Monthly Archives: February 2012

Loving The Fisher Price Castle.

Best of Alix, Vintage Toys + Fun Stuff

Oh you magical year of 1974. Episodes of Kojak and The Six Million Dollar Man filled the screens of TVs across the country. The Godfather Part 2 and The Sting were playing at the local movie theater. Abba and Supertramp were groovin’ on the stereo. And Fisher Price rocked our world, releasing the most awesome castle ever to grace a play room. My brother and I had this glorious thang and had SO MUCH fun playing with it. Thankfully my mama saved it and every time we visit them, I can’t resist bringing it out to play around with.

Here’s the thing. The Fisher Price Play Family Castle 993 had SO MANY cool little features. Like a fun, clackety clack draw bridge. And a secret trap door that dropped unsuspecting visitors into the moat below.

And the cool stair case that opened up to reveal a hidden chamber.

Then there was the dragon’s lair—and the sweet little pink dragon that lived there.

In addition to the King and Queen and the little prince and princess, you also got two snazzy horses, a carriage, a knight and a cool huntsman (that looked suspiciously like Robin Hood).

Isn’t it awesome? The best part, of course, is that in true 70s fashion….this castle is perfect for boys OR girls with nary a piece of glitter sparkle or  pink in site. Well, except for that cheeky dragon.

final images:  1, 2 and 3

Want to nab a Fisher Price Castle for your little royal? Find them here.

 

Leapin’ Lizards, it’s February 29!

Art + Design, Vintage Photos

It happens every four years. But I have to confess I didn’t really understand WHY we had a leap year. So I did a lil poking around and found out some cool stuff. Like did you know Julius Caesar introduced Leap Years during the Roman empire over 2000 years ago? Me neither! So here’s the skinny on WHY we still have leap year every four years:

“Leap Years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds  – to circle once around the Sun.

However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn’t add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days!”

source: time and date

ZOINKS! Pretty crazy huh. I think it’s so cool and weird that there are some people who technically only celebrate their birthday every four years! Are you a leap year baby or do you know one??

images: Philippe Halsman (all but last image. source unknown.)

Philippe Halsman was a renowned photographer for LIFE magazine in the 1950s (shooting an unprescedented 101 covers!). He was commissioned to shoot portraits of many famous people, and one day had the unique idea to ask each person to take one final pose and JUMP for the camera! He called the series Jumpology and as you can see, the results of his quirky request were pretty amazing. Everyone from Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Benny Goodman, Richard Nixon to even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor agreed to “jump”. So awesome. And so fitting for today. Oh, and that very top photo is of Mr. Halsman and Marilyn Monroe.

Look who just turned three!

Real Life : Dottie

Dear Peach,

Happy birthday, my sweetest little girl!  I can’t believe you are officially three. Truly, it feels like yesterday when I awkwardly held you in my arms overwhelmed by it all. I’m still overwhelmed. By how much I love you and how much that feeling grows every day. And by the little things.

Here are some of my favorite little things.

Oh, dear girl how you love to talk. About everything and anything. From the moment I see you by my bedside asking for morning snuggles to kissing you on your check as you beg to stay up just a little bit longer as you rub your eyes.

You have been known to prefer watching opera to cartoons.

You have officially entered the ballerina stage. (Post coming on that soon…)

You give good sad boo boo face–like someone drew an upside down U on your face.  Is it wrong that I love it so much?

I promise, I won’t call you baby to your face, knowing that you will immediately tell me you are NOT A BABY. You are BIG. A big girl. A big sweet good girl.

Last week when we were sitting at dinner, you saw the first star out the window and said we should all wish on it!  You wished that you could ride a cloud down a river.

You won’t wear gray.

After playing with a little sweet one year old who was toddling around, you turned to me and her mama and said, with such pride over your new young friend you declared, “she’s so smart!”

You are not adverse to a salad. But you aren’t too cool with eating the same meal three times in a row.

You won’t let me cut your hair. (Or is that Daddy…)

Thank you for using handkerchiefs to wipe your little nose when you have a case of the sniffles.

Somewhere along the line, my cat that I had for 13 years became your kitty and only your kitty.

You serve a mean banana lettuce salami pancake felt sandwich.

You have made the past three years truly magical. Thank you sweet girl for every exhilarating, hilarious, tiring, glorious minute you’ve been in my life.

Love, Mama

 

 

 

 

Your weekly dose of vintage goodness!

Kiddo Style: Vintage

Wow! What a weekend! The Peach turned three this weekend and we threw her a dandy of a party! Expect to hear all about  it and all the crafty craziness that happened around it. But even with all of the birthday bonanzas happening, I still of course found some awesome vintage goodies to share with you, friends!

Sublime. Simply sublime.  What an amazing little swimsuit… From Etsy seller, Bond Place Vintage.

 

Peter the rabbit hopped over to this sweet blue and white vintage sweater.  From Etsy seller, Star Friends on Earth.

I love the idea of this Colorform Barbie paper doll! Perfect for little hands that can’t deal with the little tabs on normal paper dolls! Well done! From Etsy seller, Traveling Mercies.

Oh my word–Lishyloo–where did you find this amazing poncho with the U.S. of Yay colors of red white and blue on daisies?

Who doesn’t love a little ruffle? And these sweet ruffles matched with this happy yellow and pink printed dress. Sigh. So happy just looking at it. From Etsy seller, Crooked Tree Vintage.

I love boys in plaid pants.  And I would certainly love any boy in these sweet plaid pants.Wouldn’t you? From Etsy seller, Odelette.

I love these vintage racing jackets and this one is in perfect condition.  Just like the ones the boys wore in West Side Story. From Etsy seller, Stop the Clock Vintage.

Oh, if I got my hot little hands on this lot of sweet vintage Archie comic books, you wouldn’t see me for a week.  My favorite Archie comics were the ones From Etsy seller, Little Red Polka Dots!

Wow! I’d like these snappy shoes in my size, please! And never been worn to boot. SWEET! From Etsy seller, From Eve with Love.

Check out this flower power mini dress. Perfect sunny–just like your little girlie! From Etsy seller, Sweet Shop Vintage.

My doctor as a kid had one of these beauts–a sweet Vintage Price airport. Awww yeah! From Etsy seller, Oopsee Daisies.

 

 

A Peek at Vintage Disneyland.

Disney, Vintage Photos

I just got back from LA and my folks are arriving in a few hours and I’m in “clean the house!” mode ( Sam has been shedding like a maniac!). I haven’t quite finished my Link Hootenanny, but will post it tonight or tomorrow. Until then, how amazing are these vintage Disney photos?? The place is still magical as ever, but I so miss some of the old rides, like the Country Bear Jamboree and America Sings…..

But the main difference is the amount of people. WOW. The crowds are just so insane. It’s pretty incredible how many people visit the Happiest Place on Earth EVERY SINGLE DAY. I think there were 40,000 people there. Or maybe 80,000. I can’t remember. Either way, the number is mind boggling! You’ll notice how much SPACE there is in these photos….

This family in particular is awesome. Always dress up and always having (arms-folded) fun!

images: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8