The real deal

I wish I could find a suitcase full of these kinds of vintage rings, now all in the ring drawer of the shop - solid gold, emblem or bands, warm patina. They are the essence of "every day," wearable vintage jewelry. You can go to a fundraiser dinner, give your kid a bath or weed the garden in these rings. Always right, never wrong. The ever pertinent Allison Feldman of Teen Angster and Etsy blogging fame once declared that her dream boutique would be full of perfect jeans, soft white t-shirts and simple gold rings. I am in full agreement. This is the stuff that real life and real fashion is made of.

Summer Part I, via Instagram

I'm splitting summer into two parts - June/July and August/September. So here is part one! Our little boy is just that, a little boy. He is also a great travel companion, traveling with me to Washington D.C. and Williamstown, MA in June. In other news, my hair is short and blond now (jury is out - what do you think?) and the Jean Jean shop is trucking along.

Also, I invite you to come find me on Instagram (@jeanjeanvintage). My account is private but if I know you from the blog (or if you have lots of photos of jewelry and coffee) I will let you into the inner circle, ha ha.

Bubble necklaces

"Bubble" necklaces were a thing in the late 1930s. You've probably spotted them before. They were made of impossibly thin, blown glass balls, usually suspended from celluloid with brass findings. Sometimes they had craft-store-esque things inside, like this green necklace from my shop a while back. In most cases, though, the glass bubbles are clear and it is up to the celluloid links to add color. They are fun and big and I love them. This modern version from the MOMA store is pretty great, too.

Manny & Simon toys

I found a cute wooden fire truck (see above!) at a local consignment store last week. It is perfect. Just enough moving parts to keep Severen interested but no bells and whistles, literally. This company is new to me - Manny & Simon. Eco-friendly, named for grandfathers of the founders (one was a firefighter, the other a farmer) and made in Southern California. I love their other wooden rolling-toys as well as their bright step stools.

Images courtesy of Manny & Simon

My new baby

Remember back in January when I predicted that there was an orange version of this antique pin floating around out in the world somewhere? Well, I was right! And so the collection grows, roughly at the rate of 1.5 pins a year :) You can bet I'm all puffed up with pride over here at this new addition to my brood. I'm still looking for a red and a yellow . . .

P.S. If anyone sees any other colors of these out in the world, please put up the Bat Signal!