopefully I won't be out too long; I was getting ready to start my vintage field trip series and was excited about getting to write about them. But anyway, I just wanted to get it up here that I'll be on the sidelines for a little while, but as always, please have a little patience with me and I'll be back to talking your ears off in no time. I hope you're having a wonderful week in your neck of the woods!

Read More »

Reading Challenge Update--Month 1

So as I mentioned last month, I decided to take part in a year-long reading challenge being held by herding cats & burning soup. I decided to put that challenge on here since this is the palace of yesteryear and it didn't really fit in with the theme of my other blogs. Just to refresh, the challenge is to read at least 12 historical romances throughout 2014, and you get to choose the level/goal that you'd like to accomplish. I put my stamp on the highest level, which would be 30+ books. Now that the first month of the challenge is officially over, I wanted to do my first update on my progress. I'm moving a bit slower than I'd prefer, mainly because most of the free e-books I get are current and not historically based, but I'm working on it. I've been reading straight for the past week or so, but most of them weren't applicable for the challenge. I can't include the shelf widget because the current layout of the blog doesn't have room for adding widgets or other items, so I figured I'd just put the shelf in my monthly update posts. So without further ado, here's my (short) list:

Historical Romance Challenge

The MacKinnon's Bride

by Tanya Anne Crosby

tagged: historical-romance-challenge-2014

Something about Her

by Jeannie Ruesch

tagged: historical-romance-challenge-2014

That's right. Two books. LOL I'm disappointed in myself, honestly. I thought I would have read more historical books than that by now, but apparently not. lol No harm done though, it's only the end of the first month. Are you following this challenge, either with my blog or with herding cats? If you are, post your widgets below so I can add you on Goodreads and see what you've been reading!

Read More »

Goals for 2014

Happy New Year's, wonderful readers! As 2013 comes to a close, I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who stuck with me this year. This year for ATV has been so enlightening as the blog (and I) finally found its niche, it's been very challenging (check out my Mandy's Note from earlier this month if you need reminding lol) but it's been so much fun for me. I thank you for sticking by me with my wonk templates and pictures and too-infrequent updates on things I had started (see the "From The.....Files, which to this date only has one entry lol). I don't often make resolutions anymore, but I do have some goals that I'd like to accomplish throughout the course of the year. 
1. I would like to resume posting on a normal basis and not be so overwhelmed by posts.  I think if I had a more rigid posting structure and reliable Internet, I could accomplish this goal much easier. There are a lot of recurring posts that I'd like to get to on a regular basis, but I don't allot the time necessary to do any research or grab links, and my Internet usually won't hold up long enough for me to do so anyway. Speaking of a schedule, I am getting really busy in my personal life and am not going to be at home to post all day anymore, which brings me to #2. 
2. I would like to establish and maintain a schedule for everything, including posts.  Getting a schedule would probably suit me better than posting when I have the energy to do so, because truth be told because of some of my health issues I've gotten rather lazy and keeping a schedule will help me to get out of that and make my posts. I still see this as a hobby so I'm not going to try to go overboard with it but I'm not really showing consistent dedication to it either and that's my fault. When I do feel overwhelmed I don't mind taking a step back, but I shouldn't be posting so infrequently that nobody notices when I'm gone anyway. I run 3 blogs, and I do have a personal life that needs my attention so my focus isn't on being on the Internet all day anymore. I need a schedule that accommodates everything in my life and gives them the attention that they need. 
3. Finally get a design that fits the theme of the blog as well as its author. This one is by far the most important to me. There will be small changes, bit by bit as I'm new to the world of HTML, here and there (for example, the snazzy signature you'll be seeing at the conclusion of this post) but by the end of the year, I would love to be completely done with ATV's design and be able to focus my attention solely on my posts. I was doing a number of things this summer but I was also trying to come up with a blog design from scratch and didn't really know what I was doing; didn't even know what I wanted the blog to look like. So in addition to the actual creation of all of the design elements, I had to figure out what I even wanted the blog to look like, figure out how to design it, research how to do everything, then find out how to put them on the blog. I had to go three steps backward just to find out how to do step one. I'd like to finally nail down a visual representation of the blog that feels right to me and get it out of my hair; it'd certainly free up a lot of my time. 
4. Include more personal photos of theme-appropriate experiences and outfits. As I've mentioned before, one of the major thorns in my bony side is that I'm not good at thrifting, so I end up bypassing items that other more popular bloggers probably see as great finds. I've only recently become good at thrifting books; for the longest time I thought the thrift stores were the lamest places for books because they were old. Then I actually started reading them and fell in love. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm still not good when it comes to clothes, though. So I don't get to practice any vintage-styled dressing in my personal life, excluding the occasional hairstyle. My city also doesn't have a very large vintage following; other than the typical 'pin-ups' there isn't much attention to vintage lifestyle here. I would like to partake in these things a little more though so I can include more personal photos and experiences.  5. Finish the multiple posts I've got in draft.
Yet another of the many reasons I took a hiatus was because of all the unfinished posts I had in draft that I got too overwhelmed to complete. I'm going to estimate that there are at least 20, operative phrase being "at least." In case you can't tell by the number of drafts as well as the length of all of my posts, clearly my problem isn't writer's block. :-) I have too much to say sometimes, or I'll have a good idea and won't be able to finish it, or but more commonly I just lose the energy...or patience...or time...or patience... to complete the post. I'd like to cut that out this year and get my drafted posts down to 0. 6. Learn how to shorten some of those posts!
I read up sometimes on how to get more readers to a blog and most of them seem to agree that shorter, more to-the-point posts get more readers. I'm sorry, but that's just not me. Which is pretty sad, because when I read posts that read more like novel chapters I too grow disinterested sometimes. I realize that I tend to ramble and my posts can be quite long. I'm sorry about that. But I like to talk. I like to explain the things that I post. That probably won't change, so if I never get any readers I guess that's too bad. Hashtag ohwells. LOL But I do think learning how to condense my thoughts and feelings and still say what I want to say wouldn't be such a bad idea. 
Well, that about sums everything I've got on the brain to accomplish for this blog by this time next year. I fully intend to resume posting my wardrobe posts, my link bombs, and continue my "From the ....Files" series once I'm back on a regular posting schedule. I also decided to go ahead and start that field trip series about finding the different vintage clothing stores in the area. Now that I have a slightly better camera (slightly), I feel a little better about visually documenting where I go. I probably won't be starting it in January, but I will be starting it within the next few months. 
I really just wanted to come say thank you for sticking by me this year. It's been a wonk year for ATV, but I finally figured out what I want this blog to say and be about and learned some valuable lessons about myself and the world of blogging in the process. Now let's see if I can show that I was listening to these lessons. My Internet's already on the outs so hopefully I'll be able to come back later today so I can give you our first TNT Preview of 2014. In case I don't make it back though, I hope all of you have a wonderful, happy, stylish (preferably '30s-'50s LOL) and safe New Year's!! 

