Q&A with Bess Dunlevy Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer founder (local giveaway!)

Guys, I am so so excited to present my first Q&A post AND first giveaway post on the blog!

I met Bess Dunlevy, who created the local event Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer, at a Yelp event earlier this year. She was a really fun person to chat it up with, and she was nice enough to take the time to answer some questions about her vintage collecting habits and talk about the next event, coming up on Saturday, Nov. 22!

If you're local to Pittsburgh, you can also enter to win two tickets to the vintage mixer below. :) How cool is that??

I'm hoping to make the Q&A sessions an occasional part of the blog, so enjoy.

Bess Dunlevy, 35 (pictured in the middle, with fellow directors Jason Sumney and Michael Lutz)
Castle Shannon resident; Washington, PA native

How did you become interested in collecting vintage items? What keeps you interested in it?

My mom would take me to flea markets when I was a kid in Washington County, and my grandmother, who lived in Murrysville, took me along with her to antique shops. Collecting has always been fun for me. In 2009, my pals, Jason Sumney and Michael Lutz, and I began selling vintage housewares on Etsy as Red Pop Shop. We were new Pittsburgh homeowners at the time and wanted to sell vintage to folks like us, who use vintage in everyday, but also want good quality but on a budget. We’re going on our sixth year selling together, and I’ve since branched out in selling small furniture and vintage clothing here in Pittsburgh. In my own life, midcentury furniture and vintage fashion are a big part of my personal aesthetic - it’s rarely about the value of the item for me. I just like old things.

Are there any particular items you tend to collect?

Yes. I have a bit of an issue saying no to 1950s dishware and certain midcentury patterns. Canonsburg Pottery, Royal China, Russell Wright - I have three china cupboards filled. I enjoy having dinner on a great plate, even when I’m dining alone or it’s just takeout. I think it tastes better.

What is your favorite vintage houseware you own and why? Favorite vintage clothing piece?

Around the house, it’s hard to say. I think it changes for me. This summer, I bought a funky vintage aluminum porch glider. It’s huge with brightly colored vinyl cushions that are still in wonderful condition. I had a bit of an adventure picking it up with friends. And I have used it every warm morning, afternoon, evening since! It will remain a staple on my porch so long as my neighbors don’t get tired of my gaudy outdoor decor. My clothing is really forever in rotation.

Is there anything in particular vintage item you aspire to have that you haven’t found just yet? If so, is there a reason why this item is hard to find?

Honestly, I surround myself with vintage pieces that match my personal style - it’s rarely about a certain item or designer. I pick up things along the way that I like. Sometimes they turn out to be gems; sometimes I use a table for a few months and realize it’s not a good fit for my little 1950s home. It’s fun to research the history of pieces that I buy. I love well made, casual furniture from the 1950s and 1960s and the hunt for new stuff is always the best part.

How do you feel about mixing items from different eras, places, especially when it comes to outfits?

I can’t imagine not mixing pieces. I think wearing items from one era only is a bit extreme and, perhaps, kinda boring.

All photos courtesy of Bess and pghvintagemixer.com

How did your interest evolve into your Etsy Store, Red Pop, and the annual Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer? Why did you start the Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer?

The vintage fair came about over talks and plans between the three of us (myself, Sumney and Lutz) and mutual friends. We discussed the successes of vendor fairs focused solely on vintage and retro culture in other cities, and the wealth of vintage and antiques shops here in Southwestern PA. In 2011, we began planning the first Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer - a one-day vintage event with an atmosphere that would fall somewhere between a flea market and a high-end antiques fair. Our mission for the event, then and now, is that it focuses on genuine vintage, quality and variety, and remains accessible to collectors of all ages and budgets.

I heard that you only have vintage items that are true to their original form, not upcycled. Is there a reason for that?

That’s correct. Pittsburgh is lucky to have a number of wonderful upcycled small businesses in the region, as well as a thriving arts and crafts community, and we support and value the craftsmanship behind upcycled vintage. The Mixer has evolved into an event that recognizes vintage “in the raw.” Coats may have had a button reattached or lamps may have been rewired for safety, but ultimately, the Mixer is a place for genuine antiques and vintage sellers to show off their collections. It’s become a special part of the event. I think it sets us apart.

So when is it?!?!

The next Pittsburgh Vintage Mixer is our fourth event and our very first fall fair!

The Mixer is Saturday, Nov. 22, at The Teamsters Hall Local 249 on Butler Street (across from the cemetery), Lawrenceville. The event is 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. and will feature nearly 35 vintage sellers, local food trucks Franktuary and Mac and Gold, beverages and treats from 4121 Main, as well as music selections from a mix of local DJs.

