Wed: Hump Day! Looking forward to the weekend.

This holiday weekend is jam packed with rockin’ acts! You can always count on Dollie to give you the scoop and keep you informed on all the happenings in the LA area. Here is my list of picks for the coming weekend:

Thursday:

     Pete Anderson, The Blazers, and burlesque 8:30pm @ Webers 19312 Vanowen St Reseda, CA $7

Friday:

     Amber Foxx and The Southerners 9pm @ The Juke Joint 735 N Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim CA

     The Groovy Rednecks, Fast Otto, and burlesque 8:30pm @ Webers 19312 Vanowen St. Reseda, CA $10

     Bonebreak Syncopaters @ Chit Chat Club 1263 W. Temple Street Los Angeles, CA

Saturday:

     OC Battle of the Rockabilly Bands: See Blue Collar Combo go against Becky and The Blacktones, and the 454’s to open up for James Inveld! Hosted by DJ Wino 12pm @ Orange County Fairgrounds 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA Showdown admission free with a canned food donation for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.

     Lucky Stars, Captain Jeffrey and The Chumbuckets 10pm @ Redwood 316 W. 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA

Sunday:

     Brunch Americana: The Vaquetones, West of Texas and More 12pm @ Redwood 316 W. 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA

     Bowlarama All Star Lanes: The SideWynders, Blue Collar Combo, Becky and The Blacktones, The 454s, Phil Friendly Trio, The Rip’em Ups, Bad Luck Bandits, free bowling, burlesque, DJ bopin’ Bud & Edgar 6pm @ 4459 Eagle Rock Blvd Los Angeles CA $15 advance sale, $20 at the door


Good luck narrowing it down to which shows you will go to each day! I know I am having a hard time. Its safe to say that I will be at any show The Blue Collar Combo is playing though! ha ha. Have a rootin’ tootin’ good weekend, I know I will!

XOXO

Dollie

TUE: Trending Now!

Attention all Hepkittin’s and Honey Dippers! This just in:

Flowers are out, and bows are in!

Hair flowers have been a long standing staple in a rockabilly gals arsenal, but I know I am not the only one thinking it’s a little worn out. We want to be fabulously fresh, not worn out! So I am here to share one of my latest obsessions: BOWS! Bows are young, cute and fresh, in that sexy juvenile delinquent way! They are so cheap and easy to find too! I just head down to my favorite craft store, and buy ribbon by the yard. I use about 1 and ¼ a yard to make the perfect headband bow. Now you don’t want it too long, because it gets floppy and saggy, and we don’t want to associate ourselves with those words! Keep it short so it is perky! I prefer a matte color for a vintage look. We don’t want our bow to out shine our hair, now do we? Leave the shiny ribbon for the wee ones. I also don’t like it too thick or too thin either. It has to be just right. It has to make a statement but not overpower the hairstyle. Remember gals, a bow is an accessory; it is not to take the place of a well executed hairstyle. Bows are timeless, so why do they seem to be lost in time? I don’t see many people wearing them anymore. If you do your research, I guarantee you will find just as many WWII pinups, Hollywood starlets, and songbirds in bows as in hair flowers, if not more! Here are a few I just dug up:

Those shorts! The top! The shoes!

......and a bow to top it off!

Perfect look for a summer day.

Again a perfect outfit, topped off with a great hairstyle and a cute red bow!

Fabulous!

Here's how a modern Doll does it!

At Viva Las Vegas with Claire.

I got this hairstyle idea from Betty Grable.

Have fun with this "trending now" tip! Make sure to try it out and send me the pics!

