Happy Hour Friday: Side Car

When I discovered classic cocktails the Side Car was my introduction. So glamorous! So retro! So delicious! And so simple to make. This is the drink that spawned the margarita, the Kamikaze and others. Sweet and sour: the best combo for a cocktail, in my humble opinion.

Legend has it the Side Car was first created in France at Harry's New York Bar for a customer who arrived by side car. That was so many years ago that who knows if it's true. But who cares! Don't you love the idea of scooting over to your favorite bar in Paris, sliding out of your side car, and waltzing in to have your bartender serve you one of these?

Side Car

1.5 oz. cognac

1 oz. Cointreau

.5 oz fresh lemon juice

lemon twist for garnish

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with fine sugar (if you like that sugar-rim kind of thing). Garnish with a lemon twist.

Adjust the cointreau/ cognac proportions to suit your taste.

Lamp Lust: Hollywood Regency Style!

Inspired by our guest poster Alexa's Hollywood Regency salute, we are lusting after these regency lamps we saw on ETSY. These first two are from Fabulousmess:



Next up, from Haus Proud:




Which one do you like?

Mid-Week Mid-Century Roundup

Seriously just a handful of things this week...maybe it's a post-holiday slump.

1960s dresser by Stanley, $220

MCM bookshelf, $60

Mid-century "wishbone" lamp, $75

Heywood-Wakefield table, $125

Set of dining chairs, $125

Sears Catalog: For the Boudoir

You could have have had luxury, Hollywood-swinging-Regency style bedroom decor at a sensible price, in 1969, if you shopped from the Sears catalog...
First, I would have that vodka.
Then, I would order these:





Then my husband and I would take some lovers, legally adopt them, and have them move right on in.

Woolf and "Sons": Hollywood Regency Pioneers

Today we are excited to feature a guest "Let's learn about..." post from retro-luxe's good buddy, Alexa! And this goes perfectly with Meredith's boudoir re-do. Enjoy, cupcakes!

Doric-columned pool courtyard for Alphonzo Bell, Jr.

Entertaining at the Pemberton Residence

Ira Gershwin's staircase

Interior for Loretta Young

House for Myrna Loy

[Photos scanned from the Vanity Fair 2009 Hollywood Issue, also found online here]

The other morning I was having coffee and fondling a back issue of Vanity Fair--the 2009 Hollywood Issue--when I suddenly said to myself, "Is it too early to switch to vodka?" And then, soon after that, "How can I get my nutbag neighbor to stop wasting my time with stories of his wolf telepathy and his part-time job as a superhero?" And then, finally, "J.T. will like these!" So I retrieved the scanner from where it was propping up the short leg of the trailer fridge and scanned 'em up.

This is the work of an architect/interior designer team, John Elgin Woolf and Robert Koch Woolf, pioneers of the early modern Hollywood Regency style beginning in the early forties (the only set of early forties I can get excited about at the moment, if you're feeling me) and tapering off in the early sixties. Woolf was considered by many to be a master of modern innovation in the traditional style, and the signature mansard roof and comparatively delicate scale of the rooms and structures became so popular that other California architects copied it like gangbusters.

A noteworthy nugget is that after he learned he had Parkinson's disease, Woolf legally adopted his lover Robert Koch and Robert's other lover Gene as his sons (and later adopted Gene's lover William), and they all lived together as a legally sanctioned family in a remote hillside compound in Montecito, outside of Santa Barbara, until John Elgin Woolf died in 1980--hence the same last name of the architect and interior designer.

I know such flagrant flouting of familial boundaries sounds pervy, but it wasn't--it was the only way in a stylish but less-than-liberated era that his fortune could legally transfer to the people he considered his family and the rightful recipients of his estate. That is extremely awesome for its ingenuity and sheer oddness, if you're asking me. You're not asking me? That's OK. Enjoy the photos.

Hugs,

Alexa

Happy Hour Friday: God Save McQueen

I am still stuck on a bourbon kick; I try to get away but it keeps calling me from the bar shelf. I want to indulge in bourbon because the season begs of it. The warmth and depth of bourbon is unlike any other spirit; the range of bourbons on the market these days could keep a boozer like me busy nightly for 6 months.

I'm a late comer to bourbon and didn't really acquire a taste for it until about 2 years ago. It's safe to say that I am now obsessed with it. My GF Kara in Tulsa has recently been seduced by it as well and we are now planning a tentative bourbon distillery tour in Kentucky this spring. Imagine the movie "Sideways" but with rednecks instead of vintners, motels flying stars and bars instead of charming B&Bs. Just kiddin'.

My current bottle is Bulleit, a wonderfully smooth whiskey that is perfect neat and even better mixed into your favorite drink. The name Bulleit makes me think of the movie "Bullitt" starring Steve McQueen and my husband recently spotted a t-shirt that said:

"God Save McQueen"

I WANT THAT SHIRT.

God Save McQueen

1.5 oz. Bulleit Bourbon

.25 oz. Averna Amaro

.25 oz. Dubonnet Rouge

.25 oz. creme de cacao

1 t. fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled 3/4 with ice and shake. Strain into an ice filled rocks glass.

Steve McQueen.....dreamy.

Spolight on Modplexi!

Today's post features some very special Retro-luxe readers, Modplexi! Wendy Saha and Melissa Sonzala started ModPlexi about 2 months ago. The pair are stay-at-home mamas who love mid-century modern style. They began making the frames and address plaques for friends and this quickly evolved into ModPlexi!

Wendy says, "The address plaques and frames that we make come from wanting that oh-la-la wow factor of a great piece of mid-century modern "art" without the price tag! We think they scream high style. What I dig (about the products we make) is that we can totally customize them to each person's taste. I mean, we are so ready for amazingly crazy ideas to roll in and turn them into stunning plexiglas creations. The colors and clean lines of plexiglas open the door to making fabulously mid century modern styled pieces. We have even more ideas we're trying to streamline right now because really, the possibilities are endless, for realz!"

Here's a little taste...




You can visit Modplexi at their blog here, and at there ETSY store here.

Mid-Week Mid-Century Roundup

I didn't see too much this week...


This light fixture AND...

...this one, $75

Re-done 1940s chair, $200

Lane coffee table, $75

Vintage blue swivel chair, $95

Solid walnut full-size headboard/footboard, $120

1960s his-and-hers chair/ottoman set, $275

More from the Sears Catalog, 1969

Check out this amazing lighting from the Sears Catalog! I am so loving this resource. Today we're featuring lamps! First up, coordinating pole, wall, ceiling and table lamps. Who knew? Nowadays, we're lucky to find just one of these! The most expensive items on this page are #13, #23 and #25 all coming it at $41.98. I'd like to order #10 at $22.79 or #21 at 23.79. You can click on the photos to make them bigger.



Next up, the "Changalite" series lamps. The ad says, "Full range variable lighting from one standard 150-watt bulb. Just turn the knob for the softness of a night light (7.5 watts) all the way up to full brightness."
#19 is strangely compelling!

Snapshots

Warning: this post isn't design-y or particularly retro-y. But, this is America and a blog, after all, so what the Hell...

On my way to work this morning I was listening to a song (Eliza Gylkison, "The Beauty Way") that triggered a set of memories about my old house. Pre-marriage, I lived in this sweet little 1940s bungalow, passed down as a rental from Meredith -- as it had passed from several friends to her -- in the now highly desirable Travis Heights neighborhood of Austin. It was the last deal in Austin and the dog on the block, but I loved it.

My house was more than the sum of its parts: pier-and-beam construction with a crumbling stucco facade, sweet built-in corner cabinets in the dining room, a sunny-yellow kitchen that got too hot in the summer, original hardwood floors, a floor furnace that you had to carefully step over in the middle of the night on your way to the bathroom, and 900-ish square feet of affordable ($550ish), cozy space that was the backdrop to countless experiences.

As that song played this morning, a series of memories flashed through my mind as if I were flipping through snapshots in an album:

• Moving in day with the ex-boyfriend (EBF), giddy that we had a HOUSE to spread out in.
• My nephew's birthday party, with my family gathered in the small living room for cake and presents.
• Sitting at the dinner table with the EBF and realizing he didn't want to be there anymore (ouch).
• Hosting the ladies for our weekly happy hour on the front porch (Stephanie and Meredith were there!), drinking wine and talking.
• Cuddling with new dog Ginger (now 11) on the little purple couch after EBF left.
• Crying and drinking (sad!) copious amounts of red wine at night on the porch after EBF left, looking at the stars past the huge tree in the front yard, while listening to Eliza and Jeff Buckley blaring from the living room.
• Sitting frozen on the porch steps, letter from the landlord in hand. Afraid to open the new lease I knew was coming, then pure relief to read the apologetic notice of the $25 monthly rent increase.
• Opening the front door for first date with husband-to-be (excited!!!) -- on Valentine's Day, no less.
• Standing in the doorway the first time husband-to-be told me he loved me.
• Making space in the closet for husband-to-be's stuff, then the garage sale we had on the front lawn after consolidating households.
• Sitting on the bed in the front room, discussing marriage with the husband-to-be.
• And finally, moving out day, driving off to our "new" old house 5 miles down the road, where many more memories were waiting to be made.

