Vintage Photo Friday

Tres Generaciones
Dixie, Mary Lynne, & Nola - early 1940's

This is my Grandma, my Aunt , and my Great Gran. Possibly they are at Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles having a touristy moment. The photo is actually a postcard. Maybe they sent a postcard to my Grandpa who was serving in the Pacific during WWII.

More VPF here.

Vintage Photo Friday

Sisters: Nadine & Dixie

My Grandma, Dixie was the oldest of three sisters. Here she is with her middle sister Nadine. I am not sure what the year is (mom, maybe you can figure it out). They are in Springfield, Missouri.














Sisters: Mary Lynne & Cheryl
The next generation

Circa 1947, Culver City in Gran's driveway on Hubbard St. At the time my grandparents lived next door, in the duplex in the background.

More VPF

A special Thank You to all who attended the prom. It was truly an Enchanted Evening. It was undeniably special to revisit the memories, especially the fashions of the day, from home interiors to prom couture. Mwah! Love ya! K.I.T.

For the Love of Mom & Baseball

The hubby has one of his best childhood memories posted on The Baseball Chronicle.

It is a great story, so I thought I would share it with you.

Simply Fascinating

There isn't anything better than to check out a new crafting establishment & learn a new craft. Last Sunday, a group of us went to the new Hands-On 3rd and took a class making Fascinators. Our instructor, Corina, showed us the ropes and then set us free to play and design. This creative group got very quiet and went to work. The results were outstanding.




















Here is my fascinating creation. It is made of black wool felt and chicken wire horse hair veiling. The rhinestone clip came from my Grandma's jewelry collection. It is one of a pair of shoe clips. It is completely handsewn and I am just smitten with it. Every morning I put it on for a few minutes. Now the challenge will be to build the perfect ensemble to highlight my little hat.

Parade of the Fascinators




































This special crafting occasion was to celebrate Regina's birthday.
Happy Birthday!


















Lena in feathers



















Jenny in felt




















Jenna in feathers and felt



















Ellen wearing the entire bird and then some!

Thanks to Ellen for the fab portrait shots!

Vintage Photo Friday: Prom Night

Welcome to an Enchanted Evening

Stepping back to in time to May 1985


















Frank and me
This is truly the '80s at its best. Look at the hair! Frank's hair is as high as mine and his was always longer than mine.



















The photos were taken in my mom's living room. You really have to love the shingle wall (a 70s diy project) and the shag carpet. We were quite the fetching couple. The dress was made for me by at lady at church.



















Frank was very dapper in his multiple pleated pants that tapered down to his patent leather Doc Martens. Instead of the bow tie he opted for the rhinestone pin. There is a cross pin on the pocket of his tuxedo jacket. Yes, he was cool like that. Frank was not afraid of fashion. He once wore a skirt to a club we went to in downtown LA.



















Me & my kitten Feona

I bought a vintage rhinestone necklace and earrings at an antique store on Sherman Way for the occasion. In the 80s, one could never have enough rhinestones.



















Frank's dad let him borrow his car for the evening. I don't remember what the make of the car but it was for sure American, big, white on the exterior with burgundy leather (the rich corinthian type) inside, and power steering. DEE-luxe. We were stylin'.



















Tessa, Khe, Liliane, Lil, & Michele

The pre-prom party was at Tessa Trono's house. Unfortunately Tessa is a little cut off in the picture. These are my best girl friends from high school. Michele and I are still close.
















The prom was at the Sheraton Miramar in Santa Monica (now the Fairmont Miramar). It was the usual prom stuff - dinner and dancing. After the prom we walked over to a nearby 7-11, played video games and stocked up on snacks. The next stop was the marina, where Lil's date's father had a boat that we used for the after party.

To be honest, I thought prom was going to be lame. You might have read that I almost didn't go (story here). In the end, I was glad I did. It was a fun night. Frank was the perfect date. I am not sure at the time I showed my gratitude to Frank for taking me to the prom.

Dear Frank,

Wherever you may be, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking me to the prom.
It was a great night in a large part because of you.

XO,
Natalie

Prom Committee (more pictures)
LA is My Beat
Dear Diary
Funny Magic
Knot Sew Crafty
Paper Dolls for Boys
Through the Looking Glass
Superstarra-ville
Ethbay
Needs More Gingham
Sarah's Sparkles and Purls
Handy Crafts
Living, Loving, and Laughing in Austin
Pineapples & Artichokes
Suddenly Domestic

Now if you are at the prom & I've missed you in the crowd, please leave a link in the comments.

