Hooray For Hollywood,

Starr

“Once upon a time in London town, 

lived a little girl named Joanie Crown!”

Thinking of you today, Mom.

Love always,

Starr

Recently, I came across this tiny photograph in a timeworn envelope labeled “Joan – Family & Friends.”   Capturing a happy gathering and noted on the back in pencil with only the year 1923, I decided to do a little sleuthing.

The Cody Gals

My great grandparents, Ellen Sarah and Richard William Cody, had 11 children (5 boys and 6 girls).  One daughter, Annie, born in 1900, died at age 12.  Pictured above are the remaining 5 daughters.

From the Left:

My Grandmother Emily

My Great Auntie Minnie

My Great Auntie Emma

My Great Auntie Victoria (Dollie!) she looks like a Dollie!

My Great Auntie Alice (only 17 in this photo and the one I got to know the best.)

Now, how about that little baby girl?

The ladies in the photo are not wearing coats on that London day making it sometime in the Spring or early Summer…

The baby looks to be about 4 months old…

She is dressed in a long white garment…

She is next to Emily and being held by Minnie…

Sherlock-Style has deduced that the baby is my mom, Joanie, born in February 1923.  The gathering was for her Christening.  And her Auntie Minnie was her Godmother.

…making this the earliest photo memory I have of Joanie Crown Stegemoen, my mom.

Thanks ever so much to my cousin, Pam, for her help with this.

Starr

]]> http://starr-style.com/2012/02/15/midweek-musing-feminine-connection/feed/ 1 Starr sc00077bdd sc00077bdd_2 http://starr-style.com/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-day-2/ http://starr-style.com/2012/02/14/happy-valentines-day-2/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:26:18 +0000 Starr http://starr-style.com/?p=6105 ]]>

Have a “Love”ly Day!

Starr

Ellen Crown Allen

February 11, 1916 – October 27, 1998

c. Early 1920′s

c. Late 1920′s

c. 1930′s

c. 1940′s

Christmas in Claygate, England – 1962

c. 1960′s

Visiting America – 1964

Always the Proper British Lady!

Claygate, Summer of 1969

c. 1975

c. 1980′s

c. 1990′s

“Mind how you go!”

Your loving niece,

Starr

HELENE

I know you’re Stylin’ while you’re Schussing,

Starr

13)  Never Leave Home Without Your Movie Star Ankle

Yes, it looks painful, I know, but it’s totally worth it!

A MSA GALLERY

Babie Wabie

Jaunty Juvenile

Tentative Teenagers

Brothers & Sisters

On A Staircase

Move Over Mad Men

Sequined

Feathered

On The Moon

At The Beach

In The Snow

On The Ice

In Ski Boots

In Spats

In flats

In Dappled Light

In Straight White Pants From The 80′s

Broadway Baby Style

Going Tubing Style

At A Baby Shower Style

In White Shoes

In Black Shoes

In Silver Shoe

Ascending

Perching

After Twirling (Advanced Only)

The Quintessential

Just a few more days before the Oscars, so start practicing now,

Starr

“Am I in Veggie Heaven?!”

“Plant a turnip.”
“Get a turnip.”
“Maybe you’ll get two.”
“That’s why I love vegetables;”
“You know that they’ll come through!”

From – The Fantastiks

“Rutaba-ee-a-ga”

“Rutaba-ee-a-ga”

“Ruta-ba-ga!”

“Call Any Vegetable” – Frank Zappa

“It couldn’t please me more”

“Than the gift I see;”

“A pineapple for me.”

From – Cabaret

“Life is merry,
If it’s very
Vegetarian!”

Stylin’ with Produce,

Starr

]]> http://starr-style.com/2012/02/01/midweek-musing-sweet-auburn/feed/ 0 Starr 2012-01-28 13.44.59 2012-01-28 13.36.52 2012-01-28 13.38.14 2012-01-28 13.39.00 2012-01-28 13.39.22 2012-01-28 13.41.02 2012-01-28 13.40.23 2012-01-28 13.41.51 2012-01-28 13.42.17 2012-01-28 13.46.13 2012-01-28 13.48.30 http://starr-style.com/2012/01/30/dont-ask-me-to-act/ http://starr-style.com/2012/01/30/dont-ask-me-to-act/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:20:25 +0000 Starr http://starr-style.com/?p=5980 ]]>

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE LEADING LADY!

The incomparable Ellen North!

Love,

Starr

When he came to live with us, we changed his name.

Meet Sammy the Sam-a-la Stegemoen

It became clear one hot summer night that a dog in the house might be a good idea.  A thwarted home invasion (thwarted because mom and I screamed bloody murder at the top of our lungs until the would be culprit ran away into the night) clearly put getting a watchdog on the top of the “to do” list.

And who do you call when you want to get something done?  Lori Hirsch, of course!  Mrs. Hirsch was one of my mother’s long time friends and loyal customers.  She would visit my mother’s dressmaking shop each season and place her order for dozens of ensembles.  With a larger-than-life personality and a benevolent heart to match, just say the word and she would drop everything to help anyone.

And it just so happened that she had a litter of puppies ready for new homes.

With a face only a mother could love, into our home came our new watchdog.  A Cock-A-Poo.  Yes, that’s right.  Half Cocker Spaniel and half Poodle, it’s fancy mutt breed name is Cock-A-Poo.

Sammy the Sam-a-la lived for two things.  To be forever and always attached at the hip (well, more like the ankle) to mom.  And, ironically, to escape out the door and run in a mad-dash-away fashion, snout to the ground and tail in the air, not looking where he was going and causing much angst (especially to the one guilty of not latching the door securely or holding it ajar a second too long).

Not long after the bolt, the rescue efforts would begin.  Into the car we would go and drive all over the neighborhood looking for that prodigal son of a dog.  Oftentimes we would return home finding the little stopper-outer sitting on the back door mat, with his head tilted in that heart melting position of cuteness, and his bubble comment declaring, “Where have you been, I’ve been waiting for you forever!”

He was a dog with the proverbial 9-Lives usually reserved for a cat.  The manner in which he mad-dashed-away with reckless abandon surely should have gotten him into a pickle on at least that many occasions.

Most worrisome were the times he escaped in the middle of a raging snowstorm.  On Long Island in the 70′s, the snow fell in a relentless way.  If the Sam-a-la’s dash-away took place during one of these white-outs, all we could do was wait.  As he trekked through the snow, it would attach to his doggie tummy fur and build upon itself until many solid, icy snowballs formed making it almost impossible for him to walk, let alone dash!

So relieved we were when that little abominable snow Sammy would drag himself down the driveway and bark his return, that we would forget that he had caused us such worry.  Then the de-icing would begin.  Mom had to literally crush the ice using warm washcloths while her darling dog son would sit on her foot.

So on and on it went year after year, until Sammy was of the age that mad-dashing was no longer becoming to a dog in his golden years.  But when a dog has Wanderlust, just try to keep him in!  His little dog heart gave out on his last mad-dash on a sunny Southern day in the early 80′s.

Twenty years hence, his beloved Mistress joined him.  I can see him now.  Sitting on mom’s foot.

In memory of Sammy the Sam-a-la, the Mad-Dashing Dog,

Starr