Table Dresses

To be fair I just can't call them simply "table cloths".  They are so much more than mere cloths and have the ability change the look and mood of a vintage kitchen in an instant. 

Now, I know several of you share the same fondness as I do for great vintage textiles, so I thought I would spotlight some of  my own dear table dressings. 

I have been collecting for about 25 years now and following are just a few that have become the "old standbys" and are very precious to me.

I absolutely adore anything vintage South of the Border so when I found this at the Rose Bowl Flea Market,

I just about squealed with delight...

It matches my little mexican bandido on a donkey so well and it's fun to serve Mexican food with this little vignette.

His poor little burro has the task of carrying the heavy salt and pepper jugs as well, but he is such an adorable little

beast of burden.

I love the look of  abstract 1950/60's pinecone design and I found this amazing aqua table cover at an Estate Sale...

The cool thing is that I already had the dishes that matched!

I can mix and match so easily with this design. 

Just look how darlin' my vintage casserole dish fits in.

 

Cocktails anyone?

There is just something about this vintage pinecone design that makes me feel peaceful and happy.

Pink, Pink, Pink, how I adore thee...

Every vintage kitchen has to have a  pink and white striped cutie like this one. 

Oh, and a Spaghetti pitcher and tumbler set to match...a must have!

I get giddy over pink melmac!

Wowie, how many of you are state proud like me? 

I love vintage California memorabilia and I cherish this lovely piece of history. 

All of the famous locales are featured here and it's such a fun conversation starter. 

Have you ever been to...

Iron out your favorite and spotlight it on your table for a special meal tonight!

I hope you enjoyed today's offering. 

It's really fun to share my things with all of ya!

Atomic Comfort Living, That's What We Call It!

You've all seen my kitchen where we cook, eat, 'n play in a vintage way...

But now, I would like to share my living room with you too.  As you probably already know, we live in an old house. 

Not too old though, she was built in 1949.  Frankie and I have been caring for her since 1999 and from the beginning we made a pact not to mess with the original design. 

We have remained loyal to that promise and have spent years trying out just the right furniture pieces and fixtures to see if they are a "fit". 

There have been many flops and some no-goes, but I think we finally have it right...at least in this space...for now. 

Not quite sure of the style, or if it is a pure style for all of you vintage design afficinados, but we love it and we refer to it as

 Atomic Comfort. 

Kinda like

Disneyland's House of the Future-meets-Leave it to Beaver. 

It has become our trademark and we hope you enjoy it too!

This is the view from our kitchen...

I have collected so many amazing things through the years and it would take pages and pages to show, so Im only going to show you my current favorites from this room...

By the way, I love color...can you tell?

This sits on the mantel next to the atomic clock. 

This poor little doe has been expertly glued many times...

This has become the room's favorite spot with all of our guests...they always end up in this chair. 

In the credenza behind, are my most treasure items, that's why they are behind glass...maybe I should put the doe there also?

even though I am not a smoker, I am CRAZY for vintage smoking paraphernalia...it's the MadMen in me!

Atomic bar goodies are the best and I swoon over this vintage chrome spherical ice server!

This if my favorite corner of the room. 

I love this tv!!! 

Yes, it works too!

Everything is this vignette has come from Estate Sales.

ooooh!  those tv dials...yummy!

Simply "must haves" in your atomic living room, just in case...

I adore gold stars and Harlequins,

but I do think gold atomic stars are the winners.

I love, love, love this Kroehler couch with aqua and silver thread tweed.  This is "our" couch!  We sit and lay on her to watch TV, Levi plays cars on her daily, company has spilled coffee on her, but she doesn't care. 

She still looks as fresh and new as the day I found her.

I play all my vintage LP's on this amazing Magnavox...

there is nothing like the mellow sound of a phonograph spinning Billie.  

I love to hear it wafting through the house in the afternoon. 

These are THE moments!!!

I hope you have enjoyed visiting. 

Come back soon! 

Oh and please tell what you think of our domicile...

Vintage Swimming Pools...Ahhhhh!

I absolutely love vintage swimming pools...when I see one or think of one I am immediately transported to a magical place of backyard tiki huts, mermaid ceramic tiles, and puffer fish light fixtures.  

While growing up here in So Cal I have had the priviledge of swimming in some amazing vintage aquatic wonderlands over the years. 

I would like to share some images with you now...let yourself be transported to another place and time where there still are  neighborhood swim parties and backyard BBQ's and no worries in the world...

Who can remember, while on vacation swimming in some of these awesome hotel pools until your parents called you in when it got dark?

