~Interview with Dean Mora: 1920’s 1930’s Preservationist Band Leader~ I had the pleasure of interviewing Dean Mora when publishing my magazine Swivel:Vintage Living. I have transcribed and updated this interview to share with a new audience of vintage enthusiasts. He is still one of my favorite working band leaders and is distinctive in his passion […more…]
New Years Resolutions: Not off to a good Start by Tammy Francis Every year most of us make New Years resolutions. Most of my New Years revolutions revolve around eating better, exercising more, and being more organized. Here’s a fun little short story about my struggles with my recent New Years Resolutions to eat […more…]
~ Style Me Vintage: Book Review ~ I received a fabulous little gem for Christmas from my sister. It’s a must have for any gal who loves dressing vintage and needs a little help with the vintage hair. The book is expertly written by […more…]
~ Working at the Calendar Kiosk at Christmas Time in Rhyme ~ Christmas seems to be the time to rhyme and I am not immune to its charm. I offer up a light fare of poems written in Haiku when I worked one Christmas for Borders Books and Music and was stationed in the Calendar […more…]
~ How to Make Beautiful Snowy Vintage Christmas Cookies ~ These are not strictly Christmas cookies and as much searching as I did I could not find the history and origin of these little gems (I did find some German reference but no definitive first publication), […more…]
~ I Won NaNoWriMo and Revolutionized my Writing ~ This year a gal in my writer’s group convinced me to sign up for the NaNoWriMo ( National Novel Writing Month). I had originally said NO, with good reason. I was working on a compilation of ghost stories, still querying my novel and thinking of a “tense” rewrite, […more…]
Do You Know These Rules For Successful Dancing? Although most of this list seems commensensical, your dance instructors is often too busy helping you coordinate your feet and arms to be picky about dance floor etiquette. Plus, they want you to come back for more lessons and newbie dancers have either very fragile or very huge egos. […more…]
~ My Favorite Halloween Costume Projects ~ It seems like this year’s Halloween has snuck up on me. Only ten days before we get to play dress-up. Of course, wearing vintage on a regular basis, I play dress-up more than most. As my children get older they have taken charge of their dressing up and […more…]