Memorial Day: Remembering WWII

"The Kissing Couple" in Times Square in New York City.

Greta Zimmer Friedman and George Mendonsa

Today is a day of remembrance to all those who fought for freedom. On a personal note, I remember my grandfather, Nelson Rodriguez Sr. who fought bravely in France, my beloved neighbor John Kelley who fought in the Pacific, and also my Uncle, Nelson Seda who fought in the Pacific as well during WWII.

To all those who carried a weapon, who wiped the foreheads of those injured, who did blood drives and metal drives, who wrote letters to our servicemen and women.....who simply did their part to ensure that we could be free. Especially to all those who sacrificed during World War II-without them our entire existence would be completely different and most likely a very scary place to be in.

Here is a compilation of a few photos, some iconic, from WWII:

February 19. 1945~Raising the flag on the beach of Iwo Jima

St. Paul's Cathedral in December 1940

Women Fighter Pilots

Hawaiian, Luemon Kiyama embraces his son, Sgt. Howard Kiyama, 

after he returns home from the war

Stacks of newspapers during the end of the war

The result of the Atomic Bomb~August 8th, 1945

WWII Nurses

The Sullivan Brothers~Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison,

and George Sullivan. A mother lost all five of her sons in one 

day. Because of this and also many other siblings who died with

the Sullivans the US Government adopted the Sole Survivor Policy

So I simply say Thank You and that I promise that I will never forget.

xox

Weekend Cinema Spotlight: Gidget

"Gidget" (1959)

The word Gidget is a blend of the word "girl" and "midget", basically referring to a young girl. The novelist Frederick Kohner first had his story about Gidget published in 1957. Afterwards, it was spawned into three films and in 1965 became a television series starring a very young Sally Field. 

Kohner based his "Gidget" stories on his daughter's own experiences surfing and often included her own personal stories within his novels. He later nicknamed her "Gidget".

Gidget stars Sandra Dee in the title role, Cliff Robertson as "The Big Kahuna", and James Darren as "Moondoggie". Darren is the only surviving member of the main characters of this film. 

The end scenes from the film "Gidget"

The story begins with seventeen year old Gidget feeling the pressure from her friends to go man hunting. She meets Moondoggie but he has no interest in her and she ends up finding surfing more appealing than man hunting. She befriends the surfer boys led by The Big Kahuna and starts to fall in love with Moondoggie. She attempts to make him jealous but it backfires on her. Eventually she gets grounded by her parents for the rest of the summer and they tell her she is to go out with a young man named "Jeffery Matthews" who ends up being Moondoggie himself.

Sandra Dee played Gidget with spunk, innocence, passion, and charm. Dee became a household name in the 1950's and 1960's especially after she married Bobby Darin. She became an icon because of her girlish sweetness that she will be forever remembered in the song from Grease called "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" sung by Rizzo. 

"Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from Grease (1978)

xox

Just the way you are....

Add weight and add on sex appeal!

Vintage ads ROCK!

Throughout history the image of woman has changed. At times a plump woman was seen as attractive and other times a woman with a boyish figure was see as attractive. Today, I feel as though the image of women is distorted and very confusing. Perhaps its the fault of the porn industry run by men who view only blond and busty women as attractive. Of perhaps it was women themselves who bought into the fantasies of men and desired to make those fantasies a reality.

Honestly, I know men. I was raised by one and I have an older brother. My husband is a man (duh) and one of my best friends is one. And now I am the mother of two sons. So yes, most men like to see a fit women but most don't like just one type of woman. Most men like women of all sizes, obviously preferring one over the other but at the end of the day most men enjoy a women who is confidant and who takes care of herself no matter her size.

We are all shapes and sizes....

So is it women themselves that create these insane and unlivable expectations? Look-when you get older your body CHANGES. When you have a child, your body CHANGES. These are two things that women cannot really stop. Oh boy have they tried but in reality a women's body IS going to change. You are going to get bigger hips, you will loss and gain weight at different times, your skin will change, your hair will too. 

Pregnancy is NO joke! It is a huge undertaking. You feed and help grow a HUMAN BEING for nine months and then that human comes out into the world. And NO you will NOT have a flat belly afterwards because for a while your uterus has to go down to normal size and all the skin that stretched for that baby to grow has to go down as well. Some women bounce back better than others and that also depends on age, how much they gained during pregnancy, and the kind of pregnancy they had. 

