jane's apron

pasadena hills

This is my neighborhood...its own little city named Pasadena Hills.  You might be thinking "But I thought you were a thrifty girl." and I can explain.

In general, St. Louis has an affordable housing market. Specifically, our neighborhood is especially affordable. There are many reasons for this but it is certainly not because the houses are not beautiful and well cared for.   For example, I know the house pictured on the top left sold for $38,000 in the 1970s (I think the light fixtures alone are worth more than that).  The people that live here are devoted to the community and this devotion has led to some great things.  Our entire neighborhood was designated a National Historic District a few years ago and our town fountain and historic street lights were recently restored.   Most of the homes were built during the depression...with skilled craftsman creating leaded glass windows and mosaic tile floors.  There are Spanish, French Eclectic, French Creole, and Tudor Revival homes...a little bit of everything and one of the best "unknown" cities in St. Louis. 

Do you have a similar neighborhood in your city?    

fright night

  

For some reason, I don't think cemeteries are the least bit scary.  They are always interesting to me...something about the names and dates.  There is a tiny old cemetery behind our church and school and I took a walk through it last week.   Lots of the headstones are completely worn and unreadable and pretty moss grows on the north sides. My favorite is the one that says Jane Josephine.  It is four-sided and has Lucy, Eliza, and Amanda on the other three sides...such pretty names.  It's very peaceful...

...but will be the sight of a haunted hayride tonight as part of the 8th grade Fright Night.   I have to laugh a little at the slightly macabre side of our church...no politically correct "harvest festival" but rather a scare-the-crap-out-of-each-other night of fun including a Haunted Movie Theatre.  My son is staring in "The Exorcist" room and my husband who is usually a wide-eyed observer of such activities will be supervising their room...he'll probably have to sleep with the light on tonight. 

lollipop guild

 

We have a bit of a celebrity that lives in our neighborhood. Mickey Carroll, one of the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz, lives next store to my friend Sandy.  It's weird that I knew Sandy for a long time before learning this ... "Seriously, Mickey Carroll lives next door?  How did I not know this?".  I had a similar reaction when I found out that a house up the street was home to the real life story of "The Exorcist"...but that's a post for another day.  

When I joined the vendors for the new LolliShops,  I wanted to send Sadie a thank you and used my munchkin connection to get an autographed picture that I turned into a candy-pink LolliShop-ish wall hanging.   Thanks Sadie!   

outside my door

 

At the beginning of the year, I posted that my blog looked like I never left my house and that I would try to bring my camera with me more.  I take pictures of my kids all the time but feel weird taking a picture of someone I don't know or places that aren't exactly photo opportunities.  I forced myself to try it and took this picture in front of St. Vincent Home for Children...just hopped out of my car and took it...half expecting someone to come running after me saying "Hey, you can't take pictures here!"...but enough about my social anxiety.  

With this post, I've created a new category called "three miles from my house" and I hope it is at least a little bit interesting.  We live in Normandy which is one of the original "suburbs" of St. Louis.  Historically, the land was owned by the Catholic Church and, even though we are close to the city, there are huge areas of green space around us....lots of golf courses, cemeteries, and historical church places.  St. Vincent Home for Children is less than a mile from my house and it still impresses me every time a take a minute to really look at it.  If you like sad but sweet stories, you may want to read this article from the Missouri History Museum titled "A Boys Perspective: Life in the German St. Vincent Orphan Home".  The pictures alone are worth taking a look at...I love the one of the little girls on the playground.