Auld Lang Syne

"For auld lang syne," loosely translated means "for (the sake of) old times." The sentimental Scottish folk song is generally sung at the conclusion of New Year gatherings, and calls the group to acknowledge long-standing friendships, and remember those who have passed on.

Traditionally, everyone would gather in a circle, cross arms and join hands with the person next to them to sing. (What a sweet custom.)

It seems fitting that this New Year I’ll be gathering with family to celebrate the life of my Nana, who passed away this Christmas Eve... Joie, bonheur et tendresse pour une bonne et heureuse année 2011… Remember: no man is a failure who has friends!

The Nutcracker (Stowell & Sendak)

The Pacific Northwest Ballet's version of "The Nutcracker" is nationally acclaimed, with set and costumes designed by renowned children's book author & illustrator Maurice Sendak (of "Where the Wild Things Are"). Sendak's unique interpretation of the fantasy Christmas tale is visually stunning. He chose mainly relaxed, muted pastel hues, punched-up with red accents & slightly menacing-looking Sendak-esque monsters (pictured above). The entire performance is mesmerizing... sort of like stepping through a magic wardrobe into a winter wonderland.

♥

Choreography by Kent Stowell, music by Tchaikovsky.

Merry Christmas!

Life is but a dream...

"Time Doesn't Stand Still"- Asa Mader and Benjamin Millepied debut a directors' cut of their film starring Léa Seydoux. This clip is very reminiscent of our apartment in Paris. It's dreamy...

If you like the music, here's the full song "Golondrinas" by Carlos Gardel (c1934).

Can't Buy Me Love

Last night was wild and crazy.

Not really. But being a total nerd, I was happy I finally convinced my husband to play Beatles Monopoly with me. He was 'The Walrus' and I was 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. The game is really cute and would make a great Christmas gift for someone that's hard to buy for.

On a side note... tomorrow is our 10 year anniversary!

Half Moon Manicures

Pictured above: Reverse-French at Vena Cava, a young Joan Crawford with a moon-manicure, an unknown model in a reverse-French. Below: my at-home 'half-moon' manicure

I favor vintage manicures— short nails painted in either a classic French manicure, or a dark-matte polish in a reverse-French. The 'reverse-French' is also known as a 'half-moon' manicure— it was first popularized in the 1930's.

Given my fear of complete strangers brandishing sharp objects, I rarely get my nails professionally done. So, over the years, I've gotten good at doing my own. The reverse-French is probably the most difficult to do for yourself, so here are a couple tips if you want to try it out at home:

1. Invest in good polish, like Chanel or the mid-priced OPI. Higher quality polish has more pigment and less coats are required. (The fewer coats you put on your nails, the less likely you are to screw up.)
2. Paint your nails with a base coat primer.
3. Paint your entire nail with the coat of the color you want the 'half moon' at the bottom to be.
4. Once your 'half moon' layer is TOTALLY dry, apply nail stickers to the bottom of the nail to create the half-moon shape. (I usually wait 24 hours...)
5. Paint above the half-moon stickers with your desired color. If you are going for a classic 30's, vintage look, I recommend medium to dark matte reds. (Iridescent polishes didn't exist until the late 50's.)
6. If you are using a quality nail polish in a dark hue, you may only need to apply one color-coat. Like I was saying earlier, the fewer coats you apply, the faster the nails will dry, which will save you drying time and reduce the likelihood of your wet nails getting 'dinged.'
7. Remove half-moon stickers and apply 1-2 clear top coats to protect the polish.
8. You're done!

Edit: In other online tutorials, I've noticed people use "ring reinforcement stickers" like these. I've tried them and they work great— they're also very inexpensive and can be found at any drug or office supply store.

Paris Essentials

Back from France... I'll post more photos once I get them all sorted out.

Have a great weekend!

a modern classic

Grey Gardens, 2009

I can't resist a "soft shoe," either (and have a drawer full of tap shoes to prove it.) Happy weekend!

