Introducing...Monkey Powered!

I'd like to share another fun artist I just met thru the 'net!
Here are a few of her prints, available through her Etsy shop, Monkey Powered.

A Trip To The City


Plaid Perch


Dog's Dinner


Clock Coveting


This is how our Conversation went, through Etsy:

Hi Monkeypowered!

Just saw you hearted one of my items, so I came to check out your shop. Wow! Could you please tell me if you are the artist of the prints (not the Helen Dardick ones - love those, too, but I can see they are by her). I really love featuring art that I like on my blog, and would like to highlight your shop, if you say it's okay.

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Helloo Lisa!

Thanks so very much for your kind words. All of the art in my shop is by me, except for the four by Helen of course. I'd be happy to be featured on your lovely blog. Much appreciated!

Thanks bunches!
Rigel :)

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Awesome!

Do you have a blog, or any other site that you'd like me to mention and link to?

And I'm embarrassed to ask, but I've never seen the name Rigel before - are you a lady or a gentleman? Tee hee...as if anyone is either of those these days!

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Oh, no worries! I get that all the time. I'm a gal. "Rigel" (Rye-gel) is the name of a star. That's what happens when your parents are trekies in the 70's ;)

I'm so late to join the blogosphere, and probably won't have my site up and running for another few weeks, so no other links to add. Thanks for asking tho. Please drop by in May sometime if you get a chance, and let me know what you think... http://hocus.typepad.com/
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Of course, as soon as I read her explanation, I remembered that Rigel is a star's name. How unique!

So, I hope you'll check out her shop and keep her site bookmarked for the near future when she gets it up and running. Tell her you found out all about her here at the Atomic Tea Party!

Hot Times in the Desert

A typical view in Yucca Valley


Actually, it was quite cool and lovely.

We all had a fantastic time at the Stagecoach Festival, and spending the weekend at the lovely Miss Katie's home.

Knowing that the weather out there can be unpredictable, I had checked out the forecast and packed accordingly. Let me tell you, I got quite a kick out of passing by all the honky-tonk tarted-up ladies in their low-cut babydolls, Daisy Dukes and high heels, knowing that they were FREEZING and I was all snug and warm. Of course, I had the requisite envy of the same young women in all of their head-turning glory, but by the time it was in the low 50s in the evening and I was bundled up in my big jacket, I didn't care! They and their male counterparts had all been drinking soooo much beer, I didn't worry about their discomfort too much.

It took us until after 2:00 to even reach Katie's house in Yucca Valley, and then we visited and lazed around, and finally left there around 4:30/5:00 if memory serves. Indio is a whole hour away, normally, but it took us at least 40 minutes just to get through the lines of traffic to park. Then a big hike in to the Polo Grounds, etc., etc.

We got to see Reba McIntyre, who's about as country as it gets. She puts on a great show.

Then...finally... Brad! We've seen him once before, and his show's are just perfect. This time, we were very excited to take our girls, and Katie's granddaughter, because they are just crazy about "Rad" (as Miss June calls him)! Miss May was sound asleep by the time he came on at 9:30, but we managed to coax Miss June to stay awake and she was just screaming in excitement. It was wonderful.

If you are not already a fan, and even if you think you don't like country music, just go watch a video or two on his website - you might be surprised!
I recommend:
Online - c'mon, it's got William Shatner, Jason Alexander...and Marcia Brady!
The World - just so cute

If you DO like country, this one's got smokin' guitars, funny lyrics, rockin' piano and blazing fiddles - whew!:
Me Neither

Here are a few less-than-perfect photos for you to get an idea of the event.

Miss May, ready to rock in her cowgirl get-up, complete with red boots


Miss June - 4 dollar churros are de-li-cious!


I think this was called the Bamboo Tower - it had flames shooting from the top


BRAAAAD!!



People are disgusting. This is just a TINY idea of the trash that was left behind.


The only bummer of the evening was that we discovered-when we got all the way out to the parking lot-that Miss June had lost one of her beloved pink cowgirl boots. I mean, she wears them Every Day! She was really good about it, and Daddy and Katie walked all the way back to try to find it - no luck. I feel kinda sad thinking that it was probably lost somewhere in that sea of trash....

But, we had a great weekend, and I finally got lots of current shots of our Yucca Valley house so I can do a post about our remodeling adventures in the high desert...sometime!

