Friday, July 31, 2009

Vintage Photo Friday: Postcards

Remember the days of sending postcards?












































































I miss those days of picking out postcards and scrawling a few lines in a cafe. Then getting foreign stamps and sending them home. On my first visit to Italy, I was twenty and spoke only a few choice (read curse) words aside from please and thank you. I returned to the US after six weeks and nobody had received my postcards. They showed up after a couple more weeks. Apparently I did not send them air mail and they came on a slow boat. It just really added to the adventure. Now we just zip into a stuffy internet cafe, send emails and post on our blogs. Oh technology we love you and your instantness but oh how we miss getting postcards in the mail that take weeks to arrive.


All these postcards came from Nevada Tumbleweed's Vintage Las Vegas postcard collection.
Photos by Nevada Tumbleweed

More Vintage Photo Friday here.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Since you asked...

Thank you everybody for all your kind comments. Wow. I am still marveling that it is finished.

This past weekend was spent in serious decompression. Strange dreams stalked me in my sleep. The first night I was dreaming about the final formatting and what data needed to be included then I woke up and realized there was nothing left to do. It was done. The second night I had a dream that I was late turning in a paper for English class that was worth 25% of my final grade. But when I got to class I realized that I didn't have the book. In fact, I didn't know what the book looked like. In my confusion I realized that I never went to class all semester. I hadn't turned anything in. I was going to fail English class and graduation was 3 days away. You know I woke up in a sweat with that one. So strange how the body and the mind are still in fight mode after these long months.

Some of you asked about the topic of my dissertation.

My research destination...














Las Vegas


I got a job...














in a casino


And became a...


























Cocktail Server


My ethnography focused on...














Women's work.


With an emphasis on...


















Body and Body Image


And how it is...














Objectified


And...


















Commodified on the job


The internalization of the male gaze combined with the objectification and commodification...














Often leads to aesthetic surgery, which is a strategy used by the cocktail servers to conform to beauty ideals and create longevity for themselves in an industry that values youth and beauty.

That's it in a pictorial nutshell, which is so much more interesting than my abstract.

Thank you all again for your warm words. They really made me smile at a time when I should have been excited but found myself just completely exhausted, dumbfounded and slightly befuddled.

From the bottom of my heart....a BIG kiss! MWAH!





Photos:
by Roadsidepictures; by Old Shoe Woman; by TRiver; by serakatie
by Marionzetta; by Kris Cohen; by Eat a Crayon Photography

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

DONE!!!

It's official.

The dissertation has been signed, sealed, and accepted.

Things have been pretty sparse around this blog the last few months due to putting my head down and finishing my dissertation. It wasn't even possible to blog about the situation because I didn't want to jinx myself. All my energy had to be focused on the task at hand and I am happy to say it is finally done.

I am a doctor...in the Ph.D. sense.

It is still sinking in.

wow

it

is

finished.

Can't quite wrap my mind around it yet,
but I am ready for a drink

yes
a cool dry martini
is calling my name

I hear you and I am a-comin'.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Vintage Photo Friday

SUMMERTIME


















in the Sea & Sun
(These people look like they are having fun.)




















Don't forget to wear sunscreen.
(What a cutie.)



















Now this poor lady looks parched sitting at the seaside. Maybe she forgot her Nivea.



















I think she needs a drink. STAT!

What's your favorite summertime drink?


Here's my drink recipe for the Santino Sling:

Rum
Pineapple Juice
Reed's Extra Spicy Ginger Ale
Lime

Take a collins glass (that's a tall glass). Fill with ice. Pour in 1 oz. rum (use what you have on hand. I prefer light to dark). Pour in pineapple juice to 2/3 height of glass. Top off with ginger ale. Give a squeeze of lime juice and then lime into glass. Add straw and give a stir. Sit down and sip.

Now if you want to get all fancy you could definitely bust out the pineapple chunk, lime squeeze, and maraschino cherry. Oh and the umbrella too. But I prefer to just get to sipping.

Why is it called the Santino Sling? This drink was concocted while watching the finale for Project Runway Season Two where Santino Rice was a finalist.