What kinds of items should people expect to see there?

Vinyl, men’s and women’s fashion and accessories, furniture, decor, housewares, artwork, toys, paper ephemera and more.

What advice do you have to anyone that’s new to the vintage scene?

Talk to people. There are some wonderful vintage and second-hand shops here in Pittsburgh and inside are wonderfully interesting and knowledgeable shop owners. Chat with them, pick their brains, get to know what they sell and what you like to collect and in the meantime, enjoy the hunt!

You can find out more about the event at the Facebook event page, the website, Instagram and Twitter!

Here's the giveaway to win two tickets to the event, which runs until midnight next Friday. Best of luck, guys!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New England in Snapshots

Sadly, fall is a fleeting season. Leaf colors are passed their prime at this point. Luckily though, Mark and I definitely got a year's worth of fall fun during our New England trip the other week, and some great pictures to gaze at all year round:

It was a beautiful trip, and a much-needed break from the routine. Since our one-year wedding anniversary was right around the corner, this trip was kind of our nerdy honeymoon getaway.

Highlights of our trip:

• Going to Concord, Mass. to see a piece of history. Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne lived in this town for a time. All three famous writers are also buried at the same cemetery in town. (Thoreau's very plain headstone is pictured above. He's buried with family members, with a larger headstone naming all of them.)

• Exploring downtown Boston via the Freedom Trail. On the trail includes Paul Revere's home, the site of the first public school in the United States, the site that inspired the Boston Tea Party, among other momentous U.S. historical events.

• Eating some delightful clam chowder. We had bowls at Union Oyster House, in downtown Boston, and had a fancy dinner with soup at Legal Seafoods in Cambridge. (Another food Boston is obsessed with: Doughnuts!)

• Seeing one of the largest rowing races in the world: The Head of the Charles. This was big for me because I am a longtime rower. I always heard about this race. We never raced in it because it was too expensive to enter and too far away for it to be at all practical, but it's kind of the stuff of legends. After that, we walked around Harvard Square and took a peek at the university.

• Spending our last night of the trip in Salem, Mass., home of the Salem Witch Trials. One of the oldest marked cemeteries in the United States is in this town, with death dates going back to the 1700s. There was also a lot of hubbub with Halloween happenings. They really capitalize on the ghost story tours and goofy touristy stuff. But my favorite part was probably seeing the Salem Witch Trials memorial. Twenty people were executed during a one-year span the late 1600s for being witches or wizards. It's kind of crazy how far hysteria went in that case.

One thing I won't miss: Boston drivers. It's not an easy town to navigate at all, and drivers are super aggressive, but I managed.

How has the fall been treating you?

Smitten with a Kitten

Mark and I have a new member of our little family: He's an adorable five-month-old orange tabby.

This little fur baby, who we've named Waldo, was an unexpected addition at our house. We've quickly taken a liking to this little guy. He's an incredibly sweet, mellow yet playful lap cat.

Mark and I actually discovered him hanging around our neighborhood after we returned from our New England trip. While we were away, a lot of the neighbors began leaving out bowls of food and makeshift beds on porches for him. One neighbor posted signs notifying everyone of his homelessness, and that if he has an owner that he should be claimed. He is extremely people friendly, nudging around ankles, wanting to play, and wanting to let himself into any house he could. Obviously, this cat wasn't feral. He began sitting on my welcome mat every time I came home to greet me, much like a dog would. It was incredibly sweet, but I felt awful shutting him out of the house.

Mark also watched him from inside our apartment, since the kitten would often hang around our porch during the day, playing with leaves and plants by himself for hours.

Last weekend, my landlord came over since new neighbors were moving in. She said she might have to take him to the shelter soon if he wasn't claimed, since he had been nomadic in our neighborhood for the past few weeks. She told me the neighborhood has had it's fair share of pet drop offs over the last few years, including a loving pitbull she had to take to the shelter a few years ago. That's when I knew I couldn't let that happen to him.

I set up a vet appointment at a local clinic to get the kitten checked out. He didn't have a microchip. Once he was all cleared (albeit a few ticks) and got vaccinated, he's been a sweetie in our house ever since.

Mark and I expect more and more that he was abandoned. He hated being alone for the first week or so, but has finally gotten used to sleeping in his bed at night instead of scratching at our bedroom door.

He's incredibly tolerant of playful torture, like the hot dog costume we put on him on Halloween. And he might turn into a Garfield... he loves investigating human food. And he's kind of obsessed with cream cheese. :)