Maye Rain

I have to admit that I was initially attracted to the Greasy Waitress Vintage because of the name.  As one greasy waitress to another, no one else can feel your pain.  But alas! there’s just not a lot of pain going on there.  Unless you think really cool vintage dresses and tees are painful.  Okay, maybe I’ll allow you pain for the REO Speedwagon shirt, but for me that’s only because when I lived in Oregon Hill there was this drunk guy I called REO.  I called him this for one very good reason: when he got drunk, he liked to walk down the street singing “Take it On the Run, baby. If that’s the way you want it, baby.  Then, I don’t want you around.”  VERY LOUDLY.   I always saw him around 8 in the morning when I was on my way to teach a class at VCU, so I would pass him and say, “Hey, REO!” real cheerfully and annoying.  He would stop singing, look at me and say, “Hey.”  Then go back into song mid sentence.  That, I suppose, is the true definition of pain for him and everyone else around.

Speaking of pain, Greasy Waitress has this item:

That’s a notebook made of a Rod Stewart album of him walking in the snow in all white, in case you need some explaining. Ah the beauty! of white on white on white with white.   The even deeper pain though is our dirty little family secret.  (Todd likes Rod Stewart. Old Rod Stewart but nonetheless. There I told everybody!)  Maybe if I got him this notebook, he would write about his love rather than listen to Mr. Stewart’s records.  I’m willing to give it a shot. 

So check out her other notebooks, the t-shirts and go by her Etsy shop and you’ll see some great dresses too. 

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

PBS is back with another round of this American Masters documentary on Pete Seeger so if you missed the original airing, you are so very lucky.   Seeger’s songs are the important part, but his life story is the fascinating part.  There are still many folks out in the world who are critical of Ole Pete - I suppose even after all these years, he’s controversial.  Psst, he used to be a communist.  (Oh wait! I used to be a Baptist…)

He also wrote a bunch of silly songs, some really cool songs and also revised the major anthem ”We Shall Overcome”of the Civil Rights Movement and made it popular.  He started the folk song movement, a movement to clean up the Hudson River and built his own house.  All in all, it looks like the man is living a pretty good life.

But, here’s what’s so scary about Pete Seeger:  He stands up for what he believes, peacefully.  And, it’s that little word - peace - that makes all the difference.  Well, really what that’s called is integrity.  Martin Luther King, Jr. had it, this major little thing that can change the world.   And nothing will get you demonized faster or scare the pants off those who don’t agree with you.  (See this guy.) Standing up for what you believe, peacefully is like water running over rocks:  it will forever change a landscape.  Isn’t it interesting that one little ole person can make governments so fighting mad?  (Whereas big corporations get tax breaks!)  It’s the combo meal you can’t get at your corporate Mickey Dee’s drive-thru:  I’ll have the Stand Up for my Beliefs with a side order of Respect for other Beings and the Peace Pie.  Super Sized, please.

I’m not saying Pete Seeger is the Dalai Lama or even Martin Luther King, Jr, but these traits are in every one of us and something we can all learn to do better.  What these guys have in common is a sincere attempt to make the world a better place and not just for themselves.  But it isn’t an easy thing.  Pete Seeger was ostracized for it; the Dalai Lama lost an entire country; Martin Luther King Jr was killed.  

Ohh, have I made it sound fun?  Perhaps we can start by rewarding those who do stand up for what they believe.  (Sorry, you probably won’t get a tax break though.) If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m suggesting the very opposite of bullying and threatening and generally evoking fear all over the land.   Isn’t that how this America thing got started in the first place?  All of our differences were put into a pot and certain tenants were declared true for all people.  Maybe if we as individuals just start sharing our healthy ideas for making this world better with our neighbor, it will spread.  And one day, those folks we’ve elected to office whose salaries are carried on our backs will also get the fever. 

Hey, I’m a dreamer.

