Did you have paper dolls growing up? We went to my Grandma Rose’s house many Sundays for dinner. When we were there she always gave us pop, Wrigley gum and a new package of paper dolls – like the Betsy McCall paper dolls you see here.
My younger daughter (and older daughter too) made very creative paper dolls when she was younger. She spent hours drawing and designing their clothes, accessories and even jewelry! All of the dolls and clothing were kept in envelopes. These dolls had the ultimate GAP wardrobes. C. whatever happened to your paper dolls and their amazing wardrobes?
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Growing up we also made gum chains. I hate to think of the dental bills that were the result of chewing so much Wrigley and Bazooka bubble gum . . .
That makes me remember Chinese jump ropes, metal roller skates with a key I wore around my neck, hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, jacks and hopscotch. What ever happened to Silly Putty? It came in a plastic egg if I remember correctly.
Yes, now I’m ten years old. I think it’s easier for me to remember the ages of nine to ten because those were the years where we were still most authentically our true selves – the last time before adolescence and the culture made us self-conscious, more competitive and aware of comparisons.
Watch the movie August Rush for a sense of searching for and regaining what was lost. But what we seek is not parents we never really knew or reconnecting with our children. What we seek is our true selves.
Today I work to reconnect with my ten year old self. My true and authentic self.
I can hear the clatter of my roller skates as they move over the sidewalk cracks. Skating down my street, my skate key is on a string around my neck, bubble gum in my mouth and the wind blowing in my hair and rushing past my face . . .
May your authentic, ten-year-old self emerge during your day today!
Two more examples of small space living to check out today.
Think adding a guest house is expensive? Think again and this is NOT April Fools, but it is April fun!
See what Derek Diedricksen did that was creative and innovative and only $200. Derek was featured in the Sunday New York Times (Feb. 27, 2011). He used recycled materials and old junk to create playful tiny houses. He has four of them so far.
You can look at all of them in a slideshow here and read all about it in the article here.
Another interesting article on thoughtful, reflective, yet still beautiful small space living can be seen at “Diana’s Innermost House” here. This tiny house was built for the expressed purpose as Diana says, “. . . to make possible a simple life of reflection and conversation.”
A previous post considered what it would be like to live in a tree house. But many of us dream of living on a boat. Here’s a 42 ft. boat that may fit your dream. Living on a boat would make the entire globe “local.” Like a turtle, your home goes with you, wherever you are.
Actually, because our true home is within us – our home actually does go with us wherever we are!
While most of us may not be able to actually live on a boat like this – we can look for the great ideas of boat-life living that make good use of small spaces.
Clean lines, comfortable fabrics, sky lights, dual purpose furnishings and multi-level storage are the order of the day here. Although, it seems to me that the cabinet knobs would be intrusive or poking. However, I don’t live on a boat, so maybe the knobs work better. Of course, the amount of stuff is kept to a bare minimum. How much stuff do we really need?
Have you ever lived out of a backpack or small pilot bag for an extended period of time? I have. You realize how little you really need to live comfortably day to day. Author Rita Golden Gelman lived out of a backpack for fifteen years and wrote about her experience in her fascinating book, Tales of a Female Nomad. Experiences and relationships filled her life rather than stuff and shopping.
Engage your creativity. What will move us out into the world? Living on a boat is fun to imagine, think about, dream about. Ahoy!
Next post: a fun but quirky example of small space living, micro houses!
Here’s another Lenten idea. Want to see an uplifting movie about improving the world while we enjoy the food we eat? Watch Fresh! It’s just 90 minutes. You can watch it with your book club or anywhere that thoughtful people gather.
Unlike Food Inc., the film Fresh focuses on a vision of how things can be different, how much power we have as consumers and how we vote with each dollar we spend.
Envision the kind of healthy food you would like to eat every day. Envision the kind of world you would like to live in. Both are possible.
Thanks to my friend L. I can recommend another excellent short film about food, “The Dark Side of Chocolate.” This film documents how much of the chocolate we eat (Nestle, Kraft, Cargill, ADM) is harvested using child slave labor. These corporations refuse to enforce the laws against child slave labor with their cocoa growers.
