I’m baaaack!

I know I seemed to drop of the planet for a few days. I left LA last Wednesday to attend a seminar near San Francisco. Then on Sunday morning I felt a cold coming on so I decided to take yesterday off as well. I seldom succumb to colds and I blame this one on my lack of sleep during the conference plus the exposure to 500+ strangers. But mostly on the lack of sleep.

As someone who went through a good portion of my life as a working mother who was totally sleep-deprived, happy to get to bed by 1 am and waking to an alarm set for 5:30 am, one of the greatest pleasures of my current solopreneur lifestyle is an almost complete independence from an alarm clock.

And while I’ve always intuitively known that more sleep is good for you, during this seminar I had the great pleasure of hearing a presentation by Daniel Amen, renowned brain imaging specialist and author of 28 books including Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. He made it crystal clear that one of the very best things you can do for your health, particularly your brain health, is to make sure you get at least seven hours of sleep a night.

How many?!

That’s right. For optimum brain health, which impacts every decision you make on a daily basis, you need at least seven and preferably eight hours of sleep a night.

And most American women fall far, FAR short of that.

This amount of sleep is so important that Dr. Amen even suggested that companies hiring employees should ask applicants how many hours they sleep a night and if they respond with less than seven then they should pass on that applicant. Why? Because employees who sleep less than seven hours a night make more mistakes on the job.

So tonight you may want to lower the lights, pour yourself a cup of herbal tea, slip into today’s VPOD, a dreamy vintage 1970s nightgown by Eve Stillman, and retire just a bit earlier than your norm.

It’s a sure-fire way to pamper the brain of a Vintage Crusader!

Available at Posh Vintage.

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Well, ladies, she’s gone and done it again!

As reported at HuffingtonPost, our FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, resurrected two wardrobe items for public appearances this week including a floral-print Moschino suit first sported in 2009  and a black-and-gray Jonathan Saunders dress from Fall 2008 that she also wore to Sargent Shriver’s funeral this past January.

What’s interesting to me is that this is somehow news.

After all, don’t all of us American women tend to wear our outfits more than once?

It seems to me that this is exactly what we should be expecting from a sensible, level-headed style icon like Michelle Obama.

In fact, how about a round of applause, for not only did she re-wear items from her wardrobe, she re-wore items from several seasons ago! Yes, this brave woman went head-to-head with the ugly Fashion Monster that promises to eat a girl alive if she’s not wearing the newest and latest and greatest and she came out of the battle looking fabulous.

If you want to follow Michelle Obama’s lead, then take a look at today’s VPOD.

This vintage floral dress suit promises multiple opportunities for prime-time appearances and Secret Service bodyguards aren’t even required.

It’s a pretty and practical find for a vintage fashionsta!

Available at Sweet Rocket 99 Vintage.

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I was driving to one of my favorite designer resale shops on Saturday when NPR’s regular programming was interrupted with breaking news of the tragic shooting in Arizona.

And while the press seems to be focused primarily on the anger and hate that may have contributed to the shooting, I think far more attention should be paid to the bravery and heroism displayed that day.

Hopefully many Americans will see this event as a Call to Action for them, for as Bill Clinton said after the Oklahoma City bombing:

“When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it.”

And there’s no better way to stand up for your country and talk against violence and hatred than in good ol’ red, white and blue.

Today’s VPOD features a vintage 1960s daisy dress in just those patriotic hues.

It’s an eye-catching find for an American vintage fashionista!

Available at Borough Vintage.

(To receive the VPOD via email along with detailed size, price and purchase information, sign up for my growing email mailing list here. Your information will never be sold or shared and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)

GET READY, GET SET, BID!!!

CLICK IMAGE TO GO TO EBAY AUCTION

Vintage 1970s Pendleton Jacket (sistersoftheblackmoon) | Vintage 1970s Lanvin Pendant Necklace (plasticplanet) | Vintage 1950s Floral Dress (jonque) | Vintage 1940s Suit with Bows (gathering*vintage) | Vintage 1950s Lilac Floral Dress (millstreetvintage) | Vintage 1980s Gold Sheer Jacket (kukuvintage) | Vintage Lucite Handbag (animalworks) | Vintage 1950s Christian Dior Suit (crushvintagestore) | Vintage 1960s Pierre Cardin Silk Scarf (purrfree) | Vintage Christian Dior Military Coat (mrbootsvintage) | Vintage 1970s Leather and Fur Coat (bustownmodern) | VIntage Miriam Haskell Bracelet (urbantiques) | Vintage 1980s Magazine Print Boots (bustownmodern) | Vintage Fox Tail Vest (party-store) | Vintage Issey Miyake Sample Dress (heartnsoul1) | Vintage Maxi Sweater (tinroofvintage) | Vintage 1940s Eisenberg Studded Dress (slini) | Vintage Leather Mini Dress (indiecultvintage) | Vintage YSL Necklace (remark16) | Vintage 1960s Beaded Pierre Cardin Evening Bag (gibsongirl123) | (Disclosure: Editorial selections are made by Zuburbia without promotional consideration from Bay sellers. Zuburbia is an affiliate member of the eBay Partner Network).

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I’ll be traveling in Pennsylvania on November 2 so I spent the first hour of my morning carefully reviewing my Official California Voter Information Guide and completing my Official Vote by Mail Ballot.

And what I noticed is that while I looooove black and white when it comes to fashion, none of the propositions on the California ballot were black and white at all!

We’re voting this year on quite complicated proposals on legalizing marijuana, redistricting, suspending our very progressive air pollution control law and changing the voting requirements to pass our state budgets.

It’s easy to start reading the pages and pages of arguments and want to bury your head in the sand. In fact, you might find anything on your to-do list much more appealing! But I think it’s so important that we all take a few minutes to give careful deliberation to how we’ll cast our votes this election season.

Regardless of which candidates you support, there are also plenty of propositions and initiatives on ballots nationwide that can have a far-reaching impact on millions of lives in the next few years.

And I strongly believe that if Americans can carve out an hour a day to watch Oprah or to reach the next highest level on a favorite video game, then we can all find an hour to spend carefully considering our votes in the upcoming election.

Certainly many issues we’re asked to decide won’t necessarily be black or white. But it’s still our responsibility to do our homework and choose a side.

Then you can reward yourself for performing your civic duty with a black-and-white find like today’s VPOD.

Regardless of your political affiliation, this vintage 1960s floral print jacket will pair well with so many items in your closet.

It’s a very non-partisan, stylish find for a vintage fashionista!

Available at LA Vintage.

(To receive the VPOD via email along with detailed size, price and purchase information, sign up for my growing email mailing list here. Your information will never be sold or shared and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.)