More Vintage Photo Friday Here

and

Fab Photos:
by allerleirau; by allerleirau; by lizzie_anne; by jbcurio

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Natalie & Julia

Don't worry I will not be attempting to move through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in 365 days. Although I did pick up both volumes at an estate sale last year and Volume Two was a first edition. Score! I love Julia Child and this is the summer to celebrate her.

























































My friend Darcy invited me to be in a book club and the first book is Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. You might be familiar with Julie's story of blogging her way through Julia Child's recipes and heard of a little movie by the same title starring Meryl Streep coming out August 7. Being a fan of Meryl Streep I was looking forward to the movie and the invitation to the book club is just perfect timing.

I was already in the vortex of Julia Child by watching The French Chef from Netflix.




























These episodes are classic and a far cry from the slick productions you see on the Food Network. It is 100% Julia at her best, slicing potatoes and making them three kinds of ways from Sunday. Since I am in the immersion cycle of all things Julia I picked up My Life in France by Julia Child too.





























Bon appétit!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Weekend Fun















Learning to Bhangra by incurable_hippie


This past Saturday was one of the best in a long time. In the morning I got some work done, so in the afternoon I headed over to Swerve Studio (on 3rd @ Sweetzer) for a Bollywood Bhangra Beats class. Ellen read about it a few weeks ago and she thought it sounded like something I would do. She was so right. It was loads of fun dancing bhangra. Since I was all warmed up I decided to stay and take the yoga class right afterwards. It was also a great class. After a few weeks of being chained to my desk, it felt exhilerating to move and dance and stretch and sweat and do something totally new.

After class I went home and took a quick shower. Then the hubby and I went to see The Hangover. Hilarious. As someone who had her bachelorette party in Sin City, the movie is not far off. I would love to divulge the details but you know what they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

For dinner we went to Golden State. To top off my day, I went classic, with the burger, fries, and root beer on tap. With a scoop of Scoops ice cream for dessert. Yowza! What a perfect day.

Last night was a trip to the Hollywood Bowl to see Ray LaMontagne. This guy is so amazing. His voice and his music are powerful and moving. He's a pretty shy guy and didn't say much on stage. His music just speaks for itself. If you are not familiar with his music he is one to take a listen to.

The Hollywood Bowl picnic basket included:
Pasta Frittata - simple and yummy...the lemon zest makes it. Used basil instead of thyme.
Black Bean salad - Used canned beans, substituted queso fresco for feta, added corn, and would have topped with pepitas if I had them. Great recipe, especially the dressing.
Caprese - heirloom tomato, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Wine: Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (drink me!)

We brought dessert but didn't even eat it.
fresh raspberries and blueberries, tapioca pudding, and shortcake.

When we got home I hade a spoon full of tapioca. Believe it or not I had never had tapioca pudding before. It is soooo good. Loved it and I love that there is dessert waiting for me at home in my fridge.

Tonight we are going to make shrimp tacos and put the bean salad on the tacos with the shrimps. I kept the arugula separate from the bean mixture so the greens wouldn't get soggy. I think this is going to be a delicious combo and different enough to finish up the bean salad. Maybe a little guacamole to top it off. Olé!

Oh and a side note: If you have been chained to your desk and inactive for too long...just take one exercise class per day. My quads are killing me and I can barely walk. It will be interesting in spin class tomorrow. If you hear whimpering and see a woman with tears running down her face in the back of class...that will be me. Hopefully the music will be blasting as usual to drown out my cries. hehe.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Vintage Photo Friday

What would you do-oo-oo?







































Summer treats!

My favorite flavor popsicle is banana.
My favorite flavor ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
My favorite flavors of gelato are bacio (hazelnut) & pistachio, but I love to say stracciatella (chocolate chip).
My favorite summer fruits? Aw...don't make me pick.

One favorite is watermelon. Last weekend I made Watermelon Lemonade from Smitten Kitchen
It is sweet and slightly tart and very refreshing. I juiced enough watermelon and lemons to make a second batch yesterday.

What are you favorite flavors of summer?


















More Vintage Photo Friday here.

Photos courtesy of Flickr &
Kondike by brianbutko
Yumsicle by amy_b
Vanilla ice cream by .Deirdre.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Vintage Photo Friday: Postcards
























































HAPPY JULY 4th!!!!
Have a great weekend.

All these amazing postcards are from Riptheskull. To seen an amazing collection of postcards and other images please visit his collection.

More Vintage Photo Friday at Paper Dolls for Boys.