Patrick sits to the left wearing a red, green, and white spiral tie dye shirt, with a dark brown fringe leather jacket over, and a white peace sign necklace, I sit next to him wearing a dress featuring a pattern of Santa and holly, we both are holding our hands in the peace sign.

Peace On Earth

December 24, 2020, 6 Comments

From our pad to yours, wishing you a groovy Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate) this year.

Naughty & Nice: Ode to Haddon Sundblom, the Man Behind Pin-Ups & Coca-Cola’s Santa

December 17, 2020, 3 Comments

Santa Claus. How do we describe Santa’s appearance? White beard. Red Suit. A bit on the portly side perhaps? An icon of Christmas, Santa has seen many different interpretations over the years, but today we all pretty much agree on his appearance here in America, and there is an urban legend that the modern appearance…

Massive trees edge a street and are decorated multi-colored lights.

A Drive Down the 100 Year Old Christmas Tree Lane

December 15, 2020, 2 Comments

Amid this pandemic, there is a strong need for fun, while of course staying safe. And with the Christmas season, I’m even more thankful for festive holiday lights, including Christmas Tree Lane, an LA area tradition that just turned 100, laying claim to the “oldest large scale outdoor Christmas display in the world.” Normally, Christmas…

A photograph of oranges on trees with snowcapped mountains behind makes up most of the postcard. A poinsettia in the upper left, and a golden poppy in the lower right. Text below the image reads "Orange and Snow Capped Mountains." Text across the top reads "Christmas Greetings from California" And text along the left reads "A right good time to you and yours This bright and happy season."

Vintage California Christmas Postcards

December 10, 2020, 2 Comments

A couple years ago I started to share my collection of vintage Christmas cards, but there is a various specific part of this collection have decided to share with you this year, vintage California Christmas postcards. As many of you know, Christmas is a bit different here in California, especially Southern California. Most of us…

A trio of three foot aluminum trees, one pink, one blue, and one gold.

Christmas is Near

December 8, 2020, 8 Comments

This has been one rollercoaster of a year and I swear that while time moved at a snail’s pace earlier this year, I feel like it’s just sped up since, because I can’t believe it’s December! Decorating took a little longer than previous years because we acquired another vintage aluminum Christmas tree, a blue one,…

A man and a woman walk carrying a massive pile of presents. A pale green background has red snowflakes all over it. Red script reads "What's On Your Christmas (play)list?"

What’s on your Christmas (play)list?

November 25, 2020, 4 Comments

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, many, including myself, already are in the Christmas spirit, which means it’s time to blast some Christmas music and that means once again sharing some selections from my massive Christmas music collection. Many a Christmas song deal with gifts, both the kind we want and maybe even the kind we don’t. Below you’ll…

Myself wearing a black top that features an open skirt, with black cigarette pants underneath. A white blouse peeks out at the top and a large orange bow with a print of black cats is worn at the neck.

Anaheim Halloween Parade – Drive Thru Style

October 28, 2020, 3 Comments

I’m lucky enough to live in a town that has a Halloween parade every year. Under normal circumstances, there is a fall festival during the day before the parade starts. The festival is full of games, artists selling their unique works, and live music. Then as the sun sets the parade, with its collection of…

A boy and girl bite into the same apple inside a pumpkin. Text at the top reads "Halloween."

The Long Lost Matchmaking Rituals of Halloween

October 21, 2020, 6 Comments

When it comes to holidays about true love, one typically thinks about Valentine’s Day, and not Halloween. But yes, the time of year we typically associate with more macabre imagery used to have a rather romantic element, the rituals of Halloween matchmaking. Some of the earliest noted methods of Halloween matchmaking are from 18th century…

Myself, wearing an orange cardigan over a black t-shirt with a black and white illustration of black cats running around a fire that has spooky ghost cats rising from it, and black jeans.

When Black Cats Prowl…

October 15, 2020, 4 Comments

Obviously things are different this Halloween season as a result of COVID-19, and Halloween is big business here in Southern California. Typically all of the amusement parks have special events, rural areas become autumnal havens full of pumpkins and apples, while LA has its very own Haunted Hayride, and even local homes do their own…

A buffet piece sits on the back wall of the dining room. Atop the buffet is a diecut owl, cat atop a skull, a skeleton wearing a pirate costume, in the middle a spirit board themed to the House on Haunted Hill, with a woman screaming, skeleton, and Vincent Price, to the right of it a plastic jack o'lantern with a black party hat with an orange cat atop it, and next to it a diecut skull. Hanging above all of it are themed framed pieces. On the left is a framed segment of a paper table cloth featuring an illustration of a haunted house. In the middle framed witch and skeleton, on the right a framed segment of a paper table cloth with witches and pumpkins. Sitting atop each frame is a diecut black cat.

Halloween is Creeping in Early

September 16, 2020, 6 Comments

Normally I don’t share my Halloween decor until early October, because despite decorating mid-September, I tend to spend the remaining weeks of September combing antique malls and flea markets for fresh vintage finds to add. But, this year obviously is much, much different. I’ve taken COVID-19 extremely seriously, and despite many antique malls reopening, and…

Atomic Redhead

Holidays

Peace On Earth

Naughty & Nice: Ode to Haddon Sundblom, the Man Behind Pin-Ups & Coca-Cola’s Santa

A Drive Down the 100 Year Old Christmas Tree Lane

Vintage California Christmas Postcards

Christmas is Near

What’s on your Christmas (play)list?

Anaheim Halloween Parade – Drive Thru Style

The Long Lost Matchmaking Rituals of Halloween

When Black Cats Prowl…

Halloween is Creeping in Early