I don't ever remember the pretty ladies this close to the water...they might have gotten their hair wet...Heaven Forbid!

I especially remember pools that were structurally surrounded like this one. I can still remember the sound that our loud kid voices made as we played and the noise bounced off the water onto the walls.

Ohhh, the high dive! 

There was many a time I dared myself to climb that ladder...walk out to the end of the board...peer over into the deep... then chicken out and hurry back down to the ground to cheer on the next brave soul!

Excuse me, does anyone know where I can get this vintage table and metal umbrella shade? 

I WANT! 

Oh, and also the darling red swimsuit too.

This pool is dreamy and I would travel a great distance just to swim in it.  I love the blue coping here and the eerie shadowy feel of the futuristic architecture.

Have any of you had the opportunity to swim in an indoor screened room pool like this? 

It's the best of all worlds here and these kids don't know how lucky they have it.

HoJo anyone? 

Orange and Turquoise/Aqua...my favorite color combo.

They always had the best outdoor areas for kids...check out the kiddie pool near the swingset. 

This one is my all time fav!  I love this house and this pool and I would host parties here every weekend if I owned it. 

It's located in the hills above LA and has been featured in several of my favorite movies.

This is my pool, we tried to re-create a retro feel and worked closely with our pool contractor to achieve a period look. 

We have named this area of our property

Tiki Lagoon

and in the weeks ahead I will do a post of our step-back-in-time Polynesian Wonderland for all to see.

How many times as a kid did you dream of yourself in a scene like this?  

That's all for now but, this beauty bids you an underwater goodbye from a magical place that has been in several of my own childhood dreams...until next time.

That Man 'O Mine

Wow, Frankie and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.  Time has flown and it has been event filled and never boring. 

From the start it has been a wild ride...we met later in life under scandulous circumstances and had a whirlwind courtship that culminated with the sharing of our vows in

Funky Las Vegas

which was our style from the beginning

Notice the bride is wearing platinum...Wicked!

We are so made for each other and had tons of fun together immediately...

We are newlyweds here and lovin' every minute

Here we are on our way to Jamaica for our honeymoon.

Life just sailed along for us and we were completely content for about 7 years until we figured out that something was missing. 

So, we began to explore the idea of having a child together.  As you can see below, we did just a little bit more than just explore the idea

This is the day our precious Levi joined our family. 

Life is funny though, and soon after the birth of Levi, my beautiful daughter and son-in-law announced thier engagement to be married.

2006 was definately an amazing year for us...just look!

A little while later my daughter announced that she was going to bless us with our first grandchild. 

Are you getting the idea of the kind of year this was for us? 

Very exciting!

Here are "our" boys...Shamous, my grandson on the left and our Levi who is an uncle on the right. 

When God blesses, He does an amazing job!

Our life is so full of fun and I am so glad that I have my man, Frankie by my side to share it with me and love the special people in my life. 

He loves my style and everything about me and I truly feel adored by him. 

I'm so proud to be FrankiesWife!

and I love our little family...

So much more than just a Father...

On Sunday we celebrated the day that is chosen annually to commemorate our Fathers.  This day is so special to me and you need to know why...

Meet my daddy. 

Here he is at age 16 and you can see from the handwritten sentiment on the back of the picture, that even then, he was deeply in love with my mother.

This is the day my father pledged his love to my mother...a love that remained loyal for 48 years.

I have never met a person that so constantly models his values of honesty, integrity, and loyalty, even to this day. 

I was a lucky little girl having a daddy like this raise me...

His love of his family and his love for the Lord were constant fixtures in my life.

We were so lucky to have the incredible opportunity to celebrate the milestone of thier 25 years together with my daddy and  his bride...

This man simply adored my mother and devoted his life to her welfare and comfort.  He loved to please her and always showed her in creative, sometimes corny ways  (but she loved it)!

My mother wasn't a physically well person for most of her life, and she and my father did all alot to maintain "normalcy" for thier family

But as the years progressed, she became increasingly ill and my father remained a constant pillar of love and support for her and his children

My dad remained a constant fixture by my mom's side for her entire life.  He showed such incredible love for especially during the last year of her life. 

She was diagnosed with cancer in the fall and died a slow, painful death at home with my daddy by her side, for the next six months.

They were probably the most diffucult six months of my life, but never have I witnessed such an incredible display as the love my father gave to my precious little mother during that time.  It was the most tender example of unconditional love that I could have ever imagined one person having for another.

This is why I feel so honored to know this man and to have such an amazing person in my life. 

He has given me so much and I will spend my entire life returning that love to him.