Fish and Chips, Flowers and Fun in San Francisco!

This past weekend my mom and I spent a lovely Saturday in San Francisco celebrating Mother's Day. Other than a lot of Toms shoes, there was lots of beautiful scenery to be seen and amazing food to be had.

First we stopped off to look at some flowers and patio furniture at Flora Grubb Gardens, a gorgeous nursery/pottery/outdoor furniture oasis in the middle of the ghetto. Like people selling dodgy pies on the corner ghetto. Combination laundromat and car wash ghetto. Anyway, I digress. Flora Grubb seems to be the place to stock up, none other than Martha Stewart made an appearance last month (apparently her people called ahead of time to warn she'd be there) and everybody's favorite scoundrel President-Bill Clinton was there earlier in the week! Sadly mom and I missed them both, but at least mom can take comfort in knowing her taste in patio furniture is in good company. 

This was the most interesting part of the nursery to me:

This awesome old car (possibly a Ford Edsel?) converted into a massive planter box! 

Now of course I'd rather see it up and running, but I guess not being in a dumpster is a plus.

                 ^That's me and my always stylish Mom!^

After Flora Grubb, we did some shopping at The Gift Center (a bunch of little indoor shops selling jewelry), nothing vintage-y to see there aside from this leftover sign painted on the side of an unrelated building (no idea what it used to be!) down the same street (Brennan).





Our next stop was The Cliff House for an early bird dinner! A couple of nifty sights along the way:

Now abandoned cinema but the building still stands and some New York looking apartments

Mel's Drive-In! (Holy fog Batman)

The parking lot for The Cliff House is directly across from the once happening Sutro Baths:

Sadly today as you peer over the side of the cliff this is all you'll see:

 Aaaand after a little windy walk uphill and a quick photo-op stop...

We'd arrived!

How could you not love this building from the get-go!? The surrounding scenery, the architecture, the history, even those palms! Just divine.

Inside did not disappoint either, it splits into two restaurants, one more traditional and the other some fru-fru place charging God-knows-what for about two tablespoons of food. Luckily we ate in the older restaurant, the "Cliff House Dining Room":

There were gorgeous details everywhere-

From beautiful woodwork above the bar, to fab tile patterns on the floor!

 Even the bathroom doors were cute!

This incredible "ceramic muse"was once a feature in the Sutro Baths, created early 1890's.

Our table had some fantastic views as well:

 The walls inside were lined with pictures of their celebrity patrons! I sat next to Judy and Bob!







After and delicious portion of Fish and Chips, we headed on our way, but not before a quick photo with a cowboy that once resided in Playland !

Alright, and now for the major highlight of the day, I got to see where Marilyn Monroe got married!! San Francisco City Hall! And holy moly what a stunning building it is!

Marilyn and Joe leaving just after being married there on January 14, 1954:

Another of the couple on their happy day!

I hope to see the inside someday!

Well after a full day it was time to head home, a few parting views of the city:

 Hope you enjoyed my mini tour of San Francisco, till next time darlings!

Past and Present

Okay so anyone who knows me knows I almost always say I'm starting a diet or on one, etc. And like 95% of the rest of the female population, I start dry heaving at the thought of having "bare it all" (or close to) at the beach this summer.

Now that I've got everyone stressed out , there is an upside to all this. I've been watching loads of old movies recently and aside from having fantastic plots and story lines, another common theme in them are beautiful women. And I realized that these are the women that come to mind when I think of class, glamour, grace, and style.

All of these famous leading ladies, and hardly a stick figure in sight. Not a fair comment to those naturally born thin? Well I'm not talking about them. Lots of thin gorgeous women graced the big screen during the golden days of Hollywood, Katherine and Audrey Hepburn etc, but point being they were natural. As most actresses today are not, all seeming to be in competition with each other as to who can eat the fewest pieces of lettuce.

Whist searching for pictures I came across this quote from Christina Hendricks who really sums up my current position perfectly:


But spending so much time with my nose in the past and these old movies has finally made me feel at least a bit more confident in myself, seeing all these fabulous women in such a flattering light (or maybe it's the black and white quality? ha) . So to prove my point I've done my best to narrow this list of examples down to 10 women. 5 actresses from days that have gone, and for those of you not so much loving the past; 5 that are out there now giving all us curvy girls a good name. Past and Present-enjoy :)

Past

The beautiful Rita Hayworth, who I am just learning about. So beautiful that it was an impossible task to choose just one photo.



How could I not include our dear Marilyn? She was the first woman out there to be an hour-glassed shaped sex bomb. These pictures of her on the beach before she was famous are my favorites. Can you believe she's actually got a normal stomach there, and a roll?! Golly.

And another with more of her signature look. Yes Marilyn gets two pictures because she is that special.


Of course Elizabeth Taylor made the list, another famous hour-glass beauty.


Raquel Welch, who shocked those squares right out of their pressed suits with this movie poster for 'One Million Years B.C.'

I have a feeling the movie may not have accurately depicted "the way it was", and I'm sure the women definitely did not look like that haha. Below, a more candid Raquel.


Another long haired beauty, Sophia Loren. Can't even fathom the thought that a picture of an actress with visible cellulite would be used for publicity, and not tabloids.


Present

Dita Von Teese, a siren who wears the reddest lipstick I've seen in a long time, and magnificent 50's style!


Jennifer Hudson, a fabulous actress and singer.


Charlize Theron, curvy woman-yes, but I'm including her mainly for her ability and willingness to transform herself for her movies, often in an unflattering light.(But I will depict her in a flattering one haha)


The sexy redhead of the bunch, Christina Hendricks, whom I quoted earlier. She's the only "real" woman I can think of on TV today.


And lastly, my favorite "Present" woman, Kate Winslet. Such a talented actress, and never without grace and class.