hannibal & xerxes

i am now on the look-out for an attractive bird cage. preferably vintage or vintage style, with a bit more room so they can flit about. most decorative birdcages are unsuitable for actual birds. and most big bird cages have too-large spaces between the bars for larger birds. i will find or make the right one eventually.
corny is sitting on the end of the bed drooling at them..
they came from the spca, like most of our animals. ma had collected quite a few and i so took this pair off her hands. thanks ma!

cute dog being cute

my little man

fluvanna co., VA

hi guys! it's been a little while since i talked to you. i took off to virginia with the girls this past weekend to enjoy memorial day out in the country. lexi's family throws a huge bbq on their farm every year with tons of kids and food and ponies and flowers. also a fair number of ticks.. ahh country life.




this is lexi's dad willy. he has the best life going.



one of 3 or 4 grills & smokers that were going at 5AM to feed everyone.



we ate like this all weekend. i had venison with every meal!



we walked the kids to the graveyard after dark one night. the girls were terrified and called the boys crazy for running ahead with no flashlights. michael (on the right) just said 'we're not crazy! we're just men!'



there are cars and jeeps everywhere like this



the kids got to see the train go by. i love this pic.. if you click it to view fullscreen you can see the conductor waving back to sarah.



veronica is in big brothers & sisters in DC, so she brought her 'little sister' and a friend to the country. we taught them how to fish and both girls caught a few sunfish.


look how proud dasia is!



this water was so cold i think i put one heel in the whole time.






the girls wanted to feed the ponies, so my drunk ass took them out into the field





lord knows what ridiculous thing i am saying here...




so many more pics and little movies on my flickr: mine, and the beautiful pics erin took.

movie inspiration: what a way to go

on netflix, available to watch instantly. this movie kills me! pure eye candy. edith head at her best.. well she was always at her best i suppose. shirley maclaine is adorable throughout, as are her costars paul newman, robert mitchum, dean martin and dick van dyke. dozens and dozens of brilliant costumes, many on screen for only 3or 5 seconds. i caught as many as i could for you. here are just a few of my favs:


lounging at home in blue stripes & sheer crisp ruffles w matching ruffle bloomers. i am totally making myself an outfit like this.




full-skirted ballgown split to reveal tiny matching micro shorts







completely insane red rubber geisha ensemble








cutest tiny empire-waist nightey that swings around her like a bell

and in time to be some summer inspiration for you: this longsleeved white lace bikini and the best shades ever





and also this killer dramatic bikini.. so easy to diy

48 hours in florida

i went to the beach 3 times! i took a junkload of pics and combed for shells.

siesta key















lido beach




and also a few little movielets:









48 hrs was too short, but i am glad to be home :)

movie inspiration: 39 steps

the 39 steps is another one of those early hitchcock propaganda films that i love. it is maybe the most famous of his from this period, but i think there are others that are better.. sabotage & secret agent i think are more fun rides.
BUT check out the giant bow collar on the heroine!






starched cotton it seems, with a black tie cinching at the center. this will be so easy to diy.. i'm gonna grab a couple of big men's button down shirts next time i am at the thrifts to make my own. this sort of thing would have just been pinned on to a plain black suit jacket. i'm thinking of making mine reversible, maybe a striped cotton on the othere side :)

wanna watch a movie?

i watch a bunch of movies on hulu (legal movies w minimal ads yay) and they just uploaded this orson welles movie called mr arkadin that i've watched about 6 times now and am really enjoying. i tend to watch most movies at least a dozen times some many way more than that, usually over a few day or weeks. i have hundreds of old movies and do really like o.w. but hadn't seen this yet. (i'm tellin you i *really* like old movies. ) so this one they go all over the world in 1962. it's a crappy print but who cares.. lots of intrigue and dutch angles and really great actors and orson welles in a big stick-on beard.
they have a bunch of good stuff on there. here are some more of my favorites:

fun 60s camp sci-fi atom age vampire. i love this kind of junk. mesa of lost women is another fav.

the only marx bros they have is horse feathers.. not my favorite (night in casablanca, of course!) but all marx bros is good marx bros.

i do love my mystery stories.. and especially sherlock holmes (new s.h. movie coming out w robert downy jr soon!) - the private life of sherlock holmes is billy wilder's weird but fun take on it.

carnival of souls is a classic but i do recommend getting the dvd and listening to the commentary too. i mean if you're into that sort of thing.

they have one of my top 3 all-time favorite hitchcock movies, secret agent. the other two would be 'sabotage' and 'rich & strange'. i love those charming pretty snappy 30s couples. and this one also features a thoroughly loveable peter lorre, and a wire-hair dachshund. i don't really enjoy hitchcock post 1950. (i mean i still watch them over and over but i don't really enjoy it..)

dead end is really great and touching bogey w the dead end kids. i love the dead end kids. there's another one i like w them called 'they made me a criminal' that is good fun too.


about to watch terror is a man and frankenstein's daughter. as soon as the lady vanishes is over. maybe sooner.. not my favorite but still worth a watch.. if you haven't, um, seen it 20 times already.

dogs in the snow

i wish i could make snow for them more often. it makes them really frisky
















last year's dog in the snow pics here. cornfed solo - this is our first winter snow with beatrice :D

dog spoons

love it when they spoon :D

pups

and feet, mostly.