XOXO

Dollie

Brunch Americana

If you were not at the Brunch Americana this Sunday, you missed out! Amber Foxx started off the afternoon right. I always go on and on about Amber, and not just because she is my friend, but because she is the best female singer on the rockin’ scene for the last few years now. She is also the sweetest girl ever. There was not a huge crowd when she started, so there was plenty of room to dance. The highlight of the set was when she plugged her latest CD as High “Fart” Party. It was a good laugh and became a running joke for the day. She pulled it off so gracefully, laughing, but went on with the set and never broke a sweat. Next on was Chris “Sugarballs” Sprague and His 18 Wheelers. The show was its usual truckin’ good time, but the real excitement for me was his lineup addition. Zack Simpson (the most wonderful sweet boyfriend in the whole world) joined Chris Sprague, Frank Sprague, Shorty Poole, Dave Stuckey, and Dave Berzansky on stage and rocked some twangy acoustic rhythm guitar. It was a great addition and really added to the sound. He didn’t look too bad either! We needed some young blood to make up for Stuckey back there. Totally kidding, we love Stuckey to death. he he. The headliner was Lucky Tubb, Earnest Tubb’s great nephew. The crowd really built by this time, and everyone was ready to do some serious honky tonkin’. Lucky did a lot of great covers, especially of Earnest's. His voice was amazing, and his backing band was great. It’s sort of an inside joke that I yell out “Honky Tonk Man” to every band I see. I have not found one band yet that does it! Well, I thought Lucky had a great voice to do Johnny Horton, so I yelled it out a few times. Every time I did, he would reply, “We don’t do Hank Williams.” I kept yelling that the song isn’t by Hank Williams, but by Johnny Horton. Then he asked me if I even know who Earnest Tubb is! Whaaa haaaaa haaaaa. I know I don’t look like I would know my honky tonk, but I’ll tell you what, as reigning Miss Hillbilly Dumplin’ 2009, I could show him a thing or two. My hepkittins and I just decided that he didn’t know HIS honky tonk. Or maybe he was drunk. I know I was! It was all in good fun though. His set was great for dancing and all us drunkards really enjoyed it! We hope to have him back at the Redwood next time he is in LA. Now, I know you read through all of that just waiting to see what I wore, so here it is! I wore a pair of vintage Jantzen white capris, a vintage black wrap top, and a pair of vintage black peeptoe heels with a tiny little platform. I played up the hotrod girl look with a pompadour, big ponytail, and black bow. Pictures to come soon! Thanks to all who came out to The Brunch Americana to support the bands and DJ Hillbilly Jeff. It was great seeing you all there!

Amber looking fabulous on stage as always

Zack and Tom are twinsies

Sugarballs and His 18 Wheelers

Duet with Amber

Stuckey and Alana dancing

Lucky Tubb

Check out the bands, see their tour dates, and buy merch here:

http://www.myspace.com/amberfoxx
http://www.myspace.com/chrissugarballsspragueandhis18wheelers
http://www.myspace.com/luckytubb

Beer at Disneyland! Hip Hip Hooray!

On Sunday Zack and I went to Disneyland. We went into California Adventure first and had lunch. We had bread bowls on the pier and it was delicious! Then we went on a few rides and such. This month California Adventure is hosting a Food and Wine Festival. They had food demonstrations, wine tasting, and beer tasting set up all around the park. We did a beer from around the world tasting and it was a load of fun. A few of our favorites were Long Board from Hawaii, Red Trolley Ale from San Francisco, and Magners cider from Ireland. Magners was my favorite because it is like Strong Bow, my new favorite drink. Thanks to Amber and Bobby for showing that one to me. It was fun to be around adults and drink in the middle of Disneyland. Ha ha. That was a highlight of the day for sure. We got a little buzz and then continued on with more rides. We left about 11pm that night, after lots of walking, eating and spending money.

We woke up really late that morning, so I didnt have time to be cute. I am just wearing Levi's 505s and my favorite sweatshirt from Pinupgirlclothing.com.

Antique Mall Adventure

On Saturday we had lunch at my favorite restaurant Spumoni’s. We were celebrating Zack’s Mom’s birthday. It seems like it’s always someone’s birthday! Spumoni’s is a little Italian joint here in Santa Clarita. The place is really charming and quaint. It’s a white table cloth place, but it doesn’t feel pretentious like most places around here. The service is always amazing. I know the owner and all of the staff, so I always get great treatment, a discount and free dessert. The food is really the best. I love the bread! Yum! I got the gnocchi in a pink sauce with shrimp. To die for. After we had our fill, Zack and I went over to the Antique mall. We browsed for a few hours and found lots of great stuff. Zack ended up deciding on a vintage foot heater. It looked really atomic and was painted a cool turquoise color. It was super heavy too. It looks like it would catch the house on fire if we ever tried to plug it in, so we just plan to put it on display in the new livingroom. I picked up one of those ceramic hand-painted Japanese ladies head vase. She is a really pretty blonde in a teal hat and dress. I have been wanting one forever and all of my girl friends have them, so it was about time I picked one up. They had two more there, a brunette and a redhead. Anyone want to buy those for me?  Next I want one of those ceramic hands to hold my rings. They had a few there, even one that was depression glass. Hopefully they will still be there next time I go.

Oh lucky me! It's The Lucky Stars!

