TCM's Pinup Girl month!

Best month ever!! Turner Classic Movies will feature pin-up girls all June long!

Jane Russell

Movies starring the most gorgeous of gals... Hours of superb fashion and guys going gaga over a lady's charms. 

Rita Hayworth 

Every Wednesday, TCM will showcase movies with the likes of Hedy Lamarr, Jane Russell and Betty Grable. 

Betty Grable and her famous gams

TCM's Robert Osborne always regales us with behind the scenes trivia before the movies. Last night's nugget for The Road to Singapore, featuring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, was neat! He mentioned Lamour's photo in the July 7,1941 edition of LIFE magazine. Lounging in a tropical sarong, something she often donned her south-seas themed films, Dottie Lamour is the perfect 1940s woman. After some serious Internet digging, I found the picture!

The heading touts Lamour as the most pinned picture by our nation's troops in 1941. I just watched The Hurricane from 1937 featuring the famed actress and pin-up. She had barely any dialogue, but I do remember thinking how her sarong was teeny tiny.

Robert Osborne's article for June's pin-up girl feature is neato-here it is!

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1090956|0/Pin-Up-Girls-Wednesdays-in-June.html

Time for pickles

When I smell garlicky pickle brine, I instantly think summer. Leisurly lunches enjoyed on paper plates... Sandwiches, chips and a pickle. Running through sprinklers and riding the lawn mower for fun makes you hungry as a kid. Eating on the porch or inside with the sliding glass swung open, my sister and I dined in our summer uniform, our bathing suits. 

These days, I'm more suited to make my own pickles. It's so easy! I stumbled upon a recipe in a magazine, and have made them ever since. My dill plant is exploding with its grassy herb, so it's the perfect time for pickles! 

This recipe is a snap! Boil the pickling ingredients (vinegar, peppercorns, mustard and dill seeds, salt, sugar and vinegar) chop cucumber into spears or slices, combine everything in a jar with fresh dill... And refrigerate! Click on the link for instructions!

http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/easy-dill-pickle-spears

The white glass container is a vintage yogurt container where I like to store my garlic:)

Icebox cake-your warm weather go to!

It's about to get hot. Like so hot, you start sweating as soon as you step outside. So I'm thinking icebox cakes are going to be my summer go-to dessert for entertaining. No baking, which means no hot oven... And the dessert needs to chill overnight, so you can prep ahead of time. 

According to foodtimeline.org, icebox cakes were considered trendy back in the 20s and 30s because they used store bought ladyfingers, graham crackers or cookies. Trendy in a world where everything was scratch made and refrigeration was new. I remember a Three Stooges episode where they have to lug a huge ice block up hundreds of steps... I remember thinking... Where do you put a huge ice block.. And how often do you have to get one? 

 The popularity of icebox cakes stayed strong over the decades.

This Easter, I made a lemon berry icebox cake with shortbread cookies.

 Layers of shortbread cookies get softened, but still retain a pleasing chew in between layers of berry whipped cream and chopped fruit. Covering the whole cake like a blanket of snow is cream cheese whipped cream.

You lay plastic wrap in a loaf pan so you can pop it out when ready to serve, then later your cake "lasagna." Most cakes take 6 hours minimum to chill, but I left mine overnight. It was a success!

The recipe is below of you would like.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/lemon-berry-icebox-cake.html

I think my next one will be the classic chocolate chip cookies/ whipped cream combo!

Pin-up hair flowers on the cheap

My daughter is having a fiesta for her very first birthday... So naturally every señorita in attendance will need a flower in her hair. So I went to the craft store and picked out some silken/polyester blooms. Fake flowers have come a long way! No wonder brides are using them in their bouquets. Pansies, ranunculus, poppies, peonies and more... Luckily JoAnne's Fabrics is running a sale on most flowers. 

I've had my eye on some hair flowers on Etsy, but they were $20 plus shipping.. And they were never exactly what I wanted. No glitter or rhinestones for me. I want a natural look. 

For my formals and date functions as a sorority girl, I would find a florist and pick a bloom for my hair. I remember I ordered a custom dyed orchid in shades of turquoise and purple... Crazy! I think the bloom adds something fresh, young and maybe a little exotic. I'd share some pics from yesteryear, but all of my beloved scrapbooks are tucked away. 

Making your own hair piece is simple! I selected the flowers I wanted, made sure I had enough glue sticks for the glue gun and bought some clips. I don't know the proper terminology for the barrettes I bought, but I got an assortment of sizes at JoAnne's. They are with the headbands and feathers:)

Using regular scissors, I snipped off the buds close to the base. I do recommend carefully cutting as I twice cut off the stems and the whole flower fell apart:( I prepped them all first..

I found the flattest part to adhere the clip... And squeezed the liquid magma glue onto the flower, then positioned the barrette. Gosh that glue gets hot!! Keep pressure on, then leave to dry. 

I started with just flowers... Then I started adding leaves in the background. I loved it!

How am I going to part with these? I can as long as the girls enjoy sifting through the basket and picking their perfect flower.🌸🌺🌹

As retro as the Hula Hoop!

Even my little sis is getting into the vintage swing. I ordered a bathing suit online that was way too small for me... But I knew who could rock that high waisted polka dot bikini! My sister! Here she is....

And did I mention she hula hoops?

It doesn't get any more retro than the hula hoop, either. Debuting in the late '50s, the Hula Hoop sold more than 25 million in the first 2 months they hit shelves... According to toyhalloffame.org. My sis hoops at music festivals, on the beach... Anywhere she can. She's also hooped with fire! Hoops have been around since the ancient Greeks used them to tone midsections...but it seems every American kid has hooped at least once. Anyone remember the ones that made that crazy noise?

There was even a hula hoop song! Two singers recorded it; Georgia Gibbs and Teresa Brewer, "From 3 to 110...."From L.A. To New York, Georgia to Duluth... Everyone is playing with the hula hoop...

So I guess you can start hooping at 3 and continue well into your golden years.. Here's a link to the song:

http://youtu.be/onVcrnYqoTQ

Kind of makes me want one!

Even the First Lady does it!

Lucy comes to the stage!

I Love Lucy! Like I really love her. I love Lucille Ball's movies from the 1930s when she's a glamour girl with steamy attitude and dripping in diamonds. 

I love her zany faces, physical comedy and all her relatability. I didn't see it as sexist when Ricky gave her an allowance... To me it was a snapshot in time. And plus Lucy got whatever she wanted, didn't she? So I get excited when I see commercials for I Love Lucy, Live on Stage... The show playing March 17-22 at the Times Union Center in Jacksonville. Click below for show dates and times!

http://www.artistseriesjax.org/shows-tickets/i-love-lucy

But it's something about the red wig I can't take. I don't care if the play featured her 90 year old body double... It's not Lucy. I mean, I don't even like cover songs. I like the original. Always. I think I would spend the whole show stage whispering to my husband.... It's just not her... But as they say for the show's tag line...I Love Lucy, live and in color for the very first time. But I like the original, remember?  It was in black and white and it was perfect. I had to imagine Lucy's hair was red and her dress was green! But I can't help but think going to the show would give me an excuse to dress up and celebrate what Lucille Ball did for TV! She was the first woman to show her pregnancy on TV and work it into the storyline.

 It was the first show to ever have re-runs! And I believe it was one of the first TV shows where people dropped what they were doing because "their program was on." I remember watching all the versions of the Lucy show... The one where she moved to California... Remember that? She gave us so many classic TV moments. So I'm not sure I can resist the play... I will do my best not to compare the lead actress with the incomparable Lucille. 

Miss Rockabilly Ruby-no beauty school drop-out

I can totally see why "I have to wash my hair" was a valid excuse to skip a date in the 1950s. Those styles took forever! There was no such thing as wash and wear or throwing in a baseball hat. Curling, pinning, teasing, combing and spraying is exhausting. No wonder the beauty parlors made a fortune back then.

 Why do it yourself when you can pay someone else?

And that someone else these days is Miss Rockabilly Ruby, hair/makeup artist and YouTube sensation. She works out of Los Angeles, and flew cross country to give a class in DeLand, FL. Lovers of retro hair and fashion came from Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville and elsewhere to watch Miss Ruby demonstrate 3 vintage hairstyles. And what a crowd we were! In full skirts with crinoline, cat-eye sunglasses, peep toe pumps, stockings and old fashioned handbags, we stood out walking around downtown.

  Janelle Zipse's boutique, Pinup Parlor, is right on DeLand's Main Street. It is the perfect shop for buying a gift or treating yourself to something gorgeous.

Speaking of gorgeous, I was busy arranging my skirt and looked up to see a blonde bombshell right before us. With a pile of blonde curls a la Betty Grable, Miss Ruby greeted us looking perfectly polished. She was funny, quirky and a little bit nerdy.. And we lived her for it. For the next 4 hours, some gals took notes, others snapped photos while Ruby worked. Bobby pins vs hair pins, use metal duck clips, never plastic. We were advised in the products (she works for Big Sexy Hair) and procedures as she transformed two models from 2015 to 1955. Parlor owner Janelle was one of the lucky ones...

After we received our certificates of completion, the attendees clamored to try on PinupParlor's merchandise.    

Florals and gingham for spring, high waisted hot pants, halter tops and high heels... I might need a second job just to get everything I love!

 I loved meeting so many women who throw terms around like half moon mani and bumper bangs. I can't wait to see what Pin Parlor offers in the future:)

They just launched their Web site! Here it is below:)

http://www.pinupparlorboutique.com/