Mary Tyler Moore Style....And Some Cracking Good Summer Reads

Who can turn on the world on with her smile, doobedo..Who can take a nothing date and suddenly make it seem worth while? How many times have we been rescued by the fabulous Mary Tyler Moore. (When my friends and I turned 29 we kept on telling each other, "MTM didn't make it until she was 30!)

Hum along to the song...

And now she's done it again. The Queen Of Collars has saved my wardrobe. I was about to donate a jacket and three perfectly sweaters that I hadn't worn in ages (more than a year for two of the sweaters and about ten years for one of the sweaters and the jacket) when Oprah told me (well, in her magazine) about how she always does the Mary Tyler Moore thing of putting shirt under it. Not rocket science, not trendy, but it works. Also draws the eye from Ye Olde Collapsing Necke.

She was the veritable Queen of Collars

So...Put A Shirt Under It! Here's me getting loads more wear out of sweaters. This yellow one I had not worn in ten(!) years.

Index finger accessorized with bandaid. I got Son One to sharpen all the knives in the house.

With the usual suspects watching Warriors (basketball team, who are conveniently costumed in the same colors as us and door.)

And here's a jacket I haven't worn in ten years either...now my interviewing uniform, though probably better with a lighter pair of jeans.

And finally some corkers of a read. (No War and Peace here) Prep came out a while ago, about an angsty teen at a prep school. Curtis' new one is called Eligible, a re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, with a naughtier Darcy and Lizzy. (Oh, er, Missus) The Nest is a fantastic first novel from a 52 year old (Yay!) about four middle aged siblings in New York who were relying on a trust fund and are now %$@* out of luck. About a quarter of the way through I found them almost too unlikeable, but (spoiler alert) they edge towards redemption.

This is the most unlikely charming book. Ove is intent on committing suicide; but is foiled every time. A total grumpy bum, he keeps you reading and smiling like nobody's business.

A young woman without a job goes to work for a man who is quadraplegic...and falls in love. A real tearjerka. So nice to see a writer casting wider for a compelling love interest.

This afternoon I've flying out to New Zealand for Dad's 80th. He's still hale and hearty, walking over to the next bay every morning, cycling with the youngies and giving it heaps. Here is as a young lad.

See you on the other side. Until then, keep giving it heaps like the Art.

Orlando

We stand with you. To the friends and family of the 50 innocent people who were killed in Orlando, Florida. Sons, brothers, fathers, friends, sisters, colleagues, people who were out enjoying themselves; innocent. Here, something about their lives.  Here are their names:

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Kimberly Morris, 37 years old

Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old

Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old

Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old

Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old



Love Wins!

Turning 54...and other WhiskyTangoFoxtrot moments.

I turned 54 recently. I have long learned to accept the wondrous zoo that your body turns into; the elephant knees, crows feet, turkey neck and so on. But what I didn't realize is the mind also works harder to "challenge" you with added blessings, which is jolly fun.

By night: wearing my stretchy dress out for an early bird special. 

By day, a veritable Label Queen: nasal cleanser, magnesium and probiotics, extra strength for the over 50's, for  consternation and constipation, neck warmer for head pain, mouthguard for excessive grinding, old lady glasses, face goop from latest Jar of Hope

Anyone who reads this blog regularly might remember that back in October I woke up with tinnitus (ringing in the ears) which is, yes, as crazy-making as it sounds. Although as one friend pointed out, at least it blocks out some of the kids' whining. Tinnitus is one of those things where no one knows how it started, whether it will ever end, and has no cure.

Then a couple of months ago I started getting shooting pains in my head which progressed from only at night to all the time.

Turned out I had Primary Stabbing Headaches ("relatively uncommon"...no common as muck illnesses for me, no siree!) also called "Occipital Neuralgia" and the more playful "Jabs and Jolts Syndrome" and my personal favorite, "Ice Pick Headaches" which kind of gives them a Sharon Stone allure, don't you think?

Me visiting Neurologist's office:

Me: Where did this pain come from, how long will I have it, how can I stop it?

Neurologist: (sheepishly) We don't really know. None of that is known.

Me: So it's like tinnitus in that way?

Neurologist: And if you take aspirin or ibuprofen for the head pain it can make the tinnitus worse. (Reads the research coming out of the printer.) But there is one daily pill you can take, only a few side effects. (I later look it up in the internet and it has six pages of side effects including that you can self combust).

Me: So this is like tinnitus: it's like my head is making shite stuff up. (Starts laughing)

Neurologist: (Trying to be professional but laughing too.) Yes, I suppose, if you put it that way.

Me: (Still laughing, can't stop for some reason) Well thank you for everything.

So if you see a woman on the street laughing uncontrollably at something inappropriate, that would be me, just another gift from old age.

Heart of the Home Tour 2016

It's one of my favorite time of the year, the CSL's Heart of the Home Tour, where you get to see inside five homes in the East Bay. The tour is this weekend, Friday and Saturday April 29-30th, and proceeds go to children in need. What I love is the variety of homes; this year they have an Italianate built for a concert pianist in 1914, a fascinating Contemporary, a reconfigured Prairie-Style home, a 1920's Tudor, and a Tudor Revival in the 30's Decorative Arts style. All photos by Treve Johnson.