I had the day off Friday, so I went and got my hair done. Just a color and cut like normal. Then after that I went walking around Castaic Lake for a few hours. It was quiet and peaceful there. The weather was warm and sunny. It was my first time to Castaic Lake, and it was a lot nicer then I imagined. It’s like a little oasis hidden in the desert. My only beef is that they charge for parking, something outrageous like $12, and only take cash. I ended up parking at a shopping center about ½ a mile away. No big deal, since I went to get some exercise anyway. That evening we had someone come to take a look at the Fairlane. We are trying to sell it to use toward a down payment on our house. So far we have not had much luck. It’s a good car, but everyone seems to want a perfect old man car, and that’s not what it it’s. It’s a kustom and some people just don’t get it. We couldn’t really read him, so we are just waiting to see if he calls back or not.

That night we went to Weber’s for Rockabilly Friday Night. The Lucky Stars, Captain Jeffrey and His Musical Chumbuckets, and Karling Abbeygate were on the bill. There was also a burlesque act by Betsey Bosen. Karling “the darling” opened up the night. This was my first time seeing her. Apparently she used to do a sort of alt-rock-punk thing, and has just recently (within the last few years) gotten into rockabilly. At least that is what multiple reliable sources have told me. She has a great backing band (I think that was Wally on bass) and a good voice. Her image could use improvement in my opinion, but maybe that’s the look she was going for. She wore a little lace up corset top and a short short petticoat skirt in black and red with black cowboy boots. She liked to twirl a lot so her skirt would fly up and you would see her ruffly butt panties. I guess that is normal stage getup. She did a lot of classic female rockabilly and country tunes. The older men sitting next to us seemed to really like her, and commented that she was like Patsy Cline. I don’t know if I quite agree with that assessment though. She was good, but no Annita or Amber. Next up was my good friends, the Chumbuckets. They know how to really get a party going. Captain Jeffrey is a great front man and really entertaining to watch. They always have a blast on stage and really get the crowd excited. Everyone loved their hillbilly jazz. They were the perfect band to get the crowd excited for The Lucky Stars. What can I say about the Lucky Stars? Besides that they are the best western swing band in the USA. They are all extremely talented and charming to boot! I am lucky (pun intended) that I get to see these boys on a regular basis. The show was amazing like always and they kept playing until they got kicked off stage.

The Lucky Stars!

Love that JW

Wave to the camera Stuckey!

If you have not noticed, I am still missing all of my eyelashes from Viva. I guess they take awhile to grow back. Lesson learned: Fake eyelashes are not worth it. Keep your real ones instead! 

Zack dancing with the beautiful and very fashionable Monica

This is a very rare picture. Look closely. It may just look like a pic of me at the end of the night being pooped. It is, but it's so much more. I actually didn’t realize there was a camera around me! My radar must have been pooped out. But Zack actually noticed the camera and smiled. How weird! Thanks to Cara who captured this rare moment and emailed the picture to me!

Also note my vintage black and blue/silver rickrack squaw dress from Alana. Thanks Alana!

Check out the links below to see when the bands are playing next and to buy their CDs:

http://www.theluckystars.com/

www.myspace.com/thechumbuckets

http://www.karlingabbeygate.net/home.cfm

The Backwoods Inn

On Thursday night we went to Backwoods Inn to celebrate Zack’s little brother’s birthday. Backwoods Inn is the oldest Steakhouse in Santa Clarita Valley. It has been there since 1968, which is old for Santa Clarita. This place is my kind of steakhouse. It’s basically a glorified shack out in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by huge old trees. The inside is dark, quiet, and kind of musty. All off the walls are lined in cabinets full of old antique junk. The floor is covered in sawdust. All of the waitresses have been there for centuries and sound like they have been smoking for centuries too. I think they are all named Flo. The service and food is good though. Zack and I shared the filet mignon, loaded baked potato, garlic bread, and finished the meal with the Backwoods Coffee. The meal was served on a nice set of old china. Overall it’s a fun place to go. It is different then all of the other steakhouses in Southern California, so in that way it is refreshing. I would recommend it.

                                                 http://www.backwoodsinn.com/

Adventures in French cooking

Sunday was Mother’s Day, so we had Zacks Mom over for brunch (after I ran a 5K to burn all the cals I was about to eat). I made crepes with blackberries, O’Brian potatoes, and scrambled eggs. It was delicious, but that may have been the mimosa’s talking! I used the occasion as an excuse to use my set of Noritake china. I have about 100 piece set with teal, yellow roses and gold trim. I love it! Thanks to my Papa for buying it in Japan in WWII for his mother, and thanks to my Grammie for passing it on to me because she knew I would appreciate it more than anyone else. They would be happy to see it used on Mother’s Day. After every one left we took another much needed nap and watched a movie. That night I made jambalaya with andolle sausage and shrimp. It was tasty! We finished off the night with my French favorite, beignets! Bon appetit!

