Lifestyle
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Hintage; a hint of vintage.
On a whim, I recently bought a Ralph Lauren Polo knit tie at a resale shop and thought I would mix it into an outfit for a holiday party. My twenty-seven dollar investment turned out to be worth so much more in compliments alone! It was unexpected, classy, fun and ended up being quite the conversation starter.
It had me thinking about where else I could dig into to find some vintage items. My mother had given me a box of my dad’s jewelry when he passed and I simply put everything into a box and stashed it away. Turns out he had some really great turquoise items and I found a silver arrowhead that I put on a necklace and mixed into some RRL denim. It was a funky southwest accoutrement that got a lot of attention. So the theme of this post is….
1. Don’t underestimate what you have stuffed into a random drawer, and
2. A blast from the past can make a lot of noise in the present.Don’t be afraid to do something different.
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Austin Wedding Reception
I’m so humbled by the turnout for our wedding reception at our Austin home. Graydon and I have never had such a wonderful and eclectic group of guests in our home as we did for this reception. {OMG, keeping a list to 100 people was a huge challenge!}
We appreciate all the well-wishes and are looking forward to a wonderful life ahead.
Special thanks to David at Forever Young Photography for all the photos.
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Pride 2019
The month of June was chosen for LGBTQ+ Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June in 1969. As a result, many pride events are held during this month to recognize the continuing fight for LGBTQ+ equality.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, when New Yorkers rioted in reaction to ongoing police harassment at LGBTQ+ community and social spaces.
Learn more:
- The LGBTQ Community is a Vital Part of American History
- A short history of trans people’s long fight for equality (~6 minute TED Talk)
- Did Marsha P. Johnson Start the 1969 Stonewall Riots? (~13 minute Video)
- How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement (~4 minute video)
- Remembering 1969 Stonewall Rebellion participants Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson (~2 minute video)
- Gay and Proud (~12 minute video – Archival film of the first gay pride march in New York City, 1970)
- Remembering the Upstairs Lounge
- 2019 Lambda Literary Award Finalists
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Graydon & Scott, 6/21/19
Here are some photos of our wedding. Such a terrific event. It could not have gone more perfectly!
The Patio at Guerra 
April & Val at The Patio 
Mary and Graydon 
Graydon and Valerie 
Graydon, Wanda, Scott 
It is really official? 
Entering the courthouse 
The wedding party 
Megan, Scott, Valerie 
Best Divas 
Graydon & Mary 
Valerie and Scott 
The exchange 
The moms 
Reciting vows 
Ring exchange 
It is official 
The kiss and hug 
The Honorable Judge Eric Ramos, Brook County 
The wedding party 
The toast #1 
The toast #2 
House Wine, McAllen 
Murry Moore, April Humphreys, Graydon 
Lori, Scott, Robby, David 
Graydon, Mary, April, Scott, Mary 
Val, Cruz, Vicki, Scott 
The spread 
The fabulous vanilla/almond cake 
Only 2 left…. 
Leigh, Graydon, Scott, and Luke 
This was not easy! 
We’re really married!
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Finally, Some Interesting Architecture in ATX
So happy to see a little bit of style coming into the new architecture of Austin. All they have built in recent years are glass boxes and rectangles. Glass is great, but this use of brick is welcomed to the eye.
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Cotton Candy
When ectomorphs find clothes that fit well, it is a big deal. Clothes are generally not well fitted in retail stores, so I was quite pleased to find this product line called Mercantile by J Crew. They’re well fitting, stylish and athletic. My only complaint with their denim is that it transfers; all over my seat, unfortunately. So I give the shirts 5 stars, but aim on the cautious side regarding their jeans.
Dye transfer on seat 
The “Slim” fits well around arms and waist. 
Great color, but it transfers. -
You Got Pretty Lips, Boy.
Ok, comedic allusions behind… {If anything, you can always expect tongue-in-cheek humor from me.} Admittedly, there’s an ego stroking when I hear comments like, “your skin is so clear” or “you really don’t have a lot of wrinkles” – then the stinger – “for someone your age.” { leave me to bleed }
I have always been a bit of a freak when it comes to taking care of my skin, from Clinique skin products as a teenager to far-fetched serums and other curious regiments as an adult. I am 100% in support of photo-facials and dermabrasion techniques to augment the appearance of the skin.
I have a dear friend that worked for L’Oréal in Paris and New York and his sage advice was to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! I’ve taken that to heart and follow his advice daily.
I found this video message provided by my Dermatologist’s office to sum up skin care quite nicely. It breaks down skin care into 4 basic categories:
- Sunscreen (w/Zinc or Titanium Oxide)
- Use a Retinol cream at night
- Moisturize using a cream with ceramides
- Use an anti-oxidant cream as well
I also visit my Dermatologist annually for a skin check-up, to freeze off any unsightly blemishes and to get a prescription for Retinol; 0.025% is fine for daily use according to my physician.
Always use sunscreen! I have some terrible sun damage from my youth and twenties that if I had known better, I would not have subjected myself to.
An FYI. If you have a photo facial performed and have a lot of redness afterwards, ask the clinic to prescribe Silvadene (topical) to speed up the recovery process. It also helps if you have sun overexposure.