Boo!

So I guess this is my obligatory Halloween post— a little early, as I'll be in Paris during the holiday.

I love the Fleisher Brothers, particularly Betty Boop, and particularly pre—enforcement of the code.

The Fleisher's selected the best artists to contribute music to their cartoons, like the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Baby Rose Marie (was interesting, at least) and early Cab Calloway...

Happy Halloween!

October!

The weather is unseasonably warm, and life has gotten unreasonably crazy, so I only recently accepted the fact that it's October. I guess this actualization happened because I've been receiving requests from friends to borrow my bump-it's for their "Jersey Shore" inspired costumes. Yes, I have three bump-its but I swear I wear the way Hepburn/ Bardot would wear them, and not like Snookie. Anyway.

Being that it's scary movie season, it seems natural to share this rather entertaining documentary on the making of Rosmary's Baby. It's so strange to imagine that Mia was married to Frank Sinatra during the making of this film. What did they talk about? How did they 'groove' together, as Mia would put it? She's absolutely lovely, but... well... very much an Aquarian.

PART II

PART III

Szerelmesfilm (1970)

I guess what first attracted me to this film was the cover and title— and fortunately, the movie was every bit as dear. It stars the handsome András Báli and entertaining actress Judit Halász, who portrays a trendy mod fashion designer. (In reality, she later became a Hungarian pop superstar.) But beyond the superficial, Szabó paints a rather moving political allegory.

István Szabó made a number of other great films, including "Father," "Taking Sides," and "Being Julia."

Vintage Findings

I found a couple darlings on ebay this morning...

Vintage Passport to Happiness Charm

Vintage Bon Voyage Compact

I guess I have travel on my brain these days... I'm leaving for Paris in a couple weeks. Mark & Anna from "Coffee Break French" are my new best friends!

c'est charmant

Years ago, I started collecting vintage British charms, from 14k to 24k gold. I tried to find ones that were interactive, movable, or had some personal significance. The objective was to make myself a vintage charm bracelet.

Eight years later (yeesh) it's finally done.

Naturally, I wasn't happy with a basic charm bracelet— it had to be vintage with a heart padlock and safety chain. And they're expensive. Which is partially why it took so long to complete. (Winning one on ebay for an affordable price took patience.)

Meanwhile, I collected charms. My favorite is in the front— it's an LP that says "♥♥Calypso" on one side and "♥♥Rock n' Roll" on the other side. (I love calypso music from the 30's—50's... and have also amassed quite a lot of old rock n' roll LP's over the years.)

♥♥♥

ANYWAY... also pictured is a vintage working tambourine, two "spinner" charms (spin them, and one reveals the message "Good Luck" and the other, "I Love You"), a tiny scotch bottle that reads "I'm Scotch!", a 4-leaf clover, a graduation cap (a thrift store find), some bells (also thrifted) and "mad money" (contents: a whole dollar!).

♥♥♥

Over the years, I've collected MORE than enough charms for a bracelet. Eventually, I'll list the extra's on my Etsy site. Even if you don't have a bracelet to put them on, a few grouped together on a chain makes an adorable pendant. Here are some fun charms currently available on ebay— they're especially perfect if you have no budget!

Happy charming!

Nóż w wodzie (Knife in the Water), 1962

Tarzan And His Mate, 1934 (pre-code, obviously)

(I guess I'm not really into words these days...)

Happy Weekend!

This has been an insane week—I'm so happy it's over.

Have a relaxing weekend!

(Photo: John Rawlings for Vogue, 1941)

We recently rehabbed a Dania starter dining set by having the cherry table top sprayed with car paint at our local Auto Body shop. We donated the matching Danish-modern Ikea-style chairs (yuck) and replaced them with some Lucite Ghost Chairs. By using Ghost Chairs, I hoped to make the small space look bigger, and with the glossy paint job, I wanted to make the eating area look... shiny.

