wakey wakey wednesday // 02.29.2012

better late than never, huh? wow. it's been a crazy few days. i've been under the weather for over a week and i've fallen behind on most things, including the photo a day project, which ends today. i'm working on getting caught up, though! 

i woke up late and ran out the door before putting any music on, so the first song of the day was from a CD in my car. my friend recently made me an amazing mix and i've been listening to it non-stop. this is the first thing i heard this morning.

song: sound city
artist: burning hotels
album: burning hotels
year: 2011

i was lucky enough to catch them opening for explosions in the sky last fall and they were amazing! i really like their 80s vibe and i definitely dig that they are a local band (from ft. worth). happy wednesday! happy leap day!

the many moods of mr. jerry orbach

so, yeah, tomorrow ended up being two days late. it be like that sometimes, yes? without further ado, may i present...

on a whim, hours before my christmas party last december, i decided to craft a jolly santa hat for mr. orbach. i thought it was funny. the next week, i thought he could do with a new year's eve hat... and thus began a hobby that, i have to admit, i might enjoy a little too much. it's kind of like dressing up a dog. silly, but ultimately amusing.

i believe the source of this inspired plan can be traced to the halloween masks danielle thompson crafted for her vintage portraits last fall. and i spied something similar on eartha kitsch's lovely portraits this valentine's day, too! i plan on making jerry a fetching item for most holidays this year (he got pretty lucky with a costume change on president's day) and i'll be sure to share them here.

happy weekending!

spinning // emotions

there's something about the decca label on this record that makes me go a bit weak in the knees. the colors... swoon. 

i picked up this record at an estate sale for $0.25 and it's such a sweet album. it has so many great songs, including when i fall in love, will you love me tomorrow and georgia on my mind. 

every time i put it on, i immediately think of dirty dancing. i remember getting the soundtrack for the movie one christmas and, now that i think about it, i was probably entirely too young to have even seen the movie! i got the cassette, a turquoise and hot pink tape player, and dance club barbie. one of those things definitely does not belong...

and speaking of dirty dancing, i'll be back tomorrow with the many moods of jerry orbach! (he played baby's dad in the movie)

photo a day // days 13-18

eep! i'm a little behind on posting these pictures from the photo a day challenges - the crazy texas weather has been wreaking havoc with my sinuses and i've been home from work for a few days trying to sleep away killer headaches and attempting to get my ears to pop. good times!

#febphotoaday (from l to r): blue // heart // phone // something new // time // drink

#febphotoskill (from l to r): texture // typography // negative space // positive space // high contrast // documentary #2

in more exciting news, my positive space photo was chosen as one of four official #febphotoskill photos for day 16. it was literally late in the day and i just snapped a quick pic before heading to bed, but it's actually one of my favorites, too.

i hope you're having a great week!

tweed cottage // dining room

1. dining room 2. jerry orbach

3. bar // buffet 4. erma thompson (mary kay's personal assistant) 5. cha cha (because she's the best dancer at st. bernadette's) 6. vintage books 7. phone booth china cabinet

8. sweet dog 9. vintage pretties 10. eunice & harlan 11. henry (i'm actually related to him)

12. built-in bookcase 13. estate sale 1940s dining room table 14. the (fake) family 15. aqua telephone // red reindeer are never out of season

16. lovely old books 17. gerber baby 18. reupholstered dining room chairs 19. vintage dish collection 20. nesting doll collection (un-nested)

thanks for taking a peek at the dining room! my favorite thing about this room is the portrait collection. with the exception of henry (#11), i know none of the subjects. i pick them up at estate sales when i'm lucky enough to find one that strikes my fancy - and then i name them. cha cha, eunice & harlan, and the gerber baby were all found on the same street in dallas at different sales on completely different days.

erma thompson is a real person and was actually mary kay's friend and personal assistant since the foundation of the company. jerry orbach, not to play favorites, is totally my favorite. when i found the portrait, i was immediately taken with the style and was convinced that the face looked familiar for some reason. there was a tag on the back that simply said, 'jerry.' after racking my brains for days trying to think who 'jerry' looked like, it came to me: jerry orbach (a.k.a. lennie briscoe from law and order). i am 98% convinced that 'jerry' is a portrait of a young jerry orbach. the similarities are too striking for them not to be the same person. later this week, i'll share with you how jerry celebrates the holidays.

have a great day!

estate sale finds // 02.10.2012 (part 2)

so, picking up where i left off...

the final item i snagged before i dragged myself away from the amazing estate sale was a diary/daily calendar from 1958. it was made for the fair department store in ft. worth, texas. below is a photo of one of the fair department stores in 1958 and what sits on the same lot now.

