7 of My Favorite Things.

Seven things I love.

Ya know, at first I thought “Wow, seven things I love? That’s kind of a lot of things.” But as I started writing them up it got tricky. Do I go broad and tell you that I love COLOR! (which I do) or do I get really specific and tell you that I can’t get enough of really good sushi, salted caramels, a nice autumn day when the sun is out but the air is crisp, and a really good couch potato session watching boat loads of bad TV?? (all true…) Well, I couldn’t quite make up my mind but here are seven things that really bring me a huge amount of joy.

1. MY BOYS.
Although I haven’t really mentioned them much on the bloggie, my guys are a HUGE part of my world.



I have a super cool hubby named Greg and a crazy lil 5 year old charmer named Wolfie (aka Wolfgang). Greg is a musician and writer (he will roll his eyes when he reads the writer part as it's a new thing for him, but he's really good) and Wolfie is a little bundle of love and sunshine, with a sprinkling of sass.






2. CHRISTMAS.
This holiday seems to be getting a bad rap lately, what with commercialism and obnoxious sales people. Well let me just tell ya that I say phooey to that. I have always looooooved this time of year. My parents always made this a fun and lively time for us and I’m passing that on to Wolfie.



I love giving gifts. I love getting gifts. I love wrapping paper. I love the sparkly lights. I love playing Christmas songs. I love the flavors—cocoa and cookies and a hint of cinnamon in the air. I love the spirit of everything Christmas stands for: peace, love and good will to man. Cheesy? Perhaps. But how you gonna hate on Rudolph?



Blythe doll fans, look closely at this photo…mm hmm. There she is! My first Blythe doll.

3. LAUGHING.
I really love laughing. If I can make some one crack up, I’m a happy girl. It makes me grin from ear to ear to hear Greg or Wolfie belly laughing. I love laughing so hard that you start to cry. I especially love it when people make me crack up. Whenever I watch Law & Order, Greg strolls through the room and plays “air sax” to the theme song, which kills me every time. That’s love people.




I realized that its pretty impossible to find a photo of yourself laughing. Usually you’re too involved with the joke to be bothered to “capture the moment” but these two pics do the job nicely!
Images: 1 and 2


4. DISNEYLAND.
To me, this really is one of the happiest places on earth. Before we moved to Michigan from California, my parents took us to Disneyland every year and I have such great memories. I promise I’m not a crazy Disneyana nut and I don’t collect Mickey knick-knacks or anything like that. But I swear I love going to this crazy place. This is me and my chic mama back in the day:

The first time we took Wolfie I totally got all verklepmt watching him looking wide-eyed at everything. Call me sentimental, but I’m telling ya. It’s the best. Here, play this song and then look at this photo of me. You feeling the tea cup love?




I really hope you click on that audio link because I swear to gawd it took me about 5 hours to figure out how the heck to embed that lil bastard. Pardon mah French. And yes it's the real Tea Cup song they play at disneyland.

5. PUPPIES AND KITTIES.
Cuddly, furry bundles of love. I love animals. For years our gray kitty Chuckie and our 3-legged dog Spencer were constant fixtures around the house. Our first children. Sadly both our pets are no longer with us, but they brought us so much happiness. We’re due for a doggie soon (hint, hint Greg) although Tuxie—our neighborhood cat who decided he wanted to move in with us 3 years ago—might take a little umbrage to that.





6. VINTAGE CLOTHING.
OK, so I’m guessing I don’t really have to go into great detail on this one! The fabrics, the cuts and the colors. Vintage clothes rule. Just adding one little vintage detail can take your whole outfit to a whole other level. I can’t get enough. I love the big designers—Courreges, Pucci, Pierre Cardin, Bonnie Cashin, Biba, Mary Quant—but I also love those lesser known thriftier labels. Can I get a “Holla” for R&K Vintage, Mr. Dino, Alex Colman, Butte Knits and Fleet Street Rain or Shine anyone?? Aw yeah, Jenny/Frecklewonder I know you know what I’m talkin’ about!



My friend Stephanie models eBay duds for me occasionally. She’s the cutest!



7. DANCING.
I love to dance. And I love music from the 60s. So when I found out about The Devil-Ettes some ten years ago (oy! ten years??? where's my bedazzled walker???), I knew I had to be a part of the group. The Devil-Ettes are a synchronized, 60s go go group. Now when we say go-go we mean it in the “zip up yer go-goboots, shake yer fringe and do the watusi” kinda way. We’re very PG-13., but with a campy fun twist.


When we formed the group ages ago, most of us were sassy single gals in our mid 20s. At our height we had 15-18 members, toured to Vegas and New Orleans and performed with Dita von Teese a few times. The group is still on fire performing all over the place and looking saucy as ever! Many ladies are married and a few of us even have kids. I took a hiatus this past season but I’m hoping to come back for a big show this August. We're a bunch of positive, fun ladies ("hostesses with the mostesses" is our motto) and we always have a blast performing together. I think I need to do a post dedicated to Devil-Ette Mania!

PHEW. If you stuck with me through this entire post, BRAVO and THANK YOU! I’d kinda like to see your favorite things too.