In the end, we're happy with how it turned out. It always feels good to reuse and re-purpose things.

So, how do you clean the car-table? With Turtlewax, naturally. And if you're wondering about the cost of doing this yourself, I called both Auto Body and Fiberglass Paint shops (boat painters) and the low-bid was $100. (The high was $400.)





On a separate note— does anyone know what variety of flower those long, green hanging ones are?

LV Trompe L'Oeil

♥♥
♥ Something to add to the ever-expanding trompe l'oeil collection... this would be so cute with brown high-waisted sailor pants.

♥

♥

Just what I need— more ridiculous, expensive, impractical clothing and accessories! I have no discipline.

rainy day music

Yves Montand in "Paris is always Paris," 1951

The lyrics were written by surrealist French poet/screenwriter Jacques Prevert.

ballet shoes

Dustin Hoffman and wife, Anne Byrne by Bob Gomel,1967

(Happy Friday!)

The Beatles

Bob Whitaker, 1965

(A bit of a departure from the controversial "butcher cover" Bob shot a year later.)

♥

Photo by Roddy McDowall

"When a random turn or two brought me more than once to the edge, I did not topple into the tangled mysteries below. In the end, mine is a navigator's sense of place and the strength again to hoist the sails, the will again to catch the winds; and even when the land and all I ever loved are lost to me, and the stars are shrouded, and I am sore with losses and afraid— even then, the miracles all around will leap to celebrate themselves, and I will celebrate them too. And even then, I'll trust that a new shore will rise to meet me, and there, in that new place, I will find new things to care about."

—Mia Farrow, What Falls Away

the friendly skies

John Rawlings is easily one of my favorite fashion photographers. These photos are from Vogue, 1955.

Speaking of flying, here's my itinerary for this Monday-Thursday: Bellingham, WA> Seattle, WA> Detroit, MI> Harrisburg, PA> Charlotte, NC> Jacksonville, FL> Miami, FL> Los Angeles, CA> Seattle, WA. To be fair, a couple of those are lay-overs. Hopefully I'll come back with a nice photo or two to share- I hear West Palm Beach, FL is beautiful. (I've never been there before.)

Edit: Six states in 4 days, and this is the only decent photo I came back with:

Super yachts and mega yachts in West Palm Beach. I always forget to take out my camera...

happy friday!

From 'Anna' (made for TV 1967)

This clip never gets old.... Bon week-end!

two of the greatest

Sam Cooke & Cassius Clay

The High Seas

Adorable Faye

Seafood

First Mates


French Riviera, I mean San Juan Islands



Nautical Summit

Anchorage

Land Lubbers

Oh, Captain.

Lovely Bones

It's likely you're aware of Givenchy's skeleton-inspired collection, designed by Riccardo Tisci, as it was the most remarked-about of the Fall 2010 Paris couture shows. The intricate gown below generated a lot of press, featuring precise beading and feather details evocative of the human anatomy. It's a stunning work of art.

Givenchy's gown got me thinking about a much earlier bone-inspired dress— Elsa Schiaparelli's "Skeleton Dress." She collaborated with Salvador Dalí on this design for her Circus Collection (1938). Her black crepe creation featured padded ribs, spine, and leg bones— very provocative and original for its time.

Can you imagine 1930's socialites wearing this little number to high-society functions? (The adventurous ones did— scandalous!)

I wonder who will be daring (or lucky) enough to wear Givenchy's creation this year.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Schiaparelli

I'm in a Dancing Mood

Louboutin Love

(!!!)

BANANA

San Diego

@Hotel Indigo

Al Gore, depressing me.

Just kidding, Al! It's fun hearing about the Polar Ice Caps melting!


The beach, apparently. (I was indoors, working.)

Café Chloe, our favorite French restaurant.

Beautiful décor, Man Ray photos and French cuisine.


HALL!
HALL!

OATES!
OATES!

HALL AND OATES!

City Lights


Illumination