Our new furniture comes home!

We had to get up bright and early Saturday morning (after being out ‘til about 3am the night before), so that we could go pick up our new couch and diner table. Well, they are new to us, but are actually vintage pieces. We met up with Rene and Alana for breakfast at this really old little breakfast joint in Eagle Rock. The place had a charming family feel to it. We sat on an enclosed covered patio that was surrounded by my favorite smelling flower, star jasmine. I was in heaven! Alana and I shared the infamous rainbow burrito, and it was amazing! We left stuffed and headed over to pick up our couch from a few blocks away. We found the couch on Craigslist, and knew it would be perfect for the look we are planning for the new house. In the picture it looks like a light blue, but the picture doesn’t do it justice! It’s a beautiful medium blue, with a hint of green, so almost a teal wool. It has some amazing flecking and is in great vintage shape! It will look perfect with our mid-century, slightly modern look we are going for. It’s so comfy too. You sink down into it and never want to get up again. But then it springs right back to life when you get up. Genius! Zack and Rene had to carry it down 3 stories to get it into the truck, so it did get a little dirty in a few spots. Nothing I can’t handle. Thanks to our strapping boys for moving the couch for me! Next we went over to Burbank to pick up our 50s diner table. It’s a sea foam colored cracked ice laminate top with chrome siding and legs. The sides fold down making in fit into the littlest of kitchens. There was a little bit of rust on the legs, but nothing a brillo pad and a little elbow grease won’t fix! When we got our new stuff home we got it all cleaned up and took a well deserved nap on our new couch!

Rockabilly Friday Night at Weber’s

On Friday we went to Rockabilly Friday Night at Weber’s in Reseda. We got there about 10ish after visiting Sandra and Sugarball’s house to pick up our new 50s teal lamp. Our lamp is beautiful by the way, but more about that later! I know you all want to know what I wore, so here it goes: I wore a 50s red wool pencil skirt that has these amazing pockets, with a pink 50s sweater with this cute detailing at the neck and sleeves, vintage red peep toe slingbacks, a red celluloid necklace and some red and pink bangles. I styled my hair after the pinup on the new Bowl-a-Rama flyer (more to come on that, stay tuned). Its a cute faux bang with a red bow.

Sugarballs knows how to pour a beer

The woman of the house. 

Their dog and I made out. I love her.

When we got to Weber’s I met up with Alana in the VIP area upstairs and had a few beers until the main event started. There were a few opening bands and some burlesque acts. Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys were the headliners. I love them and am lucky to get to see them a lot. The band was a long way from home, but that didn’t stop them from putting on a great show. They took requests from the audience and played all of the hits. Friday night brings a great crowd. No trouble makers there so far. Everyone was having a good time and dancing when they could find a spot to. While I was dancing I was being filmed for a Belgian beer commercial that is rockabilly themed. They filmed me putting on 100 coats of lipstick too. I just had to sign a release and everything. I will keep you all updated if anything comes out of it. The band played until the lights came on, it was a really nice long set. Thanks to Karen for booking such a great band, and thanks to Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys for coming out to our neck of the woods! What a great way to kick off the weekend. Hope to see you all at Weber’s next Friday night for The Lucky Stars!

Robert AKA Big Sandy

Ashley AKA the coolest man ever named Ashley

Crazy cocktails in a test tube. I wouldn't recommend it, but it was bought for me. 

Alana is the best. This is my favorite pic ever. She is really all about the music, and thats why I love her. 

Visit http://www.bigsandy.net/ to see Robert’s tour dates, photos, blog and to buy their CDs.

