LOOK

We have just returned from the vacation of a lifetime. Almost two and a half weeks on the East Coast, in upstate New York and in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, the town I grew up in. The weather was glorious and hot, the way I love it. We saw old friends and relatives, we celebrated the Fourth in the most classic way, and I personally never wanted to come back to San Francisco. It was life changing.

But now that we are back in San Francisco, I don't really want to leave. Not yet, anyway. I took one cagillion photos on our trip. I need to sort through them and can't wait to write about everything.

In the meantime, here is a copy of the September 13, 1960 issue of LOOK, a now-defunct photography-based magazine, similar to Life. My father was photographed for the magazine, in an article on a socialite from Wolfeboro, the town we both grew up in. My father was one of her "two or three "serious" romances between June and September".

Dad and Betsy.

My brother and I treasure this article. This is my brother's copy. It is so touching for us to see our father, who passed away in the winter of 2004, in the pages of this magazine with his tan lines and the immense galaxy of freckles he gave to both of us. I'm sure this article was a big deal for Wolfeboro at the time. Wolfeboro makes headlines now because of the current republican presidential candidate summering in town (whose name shall never be mentioned here), but not much else has drawn national attention to this little lake town.

Our time in Wolfeboro was so full of history. Everywhere I turned was somewhere I had worked (I have worked so many jobs I can't even believe it myself), the high school my mother was a fixture at, somewhere my grandparents had lived, somewhere I played, someone's house I loved. Our dear Aunt Kate is the only relative we have living in town (so glad she's still there). Enough time has passed that there is no sting from my father's death, only happy memories. It was a thrill to bring my husband and children there for a nice length of time and to really, truly feel summer.

David and I have been on a never-ending quest to figure out where we belong, with the pull of the East Coast so strong for me and the love of Northern California so strong in him. This trip helped solidify the idea for us that we need to have BOTH in our lives. We still need to figure out how. We have been lacking direction for so, so long, like broken records at parties, telling our friends we want something else, but never knowing what. We both feel like we've found somewhere else to call home, even if only a few months a year, and frankly, it's more doable there than most other places. It could be years before we have that all in place, but I think for once we have a vision together, and this is a big deal for us. It was a life changing trip, I tell you.

i'm on the hunt

Have you ever had the incredibly frustrating experience of not being able to find something on the internet? Something you know is out there somewhere, and something you want badly, but always eludes you? Happens to me all the time, and it's happening right now.

I am on the hunt for a very specific line of vintage swimsuits: Sea Molds by Flexees. I own one absolutely perfect Sea Molds piece, and I would be so, SO happy to get my hands on another. The one I own is so special! I found it at the truly amazing Decades of Fashion vintage shop in the Upper Haight last year. I was "forced" to alter it (install a tear-open crotch and add sequins to the neckline) for a burlesque performance last July, which you can peek at here. But it is still beautiful. The detailing blows my mind, and the colors of the flags are so playful. I'm in love with it! It hangs on my "wall of burlesque" in my bedroom and I stare at it frequently. It fascinates me in its design and construction. I even love the brand name and the font on the tag. This is just one of those things that rubs me the right way in every way!

After combing the internet for several nights, I could only find one lovely two-piece Sea Molds suit, which had already been sold, and two pricey dark rompers (here's one) that didn't give me the same thrill. Each of the three listings included the word "rare". Not a good sign! Every other search yielded only old advertisements of possibly even MORE fabulous suits. Maddening, and what a timesuck! What if I could actually get my hands on this awesome lime green swimsuit? This advertisement is being sold by Etsy seller OldPaperShop, by the way.

I'm going to run my predicament by Alix and Dottie, the wonderful vintage specialists at Modern Kiddo. If there is anyone who can clue me in on where to find another one of these gems, I think it'll be them. But, if YOU find anything, ever, in a brick-and-mortar vintage shop or online, in sizes that translate to a modern day 8-12, PLEASE let me know! I know there are a lot of other glamourous vintage swimsuit makers out there, but I'm a little obsessed with the Sea Molds. Where did they all go!?

what i: pillowcase dress

It has been a long time since I've posted a "What I" post. I have had Stella shoot photos of me wearing a few different things over the last few months, but I'll be honest. I'm at a big-for-me size right now, and half the weight is in my face, and there aren't too many photos a person who is half my height can take of me and not get ALL CHIN.