So, looking at this list, it strikes me that while I loved the house itself, what made it so special were all the relationships that took place there -- some beginning, some ending, many deepening. [And just think -- there were decades of that going on before I ever moved in!]

Today that house is gone. It burned to the ground a week after we moved out and someone else had bought it and moved in. In its place, a colossal 3-floored Tuscan-esque structure was erected, towering over the little houses around it. But in my mind, I still see my old house in all its memory-filled glory.

Happy Hour Friday: Hot Toddy

Baby, it's cold outside, and it's the perfect time to snuggle up to a Hot Toddy.

The south has been experiencing record lows in the last week. We are in Austin, but even Houston was colder than us a couple of days ago: 9 degrees! My husband and I were in Houston a few weeks ago and it snowed all day. Hadn't happened in 20 years.

Hailing from Europe in the 1700s, the Toddy may have gotten it's name from the Hindu tari tadi (thank you, Colonialism) which was a drink made with fermented coconut milk. Leave it to the Bristish to turn a nice little coconut drink into a whisky drink which no doubt has, like, 40 times the alcohol content.

Hot Toddy

Combine in an Irish Coffee glass and stir:

3 cloves

2 t. honey

4 oz. boiling water

Add :

2 oz. Bourbon, scotch, or rye whisky, brandy or dark rum

Garnish with grated nutmeg for the real, claymation feel. Also, experiment with using hot tea instead of water. A Lapsang Souchang with scotch might be nice.....

Retro-luxe Philosophy: The Big Orange Splot

When I was an elementary school teacher, my dear friend Jessie turned me on to this book, The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater. 8 year olds loved it. I love it still.

"My house is me and I am it.
My house is where I want to be and it looks like all my dreams."

A recent post by Back Garage here, coupled with a few emails from some readers who have just moved into respective their dream homes, as well as seeing these lamps, reminded me of this gem of a tale. Eschew the rules! Your house should always reflect who you are. You don't need granite countertops, Madeline Weinrib rugs or Saarinen furniture to make it lovely. But if you love those things, go for it. Retro-luxe wants you to be happy, cupcakes!

Mid-Week Mid-Century Roundup

Set of 4 NESTING (see other pics) tables, $65

Butterfly wall art, $49

MCM credenza/dressing table/server, $275

1960s Danish Modern wall unit, $300

1950s white kitchen table, $125

Orange lounge chair, $175

Summer 1969 Sears Catalog

I've spent the past few weeks wishing I could order everything out of this summer 1969 Sears Catalog I scored at Room Service. From swag lamps to pinch pleat drapes, rugs and bedspreads, it has everything that would solve all my decorating dilemmas. But wait, there's more! You could have ordered indoor/outdoor waterfalls, tractors, folding doors, vinyl flooring, cabinet hardware, awnings, golf clubs, car batteries, stereos, water sprinklers, china, ad infinitum. And the prices! This is a great resource to show what decor trends were going on at the time.
I may have to scan every page for you. Here's a start with the light fixtures:


Those chunky resin lights that you're paying hundreds for on ebay? Their 1969 price was $18.97. Actually the most expensive light on this page is number 18, the "vivid interpretation of the gay nineties oil-lamp" coming in at $47.97.

These drool worthy, retractable lamps are sweet! Number 9 is the priciest at $36.97. You can click on pictures to make them bigger.

Tulsa's Lortondale Community

My mom's family is all from Tulsa, Oklahoma. My aunt recently sent her a "Tulsa A to Z" video, which featured the Lortondale development, located just blocks over from my grandmother Ruby's house. I had never heard of this, but watched the video practially drooling over these incredible mid-century houses.

What follows is a very brief history, but you can find much more information here. And there are some wonderful photos on the "Modern Tulsa" blog here.

With the popularity of "modern" architecture growing in the early 1950s, prolific Tulsa homebuilder Howard C. Grubb teamed up with architect Donald H. Honn to design cutting-edge, mid-priced modern houses that offered more amenities than were typically found in that price point. In 1954, after gauging the public opinion of four prototype homes built the year before, they began construction of the Lortondale housing addition at the corner of 26th and Yale Avenue in Tulsa.

[Don't you just love a design visionary?]

