I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles~Audrey Hepburn

Monday, November 30, 2009

Matinee Monday: Jayne Mansfield

(1933-1967)

Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania. When Jayne was three years old her father died of a heart attack and her mother worked as a schoolteacher. Soon after his death Jayne's mother remarried and they moved to Dallas Texas.

In 1950, Vera Jayne Palmer married Paul Mansfield and started to go by the name Jayne Mansfield. The couple moved to Austin Texas. Jayne studied dramatics at the University of Dallas and the University of Texas at Austin. While she attended the University of Texas, Jayne won several beauty contests. In 1954, Jayne and her husband moved to Los Angeles and she studied dramatics at UCLA.On November 8, 1950 at the age of 17, Jayne gave birth to her first child , Jayne Marie Mansfield. While managing motherhood she continued to study at UCLA, and in the summer of 1953 she went back to Texas for the fall at Southern Methodist University. In Dallas Jayne became founder of the Dallas Institute of the Performing Arts. On October 22, 1953 she appeared on stage in a production of Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman. Jayne's husband was hoping the birth of their child would discourage her interests in acting. When that didn't happen he agreed to move to Los Angeles to help her further her career. Her movie career began with bit parts at Warner Brothers. They soon signed her and in 1954 she had small roles in Female Jungle and in 1955 Pete Kelly's Blues.In 1955 she was offered a dramatic role as Gladden in The Burglar. The Burglar was released two years later when Mansfield's fame was at its peak. She made two more movies with Warner Brothers including 1955's Illegal. Also that year, Jayne enjoyed a successful run in Broadway called Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Followed by 1956's The Girl Can't Help It.On May 3, 1956, Jayne signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. Her first dramatic role was The Wayward Bus in 1957. She won a Golden Globe this same year for "New Star Of The Year ".Jayne also toured with Bob Hope for the USO and appeared on numerous television programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show and The Jack Benny Show.In 1957 she reprised her role in the movie version of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Her fourth staring role was in Kiss Them For Me where she acted alongside the talented Cary Grant. But Kiss Them for Me was a box office disappointment and would prove to be Jayne's final starring role in a mainstream Hollywood studio film. In 1958 Jayne and her husband Paul were divorced. She also appeared in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Bus Stop where she got involved with her costar Mickey Hargitay (an actor and bodybuilder). Shortly before their marriage Jayne bought a mansion in Beverly Hills that was later dubbed "The Pink Palace" due to everything being the color pink, Jayne's favorite color. Jayne and Mickey were married January 13, 1958. The couple had three children Miklós, Zoltán and Mariska.
By 1959 Jayne was no longer getting significant parts offered to her but she continued to act in low budget films mostly in Europe. In 1960 Fox lent her to appear in two independent gangster thrillers in England, Too Hot To Handle and The Challenge. In 1962 her film It Happened In Athens was released. In 1963 she was persuaded to become the first mainstream American actress to appear nude with a staring role in the movie Promises, Promises. Photographs of the naked star were published in Playboy Magazine. Because of the success of the film Jayne landed on the Top 10 list of Box Office Attractions for that year. Fox did not renew its contract with her in 1962 and in May 1963 Jayne and Mickey were divorced.In 1963 Mansfield appeared in the low-budget West German movie Homesick for St. Pauli. Despite her film career setbacks Mansfield remained a highly visible personality through the early 1960's. On September 24, 1963, Jayne married Matt Cimber (an Italian born film director). Work on her last film, Single Room Furnished, was suspended as her marriage to director Matt Cimber began to collapse in the wake of Jayne's alcohol abuse. They had one son Antonio. The couple separated on July 11, 1965, and filed for divorce on July 20, 1966.After a June 28, 1967 evening engagement in Biloxi Mississippi, Jayne, Sam Brody (her divorce attorney and boyfriend), their driver along with her three children Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska, set out in Stevens' 1966 Buick Electra 225 for New Orleans, where Mansfield was to appear in an early morning television interview. At approximately 2:25 a.m. the next morning, due to low visibility their car crashed into a tractor trailer killing Jayne, Brody and the driver. The children escaped with minor injuries. Jayne Mansfield was 34 years old.After Jayne's death there were many rumors about Jayne being decapitated. The reporters on the seen were said to see blonde hair smashed into the windshield. After much controversy the rumors were finally put to rest by the medical examiner. Although Jayne suffered major skull and a brain injury, she was not decapitated. The "blonde hair" seen at the accident was ruled to be one of Jayne's wigs. After her death, Mickey Hargitay sued his former wife's estate for more than $275,000 to support the children, whom he and his third and last wife, Ellen Siano, would raise. Mansfield's youngest child, Tony, was raised by his father, Matt Cimber, whose divorce from the actress was pending when she was killed.Jayne was a beautiful soul inside and out. She was taken far too soon leaving very young children behind. And although she had some personal struggles in life, awkward career moves, alleged affairs and complicated relationships Jayne was a really good person and wonderful mother. She adored her children and always wanted to be taken seriously despite her sex symbol status and bombshell looks. Her daughter Mariska Hargitay is a famous actress now starring in the hit show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit".

