Happy Halloween!

The photo above shows the Excelsior Creamery float in the Anaheim Halloween Parade, probably sometime in the 1940s. The map below is from one of the earliest Halloween Haunts at Knott's Berry Farm, in 1976.

Thank You Jessica - For the Blog Award



I received this cute award from Jessica.  But you know, there are ALWAYS strings with a blog award.  I have to answer a series of questions, and then post them here.  I also get to share this award with five other blog owners.

So here goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse..

2. Your hair? Used to be another color…

3. Your mother? Sylvia is learning to use her cricut.

4. Your father? No longer living.

5. Your favorite food? Chicken picatta with capers!!!! Mmmmmm

6. Your dream last night? Had my hubby and kids in it.

7. Your favorite drink? Iced tea & good wine.

8. Your dream/goal? A month in France….

9. What room are you in? Scrap Room.

10. Your hobby? Scrapbooking .

11. Your fear? Failure.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here!

13. Where were you last night? Having dinner with Doug.

14. Something that you aren't? Shrewish & mean.

15. Muffins? Vanilla Raspberry from New Moon!!

16. Wish list item? Scrap storage cabinets.

17. Where did you grow up? Southeast Michigan.

18. Last thing you did? Cleaned the kitchen.

19. What are you wearing? Sleep pants and a tee.

20. Your TV? Is off.

21. Your Pet? Duncan the sweet Pomeranian boy.

22. Friends? YES - Kathy, Peggy, Suzanne, Andrea, Pat, Beth, Sally (!), Ruth, Debbie, Toby, Mary, ….

23. Your life? Is really quite nice.

24. Your mood? Peaceful.

25. Missing Someone? Aaron, Bethany, & Ian.

27. Something your not wearing? Socks & shoes.

28. Your favorite store? Only one favorite – PLEAZZZE!

29. Your favorite color? Pink.

30. When was the last time you laughed? 1 hour ago.

31. Last time you cried? ?????? Can’t recall.

32. Your best friend? Oh no… not going to hurt feelings….

33. One place that I go to over and over? Hobby Lobby.

34. Facebook? Yep, but not as faithful as I could be.

35. Favorite place to eat? Paris???

And the five blogs with which I plan to share:
 
Melinda
 
Shirley
 
DeeDee
 
Tomianni

Joy

drop dead diva

imdb
This Lifetime drama project follows a pretty 20-something actress who dies and reincarnates as an older, frumpy attorney.


Does anybody watch this tv show?

Duck hunting at Bolsa Chica

I recently stumbled across this image in U.S. Geological Survey's online photo library. It shows the Bolsa Chica Gun Club in Huntington Beach, just after the big earthquake of 1933. (Note the huge crack long the road.) Until yesterday, I didn't know the USGS even had a historic photo collection like this, but man do they have some cool stuff!
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While we're on the subject of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, here's an odd excerpt from J. A. Graves' 1928 book, My Seventy Years in California,...
“The Bolsa Chica, a very aristocratic duck club, which bought a large body of land in the Bolsa Chica Rancho, near the present town of Huntington Beach, always had most excellent shooting until quite recently. The Westminster Club was near there. I was one of the organizers of the latter, and shot there many years. The Blue Wing [Club] adjoined the Westminster. I was at the Westminster one day, heard a shot on the Blue Wing, followed by a yell from various members, and looking up, saw the sky raining ducks. Mr. J. E. Fishburn, for many years president of the Merchants National Bank, wanted one duck to complete his limit. He picked out a big sprig [a.k.a. a pintail duck] and fired at it. A flock of sprig were circling in, ready to light. They came in range of his gun, as he fired, and he killed, with one shot, fourteen sprig. This seems like a hard story to ask any sane person to believe, but Mr. Fishburn is alive, and he and several members of his club will verify it.”
And what makes for a more charming anecdote than rich Angelenos slaughtering waterfowl? In fact, there were something like 13 gun clubs (a.k.a "duck clubs") in the Bolsa Chica area alone, to say nothing of all those near Irvine or in the marshes between Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. Most members were rich businessmen from Los Angeles.
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Graves also gives an account of an standard outing to a gun club, circa 1911. He's awfully wordy, so I will paraphrase:
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After work on Friday, he would take the Pacific Electric or hitch a ride in a friend's "machine" down to Bolsa Chica. Taking an automobile let him avoid a dark, two-mile ride from the P.E. stop to the Club in a mule-pulled wagon. On the other hand, it meant sharing the unpaved roads with innumerable slow wagons hauling sugar beets to the Alamitos sugar factory.
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Once at the Club, he met with other members who would be shooting the next day. They had a hearty dinner together and selected blinds for the following morning. After dinner, members spent the evening chatting, reading, playing card games and relaxing before going to sleep.
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The keeper awakened each of them with a rap on their doors at 5:00 a.m. They put on their hunting gear, ate breakfast, and headed out into the darkness toward their blinds. Thirty minutes before sunrise, a bell rang, letting everyone know they could begin blazing away. Initially, they might see no game, but would hear a few guns popping in the distance -- sometimes at neighboring clubs.
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At this point that Graves regales us with a depiction of the slaughter and maiming of innumerable waterfowl -- All against the backdrop of the great outdoors and a glorious sunrise.
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By noon, most of our mighty Nimrods had bagged their limit. Having once again defended democracy against a potential duck incursion, they retired to Bourbon and cold showers at the Club. This was followed by a "good hot lunch" before making the drive back to Los Angeles.

pretty shop

Ika, Ljubljana

First American goes digital

Good news! First American Corp. -- which has one of the best collections of early Orange County photos anywhere -- is beginning to put some of their images online. Their website lacks captions, but it includes some great old photos. I'm posting two of them here today. Above is an image of employees of the Yorba Linda Citrus Association. Below is a circa 1960s image of the monorail leaving the Disneyland Hotel.
They've also posted a short video about the history of First American, which is worth a look. Let's hope this is just the beginning!

fashion show










The pictures from this fashion show in Ljubljana.
Sorry for not the best pictures. The models were too fast for my Canon :D

trgovina Ika, Farandula, Tkanina, S. Oliver

Voting Continues - And So Does The Waiting....



The voting in the Gypsy 24-Hour Challenge Contest continues for another day.  If you have not already voted, please click the link and consider voting for my Hello Kitty Fall Football Fun.  The Stickles have a bit of glare in the photos, but I am actually quite pleased with this layout.  We all know that I adore Hello Kitty and Kitty as a Tiger cheerleader... Well she is so fierce... Not!

I promise to get back to regular posting soon, but for now I am riding out the contest.....



The Gypsy 24-hour Design Challenge Project by Susan Edwards


The Gypsy 24-hour Design Challenge Project by Susan Edwards

Above is the link to my entry to the Gypsy 24-hour challenge.  There are four catagories in the contest, I chose the family catagory.  If you wouldn't mind, please go and vote BEFORE OCT 29.  This is from Provo Craft:   "Encourage your friends and family (And BLOG READERS) to join in the fun and vote for your project between October 26 and October 29. The project with the most votes wins a great trip to New York City, a $2,000 shopping spree at the new Michaels store in downtown Manhattan, and tickets to a Broadway show. Winners will be announced October 30."

So yes, I want to go to NYC!!  Please go vote for me!!!!

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h&m fall 09' Ad Campaign



Liya Kebede for h&m fall 09' Ad Campaign
Love the outfits! So warm and pretty!

And the new wishlist :D



sonia rykiel for h&m

Well.. I'm disappointed.
Pictures are from neo2.es.