New Year Blooper party...

First of all, Happy (almost) 2011 everyone, may you have a safe and happy year!

Today I'm joining Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for her first annual Blogging Blooper Party!! And you thought the magic just happens without a few boo-boos...wrong!

Like a deer in the headlights...

so just because you're short (5' 1" to be exact) doesn't mean because you can't see the reflection of the camera in the mirror that it isn't there...

Note to self:: next time get out the step ladder...

OK so now y'all know I have the same green Costco kitchen towels everyone else has...they're nice but not so nice they belonged in this photo shoot under such a lovely centerpiece!

"Unch" anyone???

I know all the food was edible for our Christmas breakfast because our family lived to tell about it, however I don't recall anyone asking for seconds on the "Unch"
Note to self: turn the flash off before the shoot...

Then we have the Christmas portrait of the girls...it never fails to amaze me how misbehaved children can be and how difficult it is to get them to sit still upright and pose just as you're ready to snap the photo...

Oddly, the same thing happens when trying to capture real people too...meet the "Ghosts' of Christmas" family, they're distant cousins of the Griswalds...

So on that note, I think because its New Year's Eve...I'll pour myself a Champagne cocktail and go sit by the fire with Mr. La Bella Vie...

 

Thank you again Susan for hosting such a fun party!

First Snow...

 May you have joy and prosperity in 2011, Happy New Year everyone!!

Come on in...

Today's post is brief but is very much heart-felt. I'll spare you with the gory details but December has been a crazy month for me at work and I haven't even looked at blogging or even thought about posting. But as the saying goes; "time is the great healer"...and in this case, a day off from all the chaos that has been going on in life.
Though I haven't stopped by your blogs lately due to my schedule, I want to tell each of you my sweet blogging friends that your friendship has meant the world to me. I've had the opportunity to meet new people of like interests' and have had the pleasure of watching these friendships grow while visiting and getting to know you. You have invited me into your beautiful homes, shared your family's and stories and that in itself has been a huge source of enjoyment for me.
I thank you all for the joy you have given me and wish you peace in the coming year but most of all I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...



Sweet Nostalgia

Hi everyone, I'm fashionably late in joining the party at
Susan's "Deck The Halls Party" for her 98th Metamorphosis Monday on December 6th...better late than never I suppose but we've been busy having fun and Christmasing over the weekend.

I bought this little antique Secretary in 1979 and at the time I bought it, I was told "she" was about 100 years old then so now...well, that makes her really, really old, like about 121 years!
Also when I first purchased it, it was painted black and you couldn't see any of the beautiful detail until we stripped it many years ago.
Every year I have fun decorating it and this is what I came up with today. I think it looks much prettier up close and personal unfortunately my camera doesn't begin to do it justice, but you get the idea...enjoy...

Thanks Susan for hosting another great party, you're the best!



The Magic of Christmas

"When it seems the magic's slipped away

We find it all again on Christmas day”

~Josh Groban

(speakers please)

Hello everyone, come along with me for another "Vintage Thingie Thursday" with Suzanne from Colorado Lady. She always hosts' a great party for anything vintage every Thursday. This week I have vintage Christmas "stuff" as well as few vintage memories to share. I'm also linking up with Mary from Very Merry Vintage Home to share in more vintage memories. Please stop by both of these adorable blogs and give them a shout out!

I look forward to the Christmas holiday season more than any other time of year and I hold dear to my heart the memories and magic of Christmases past with my family from so many years ago. 

Christmas to my mother was the most important time of the year.

It meant being together with family and loved ones from near and far.

It meant festivities and laughter and a time when the season was simply magical and full of joy and innocence...

For our family, the holiday truly started for us on Christmas eve at Grandma and Grandpa Armetta's house.

There was no place we'd rather be. It was joyous and full of family and the sense of home and place. It was where, still to this day we all wished to be...home for Christmas...

We would show up on Christmas eve in the back seat of that big old 1957 Buick "Special" ready for the festivities to start...

(Google images)

The three of us; Larry, Terry and Nancy were dressed to the nines and my mother, as always, was picture perfect and ready for our annual Christmas photo shoot...isn't that what everyone did back then?

Walking up that front porch at 520 Brooks Avenue, first we'd see the tree in the window and could hear Bing singing, "White Christmas" along with various other crooners of the day. You could hear the laughter especially my Uncle Bill (he sounded like Santa ho, ho, hoeing) coming from inside the house. Most of the family had already arrived and the party had begun.

( Google images)

Grandma's tree was a large white tree all decked out in its holiday finery sitting atop one of these rotating stands...

( Google images)

They also had one of those big rotating colored wheel lights shining on it, remember it was the 1950's and 60's those lights were all the rage and today, very collectible!

So the tree slowly turned while this colored light spun. To the three of us kids, it was all part of the magic of Christmas...

( Google images)

The adults would be served my Grandpa's signature, homemade hot Tom and Jerry's from the bowl and mug set below. I now have this vintage set but Mr. La Bella Vie and I are not really into Tom and Jerry's so now...I use it to grow my annual "Paper White Narcissus" in...

I set about five bulbs in the bowl and one bulb in each of the eight mugs and let them do their thing through the holiday season. It makes a "non-fat", whimsical display without having to use a recipe! 

A contemporary twist from and old tradition! If I could make a lamp out of it, I would but it works pretty well as a bulb forcing set:)

I was also fortunate enough to have inherited my mother's vintage "Santa's boots" mug set from about the mid 1950's. I'm not sure anyone really ever drank from these funny little things except maybe in the movie; "Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation" but again, they make a great display for a planter or bulb forcing!



Below are some of the ornaments I was lucky enough to inherit from my grandmother's ornament collection that she used on her tree. 

A few years ago, I attached them to a faux wreath and by doing so, they could be showcased and viewed better than if they were simply hanging on a tree where they'd be completely lost and overlooked.

Here's a photo of the wreath. I took this photo last year pre-blogging days so the image isn't the greatest but you get the idea anyway.



These are just a few of my vintage childhood Christmas memories and collections I have to share and to me, they are what I use for inspiration, tradition and hope for all things beautiful during this Christmas season.

More than anything it has given me lifelong remembrance's and no matter how old the pictures get, the memories will never fade away...

I'd love to know what your Christmas memories are. Albeit a story, a gift or a simple remembrance...

I invite you to share what memories and traditions you hold near and dear to your heart during this wonderful season of sharing.

And thank you again, Suzanne from Colorado Lady for hosting another Vintage Thingie Thursday and Mary from Very Merry Vintage Style for hosting your first Linky party!