__________

Here’s something in my shop as of today:

Okay, so I’m not curled in a ball sweating and shaking, but I am wearing a dirty t-shirt and standing by the front door waiting for my SO to get home so we can begin our newest addiction.  Let me just confess it now.  I’m completely smitten with Mad Men.  Oh, I resisted.  I didn’t want to fall in love, but just like the loner kid in the school yard, one whiff of the pretty girl, and I am a goner.  Speaking of pretty girls:  this show is all about it.  It makes you so sad for your mother that you can hardly breathe.  My, how the world has changed!  If I lived during that time, I probably would have been executed with the Rosenbergs, not for being communist, but for not cooking dinner on time.  (Secretary or wife?  These are your options.  Thank God, I can type.)   The sets are so so great that I almost scream everytime they enter a restaurant.  Check out the wallpaper.  Honestly, I would lick the TV if Todd wasn’t watching me.  And, the clothes and jewelry make me want to knock over a bank to afford that sort of opulence.  Some people say it’s better than the Sopranos.  I won’t go that far, but I will tell you that no one has been shot in the eye yet.  And, it has to be the smokingist show ever made.  Makes your lungs hurt just watching.

Here’s my vintage tip of the week: If you love 50’s vintage, you too can become just like me - drooling, dirty shirt wearing, hopping around on one foot, waiting for night, so I can FINALLY get to watching TV.  I hear my brain cells hitting the floor and I don’t even care.

Here’s something pretty I made this week: 

This is my first installment of many, I hope, that show you, my dear readers, some of my favorite stores and people.  I’m going to focus mostly on vintage items with a few unresistable others.  Mostly, I want you to dream of  the many amazing things that can be yours for oh so little money.  So, let’s start with a bang, with Ramona West. 

What I love about her is the variety of clothes and shoes she has in her store.  From 40’s to 80’s.  And all of it is so so charming.  She seems to have a lot of dresses which is my favorite thing anyway and in a range of sizes.  And, I have to say, her pictures are so darn cute. (Love her sunglasses.) I suppose that’s her in the photos, but if not, it sure looks like someone who should be named Ramona.   It’s that presentation of the clothes that makes me love them even more, and when you are selling online, that might be the most important thing.  I will say though that things go fast.  If you are loving something, buy it up.  But if you miss it, something just as great is probably coming up in her store soon. 

Here’s one of my favorites:

Hey, Ramona! Richmond Virginia is coming to see you.

I try and ignore the headlines of the newspaper, but yesterday they put the triple whammy on me: recession, food costs & something I’ve obviously blanked out.  I understand that the more a reader panics, the more copies of newspapers get sold, but I have to admit to feeling that twinge of “What’s going to happen?” which only leads to hiding under the bed and eventually having to be lifted out of the house by crane.  In other words, I don’t want go down this path. 

So the truth is, in some ways, we’re in a place we have very little control.  Unfortunately, we can’t control the cost of gas. (Though it might help to impeach a certain somebody just to make use feel better.)  We can’t control the floods.  We can’t control Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ( Who in my head look like little freckled, gap toothed, redhaired twins who like to throw rotten apples at people’s front door.)

So, everybody’s got some list of things that will help you get through this financial crunch.  (I’m still not calling it a recession.)  You know them all: recycle, spend your vacation in your backyard, don’t charge on your credit cards, don’t eat out.  All good and practical solutions for people who actually get to go on vacation and don’t already recycle.  I don’t know these people though.

I’ve got my own bunch of cards up my sleeve to save us from this financial malady.  First, eat a lot of watermelon (hey, I’m from the south) which I am convinced can solve most summertime problems including hunger, heat (turn your ac off while ingesting) and anger (I challenge you to be mad while eating fruit).  Give half of it away and you’ve also helped your fellow neighbor.  Buy vintage clothes because if you have to get a horse (and how great would that be!), you’ll just look cooler in a vintage outfit than in flip flops from Old Navy.  But here’s the most important tip: make somebody laugh, including yourself.  It’s the small things that keep your sane.   The trick to survival really isn’t in your bank account or in your recycling container.  It is about keeping the fear from spreading, and in doing so, countering all the uncertainity that’s spreading like a bad case of junior high mono. 