BUT, I was determined to show off this dress. It's a vintage pillowcase dress. A pillowcase dress is usually made for younger girls by using a pillowcase that is cut open at the top and cinched with a tie at the neckline. This one is adult sized, and the attention to detail is wonderful, and I am just crazy for the pattern and colors. This usually happens when my weight is on the upswing...I'm drawn to crazy, clowny, attention getting pieces. While conventional wisdom would have me wearing some "slimming" black or whatnot, I am usually on the lookout for some great applique or design in a big color scheme. Maybe the exciting clothing pulls your eye from my form? I don't know!

 Circusy and bold, just how I love it.

 Bear with me here, just trying a few different shots.

Look at this basket applique detail. It's wonderful. The red

and yellow flowers are spilling out, so clever.

I found this beauty on Etsy (this shop) while searching for maxi dresses for our summer vacation and it's the only pillowcase dress I could find for a grown woman. This is simple enough that I am thinking of making another one. I'd love one in emerald green. I don't use a sewing machine, but there is a dry cleaner nearby who hems things for me who can probably do the long parts for me and I'll hand-sew the rest. And I know the second my mother reads this she's going to call and ask me to mail it to her so she can duplicate it for me. :)

too many darn bunnies!

We live about fifty paces from one of the most incredible vintage and used cookware shops you could ever imagine. It's a treasure trove. The owner is known to be a little short with the customers, but she's got great taste. She shops in France. Enough said. 


These are vintage Easter chocolate molds, or at least that's my best guess. They are expensive! And gorgeous.

I love posting during holidays. Super fun. And what a great opportunity to throw in the flyer for my upcoming show, unofficially titled "Too Many %^&*$#@ Bunnies!".

This time last year I was dressed as a showgirl dressed as a chicken for this show, in a face-off against a gang of bunnies a la West Side Story. SO silly! For this show it'll be just one act, a solo. I'm still on the search for how I can let myself become more "exposed", like I wrote about here. Definitely not there yet. This is the first time I've had short hair since I started performing burlesque, and I'm up five solid pounds since I last hit the stage in December, so I've got my work cut out for me. But by next Tuesday I'll have several chocolate bunnies coursing through my veins, so I think I'll be ready!

Other Easter posts:

egg factory

how to blow out easter eggs

easter egg piñatas

egg factory

This Egg Factory has been around since I was a little girl. My mother painted it and built it from a kit back in the 70's, and I have since then glued it back together several times, horribly I might add. Egg Factory is a magnet for little hands and curious eyes. This is how the Easter Bunny gets his eggs, people. It's quite a production!

Speaking of productions, and eggs, I pulled out some of the props for my April solo act today. I'm eggcited!

These things aren't even the punchline! It's crazy, the shows are just a few weeks away. I haven't performed since December, I need to get fired up. I want to retool this act a little bit. It was my debut solo act one year ago and I'm sure I can put a different spin on it if I get on it, like, NOW! Wow, I just looked at the calendar. I'm officially in a panic!

lady's pride

I want to share with you my favorite bag. It is vintage, it comes in all the colors and floral patterns you could ever imagine, and it's a convertible. Let me introduce to you the Lady's Pride shopping tote:

It's a purse. It's a diaper bag! It's got beautiful tortoise shell lucite handles and matches my "signature" turquoise shoes perfectly!  But how can it be short, and then tall, and then short again?


Because it folds and it's got SNAPS!

When I found this bag a few years ago at the vintage shop around the corner, I was in love. It only occurred to me recently, as the interior of this bag has gotten a little crispy and deserves some repair work, that there might be more of these Lady's Pride totes out there.

Well, they are out there, and they can be had for a song from sellers on Ebay and Etsy. I recently scored these two beauties very cheaply:

+ and +

One day, about a month ago, I was touring my way around the internet, killing time while nursing Oliver, and I came across this post at muchomuchobuenobueno, about a trip to a fabulous vintage store in Houston called Replay on 19th Street. Pictured in this post was a GIANT WALL of Lady's Pride totes! A few weeks later, I still couldn't stop thinking about this pink number, and called to order it. Lucky me, they went against their usual policy and mailed it to me! It's my new number one bag, until I repair the green one.

