chill

 
Although it is December, we really have not had the sort of "chill" that one associates with Jack Frost nipping at your nose.  I wonder if the gal on the far left was wishing she had worn her cloche hat, they all look so fab "chillin" on the bleacher.

Tonight, I am hosting a holiday cocktail which I have titled "Ladies night" and I am excited to see all my lady friends as we "chill" and toast to the spirit of life, love and laughter.   I am always impressed when other ladies tell me about friendships from kindergarten.  One thing I know for sure, that is no matter how long a lady is on your side or in your friendship corner, it is something special.  Cheers to all the ladies who don a cloche, a fur stole, some pearls and party shoes.

Do you make time to gather with friends over the holidays and let them know how special they are?  Do you find time to "chill" during December and embrace the spirit of the holidays dressed in festive apparel.  Excuse me while I get this party started in order to chill out this evening!

ageless

Twiggy then.

Twiggy now.

Helen Mirren now. ( age 64)

Trisha Goddard, age 51 is glowing.

In a world obsessed with agelessness, what sorts of ageless qualities do you admire?

wild and cranky

When I have a certain face on, "my people" automatically say, "Ah oh, somebody sure is cranky!" Even if I am not *cranky, the comments are enough to send me in a tail spin and drive me wild.

I began to think that there can be something good to being cranky, something in a sort of glamourous way, a spunky sort of way. Do you feel that we all just have to be smiling and sweet all the time or is it ok to let our inner crank come out to play? Do you ever let your cranky side come out? (To those of you that are giving up sugar for Lent, I can understand how you might be cranky.) Excuse me while I work on my glamorous cranky wardrobe and replenish the mascara and false eye-lashes. Care to join me on a wild and cranky bend?

*My crankyness is due to the fact that Winter Break - Vacation is over and (today) we are back to school, back to work and a busy routine ! The break was so nice.

Pippi

Postage stamp - Pippi Langstrumpf Longstalking

Astrid's portrait as a young lady (image Wikepedia)

Did you know that Swedish born, Astrid Lindgren wrote Pippi Longstalking while her daughter Karin while was ill and bed-ridden. Her daughter asked her to tell her a story ( I love knowing personal bits!) If I were sick in bed and I was being told such a story, I can imagine feeling so much better, just imagining this character of amazing strength and stamina, being able to lift a horse, now that is impressive! One of my favorite scenes is when she makes the pancakes, and how could you not love her side-kick monkey?

Astrid loved children, here she is in her 90's - (image from Wikepedia)

Astrid apparently never made much money, however she saved and she traveled and she was very active in many worthy causes.

Astrid won the "Right Livelihood Award " for her efforts in children's rights. The story "Pippi" was rejected, (prior to the story being published) and now has been published in more than 94 languages. It has always been one of my favorite stories as I feel that Pippi had fun, she enjoyed herself no matter what anyone else thought and she had such style. Even her name just makes me smile and want to wear mis-matched socks and pig-tails. Come back for another fun post on Pippi this week!