vogue!

So I was going to title this post "pose" and then had a hilariously scary flashback to the 1980's, the prime of my teenage years. Oh joy.

• Big bangs and lots of hairspray, with girls and glam rockers alike (like who could tell the difference?)

• "Seventeen" magazine and advice from Brook Shields 

• fake plastic costume jewelry (in every shade of color to match your outfit)

•  anything paint splattered or neon green, or both (note books to t-shirts)

•  wide "V" hip belts worn over excessively baggy clothes (Vent: Why were the 80's about baggy drapey clothes when our bodies were at their sleekest?! This vexes me when I think about it and is the only reason I wish that trend would come back around--to cover up our teens today and so I don't have to try and fit into tight jeans, and form fitting shirts.)

•  satin pumps dyed to match your prom dress (yep, mine were scarlet red)

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (and SJP was just a Square Peg, nowhere near Matthew's fame!)

•  stretch pants and pegged pants (no wait...acid washed jeans...pegged and worn with Sperry Top Siders. Guys? Seriously, like who told you that was okay?)

•  Depeche Mode, The Cure, Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, Flock of Seaguls, MC Hammer (two words: parachute pants)

•  Glam rock (may you live on in our aging husbands and Bret Michaels. Will he ever get a hair cut or stop pouting his lips?)

•  Molly Ringwald: Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and...wait for it...The Breakfast Club. (Although we couldn't watch it a million times because we could not afford one of those new VCR things. Netflix who?)

•  We cannot forget: Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Michael Hall, Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe (he always gave me the heebie-jeebies, as do all guys who are manly pretty)

•  Can I just interrupt here and say that I never saw The Blue Lagoon, but I just watched St. Elmo's Fire for the first time a month ago? That scene with Demi Moore locked in her barren apartment? Quality acting people.

• Records. True vinyl. (I have my U2 collection that I will one day sell on Ebay.) And then...the advent of cassettes and the Walkman. (I never had enough batteries.)

• And lastly...the original "Lady Gaga" leading us into the 90's by telling us all to "vogue".

vogue: to strike poses in campy imitation of fashion models especially as a kind of dance. 

Why? Because when you vogue you take yourself a little less seriously. You lighten up. Step out of your modest confines and ham it up, create some laughter, amuse yourself and others. Kinda like the 80's did for us insecure teenagers. (Well maybe not, we thought that the five-story bangs were cool.) And still does for us late thirty/early forty somethings when we look back at ourselves in all our 80's glory.


So add to your list of to-do's today to take a brief time-out from your serious life and do a little voguing (that would be a gerund: a verb used as a noun). It's good to laugh at yourself once and a while.

Oh, and if you vogue you are a voguer. For real. I looked it up.

Wow. I think we owe a lot to Madonna.

p.s. OMG! I forgot Duran Duran! Could not leave them out. Fellow 80's friends...am I missing anything else??

p.p.s After reading over this post I realize that for some of you very pre and very post 80's people may have to do a little Googling for the next hour. I cannot expect you to know what a Square Peg is or who Anthony Michael Hall is, or even what a record looks like. I didn't really want to riddle this post with links to every Wiki page so go get to Googling. And then come back and tell me that you are so thankful that you lived your teen years in another era.

post edit: Duh...Wake me up before you go go...I forgot George Michael. Two people have now reminded me of my omission. Wham! Choose Life!

Bean's pickle of a story (watch and learn)

THIS is a pickle.
And this is a true story...

On a recent trip to my Auntie's house I was the lucky recipient of the last pickle in her very large Costco-sized pickle jar. I was happy nibbling on it while playing outside with my sidewalk chalk...my large pink stick of sidewalk chalk that my Auntie had also given to me.

While I was tra-la-la'ing, skipping around, drawing with my chalk, I absent mindedly lifted what I thought was my pickle to my mouth to take a bite, but instead found myself licking my piece of chalk! It's true. I am not making this up. I giggled when I realized what I had done and came to show my mom. I wanted her to show my funny goof to everyone on her blog. (And she is has kept good on her promise.) Here is the proof...

So. Just in case you ever are confused about the difference between a pickle and a piece of sidewalk chalk, like I momentarily was...

...let me give you a little demonstration:

Pickle on your left. Chalk on your right.

And btw, chalk is not tasty. 

Pickles are, and I keep telling my mom to buy them for me but she keeps forgetting.

Ta-da! Thus concludes my pickle story. 

I hope that you have enjoyed it.

Bean

xoxo

note from mom: I love you Bean. You make me laugh! And I am NOT buying that Costco-sized pickle jar like your Auntie did, because it will last forever in the fridge and I will get sick of seeing it. Why do you think your Auntie was so eager to give you the last pickle?! 

you think you're soooooooo funny...

Ever have a hmmmmm...what to do? moment...

You think think think because you know there's a bright idea in there somewhere...

You ponder the possibilities...

You work it out in our head, try a few things, do some more pondering...

You say, maybe like this, or what about that...

 While you are experimenting, you are suddenly aware that you have stumbled upon your glorious gift of funniness because every eye is upon you and every mouth is open in laughter. 

You've hit the funny bingo and now there's no turning back.

You milk it for all it's worth because your funny genius has proven to capture the attention of everyone around you...except for the dog (who is patiently staring at the back door to be let in)....but who cares...dumb dog...she doesn't know what she's missing.

And then you're done. Done. 

The funny gene has run its course, the energy has died, 

people have moved on, and now it's time for you to move on as well. 

You'll catch the next wave when it comes because you've got some serious funny genius bubbling inside of you and, gosh darn it, people need to know about it. 

It's Monday. Bring it on. 

Go find what is waiting to be discovered. 

You might just surprise yourself.

xoxo

Silly Series Day 5: The Top Ten Guide (Perfecting the Art of Silly)

It has been a wonderful week of posting Sillies and I have learned quite a lot about perfecting the art of silly. Have you? If not, let me present to you a little guide of sorts on how you too can (re)learn. Friends, I present to you: 

The Top 10 Moves For Perfecting Your Silly Face

Hope you found this useful!

I discovered that silly faces are quite universal and instinctual. Our children need no training or guidance, they come quite naturally to perfecting the art. They are the masters. And somewhere along the way we adults decided that silly was...well...silly...inappropriate and perhaps a little disgusting (#8 gives me the creeps).

It is a little sad to me that our "demure, proper and reserved" genes take over somewhere in our adult years but I found that witnessing their joy in the simple silly was a lesson for us all:

Don't be so serious!

Seriousness can be a shackle to our joy. A stopgap to experiencing the release of laughter. And laughter is good for the soul. It really is. (It was for mine this week as I battled a stupid head cold.)

So go grab your kids (let them be your teacher), a friend, or a significant other, and let loose for moment: go find your silly.

Take the Top Ten guide if you must. But I think once you attempt the steps you will find that you used to know silly by heart. After all, you were once a kid.

Silly Series Day 4: The Undignified Princess

I am not sure the Queen would approve.

The paparazzi will eat this up. (This may just top Jenna Bush's lovely shot.)

The "feigning serious" look. (Yeah right...even your cohort disapproves.)

The "come hither" look. (Undignified by cohort's rabbit ears.)

The "I'm not doing anything Paris Hilton wouldn't do" look.
(Yes, and we know where that landed her.)

The "I can strike a dignified smiley, albeit slightly ditzy" look.

We'll take the somewhat dignified smiley, albeit slightly ditzy look...for now.
(We've got work to do little missy.)




*disclaimer: In no way do these pictures accurately represent my niece. She is always perfectly behaved and demure and camera ready. (Cross my heart, pinky swear) If these pictures find their way on TMZ or Access Hollywood she will plead the fifth...

...or blame it on the copious amounts of sugar in her mother's birthday cake.

(Smooch, hug...love ya Lolly)

Silly Series Day 3: Klondike Madness

So it all begin with these...

...handed out to 5 kids. They each got two (we moms were feeling so generous).
I brought my camera over because of the beautiful light and because I thought, who doesn't love catching kids eating ice cream? Wow. Whether it was the immediate sugar rush to the head, or just the fact that kids love being goofy, my lens saw some silly action. It was Klondike madness.

There was another package back at home and there are two left in the freezer. I am using all of my mighty strength to not go in there right now and partake of the leftovers. I may be mad for a Klondike (a peanut butter and chocolate one) but I refuse to give in. Please pray for me.

iheartfaces oh so dramatic (and silly) bw photo

It's day two of my Silly Series and have I mentioned before that my son is TEN?  If that sounds like a broken record to you then a million apologies. But when you have a ten year old son (one that rarely makes a willing appearance in front of the lens) you too will find yourself sounding like that broken record, only because it serves as a coping mantra as you navigate the waters of TEN-ness. (He's TEN. He's TEN. He's TEN. He's TEN....)
Today my TEN year old is unaware that I have entered his mug shot into a wonderful little photo contest on iheartfaces. The theme this week was "dramatic black and white". And while I know that this may not be the penultimate black and white photo EVER in the history of man, I would like to point out that for a TEN year old, it is "dramatic" in the interpretive sense of the word.  (And, I heart his face so that's all that matters.)

Go check out all the other lovely dramatic bw's over at iheartfaces.
There are a lot of amazing photographers out there friends!

My first theme week: The Silly Series

As I slowly uploaded pictures from the weekend I was met with silly face after silly face. Kids can be so lovely. But as I mentioned recently, something happens when they get a buzz in their funny bone. So in honor of all the silly kids I know (and I know a lot) I decided to do my first ever theme week: The Silly Series. Nice huh? And be prepared, cause I have some Sillies to share.

Monday's Silly? My favorite soon-to-be teenager sharing a moment with me on the beach...

This girl never fails me. She is always willing to give the camera some silly loooooove. Her mother is my dear friend whom I've known for the last twenty one years. When we were young and single we shared some very silly moments (some that I will keep private for now) and this girl has definitely inherited her mother's silly genes. This is why I can always count on some camera action with her when I need it. (Thanks Girl!) When I look at her I realize that she is true barometer of my aging years. I can still remember getting off a long flight from Argentina, going straight to the pay phone (yes, pay phone people) in the baggage claim and calling the hospital to hear the news that she had arrived.  Over the twelve years I have known her I have cherished: cleaning up cherry laden poopy diapers, capturing her in her ladybug costume, watching her rock climb, sharing two terrifying bear-in-our-campsite moments, watching her create beautiful artwork, and sharing laughs on inflatable rafts in fridge Lake Tahoe water. Almost thirteen years later I am a proud to be called "T".

So honored to give this girl the top Monday spot in my Silly Series.

Stay tuned for more Sillies...

xoxo