By the way, they are the perfect, PERFECT size for a laptop, a power cord, and a magazine all at once, should you need one more reason to go find one for yourself!

round up: christmas treasures

We received so many meaningful gifts this Christmas. I felt really blessed, especially when packages started showing up from old friends all the way across the country. My brother sent a wreath he made by hand from the trees around his house in New Hampshire. That was a real winner. Our friends Derek and Erika sent a beautiful tea set for Stella, and a book for Oliver, and a calendar made from Derek's artwork for us. Our friends Sara and Chris sent more wonderful books and an assortment of homemade cookies, which like always, were all gone a day later. Our friends Darcie and Mike, who live much closer to us, gave us a little collection of treasures inspired by our love of Point Reyes (more on that later this month).

I received much more than I asked for this year. Christmas gifts from David this year included vintage suitcases, vintage rhinestone earrings, a new dress, a handful of vintage slips from the "ten dollar basket" at Dollhouse Bettie, along with a new black cotton peignoir, also from Dollhouse Bettie. Had he picked all this out for me himself, certainly he would win husband of the year (he's already nominated, in my book), but, no, I got to go on a little shopping spree with some gift certificates from Dollhouse Bettie and one of my favorite vintage shops, Decades of Fashion. I took a detour at the Bettie Page shop too, since the were having a sale. So happy to find out I'm rocking an XL these days.


It's lovely that I can walk, with a very patient little boy in a stroller, to all of these shops. It made for a nice afternoon out.

That's my "burlesque" wall in the background. We don't have enough closets, so I've got a little museum going in an alcove in our bedroom.

Fire-King azur-ite chili bowls, also from David. Also picked out by me. The kids have decimated my jade-ite collection and they are not touching these!

My mother sent so many thoughtful and beautiful gifts this year, and made me a new stocking, the first Christmas stocking anyone has filled for me in years. My mother is the patron saint of all things Christmas, by the way. My mother knows how to fill Christmas with magic and spirituality, and she passed it down to me. I'm not sure about my brother though. His yearly tradition is to chuck the tree out the front door into a snowbank the second all the presents are finished being opened. I'm laughing just thinking of him doing this.


My mother got me a great pair of boots. I picked them up at a benefit for Stella's school, and she paid for them. I have publicly declared my dislike of the "blogger uniform" (not the bloggers who wear it), which includes the ubiquitous Swedish Hasbeen sandal over colored tights. But these are boots, my friends. Still, I probably just stuck one of them in my mouth.

There is one more sweet, unexpected gift I received. A set of silver snowflake pasties. A friend from the Showgirl Chorus class we were taking this fall gave them to me as a little thank you for giving her rides home from class. I was so touched when she gave them to me. And since I already had them in red, and had attached a white pair to my earmuffs for my December solo act, it was great to get a silver pair that shines like rhinestones!

It's a really nice feeling when you feel like someone has thought about you. I always treat gift giving as a meditation on a person. If you just spend a few minutes letting your mind wander about someone's life you can hit on some creative and considerate ideas. That's my trick, although I got so behind this year that almost no one got a Christmas card, let alone a package (I did get a few key ones out). I will do much better next year, I hope!

lazy saturday and some vintage shopping in the 'hood

Stella had a big wish this weekend. She wished she could rest her legs. She had the walkathon last weekend on the tail of our return from Disney with all THAT walking, another week of walking to and from school at a very fast pace every day, and then the extra mileage of trekking into Golden Gate Park after school yesterday for a birthday party. So she was done.


Despite the glorious weather today, we stayed home. Our friend Beth stopped by in the morning for a visit, then it was a whole lot of nothing. This last summer was built out of days like today, but lately we've been so "productive" that a day like this can confuse the hell out of me. I'm not complaining, though.

I stepped out for a minute to check out a lamp we recently noticed in the window of The Other Shop after lunch. The Other Shop is where a huge percentage of our home furnishings are from. What a gold mine. The lamp was gone, but there was this beautiful set of the extra large Eames House Of Cards. Sure would love to play with those! A few doors down at Cookin' I saw some Fire-King Azurite chili bowls in the window. Those I couldn't pass up, and now they're in David's closet, waiting for him to wrap them and put them under the Christmas tree for me, when the time comes. Before I had a little boy, I had a formidable Fire-King collection. But you can only serve so much applesauce and bunny crackers in your precious glassware before you're left with just shards. Plus, somewhere along the way I discovered Heath and jumped ship, a little bit.

It was such a lazy Saturday that dinner was a pile of cheese, apple slices and ak-maks served on a huge wooden plate in bed while we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Love a dinner with zero preparation and zero cleanup. Especially helpful right now as I'm still trying to unpack everything from my recent shows, and our place is a mess!