Prom Night on Friday

The Class of 2009

Interwebs High School

requests the honor of your presence

at

the Senior Prom

"Enchanted Evening"

on

Friday the 15th of May

Two thousand and nine

Please share & post your stories and photos of Prom Night on Friday, May 15, 2009. Please RSVP and let me know if you will be in attendance (so I can link to everyone's blog). If you did not go to or have a prom, please post a HS picture and story of some dark hidden high school story that you dying to share. Like when you dated a vampire against your parents wishes or threw up in your wizarding finals after partying in the forest all night. Yes, I recently watched Twilight and yes I read Harry Potter (although Harry never threw up during finals. He was usually battling that dude who will not be named).

All righty, I am off to the garage to find that hidden box with those prom photos! I hope you are too.

Vintage Photo Friday

Happy Mother's Day!


















Mom, me, and Kirk, 1973

Hi Mom!
I LOVE YOU!!!

I posted this photo last year at this time, but I just love this picture. I love my mom's outfit, a short set, that looks a lot like my Grandma's everyday dishes. I love that my brother and I are totally making goofy faces. I love that we are dressed exactly the same in Mickey Mouse t-shirts and yellow shorts. Love it all.

More VPF here.

PROM is next week! Friday May 15th. Boy did that sneak up fast. Time to hunt up the prom photos this weekend. If you are going to the prom next Friday let me know so can link you up. If I miss you in the posting, please leave a link in the comments, so we can like, totally check you and your date out. If you didn't go to the prom (I hear some people didn't) post a picture from high school and tell us why or some other infamous tale of your HS experience. I know there are stories to tell. Stuff you never told your mother.

Speaking of mothers....Happy Mother's Day to you!

Vintage Photo Friday

April 4, 1968
Andy & Me


More VPF

Life is crazy busy. Off the Houston for some fun.
Don't forget to start digging around for your prom pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Vintage Photo Friday

Prom Night

The Class of 2009

Interwebs High School

requests the honor of your presence

at

the Senior Prom

"Enchanted Evening"

on

Friday the 15th of May

Two thousand and nine

Please share & post your stories and photos of Prom Night on Friday, May 15, 2009. Please RSVP and let me know if you will be in attendance (so I can link to everyone's blog).


Last week I posted my Mom's prom picture. Her dress was pretty in pink and white with a sweet bow in the front. My first high school formal was in 10th Grade. For the Winter Dance, I wore my mom's pretty pink dress that she still had in her closet. My boyfriend was dressed in pink and white as well. We walked to school from my house (I lived down the street). We made it to just across the street from the school when my boyfriend told me he really did not want to go. We turned around and came home. I remember being upset and crying. I think he walked me home but I am not sure. He probably did and then walked home himself. He didn't have a car yet. It's funny how time blurs the details. At the time it was a big deal that required lots of Kleenex. I mean. He backed out of the date. At the school. No girl gets dressed in her mom's prom dress (I'd been angling to wear this dress since I was five years old, right?) and expects to be rejected at the school gates on the night of her first high school dance. I have the faintest, vaguest recollection that my mom and her boyfriend, Bruce, took me out for an ice cream or something that night to make me feel better. That dress never really got the attention and admiration it deserved.

More VPF

Fabulous Prom Photos found on flickr: vintage high school prom 1957 by freeparking; Pompadour and More Prom by foundphotoslj; Cousin Patsi's Prom by Todd Ehlers

Vintage Photo Friday

Let's take it back to 1965. My mom was in a social club at Hamilton High called the Carousels. As you can see, you get a bunch of girls together and the antics begin. My mom tells me they had teas, went to the movies, and did charity work. They had their special place on the quad where they all met up and hung out. Remember the importance of the quad and your social standing in relation to it? So funny how important it was then. The Carousels had their place on the quad. The club colors were red and white. I imagine that most of the girls in the photo are wearing red sweaters. My mom says it was the only fun she had in high school. The Dardanelles and the Damselles were the two other clubs on campus. The club names are great, don't you think? My mom is the one on the left hand side with her mouth wide open and about to fall on the cute girl waving on the floor.




















Cheryl and Bob
Hami Grad Night, 1965

Mom and her boyfriend of three years, Jerry Sheehan, broke up a couple of weeks before the dance. He was three years older and she thinks he didn't want to take her to the dance. She had the dress and was ready to go, but now she had no date. Well, Dixie (my Grandma) and LaRee (her friend & next door neighbor) put their heads together and got Bob (LaRee's son) to take my mom to the prom. They basically pushed him out of bed to be my mom's date. Why? Because he was at the tail end of having mono. According to my mom, even though he was sick he was a good date and she had fun. She can't remember the name of the hotel but thinks it was in Beverly Hills. She says the hotel was very nice. They had a sit down dinner and there was a band and dancing. What she does clearly remember is that her date was sick and a really good guy for taking her. Bob was a regular knight in shining armor, but I suspect there was no kiss at the end of the night. Mono...ewwww.

