Monday, November 25, 2013

Rock Around the Park 2013

Earlier this month Dave and I attended the 6th Annual Rock Around the Park gathering at Disneyland.  We had a great day at the park, met up with some friends, met some new ones, and generally enjoyed the day dressed up at Disneyland (is there really any other way to attend the park?).

We gathered for the annual group photo and met Sean the organizer of the event.  Awesome guy and truly inspiring that they are now in their 6th year of the annual event!



I unfortunately was off my game on taking photos so I had to pull together photos I was able to find online of Dave and myself at the event.  I wore my blue felt dancing Mickey and Minnie circle skirt. This was an amazing thrift find from the previous month.  I got several nice compliments and had so much fun wearing this at the park.  Here we are sitting at the Mark Twain boat loading area. 



 I think the initial plan was to ride the Mark Twain but it turned out that the Columbia pulled up when everyone was ready to ride.  It was a packed boat!



We were so happy to be able to spend our day at the park with our friends Natalie, Gabriela, and Juan.  It was Gabriela's birthday as well!  These peeps are too cool.


We ate lunch at the Thunder Mountain BBQ Ranch for the first time and were very much impressed.  The food was good and the cost wasn't too shabby for an all you can eat restaurant.  We were surprised to find that Denny aka King Kukulele performs as Tex Tumbleweed at this restaurant.  We were sure to say hi!  Sorry no pictures.  Again I was totally off my game.  Making your reservation early is the best idea if you plan on eating here and I totally recommend you try it at least once.


Natalie beat my butt at Astro Blasters.  I love this ride!


Dave double gunned it. You can tell which arm is his better shooting arm based on his scores.


I changed into some comfy clothes once the sun went down.  I'm so glad I brought an extra set of clothes as it got really chilly.  I was lucky enough to win this men's Cat's Like Us Shirt.  It has become a favorite pajama top!  Be sure to check out their cute clothes here.



Below is the last picture of the night taken by Paul of Rydell Relics while we were listening to the Beatles cover band that was playing at the Tomorrowland Terrace.  They were really good!  So glad we got to meet Paul!


Looking forward to next year's meet up as always!

Till' Next Time,

Suz

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

CreepyGirl Designs = Beautiful hair Accessories

The holidays are right around the corner and I wanted to be sure that I posted a blog stating that you should be supporting your local and small businesses (if not always) by shopping with them this holiday season.  I have been meaning to do a blog about my friend Natalie's store on Etsy for quite some time now and this is the perfect time to spread the word of her business.



She makes gorgeous hair pieces and hats.  I have been gifted many a hair clips from her in the past (which I wear often) and will be having her make my bridesmaid's hair pieces for my up coming wedding next year.  She not only has an Etsy store here, she also has been vending at past Tonga Hut tiki events including Tiki Wonderland which takes place Sunday December the 15th at their North Hollywood location.  Please visit their website here for more information and be sure to say hi to Natalie if you indeed do attend.

Here are just an assortment of some of her lovely pieces!










Till' Next Time,

Suz


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Thrift Blog: October 2013

Seriously, where has this year gone?!?!  I can't believe I'm already onto my October thrift blog.  Well my enthusiasm for holding back on purchases was short lived for this month.  November and December will however be filled with less goodies to share as I will be primarily shopping for others.  I have however already found some nice vintage Christmas decorations; but that's for the next blog.  Let's dive into the finds for October.

So truthfully the first few items are spillage from September.  I was so high and mighty about how I wasn't going to do anymore shopping.  Well, I can place the blame on Dave as he was the one that put the idea of visiting nearby thrift stores in Anaheim when we were in town for Tiki Day at Disneyland.  Here's what I found!

Flower power Bermuda bag and pretty floral coin purse.


Vintage plastic cups and serving dish.


Set of brown Raffia glasses.


Hummingbird Couroc plate.


Now from here on are my true finds for October.  The following were items I found at Koby's swap meet located here in San Diego every Saturday and Sunday at the Sports Arena.

Bamboo bangles and plastic striped bangle.


Wooden parrot and fruit cocktail necklace.


Vintage lipstick holder.  This cost me a measly 25 cents!



My friend was the first to see this kitty but I knew she was coming home with me.


The next set of pictures are from one day of thrifting at two stores here in San Diego.  I know I have stated it in the past but October is my absolute favorite time to shop at thrift stores and most stores have merchandise they hold for a year to only be put out leading up to Halloween.  These were some of my "Halloween Costume" finds.

I spotted this 60's or 70's vintage jumpsuit and couldn't believe my eyes.  What colors!! And it fit like a T!


