Fast Freight Beauty

As I wrap the final presents this evening & place them beneath the tree, I am overwhelmed with memories of holidays past. My dad & I laying train tracks carefully around the tree while adding our own homemade tunnels & bridges of brightly wrapped gifts, holiday cards, stuffed animals & such. It was a yearly ritual which became just as much a part of Christmas as mom's decorated snowmen cookies & my overly ambitious handmade snowflakes (no they were horrible). But, My train?? Oooo it was amazing!! An Electric Southern Fast Freight beauty! A steam locomotive engine LOADED with coal cars & an array of brightly colored boxcars, gondola cars, flatbeds & a fabulous green caboose with a fancy black filigre porch (so plastic figurines of santa could watch the scenery of miniature reindeer & shiny tiny presents as they whizzed by). Oh yes, it went forward AND backward & the smooth sound of that locomotion!! OH Hours upon HOURS were spent watching that train....I especially loved the "swish" sound of the caboose as it slung around each curve, defying gravity, defying NATURE!! Ok, so it was actually Defying the corner of my mom's newly wrapped houseslippers yet again....but it was AWE INSPIRING!
Isn't it amazing the magic to be found in the simplest of moments?

And still to this day, whenever I see a freight train?
I am reminded of that toy...& the brighter the boxcars??

The more vivid the memory...

I am wishing you a beautiful holiday filled with vivid moments

Peace Love and

Lots & Lots of "Swish"

And the Crush Goes On.....


xoxoxo

Parachute Girl

Almost Christmas Crush....

The holidays are among us & I'm full of Almost Christmas Crushes!! And you? What's your Santa List composed of? Amongst all of the following fabu items which I've listed today, I must tell you that the greatest of these are moments which cannot be written. Moments whose depth & beauty cannot be confined within mere typed black & white letters. These moments I shall keep to myself & share with you someday when we meet over cups of EarlGray
(where we can discuss our crushathons in 3D format)

oooooooo and
P.S.
Dear Santa, I am dreaming of a certain Darling, vintage black bicycle & a snappy red jumpsuit (or something gloriously Sophia Loren-ish for milling around in Rome )

Completely addicted to the produce section. Isn't it magical? Always best before 9am .
Often on a free day I will walk to the nearest market & saunter through the produce section (before it's been picked, mismatched & disarrayed by shopping hands)
The colors, the smell!! So divine.

DECADES Haute Couture Vintage Resale Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA
Visit now! A museum in which to shop for classics of days gone by.
I would live here (if only long enough to actually Try ON everything inside)
Where else can you find almost affordable vintage Halston circa '75 ?? ;)


GUYS & DOLLS because yes, Musicals are my anecdote to Reality.
Not a huge fan of all things realistic...Ooh maybe I've mentioned this before?? ;)

SNL hottie alert Will Forte. Gorgeous AND Funny?? win win.

Photography to SWOON over. The amazing Michal Stachowski is brilliance indeed.

So many lovely things made of velvet in this world, but the greatest of these is surely the VOICE of John Legend. More More More please... Simply loving his albums more everyday.

The Mumbai you should see.

What's not to love about a gorgeous Neurosurgeon who just happens to be a leading CNN television personality with panache? Yes I love Dr. San jay Gupta. I'll admit it.
And yes, I'm a wee bit addicted to CNN. Seems I'm not alone, as there is a complete website dedicated to Gupta ran by "The Gupta Girls".
yes, Yes there it.

Sound Crush. Needle static. The sound a record player makes when the record is through. It ranks up there with my favorite "awe" time sounds.

Chic times of Yesteryear TODAY.
The Hotel Boulderado. Concierge with class.

& dinner served here is equal to Titanic style Glamour
(minus the catastrophic ending)

the LOVE Teapot by Mariage Freres Paris.... CRUSH it.

Billie Holiday Remixes. It's Classic Billie only current fresh style.
I hope she would approve. I CANNOT get enough of Billie Remix.

Ridiculously overdone Glass Sculptures & Mimosas (Please do NOT forget the mimosas)

My Rockefeller Center
(yes..it's true, I OWN New York)

Fabulously handpainted Mannequins from nostalgiccorner.com

Because Annie has the E Y E

Leslie Caron . ESPECIALLY in GiGi.
GiGi Midnight Movie Marathon Madness

Shu Uemura Holiday Sets are Dreamy

All things Miss CoCo.

And The Minetta Tavern Restaurant. Greenwich West Village NYC.
Good Enough for Ernest Hemingway roughdrafts &
Still Around for a Birdee or 2 like me for a tiny bit of
lyric scribble scribble ;)

And the Crush Goes On...

xoxo
Parachute Girl

Thanks for Things Gone By....