(source)

as i said in the previous post, it's quite sweet and a bit sad. i've transcribed the contents of the entries below the pictures.

front cover: divorce granted october 18, 1957 (friday). papers on record oct. 21, 1957 // tuesday, september 2, 1958 went to work at convair $1.72 per hour

friday, january 3: worked for [ft. worth] press. bill robinson said that i was doing real good in my work.

wednesday, january 8 [after being sick for 4 days]: was still sick, but went to work. bill robinson said that they had hired some one else that you weren't aloud (sic) to be sick.

friday, february 21: met john allen.

thursday, april 24: received a letter from jim today. he said that he was going to start paying support for mary kaye after the last week in april. but i doubt this very much.

tuesday, april 29: dr. beyer gave me a blood test so i could go to beauty school. dr. brown took 10 moles off of me.

monday, may 5: started to isabell beauty school. $50.00 tuition. 9-5:30.

saturday, may 31: jim got married approximately. his license came out in sunday, june 1, 1958 paper. he marries anita mashburn from meadowbrook drive.

friday, june 13: dr. beyer gave me my 3rd polio shot. he also gave me some pills to take 1 a day. [scratched out in pencil]: he said that he would try to get me a date?

this poor nameless lady! fresh from a divorce at the beginning of the year and she loses her job. she's a single mother (and in 1958, which, as we all know from mad men, was very much frowned upon) with no financial support and she seems to have trouble holding onto a job. i hope this john allen she met in february was a swell guy! i wonder if the pill her doctor gave her in june was for her polio vaccination (i don't think there was an oral vaccine in the 1950s, though). and i wonder why she scratched out that very last sentence? there were no more entries for the rest of the year to offer any more clues.

i sure hope things picked up for her and mary kaye! though this one was quite morose, i love finding little treasures like this at estate sales. they offer small glimpses into what daily life must have been like and i find that endlessly fascinating.

estate sale finds // 02.10.2012 (part 1)

i had last friday off, so i decided it was time to hit the estate sale circuit again. there haven't been many really great sales lately, but things are definitely picking up with the mild weather we've been having here.

one sale, in particular, caught my eye. isn't it funny how one small item spotted amongst literally hundreds of items in promotional photographs will set you on a 160-mile round trip course? because that's exactly what happened. and it was totally worth it.

first, some things i didn't get. i was actually lucky to snap a few pictures before the organizers got a bit, uh, cranky. but i know they have to keep everything above board, especially at a sale when the house is as unbelievably packed as this one was. rooms stuffed to the brim and not a dozen items newer than 1970, i dare say. everything was covered in a fine layer of grime, which, in my experience, is the very best type of sale.

(three shelves of vintage cleaning supplies - i was thinking of you, eartha kitsch!)

and what i did get:

juice glasses (the items that sparked my interest) // enamel pin (still in package!) // 1950 the smart set magazine // pink swirl glass & pink ceramic typewriter

junior deluxe edition books for my small, but growing collection.

more beautiful old books. i had to stop myself with the books because there were rooms (plural!) full of old titles. it was overwhelming, to say the least. 

i don't want to creep into photo overload territory, so i'm going to leave the last find for a separate post. it's sweet and quite sad, actually, so stay tuned! 

