Feelin' Groovy Again

The day after Christmas was spent in the South Side at Groovy. Joey took us there as a pressie, and he also got us hot cocoa and soup at the Beehive. Thanks, Joey! Here are some of my Groovy pics...








I had all of this Strawberry Shortcake stuff when I was little. I still have a fair amount, so it is fun to see all of this again.










Do you know Charmkins? I had a ton of these, and I still have all of mine. They all smell, too, but they all have the collective Charmkins "smell" cos they are all kept in the same container for the past 25 years!

Feelin' Groovy

While we were up in Pittsburgh last month, Missy's brother Joe took us out to GROOVY, the self-proclaimed "POP CULTURE EMPORIUM". I'm happy to say that they truly lived up to their reputation...



The store was filled from floor to ceiling with mostly VINTAGE GAMES AND TOYS...it was like unearthing a giant TIME CAPSULE. Everywhere we looked we were blown away...where else can you find BEETLEJUICE, ED GRIMLEY, ERKEL, and PEE WEE HERMAN co-existing in perfect harmony?







In the back of the store they had plastic KIDDIE POOLS filed with BEANIE BABIES...are they still worth anything anymore?



SHOGUN WARRIORS! I used to have the red one when I was a kid. I sold it when I needed extra cash to move from California to Georgia back in 2005:







They even had a throwback MS. PAC-MAN arcade console for sale:





Believe it or not, I'm old enough to remember GABE KAPLAN and the TV show "WELCOME BACK, KOTTER"...



...and I used to have this MORK doll!

Buon Appetito

Knowing how much she likes to cook, my parents got Missy a CHEF'S HAT and APRON, embroidered with her name, for Christmas. We brought them up to Pittsburgh to show Missy's parents. Also knowing how much she likes to cook, her parents got her a GIANT NON-STICK PAN for Christmas. It's like they all planned it! We couldn't help but take a photo of the whole shebang...

Hidden Pittsburgh

Missy and I were in PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, the week between Christmas and New Year's...we were there visiting her family for the holidays. One day, Missy's younger brother JOE told us about this artist that he helped out now and then, and that he would take us to the ABANDONED FACTORY where he worked on these large STEEL SCULPTURES. He drove us out to this nondescript industrial area somewhere outside the city. It was all fenced-in with all these "NO TRESPASSING" signs posted everywhere . He drove us through several heavily-locked gates (which he had keys to), past several deteriorating buildings and post apocalyptic landscapes before arriving at the abandoned factory, which seemed like miles from anywhere...



The entire building felt like a mile long inside, extending far into pitch blackness. Fortunately for us, the work area was right at the entrance of the building. Above us, sun shone through holes in the rust-eaten roof. Joe said that on stormy days, the rain would just come right through the roof as they worked. Around us were all these GIANT FIGURES made out of STEEL GIRDERS...









From what I understand, several artists were squatting/using the factory. In one part of the building, someone had stashed all these large BUSINESS SIGNS...





A giant DRY ERASE BOARD spelled out the different tasks that needed to be completed for each sculpture:

Weekend Wind-Down #137

Whoa! It's been a while since we've done a WEEKEND WIND-DOWN post on here...it's been a while since I HAVE POSTED ON HERE! Per usual, we got super busy towards the end of last year and then I got burned out. Missy's been good about posting to the blog and now I feel like I'm ready to jump back into it. I've got a backlog of photos on my camera, and I'll be working my way back through them, going backwards and rewinding all the way back to last October. First things first, though - this past weekend, Missy and I were in Atlanta for the weekend with work, attending the ATLANTA GIFT SHOW - three-and-a-half buildings filled with showroom after showroom of wholesale suppliers to the international gift industry. Our first day there, we came across this troupe of HULA DANCERS entertaining the hustling and bustling show-goers in Building 1. Occasionally, their interpretive dances were punctuated by a couple of bare-chested dudes blowing into conch shells, which bellowed like fog horns:













We watched this little WATER FOUNTAIN LIGHT SHOW in the garden section of Building 2:





We returned to our hotel room with a tote bag (courtesy of Pip Studio) full of SWAG, then headed out to CAFE SUNFLOWER for dinner. Missy had a STUFFED ACORN SQUASH:





The next morning on our way back to the mart, we saw this d-bag HUMMER WITH FLAMES, PARKED IN THE HANDICAP SPOT outside our hotel. Of course they weren't handicapped...



Much of our last day was spent inside the cavernous Building 3, where we ran into this GIRAFFE:











FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Dinner at Cafe Sunflower...our waiter referred to us as "regulars!"
RAOUL - The moment we got home from the Mart, har har.

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Having to work on the weekend at the Gift Show.
RAOUL - That Zac Efrom movie I watched in the hotel.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Seeing those hula dancers!
RAOUL - Yeah, it was pretty funky seeing those dancers in the middle of the Mart.

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "Hangry"
RAOUL - "Hangry"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Blueberry cobbler at Cafe Sunflower. Mmmmmm.
RAOUL - Dinner and dessert at Cafe Sunflower.

THREE THINGS ON YOUR SHOPPING LIST FOR THIS WEEK?
MISSY - Hay, gluten-free waffles, and pie crust.
RAOUL - Vegetarian chili, Udi's bagels, and mat boards.

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - The Black Atlantic, Bjork, My Bubba & Mi, First Aid Kit.
RAOUL - The B52's, Chix-52, Apples In Stereo, Aphex Twin, General Public, Depeche Mode, Silicon Teens, Rhino Record's Rock Instrumental Classics: Vol.4 Soul.