9-9-9 and my alley is being flattened ...

and rolled and graded and the rumor is....Asphalt will be laid on 9-10 & 9-11...huzzah! then we'll see if the rain drain into my building and my neighbors will stop...oh boy did the Passages bldg get swamped....6 inches of water soaked many businesses...lawyer's office among 'em....Blueprints, legal papers, carpets ...soaked almost halfway from the back wall to the front...most water stopped seeping about halfway....everyone on my side got some damage from the rains since August 10th.
update with pics tomorrow...

Sale ! 10 Years of Selling Online!

Wow! how did that happen?
went by soooo fast. Well, free shipping in the US and Canada and half off International postage....for 2 days, September 6 and 7, Pacific time US.
refund by Paypal or by arrangement.

Here's a tiny sample of what's in my etsy shop....

Mad About You...

I confess...I don't actually watch Mad Men...(I'm taking a break from TV)
tho I will go rent the DVD collections...they are out aren't they?

I MadMen'd myself...click to go to the AMC website and give yourself an e-makeover......because it's fun to see myself in the corporate world (as if) and in the corporate world in the 60s!

I remember them very well...oh sure I was in elementary school, but I was a precocious kid. The show is shocking in its realistic portrayal of that time period...it's a bit dizzying.
In those years, my older sister Pat was a single mom and a secretary for a construction company...what a come down after being a cheerleader at her San Jose high school, and marrying/divorcing the football star!
but I digress.


I chose an up-do, because I'd wear that at work. A purple dress, tight of course. A pendant necklace, a birdy pin (I have a bird-fetish). My glasses. A Martini. A newspaper. A cigarette. Sign of the times.

So, what is so cool about the early 60s? Honestly, it was probably the last gasp of the idea that All Was Perfect. It was an era before War Was Bad, because WWII was good...defeating the Nazi's was SupahGood!
Feminism hadn't started brainwashing everyone into hating Men. Equality was starting to Speak Up, modeled on Dr. Martin Luther King, et al, and the all things seemed possible, tho not without pain and some agony for the Old Guard (racists/sexists).

Fashion was becoming clean-lined...a lot of the fruffy-ness of the 50s sexpot-babydoll was fading and a cool confidence in simplicity was coming along.
It was a transitional time...a time much like the Obama Years...we are moving to a more modern world...a world of changing values where we want The Good Life, but we want it smarter and moral.

It's no accident that Michelle Obama wears clean-lined clothes...sheaths, simple flats, small precise necklaces...and the suits the President wears...Smooooooove.
Rewearing vintage makes Perfect Sense! I love all eras, but the lines, the handwork and detail still done during the 60s, and the exquisite quality and fun, quirky fabrics, such as silk and fine-textured cotton sateens of 60s clothing really seem to fit the mood of the times....

take a look:





All of these 60s fashions are in my etsy shop, along with a sweet little selection of 60s patterns. All this week and thru Labor Day...I'll be adding more 60s. Mad Men is about working in a corporate office, doing the daily labor ...and looking Good!

When I Think of You ST, I think Nasty ...

always happy to see someone cares about a Lovely Tacoma...a Tacoma that works well...and why does it always take an outsider group? Why can't government employees/politicians get with the Pretty+Functional program ?

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

oh, right.

meeting tonight...

Do It Right Tacoma

Join us the Anti-Berm group at our next information meeting. and tour. Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 26th, 5:00, 402 East 26th, Tacoma 98421 in the Dome District. Short meeting scheduled at 5:00 p.m., so it won't conflict with other evening plans.... Please join and show your support, bring friends and family members, and spread the word about this event.
anyway, when I think of The Berm...I think of this...



Nasty Berm...I used to live there, I drive there all the time....a berm is nasty...
Look ...

now if they would just turn it into a lovely always-maintained park...a community Pea Patch...I could support it...maybe.
Long Live Post and Beam!!!

Hey You Get Off My Cloud

Hey Tacoma !
Thanks for all you are doing...
Here's your song of the day.
Russell Employees and anyone in a suit or pantyhose, I suggest you play this song LOUD.
Now. At Work. You have nothing to lose. My next post will be about the Parking Ordinance the City Council will consider. They want to tax your mother when she comes to visit ...
You won't get this perspective on Exit 133.
enjoy...
....I was sick and tired, fed up with this
And decided to take a drive downtown
It was so very quiet and peaceful
There was nobody, not a soul around
I laid myself out, I was so tired and I started to dream
In the morning the parking tickets were just like
A flag stuck on my window screen....




