November 2021 – Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

Day Trippin’ Joshua Tree

We enjoyed the newly expanded outdoor market/fair and shops in downtown Joshua Tree. I’ve narrowed down from the plethora of pictures taken.

Starting with “THE END” – that’s the name of the boutique. Art by owner Kime Buzzelli.

“**Beauty Bubble**” – an operating beauty salon and museum.

This unique vendor-run weekly outdoor artisan market is located in downtown Joshua Tree right off Highway 62 at the Hi-Desert Cultural Center. Started Labor Day weekend and runs every Saturday and Sunday from 10am-4pm. We had so much fun perusing the showcase of locally handmade goods, arts, clothing, and many more awesome desert creations as only Joshua Tree can bring you!

Reminds me a little bit of Nelson, B.C.

I bought a hand painted linen blouse & soft hoodie from this vendor.

My neighbor Mindy here in Palm Springs owns this unique boutique – “Kama Clothing.”

**Joshua Tree Coffee** is the best in the West.

STYLE

The Art of Bob Mackie

What does Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr. President” gown, Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind” curtain-rod dress and Cher’s show stopping 1986 Oscars look have in common? They’ve all been designed by the one and only Bob Mackie.

Mackie, the true fashion visionary and icon himself was in Palm Springs (actually he lives here) in person for his latest book signing…a first-ever comprehensive and authorized showcase of the legendary designer’s life and work featuring more than 1,500 photos and sketches – many from Mackie’s personal collection.

Duh; of course I was there! I was one of the first to buy his latest book appropriately titled “The Art of Bob Mackie” as soon as I was alerted about it via bookstore email. It’s a fashion lover’s dream book.

It’s just Fabulous! The book signing was at “Just Fabulous” – a suitably named store here in Palm Springs (link below) specializing in extraordinary books, cards for all occasions and other fun items you won’t see anywhere else. I dare you to walk in and come out empty handed – won’t happen!

I also bought a Christmas tree ornament and I don’t even have a tree. You’ll see! Maybe I’ll get a tree just to buy more ornaments. Post to come…for me it’s still too early to be shopping and/or posting stuff to do with Christmas.

But getting back to Bob. Guess I’m not exactly on a first name basis with him after meeting him only once. But I feel like I know him. What I mean by that is I remember watching almost every episode of the Carol Burnett Show in my grandparents’ living room on almost every Saturday night for years. And I remember watching the Sonny and Cher show with my parents. What does this have to do with Bob Mackie? Everything! He was responsible for every costume for the entire production of the Carol Burnett Show and made all of the costumes for Cher after meeting both Sonny and Cher on the Carol Burnett Show. And of course it doesn’t end there. From Broadway to Burlesque, his wide ranging repertoire includes dressing every famous glamour girl and some of the guys for stage, TV, movies and concerts with unique, incomparably stunning and sometimes hilarious creations.

I missed meeting Bob Mackie at the vintage market even though he was there on his own and it wasn’t announced. He was there and I was there ~~but I really wasn’t there because it was after a pride party the night before so don’t ask~~ so I missed meeting him then. But I got to tell him at the book signing that I unexpectedly and surprisingly came across a few of his designs at the market (which has expanded since the last time I was here) which I had never seen before. And to my disbelief, he was completely unaware of that fact. So I felt like we had a “moment.” A Mackie moment that I’ll remember for the obvious, but also for the fun outside the shop while waiting.

On the Outside looking Instyle

https://bjustfabulous.com/

DESTINATIONS

Feel-good Friday: the Comeback Kid

Proof of Life in Palm Springs with the Diva herself; acutely misplaced for so long…and the Marilyn sculpture above.

Sunny Days are here again. Photo: Paul LeMay

Some consider her a “Work of Art“; others “a Piece of Work.” Maybe she’s a bit of both.

It’s so nice to be back. I took a break from blogging in order to get organized before leaving Vancouver and setting up house here in Palm Springs. First time in years having missed a season however I’m not the only snowbird who was unable to make it until now. So….making up for lost time for what was completely out of our control takes being a little out of control patient.

El Jefe with a Chai Latte, Palm Springs.

There were a lot of firsts this time around. First time flying with my dog instead of driving. My boyfriend and I tried to make it as smooth a transition as possible for Layla who had never been on a plane before. We couldn’t get a non-stop from Vancouver to Palm Springs for dates we wanted so we took Air Canada to Los Angeles and rented a car from there – a two hour drive with little traffic. Emphasis on “little.” No one told us that Layla would be in another terminal on arrival and it would take us for what seemed like forever to find her. When we finally located Layla she was all by herself in her crate alongside a homeless person who set up house inside the terminal. Remember the movie “The Terminal” with Tom Hanks? – exactly! It’s sadly become a reality.

Anyway we got her and let’s just say her crate was a mess. Guess she doesn’t like flying.

These photos are after grooming. No; I don’t mean that she looked like this right after grooming. I had her groomed…then she ran through sprinklers in a park (completely out of control) and before I knew what to do she rolled in the dirt – her attempt to dry off. Didn’t work!

Look at that smug face! Can’t get upset.

Ordered a pet trailer to attach to my cruiser so she could ride behind me and now she’s as happy as ever and also oblivious to whatever distress she’s caused.

Another first was coming back to a broken kitchen window and realizing that someone had crawled through and took personal belongings – yes; it was a break in! Not only that; it must have been a skinny woman on top of it.

I’ve known other people who’ve had their homes broken into before and it always sounds invasive and awful but before it happens to you, you really have no idea how horrible it feels. The window is being repaired and I’m dealing with insurance. Stupidly I left a few valuables here not knowing how long it would be before being able to come back. Whoever broke in knew what they were looking for. That’s why I know it was a woman.

Giant art Installation by Salinas artist John Cerney.

Then I was sending a text when all of a sudden a little robot showed up out of nowhere on my screen going around and around with a message that kept saying “erasing“….so I shut off my phone. But then when I turned it on again it was blank. I had to borrow someone’s phone to call Samsung support to walk me through a total “reboot” which included changing passwords, etc….I ended up losing more than half my contact list and photos from the past six weeks. Of course it could’ve been worse – it always can.

That took oh; about 3 hours in total. I owe that guy a case of beer and dinner.

There was one really good first though…

Halloween here was a blast! It’s obviously over now and I had absolutely no idea on what large a scale people (Hollywood industry and the gay crowd inparticular) would go to all lengths to dress up and I mean dress up! There was excellent live music, tons of people in the streets with the most amazing costumes. Okay; I’ll post one photo out of many, many just to give you an idea.

Pee-wee with wee-wee *You bad, bad boy!*

Okay, okay; a few more but Halloween is over. I’ll spare you all the Marilyn look-a-likes and the contest from which all the Marilyn’s got up on stage. There were many. All dressed alike and wearing wigs as in the photo of sculpture.