Dave spotted this Uni-MaiKai men's shirt with a sticker price of only $5.  He decided that it wasn't his style.


No worries, I decided I would make it my style.


I knew this Rockmount Ranch Wear skirt would not fit me, but that didn't stop me from buying it.  I simply gifted it to a friend of mine who was delighted with my find.  Bummer it didn't fit but I'm more than happy to share the wealth of finds when I know they will fit my other vintage loving friends.


This was the only Halloween sweater I came across that didn't shout school teacher.  It's a Tally Ho Halloween sweater!  


I thought this book would be a fun read.


I was so happy to find this little sparkly cactus shaped bolo tie.  It went perfectly with my squaw dress which I wore out recently.


This however was the best for the price find that day.  This is exactly how we came across it.  It was sold as a set.  At first glance it looked like a shirt dress combination that was popular in the 90's but I knew otherwise with that print.  Sure enough, after a little inspection at the label inside and realizing that the buttons are as they would be for a men's shirt, I was happy to come to the realization that his is a honeymooners Hawaiian set!  We bought the set for a total of $6!!


What a find!


Someone must have donated their ash tray collection as we came across about 15 or more of them at this particular store.  I went through them and picked out these four to take home with me at just 65 cents a piece.  They were all in perfect never before used condition.

This is an original ash tray from the Golden Nugget located in Las Vegas.  Talk about old Vegas!


The Mint was another original old Vegas casino of it's day.


The Madonna Inn is a definitely a favorite hotel of mine.  I haven't stayed there yet but have visited on several occasions when driving by in the past with my family.  This place is definitely on my bucket list.


This however is my favorite ash tray as its from the Bali Hai, my favorite San Diego restaurant, which is where Dave proposed to me.


I found this little lady at an Estate sale last month.  I knew she had to be mine the second I saw her.


This was a find that I actually had to sleep on before purchasing.  I came across it at a local thrift store and loved it immediately.  Dave wasn't the biggest fan of it and told me to sleep on it.  The very next morning I told him I was driving back to get it with or without him.  I think the reason why I love it so much is because it reminds me of Disneyland.  It's like a cross between The Haunted Mansion and Pirates.  I plan on having a friend of mine paint a pirate flag on the ship on the left in the near future.  I couldn't find anything on the artist "Rori".  I've seen many ship paintings but never a gloomy green one like this!



Till' Next Time,

Suz

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Halloween Engagement Party

A few weeks back Dave and I hosted a Halloween party as a means to have a mini engagement party with local friends.  We spent a good amount of time prepping the house in Halloween decorations galore and I'm realizing now I didn't truly take enough pictures to capture everything.  We had some standard snacks available to our guests and I finally had an excuse to use my vintage pineapple toothpick holder as an astro mini hors d'oeuver  holder.  I felt like Martha Stewart the day off making both pumpkin spice cupcakes and pumpkin rice krispie treats.  The signature drinks of the evening were either pumpkin beer or hot apple cider with dark rum.  The hot cider drinks were a hit!




We insisted that all of our fiends attend in costumes.  Dave and I dressed up as Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  I wore a gingham dress I found weeks before the party at the bi-monthly Frock You sale.



My friend Alisha (dressed as Short Round from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") brought us a nicely carved pumpkin.


The guests enjoying some food and conversation.









As an incentive to get dressed up, at least for the friends that had a harder time being convinced to do so, we had a costume contest.  The prizes were some treats we picked up from our local 99 cent only store.

Alisha and Darth won "Most Original Costume" for their Indiana Jones and Short Round costumes.  


She had to get some props as she walked on those wood platforms all night!


Lindsay and Jeremy received the "Funniest Costume" award for their costumes as our former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and his harassed whistle blower secretary.


Lisa's Mom, whom we all lovingly call "Mom", won scariest costume as a corpse bride.


Angie was awarded "Sexiest Costume" for her cute salon gal outfit, proving you don't have to wear a very revealing outfit to be sexy!


Lisa and Paul were awarded the "Best Costume".  I was sure to warn the crowd before I awarded the "Best Costume" award that I was truly being biased in giving out this award for two reasons.  Number one it was a Disneyland based costume, and number two being that it was from my favorite ride The Haunted Mansion.  I'll give you a hint if you are not sure where they are featured in ride.  They are located on paintings found in the mansion.  The dress was made by Mom and the skirt was hand painted by Lisa.


We had such a great time and felt so blessed in how many awesome, caring friends we have here in San Diego.  We ended the evening cutting our engagement cake that our friend Lindsay brought for the special occasion.  The wedding is right around the corner and now we truly can't wait to celebrate!


Till' Next Time,

Suz