GET OFF OF MY CLOUD
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)

I live in an apartment on the ninety-ninth floor of my block
And I sit at home looking out the window
Imagining the world has stopped
Then in flies a guy who's all dressed up like a Union Jack
And says, I've won five pounds if I have his kind of detergent pack

I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd
On my cloud, baby

The telephone is ringing
I say, "Hi, it's me. Who is it there on the line?"
A voice says, "Hi, hello, how are you
Well, I guess I'm doin' fine"
He says, "It's three a.m., there's too much noise
Don't you people ever wanna go to bed?
Just 'cause you feel so good, do you have
To drive me out of my head?"

I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd
On my cloud baby

I was sick and tired, fed up with this
And decided to take a drive downtown
It was so very quiet and peaceful
There was nobody, not a soul around
I laid myself out, I was so tired and I started to dream
In the morning the parking tickets were just like
A flag stuck on my window screen

I said, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd
On my cloud

Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Hey! You! Get off of my cloud
Don't hang around, baby, two's a crowd

Audrey Hepburn...Sabrina...Cream & Black

oh why do we love her so? What is it about the gracile Audrey that has girls and guys alike... swooning?

Audrey was born in 1929 to a wealthy family and she lived a fairy tale life until the Nazi regime interrupted her life of European luxury and private schools. Her name was Audrey Kathleen Ruston, but her father changed their last name to Hepburn, an old family name, just after the war's end.



Once the war was over, her life began anew with a ballet scholarship to a London school.
She then began a modeling career with her graceful presence and seemed quite happy.
Discovered by a producer, she was signed to a small acting part in a European film in 1948. Then in 1951, she landed a speaking role in another film and soon left for America to seek her destiny.

Her first American role in Roman Holiday was in 1953 and she won an Oscar for Best Actress. She was a different kind of star....glamourous, but not a sexpot like Marilyn Monroe. Finally, in 1954 she played an ingenue in Sabrina and received another Academy nomination.

When Audrey played Holly Golightly in 1961's, Breakfast At Tiffany's, she was the world's darling. Her career endured for decades and she never lost her popularity with the world's adoring fans.

Along the way, Audrey was dressed for her film roles by the most wonderful couturiers of the times...from the 50s thru the 60s and again, finally, in 1987, the fashion designer she is most associated with is Hubert de Givenchy.
He dressed her in Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Paris-When It Sizzles, How to Steal a Million, Charade, and Love Among Thieves.

It was Givenchy who designed "the little black dress" in Breakfast at Tiffany's and in 2006 the dress she wore in that movie was sold at a Christie's auction for approximately $1.2 million dollars!



I love all her films but I especially love Sabrina, and not just because it was filmed in 1954! I love the twirling of Paris into the story and I especially love the dress she wore on the tennis court during a party, long before she figures out who she really loves.
So you can imagine my delight when I found this Jessica McClintock 80s dress that is very reminiscent of the Givenchy Sabrina dress, shown at the top.

This Jessica McClintock dress, she of Gunne Sax fame, would be a lovely find even without the idea of Audrey Hepburn floating in my head. That it has an Audrey aura, makes it just that more special.



Listed at etsy, it has black velvet flocking on the cream satin skirt in a detailed baroque design, and a rich black velvet bodice. The neckline is not a simple to-do...it is swurvy and curvy and the back dress (bows!) has a small peek-a-boo cut out!

This is not a dress for the faint of Heart...one must be prepared to command attention...and to stand tall and gracious....and think of Audrey and love in the air!

So this is What I Learned About Parking in Tacoma

1. You cannot at all park for any length of time on a driveway.

2. You cannot drive on the sidewalk into my building which is actually a parking garage. (This will make my landlord really happy.)

3. The law requires back-in parking on Broadway because of the slope....because someone is afraid of some car's brakes failing, and rolling backwards into traffic or a toddler, or a blind nun, and hurting something/someone. (Head-in parking on Broadway worked just fine for 100 years, back when brake systems were iffy, but modern cars have stopped using cables for brakes about 90 years ago.)

4. Sidewalks must be 5 feet wide at least. From the curb to the yellow line is 12 feet. (Seems fatter and skinnier)

5. Cars are not going as fast as you think they are. (I watch cars zoom by at 35mph - 45mph all day long.)

6. Tacoma does not make more money by writing parking tickets than they do from their share of sales tax revenue.

7. Tacoma Parking Viceroy, Mr. Kingsolver, has a really cool last name.

8. There is no legal way to load in Mountain Mist water bottles, park your FedEx or UPS truck, etc. for the offices in the Broadway LID, because you can't 1.)Double park, 2.)Park on a driveway, 3. Park in a slot and unload a load from the back into traffic.

9. There are no conspiracies to change downtown Tacoma into a series of One Way Streets.

10. Metered Paid Parking will happen next year. I'm glad Viceroy Kingsolver told me this, because I thought there were still some public citizen hearings with the City Council before a final decision was made. I could be wrong (it does happen) but he seemed pretty damn sure about that.

Your friendly gadfly, Tressie