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday!!!!

Hello and how are you all doing today? Happy Pink Saturday!

Many thanks to Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/
for hosting such a fabulous and fun occasion.

Today we enter my bedroom. It's full of a lot of Shabby Chic colors and trinkets. I enjoy being in there so much.

Here we have my favorite pink dress with a bow jewelry holder.And my pretty pink flower vase which is one of my favoritesAnd last, my favorite pink princess phoneI hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I have been really sick for the past two days and I'm hoping I will recover very soon. I wish you all a great weekend.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy!

Well this week has been a busy one and Thanksgiving is almost here. I am so thankful for my family, my health and my friends. I have met a lot of great people in this blogging world and I want to say thank you all for being my friend. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. I wish only the best for you now and always.

Next week things will be back to normal. I will post lots of vintage and Christmas goodies I have gotten lately and my Matinee Monday post will be back. I hope you all come by and visit.

Blessings and Love

Sunday, November 22, 2009

My daughter, the talented one: Ginger Rogers

My daughter is so talented. She is a wonderful artist. She has been drawing ever since the age of 3 (she is 13 now). She must have gotten it from her Father because I can't draw a straight line if my life depended on it lol. She was into drawing a lot of Anime before, but now she has moved on to other things. Her favorite actress is Ginger Rogers. She blew me away last night after drawing a picture of her favorite icon.

Original PictureHer drawingShe's amazing! I'm so proud of her!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Happy Happy Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday to all of you once again. Thanks so much to Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for hosting this wonderful time to share our favorite pinks we love.

My birthday is in 4 days and my first pink item is an early birthday gift from my husband. It's a pink Juicy Couture purse I have been wanting for a while now. I love it! SO pretty! I have about 9 Juicy purses, but this one has got to be my favorite. It has a bow on the side and the color is perfect!Next here is a beautiful pink vintage pitcher that my wonderful Mom sent me for my birthday. It arrived just today. Has many colors and is SO beautiful. I just love it and I thank her so much for it!!Last, it's my favorite pink sign in my kitchen. And the title says it all :-)I hope you all enjoyed my pinks. I look forward to seeing everyone's goodies as well. Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Tuesday Treasures

This past weekend I was busy with some antique stores and the Houston Nutcracker Market. A place where you can shop at several booths for anything from clothing to Christmas ornaments. They play Christmas music and I must say it totally got me into the holiday spirit which was lacking for me lately. I'm also on the hunt to add to my collection of Christmas houses and churches. I love the glitter ones that are usually whites, blues and pinks. I found two more this weekend to add to my collection. I love to put them up on my fireplace mantle with fake snow. So I'm still on the hunt for more. If any of you have any suggestions on where they may be found please write me and let me know.

Cute vintage little girl in blue: Antique Store
Cute vintage little girl in red outfit: Antique Store
Cute vintage owl, my Grandma use to love owls. Reminds me of her
Vintage pink trinket bottle..I love collecting these..so sweet
Cute vintage girl tinBeautiful pink and blue flower dish..will have to share some pink SaturdayTwo cute Christmas house and church for my collection
Houston Nutcracker Market 2009

There were so many great things to buy but I didn't want to spend too much. I bought my daughter a beautiful glass purse trinket. Here are some items I found that were neat and also tasted very yummy.