I have to apologize again.  I feel like I’ve left my little child under the staircase and forgot to let her out for sunshine.  (This may be why I don’t have children. ) So even though my little new baby blog has been shoved almost forgotten under the front hall stairs, in the back of my mind, things a’plenty are going on.  I’ve been thinking and scheming and dreaming this blog back to life.  And, it’ll be a new life.  Full of pretty pictures, kind thoughts and vintage love.

Yes, I’m going back to my roots.  I started making jewelry because I loved vintage things.  And, I moved away from that somewhat this past year.   But now I’m returning to something that makes my heart skip a beat.  If it’s shiny and looks a bit worn at the edges, I love it.  I’ve decided to return to love, baby. 

My mission is to provide you with some pretty pictures, some tantalizing products and some great ideas for your own self and house.  So check back.  I’m researching blogs, looking up products, taking note of every little pretty thing.  And, it doesn’t have to be old to qualify.  Let’s call it quasi-vintage.  Mix it up a bit.  Also, my lovely and perfect design team had a baby.  A real one that eats and cries and is beautiful, not a fake one under the stairs.  Eventually, we’ll get to making this site super pretty, but until then, it’s under construction.  We’ll live with it.

 Here’s something I recently made:

PS - Thanks for putting up with me;) 

Come on out on Saturday to see me and a bunch of other super cool artistic types selling our wares and whooping it up.  With what I know of this group, it will be one of the best of spring.  I love all these artists and great folks over there on that end of town.  I just want to pitch a tent and live in their backyards.  Which I have threatened to do many times already.  I feel really lucky to be a part of their showing.

So, here’s a new necklace I’ll have there. You can also buy this in my Etsy shop or, heck, e-mail me and come by the studio:

Sarah’s quote for the week: 

A wonderful painting is the result of the feeling in your fingers. If you have the feeling of the thickness of the ink in your brush, the painting is already there before you paint. When you dip your brush into the ink you already know the result of your drawing, or else you cannot paint. So before you do something, “being” is there, the result is there. Even though you look as if you were sitting quietly, all your activity, past and present, is included, and the result of your sitting is also already there. - D.T. Suzuki…

Recycled roof flashing earrings.  Lightweight, flashy, and big. 

Tomorrow is the Strawberry Street Festival at Fox School.  It promises to be a lot of fun, good food, games and tons of great vendors.  Don’t go to the mall for Mother’s Day.  Shop local instead.  The economy will be better off. (The country of China will not be there.)  You’ll spread good cheer and happiness to all of us who spend our lives making, making, making.  And, your mom will think you are super cool.  (Not that she doesn’t already.)

Here’s my quote for the week by Tobia Wolff:

We define ourselves, and our deepest values, by the choices we make, day by day, hour by hour, over a lifetime. 

If you haven’t been to Wickedly Chic, now is the time to check them out and sign up for their newsletter.  Everything pretty, vintage, indie and just plain cool to look at by independent artists is on their site.  Also, Maye Rain’s Coral Stack Necklace.  I’m thrilled.

It’s taken me awhile to get moved in.  I had to re-do all the pictures that fell off my blog in the move.  It’s always something, isn’t it?  And, we’re not done yet.  My design team is working furiously - well, more like happily trotting - toward making this a gorgeous blog.  Soon, you’ll see the changes.

 As for now, it is raining like crazy and has been for two days.  My dog is whining a bit more than usual and I have decided to take the day for myself to do some yoga, get centered.  Lately, I’ve been clutching this quote by Joseph Campbell to me like another skin.

If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you.  And the life that you ought to be living is the one you’re living. You begin to deal with people who are in the field of your bliss and they open doors to you.  I say don’t be afraid, and follow your bliss, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.  - from The Power of Myth

New in my Etsy shop: