Career Change!

I've been putting together a travel website of Connecticut and New England as a sort of first step in exploring the possibility of generating income online. ANYWAY...in researching my lovely home state I came across a local story of the ultimate career change.
Dolores Hart, who was the recipient of Elvis' first on-screen kiss in the 1957 film Loving You, and went on to star in the 1960 cult classic, Where The Boys Are, made the ultimate career change when she left Hollywood behind to become a nun at the tender age of 25. She joined the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis, in the rolling hills of Bethlehem, Connecticut.
Here, in a 1961 interview, we can perhaps see evidence of her future inclinations when the subject turns to men and marriage:
"Every man," she said good humoredly, albeit with conviction obviously born of experience, "is guilty until proven innocent." She had men neatly pigeon-holed in two classifications—those who want to tarry and those who want to marry. Nor did she lack the sophistication to recognize that the two roles were easily interchangeable. " [A] girl has to be on guard until she gets married. She must keep a wary eye on the situation. Now when I'm tempted to relax and have a good time, I try to think of how the man may react—what he may have in mind."


For another career change story....

You Know What She's Thinkin'...

"I've got a fabulous bag named after me and you don't!"

Well now we can have it all too! While browsing INVITE ME DO's blog this morning I came across this affordable Hermes Bag. Now I am personally NOT a girly-girl, obsessed with my accessories, but I do have friends that are - you know who you are (Bird-In-The-Hand). For some, the sun rises and sets on their shoe and bag collection, with entire closets being designed around them. I'm probably just a little bitter on the subject, what with my size 11 feet and all. I don't come across fabulous shoes that big very often. And I do like hand bags but am not organized enough to keep transferring my stuff from one to the other. But for the rest of you, just check out the Hermes website and click on the bag thumbnail - there's lot of fun to be had there!




Had to include this photo, it's my favorite!

Not sure who this "wannabe" is but she's got the bag!

Peonies are in Bloom!

Got a fab new Sony Digital camera for my birthday from my wonderful husband. The first thing I snapped were these 10 inch peonies growing in my garden. Can't take the credit for them, the previous home owner did the planting. The hubby says all my flowers having sex is wreaking havoc with his allergies!

I Remember Tierney

Tierney Gearon, photographer, former model, dancer, mother, daughter.
In my search to find a new direction in my own life, I have been seeking out those I've known and taken a look at where their passions have led them. Like my old friend, photographer Donna Demari, fellow model Tierney Gearon also chose to express herself by shooting the world as she sees it, through the lens of a camera. After a controversial 2001 showing at the Saatchi Gallery in London, where some of her work contained nude images of her own young children, Tierney was thrust into the international spotlight when the English press pounced on the story and Tierney became the reluctant poster child for artistic freedom. In 2006, The Mother Project, a documentary, four years in the making by Jack Youngelson and Peter Sutherland follows Tierney as she puts together her most recent body of work, a series of 70 photographs focused on her mentally ill mother entitled Daddy, Where Are You?
As for the years when my path coincided with Tierney's - we were both living in Paris, working with the same agency, both American and former dancers. We would often end up in Hamburg, Germany, working for the same client, staying in the same rooming house and traveling to and from Paris together. She stood apart even then, in a very personal way that you could never put your finger on. Years later, we both married, moved to London, eventually divorcing and returning home to the States. I am not surprised by her work, despite the alarm the images have caused in the media. I admire her for being true to herself and when I heard her voice on the The Mother Project video trailer, it made me smile.

Tolland Green House Tour - 200 years of Architecture

Tolland Inn on Tolland Green

8am. Camera in one hand - coffee in the other. I am up early before work so I can take part in Julia's Hooked on House Tours Blog Party. I have always been an Antique House enthusiast, having lived in an 1855 colonial for many years. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to see the interiors of these architectural beauties but several of the owners did come out to say hello. This is Tolland Green, in Tolland, CT. I live about a mile North and never tire of driving through this historic piece of history on my way home every day. The architecture spans two hundred years with one gorgeous home following another on a long expanse of green. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
P.S. The green Craftsman Style home below will soon be on the market I'm told - 5 bedrooms, 5 fireplaces - it's a beauty!

Primitive 1700s Saltbox Cape


The Candy Store

Hip Roof Colonial, Federal, Early 1900s Bungalow, Victorian

Colonial Farmhouse with Porch

Hicks-Stearns Family Museum


1800s Italianate House with Terrace

Gothic Dutch Colonial with Porch

Old Maple Tree on Tolland Green

Arts & Crafts Style Home


Arts Center, Town Hall, Old County Jail & Museum


Queen Anne Colonial with Porch

Saltbox, 1800s Colonial, 1700s Dutch Colonial, 1800s Colonial


Federal Colonial & Church


Quarry Stone Sidewalks

Meeting Hall, Church Steeple

Antique Cape & Garden


For additional House Tours, stop by Hooked on House Tour Headquarters!