20.7.10

Thrifting With A Monkey On My Back


Yesterday I went thrifting.  There was a lot of negotiation, bribery and threatening involved, because it was not a monkey free trip.

You need to be good, Yes it’s going to take a long time, I will buy you a treat, If you are not good I will take away the treat.
I had an awesome time. (Don’t ask about the shadow/monkey).

I thought I would see if they had any cute summer dresses and they did-I tried on six (monkeys love it when you go in the fitting room) and I bought two. I am wearing one today and tried to get a good photo. I have a new appreciation for Etsy shop photographers! The very first photo is by a monkey the others are me in a mirror.  It matches my toe nail color perfectly although I was not trying to match- the Oh So Koi- by Opi was already on my toes when I bought this dress:


I am in love with the ruffles down the front, the ruffled sleeves and the cute coral colored buttons that go the whole length of the dress- And it fits me perfectly.

My jump for joy moment was when I found the FREE TO BE YOU AND ME book for (drum roll) 99 cents! When I was a child I had a record player in my playroom with several shoe boxes of vertically stacked singles from the 60’s and 70’s- To this day I know songs by heart from my parents’ collection.  Out of all those records I only had two of my own, Free To Be… You and Me and There’s A Hippo In My Tub.

This book has all the song, stories and poems from the original soundtrack and even includes some scored music. The primary focus of the album was to teach tolerance and acceptance and to defuse gender role stereotypes and to celebrate feelings, happiness and individuality. I fell for all of this. A lot of the poems, stories and song are still relevant in today’s world. The idea was conceived by Marlo Thomas and features such artists as Carol Channing, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross on the album and in the subsequent movie/video.
My favorite outtakes from the soundtrack and now book are:
Free to Be… You and Me, Boy Meets Girl (the story of two new born babies trying to figure out if they are a boy or a girl), Parents Are PeopleMommies are people/ People with children./ When mommies were little/They used to be girls,/ Like some of you/ But they grew.” I remember listening to these lyrics really wanting to picture my mom as a little girl AND picturing myself as a mommy! It’s All Right to CryIt’s all right to cry/Crying gets the sad out of you./ It’s all right to cry/ It might make you feel better./ It’s all right to know/Feelings come and feelings go.”



My two MOST favorite are both by Shel Silverstein Ladies First: “I am a real little lady. Anybody could tell that”-is a story about a little girl who "ladies first's" herself to a tasty demise by a lair of tigers- and Helping.

The funny thing is that Ladies First was my favorite as a little girl but Helping is my favorite as a mom. Dr. J loves to sing “And some kind of help is the kind of help that helping’s all a-bout. And some kind of help is the kind of help we can do with-out”- during those ever so helpful moments when the monkeys are creating more work for us while they ‘help’ us- Of course the monkeys have always been oblivious to the sarcasm or true meaning of the lyrics.
Click to read reviews or to order the same book for as little as one cent! Or order the CD for less than $5

I found this grainy video of the movie that I vaguely remember seeing- the sound quality is great- just the video sucks- anyway it’s 44 minutes long- I just played it as background and it made me feel so happy.
If you are interested the first two songs are Free To Be... and Boy Meets Girl (voice by Mel Brooks).

Free to Be... You and Me (1974)
Uploaded by QzDaddy. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

33 comments:

The Polka Dot Closet said...

I love the dress!!! What a score. I love getting my summer dresses at the thrift store, sometimes I hem a long one or add a ruffle or a belt for the waist.

Carol

Lady Grey said...

Oh I LOVE free to be you & me.... I grew up on that stuff! Seeing that really made me smile : )

Pat Tillett said...

That is a great dress and you look darn good in it...

jacqueline said...

Thrifting is such fun!! I love that dress lots and i am a huge fan of ruffles! That book looks amazing too! Have a lovely merry happy day and love to you!

Anonymous said...

Cute dress!

Karumen said...

luv the dress!! very summery too :)

and flowers pick themselves said...

adorable!

:)

xo Alison

Dani G said...

gorgeous, darling! The dress looks stunning on you. Enjoy!

