recent posts

  • Updates

    Sweet Sean from Strangers Car Club reminded me when he inquired about Marcel's well-being the other day that I needed to give an update. We've been giving him Omega-3s every day and his seizures have been significantly reduced. Hallelujah! We'll continue with this remedy and see what the long term holds.

     

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    And another update about the mystery t-shirt artist from the car show (reviewed in my last post). Her name is Lorraine. She's from Sacramento and has Scissor Fight Clothing. I love that name!

     

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    After that car show we went into downtown San Jose, not far from the university campus, and had a meal at Vegetarian House: Vegan Organic Cuisine. What a great find. They have three different kitchens with three different crews creating dishes from all over the globe. Check out their menu on the web site.

     

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    When we left we were approached by a guy out on the sidewalk who asked us how we liked our meal and we raved about it. He said, and I share this with a little trepidation, he heard that you could pay what you could afford. I sort of believe it, the people who run the place are so kind. But don't say I told you, just in case, ha.

    Here is an excerpt from their web site:

    "The Vegetarian House was inspired by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, a worldly renowned spiritual teacher and humanitarian. Located in downtown San Jose, the restaurant began operation 1994 with a principle based on non-violence."

    It can be so difficult to find vegetarian restaurants, at home and abroad. They have a link on their site to vegetarian restaurants around the world. Bravo! Check them out some time.

  • Strangers Vintage Car Show

    We had a great family outing to this totally fab vintage car show in San Jose, California. It's such a treat living in the Bay Area. In one hour we can be in San Francisco, and we can drive 10 minutes and be in downtown San Jose with it's restaurants, museums, and my favorite eight story library on the university campus, Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. More about all of that in my next post. Back to the car show. There's such a culture built into car groups like the Strangers club.

     

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    The guys, the gals, the music, all wrapped up in a Rockabilly styling. It's pure theater. My lil' Marcel took over 200 photos. He was really in heaven that day…

     

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    Music wafting through the summer air, one of my faves: "Train I ride, sixteen coaches long. Train I ride…" (Elvis)
    I was tickled pink to be skipping along to the English Beat's "Hands Off She's Mine" on this sunny playful day.

     

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    There are some very talented designers among the grease and gears. I discovered the lovely Lydia who makes charming hats that are the antithesis of Beach Blanket Babylon in their diminutive scale.

     

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    Laura modeling a hat, and Lydia with a customer

     

    I met this sweet re-make queen who customizes t-shirts of your choosing. I'm sorry I can't find my notes on her name and contact info. If any car show people are reading this and know her, please fill me in. Merci. *Update HERE

     

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    I was bowled over by the designs of graphic artist Chico Von Spoon. His qualifications for being an inspired artist are: he's from Oakland and he's a Johnny Cash fan! His style is a combination of cartoon and tattoo art and he creates original paintings, patches, and badges. Chico, if you're reading this, please put some items up for sale on your web site!

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    some badges I bought from Chico

    There is also a vintage trolley museum at the park that's always fun for browsing:

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    I love the glass transformers on the chair legs

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    Everyone needs a Do-All machine!

    For more fun photos of the day check out my Flickr set.

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    sylvie & richie

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    Marcel

  • Chris Isaak and my wee ones

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    My Jesse and Marcel with Chris

    We were guests at Chris’ show last Sunday at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. It appears that Chris is cooling his fingers, the way you would after blowing on them; you know that hokey gesture that says, "I’m hot". Not so. It’s my cheap camera and it’s slow shutter that missed him doing that Hawaiian surf gesture…I think!

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  • Marcel’s Beautiful Brain

    At about the same time that I was diagnosed with breast cancer Marcel began having "little spells". He would freeze, sometimes in mid sentence, his eyes would roll upward and his eyelashes would flutter. We would try to speak to him during these moments and he was unreachable. They would only last a few seconds and happen about once a week. Over the last six months they starting coming more and more frequently. Every day, and sometimes several times a day. He was having seizures. His neurologist scheduled him for an EEG to determine what type.

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    waiting for EEG; Stanford

    We had to keep him up until midnight the night before and wake him at 5am. He could not fall asleep, even for five minutes, before the test. Besides the EEG they also did these light strobe and hyperventilation tests. It was quite scary to see how the hyperventilation test induced a seizure. I kept calling his name. He couldn’t hear me. Finally I shook him. He woke up and calmly said, "Oh". It all took about two hours. That was two weeks ago. The doctor was out of the country and we weren’t able to get the results until yesterday. Talk about waiting on pins and needles.

