I have spent the week spinning my wheels..trying to get into a groove when truth is sometimes it feels as though the days go by so so fast. I hope to spend a full day in the pool this weekend and am looking forward to doing a photo project at Taliesin West on Monday with my oldest son..What is capturing my attention this week..The Crock Pot Girls, these gals now have almost a million likes on Facebook..a MILLION! They are 3 stay at home moms who started a little page to exchange crock pot recipes and not like they were the first to have this idea and throw up a fan page but for whatever reason it took off like crazy and their likes continue to go through the roof..and get this they didn't even have a website or a blog yet..they are frantically trying to pull one together. Kudos ladies!!It doesn't look like their server is handling the amount of traffic very well yet but when they get it all together I will surely be stalking to not only check out these great recipes (choc. lava cake anyone) but to watch these rising stars.
I have spent the week with my nose in the books..studying about PreSocratic philosophers ..appreciating Socrates ever so much more..pouring over maps, comparing population figures...writing about popular vs folk culture as well as adaptive reuse. My architecture class is a blast so far..it is like my dessert. We are going over the Chicago Worlds Fair and how the Industrial Revolution impacted building, city planning and design in the years that would follow.I am not a big fan of my sport in society class which is a prerequisite for my degree. I am trying to look at the positives but 4 pages on why children in New Guinea prefer to play street hockey really? Guess what I will be doing Sunday night? But that's enough about school..I have been making time for relaxation and family as well and have been enjoying helping out at my sons school and reading to the boys just about every night. It is so important to read to your children, even if it is just for a half hour and of course if they are able have them read to you. We have been reading lots of Dr Seuss as my youngest son has been making these choices from his school library..tonight we read one of our William Wegman books, the kids just love the photos and I am looking for a poster to have framed for my middle son. We have been fascinated with monster fish, alien fish and finger monkeys..and we have been playing Chinese checkers like crazy and building card houses. It's hard to think of Halloween and all of the excitement that Fall brings when it is 115 degrees outside. It has been so darn hot we have been spending all our time inside, heck the schools aren't even having recess outside right now. We celebrated my husbands birthday Monday..he hates his birthdays something which I just cannot understand for the life of me. He is overworked and when he isn't working he is sleeping which has been the norm for some time now I only hope there is a light at the end of this tunnel for him.
Heading to the resort this weekend will be a welcome treat even if just for 2 days being inside all the time gives me a case of cabin fever and severe wanderlust..but I have been having fun at the theatre..this is the first season I have season tickets and have been taking the boys..we saw Beauty & the Beast last weekend and they loved it and I enrolled my middle son in an after school workshop..I am so looking forward to the upcoming shows especially at Christmastime...enough about me its time for something beautiful..the day just calls for it..



The Crystal Palace designed by Joseph Paxton. Considered to be the first modern building it was the inspiration behind the designs of Walt Disney (his father worked on the project) as well as the magical land of OZ. Destroyed by fire in the 1930's after years of being in ruin this is how I prefer to remember it, in all of it's glory.

The Museum Of Modern Art

New York 19                        11 West 53rd Street
The Museum Collections      Telephone: Circle 5-8900 Cables: Modernart, New.York


October 16, 1956

Dear Mr. Warhol,

   Last week our Committee on the Museum Collections held its first meeting of the fall season and had a chance to study your drawing entitled Shoe which you so generously offered as a gift to the Museum.

   I regret that I must report to you that the Committee decided, after careful consideration, that they ought not to accept it for our Collection

   Let me explain that because of our severely limited gallery and storage space we must turn down many gifts offered, since we feel it is not fair to accept as a gift a work which may be shown only infrequently.

   Nevertheless, the Committee has asked me to pass on to you their thanks for your generous expression of interest in our Collection.

Sincerely,
Alfred H. Harr, Jr.
Director of the Museums Collections

Mr.  Andy Warhol
242 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York

P.S.The drawing may be picked up from the Museum at your convenience.

United Colors of Benetton

Anyone remember United Colors of Benetton?

I used to love their ads...and still do..they captured current events, spurred controversy and all in the name of selling sweaters.

Speaking of sweaters I would have given my right arm to have owned one of their colorful cable knits circa 1989, no matter the color I just wanted one bad.

Here are some of my favorites over the years.

I will start with a glimpse into the Aids epidemic 20 years ago

The picture of a young man  David Kirby in his dying hours,as photographed by Therese Frare was ran by United Colors of Benetton as part of an add campaign in 1992 and became as you can imagine incredibly controversial.. The add was run with the consent of his loving parents to bring awareness to the devastation of Aids which had taken his life. The Catholic church would denounce this photograph and foundations would call for the boycott of Benetton as a result.



