Monday, June 18, 2007

Vintage Girl

I have been going through boxes of old photos in my attempt to be more organized.
{I will have to live to be 101 to find time to scrapbook all my stuff!!}
I found these 2 photos I took of my dresser top displays in my bedroom when I was a teen . They were constantly changing, but here is one moment in time that was documented.
Above: The rectangle picture frame on the wall holds a picture of my friend Kris (seated)and me (standing) dressed up in vintage clothes. The oval frame on the wall is me in vintage clothes. The many frames are filled with my early purchases from estate sales and things clipped from magazines. If you click on the image above you can enlarge it and see my Mom's baptism booties with ruffles in the front towards the left.
Above: The 2 lamps are from my Grandma Bubbles' vanity. I always admired them in her home as a child and she gave them to me!!!! They have silk wrapped cords and silk fabric inside the shades. They are wrought iron and weigh a TON. I treasure them.
The doll in pink hat next to the pink candle was my Mom's as a child. It is a Madame Alexander from the 1930's. The other dolls were from estate sales or received as gifts. I made the tiny pillows with sewn on ribbons and the sachet bags.


So it seems I was a vintage loving, collecting, displaying kind of girl for longer than I realized.


The Club Girls

 Don't let the title to this post fool you, these three women were not "night club girls"...
nope, they were three very strict Catholic women. They were also very loving and fun!

They were all part of the same pinochle card club since the 1950's.

This photo was taken at a family wedding reception in the 1980's. 
(Don't the style of eyeglasses just scream 1980s??!)
Left to right:
B's mom.....my mom.....B's mom's sister (she had 15 kids!)
I wrote more about this trio in my post dated June, 6, 2007 titled "My Home Sewn Wedding".
My mother-in law died from cancer 5 months into our marriage. Lots of people complain about their mother-in-law, but I really loved and truly liked mine.
B's dad died from complications of cancer surgery about 3 years into our marriage.
My mom died of cancer about 4 years into our marriage.
I wish they were all still here to see the 3 kids grow up.
There are many times I wish they were here so I could ask advice.

Graduation Memories


It's that time of year when there seems to be plenty of opportunities to eat and socialize...at graduation parties.
I have found myself reminiscing about my own graduation from high school - Wow! That's me in cap and gown holding my diploma. I had my Mom cut about 8 inches from my hair the night before! I don't know why. Maybe it was a sense of a new beginning. I loved my leather, ankle strap wedge heel sandals!!
Here I am at my graduation party. My sister-in-law, Sue made my Ziggy cake. I was NUTS about Ziggy. Still am, I guess, although he is harder to find these days. The drinking age for beer was 18 and I turned 18 a few weeks before graduation. We had a keg of Michelob at the party. I thought that was a big deal!

This is in my kitchen during my party.
From left to right:
my sister-in-law, Sue, who is holding her son Jason..... my Mom, in the refrigerator..... Grandma Bubbles, my Mom's Mom..... profile of my Mom's friend since kindergarten, Joyce B. ......my other sister-in-law, Sue, who made the Ziggy cake.
This is my all time favorite picture of my nephew Jason and me.
It was on the porch during my party. I love how he is sticking out his tongue!
I now realize that it is a modern photo in an antique looking frame--not really a good match-- but it has been in that same frame for 26 years. I loved that type of frame and used them for every photo, no matter what!! Oh well. By the way... I weighed just over 90 pounds!!!!
Senior portraits:
The 2 in the ugly wicker peacock chair are me. I hated that they had me hold that fake rose! I hated the clothes I wore. The wool vest and matching pants were scratchy! I hated how my hair turned out that day. As you can see by the top of my hair, it was always straight. The curlers actually (for a change) made my hair curl!!--but too much-- like a poodle!!
That's my best friend, Marcia, in the striped sweater. Believe it or not...I now take care of her parents, driving them around town and helping out, since she lives 3 hours away in Michigan. We met in 7th grade typing class. She sat behind me and she would bring lemon slices in a baggy to suck on during class. She did, not me. I never knew why she did! I'll have to ask her!!!!
That's my other best friend, Amy, in the purple. She now lives in Washington state. She was my maid of honor. We met in kindergarten. Her parents are like surrogate Grandparents to my 3 kids. They call them Nanny and Grampy. I only recently started calling them Mom and Dad. It was hard to break the life long habit of calling them by their formal Mr and Mrs names.
This is my Mom's graduation day in 1945!!!
She wore the white dress in the left photo. That's her senior portrait in the middle, wearing her heart locket she received for a gift [I think from her Grandma]. I have the locket now. In the photo on the right at her party are my Mom, her Great Aunt Mary and her Mother (my Grandma Bubbles).
And LOOK... in the photo on the right, my Mom is wearing her leather, ankle strap wedge heel sandals!!!!