A special dress for a special day
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 12:51PM Yesterday was my birthday. This is what I wore.
Indian necklace purchased from yard sale. Bastar necklace purchased in India. Vintage amber beads I've had for decades. Vintage silver and bead necklace, present from A. 1970s maxi purchased from Rasberry Beret, Cambridge, MA. Fleur boots from Vegetarian Shoes, Brighton, UK.I purchased this dress recently and was looking for a special day on which to wear it, and yesterday was the day. I love this dress so much that I plan to do another post about it later.
A and I had a low-key celebration at one of my favorite restaurants in London. An Italian veggie restaurant, Amico Bio has lots of vegan options, fresh homemade food, a warm ambiance, and friendly staff.
These homemade grissini with roasted courgettes and aubergines made an impressive starter. 
I LOVE artichokes, here with quinoaMy boyfriend called ahead and asked if they could make a vegan dessert and serve it with a lit candle. They said they could. Well, as much as I love this restaurant, I have to say that the dessert was so bad as to be laughable.
They had simply covered three rice cakes (or pieces of Styrofoam, I'm not sure which) with chocolate and then served them layered with jam and bits of fruit. The chocolate and fruit were fine, but, in my view, rice cakes should not be classified as food. Frankly, I think the restaurant just threw together something from ingredients they had on hand and didn’t put any thought into actually making a dessert. At least A and I enjoyed a nice dinner and had a good laugh. I’ll still go back there; I just won’t be requesting any birthday cakes from them.
A had already given me a fabulous present – he funded my shopping expedition in Birmingham with Vix and Annie (although, I’m a pretty cheap date and spent less on four vintage dresses, two scarves, and a hat than most women spend on a new dress purchased retail).
He surprised me by also giving me the catalogue to the exhibition 'Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde' that we saw at the Tate Britain. Now, I get to paw over all those luscious color plates at my leisure.
I’m bummed that I’ll miss the lectures, ‘The Fabric of Art: Legacy of the Pre-Raphaelites in contemporary fashion’ on December 13 and ‘Why the Pre-Raphaelites are modern’ on January 7 at the Tate Britain.
Speaking of the Pre-Raphaelites, after my visit to the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum, I had posted that I was obsessed with John William Waterhouse’s painting, The Lady of Shalott when I was in college.
This painting, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem that it is based on, come to life in a newly released short film by WAG Screen. You can watch it here:
Enjoy!
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Reader Comments (9)
You know how I adore that dress and it's even more fabulous on you. Loving the beads and coin jewellery you've worn with it, too.
That food looks delicious and the cake's just plain odd. I do love a rice cake and am particularly partial to the Marmite flavoured ones.
I had a jigsaw of The Lady Of Shallot when I was 13 and I still have it...hoarder that I am. xxx
What a stunning dress! The print on the bottom and the braid are beautiful, and it fits you like the proverbial glove.
The food looks great, apart from the rice cake surprise dessert - I can't be doing with rice cakes, they make me think I'm eating polystyrene too.
The Lady of Shalott is a gorgeous painting, and I retain a great fondness for the poem, having had to learn parts of it at school... "On either side the river lie long fields of barley and of rye, that clothe the wold and meet the sky..." See? Still remember it! And how we giggled at "the curse is come upon me!"
Happy Birthday, Jo! xxx
Happy birthday. That dress is fabulous. I had to laugh about the rice cake dessert. What were they thinking?
Happy belated b-day Jo! (That means you are a Sag, meaning we'd rock as pals as I'm a Gemini and my best girlfriend, and my hubby, are also Sag's!). That dress is absolutely beautiful - can't wait for more info on it. The dessert the resto whipped up for you sounds very sad indeed. I used to eat rice cakes all the time when I was 20, then I got over them and also called them Styrafoam. Now they have them in the stores decked out in every flavour. Yuck. Your beau sounds like such a sweetheart for treating you like a queen on your special day. All the best for the next year! K xo
Sorry I missed your birthday Jo, but it looks like you had a lovely time. Except maybe for the styrofoam cake! What a shame, there are lots of lovely vegan cake recipes out there. Still, the rest of the food looks delicious and you obviously had a great time. And it was a lovely thought by A, and that's what counts.
Your dress is simply stunning. Look forward to hearing more on that.
Like Curtise, I used to be able to recite Tennyson's poem and I still have a soft spot for it. I must try to get down to London for the exhibition. xxx
What a beautiful dress - perfect for a birthday celebration! And I loved the film. I never did read Tennyson, even when I was studying the painters of that era, but I should. Or I'll look for more WAG films to make my job easier! Thanks for sharing it, and happy birthday!
Fabulous dress!
I'm a bit late but I'll wish you many happy returns of the day.
I hope you had a fantastic day. That "cake" is interesting, to say the least!
HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY!
What a stunning frock,the trims are lovely!
Your jewellery is swoony and goes perfectly.
YAY to have=ing a splendid meal out! I'm not vegan, but am endlessly amazed at how easy it is,with a little imagination. I did go to an awesome vegan Mexican restaurant in San Fran in June, in the Mission district.It was awesome!
XXX