1970s Christmas, Lemonade Style

Since I shared those retro Holiday photos, I thought it would be fun to share some of my own "retro" pics. It's kind of a random collection—most of the albums back home in Michigan at my parents' house—but here are a handful of my memories!

Aww, it's meee and my pretty mama. This is at my grandma's house in San Diego.

I'm pretty sure this is the same year, but at our own apartment at Married Student Housing, at U.C.S.D. That tinsel is very German—although I noticed it on the tree at my grandma's house (in the first photo), so maybe it was popular in general in the 70s. Do you remember tinsel on your tree back in the day?? I don't know if they even sell it anymore. Hmmm.

In the background you can see my Top Favorite Christmas Album of All Time—The Jackson 5 Christmas Album. We still have it and still listen to it every year! Michael Jackson singing "Up On the Housetop" is the best.

Christmas morning, my first little desk! I loved that awesome dolly carriage too.

See? Told ya I was smitten with my carriage! This is later in the day, and I'm all dolled up. Check out the cool Playskool giraffe in the background. I sooo wanted one of those for Wolfie when he was little, but they were going for a bundle on eBay.

Me and my little Fisher-Price Camera.

My mom looks like a modern day hipster here, with her groovy fur hat and cool coat. I'm holding Pinkie, my little pink elephant. My godmother made him for me and he had these amazing psychedelic fabric ears. We're at Balboa Park in San Diego.

My mom has great style and I have always loved this little outfit she dressed me in—red velveteen overalls with heart bib and even hearts on my lil blue suede shoes! I was such a girlie girl when I was little, I looooved dressing up and really loved dresses. In fact, I hated to wear pants and my mom reminded me, "Was it ever hard to get you into that little outfit!" I seem to remember that I was pleased by the red velvet trim on my ruffly shirt. Hmmm.

Aw yeah, this was 1973, the year I got my Blythe doll AND the Barbie townhouse. Twas an excellent year of presents for wee Alexandra.

Now we're in Flint, Michigan. Look how adorable my mom is in her long dress—there are strawberries appliques on the collar. Cuteness!

These pictures totally make me smile. check out how fun my parents are cuttin' a rug Christmas eve! I look at our little house and there's hardly any furniture. My dad was a young college professor and it's not like he made a bundle, but as kids we were never aware that times might have been tight here and there. My parents are awesome. I can't wait to see them next week.

I'm Dreaming of a Vintage Christmas.

I'm dreeeeaming of a retro christmas. I just love all these old photos—all the little trees are so sweetly misshapen.

Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Lights and Plastic Flowers.

I work in downtown San Francisco (you may remember the little photo tour of my walk to work I did a while back) and whenever I take a moment from hustlin' and bustlin' I always admire how pretty my city is. During the holidays, my walk is always so much more festive—by the time I leave it's dark outside and all the stores are lit up. Our store windows aren't nearly as exciting as the ones in New York, but it's still fun.

I stumbled upon these, erm...."big balls" the other day while walking back from a lunch date with the faboo Miss Tracy from Shutterbean. I'm kind of a shawty anyway, but these really make me look teensy. I actually took the cable car from my office down to the Ferry Building to meet her (which I NEVER do! Funny how we locals never take advantage of them and you can hop on with any bus pass...). We had a terrific lunch and I gotta say nothing beats a cable car ride on a crisp "winter" day.

This tree is near my office and it looks SOOOOOO pretty come twilight. They wrapped the hell out of every strand with little jewel colored red lights and it's gorgeous. This photo really doesn't do it justice.

Come evening, the storefronts are all glowing with lights. Most are really pretty, but I gotta tell ya the WORST is the Prada store. Like seriously, they made NO effort. And what's with the crazy frizzle hair dos on the models this season? The mannequins look so jank-tastic, you wouldn't believe it. But let's not think about them....let's just take a stroll through Union Square and check out some of the fancy shops.

Macy's always partners with the SPCA during the holidays and there are are always the cutest kitties and puppies in their windows...soooo tempting. I think that xmas "kitty tree" is pretty great.

And finally, let me complete this hodgepodge of photos with a blurry snap shot of me getting ready for our company holiday party last weekend. It was loads of fun—and always nice to get to hang with work friends out of the office. I have to admit I was sort of pooped and at one point thought, "I should prolly get going..." and then the music got REALLY good and I ended up dancing til the wee hours! It also helped that I sneakily brought a pair of flats with me and changed out of my sassy heels when I decided to shake a leg. I missed two really fun parties that friends threw (one the previous weekend and one the same weekend—sorry Kelly and Steph!!!) so it was nice to finally be able to get dolled up! Do you guys have any party plans this season? I like having people over, but since we're getting ready to head off to Michigan (brrrr!) we're not hosting anything this year.

(My silver glittery hairpiece was actually a 99 cent flower from Michaels Crafts—it stayed in all night and I think people thought it was something far fancier! Go Michaels...)

Merry Kitschmas.

Whooo weee! The Christmas countdown is on! I have been work work workin' but we're getting ready for our trip to Michigan and my last day of work is tomorrow. I'm ready to throw myself head first into the Christmas spirit and I'm taking YOU with me, my loves! Just look at these fabulous creations from 1968 & 1969.

I am koo koo for this little gingham house—but how curious that the only thing that is edible is the frosting roof!!

Look at these clever wall hangings made out of plastic cups with a little ball ornament inside them. Totally space age and totally easy peasy, huh.

I swear that last photo looks totally like something out of a Kate Spade layout, huh. Looooove it! More to come, prettie kitties. Stay tuned!

Images: Flickr

The Jam Fancy Creepy Christmas.

Ho ho ho, my little chickadees! It's a rainy Friday here in San Francisco. Boo hoo! To warm you up, I have some fabulous photos to share. My friend Christina is a BRILLIANT artist & crafter. I met her thru our shared love of Blythe (I really need to do a whole post on the time my Blythe dolly Sophie went to visit her in Australia). Anyway, she is so wildly creative and talented I just had to share. In addition to being a wonderful illustrator, Christina is supremely talented at making things. Especially tiny things. So it didn't come as any surprised when I saw her Creepy Christmas tree. Straight out of a twisted Alice in Wonderland, Time Burton faerie tale...this little black tree is whimsical, quirky and utterly charming. Hmmm, just like Christina herself! Needless to say I'm a huge fan, and this lovely lady made every single thing on the tree herself!

(Psst! The two-headed deer is my favorite!)

All images: Jam Fancy.

I just know you'll love her blog, JamFancy.