Read More »

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, gals and gents! I hope that you spent your day surrounded by warmth, good food, good company and love! I also hope that you enjoy these little pictures I found. LOL

I’m aware that I didn’t mention one thing about presents. One thing I have learned about presents and the like growing up poor is that you have to make each holiday important, sometimes without any financial backing, and find your own meaning of the holiday apart from the presents so that it doesn’t take on a high level of importance and potentially ruin your day when you’re not able to do all you’d like. So while I do find presents and gift-giving to be wonderful (gift-giving, ironically, is one of the main ways I show my love), I know that it is the feeling that stays with me long after the gift and it is the feeling that I always try to recapture the following holiday season.

My two favorite Christmas memories were Christmases where I received little or nothing tangible at all. The first Christmas like that was when I was 6, and my mom and stepdad #1 (there are two lol) didn’t have much for the holidays. I had already been told that Christmas wasn’t going to be a huge affair and to try not to be too disappointed. When I woke up Christmas morning, there were only two presents underneath the tree for me. One was a childrens’ Bible, with illustrations of different Bible stories hand-drawn by children. The other gift was a plush pink robe.

There wasn’t a toy, an item of clothing, or some media source in sight and I was perfectly fine with that. I realized that I wouldn’t have been disappointed anyway, and I could tell that the two gifts I was given that year were given with love. I was elated with what I received. I had to move a lot when I was a kid, so I ended up gaining...then losing…a number of my toys along the way. No matter where I went or how many things I’d accumulated and lost due to all of the moves, though, somehow that Bible stayed with me. As a matter of fact, I still own it. It is a cherished belonging of mine to this day.

I just thought this was cute. It reminds me of the limited edition Black Barbie Mattel released for
Christmas when I was a kid. I wanted that doll so bad.

It’s cherished to me for a number of reasons, firstly being that I grew up in church, so I have never had a problem with Bibles. I also liked that it was drawn out by children and with me being 6 at the time, I thought it was really cool. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a dork because I liked things like that. Who knows. I also cherished that Bible because I knew it was given with love, it represented a Christmas that I wasn’t given a lot in material goods but was still one of the best days of my life, and because it was something that I wouldn’t outgrow. The stories I read in that Bible are still fun for me to hear today. Don’t judge me. Lol The lessons still apply, and I still think the drawings are cute. LOL That year, to make up for the lack of presents, we spent the rest of the day in pajamas, watching Looney Tunes on VHS (we were current with that trend LOL) and snacking until my mom was done with Christmas dinner. I don’t even remember what we had; I just remember being and feeling loved. That’s what I took from the day.

 

I used to have a chair like this when I was a kid but it was black. Coincidentally, my brother and I
used to fall asleep in the chair.

The next Christmas on my favorite list was when I was 19, and stepdad #2 had run out on us for what felt like the 100^th time and yet again, left us in a financial lurch. Unlike the other times he’d done that though, we were in an actual house this time and had utilities to pay. The other times we were in public housing, which doesn’t have utilities or rent. This time though, bills were in the hundreds, we had nothing, and there was no money to spare for Christmas presents. There were 5 kids, myself included, by this time and the youngest was 7.

