Friday, June 1, 2012

Monday, December 19, 2011

Vintage Eye Candy


No Words.


Just a Look.


A Vintage Look.....




1933

1921

1945

1930

1894

1892

1926
1918

1914

Deco

1933


1930


HAVE
A VERY MERRY
VINTAGE CHRISTMAS!!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

All We Are Saying...



December 8, 1980
Do you remember what you were doing?
Do you remember where you were?
Do you remember how you felt?


OKAY
I know this is unrelated to most things I write about
AND
I am not normally gaga over famous people
BUT
John Lennon was different
I was very little when I heard the Beatles for the first time.
Their music was constantly playing
 on my Mom's AM radio in the kitchen
I would sit on the breezeway or play in the yard,
but not so far away from the kitchen door
 that I couldn't hear the radio.
looks really close....seriously

My Mom had the radio tuned to WRKO most of time
music would be playing everyday
 while she did housework
she would turn it up....
LOUD


That wonderful Rickenbacker sound
would crack through the air straight into my little soul
& not having any of those insecurities
 that I would have as I got older
I would immediately stand up,
attempting to do the twist,
singing at the top of my lungs.....

Oh yeah I
Tell ya something...
I think you'll understand
When I say that something...
I wanna hold your hand
According to my Parents
When we would stand to sing in church
I would sing the same thing.....



Being born in 1963
my generation started off
knowing extreme sadness
 by seeing it felt by a Nation...

By the time I was 10 years old
JFK had been Assasinated
Bobby Kennedy Killed
Martin Luther King Killed
Richard Nixon & Watergate
 ruined my family's trust in the presidency.
AND
through a childs mind
the nightly news was just
pictures of young men moving through a jungle,
the reading of body counts
& men with microphones asking these
 poor souls about the loss of their youth.


John Lennon
for me had always been
my cool hippy representation of
Love
Peace
HOPE
I did cry when the Beatles broke up
but I knowingly took John's hand as he lead me
into knowing who HE was
without the Beatles.

I was a senior in high school
when he was killed in front of his home
I heard about it on my radio the next morning
while I was busy with my curling iron
turning my hair into a Farah Flip.

The Words Were Spoken,
The Limited Details Given,
as they went to commercial.
I sat motionless.....

What?




What??


WHAT??




The DJ's voice returned
repeating the news
then adding....

"Someone has just called making a request," he said
"he's asked me to play this song
because today the music has died"


eyes burning
I heard Don McLean


"A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died......."



inconceivable


It has been said.......
That Mine is the "Cynical Generation"
hmmmmmmm
ya think?

Friday, December 2, 2011

Le Perfect Coating



Even for girls who don't normally dress up,
who never truly girlify themselves,
Source: avenue.com via Lori on Pinterest

those girls who don't carry themselves
like a movie star down the red carpet....


You can see those same girls
 dressed "to the nines" this time of year.



Almost every girl likes a
Serious Grown-Up Holiday Party


Even the ones who wouldn't wear
a full on white ballgown as a bride.
(my hand is up)




So as "y'all" are
making your plans to look fine..
 ~
while you are
counting up your cash
 or
shining up your plastic
to buy yourself that "Killer Dress"
that makes you
"Drop Dead Gorgeous"
(vintage,right?)
 ~
Just don't forget about that soft touch
that just finishes this full on
Glam-o-rama!!

NOW
for the blatent
shameless
self promotion


This is where the 
French Republic comes in.....
Now this is a gorgeous dress
 nooooo doubt about it.....
As you sashay around the room
with a glass of champagne in your hand
(or whatever you're drinking)
all those party guests
will be ooooing & aaawing
at your gorgeousness.
HOWEVER...




there is the matter of
 "le grande entrance" to consider.
So......
Wrap yourself up in this Rare 1950s
Cerulean Blue Emba Mink Stole &
Every eye will look up 
the moment you walk thru the door.



What about this one??
mmmm hmmmm



wrapped up in this one
mmmm hmmmm hmmmm
or maybe this sweet little number...



....coated in a little toffee.






If boho is your style.....



......gotcha groovy right here

"Peace" on Earth Man.






Nicole Knows
French Vanilla Ice Cream
needs a topping!



Scoop of French Vanilla....



with

.....caramel swirl.




Por vous?

Oui!
oo la la
fa la la








So when checking your look this holiday season
Just Remember
the immortal words of
Dean-O


Baby It's Cold Outside!




Join French Republic on FB

And Shop French Republic









Friday, November 25, 2011

Crazy Does

thedividendguyblog.com
THE ORIGIN OF BLACK FRIDAY-

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1966 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".

~Martin L. Apfelbaum, Philadelphia's "Black Friday," American Philatelist, vol. 69, no. 4, p. 239 (Jan. 1966).
  Kevin Drum (November 26, 2010). "Black Friday".



"heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic...."????


I KNEW IT!
I mean there had to be
 a better reason
for today to be called
"Black Friday"
other than that whole
finishing in the black stuff!

It had to be something more like
"The day that people go completely insane
trying to get in the
 front door of Walmart

throwing punches at people
who get in front of you because
 they might get to one of
the $2 waffle makers
 before you do.
 This must be done in front of
 security cameras which will,
of course, somehow find it's way
 on the evening news programs."

bostonglobe.com


Every Thanksgiving
 Friends & Relations
who share turkey with me
inevitably will ask if 
I'm doing any holiday shopping on Friday!

DON'T THEY KNOW ME??
DON'T THEY KNOW I WOULD RATHER
PLUCK OUT MY EYES THAN SHOP
ON "BLACK FRIDAY"?



  
They just ask me this
so they can see my eyes bug out
and food spit out of my mouth....




Why???
After years & years of working in
retail at various shopping malls
I am SO done with fighting to
-concentrate on my list
-get to the things I need
-keep from whacking anyone in line
-get to the register
-move against the crowds
-moving from store to store
-get to a bathroom stall
-finding my car
-get to end of the line out
of the never ending parking lot
So if you haven't guessed yet
NO
I never go out shopping on
Black Friday




However:
I  do Shop Main Street Small Businesses
after the Thanksgiving Weekend.
&
I am a Cyber Monday Girl.



While I would love to do all my
Christmas Shopping
at Small Shops & Businesses

with 2 teenage sons
it's impossible to fill their
 video game requests....
without shopping Amazon.





Yet....

Well dressed windows,
decked out in their Holiday best,
 glowing their light onto the sidewalk below.
Neighbors, family & friends
carrying bags full of purchases
 that will find themselves wrapped
 in bright, jolly papers & ribbons.


Garlands & Wreaths
strung from the street lights
 swaying slightly in the
winter's night breezes
while Holiday Music leaks
out onto the streets with the
opening & closing of shop doors.

Main Street is the Romance of the Holiday Season 







And the cyber equivalent of "Main Street"
could very well be


where you can find unique handmade & vintage goods
for sale by artisans & dealers who have set up their own 
virtual shops by the thousands.
Selling
handmade soaps, lotions, fragrances
jewelry of all kinds,
pottery, quilts, glassware, lighting,
wood crafting, art of all kinds,
vintage clothing, smalls & furniture
and other wonderfully creative goods that will
enchant your Holiday Gift Giving!

So as you are making your Shopping Lists
and Checking them twice

Stroll down your local Main Street
Visit the friendly shop owners
&
Get on over to Etsy
Support Small Businesses!!  


BUT
Stay Away From
shopping on any day of the week with the word


Black
prefacing it

These aren't the kind of 
Holiday Memories you want,
Right?