YOU can make a difference by resisting chocolate ingredients from these companies and buying Fair Trade chocolate like Divine Chocolate or Fair Exchange Chocolate brands. As a consumer you have power. You vote for the kind of world you want to live in with every food dollar you spend!
My younger daughter used to make delicious apple pies when she was about nine or ten years old.
Into a large bowl she sliced six apples. Then added a handful of flour, brown sugar and sprinkled a little cinnamon. Using her hands she mixed the apples, flour, sugar and cinnamon together. Then she dumped the bowl of coated apple slices into a pie plate prepared with a ready-to-bake crust. She covered the filling with a second crust. We baked it in the oven at 425 degrees for one hour and Mmmmm! Out came a great apple pie. However, she only liked to make the pies – she rarely ate a piece. It was always surprising to me that she didn’t like eating them herself.
The other night I watched the movie Waitress for the second time and enjoyed it yet again. The idea that the pies become a mirror for the interior emotional life of waitress Jenna is an interesting idea. Jenna’s creative pies become the vehicle for her own transformation and resurrection into a new life. We are already familiar with this idea of expressing our interior through art, writing, music. In this case, pies are the medium. Here are just a few of her pies –
Kick In The Pants Pie
Cinnamon spice custard
I Hate My Husband Pie
“You take bittersweet chocolate and don’t sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel…”
Baby Screaming It’s Head Off In The Middle Of The Night And Ruining My Life Pie New York style cheesecake, brandy brushed, pecans and nutmeg…
The following recipes appeared on Waitress promotional cards
Marshmallow Mermaid Pie
9 graham crackers
1/2 C. sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted
5 Tbs. butter or margarine, melted
34 lg. marshmallows (8 oz.)
1/2 C. whole milk
1 1/2 C. heavy or whipping cream
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine coconut and graham crackers in food processor until coarse crumbs form.
2. Combine crumbs and butter with fork. Press to bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes and cool on wire rack.
3. Heat marshmallows and milk in 3-qt. saucepan over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat. Cool completely (30 minutes.)
4. In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream with grated chocolate. Spoon filling into cooled crust. Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Top with mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries and rainbow sprinkles. Serves 8.
Falling in Love Chocolate Mousse Pie
9-inch baked pastry shell
1 14-oz. can condensed milk (not evaporated)
2/3 C. water
1 (4 serving) pkg. chocolate pudding mix (not instant)
1 1-oz. square unsweetened chocolate
2 C. (1 pt.) whipping cream, stiffly whipped
In large saucepan, combine condensed milk, water and pudding mix; mix well. Add chocolate. Over medium heat, cook and stir rapidly until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat; beat until smooth. Cool. Chill thoroughly; stir. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Chill 4 hours until set. Serves 8.
Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle of the Night & Ruinin’ My Life Pie
4 8-oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C. sour cream
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1 3/4 C. white sugar
1/8 . cornstarch
1 fl. oz. amaretto liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 C. chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap outside of 9-inch springform pan with foil. Generously butter inside of pan.
2. In large bowl,beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugar and cornstarch. Blend in sour cream and whipping cream. Add amaretto and vanilla. Stir in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.
3. Pour batter into pan. Place pan in another pan at least 1 inch wider and add water to outside pan (prevents cracks). Bake on center rack for 70 minutes.
4. Turn oven off and let cool with door open for 1 hour. Remove cake from water and chill at least 3 hours before removing cake from pan. Top with crushed pecans and dust with nutmeg. Serves 8.
If you visit Duluth, Minnesota you can always head up Hwy 61 and visit Betty’s Pies just north of Two Harbors. This restaurant will remind you of “Joe’s Pies,” converted to “Lulu’s Pies” restaurant in the movie. Many incredible, “world fabulous” pies on the menu. Five-Layer Raspberry Pie is my favorite.
Better yet, perhaps today I will bake a steaming apple pie, top it with vanilla ice cream and drizzle it with caramel in memory of my daughter’s apple pies 🙂
I can hear the clatter of my roller skates as they move over the sidewalk cracks. Skating down my street, my skate key is on a string around my neck, bubble gum in my mouth and the wind blowing in my hair and rushing past my face . . .
