Saturday, November 15, 2008

Red Barn Farm

This 100% thrifted outfit is what I wore last weekend to a lovely place called Red Barn Farm. The little vintage sweater vest and wool skirt with belt were posted about here, the boots were thrifted a couple of years back for $5 at the VNA Hospice Thrift (I still remember how excited I was when I realized they were a perfect fit :), the blouse is from a local consignment shop long ago, and the hat was a recent find at the Welfare League Thrift for $2.

Little Miss Clover is wearing a vintage velvet dress with sweet lace and button details (visible in later pics) and coat, both handed down from her cousin. Her jeans (necessary for crawling around outside) were thrifted from Salvation Army and the shoes are from Target.

The nude color blouse has tiny black polka dots and little black flower shaped buttons. The tricky thing about this blouse though is that it is totally sheer, so the sweater vest turned out to be a perfect alternative to wearing it with a tank underneath.

We gathered for an afternoon of family fun at Red Barn Farm with Lucas’ Mom, his three sisters, and their families, eighteen of us altogether. One of the sisters was house-sitting here for the weekend with her family, not a bad gig. Even on a gray and drizzly day the location was a bit magical. Surrounded by huge oak trees and rolling hills with that woodsy damp earth scent in the air...ooh, I love that smell.

My brother-in-law actually had to learn how to milk “Bella” the cow while the owners were gone.




Clover had a blast checking out the animals, Bella in particular, and playing with her cousins. Clover and Lucia were pretty cute together in their red velvet dresses.


The farm owners have three young children that they home school and they turned the inside of this old chicken coop into a darling classroom with a wood stove, vintage school desks, chalkboards, and colorful maps on the walls.

The main reason for gathering everyone together was to do family portraits with my brother-in-law’s fancy camera, an annual tradition that was started around this time last year. I haven’t seen the actual pictures yet but Lucas snapped a few while Clover and I were posing with all of the girls. I don’t know what’s going on with that face I’m making …

… ok, that’s better. The plaid blazer was another thrift find from our camping trip.

Inside the farmhouse was just as magical. It had an eclectic country bohemian style that I loved with vintage touches scattered about and children’s art on display in most every room.






With a roaring fire going in the wood stove, it was quite cozy as I ran around taking lots of pictures.

The other reason for the gathering was to celebrate two birthdays that week. My niece Fiona turned seven. I thrifted her this wonderful old fashioned frock for dress-up, along with a vintage Winnie the Pooh and Piglet coat from the Salvation Army.

The other birthday was Lucas’ which actually fell on Election Day this year, so I’d say he got a pretty good gift ;) We ate yummy lemon caramel cake baked from scratch by my sister-in-law. She used the delicious Meyer lemons from the tree in our backyard.



Towards the end of the day the sun did finally peek out from behind the clouds a little and as we were leaving to head home, oak leaves rained down on us from the trees in the wind.

I feel so lucky to have in-laws who I always enjoy spending time with :) This was last year’s group photo taken at a local park. I’ll post the new one when I get it.

This was our cheesy family shot. Clover was only a couple of months old. Look at how tiny she was, and all that dark hair that has since fallen out and been replaced with blond.

She’s changed so much over the past year and is becoming such a sweet little kid. Oh, and newsflash: she’s just recently started walking!!!

I will now end the world’s longest blog post with this fitting quote that I photographed during my picture taking frenzy at Red Barn Farm :)

27 comments:

Caroline said...

What fun! You look so lovely in your nicely layered outfit. I love all the animals. That photo of the sheep is my favorite! Also, the farm house is so cute. I suddenly want to start a rock collection for my windowsill.

Anonymous said...

So much cute stuff in here! I would have died from happiness as a kid if someone gave me a fancy dress like that. :)

Anonymous said...

oh god your daughter is just too freaking cute. She kills me every time! love love love her outfit too

Milla said...

cute baby/kid overload! and you and Lucas look so sweet too. A totally darling post that made me smile.

