Goodbye Regis

When I would visit my grandparents as a kid, I would wake up in the morning and sit on the couch staring at my Grandma doing her "exercises." These would include her legs two feet apart with arms stretched out to her sides performing donuts and her mouth making weird movements that I dubbed her "mouthercises." While I would contemplate why she needed to do mouthercises, the TV was always turned to Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. My Grandma would always laugh at something Regis said and then glance at me, "Oh, that Regis...he's kinda funny that Regis." My Grandpa would agree with a soft grunt while sitting in his recliner, drinking Folger's, eating salty peanuts, and doing crosswords.

Although my Grandpa has passed away and I rarely see my Grandma now, I've always found Regis Philban to be a reminder of them. For some reason I like that slightly cocky loud booming almost startling voice and that twinkly grin everytime he thinks he's being hysterically funny. Kathie Lee has been gone for over a decade and was replaced with the much funnier Kelly Ripa, but it was always him that I was drawn to. He had that old vintage New York personality--the love for showtunes and jazzy love songs, the chatting about his dinners with older celebrities, the never trash talking anyone in the tabloids. He always seemed appreciative of the fortunate life he lead, for his family, and for those he called his friends.

Today is his last day on Live with Regis and Kelly after more than 28 years on the air. I think I'm going to miss the comfort I receive in knowing that I could turn him on at 9am every weekday morning and be transported back to a time when I could just spend quiet quality time with my grandparents and watch them laugh at someone of their own generation. I guess it's inevitable that everyone must move on, but sometimes I wish that weren't so. Goodbye Regis...

Vintage Around the World

I have recently been feeling stuck. Stuck in an apartment that has had squaters sleeping on the lobby couches. Stuck under the debt of student loans and medical bills. Stuck in a state of confusion over how to bring certain dreams into fruition. When I feel like this, I eat tortilla chips and salsa, watch silly shows, sleep, talk about my woes with friends, and then pick myself up with reminders of how full my life has been thus far. The easiest way to do this is by admiring the souvineers I have collected during my adventurous travels. Besides photographs, my favorite of these said souvineers are the vintage pieces I brought home from vintage shopping trips taken in each visited country. These beautiful articles of clothing and accessories remind me that I have had dreams come true. Since some of my travel dreams came true than that must mean that my other dreams have a fighting chance.

Paris

Black heels from the 1940's. I bought these in a small vintage boutique by the Musee d'Art Moderne for 15 Euro.

I love the detail of the heel.

Vintage black boots with dangling gold beads hanging off the ties. These only cost 28 Euro!

Gold 1960's purse.

Blue, black and white dress from the 1940's.













London

Green embroidered purse from the 1950's. I bought this near the Picadilly metro station.











Rome

Tapestry embroidered black and multi colored clutch.








Florence

1980's Off white booties.










Amsterdam

Thrifted brown flouncy skirt.














Seville

Polka dot scarf.














Madrid

Red sweater dress from the 1980's.














Tangier, Morocco

In this photo I'm wearing a floral 1960's sundress.









Salvador, Brazil

In this photo I'm wearing a gray, red and blue embroidered thrifted sundress while hanging with locals.

Vintage Tip Tuesday XVIII

Even with the weather changing (yes, that includes L.A.)vintage sundresses, breezy skirts and shorts do not necessarily have to be pushed to the back of the closet. Pairing tights with favorite summer and spring dresses will allow for an extentention in wearability. Black tights are an easy choice, but other colors or even patterns are a fun alternative. In order to soften the look of a summery dress in the Fall, neutrals like gray or cream are ideal. With tights legs will keep warm, but don't forget a sweater!

Even bridemaids can wear tights!

Inspirational Icon Monday: Faye Dunaway

When I slip my DVD of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) into my DVD player I can't help but be enamored by Faye Dunaway's beauty. Those high cheek bones. That flawless complexion. Her shiny blond bob. I just stare with fascination like she's a work of art.

