Over the weekend

Here are a few lovely and inspiring things I found over the weekend!

JJ and I don't see much of each other these days. When we do see each other, it is usually in passing or while shoveling dinner down at ten o'clock at night. We joke, that some day we will look back at this time in our lives with fondness. But in all seriousness, this has been the happiest year of my life. Almost as happy as these sweet dachshund nuptials! Eek!


 
Before my Grandfather, Harold Bernt, passed away he wanted to visit Ellis Island. This was the place his mother, my grand grandmother, entered the United States through. Sadly, he never made it to Ellis Island, he did however, have a memorial brick placed with her name, Anna Korger, on the island. After my Grandfather passed, my family journeyed to this iconic piece of American history. We walked through the doors my great grandmother walked through. The story of Ellis Island is our history and sadly it is quickly deteriorating. As part of a revitalization project, the Save Ellis Island initiative created an art exhibit titled "Unframed-Ellis Island" featuring the works of artist JR. Find out more information here.

  PBS released the season 5 trailer of Downton Abbey! This is season is going to be incredible...

 

These gold leaf brooches from A Beautiful Mess are a must-try on my next free weekend! They are so adorable! 

And finally, I begin rehearsals this week for Connecticut Lyric Opera's production of Der Rosenkavalier. This music is so divine and magical.

Thirsty Thursday: The Champagne Cocktail

Hello Vintage-istas!

We're back after an unplanned two-week hiatus. Sometimes, life has a way of moving incredibly slow for perceived periods of eternity and then suddenly piling a lifetime's worth of obligations on you over the period of a week! Well, back to the cocktails! For this Thirsty Thursday installment, we're concluding out champagne series with perhaps the oldest and simplest of champagne-inspired mixes: The Champagne Cocktail.

The "Champagne Cocktail" likely originated in the 19th century and largely has gone unchanged since. After all, it is difficult (and unnecessary) to alter something so simple as the Champagne Cocktail! Since then, it has made many pop culture appearances, including Casablanca! Here are our ingredients:

• 1 cube sugar
• 2 dashes Bitters
• Champagne or sparkling wine
• Lemon twist for garnish

Preparation: In a champagne flute, soak sugar cube in bitters and allow a moment to dissolve. Next, top off glass with chilled champagne or sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy!

Recommended accompaniment:

To accompany this drink, we recommend a tune straight from the film Casablanca to put you in the mood: "As Time Goes By," recorded here by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole.

Until next drink!

Jerron J.

my week in snapshots: week 5

Hi! It's The Vintage Chanteuse here and it has been a long time (too long, much too long). My small corner of the world has been in complete upheaval. I've spent the last month trying to settle into two new jobs and it hasn't been easy. Actually, its been a staggering experience to say the least and I have completely lost control of my personal life because of it! Alas, I am beginning to find my place, the dust is starting to settle, and the ground doesn't feel so shaky. And now here I am! I'm back and even more excited to share my vintage inspired life with you all! Oh, and did I mention I am wedding planning also?! More to come on this topic at a later date...

Here's my week in snapshots!

We have been searching far and wide for the perfect venue to host our reception. We found it this morning peaking through the fog as we reach the top of rolling and winding road. This beautiful historic 1756 barn at Holcomb Farm in Granby, CT is going to be the perfect backdrop for our vintage inspired wedding!

Just in case we forgot it is still summer for another 6 glorious hours.

My favorite time of the year begins tomorrow! We will be celebrating the return of fall with roasted butternut squash, pumpkin pizzas, and apple ciders!

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." 

                                                        -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Over the Weekend!

Hello Vintage-ista's! 

It has been very long time. When life hits, it hits hard. I have been busy doing completely unglamorous things like signing contracts, training for new jobs, sitting in music practice rooms, and dealing with the idea of change--as daunting and intimidating as it is!

After too many weeks away, here we are again, over the weekend! Here are a few awesome things I have found during my late-night-can't-make-my-brain-stop-thinking sessions.

1.  These color photos of real Rosie the Riveters are incredibly inspiring. 

2.  Here is a glimpse into the world's oldest surviving music hall, Wiltons. This place is simply magical and is at the top of my list the next time I am in London!

3.  This is exactly how I felt yesterday morning as I watched my coffee steaming as I walked to work.

4.  This book!  Every free moment I can find is spent with this book! 

5.  Wedding planning has officially begun for me. Before anything is booked (besides the groom!) I am pouring through vintage etiquette guides for ideas. Like this guide from The Retro Housewife.

Thirsty Thursday: The Brandy Fizz

Hello Vintage-istas!

