Things Have Changed...

A lot has changed since the 1950s! It's been a long time since we have had to think about the weekly hair appointment...

Thankfully our styles have gotten a wee bit easier to deal with and we now mostly embrace the hair that grows on our head as it is with help from a great stylist who knows how to cut it just right. And if you are a retro Doll like me, you may still style away the night but you do it with products and tools that make life a whole lot easier than it was in the past.

We have also, hopefully and mostly done away with ridiculous things like these...

Separate entrances based on the colour of ones skin... I think it's all due to jealously... What an incredibly beautiful two ladies these are!

Or what about this guy who tucks his book into the front of his pants, he's not smokin' that fish and cigarettes tucked neatly into the sleeve of his shirt.

We are hopefully so much wiser now and have left all of these crazy things behind. We embrace health and honor our bodies. We welcome differences in nationality and beliefs. We have grown.

But we had to fight for things back then in order to get us to where we are now. New health care systems that keep Canadians pretty well looked after. We even tried to stop nuclear arms and look at how many women were able to be a part of the rallies. The women of the 1950's plowed and paved a road that leads to us today.

But for a Doll like me, there are some things that I love and have decided to incorporate into my life that are old fashioned but good.

One should always take the time to nurture a friendship or two. Handing out with your best girl is so very important!

Putting on your best outfit and hitting the town just the Dolls can be one of the most enlightening experiences!

Although there is access to all things nearly immediately I still love a good night out at the theater. There is something about going out that is so nostalgic that it makes the movie just a wee bit better.

And even better if you can find yourself a drive in... Ohhhhh, a night at the drive in is just glorious. It's a totally different experience. The sound coming through the car stereo, the concession food that is mostly terrible but delicious because of it! The sound of the car doors slamming as someone takes their child to the washroom or the honking of horns because someone, in the middle of a good make-out session accidentally hit the headlights on and now no one can see the screen. It's a night we try to enjoy at least once a summer... because these places are sure to be things of legend soon.

Letting go of the bad and down right wrong is important but so is holding on to the fun things and enjoying them for as long as one can.

I love the care women put into themselves. The time that they took to style themselves and their families. Remember going to see the Christmas windows? I will do my windows here at Mrs. Rees' Vintage Beauty Palour until we close shop. There is nothing like gazing dreamily at a shop window... dreaming of what that dress would feel like on your body, what that hairstyle might do for your eyes...

Taking a little more time to connect with each other and to ourselves is a good thing.

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES is what my grandma used to say to me... so in the spring and summer right through to the fall that is exactly how I begin my days. I get suited up, whatever that may be and I walk to the parlour. I leave a bit earlier than necessary so that when I meet someone I know along the way, I have time to chat. If I see something pretty, I have time to take a photo or a sniff! I keep my eyes open and I don't wear my IPod, I listen to the sounds of life around me. I walk, I run and I have even been known to skip! If I see a chalk hopscotch that no one happens to be using, I do it... I am not a young girl anymore but in my heart I am. I take the time to see the day and enjoy a part of it no matter what.

My uncle is dying, he is my favorite... he has a love for days gone by the same as I do. He was so thrilled the day he got his Jukebox. We always danced and jived and partied together when we saw each other. He lived though this time as a teen where I was not quite born yet but he never let it go and when I was born I saw the romance of it! I fell head over heels in love with days gone by. And today, he is laying in a hospital bed in a coma and will most likely never wake up.

I have almost been open for a year now, about as long as it's been since he first got sick. He has never seen Mrs. Rees' Vintage Beauty Parlour and yet I feel this place echos his passion for this time. Soon there will be a photo of him and I on the wall all decked out in our 1950's greaser gear. You will be able to meet him that way and see the fun this man gave the world.

I will miss him! Stop to smell the flowers in your life... they don't live forever!