Goin' to the Desert

We're packed, we're getting ready to leave for an afternoon and evening at the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, CA. Mostly to see this guy (a family favorite):

Brad Paisley! (Yes, I like some country music, too!)

We're going to spend the night in our house in Yucca Valley, where our lovely friend Katie now lives. Back some time tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Perfect Gift for an Atomic Mama

Okay, I'm going to make it REALLY EASY for hubby this Mother's Day.

Just lookin' around Etsy, and revisited a shop that I found because of MoonDoggie, called Atomic Livin'. She is having a 10% off sale for Mother's Day!!!

I WANT ONE OF THESE!!

Look, hubby, this one has guitars on it!



And this one is atomic AND tiki! How appropriate is that for Tikimama of The Atomic Tea Party?!

She's got other styles and soooo many cool fabrics, it's really hard to decide. Tiki, boomerang, graphic, mod, in pink, aqua, browns, green, black....aaaaaahhh! I picked the two above, because hubby has enough trouble making decisions like this! And I really like this "slouch" handbag style because it looks roomy, has 3 or 4 inside pockets, and a wide, sturdy handle.

If you are at all into the midcentury barkcloth look, or know a girl who is, you should run to check out this store! Atomic Livin' !

Happy Earth Day!

I wonder how many people, back in the heyday of the Atomic Age, could forsee the environmental mess we'd get ourselves in?

Remember, that every one of us is important in the effort to save our world, and that we can all do *something* - even if it's small, it will make a difference! Of course, Thrift Shopping and Buying Vintage is one easy and fun way to add less junk to our landfills and less debt to our accounts!

Check out this great article on getting out of the "Retail Mentality". http://thethriftychicks.blogspot.com/2009/04/dump-that-retail-mind.html

The top image, "Thanks for Going Green" is courtesy of Dawn at Sensoria Design. It was one of her freebies! If you haven't checked her out yet, you should!

Bad Mama

Although all you mamas already know this, just thought I'd like to show everyone what happens when you spend too much time looking at the computer screen, and not enough time watching your kids.



Yes, this is Miss May and Miss June after getting into the drawing markers. "Makeup, mommy!" and "Do you like my tattoos?"

God help me if Daddy finds out....

Our Miss Boyle - My New Heroine!

If you are among the *few* people who haven't heard about Susan Boyle, please go watch this clip RIGHT NOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related

Even if you've seen it, maybe it would be good to watch again. I'd seen an interview clip and heard the recording she'd made ten years ago, but hadn't yet seen her performance on Britain's Got Talent. Every time I tell myself I'm too old or too plain for such-and-such, I am going to have a virtual cup of tea with Our Miss Boyle, because she is the most fantastic inspiration a gal could have. She's cute and funny and has a voice I could listen to forever!

Many thanks to @ImTheQ on Twitter for leading me to this blog post: http://www.murderati.com/blog/2009/4/19/how-do-you-know-when-to-quit.html
which led me to the video. This is an article about Never Giving Up on your dream (but not in a schmaltzy way). It's aimed at writers, but I think applicable to us all! Go check out the article, and Follow Q on Twitter, because she's a crack-up (if you don't mind potty language:)

The Blonga Line and Teacups

Did you get the "Conga Line" allusion? That's what I was going for...don't know if it worked!

The idea I'm trying to get across is the amazing chain of dance steps you can take just by starting out on one blog that you already read, then there's this guest poster, so you go check out their blog, and before you know it, you are 5 sites away. But it's such a fun ride! And it's just so darn easy to make "friends" on the internet, read about their lives and thoughts, and chat about so many things.

So, I start out on Blog Goggles, and she's got Valerie of Being Red guest-blogging about her vintage style. While I'm checking out a new blog, I like to at least read the first page of posts (depending on how many interruptions from the peanut gallery I get). Mid-way down on Valerie's page is a post full of links of her faves of the week; I click on one referring to a favorite hot drink, and voila! I find a post about very cool teacups on La Mia Vita; she found them on Marvelous Kiddo, which I've checked out a few times, so I pop over there; well, she found them on another blog, but at this point I'm exhausted, so I just check out the original retail site - Bouf.

