Myself, wearing a kerchief made like a slice of boysenberry pie, a purple velvet vest over a purple handkerchief print maxi dress, and purple shoes, sitting on the steps of a small yellow building.

A Slice of Boysenberry Festival

April 11, 2024, Leave a Comment on A Slice of Boysenberry Festival

Springtime means it’s Boysenberry Festival time at Knott’s Berry Farm! The berry that made Knott’s Berry Farm famous is being celebrated by being used as the key ingredient in dozens of delicious items. Whether you like sweet or savory, you’re bound to find something you love! It’s also the perfect excuse to come up with…

Exterior view of the library, which features columns and a statue of woman with a deer, titled "Diana of Versailles" it dates to 1648 and is by Hubert Le Sueur.

Revisiting the Huntington

April 9, 2024, 1 Comment

Recently Patrick’s mother came to visit, who is an avid art lover, so we spent a day at the stunning Huntington Library. The Huntington is far more than a library, it sprawls over 200 acres with multiple art galleries, restaurants, and a diverse variety of gardens. It’s simply massive, and I would say impossible to…

Front of the Vista, a Spanish revival style building with curved details on the roof, painted yellow with white trim.

A Movie Night at the 100 Year Old Vista Theater

April 3, 2024, 3 Comments

While I grew up in the age of the multiplex, I also went to small, independent cinemas frequently. I saw Disney’s Pocahontas at Eugene’s old McDonald Theatre, which was built in 1925, and I spent many midnight screenings at the Cameo in Newberg, which opened in 1937. So I of course have a soft spot…

Myself, standing next to massive letters that spell "Muzeo"

Muzeo Spotlights Gay Safe Havens and Forgotten Photography

March 27, 2024, Leave a Comment on Muzeo Spotlights Gay Safe Havens and Forgotten Photography

I hope by now I’ve made it apparent that Anaheim is more than just Disneyland. Anaheim is home to the Muzeo, a wonderful little museum in downtown that regularly boasts fabulous exhibits. Last week the Muzeo unveiled new exhibits, including Mapping the Guide Guides and Where We Find Ourselves, both of which I found incredibly…

Our 1954 Home: Primary Bedroom

March 6, 2024, Leave a Comment on Our 1954 Home: Primary Bedroom

Today I am finally bringing you a look at our bedroom! It should be noted our home is a three bedroom, however one is our gym and library, and the other is our office, which we hope to revamp later this year, so stay tuned! Therefor this is really the only true bedroom in the…

Myself standing in front of a large pink wall that features a burst of yellow and inside it reads "Pink's Since 1939" in red letters.

Pink’s Hot Dogs: A Home Spun and Family Run Hollywood Icon

February 28, 2024, Leave a Comment on Pink’s Hot Dogs: A Home Spun and Family Run Hollywood Icon

Driving down La Brea in Hollywood and you might spy a long, snaking line by some vibrant pink murals of hot dogs, if you’re wondering what everyone’s in line for, the murals and the color are exactly it! Pink’s Hot Dogs, and these dogs are a real Hollywood icon, serving movie stars, humble locals, and…

Patrick and I sitting in Herbie, the grey VW Bug from The Love Bug.

Sweethearts’ Nite at Disneyland

February 7, 2024, 1 Comment

In recent years Disneyland has started “after hours” separate ticked parties at the park known as “Disneyland After Dark” with various themes. While some of the themes change year to year, some have stuck around, such as Sweethearts’ Nite, an evening dedicated to love and friendship. Last year Minerva, one of my friends went, and…

A little blonde girl paints a picture of a boy and text reads "I want to be your valentine!"

Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards Vol. 3

January 31, 2024, Leave a Comment on Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards Vol. 3

I hope you enjoyed a look at how we decorate our home for Valentine’s Day, and today, in keeping with the theme, I thought we would take a closer look at some of the valentines! For a look at other years, click here!

Overall view of the living room, which valentines hanging from a desert landscape painting.

Cupid has Arrived!

January 17, 2024, 1 Comment

After ringing in the New Year it was time to decorate for Valentine’s Day. For most of my life I haven’t much cared for Valentine’s Day, but I have been charmed by the adorable vintage valentines I find at antique malls and now our living room becomes a place bursting with hearts! In decorating for…

Myself, wearing a brown cowboy hat, a green patchwork cowboy shirt, with a red tee underneath reading "Red Dog Saloon" and featuring a cartoon image of a dog, and green courdory pants, standing in front of a museum exhibit wall that has a large image of a bear wearing a pink cowboy hat, and text reading "Imagined Wests If you close your eyes and picture ‘the American West,’ what do you see? A desert landscape? A frontier town and tumbleweeds? National parks and majestic mountains? How about the Kansas prairies, the forests of the Olympic Peninsula, or the Hawaiian Islands? Do you picture a cowboy on horseback? Native Americans? Or the variety of people in Los Angeles or another Western city? This gallery explores the tales we tell about the West, both he ones we call ‘Westerns’ and the wide rage of other stories rooted in the region. Many of our ‘Imagined Wests’ - the places and characters we picture when we close our eyes - come to us through popular culture. Film and television, music and writing, visual art and fashion, performance, and even museums have given us so many Wests. When we mix these stories together, the American West may look different from our first associations. But the West has always been home to a variety of interconnected peoples and the stories we all create here."

The Autry: A Look at the American West, both Real and Fiction

January 10, 2024, 1 Comment

With a love of westerns, it’s no wonder one of my favorite museums in Los Angeles is The Autry, which is dedicated to the American west. Recently they opened Imagined Wests, an exhibit that showcases how the American West is presented in pop culture. In addition to Imagined Wests, there were a few other interesting exhibits,…