As I prepare to attend a quite fabulous Thanksgiving Feast(NO, I am NOT cooking..don't worry, do NOT alert my local fire department) ;) I am compiling a mental list, a list so long that I could certainly not fit it into this short blog. A list of all things of which I am so grateful. Again & again, one mental image comes back into my thoughts. Images of my Grandfather. Funny, I never realized how much his very image has shaded the color of my life. Such images of my dashingly handsome, intelligent, stylish Grandpa in his snappy Izod cardigans & front pleated trousers. His thick wavy dark platinum hair & his always 100% cotton socks with the shiny loafers. The way he would call my Grandma "beautiful like a movie star" & the way he always made me feel so special as if I was marked for greatness. As if I somehow stood out from the rest. Yes, A view from my Grandpas' looking glass, a glass fully constructed of unconditional love. :) I remember the pride which went along with ANY accompaniment of my Grandpa. How I squeezed his hand tighter or walked just a bit closer when we were together in public. So proud to call him my own!! How he lovingly carted me along on his coffee shop with the locals morning political chitchats or shopping trips to Dunlap's Department Store. Ooh Dunlap's!! Where we would drink Orange Julius & sit amongst assorted plastic greenery & brightly chiffon clad mannequins exchanging one-liner jokes & tall tales about gunslingers while awaiting the end of Grandma's infamous shopping excursions.
What FUN we had!!! And oh how I miss the sound of his voice..
Today, as I remember such beautiful moments with him, I realize the precious things my Grandpa gave to me which he could have never even known.
JOY for the moment, appreciation & laughter for things gone by & a type of fearlessness for the future. A fearlessness which enables me to believe I am
somehow extremely special. After all....

We are ALL marked for Greatness.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

And the Crush Goes On....

Parachute Girl


http://www.nostalgiccorner.com/
Painted VINTAGE Mannequins to Eat with a Spoon!!

Life is Super Cute ..Pinch It!!

Having had a really rough past few weeks, I've been
reminded again & again of every precious moment.
Every moment of friendship, camaraderie & Love.

Life can really take a swift turn in a New York minute & leave you somewhere blinded in the headlights of "wha??" One of my dearest friends on the planet suffered an heart attack & subsequent open heart surgery. He is now in recovery & doing quite well.

As I have witnessed these events with him from beginning to present, I have become increasingly amazed. Amazed at his strength. Amazed at his ability to stay positive & on course & lighthearted through every step.

Oh, sure I always knew he was an amazing sort of guy, but his poise under pressure & constant sense of humor really got me wondering.

Are we all SuperBeings masking as ordinary humans in our
everyday lives? Completely & totally oblivious to the superpower which we possess?

And if so...what is the fuel?

The fuel which powers us on to greater & greater attributes enabling us to overcome adversity.

Oh, surely it is composed of such things as faith, grace, dignity & spirit of heart,

but I think the most intricate part of the equation is actually something very simple.

Something I've realized my friend has mastered:

The art of Just Breathing


The art of Just BEING

Being in the moment.

Fully taking in the details of the everyday mambo jumbo...

& you know what I discovered?

............

LIFE is SUPER CUTE

I dare you to Pinch it;)


AND the Crush Goes On....


xoxoxo


Parachute Girl

You Touch Me

In my life I have met so many amazingly beautiful individuals. So many
lovely, daring & precious & incredibly intelligent souls. Isn't it a treasure of a thing when we find those people who touch us so deeply? When we cling to every word they say, every thought they utter or word of advice they share....... so I dedicate this Plastic Parachute song to you...cause you just don't even know how much you touch my heart.

"No Suprises"
kisses,kisses and granted wishes



"Out on My bike....to the end of the block...

Turn Around, GO And GO... til the sun went down..

Why can't Life stay Like That??


GO and GO, Turn Around..
Oh it's All Planned Out...

No Surprises...
Or Unexpectedness...

Strangely, Suddenly...

OH Everything makes Perfect Sense...

Fingertips Never Hit...
You touch Me
You Never Brushed Against my Skin...
You Feel Me

Believe Whatever it is...
You tell Me.

How can it be like this??

You Touch Me

Asleep in the Car when it Pulls In the Drive...
Make a Wish (good luck Kiss)
Tuck you in at night...
Why can't Life Stay Like That?

GO and GO, Turn Around
Oh it's All Planned Out...


No Surprises...
Or Unexpectedness.

Strangely, Suddenly...

Everything Makes Perfect Sense..

Fingertips Never Hit...
You Touch ME

You never Brushed Against my Skin...
You Feel ME

Believe Whatever it is...
You tell me...

How can it be like this?

You Touch Me"

xoxox
And The Crush Goes On...


Parachute Girl