Tabitha said...

This is a great outfit and the boots are the best part!

Anonymous said...

Clover and Lucia look so adorable together. Plus the length of your skirt is perfect with those boots. You look kind of like a rad English country woman.

Cadmium said...

adore that outfit in the first photo. those babies are the cutest, love their velvety dresses!

Anonymous said...

lovely photos...you all look wonderful...and what a great classroom!

styledigger said...

Lovely photos, girls look soo cute! And I have a golden retriever too:)

Martha Joy said...

That looks like such a fun place!! I love the goats, I'm dying to get some of my own someday!

Andrea Eames said...

Oh my god, the children's outfits are absolutely stunning, as is yours. So much loveliness I wouldn't know where to start. Although I do love your polka-dot blouse!

Gorgeous photos.

loveology said...

Sweet Missa, what an amazing post.
It makes me felling all warm and happy inside, really!

You all look so wonderful and happy.

Sometimes i am dying to start a family of my own, to also feel that love and the great feeling of being together and just have a good time with your loved ones.

Maybe some time...

Lots of love,

Mila.

Eyeliah said...

Great outfit choice for an important photo. It's crazy how time passes and how quickly the kiddies grow! Clover is a big girl, gorgeous and walking now!!! :-)

MOUSEVOX VINTAGE said...

what an adorable outfit. i love the feeling of finding that perfect pair of boots/shoes at a thrift store and paying next to nothing.

Heidi Ann said...

Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful family photos - and the animals, too! Love your outfit - everything, especially that great plaid blazer and your boots! I really enjoyed this post.

Trish Hunter said...

Oh I loved this post.
It's given me this incredible nostalgic feeling. I love it.
My Nan used to take us to visit this farm called horse shoe bend farm, whenever we visited her and I absolutely loved it.
My favorite animal is the cow. I have asked santa for one since I can remember, No ponies for me. I used to collect cows, I wouldn't dream of telling anyone that now, or I'd end up with a cupboard full of useless cow items at christmas birthdays haha, I just adored them.
And the cow you have photographed would have been my dream cow. She is absolutely adorable.
I am aching to go to that farm again.
Great post. :)

muchlove said...

Great pictures! The children are so adorable! Your outfit is lovely too.

ps. Oh how I would LOVE to visit your town and see the Peanuts museum and statues!

home girl said...

wow sounds like my idea of heaven! no wonder u went so snap happy. am very into the kids art on the walls - u will have so much fun when clover gets crafting - can wait to see what ends up on your walls xxx

meg said...

thanks so much for sharing all these amazing pics! it looks like you all had such an awesome time - and hooray for clover walking! what a doll :)

Jen said...

Matching velvet dresses - thats soooo cute, and i did comment on your flickr about the first outfit but I really do love it, the colours are dreamy.

Diane said...

What a wonderful post! Your outfit is just the best. Also, you have such a good eye for photography... I wouldn't be surprised if you pursued this more as Clover gets older.

Couture Carrie said...

These photos are magical, M! What a gorgeous, happy family you have! And I luuuuuurve your polka dot blouse too :)

xoxox,
CC

Anonymous said...

So much beauty and warmth and happiness in this post - thanks for sharing these lovely family photos with us! Both you and Miss Clover look utterly lovely.

Alexa said...

Sigh -how totally ldyllic! I just started a collection of rocks on our kitchen windowsill. And I love your pleated skirt.

Anonymous said...

I love the cheesy family photo. I think you three look so beautiful together. I also love the quote. I need to live by that much more.

Skye said...

You all look so fabulous, as does that lovely farm. I really like that haphazard kind of decorating style, it's perfect.

PS. Go Clover, a walking kidlet makes thrifting a little more challenging though...

Caroline said...

p.s. I posted one of these photos on my blog. I (of course) linked back to you...hope you don't mind.