It is kind of funny because my prom story is very similar to my mom's story. My boyfriend broke up with me before prom too. I suspected that he didn't want to take me to prom and hang out with my high school friends because he was three years older. The dress was ready and I had no date. Luckily my mom didn't have a good friend next door with a son to scheme me up a date. Instead a good friend of mine, Frank Sacramento, came to my rescue and took me to prom. We worked together at a new store in the mall called Benetton. He was working the prom circuit that year. I believe he went to two other proms with other dateless girls. What a gentleman and champion for us Dateless Dorothys. It is good to have a friend like that in your corner.

When I get a chance I will find my prom photo. HI-larious and totally 80's. Anyone else with a good prom story? Please, please share. Here or on your blog. Wait! Just a thought. Prom season is upon us. I think we should have a prom night and everyone can blog about it. I propose Friday May 15, 2009 as Prom Night. That should give everyone enough time to find their prom pictures, dust off some old memories, and get out the taffeta. No prom date required. Oh, this will be fun! I will post more about it next week.

More VPF photos.

Spin Cycle

I wish I was spinning like this


















or like this












Sorry, but no.

This is about Spin Class: Week 2.

This week was so much harder than last week, especially this morning. The 6am alarm started this mental debate. Should I go? I want to go back to sleep. Uh-oh, I have a little sore throat. I am probably getting a cold. I should stay in bed. The gym is full of germs. Stop thinking and go brush your teeth. With that last thought I got out of bed and got ready for the gym.

These mental conversations are all kinds of trouble and I battle them everyday. In fact, life has gotten a little out of control for me. I took a curve too fast, so I let go of the wheel and closed my eyes. Now I am trying to take control of the wheel and get my tires back on the road. Just a pitstop on the expressway of progress.

It's back in the saddle.

Spin class is good for me and not just in a cardio way. If you have never been to a spin class (this is my 4th class, so I consider myself a newbie), the instructor takes you on a little journey. You sprint, you jog, and you climb imaginary mountains. This reminds me that we are all climbing some kind of mountain(s) in our lives. If we keep climbing we eventually get to the top of whatever heap lays before us, whether it's hitting a certain deadline, making that deal, getting to the gym, or the laundry pile. Forgive me for being cheesy, but it is a reminder this life is a journey. And sure I love a nice, long, smooth, flat bike path. Who doesn't? But hard work does have its own rewards. At least, so they say. When I am coasting on the downhill side I will let you know.

Until then I am going to keep peddling. See you on the road.

Photos by: Kromiski Minstrel spinning wheel by projektleiterin; Cotton candy maker by nicubunu; Monte Selim - Saddle Mountain by ®oberto's

Vintage Photo Friday

This is my father's mother. I do not know how old she is or when this photo was taken. To me, she was always Baachan, which is Grandma in Japanese. The photo was taken at Fukui Studio in Stockton, CA.



















This is my Baachan & Jiichan and more like I remember them. This was not my father's father, but my Baachan's third husband. According to family lore, my father's father was a gambler and died of appendicitis. I don't think I knew about any of that as a child so Jiichan was my Jiichan and that was that.


















This picture is dated 12-16-72. It is a picture in our new backyard. My parents bought a house in the suburbs and we moved from Culver City to the Valley. My Jiichan was a gardener and landscaped the entire backyard. They had a prolific garden at their own house on Centinela in West LA. It was lush with fruit trees, gardenias, camellias, orchids, a vegetable garden, a koi fish pond, and lawn of dichondra. They took meticulous care of their garden, especially the dichondra. I believe they weeded that lawn every day.

They both died when I was a teenager. I was sixteen years old when my Baachan died and my Jiichan passed a couple years later. My father moved to Hawaii shortly after my Baachan died and disappeared soon after that. I haven't seen or heard from him since that time. Unfortunately with the passing of my grandparents and my father missing in action, a whole side of family history is lost. Baachan really was the glue that held the family together and with her passing everyone floated away. I wish as a kid I had asked more questions and had the wherewithal to keep in touch with my uncles, aunts and cousins. Now they are lost too. For being such a smarty pants as a teenager, I was still just a kid. What I wouldn't do now to talk to her over a heaping plate of hamburger curry (my favorite dish that she made me every time I saw her).

So I guess, the lesson to be learned is to talk to your loved ones now. I find in my own family experience that we take each other for granted because we are a constant in each others lives. Their existence is such a part of your own that some of the details of their separateness, their individuality, their life before you came along are looked over. I am not sure if I am making myself clear, but what I want to say is become a documentarian for your family, ask the obvious and the obscure questions, look at photos together, and share the stories. If you are getting together with loved ones this weekend you have the perfect opportunity to learn something new about someone, exchange memories, and create new photo ops!