This is the picture everyone is featuring, but you KNOW I want it in pink!!
Does anyone know what 14.98 GBP would be in dollars? :)

Crestview Doors and Saving the Neighborhood

This is what our house could look like with a Crestview Door. They have the coolest thing on their site where you can preview doors on a photo of your house - Door-o-Vision! Of course, it would help if we didn't have a giant shrub blocking most of the door, but I'm not going to pull that out all by myself!

Crestview used to custom make the doors, but now they sell the doorlite kits as a way to have less impact on the environment and make their product more affordable. You can D-I-Y it, or have a local carpenter install their window lite kits on your existing door. They also have a very cool campaign:

The Save Your Neighborhood Campaign is an effort on behalf of Crestview Doors to promote awareness of mid-century modern residential architecture and to support efforts to preserve, protect or reinvent it. Won't you join us?

Are you noticing the homes in your neighborhood being gutted and rehabbed, outfitted with "updates" that destroy their original charm?

In March, 2008, Crestview Doors launched a campaign to protect and preserve not just the doors of the 1950's, but the character and charm of mid-century architecture which represented the hope, creativity, and idealism of a generation.

Now we are asking you to PLEDGE TO SAVE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD by preserving or replacing at least one unique, period-appropriate feature of your home or neighborhood. Or use the links at the left to find other ways to get involved.

One of the links is Outreach Materials, where you can download an "Obey the Eichler" poster or a Door-o-Vision door hanger - swanky!

I'll leave you with a couple of shots of some houses in our neighborhood that are retaining their original charm, I think. I hope that as I get to know people better, I can encourage them to keep the 50s character of their homes!

A Twilight Tease

Oh, hey Becca, wasn't this the Twilight thing you've been obsessing about? No? Hmmm, what could it be then? You know, I used to love watching marathons of The Twilight Zone. It would get me all freaked out. Haven't watched them at all since having little kiddos around, but maybe again someday....

Oh, right, I promised to post a photo to entice my lovely friend Becca to read my blog. Something about Twilight...now, what was it? Ah, now I remember!

Happy now? I'd better see a comment or two from you from now on, missy!

And, as far as vampires go, these are my personal picks:

Vampires are hot, oh yes they are.

A Whole Weekend of Tiki Goodness this Summer!

God Bless Iris from Living the Life! Just checked in on her blog, and found out all the info for Tiki Oasis 9. This is a yearly event, and I've only every just heard about it after the fact. I wanna go so much this time around! Anyone wanna join in the Tiki fun?

Shag is painting scenes from my life

Doesn't this just go soooo well with my teaparty decor?

**Update: I am such a dork. I posted this hours ago, meaning to link back to the wonderful blog where I first read about it, and promptly forgot. To give due credit where due credit is due, I was visiting The Cottage Cheese when I saw her Shag post - thanks Cheese!

This is what I imagine my life to be like. Dapper husband, me with perfect coiffure and long, slender legs, little black kitty posing nearby, playing croquet overlooking our atomic ranch and adorable vintage car.

I do live in the So. California suburbs, so that's a start....

By the way, if you aren't already familiar with Shag and his art, this is one of his new prints, just went on sale, and you can buy me one (for a mere $400) at Shagmart.

And they are giving a sneak peek at his A to Z series:
This is T is for Tiki (What else would it be for??)

My First Award

The lovely Dawn from Sensoria Design gave me this award a few weeks ago, and I'm finally getting around to my acceptance speech!

Dawn is a wonderful graphic artist - she designed my blog page and Etsy shop banner! She does all sorts of web design, makes customized photo cards and announcements, and does photo retouching. Plus, she's just a peachy gal!



Now I get to share the award with other great blogs!

Now, I read tons of great blogs, and follow quite a few, but these are some near and dear to me because they have visited here and left a few kind comments (and that's saying a lot since I'm not exactly a regular poster!)
My nominees are:

Drollgirl
MoonDoggie
JC at StoryRhyme
Biba at Inspiration Bubble
Nicole at BombshellShocked
Ruth at No Pattern Required
Art Deco Dame at Pretty Little Things
AtomicMama at The Mysterious Life of the Metropolatin Housewife

Plus, I'd really like to give it to Keith who has two amazingly fun blogs, and Anthony, my best buddy (who has yet to start a blog!), because they are faithful commenters here...but they are guys, and, well, I'm not sure they'd appreciate a Sisterhood award!

This is how it works:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 5 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.