Why Jungle Dream Pagoda? Celebrating 100 posts !! ...and a give-away !!!

Blogging time sucker warning :LEVEL ORANGEBlog names are very clever and most often capture EXACTLY the personality of the artist and writer of the individual site.
If you have ever peeked at the brilliant musings of The Epistle Of Timothy it is indeed an ego-centric driven forum,but for all his bravado and James Joyce bottom lining (can that be possible, J.J. bottom linings?)you will detect a distinct flavor of faith fueling his writings.Pandoras Button Box ? Well at Amandas place you never know what creative,yet old-fashioned with a twist project will pop up....and like the mythological creature her site is named for ,you will always find a hopeful and optimistic feel at the bottom of her ideas. How about A Fanciful Twist ,Through the Secret Keyhole? Don't we all feel like priveliged flies on the wall of her studio?So why Jungle Dream Pagoda?Lets just say its an idylic and artistic place that lives in my heart and in my head.
Back in my struggling artist days(daze!),I was still living at home with my parents ,and it occured to them I wasn't going anywhere.They decided if I wouldn't move out on them,they would move out on me! It was their way of supporting the arts you see.Thus they moved out and I became the care-taker of the sweet little cottage I grew up in. The empty house they left me with gave me the perfect blank canvas I needed to create the bohemian/artist salon I had always dreampt of.It was at that time I switched my thrifting focus from vintage clothes to vintage kitsch. My taste in those days was not quite as developed and edited as it is now.My voracious appetite loved anything interesting ,unusual,and breakable,especially from the mid-century.Spaghetti poodles,plaster angels,velvet Elvis paintings,African masks,leopard throws,and anything Asian.
Another passion of mine at the time was the vintage Barbie Doll.I loved the whole ideal. Barbie,the perfect plastic goddess,with perfect tiny vintage clothes for every occasion.Even before my parents flight,I had begun taking them around to fun events(dressed oh-so appropriately ofcourse!) ,(yes my feet are much closer to the ground these days!).
Hard to believe there were no digital cameras around to document bumping into Tim Curry and asking him to sign my dollies leg. He happily agreed and drolly extolled,"How very peculiar."!
As little Barbie vignettes began popping up everywhere in my leopard infused Asian fantasyland.It was only natural to name my world.

I loved this packaging.
So ofcourse,I changed it to artwork in the original Pagoda.
Mondrian color-blocked cabinets,why not?
The fiesta dining room,ofcourse!!!
.....BARBIE'S....
...EXOTIC..... Martin Denny and his Orchestra,was usually the soundtrack of my life in those days.
.....JUNGLE...... Gosh,wish I still had these taxidermied frogs!......NOT !!!!!
....DREAM....
.....PAGODA....
This picture(taken by my dear friend Stephen)was shot shortly before we were married on the day my hubs interviewed for grad school. Doesn't he look comfy (teehee)?Barbies Exotic Jungle Dream Pagoda,was truly an oppurtunity to let my imagination run wild. Shortening my sites name to Jungle Dream Pagoda,captures this same ideal and lets my feet float gently back down to the ground(okay, so they still hover a bit).It more inclusively describes what inspires me most,my fabulous and still exotic family!
On to business!!!
We are celebrating 100 posts(107 if your really counting) here at the Pagoda,and I wish to give something back to all the adorable people that have come into my life. If we've yet to meet, heres our chance.Leave a comment for a drawing, and let me pick some goodies out of my magic closet(this includes my assorted fripperies and tchotchkes),that I think might best suit the individual reader.If you would like to be entered twice,leave a haiku comment. I get to choose my favorite poem as a winner!So that way there are 2 winners!!!!You may comment,and or haiku through next monday,on THIS post.
Heres my Haiku:
Isn't it tragic?
I loved vintage ,long ago.
Tragically hip!

Sending out LOTS of Pagoda love and gratitude for all the support!