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    thirty electrodes attached

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    pulling off thirty electrodes

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    amusing himself

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    going home to wash the glue out of his hair

    We finally got the results from the doc yesterday, who casually said, "So, as you know the EEG was abnormal." NO! We didn’t know. How could we know? You were out of the country! What a thing to say. As it turns out, Marcel has epilepsy. He suffers from Absence Seizures. They generally come on in childhood and are outgrown by the teen years. I’m still doing my research. So far, from what I can tell, the side effects of the "preferred" drug for treatment are worse than the symptoms themselves. A lot worse. I’ll be taking my time, as usual, deciding on the best and healthiest approach. Marcel is doing just fine. I was pondering the perspective on it last night. How in our culture we always look at physical symptoms in a scientific way. I like to think of it as a sort of stigmata. Marcel. That special one 🙂

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    artwork at Stanford, Deloss McGraw

  • Art & Light

    You may have seen the post I did on Barb Blair's vintage business, Knack Studios, back in May. She's in an incredibly inspirational co-op in a lovely flatiron building in Greenville, South Carolina. Also in that same building is Art & Light owned by Teresa Roche. It's a gallery featuring local art and hand made objects, vintage furnishings and accessories, all at affordable prices.

     

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    this photo features pieces from both Knack and Art & Light

    They have a great selection of period lamps, rewired and refurbished by Paige Caraway. I do have a lamp fetish and can really appreciate it when someone else, like me, takes the time to preserve these beauties.

     

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    Someday I will visit these gals!

  • When Dinner is Delightful…

    The glamorous Jeanine Hays of AphroChic had my petite famille over for a delectable dinner ce soir, along with her sweet and suave husband. Merci Jeanine for a wonderful evening. Say hello to kitty for Marcel 🙂
    If you haven't seen her beautiful design blog yet, go now!!

     

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  • The Strangers Car Show, San Jose!

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    The Strangers 9th Annual BBQ and Car Show is Sunday, July 13th at Kelly Park in San Jose, California. These guys are a little too organized. I think they must be accountants in their day jobs to be able to pull off nine years of this. Congratulations boys!

     

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    If you've never been to the 138 acre Kelly Park, now would be a great time to go. The car show will be held in an area of Kelly Park called History Park. Located at 1300 Senter Road, a turn-of-the-century village was created by moving historic houses and shops from various parts of San Jose. There's an ice cream shop, a Chinese Temple with an incredible altar,  historic trolley barn, and much more. There are free trolley rides around the park.

    The car show and BBQ runs from 10am to 4pm. Admission: walk-in $2 (they don't say how much it is if you run in), kids under 12 are free. Here's a sample of some of the Bay Area's car clubs…

     

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    Radiator Hoes, these gals are actually bi-coastal.

     

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    Hoe Beaus!

     

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    The Pedal Pushers: Marion, Stephanie, Margaret Ann, & Karyn

     

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    Hell's Belles: Jamie, Sandy, Pam, & Andrea

     

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    Sean Denton, A Stranger

     

    If you don't live in The Bay Area and can't make it to the show then at least have some fun cruising around the web links for these happenin' clubs. Don't be afraid. They're not all that unlike some of us. For instance The Pedal Pushers, who call themselves "fun retro addicts" are thrift store hounds. You can relate to that, right?

    P.S. I want Sean's bike.

  • Thrift for the Soul

    Today is the first time in ages that I went thrifting without an agenda or schedule. It’s such a pleasure to experience unforced treasure hunting. Everything is a bonus that you didn’t expect! And today was a day of great deals.

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    Everything in my area is so overpriced. It’s a Beverly Hills wanna be. So I have to go to some of the neighboring urban cities to experience real life and real prices. For instance, in Los Gatos a smog check for my vehicle would be $90. And the guy actually has the nerve to justify it by saying, "Well it’s because I have to remove the dog house to do the test." We’re talking about my extra large cargo van that I use to deliver furniture with. Inside between the driver and passenger seats is an engine cover called a "dog house" apparently. Today I took it to my favorite Korean smog check station on El Camino Real in Santa Clara and the guy says, "If you pull the dog house off (which takes all of about 45 seconds) I’ll do it for $45." As the youngsters say, boo yeh!

    After that I meandered home stopping here and there at thrift stores. I have to admit to feeling a bit like Cinderella trying to beat the clock to get home. Today is a spare-the-air day and the temperature is 106 degrees so I was trying to complete my rounds before the sun got too high in the sky. Here’s a smattering of what I found…

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    4 mid century dining chairs: $12 ea., pair of red Campers: $5, mid century turquoise glass triangle dish: $2, clay Chinese girl: $1, pair of mid century ceramic trays: $4, red cord jacket: $4

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    Tiger – 1960s screen print on linen, 28 x 52: $10

     

  • Bravo para España

    Congratulations Rafa!

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  • “Welcome Home” Bloggers

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    This is your chance to have your fab entryway included on the House Beautiful web site. You can see examples of the entryways of eight different designers on page 46 of the July issue. Send your photo and a short paragraph describing your design to: sendus@housebeautiful.com  ~Have fun!

     

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    I love storage that's pretty, like this fresh green dresser. It's great for stowing away hats, gloves, scarves, and more if you're a pack rat like me!

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    The whimsical succulents and sweet deer make for a happy welcome home!