The first time I ever met Faye was when I was a sales associate at Anthropologie on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica years ago. She absolutely loved me and always requested I assist her in shopping for her niece. I knew it was Faye Dunaway the first moment I met her, but it was obvious she was no longer the beautiful Bonnie Parker. She had aged dramatically. Almost harshly. For as talented of an actress as she was, I was taken a back from years of not seeing her on the big screen. It seemed that she was the ideal example of Hollywood elevating a shining star during her beautiful years, dismissing her once age hit, and her grasping at that youth that was no longer hers through plastic surgery. As much as I liked her as a person, I also felt sympathy for Dunaway.

Her stunning beauty of the seventies will always be captured on film, however. Just like her elegant style. I absolutely love every single thing (including Bonnie's nightgown) Dunaway wears in Bonnie and Clyde. Even other films such as Chinatown (1974), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Network (1976) have her icy characters looking fashion forward. She makes the clothes feel easy. Maybe it's her slim figure. Maybe it's the way certain late sixties/ early seventies clothing had a flattering way of draping the body. Maybe it was merely her ability to exude a sexy confidence. Whatever it was about Dunaway that made her so appealing, I like to remember her as the lovely sexy actress that played Bonnie and not the woman that let Hollywood wear her down.

My version of Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde.

Barefoot in the Park

I always had an annual pass to Great America while growing up. Often I had to save the $34 it cost, but some years family friends would purchase it for me. I always got my money's worth since my friend Missy and I would be dropped off during the summer with full reign of the park. I can't imagine parents doing that now, but for some reason it seemed perfectly safe back then.

Missy and I would head directly for the photo booth to get our pics taken and then for the Smurf Village where we would pretend we were smurfs and play in their mushroom houses and then ride the little smurf roller coaster over and over again. If we weren't in the Smurf Village we would be eating pizza and then going straight on the spinning rides. Never could I do that now. In fact I can't even go on a spinning ride without having just eaten...let alone after a greasy slice of cheese pizza. The newest ride was The Edge: a bright orange hunk of iron that would drop 153' straight down at 60 mph. I refused to go on this. My limit was The Grizzly which was this rickety wooden coaster that always seemed as if it would break at any moment. I remember being so excited when my Grandpa visited when I was 8 and went on it with me. He laughed this hearty laugh the whole time. I had never seen him that happy.

While visiting Magic Mountain for the first time on Saturday, I couldn't help but be flooded with memories of Great America. The churro smell. The kids sprinting from ride to ride. Even certain buildings looked exactly like ones that had been at Great America. I went with my friend Trevor and a bunch of his guy friends. I must say that their enthusiasm was contagious. If it weren't for their man-child excitement, I might have really let my anxiety for my dog being stuck inside all day, the cold temperature, the long lines and the Keds without laces that I chose to wear that left me barefoot really get to me. The excitement of these guys mixed with the memories of another amusement park brought back the childish glee I once felt when my Mom pulled in front of Great America and said, "Have fun!"

Magic Mountain opened May 30, 1971 and admission cost $5 for the day. It now costs $62 at the gate (we got a deal for having a group of 10.).

Vintage Venice Beach t-shirt; green Old Navy cardigan; gray H&M trousers; vintage necklaces; blue keds; yellow leather purse from a boutique in Paris.

I took off my strands of vintage flea market necklaces right before the first ride...no need to get choked just so my outfit looked cooler.

I thought wearing a long strapped purse across my chest was perfect for an amusement park, but these roller coasters are insane and I had to put it in a locker for each ride.

DO NOT EVER WEAR KEDS WITHOUT LACES ON A ROLLER COASTER OR...

...you'll have to be barefoot in the park.

What ride first?

Trevor. Me.

Magic Mountain was bought by Six Flags in 1979.

They're tied with Cedar Point in Ohio for having the most roller coasters in a single park at 17.

Magic Mountain is located on 500 acres of land in Valencia, Ca.

In 1972 the park acquired the rights to Looney Tunes characters.

Patrick doing a handstand atop the bat mobile.

Yippy-yi-yay!

The Moose Lodge Restaurant where all the boys got a little drunk.

We ate at the ass of the moose. I had a microwaved veggie burger and they all had the buffet and several Stella Artois'.

Trevor playing a round of games.

Trevor wins Papa Smurf...the most fertile cartoon to have ever existed.

Trevor gave me the 10 cent bear he won.