Going to search for that polish, too!

jeanette from everton terrace said...

super cute dress! it looks great on you - makes me want to get out there today and do some digging. I don't remember the books but it is fun to find childhood treasures.

Lenore @ Lather. Write. Repeat. said...

I can't even believe that you found that dress in a thrift shop??? That is so awesome and you look really lovely in it!

XO
Lenore

Audrey Allure said...

Cute dress! Love the color :)

Diana Mieczan said...

That post made me so happy and that dress is perfect:)
Hope you are having a wonderful day,sweetie and see you soon:)

ps: I am hosting a great GIVEAWAY, so please join in:) ...I bet you will love it!!!

Unknown said...

Your dress is beyond fab, but truthfully what has me really seeing green..is that book...such memories! Wow! AND I just adore that Marlo Thomas!

essbesee said...

That dress is beautiful. So cheery and adorable and fits you like it was made for you - nice score!

Tiffany Kadani said...

How fun! And and I love that dress- the color alone makes me happy.

Lovely World said...

You look too cute for words in that dress! And, Free to Be... is such a classic.

stylenuggets said...

Loved the dress right away. The colour and the ruffles make it so pretty

Getrealmommy said...

"When I grow up will I be pretty? Will I be big and strong?" "Will I wear dresses that show of my knees? Will you wear trousers twice as long?" "Well I don't care if I'm pretty at all, and I don't care if you never grow tall" "I like what I look like, and you're nice small, we don't have to change at all".... My fav. Free 2 B U & Me song!

koralee said...

Thank you for visiting me the other day..your blog is lovely..your red dress is amazing and that checkered chair of yours makes my heart very happy...I love black and white!

Off to read some of your past post..happy Thursday to you. xo

orange sugar home said...

I still know every song from that album (yes, album) too. It had such a huge impact on me. Wonder what my monkies would think of it. Love that you took them to the thrift store. Same story here. So funny. Monkies don't like thrift stores. Nice to meet you too!!

Shari said...

The dress is super cute. I loved Free to be You and Me. It was one of my favorites from childhood. So much so, that I found a book at the library back in April to share with Cesira. She wasn't as excited about it as I was.

k said...

va-va-voom...that's what i say about the dress :)

Julia, the Thanksgiving Girl said...

I've never heard anything about this book before, but the idea of it sounds really good. This must be a great read for kids as early as they can read!

And I love coinsidences like that!! Maybe you shouldv'e taken a pic showcasing the nail color against this new pretty dress of yours :) It just reminded me how just recently I bough a pair of flip flops only to realize later that my favorite blue nail polish (Suzie Says Feng Shui by OPI) matches it perfectly! But I guess it's not as surprising as I am the one who firmly belives in choosing both nail polish color and shoes accroding to my skin shade and undertone so maybe this is not quite a coinsidence? lol

Oh and tahnks a lot for your sweet comment on my grocery bags pic haha I love how it turned out too :)

shayndel said...

Great dress!
Joyous post:)
Happy summer days to you...

(always)alanna said...

amazing girl- you did suchhh a great shopping trip! killer finds!
xx

Kristin H said...

Such a cute video, my boy was like "What´s that?" right away:)
And keep on being a REAL LADY:)

tulpen said...

You're too freakin cute in that dress.

And I got a little teary with the Free To Be You And Me stuff. Memories of sitting behind the couch with the book listening to the record.

I'm leaving this to play in the background while I mess around on the interwebs....

Thanks ever so much.

Clair said...

Great thrifting-your monkey brought you luck. Your lovely dress and discovery of a favorite book from your past are serendipitous finds.

Heather Taylor said...

What a fabulous find! I love the color of that dress too, perfect for the summertime.

Me said...

Following and reading newbie. All because of BJ's. Much Love Mrs Woog

Karen said...

That dress is amazing! It looks like something from Anthropologie. Quite a thrifting trip :)

My Notting Hill said...

Looks like a great day of thrifting! Super cute dress & the memories are priceless.

W-S Wanderings said...

Now that must have been one satisfying thrifting excursion! And yes, monkeys really do love it when mama slips into a change room, don't they?

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