Preggie and chic~ullamaaria

If a women is bearing multiple children or having a pregnancy every year or so it will be more difficult to bounce back. But here's the thing-once you're pregnant your shape will alter so why pressure yourself to "bounce" back? Instead of putting that pressure on yourself why not figure out how you can continue to be healthy for yourself and your family. If you loose the weight or not-get healthy and get happy.

Today, my friend Jennifer from I know, right? who was a guest blogger on a blog called Amber's Mouthwash wrote a post that just hit home to me. Lately I have been battling some negative thoughts creeping into my head. The past five years have been life changing for me in every way because I became a mother in 2007. Not only that but in four years time I became a mother of three! Then to top it off I am not in my twenties. So all of that rolled into one-although I have been modeling to express my beauty and learn to embrace all of these changes, sometimes I just shake my head and ask myself, "where am I in the midst of all these changes?" 

A photo of me, as I am.

I don't want to bounce back-I just want to continue to be best ME I can and that's that. Why can't the world at large see all the beauty that is woman and not try to destroy that beauty? Why can't women be happy for each other? Why can't women uplift other women and not tear them down?

Now here is what I ask of  you. Take a moment and ask yourself are you healthy and happy? If so, encourage others to do so and cheer them on. If not, find ways to achieve that goal in a healthy manner. The pressures that are placed on women I think are placed by other women and if we took out the time to celebrate ourselves perhaps we will be able to celebrate others.

xox

Marilyn Monroe in Vanity Fair

June 2012 Issue

I couldn't resist it when I saw MM (aka Marilyn Monroe) on the cover of the latest issue of Vanity Fair Magazine. And after reading the article I can happily announce that the magazine was defiantly worth every penny! 

The article covers the outtakes from her last on-set photo shoot while filming Somethings Got to Give. I cannot believe it will be 50 years (August 5th) that she has been gone. She would have been 86 years old and I am sure still a looker in a own right.

My only disappointment in the article was that there didn't seem to be any photos I haven't seen before and well they basically advertised it as "never before seen photos of Marilyn Monroe". Unfortunately, I am sure it was a ploy to get people's attention and buy the magazine. But lucky for them the writing was fantastic and the story was utterly captivating. It was written by Lawrence Schiller and included his own photos that he took of her on the set. 

What blew me away was the very last paragraphs and his understanding of what he thinks happened to Marilyn which I found refreshing that someone put it out there finally!!!! 

According to Schiller who has recently put together a beautiful book of his work with Marilyn called, Marilyn & Me: A Photographer's Memories, she wanted to be known to be more than a beautiful naked body and she wanted to be able to compete with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor. She seemed to want more for herself and more from her life although she also seemed to sleep with dangerous men. Frank Sinatra, JFK, and RFK to name a few during the last months of her life. All the while she was rekindling her relationship with her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio.

I know that humans find death both terrifying and fascinating especially when its a beautiful person, young person, or a tragic form of dying occurs. But I have to be honest with you-I wish the media would stop focusing on her "mysterious" death and focus more on the beautiful things she left behind.

xox

PS If you read the article let me know what you think! Would love to hear your thoughts!!!

There's a snake in my boot!

Today is my eldest son's third birthday! Yesterday we had a little party for him with some friends and family. He just loved seeing Woody and Buzz everywhere and had a blast. My son is so easy to please and played until he fell asleep around 3 in the afternoon.

I tried to work within a smaller budget this time around and I usually do some crafty things for my children's parties or any party but I have caught two colds since coming back from my trip and lately been feeling a bit tuckered out. 

But I made it as special as possible for my baby boy! We played pin the tail on Bullseye and then turned on a bubble machine in our backyard. He stuffed his face with fruit and the his favorite-Pizza.  It made us so happy to see him having such a good time. 

Here's a photo of my lil birthday boy with my dad. Today I asked  him if he loved his party and his birthday and he told me "Yes, yes mama I love birthday-thank you!" 

I fell madly in love with this brown eyed boy that the nurses placed in my arms. Everyday I fall more and more in crazy love with him. He taught me that its possible to love more than one child. And he opened my heart in so many ways and  I will forever be grateful. He makes me so happy to be his mama. 

Happy Birthday Papi!!! 

xox