Kickin' It Grandma Style

The Granny Alphabet by Lawrence Mynott

The Granny Alphabet by Tim Walker and Kit Hesketh-Harvey



PLUS A GIVEAWAY!!

HEY! You are all so wonderful! I just LOVED reading your comments about your first fashion memories. If you haven't had a chance to read them yet you really should go to my last blog post and check them out. Interestingly most of them had to do with either denim or hand-me-downs.

The beautiful Rosemary of Miss Cellany talked on her blog about her adorable Smocked Dress and how this style has followed her throughout  her life.

And of course there is Curtise's famous Chicken Dress!!

So....let us now flip to the other end of the calendar of life.

I am not a Grandma. But at 62 I am certainly old enough to be one. I get the senior citizen discount at the pharmacy and the movie theatre. I buy purple shampoo. And cute young guys approach me not to flirt but to help me carry heavy packages. 

But I don't mind...much.

Maybe because I was fortunate enough to know my grandmothers and they were both pretty great, I have always adored good old fashioned Granny Style. I've kind of been dressing like a grandma ever since I was a teenager.

*my friends and family are all rolling their eyes and nodding their heads YES right now*

 I love orthopedic shoes with socks. I love flowered rayon dresses. I love pilled cardigan sweaters with wadded up Kleenex in the pockets. I love purses stuffed with almost-used-up tubes of  lipstick, tins of mints, torn ticket stubs and battered pet photos. I like chipped nail polish and too much rouge and bobby pins and reading glasses on chains.

And NOW I'm finally old enough to rock this style Authentically.

flowered rayon dress I've owned since the 1980's
gray cashmere sweater ~  also mine since the 1980's
piles of bead bracelets from various decades
brand new! ankle socks
super comfy orthopedic sandals ~ Naturalizer
tea cup and saucer ~ a gift from my Grandma Worthington
grey hair ~ Mother Nature

And now the GIVEAWAY part.



THE GRANNY ALPHABET is the most adorable two part book.

It is one of my very favorite picture books and I want to share it with you.

One book is full of photographs of Grannies by the Amazing Tim Walker.

The other book is full of charming Grandma drawings by the equally Amazing Lawrence Mynott.

 My one and only criticism is that it is lacking in diversity. But Tim Walker has said that this book was an homage to "the little old ladies who live down the lane" and I honestly believe that just about everybody will recognize a favorite Nana in these books.

Here's a teeny weeny sample:



#hot harridan reading ~ Thanks for that, Melanie :-)

So.... if you would like to have these books for your very own let me know in the Comments section and in mid-April I will pick one name out of my old straw granny hat.

Good Luck, Kids!!!!

I'll be kickin' it at Patti's Visible Monday. Meet me there.



Cool Clear Water

I recently moved to the town of Carlsbad, California which is just north of San Diego.

In 1882, long before I ever moved here, a farmer named John Frazier was drilling a well on his land when he struck a deep aquifer of alkaline mineral water.

It was very similar to the therapeutic mineral water from Karlsbad, Bohemia so they decided to name it Carlsbad Mineral Water. 

Until the 1930's many health conscious people from all around the world came to Carlsbad to "take the waters."  But during the Great Depression the whole thing to fell into disrepair. The depression had that effect on a lot of things.

Until the 1990's when a nice man named Ludvik Grigoras, who was born in Karlsbad now the Czech Republic, decided to declare Karlsbad and Carlsbad Sister Cities. He then worked to raise money to help restore the California spa. He even had his Czech sculptor friend create a bronze statue of John Frazier.

Yay for Ludvik Grigoras!!!!

If any of you have ever had a swig of tap water here in Southern California you would have to admit that it doesn't taste great. It comes all the way from Colorado and picks up some funky stuff along the journey so it tastes a bit "off" by the time it gets here.

Spring Water is the only way to go.

So you have to pay for it. Big deal. I think it's worth it.

If you are a Spring Water fiend like I am, I would like to introduce you to FindASpring.com 

This web site shows you where to find Cool Clear Springs all over the World.

There might even be one close to you! Check it out.

So what does a Barefoot Aquarian wear to collect Spring Water?

A rayon dress with pictures of Cranes Flying over Water of course!

Made from this pattern.

 I'm on a mission to make as many of my own clothes as possible.

Ha! We shall see.....

 

I leave you, hopefully well-hydrated, with some Vintage Cowboy Coolness*

 

Heading over to Patti's Visible Monday. See you there!

 

*I'm sorry if you can't see this on your ipad. I'm trying to figure that one out!

It's just a bunch of dapper old cowboys. You're not missing much.