(It's no secret that I'm nosy as heck...anyone who meets me gets the 20 questions. So this is nirvana, I just love going into people's home and having a good old gander and imagining how they live.)

This serene Contemporary home, made from exposed concrete and wood, was completed in 2014 on a lot that has sat empty since the 1991 Oakland Fire. The newly married couple, Adam and Amy, love to entertain frequently and Amy also loves to discover emerging artists. She heads up a family-owned Yountville vineyard and invests in a number of Bay Area start-ups. I can't wait to see her live-edge make-up table in the master bathroom.

Below, the Morse House is an English Tudor Revival built in 1936 for Charles Morse, a rice miller, and has fantabulous views over the bay and the country club, and awesome people living in it. I know this because we are lucky enough to be their friends! John and Kim spent 15 years looking for a 1930's era home to restore, and then they spent the next six years doing much of the restoration themselves. They've furnished it in the Hollywood Regency style and you'll see in the living room a Wonder Woman painting done by their daughter when she was in elementary school!

Next is a Prairie Style home, a style which includes overhanging eaves and sloping roofs and originated with Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 20th century, apparently. One of the homeowners is a glass and metal artist who forged the door handles and cabinetry hardware.

This Italianate home below was built for a concert pianist; it operated as a music hall in 1914. Today the piano stage is a home office where the owners have outfitted the walls with the same cabinetry as the home's original.

And then there is this English Tudor which features intricate leaded glass windows. The owner is a mah jongg enthusiast who hosts games, hence the double game tables and her nickname for her home; The House of Clicking Tiles.

You can buy tickets from here online or at other places around the Easy Bay, including the Terrace Gifts & Coffee shop. VIP ticket holders get to attend other events and view additional homes, like this charming one below.

What do you find most interesting when you go into someone's home? I love bookshelves and utilitarian things like the kitchen sinks, and then the opposite: anything glam and shiny.

Goodnight Sweet Prince

It's been a rainy and purply kind of weekend, in honor of our Prince.

Epic fashion and music moments on his 1985 Purple Rain tour.  Adored his studded Byronesque style, that was somehow classical yet extravagant. Man alive, could that guy rock a pirate shirt like nobody's business. In so many ways he spoke to the freak-outsider in all of us and made it cool and beautiful.

Other artists have benefitted from his stand against music available for free on YouTube, but now sadly we don't have enough videos of him.

Wheeled out the velvet jacket and frilly shirt (ten years old but still a favorite) last night in his honor.

Other purplenesses around the house this morning...

This is what is sounds like 
When doves cry.

Isn't that one of the most perfect lines ever?

Goodnight sweet Prince, see you again underneath the Purple Rain.

Our house in NZ Home & Garden

Crikey, thought I best update my blog after four months' (!) silence.  Thanks for being patient and loyal. My sister, Shazza just sent me some snaps of the NZ Home & Garden magazine which features our house this month (sorry no link until it gets loaded onto the stuff.co.nz site, apparently). Here I am leaning against the front door with my hand on my hip, as you do on a Monday arvo.

Blogging is a strange old thing. I've always vacillated between Gosh I've got to tell you this! and Why on earth would they want to hear about that load of old nonsense? and Ugh, I sound like I'm skiteing (showing off)... which probably explains the four-month hiatus.

Re the green chair, They told me this was the last reproduction of a Sixties chair, no one was buying it. Then I saw a white version in Roger's office on Mad Men. Then of course, they were making them again at a higher price. 

As you can see my sister Sharon is better known for her journalistic skills than photographic (could have you squished the page down more, Shazza?)

It was a pleasure to be interviewed (tables turned, I'm usually the ones asking questions) by the highly experienced Gill South. Kind of scary, you're worried about coming across as a complete drongo; now I know what's it's like to be on the other side.

Gosh, you'd think she would have made the bed before the photographer arrived, wouldn't you?

My splotchy dress was a dreadful choice, would have been better to wear stripes or a graphic. Oh well, next time... Sadly, the most important family member, Teddy did not make it into the pages. Neither did the eldest boy, Harley. Don't tell him (Teddy).

Stuff I learned.
1. Practical comes first. Don't bother with precious, faffy stuff, unless it goes on the wall. It will drive you crazy minding the white cloth on that chair.
2. You can always cut the tile budget even further. Tiles don't look half as good once they're grouted, and cheap white subway with a stripe (or just one wall) of that pricey tile works well.
3. Spend money on the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen and bathrooms and whatever other things you touch every day all day. (I know, boring.)
4. Taking away upper cabinetry makes the kitchen look more like a room, not a utilitarian space.
5. Do what you want to your house! You'll be in your house twice as long as you think. Don't be always having an eye to "re-sale." We built a one-car garage (rather than two or three), despite others saying we were crazy. On the other hand the bath-shower in one of the bathrooms is incredibly annoying and done only because we were told we needed a second bath in the house for re-sale.

But the best piece of advice I ever got (applicable whether re-modeling, deciding on a husband or buying that new yellow frock...) was from, of course, Mum, who says: "Go through your day." And that's not the only day in the year you have a fancy dancy party.

What do you think matters in a house??