Since we cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine last week for our Thirsty Thirsday, we decided we would do a whole series of champagne-inclusive cocktails to use up the rest of the bottle! This week, we're going to take a look at a slightly modernized (and more alcoholic!) take on the classic Brandy Fizz:

 
A "Fizz" is a family of cocktails containing a spirit, some kind of citric juice, and-you guessed it-something carbonated. Typically, Fizz cocktails contain club soda or seltzer, but we here at The Vintage Chanteuse prefer to substitute champagne or sparkling wine as a way of giving a classic cocktail a contemporary kick! We first stumbled upon this recipe listed as a "Cognac Fizz" in Here's How: The Home Bartender's Mixing Guide, a small booklet printed by the Schieffelin & Co. liquor importing company in the 1940s. Let's take a look at our Brandy Fizz's ingredients:

• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 sugar cube
• 1.5 oz brandy or cognac
• Sparkling wine to top off
• Lime twist for garnish

Preparation:

In a cocktail shaker, pour lime juice and brandy over sugar cube and allow to dissolve (if you grow impatient, you may gently muddle to encourage the process to speed up). Next, add ice and shake well until ice crystals begin to form around exterior of shaker.

Then, strain into a highball glass, top with sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy responsibly!

Recommended accompaniment:

Our version of the Cognac Fizz is steeped in Francophilia (ignoring that we used brandy instead of cognac and sparkling wine instead of champagne!), so we recommend you accompany your fizz with Paris Combo's "Fibre de Verre." Paris Combo is a contemporary Parisian ensemble blending classic French styles with American jazz and swing, amongst many others and is sure to compliment your fizz perfectly!

Until next drink!

Jerron J.

Retro Rehab: Mid Century Modern Chairs

Hello Vintage-istas!

This is the first of what we hope will be many posts titled Retro Rehab, a series showing you some of the great finds we've come across at flea markets and tag sales and have given them a second life by refurbishing, refinishing, or repurposing them! To start out, we're going to look at a set of aqua Mid-Century Modern chairs we happened upon at a tag sale two weeks ago:

Here you can see the chairs have great seats and backs, but the copper structure really needed some work.

Yikes!

After a bit of work with the drill, we got the chairs apart and simply masked the wonderful aqua covers using tape and newspaper. After applying a bit of metallic copper spray paint, they look as good as new!

Once the pieces were dried, there was some minor re-assembly required and then they were ready to be reintroduced back into the world!

The first chair is being utilized as much-needed seating near our front door.

The other is perhaps the most important seat in the house: our new piano bench!

Well, we hope you enjoyed our first installment of Retro Rehab (Herr Beethoven approves, and he is not an easy critic to please!) Who knows, maybe it'll be just the thing to inspire you finally finish that retro restoration project you've been putting aside all these years!

Salut!

The Vintage Chanteuse

Thirsty Thursday: The Champagne Julep

Hello Vintage-istas!

This week warmed up again in New England, so we're milking this warm weather summer feeling for all it's worth! Thinking of some of the most refreshing cocktails I know, the classic Champagne Julep immediately come to mind; let's take a look!

The "julep" is a family of cocktails which entails mixing a spirit with sugar, citrus, and some kind of herb or fruit via the process of muddling. Most commonly, juleps are made with mint leaves, hence the name of the most popular julep, the Mint Julep! The Mint Julep, which is the mainstay of the Kentucky Derby because of its inclusion of Kentucky Bourbon, is both the reigning king and grandfather of the julep family. Our version, the Champagne Julep, started to become especially popular throughout the Jazz Age, and hit its peak in the 1940s (think The Great Gatsby). Let's take a look at our ingredients:

• 1 tbsp simple syrup
• 7-8 mint leaves
• Splash of fresh lime juice
• Champagne, chilled
• Sprint of mint leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Begin by muddling mint leaves, simple syrup, and a splash of fresh lime juice in the bottom of a glass. Remember, you only need to muddle hard enough to release the oils from the mint leaves; we do not want to pulverize them into a pulp! Transfer muddled mixture into a Collins or cocktail glass of choice, add ice, top off with champagne, and garnish with a sprig of mint leaves for extra measure! It is important to note that you may need to use a bar spoon to effectively combine champagne with muddled ingredients. Oh, and don't forget to enjoy!

Recommended accompaniment:

For your listening pleasure, we recommend Milton Ager's "Ain't She Sweet." Featured in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, this song was originally released in 1927 and became one of the anthems of the "Roaring Twenties!" 

Until next week!

Jerron J.