HAPPY BIRTHDAY STRAWBERRY LEMONADE!

Oh my goodness peeps....this blog is having a birthday today!!!! How crazy is that? In some ways I feel like it should be much older, and then it seems like time has flown by. Thank you all so much for all the love, support and sweet words! Together we have looked at tons of pretty pictures, met boatloads of inspiring artists and photographers, poured over arty fashion spreads, drooled over vintage clothing, reminisced with vintage snap shots, read vintage children's books, and traded perfume tips. You guys even came out in full force to vote for Wolfie for that crazy Cutest Kid Contest. I was so incredibly touched. (By the way, he was vote #3 out of 4,000 kids and we're headin' to LA next weekend for the big shin dig. BANANAS!!)

You guys are truly the coolest readers out there! Thanks for hanging tough even while I had to abandon the Lemonade Stand for Modern Kiddo and for indulging me in my silly outfit posts! But mostly thanks for simply showing up. You all mean the world to me!

xoxo

PS and thanks to this crazy blog I now appear on the front page if you google search "Goofy Grape." Nice.

Lilacs in the Rain.

We have had tons of rain lately. So much so that we had to postpone Wolfie's birthday party. It started with an innocent sprinkle of rain, but huge grey clouds soon loomed ominously in the sky. Big fat dollops fell which turned into a violent downpour. Then....it simply stopped. A few rays of sunshine appeared so I went outside—where I discovered that the lilac tree was in full bloom. Heaven! Lilacs are one of my favorite sense-memory smells. Their yummy scent immediately transports me back to my backyard in Michigan on a warm summer afternoon. I LOVE how they smell. I snipped a big bouquet and placed it on the windowsill above the kitchen sink and every time I stand there I can breath in the amazing fragrance. I actually look forward to doing the dishes now.

To help us chase away the rain storm blues, we played records, sang loudly, bopped our heads, and created little mini Lego masterpieces.

Is it raining where you are? Are the lilacs in bloom? (Shout out to Jenny! I know yer my fellow lilac lovin' girl!)

Little Pink Houses for You and Me.

Whenever I see a pink house, I'm always intrigued. They stand out, that's for sure. Whimsical and quirky. It's such a definite choice. Like, you might buy red paint and it turns out orangey red. Or your blue might have a gray-ish hue. But pink? There's no mistaking it. Someone decided that they were going to buy multiple gallons of bubble gum pink paint and roll it all over their home where it would remain for years to come. Was it a woman? A man? A couple? Did they fight over it or did the man acquiesce and say, "Pink? Sure thing honey. I'm on it."

In my neighborhood in Flint, Michigan there was a Pepto Pink house that I was fascinated by. They had two big picture windows in front, and at Christmas there would be a green tree in one window and a pink, snow-flocked tree in the other. They were serious about their pink. One year there was a huge mural of a Budweiser beer can label on their garage door. I liked to think that the hubs finally rebelled. This is their house.




I started taking photos of pink houses whenever I would pass them. Here are a few of them for your viewing enjoyment! They are all in California.









I didn't snap these, but I thought they were pretty nifty:







Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

And thank you John [Cougar] Mellencamp:

Vintage Kiddo Album Art Rules.

What idiot decided it would be a good idea for me to run TWO BLOGS??? Oh wait a sec. That would be me. Heh. Sometimes it's hard to keep up I tell ya.

Well I promise I have some fun stuff to post over here that will be going up later today (and by today I mean before the clock striked midnight, yo). BUT I wanted to point you in the direction of Modern Kiddo for just a moment. I have a super cool Vintage Record Album post up that I just know you guys will love. I mean how cute is this:



or this:



Is that tacky to give myself a shout out??? Hmmm. Maybe. OK OK. Just to make it up to you, here are two bonus albums that didn't make the cut on Modern Kiddo:




See? You're getting BONUS CONTENT! That's how much I love you. Now do a girl a favor and head over to Modern Kiddo to check out the rest of the vintage goodness.

Hop hop raindrop.

Wellllll Easter started out fairly sunny. And then the clouds came. Big ol grey clouds (yes, i spell grey with an "e". I don't know why...I think it looks prettier that way. For the record, i don't say "colour" or call potato chips "crisps". Pinkie swear.

Sadly I wasn't really able to take too many photos of our day as we ended up being indoors with the lights on (and I'm all about the natural light, baby!). We had a great time with friends....I made a yummy asparagus/gruyere/carmelized onion tart, my friend made a tasty brisket and we had blood orange and champagne mimosas. YUM! Ain't no way a few dark clouds were gonna rain on our easter parade.

Here are some shots I managed to sneak in before the sky turned dark....



Aw yeah, the Orla Kiely dishes. I was so obsessed with that damn line, but I have to say I use it allll the time. And the table cloth and the dishtowels and the serving bowls and the coffee mugs....yeah, I went a little crazy, but they still make me smile! Those are lil vintage bunnies made out of accordion tissue paper. Really sweet.








That vintage straw hat kills me. It's SO cute...but it looks like a combination top hat, clown hat on me. I think it's made for someone with a smaller head...



This was when the fat little drops of rain started to come down. Waaah!



The Lindt Bunnies are among my favorites. When I was a little girl it was tradition that I always got a white chocolate bunny rabbit in my easter basket...I still love 'em to this day! The kids had an awesome indoor egg hunt and gorged themselves on chocolates. Wolfie, my salty boy, of course passed on the chocolate and was thrilled with his little plastic carrot filled with pretzels. (I know I'm a broken record on this one folks, but I can't figure out how a chocolate lover like me birthed a child who doesn't like sweets!!).

Oh yeah, and here's the rundown on What I Wore for the Style Files:

+ Yep. Liberty of London. Seemed the right choice for an Easter Sunday!
+ Green Cardigan, Target
+ Yellow bow-tie mary janes, vintage
+ Enid Collins butterfly bag, vintage
+ Kooky straw pom pom hat, vintage. It looked ridiculous so I only wore it in the photo!

I hope you guys all had an awesome weekend! Was it rain or shine where you were??

Psst!
OK I have to show off the lil Wolf cub. Check him out in his little tie and seer sucker jacket. He wore it for about 10 minutes and then stripped down to a white tee shirt and his jeans. It was like "How to go from Dapper Dan to Fonzi in 10 seconds flat."
My handsome curly boy turns 6 tomorrow. I can't even believe it!!!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

This is one of my all time favorite photos....The year was 1967 and these sassy ladies from Sherman Oaks, California were having quite the day in their easter bonnets! So cute and classy.

Take a look at these happy Easter celebrations through the years...there's just something about dying eggs and hunting for that easter basket that is totally fun.

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

And then there's this. The awesome Rankin-Bass Easter special. I couldn't find it on TV this year, but I always loved the song.

Hope you have a hippety hoppety awesome day.

Welcome to the Peep Show.

I have never completely understood the charm of Peeps. I mean, they do have a super cute name...but does anyone really like how they taste? So Dottie sends me this link yesterday for the annual Washington Post Peeps Diarama Contest....and holy smokes people, I GET IT!

The fourth annual contest drew over 1,000 entries with the winner being this super cool take on the movie "UP."

"For their winning entry, Michael Chirlin and Veronica Ettle created a Victorian house from plywood and popsicle sticks and placed it atop salvages mattress springs to give it an airborne quality."

So cute, right?? Love the Carl peeping, er peeking from the window. And please note his little tennis ball covered walker cane.

Check out these other amazing creations:

There are 37 entries in the finalist gallery....check them out on the Washington Post web site.

Peep peep!