Thankfully, we're all together today. I'm the smallest candle. lol 

I was a year away from winning my disability case, so I obviously wasn’t working. I don’t believe I was even leaving the house at that time. My mom’s health is spades worse than mine, so she wasn’t working either. The sole source of financial support came from stepdad #2 and he’d dipped out. When we figured out that he wasn’t going to be getting anyone anything for Christmas, we pulled the kids together and let them know what was going on. I got the idea for us to bond a little more as a family by not focusing on the material gifts and giving each other handmade gifts instead. We thought the kids would be really sad or mad, but they weren’t. They accepted the situation, they said they knew it wasn’t our faults, and they stepped up to the plate. Boy was that a relief! There aren’t many things worse than seeing the disappointment sink a child’s face and we weren’t looking forward to that 4 times over. Thankfully though, we didn’t have to see it. They were amazingly receptive to making gifts instead of receiving them.

 

Santy and his wife didn't always visit us, but that's okay. Maybe their
bike busted a flat. lol

The kids got really creative with the gifts they made that year and they took it so seriously—they’d draw in corners away from everyone else, and they would legitimately get upset if they thought their intended recipient saw the gift before they were supposed to. Everyone put their gifts under the tree separately, and Christmas morning everyone was still excited to see what had been made for them and what the others thought of their gifts. My bigger gift to everyone was dinner, which I made by myself for the first time. There was no arguing, no lack of gratitude, no disappointment or sadness. We even discussed the importance of the day and what it means beyond the material, where they yet again showed just how intelligent they were and answered in their own ways why the day was important to them. Yet again, it was a day full of love and togetherness, everything I think Christmas should be.  

I can't even remember the last time I saw carolers. Do they still have them in
your neighborhood?

Seven years have gone by since that Christmas, and a lot has changed since then….well, the finances haven’t LOL…but the family has changed. One of my brothers has since moved out and is about to be a father for the first time, the youngest is now 14, and we don’t have many family traditions anymore. The kids are beyond the age where making gifts on lined paper is still acceptable, unfortunately, so that’s a goner.  I cherish those times that it wasn’t about the gifts and we were all together, happy and warm and full. Sometimes that feeling was gone the following day and everyone was back to bickering and messing with each other again as kids often do, but the past year has been particularly hard on the family and if nothing else, it showed me that days like the second Christmas I just described are long gone. That realization makes me sad during this time of year, but I have good memories to rely on and that’s what I use to get through.

 

You have to darken the skin a little bit...but that's us. LOL

I know those Christmases don’t sound like much at all, and I guess when compared to those who receive boatloads of presents, have a close family or at least have some solidarity, it isn’t anything big. For me, though, they mean the world. Without making this a pity post, I haven’t had beaucoup amounts of love and happiness in my life. I’ll know someone loves me, but I’m not always able to feel it. Those two Christmases, I did. I felt that if I had nobody else in this world to love me, my family did. I had God and my family, and that was all I needed. I don’t feel that so much anymore, so those memories resonate a lot more with me now. My biggest and happiest Christmas memories were about love, not presents. That was my entire point. I could have just said that, but I wanted to share my stories first. Lol

Even though my stories probably aren’t the best, they were pivotal moments in my life. That first Christmas showed me the real importance of the day, showed me what it felt like to receive something out of love and not because I put it on a list, and it showed me the value of every gift, regardless of size or cost. I didn’t need the tree overflowing with presents to still feel like I had the world and that stuck with me; it’s something I hope to show my own rugrats some day, if I ever have any. The second Christmas showed me that when necessary, family can come together and selflessly give of themselves, caring only about the other’s happiness, and that you can give of yourself without needing one dollar in your pocket. That Christmas was much more about it being better to give than receive, and everyone still went to bed happy that night. There weren’t any new mp3 players or clothes to brag about when the kids went back to school, but it didn’t matter to them. I’ve always been pretty resourceful with the upbringing that I’ve had, but the kids don’t often show that they have grasped said ability. It was a great feeling, even if they only showed it that one year, to see that they did indeed grasp it and used it when it was needed the most. That’s something else I’d hope to pass on to my spawn someday.

Aww, look at the little snow family. Those legs are too cute.

But to wrap things up, Christmas has the potential to be a wonderful holiday. It also has the potential to be an awful day that you spend waiting for it to end. It’s about what you make of it, what you choose to learn from it, how you can contribute to it being the best it can be no matter your financial circumstance. Find your source of warmth and love today and hold it near. And if you’re already having a wonderful Christmas and don’t need my unsolicited advice, carry on! LOL

I guess Mommy kissed Santa Claus after he finished helping her with the tree.
lol

How do you keep the Christmas spirit alive in your house? Do you have any favorite Christmas memories? Let me hear ‘em if you do, drop me a comment! Leave your comment….then get your duff off the computer (or phone..or tablet…or whatever lol) and go make some more!  I’ll close this out with my favorite Christmas song…and it’s an oldie but too goodie…Mr. Nat King Cole with the classic “The Christmas Song.” Merry Christmas!!

Read More »