JuJu

JuJu is Magical

You must check it out!

Eclectic, Bright, Original & Fab!!

http://bellejuju.blogspot.com/

Beautiful....

https://www.facebook.com/BonJuJu

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!!

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?

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.

Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via Lori on Pinterest

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

Source: andthingschange.blogspot.com via Lori on Pinterest

wrapped up in this one
mmmm hmmmm hmmmm

or maybe this sweet little number...

Source: anthropologie.com via Lori on Pinterest

....coated in a little toffee.

If boho is your style.....

Source: piratesprevailingtaste.blogspot.com via Lori on Pinterest

......gotcha groovy right here

"Peace" on Earth Man.

Nicole Knows

French Vanilla Ice Cream

needs a topping!

Scoop of French Vanilla....

Source: omgthatdress.tumblr.com via Julianna on Pinterest

with

.....caramel swirl.

Por vous?

Source: metmuseum.org via Cristina on Pinterest

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

 http://www.facebook.com/FrenchRepublic

And Shop French Republic

http://style.ly/boutique/Lori-McGee-17302

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?