The original plans called for 540 homes, though only 220 were built due to a variety of issues (see article). Each home featured: central air (a true luxury at the time) and heat; low-pitched or flat roofs; open floor plans; floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking out on the backyard; mahogany paneled walls; and Formica laminate countertops...to name just some of the characteristics of these gorgeous homes.

In the video I saw that lots of young families were embracing this mid-century design [I think we can all relate!]. Some doing renovations that modernized the house, while still paying tribute to its retro roots.

If you're in the market, look at these photos of a Lortondale house currently for sale, listed at an incredibly reasonable $146,500.

I will definitely be checking out this neighborhood whenever I find myself in Tulsa again!

Happy Hour Friday: Roasted Pear Vodka Fizz

I recently had the pleasure of bartending a happy hour holiday party and was asked to create two specialty cocktails. I wanted to feature drinks that had the feeling of fall/winter so I chose one bourbon cocktail (the Bouldin Creek Boiler Maker, previously posted) and one infused vodka cocktail, the Roasted Pear Vodka Fizz. I infused the vodka with roasted pears and added some ginger simple syrup as a complimentary component. The drink was a big hit so I want to share it with you! Easy as pie to do and not terribly sweet, it is sure to please all palates.

Roasted Pear Vodka Fizz

1.5 oz. roasted pear infused vodka*

.5 oz. ginger simple syrup**

.25 oz. fresh lemon juice

club soda or other fizzy water - choose one with big bubbles

candied ginger for garnish

In a highball glass filled with ice combine the vodka, simple syrup and lemon juice then fill with bubbly water. Stir very well. Garnish with a small piece of candied ginger on a cocktail sword.

*To make the roasted pear vodka, choose something with a little bite like Tito's. Quarter 4 ripened Bosc pears and roast them in the oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they caramelize. Cool, then add them to one 750ml bottle of vodka. I use my iced tea pitcher to do this, then strain it through a fine sieve or cheesecloth back into the vodka bottle. Store in the refrigerator.

**To make the ginger simple syrup boil one cup of sugar with one cup of water and 1/2 cup grated fresh ginger for 1 minute, then cool for an hour (or until your syrup has a nice ginger bite to it). Strain and add about 4 tablespoons of plain vodka - this stabilizes the sugar and prevents bacteria growth. Store in the refrigerator.

Retro-inspired Luxury Bedding

Dear Designer's advice for my bedroom makeover has inspired this post regarding luxury bedding for the boudoir.


Madison Quilt from West Elm


Fieldcrest luxury coverlet from Target


Ashley Cooper Satin Coverlet Set for $21.00!


Carol Wright Satin Hearts Bedspread for $15.99! Perfect for that Malibu Barbie-inspired bedroom!

Bedroom Dilemma Solved!

Image from Dear Designer's blog.

Dear Retro-luxe friends,
As you may know, I've been interested in a bedroom makeover! Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the Ikea curtains and thrift store mid-century modern furnishings that have graced our home for decades. Lately, however, I've been longing to inject some grandeur into my lair. I want a more luxurious bedroom, one that speaks to me, a hard-working woman worn down a bit by the mundane details of having to work at a job and cook dinner for people, but no less glamorous for her trouble. I want my bedroom to say:

"Come in!
Put on a peignoir!
Champagne darling?
How about some chocolates?
Pick up the white telephone and call a friend...
What would Barbara Stanwyck do in this situation?"

I'm so happy to share that a fellow blogger, Carole, over across the pond at Dear Designer, has graciously posted about my bedroom dilemma. You can read my query here and her response here.

I love what she did! These mood boards, in the right hands, are fantastic, no?
I really loved how she managed to incorporate my beloved bamboo rugs and my existing dresser and nightstands. And I love the bamboo stencil idea! It's so mid-century glamorous! Additionally, she demystified a few things about curtain hanging, rugs on wall-to-wall carpet and coordinating colors that I've been wondering about.

If you would like design advice from Dear Designer, email deardesigner@hotmail.co.uk sending photographs if possible, room dimensions and details of what you have, what you need to keep and what you desire. Perhaps Carole can help you too!

I can't wait to start shopping...How fortunate that this exciting plan for luxury has been revealed to me just in time for the white sales...

Mid-Week Mid-Century Roundup

Some new old things for 2010!

Super cool 1950s chair AND matching couch! $225

Table with leaf extension, $100

Lucite/vinyl dinette set, $200

Pair of white fiberglass chairs, $150

Sleek sideboard, $650

1950s Ranch Oak chair, $275 [seller has recliner as well]

Solid walnut desk by "Dixie", $150

Barrel-type bar, $165