I am missing “it”.

With change comes remembrance-at least for most, but usually not me. My memory is unpredictable-at best-and I have three theories about the why behind that:
#1-My mother dropped me on my head when I was an infant.
#2-My brothers convinced me to hold my breath until I passed out, doing permanent damage.
#3-I was born in an Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. Need I say more?

With my faulty memory comes the need to reminisce via digital photos of bygone years. Today, as I scoured through old photos, I realized I was missing “it”.

And, here is what “it” is to me:
An excitement about life-a hopefulness for the future-a knowing that there is something amazing right around the corner.

This photo was taken shortly after selling one of our commercial properties, the Denver House.

Biceps and I were on our way to Europe for an entire month-just the two of us. I had my old manual camera-because, “By gawd, I wasn’t switching over to that new fangled digital type of photography”.

We had our backpacks, our passports, plenty of spending money and a plan.

Life was exciting. For the first time, we had more than enough in our bank accounts. Buying a car that wasn’t 15 years or more old was becoming a reality. We knew we could take on the world.

But before traipsing off to Europe, we chose to spend two weeks with both sets of our parents. We toodled around, checking out leaves, eating amazing food and just being a family.

It seemed like life was more exciting then-for all of us. But honestly, the only thing that has changed since then was my perception of life.

I was more excited about life at that time.

We still had issues. We lived in a part of town we desperately wanted to leave. We weren’t certain of Biceps’ band making it. My parent’s were seeing the end to their teaching careers and didn’t know what was next. The list goes on.

So, what I am going to do today is capture who this girl was and…

…transport her into this girl-who could stand to laugh more, to lean on God more and to realize life is what it’s going to be. And, I’d better get on board with joy.

I don’t want to miss “it” as I’m looking forward to the next “it”. Have you ever felt the same way-as if your excitement about life was missing? I’d love to hear about what you are doing to get it back.
Let’s inspire one another.

Signs, Signs, everywhere are Signs-Palm Springs, CA

When you buy a new car, do you start to notice all the ones that look like yours? Of if you happen to break up with someone, do you suddenly start noticing everyone else that’s holding hands, smooching and in love (and want to punch them)?
When I’m on tour, I get on these kicks of photographing a cool signs which makes me then see more and more signs. But, I’m glad I do-they inspire me. The colors chosen are typically eye-catching. After all, the signs are advertising something and are trying to grab your attention. The color combos, fonts and text placement influence my creative decisions, whether I like it or not.
 

The signage at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs was weathered but bright. The paint was chipping off the five foot letters in a haphazard-but-we-meant-to sort of way.

These colors together inspired me to have Harold in my bathroom. Yes, yellow and bits of red can coexist without looking campy.

 

Our room number. The wood against the adobe made the sign feel warm, aged and homey. This sign inspired me to make a Cedar Christmas Garland from cross sections of a tree.

 

The color combo on this hotel inspired me to do make Pretty Paper Christmas Trees in a bold red and robin’s egg blue combo for Christmas. Granted this sign is more tangerine and aqua-but it was the beginning of a mind shift for this gal.

 

I loved the sleek black on the rough wood. It reminded me of our leather headboard behind our master bed with barn wood floors.

 

The vintage feeling of this sign always inspires me to use cutesy stars and fonts whenever I can. Cutesy is my middle name, you know:
Rebekah Cutesy Greiman.

I am inspired by signs, what inspires you?

To dream a little dream-Pennsylvania

Biceps and I have a dream that has been formulating over the past year. We lease a coach (like the one we typically tour in) that houses 12 people, complete with toilet, shower and sinks.

Since both of us have our CDL and are used to driving 45′ Prevost’s, we would take our families throughout the east coast for a fall leaf tour.
We would pay for everything-their airfare to get to us, the food each time we eat out, any horrible souvenirs they must have-everything. And we would drive wherever we wanted to go.

 

It would look a little something like this.

 

Except with a few of these weirdos on board…

 

…along with several more from this side.

 

We would be sipping coffee as we pass by this type of landscape, talking of what we will eat for lunch…

 

…which of course would naturally progress into what we are having for dinner.

 

My dad would talk about the, “Beauty of God’s creation”-one of his favorite things to say.
And Bicep’s dad would be curious about “how fast can a bus go?”.

 

No matter what, we’d be together, drinking coffee and making memories. At least, that’s how it happens in my dream-world. What’s your dream?

The Hollywood Elite from the Golden Age

It might be obvious that I love a vintage era. An era with high heels, Grandma’s aprons, canning, making pies from scratch, listening to Getz/Gilberto and movies that were decent enough you could watch with the whole family. An era where men were men and ladies were ladies.

All of that said, dear readers, you would then surmise that the Golden Age of Hollywood would be classified as one of my favorites. The age where ladies wore gloves, men wore ties and when everyone could sing and dance.

Therefore, I was more than excited to once again be in Los Angeles for several days and stay at The Sportsmen’s Lodge on this last tour. (I am not getting kick-backs from this hotel…I wish I did, however…) This lodge used to sit outside of L.A., but urban sprawl has taken over and it’s now within city limits.

 

The Sportsmen’s Lodge is overtly famous for housing the Hollywood Elite-the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed-were said to leave the hustle and bustle of Hollywood to hole up here.

 

According to hotel staff, Carey Grant dipped in this very pool on several occasions. I don’t care if it’s a true story or not…that is what happened.

 

The lobby and lounge were what I like to call, “swanked-out”. Meaning, really swanky.

 

In bygone times, acres of forest surrounded the hotel-allowing seclusion for the stars from their adoring fans. Now, a Starbucks is right across the street, along with a large grocery store.
I ain’t complainin’ about the Starbucks, let me tell you.

I would have loved to see the hotel in its hey-day. I know just what dress I would have worn if I was sharing a lobby with Marilyn or Bing. And, I have matching gloves that never get any action and would go perfectly with my dress.
Let me be honest-the rooms were nothing to speak of-decent, but not a Ritz Carlton by any means.
But, if you ever want to connect with “what was” and you happen to be in the City of Angels, I recommend stopping off at the Sportsmen’s Lodge.
Say “hi” to Carey’s spirit for me.