// part 2 //

wakey wakey wednesday // 02.15.2012

this song makes me want to hop a plane and head to1950s new york. or italy. you know, whichever. on a related note (see below), i am getting quite excited about the (excruciatingly long-awaited) return of mad men next month! i think my biggest question is how much time will have passed since the end of season 4 in 1965? i've read that it will be the summer of 1967. i can live with late 1960s fashions... as long as we never see joan in a leisure suit. i kid. joan would never wear polyester.

song: botch-a-me

artist: rosemary clooney

album: mad men vol. 1

year: 2008 (originally recorded in 1952)

wish list // birthday

so, my birthday is in three weeks and while i need nothing (really, i am full-up on stuff), it's always fun to put together a wish list of pretty (and practical) things. here are a few items that would make 32 a good year, ranging from totally affordable to maybe when i'm 35 (hello, dream couch).

flash bounce // tweed nixon sofa // pixie stix helmet // aztec iphone case // amelie embroidery // chevron pillow // striped leather bag // geometric locket // doris print

photo a day // days 7-12

#febphotoaday (l to r): button // sun // front door // self-portrait // makes me happy // my closet 

#febphotoskill (l to r): shape // still life // s-curve // ordinary object // documentary #1 // silhouette

days 7-12 and still going. i'm really enjoying seeking new angles and perspectives with both the prompts. i fell the slightest bit behind over the past two days, which have been absolutely hectic work-wise, but it should be smooth sailing now.

if you're participating, how's it going?

days 1-6

spinning // la bella italia

i think i can safely say that the one purchase i will never regret splurging on is my record player. it makes me so happy and i love looking for new albums at the thrifts to add to my collection. i have quite a proclivity for picking up records solely based on their cover - you can blame this blog - and i've lucked out that most have been in decent condition. 

i actually drooled over la bella italia on project thirty-three awhile ago, so i was pretty happy to stumble upon it last week. and let me tell you, it's fantastic. quite frankly, i'm a nut for the accordion, but this album really is perfectly cozy, romantic, nostalgic and beautiful.

ciao!

wakey wakey wednesday // 02.08.2012

an oldie today. and one of my favorite works, too. when i was in high school, my band traveled to chicago to play an invitational orchestra clinic and this was one of the pieces we did - ours was irish tune from county derry by percy grainger, though. and it was s l o w.

song: danny boy (londonderry air)
artist: glenn miller and his orchestra
album: a legendary performer
year: 1991

photo a day // days 1-6

from top (l to r): my view // words // hands // a stranger // 10 a.m. // dinner

i've been keeping up with the photo a day challenge without too much worry. granted, it's only been six days, but still. little things. i cheated a bit on the "stranger" prompt. all day i kept meaning to snap a random picture at lunch, at the movies, at urban outfitters (man, does that place make me feel old now!) and they all were blurs or total darkness (the movies. um, duh, megan).

so, i pulled the mother of all stranger pictures (for me, anyway) from the archives. i took a picture of this rather good looking fellow on the paris metro on my birthday three years ago. what made it awkward? i didn't have a smartphone then. nope, just a point-and-shoot. which is what i covertly did. ha! i was a nervous wreck, but he just seemed so darn parisian i had to have a photo memory. i think the only person who noticed was the nun a few feet away from me. if i wasn't already on my way to notre dame, i totally would have gone to atone.

from top (l to r): line // shadow // portrait // pattern // landscape // motion

and surprise! right after i published last week's #febphotoaday prompt, i found out about #febphotoskill from diana at our city lights' instagram feed. i made an impulsive decision to do both projects and i've really enjoyed it. the #febphotoskill prompts really challenge your photography, which i appreciate.

my "portrait" picture totally cracks me up. it's my newest vintage portrait straight from 1980s arkansas. i think he looks like a sleazy ron swanson, but my brother-in-law pointed out his resemblance to allen covert's character from the wedding singer. yes, i see that.

more pictures in six days!

shop update!

so, it only took me four months after moving to get my etsy shop back open and re-stocked. pat on the back for being productive on the weekend, am i right? whew.

hope you have a great week! mine has to be better than last - i got into a minor fender bender and have to take my car in for repairs tomorrow. it'll be crazy busy at work, too, but at the end of the week is the octopus project show - that's definitely what's getting me through the next seven days.

oh, and happy superb owl sunday!

wakey wakey wednesday // 02.01.2012

the lads are always an excellent way to start the morning...

song: tomorrow never knows
artist: the beatles
album: revolver
year: 1966