Update

Sorry I have been slow to update my blog. I have been super busy! I am currently picking up a second job to help save for our new home. The Fairlane still remains unsold on Craigslist LA, so we are scrimping every penny to come up with the down payment for our house. We are really hoping to buy by the end of the year. So, sadly I will not be able to update my blog as often because I will be working a second job at night. But, in the process of planning for the new house, I have started redecorating our imaginary home. We are going for a mid-century, slightly modern, modest concept in a seafoam/teal color palate. Sadly, we live and work in a very new town. The oldest houses here are mid 60s, and people don’t appreciate history here, so the older houses have not been up kept and are mostly in an unlivable state of disrepair, or are out of our price range. So, we will most likely be purchasing something built in the 80s, and have to take it back in time. At least everything will be structurally and functionally up to date, so we will only have to work on cosmetics. It will be fun remodeling and we are up for the challenge. We are completely changing decorating styles for the new house so I have to shop for all new furniture, darn! I can’t shop for clothing, but house wares are justified! I have already picked out a new sofa. It is a blue wool mid-century 3 seater, with a slightly modern feel. It’s in great condition, as it was covered with a sheet most of its life, and we will be only the 3rd owner. We are picking it up Sat from Eagle Rock. Sugarballs and Sandra are selling me an amazing 50s lamp in teal that will look just fabulous with it! I already have a set of cream, pink, and green tropical barkcloth curtains that will look great in the new living room, and I saw a set of barkcloth pillows at the antique mall that would match as well. I also have found a new 50s diner table in a seafoam laminate with collapsible sides. It’s larger than our current red one, so I am happy with the upgrade. I just need to find chairs to match it, as our current ones are black and red. We also have picked out the type of countertops we want, reproduction Skylark Laminate in aqua. I have the sample at my house to match colors, but those will have to wait. I have some pics of the furniture we are picking up this Saturday, so I will attach them.

Our new couch comes home sat.

Countertops of the future!

From the Sprauge house to the Simpson house!

The Weekend Before Last.....Before its too late!

Fri April 23th was Sugarballs’ birthday party at Blue Dog in Long Beach. He played there with Amber Foxx. This was the first time I have been to the Blue Dog. It is an odd place. It’s very long and narrow. In the front the bar is along the left wall, with booths along the right wall, and in the back there is a kitchen on the left and pool tables on the right. The band is wedged between the booths and the pool tables, staring into the kitchen. Not the best set up, but the band made it work. It was just cozy. The drink prices are fabulous, with the biggest beers on tap I have ever seen, at just $6.25 for PBR. They also have the best tacos made fresh at $5 for 3. The band was great, and had a lot of fun on stage with Sugarballs. It was his birthday, so they let him sing all of his theme songs again. There wasn’t much room for dancing, but we found a little spot and made it work. I wore a new vintage 40s secretary top in pink, and the little rhinestone buttons didn’t want to stay in the holes, and made me slowly undress each time I danced! It was really comical. Thank goodness I wear undershirts! I paired it with a black vintage A-line rayon skirt, and black 40s peep-toe slingbacks. I will try and find a pic for you guys. I had made a chocolate cake for Sugarballs’ birthday, but unfortunately it fell apart while I frosted it. So Sandra saved the day and bought him a cute oreo cake that we all enjoyed. We all had a good night and I think Sugarballs enjoyed his birthday.

Miss Amber Foxx

Memo and I with big ass beers!

Happy Birthday Sugarballs!

Zack and I were pooped at the end of the night

The next night was Cher’s 40th birthday party in Fullerton that was hosted by Tom Plante of the Midnight Boys. The Palaminos, The Midnight Boys, Buddy & Suzie Combo, and The Sidewynders played. I had never seen The Palaminos or The Midnight Boys before, but I really enjoyed them! The Sidewynders are amazing, so I always look forward to seeing them. This time around Zack played acoustic with them on Bird Dog Boogie, and it was a hoot. Buddy & Suzie played with a slightly different lineup then I have seen before, and they all had lavender bow ties to match Suzie’s dress. It was really cute. The bands were all great, but the additional use of electricity blew the breaker in the back portion of the house, which was unfortunate for the very accommodating host. The house had a great open concept that was great for house parties. There was also a cute little pool and a nice BBQ. There was plenty of people, food and drinks. There was even a little room for dancing. All you need for a great party! I made Cher a cute little pink cake with a “miniature lucite heel” on the top, which was really a Cinderella slipper I think. Either way it was cute and tasty, and everyone loved it. I wore my Freddie’s jeans with my new blue atomic halter bra top from Atomic Swag and my white remix wedges. A very successful party in my opinion.

Cakes By Dollie

Mr. Host Tom Plante showing off the goods

Buddy and Suzie starting the night off right

The birthday girl and I

Me, Cher and Alana with The Palaminos

Memo, Amber "Mad dog", and Jordan "Im a fuckin' rapper, dude!"

Cher blowing out the cake

The SideWynders closed out the night. Zack guesting on guitar

Then on Sunday we spent the day recovering!