I am loving Vintage Photo Friday for this opportunity to remember and share.
More VPF here.

Purification

by FIRE


















and WATER












Spin Class: Day 2
The burn...oh the burn. Today I knew what I was in for, so I kicked it up a notch. Just a notch, mind you, but whoa what a notch will do. Class was easier today because I knew what to expect. I was able to stay in the moment, breathe, and not look at the clock every ten minutes. This time I managed to look at the clock every 20 minutes. There were a couple of moments when I completely spaced out and vigorously propelled myself through time on that stationary bike. We did crunches, while peddling. What?! That takes serious coordination. For me, there is nothing like a good, cleansing sweat. The kind of sweat that is pure and clean and runs over you like a waterfall. It feels good to be alive and to move my body in a new and engaging way. Still, I would rather fold myself up like a pretzel in yoga class. At the same time, I know I need to tune up the old cardiovascular system and burn some excess winter storage. So I think I will try and keep up a couple of spinning classes a week.

What do you do to for health and longevity?
Trying anything new?

I soooo want to try hula hooping!
and aerial fitness where you spin around on silks!


Photos by:
Flames by Naveen Roy; Waterfall: Sandcut Beach by quas

What was I thinking?

When I said yes to a 7AM















Spin Class?













In a matter of seconds I was feeling the burn.















I kept imaging the fat burning right off my thighs.



















In the end I was reduced to a puddle.















And my legs felt like jelly.

This was my first spin class ever. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be and I think I paced myself fairly well. I sustained no injuries and I did not fall off the bike or faint dead away. Surprisingly I feel pretty energized. I really thought I would come home and take a nap because my body would be in shock from exercise. Cardio is not a word in my vocabulary. This sounds really crazy but I think I will try this again. Like on Thursday.

Photo credits (you have to love Flickr)
Spinning Class, Yorkshire style by www.richardcawood.com; 7:AM Forever by Adam Mulligan; Mt. San Miguel continues to burn. San Diego wildfires. by slworking2; Butter and sugar melt together by jessicafm; Rainbow Jello Mold by justgrimes; Portrait of an Old Puddle as a Young Puddle by hippydream

Be Bold

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic. Begin it now.

~ Goethe


Photo credits: Bar Sign B, Neon by cobalt123 & BOLD by jepoirrier

Vintage Photo Friday

Helene Dutrieu (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

Hélène Dutrieu in her aeroplane c. 1911

Hélène Dutrieu (10 July 1877 – 26 June 1961), was a cycling world champion, stunt cyclist, stunt motorcyclist, automobile racer, stunt driver, pioneer aviator, wartime ambulance driver, and director of a military hospital.

What an adventurous woman!

You can read more about her here.

More Vintage Photos on Paper Dolls for Boys

Vintage Photo Friday

Me, Mom & Dad
Topanga Canyon, CA
1969

If you see a painted sign

on the side of the road



that says 16 miles to the Love Shack


Shaque l'Amour


Sit awhile on the front porch


or Come on in


and have a drink


Play a tune & take a spin on the dance floor


The boudoir beckons


Gig 'em...that's Aggie lingo for you know what.


If it gets too hot come and rock on the back porch


or get hotter (if you know what I mean)


The whole time the jukebox keeps playing and playing












This is Sully's Place at the 7F Lodge. It really was a Love Shack.

Here's the description

This is our newest addition to 7F and one of our larger cabins. It boasts an 80 sq. ft. dance floor, complete with a loaded 1959 Wurlitzer jukebox, and plenty of neon bar signs reminiscent of some popular Aggie college hang-outs. Relax on the 9 ft. couch indoors or in the private, two-person heart-shaped Jacuzzi tub on the screened-in back porch. The cabin includes a separate bedroom with a queen-sized bed and Aggie memorabilia. The private bathroom has a rustic shower and a separate "stall" — without the long lines! The front porch has a relaxing porch swing and the back porch includes two rockers. Relive your college memories, or make some new memories in this unique cabin.

The festivities for Cookie and Kiss brought a lot of family into town, so the hubby and I decided to get a room. It is not often enough when we don't sleep with a dog between us. We were very excited when I stumbled upon the the 7F Lodge. Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about our experience there. It was very secluded and romantic. We were stocked with breakfast pastries and other goodies. They will even supply wine and roses if you want them. No children or dogs are allowed and Love Rules at the 7F. Who knew knew such an incredibly romantic oasis was hiding in College Station, Texas?! Seriously it is the middle of nowhere and that is definitely one of it's charms. The best part of our stay was getting up in the morning and slow dancing on the dance floor to Willie Nelson singing All of Me.