Cherry Barbecue Sauce. Thought would be gross but OH so goodCherry Salsa and Cherry Jelly...TASTE SO GOOD!!!Fig Balsamic Dressing To die for & Olive/Cheese Spread YUMMY!Wine A Rita..you add your favorite wine to mix..OH SO GOOD. Got Cosmo FlavorBeautiful Shabby Green OrnamentsBeautiful Crystal Chandelier OrnamentI also got some pretty colored Christmas decorations, but they didn't take too well in the pictures. They had some amazing stuff in this booth and it was so beautiful!

Also a neat thing was seeing a famous soap opera actress. I use to watch her on Days Of Our Lives back in the 80's and early 90's. She is back on there now, but I have not watched for many years. Her name is Kristian Alfonso. She plays Hope. Part of the famous couple Bo and Hope. She was selling her jewelry. I tried to get the best picture possible. I took it when she was not looking and kind of at a distance. I didn't want to be one of those annoying fans lol.Hope you all enjoyed my Tuesday Treasures! Have a Fabulous Day!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Matinee Monday: Susan Hayward

(1917-1975)

Susan Hayward was born Edythe Marrenner in Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1917. Her nickname was "Red" because of her beautiful red hair. Susan had dreams of becoming a secretary, but started modeling in New York City. Arriving in Hollywood during 1937, she had her sights set on playing the famous role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. Her screen name was changed by management because it was as close to Rita Hayworth as they could get away with.In 1937 she got a bit part in the movie "Hollywood Hotel". Then in 1939 she played opposite Gary Cooper in Beau Geste. In 1941 she played Millie Perkins in the offbeat thriller "Among the Living". And in 1942 and 1944, Susan starred with John Wayne in two films, "Reap the wild wind" and "The fighting Seabees". In 1944 she also starred in the film version of The Hairy Ape.After the war, she had established herself as one of Hollywood's most popular leading ladies in films such as Tap Roots (1948), My Foolish Heart (1949) In 1951 she starred in David and Bathsheba and in 1952 the movie With a Song in My Heart.
In 1944 Susan was married to a man named Jess Barker. They had two children. The relationship was described as a very rocky one and they divorced in 1954.In 1947, Susan received the first of five Academy Award nominations for her role as an alcoholic nightclub singer in "Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman. But she lost to Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter. In 1949 she was nominated again for My Foolish Heart, but once again lost to Olivia de Havilland for The Heiress. Following a third nomination for "With a Song in My Heart", in 1953 she starred as Rachel Donaldson Robards Jackson in The President's Lady.

In 1953 Susan starred in I'll cry tomorrow which she received her fourth Oscar Nomination. By then she wondered if she would ever win such an award. Her patience finally paid off when in 1958 she gave the performance of her lifetime as real-life California killer Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! She played a innocent woman who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the gas chamber. Critics say "I Want to Live" was Susan Hayward's best work. And she finally won her Academy Award that she had worked so hard for and waited so long.
In 1957 Susan married Eaton Chalkley, a Georgia rancher and businessman. The two seemed to be very happy. They lived together in Carrollton, Georgia where Susan became a "popular figure". In 1964 she and her husband were baptized Catholic and in 1966 Chalkley died which left Susan very sad and in mourning for a few years where she did little acting.Susan's last film "The Revengers" was in 1972. Soon after, Susan had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and after a long battle she passed away on March 14, 1975, in Hollywood. She was 57 years old.Susan Hayward was a beautiful woman and wonderful actress. She was taken away far too soon. She has always been a favorite of mine because she was a very feisty and independent woman which I always admire. She also reminds me a lot of my grandma (red hair, beautiful, fiesty on and off screen).

Susan was cremated and buried at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church in Carrollton, Georgia. There is a grave site marker for visitors. Fans can also visit Susan's star at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood California.


Famous Quotes:

"I never thought of myself as a movie star. I'm just a working girl. A working girl who worked her way to the top -- and never fell off."

"When you're dead, you're dead. No one is going to remember me when I'm dead. Oh maybe a few friends will remember me affectionately. Being remembered isn't the most important thing anyhow. It's what you do when you are here that's important."

"My life is fair game for anybody. I spent an unhappy penniless childhood in Brooklyn. I had to slug my way up in a town called Hollywood where people love to trample you to death. I don't relax because I don't know how. I don't want to know how. Life is too short to relax."

You aim at all the things you have been told that stardom means -- the rich life, the applause, the parties cluttered with celebrities. Then you find that you have it all. And it is nothing, really nothing. It is like a drug that lasts just a few hours, a sleeping pill. When it wears off, you have to live without its help.