My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Sugary Eye Candy and A Newlywed Story for Pink Saturday 3/31/2012

Just to let you know that if you're seeing two different fonts on here today, so am I. No clue what is happening but I'll figure it out later. If it ain't one thing, it's another, as they say.
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Welcome once again to Pink Saturday brought to you by Beverly's blog. Just click and go to her blog to see all the pink participants.
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Back in the 1960s we lived in Oceanside, California. We were newlyweds and quite poor. It would be a magnificent day if I received a letter from my mom with two dollars—that would be about fifteen dollars in today's money—in it. But I truly look back on those days with fond memories. Another blogger evoked those memories on her blog not too long ago. I hadn't thought of those days for many years. And that brings to mind a story.

We first lived in a trailer, which was on blocks in a very neat and orderly "neighborhood" of trailers on the USMC Military Base of Camp Pendleton. It was one bedroom, if you could call it a bedroom and actually quite nice. It was small—about the size of a small camper— but immaculately clean. When I had our first child we then moved up to a two bedroom trailer and felt like we were in heaven with all the extra room. After our son was born, we moved into base housing—called Sterling Homes— in the town of Oceanside. We had a 2 bedroom, first floor apartment. It was furnished as we had nothing but a crib, clothing and dishes. We had two children, only one car and were fortunate when it ran. I have no pity at all for people who complain they have only one car. My hubby drove the car to work; I did the shopping with two kids in a stroller and walked about a mile to the local Vons grocery store. But if I was real lucky I could take a bus or hubby would drive and shop with me sometimes after he got off work. I said "No pity" and I meant it. Try doing that today.

In those days there was a truck that came around; actually, there were two trucks that came around as I just this moment remembered the second one. The first was a bakery truck from a LA-based bakery called Helms Bakery. This is a photo of that coach, as they were called. I loved that truck. As I recall, you could just step up into the coach and get your items and put them in a paper bag. It also sold cigarettes and at that time hubs smoked; however, I've never smoked and am glad of that now. (He hasn't smoked for 30 years now and I'm glad.) But they sold all the items on that coach on credit. You just signed a receipt, no credit cards in those days as I recall, and paid when payday came around. It saved us from starvation many times. Not only bread was sold, but pastries, my favorite sweet.

The second truck was a big ole lumbering truck with fresh vegetables, fruits, candy and other things that actually eludes my mind now. It had fold-up sides and he even carried a hanging scale to weigh the produce. And it also took just a signature to buy something and pay it off on our paydays. The man who owned that business was Mexican and he had a service that few people had in those days, but he was valued in our neighborhood, let me tell you. That truck also kept us from starving a few times. Okay, so we weren't truly going to starve, but it sounded good in the telling of this story. We've been incredibly blessed in this life. Always enough food and always enough money to survive. That's a great blessing
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This is a very brave color to use and I love it. That living room is about the size of mine. Small. Actually, mine is probably smaller than this room.





Can you really believe a polka dot Aga stove?!

Isn't this lovely in blue? Just a sweet setting.

Organized perfectly in my opinion.


When I saw this pink door I started thinking about painting my front door pink. It's red now and I am wanting to repaint it a vibrant red, but I just may opt for pink instead. We'll see.

I'm not fond of carnivals or amusement parks but this merry-go-round is stupendous.

I like pink and white stripes but I can't even begin to imagine the amount of thought and measuring that went into this bathroom wall decor.

Definitely my kind of setting.

Oooooh, yesssss, white fluffy clouds in a pink sky.

Love this studio also. Awesome workspace.

Can you imagine these colors in a cottage by the seashore?

Another awesome blue vignette.

I have a hook that is very similar to this piece of jewelry.

I'd never thought of painting my hutch pink but this one inspires me! I think I'll do it this summer.

Weathered doors are always great eye candy. Just a certain patina to them that draws us.

My embroidery thread never came on tiny palettes so beautiful.

While some people may like this look, I think I want a more polished look in my bathroom furnishings.


Another stroke of genius in the color department. Gorgeous!
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Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents or parents had a different word for burger flipping: They called it opportunity. Both of my kids did it as teenagers, besides working at a drive-in theater, and they are both huge successes today. It gave them character.
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Photos courtesy of tumblr and pinterest.