In the pink

Don't swoon, but I have overcome My aversion to pink.

We are back in Arizona, but Momma and I stayed at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki with the rest of the family. 

Momma's aunt flew the family to Hawai'i 19 years ago for the interment of her husband. She enjoyed the celebration so much she always said she wanted the family to do it again when she died.

So we stayed at the Pink Palace of the Pacific, courtesy of her Estate!

The opening of The Royal Hawaiian on Feb. 1, 1927, ushered in a new era of luxurious resort travel to Hawai'i.  The resort was built with a price tag of $4 million and was completed in 18 months.

The six-story, 400-room structure was fashioned in a Spanish-Moorish style, popular during the period and influenced by screen star Rudolph Valentino. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin described the newly opened Royal Hawaiian as "the first resort hostelry in America."

I shall share more history, stories, and photographs this week, but I'm exhausted!

Finding Freedom

Well, BeForever launched last night and (I never thought I'd say this) I miss the original cinnamon pink dress My doppelgänger came with.

Courageous Addy Walker has deep-brown eyes that open and close, golden hoop earrings, and thick black hair. She comes in an authentic 1864 outfit:

• A royal-blue print dress trimmed with black ribbon, with black bows atop short bell sleeves
• Lacy white pantalettes
• White stockings
• Black boots
• Two blue ribbons for her hair

The 18" Addy doll has a huggable cloth body, and her movable head and limbs are made of smooth vinyl. Includes the paperback book Finding Freedom, the first novel-length volume of Addy’s classic series.

The new Addy is very pretty (I love her hair!) and I like the blue dress, but it does not look like the first dress a runaway would receive or wear.

 

Think Pink ... for Pam

Greta Garb-Oh!

When Dolls for a Cause decided to do "Pink for Pam," a group member with cancer, Momma immediately thought of flamingos.

(Well, it was either that or the Pink Panther.)

Pink.

As you might know, I was less than enthused about the color choice. At least I was until Momma discovered that the color pink used to be considered a boy color - not for girls!

In 19th century England, boys were considered to be small men. Because English soldiers wore red uniforms, boys wore pink. In fact, the clothing for children in the 19th century was almost always white, since, before the invention of chemical dyes, clothing of any color would quickly fade when washed in boiling water.

Queen Victoria was painted in 1850 with her seventh child and third son, Prince Arthur, who wore white and pink. Pink was seen as a masculine color, while girls often wore white and blue - blue for the Virgin Mary.

As for flamingos, do you know why they are pink? Adult flamingos range from light pink to bright red due to the shrimp in their diets!

Using my favorite "1870s Bustle Dress" by Thimbles and Acorns, Momma paired the flamingos with a pink tonal fabric, piping, and buttons. She finished the back with two pink "ribbons" made of the same pink tonal fabric. 

Dacia from Mini Me Dolly Divas donated a "Tough Dolls Wear Pink" T-shirt, and Momma made a pink breast cancer ribbon fabric lobstertail bustle to complete the ensemble.

The first known use of a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.

It became the official symbol of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1992. 

The one-week Facebook auction starts Sunday, August 31 and ends Sunday, Sept. 7. Good luck to the winners!

(I am astonished to discover that I like this pink flamingo outfit so much I might ask Momma to bid on it for me!)

 

Tickled steam-pink

www.etsy.com/shop/CedarMoon

I think everyone knows by now about My Fondness for kitschy flamingos, so imagine My Delight when worlds collided with Sir Steampunk!

Sir Steampunk (with monocle and/or mustache) is a handmade garden art sculpture. A OOAK Victorian gift for that formal garden or gardeners. A unique home & garden decor sculpture. He's a reinvented pink plastic flamingo base covered with weather resistant paints, paper/aluminum foil structure, recycled materials, gears/wires, faux-copper make up the rest of the disguise. He has no real metal on him except for some wires and recycled metal and wooden gears. Steam Punk: the future as imagined by the past (Scientific romantic fiction).

Sir Steampunk is quite proper in his optional top hat and monocle. And now with the option of a classy mustache! This unique Flamingo looks great in formal gardens and up-cycled Victorian gardens alike. Each Steam Punk flamingo made will be slightly different because they are as unique as the parts they made from.

His Facebook page is a delight, too. 

This Facebook Page is hosted by me, Ignacio Flamingo, and is the brainstorm of my agent, Kate Higgins. I agreed to do this provided I stay in disguise. The majority of the flock just wouldn’t understand. Belonging to a flock of hundreds is comforting but a bit stifling. Some of us really want to branch out. Some of us have dreams and desires that just don’t merge with the colony...so Flamingo Incognito! was born.

There's another steampunk flamingo listed, too, as well as a whole rainbow of other inspired Phoenicopteridae. If you like flamingos, make sure you check out CedarMoon Studio!

So many flamingos, so little yard... and I still have to tell you about my Zombie Flamingo!

Mwa ha ha!

Steam-pink Addie

I admit I am pleased to hear that a certain organization has reversed its earlier decision to not give Planned Parenthood money for breast cancer screenings.

I was so upset that I even put pink on in protest - and as most of you know I loathe pink. But even I shall wear pink if it raises breast cancer awareness.

But maybe some people need Planned Parenthood awareness, too.

Planned Parenthood dates to 1916 when Margaret Sanger, her sister and a friend opened the first birth control clinic in the United States in Brooklyn, N.Y. It resulted in her being jailed. By 1941, the organization was operating 222 centers and had served 49,000 clients.

Incidentally, Faye Wattleton was the first woman named president of Planned Parenthood in 1978 and served till 1992. She was also the first African-American to serve as president, and the youngest president in Planned Parenthood's history. During her term, Planned Parenthood grew to become the seventh largest charity in the country, providing services to four million clients each year through its 170 affiliates whose activities were spread across 50 states.

Librarian by day, flamingo by night

I've already stated I loathe the color pink.

With one teensy-weensy little exception.

I adore pink lawn flamingos!

The plastic pink flamingo was designed in 1957 by Don Featherstone (isn't that the best name!) and has become an icon of pop culture, and won him the Ig® Nobel Prize for Art in 1996. It has even spawned a lawn greeting industry where flocks of pink flamingos are installed on a victim's lawn in the dark of night.

Momma and her friends surprised an old friend today (He Who Shall Not Be Named) with flamingos for his big Five-0.

Snigger.

Featherstone flamingos are sold in pairs: one standing upright and the other with its head low to the ground.

And as of 2009, the plastic flamingo is the official bird of Madison, Wis., - home of American Girl®!

Happy Five-0,  He Who Shall Not Be Named!

Went with the wind

I now completely understand why Carol Burnett said in a 2007 interview,

"When we were doing the Gone with the Wind take-off, it had originally been written that Starlet would come down the stairs with just the draperies hanging (off her). I went into the costume fitting on that Wednesday, and (fashion designer Bob Mackie) said, 'I have an idea.' He picked up the curtain rod with the dress on it, and I fell on the floor. I said, 'This is one of the most brilliant ideas anybody has ever come up with.' It was one of the longest laughs we’ve ever had on the show. You can see me kind of biting the inside of my cheek, trying not to laugh, before I could say, 'I saw it in the window, and I just couldn’t resist it.'"

Look for Went with the Wind online, especially YouTube (Part One and Part Two). It's hilarious. 

Oh, and you'll probably never see me in pink again.

It is so not my thing.

Green velvet, however....

Thanks Terrie!