Livin' The Low Life

Cool show about guys who are serious about cool cars.

Vintage Hair inspiration

Somehow I managed to grow my bangs past my nose. I think that I've nearly always had bangs. At one point in the 2nd grade I think my hair was all one length. Then I ended up with bangs again, and I've bee trying to grow them out ever since. And not cool Betty Bangs, just boring old bangs.
So I'm parting my hair on the side with a major portion of my bangs hanging down the side of my face. Not quite as smooth a sleek as these ladies, but it's kind of what I am aspiring to. I think the Barbara Stanwyck style is my favorite, and the one that I might be able to actually do. If I could just keep the waves from separating into chunks.
OK, I was killing time while 60 minutes ran over, delaying the Amazing Race. But now Amazing Race is coming on. Gotta go - Go Red Hair Girls!

Who is Bruce? I like his hat

I was working on hats for this week's update, and this was one of them. I just really like the style of it, and it makes me wish that I wore hats. I love the big polka dotted bow. It's a great hat for Spring. The label inside is 'Styled by Bruce' - Never saw that label in a hat before, don't know anything about Bruce, but he made a great hat. I like it.




I like this too.

The baby who rode in this antique stroller sure rode in style!

I just came from the auction preview at - http://www.bertoiaauctions.com/

Bertoia's Auctions in Vineland NJ is the top toy auction house in the country. Just walking through their showroom to preview the items is amazing. They have a big, state of the art auction house and beautiful showroom. Very professional, and yet they still have the feel of a family business, giving special attention to the collectors that they deal with.

This upcoming auction is the first of several where they will be selling the toy car related collection of Donald Kaufman. Mr. Kaufman has the largest and rarest toy car related collection in the world. 1000s of pieces (there will be almost 1500 pieces in the first auction alone) ranging from tinker toy sized to large pedal cars 5-6 feet long. Also trains, airplanes, advertising, even car related antique Valentines.

I went with my Dad to check out the preview, and we were not disappointed. There are just so many cool things there. I snapped a photo of this antique baby carriage, made out of wicker, to look like an old style car. It's very cute in person. Made by Haywood Wakefield. And yes, you actually pushed a baby in that.

A sewing basket shaped like a car -



One of the large standing Valentines -

Very cool Hubley Circus wagon with revolving monkey cage (the estimate is $30,000.00!!!!!!)

'Grey Gardens' promo clips

Wow, it looks good. I guess I kind of have mixed feelings about whether a movie needs to be done about them. I understand this movie is meant to be about their background story, which should be interesting. Their story is so fascinating, funny and sad.







and the real Edies -

Spotted - the elusive White Turkey (plus 'fascinating' turkey video)

So I'm sitting at my desk, editing photos, and I glance out the window and see this big guy out there in the backyard strutting around -






There's a group of 16 turkeys with him, kicking around in the leaves for corn. Then I spot the elusive white turkey in the crowd too! She's really cool to look at. We gave a photo of her to the feedstore that we buy our corn and sunflower seeds from. They loved the photo and hung it up behind their counter (someone else gave them a photo of a black squirrel, very cool)

Here's a short vidoe of the turkeys out in the yard today, minus Whitey, who had already gone into the bushes when I started filming. 4 years in the woods, and I still love watching the turkeys out there. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them.

Dream wardrobe, dream life

I've been 'shopping' in vintage catalogs again, building the perfect wardrobe, in my mind. The problem with that is, you can't just order the items and happily wait for them to arrive. Plus this catalog was a Simplicity pattern catalog, so first I'd have to find the pattern, and then find some good old fabric, and the hardest thing to find - time to sew!

These first 3 patterns are so me, or who I'd really like to be, casual and elegant, ready for Summer. The first pattern is for a wide legged lounger, which I think is so very chic. Next is really me, straw hat, pretty dress, picking flowers - if only that was really me. Finally, a chic Summer dress with a hood for drama, I love the way the shoulders are cut-in and the buttons are on an angle from the hood.




Next, a few casual Summer pieces for walking around town, or going to the market (In my glamorous dream world I go to the 'market' rather than the foodstore. At the market I carry a basket and shop for fresh produce from handsome young local farmers who tell me how fresh their vegetables are)



Then two more dresses, these would be for Summer afternoon lunches at sidewalk cafes, or early evening strolls on the boardwalk. Wow, I have a really great life going on in my mind!
In my mind I'm eating pizza at the cafes and ice cream on waffles at the boardwalk, not fancy foo-foo food, I like real food. I'll never be too glamorous for good old fashion cheesy pizza.

My little island

Well, I'm not there right now. Actually I'm only there weekends in the Summer. Physically. But my mind is there all the time.



Aerial photo taken 3/8/09 by Ella Diamond.

A peek at my office

After telling myself again and again that I needed to vacuum up here, I finally drug the vacuum up the steps and did it! It wasn't gross, just threads and fuzz on the carpet. The dogs can't come up here, so this is the least hairy room in the house.



Just felt like taking a picture of it. I have a nice view into the woods.

Today was a good day. I got alot of work done, it was a beautiful day and I went to the beach!
Yesterday I pulled a pile of clothing, thinking I'd be ironing and photographing the clothing today. This morning as I got out of bed, I had an idea 'wholesale stuff' Brilliant.
So I ignored the original pile of work that I had pulled, and instead I dug through boxes and my rack of clothing for stuff to put into wholesale lots. I pulled 142 pieces of clothing and hats and broke them down into 7 wholesale lots. Easy to photograph and type up. Box them up and stack the boxes to take up less space. Price them cheap so that hopefully they sell quickly. Move it out now rather than have it take up space or be moved from place to place. Getting that done was very satisfying. Things were organized and I freed up space and boxes.

Midway through that project I took a break, and my Dad and I took Boris and Harlow for a walk on the beach. Amazing, considering that on Monday it snowed about 10 inches, then we had 2 super cold days that made it seem like the snow would never melt. It was about 11AM as we were on our way to the beach, we passed the bank clock and their temp was 71 degrees! It's usually about 10 degrees cooler at the beach, so I still needed a jacket and socks.
Those doggies love going to the beach. Boris likes sniffing and Harlow can't wait to get to the water. Once we get over the dune, she runs like mad to get to the water. When it rains at home, she love running through the puddles too. Silly girl. After our walk, the dogs get home and they snore away for hours.
It feels like Spring is finally on it's way and I am very much looking forward to it!
Oh, and the worst case of chapped lips that I have ever had, is finally clearing up! I've been slathering my lips with Blistex all week.

Now for an exciting Saturday night. Should I watch Jon & Kate or Harry Potter? Oh, it's Azkaban - forget Jon & Kate!

I wish this was me right now

This is where I should be, but in Strathmere. There aren't any palm trees in Strathmere, but I'd be happy in a hammock in the backyard if it was just Summer. Bright, sunny, warm Summer. Can you hear the ocean?

Instead I'm grumpy, pale and have the worst chapped lips ever.