In the words of the great Oliviero Toscani the man behind these infamous ads:

Our prints does not tell people to buy our clothes, they are not even hint at it. All of our increasing aim at creating disputes over those items that are usually true, but that we believe should be widely discussed.

Read more: United Colors of Benetton - campaign archive - the Fashion Spot http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f79/united-colors-benetton-campaign-archive-77555.html#ixzz1Oia6bGrE

The Salton Sea May 2010

MM Last House Goes up for Sale in Brentwood

When I was daydreaming about this home I asked a girlfriend if she'd like to go in on it with me and buy it as she is a huge fan as well to whoch she replied " Are you crazy, that place is haunted! Don't you know everyone who has lived there either goes crazy or dies?? Just look at Brittany Spears?" Wow Brittany Spears lived there?!? I want this home almost more than anything else I can think of besides good health.... I can't wait to hear what is sells for.....

"Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda: The Story of Her Final Months" by Gary Vitacco-Robles provides us with detailed drawings of most rooms, and their contents. The name of the book comes from the inscription on the ceramic tile at the front doorstep - it comes from the Latin meaning "My journey ends here".

Hangin Out at The Mall.....

The birdcages at Christown Mall circa 1960

There is nothing I found more entertaining at the age of 12 besides making the 20 min walk up to Paradise Valley Mall for an afternoon of soaking up cold A/C, sneaking into R rated movies, hanging out at the arcade, boy watching, window shopping,eating Pizza D Amore, driving security guards crazy..eating Pizza De Amore. As I got older the mall was THE PLACE  to go for lunch during high school... to go on a Friday night ..to go with your mother in search of a prom dress or to blow your birthday money.. Call me crazy but I have long been fascinated by Malls but mainly now because they have, in large part, become a thing of the past. A piece of nostalgia came my way yesterday while on Facebook I came across the site dedicated to the long gone Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale,AZ. Although I did not grow up around the area, our business thrives right down the street and when it was torn down I couldn't help but think what a shame.. after all with strip malls aplenty many malls are occupying a huge chunk of land. Many stores do not renew their lease and stay vacant with the tenants not being able to afford the renewal. Anyone remember The Scottsdale Galleria disaster perfect example.... Back in the day my favorite stores for clothes were Foxmoor...Judys...Contempo Casuals ( except they had this strange dressing room with no doors & a huge mirror that everyone just changed in front of one another in) I liked The Hobby Bench and oogled over doll house furniture..Spencers gifts was always good for lots of giggles over the adult novelty items, the edible underpants in particular ( I have yet to buy a pair and see what the hype was all about) Frisco Deli had french fries just like the state fair did.. Kellys was a coffee house way before it's time serving up fancy lattes and big cookies..Diamonds had a fancy restaurant up above it that overlooked the mall I had always fantasized about what it might be like to eat up there..ladies in fancy dresses eating things like finger sandwiches and pastel mints. and of course the pet store. In my late teens the mall was home to no less than 4 jobs for me...folding sweaters at my beloved Foxmoor..working at the uber chic Limited store..Japanese takout place..& Surf City Squeeze which was really no fun at all. I actually took my first college classes at the college upstairs Rio Salado. Befriended a few Mall Cops who became best buds and reveled with laughter in their day to day stories..... I don't get out to the mall very often anymore, once in a blue moon you may find me there on a Black Friday with all the other loonies but I am not and haven't been living near one for quite some time. Paradise Valley Mall got a facelift a few years back with that came the teardown of Dennys, one of my first jobs waiting tables, in the bar (yes a full bar in Dennys) which was always packed at 6 am... as well as Swensens ice cream parlor ( the after the dance speech debate place). I wish I had taken more pictures back in the day.. I love that my 14 yr old has followed in my footsteps and likes to spend the day at the mall with his buddies cruising The Apple Store, going to movies, and eating Panda Express. I am glad I am not the only one with this sort of obsession as seen in these sites I came across, I love the old photos..especially of Town & Country Mall (Jutenhoops) & The ever popular Metro Center...Even back in Nebraska it was Crossroads (Bishops) & Westroads...You wouldn't want to step foot in Crossroads nowadays, it is pretty rundown but these memories forever have a place in my early life and if they do in yours too here are some places worth a look...They don't even require your coolest outfit to hang out in for an afternoon in Cyberland... I can almost smell the Pizza now...

Malls of AmericaVintage photos of lost Shopping Malls of the '50s, '60s & '70s ...This guy really loves Malls as showcased through hundreds if not thousands of the neatest pics, stats & postcards ever!
Dead Malls This site also lists dead merchandise & dead stores awesome!
Discount Stores of The 60's Need I Say More??
Christown Mall A Retrospective Very neat & nostalgic I love this site!