It's why you never tell me heaven's on your mind...*

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photos by Tom b.

pea coat: H&M
skirt: vintage
top: H&M
tights: thrifted
shoes: vintage brogues from Ebay
hat: vintage wool beret
purse: vintage Bond Street bag from Etsy
* listening to: Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue "A Looking In View"

Yesterday Tom and I spent all morning researching the history of our house at the Lancaster Historical Society. Can I just say that place is history nerd heaven?! Old maps, ancient books, drawers full of old records! Displays of late 1800's needlework, doctor's handbags (oooh, I wanted to take a couple of those home with me), apothecary kits, pieces of Thaddeus Stevens' furniture! I really didn't want to leave, even after hours of trying to decipher 19th century handwriting left me a bit cross-eyed. We're trying to find out who originally built our house but those old records can sometimes be a bit hard to follow. We've found a lot of information and we're still trying to piece it all together. Once we've figured it out, we're going to write up a little history of the people that lived here and I'll be sure to share it with you!

Afterwards, we stepped outside to snap a couple of photographs. The Historical Society is located right next door to one of the most famous houses in Lancaster, Wheatland; the home of James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States. We didn't want to pay for tour tickets so we just snuck around the outer edge of the property for a bit. While it seems like a beautiful estate, having Buchanan as a Lancaster native is hardly something to brag about since he has been officially ranked as one of the worst presidents of all time! His presidential term led directly into the Civil War. Even though he's not exactly a great historical figure I can't believe I've lived here this long and haven't done a proper tour of the house. They even do a candlelit tour at night! I'm putting this on my list of things to do.

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