More Memphis

This post is long overdue.  I left for a trip to Arizona to visit my sister shortly after our trip to Memphis.  My head is spinning with all of this travel.  I’m looking forward to catching up on everyone’s blogs in the next few days.

Now back to Memphis!  When I saw Uncle Cy, I couldn’t help it. I had to cry.  I hadn’t seen him in quite a few years.

I hadn’t seen my cousins in a long time either. 

Memories came flooding back to me.

I remembered how special I felt the Christmas Uncle Cy gave me my walking doll.  My sis’ godfather, Uncle Tom, gave her one just like it in a blue dress.  We played with those dolls forever.  She still has hers  too.  Mine is minus eyelashes on one eye and is a little cockeyed because the internal rubber band that holds everything together is rotten.  Kathleen says hers is missing two fingers. So, like the rest of us, the dolls are showing the signs of age after all these years.

 

Thank you Uncle Cy for being the best of everything and giving me such wonderful memories.

My cousin, Linda, is a cancer survivor, like me. So of course we spent a bit  of time comparing  notes.  We came to the conclusion that we are both happy to be alive and are doing great.

I remember Linda as the “cool” older cousin.  She lived in St. Louis when we were growing up.  When we’d visit, I was in awe of her.  She had the most awesome Beetles collection.  I mean…. this was music I wasn’t allowed to listen to!  But there  wasn’t much mom and dad could do about it when we visited Uncle Cy’s place.  That would have been rude.  So, I would lay sprawled out on the floor in Linda’s bed room, listening to her records, pretending I was older and sophisticated like her.  I believe she is all of four or five years older than me, but that just seemed so sophisticated to me!

           

Lisa is one of my younger cousins.  She mentioned in her comment on my “Conversation With Uncle Cy” post that our many cousins fall into two groups… older and younger.  I always thought of it that way too, only I always thought of us as three groups.  Older, middle,youngest.  Bottom line is that I didn’t know Lisa all that well because I fit into the other age group, but yet I feel like I know her very well. Strange.

Lisa, having grown up in Memphis, has the most delightful southern accent and charm.   Her dad lives with her and her husband and sweet little daughter.

 

Even though they had plans for the night we visited, she treated us as royal guests, even to the point of driving the royal coach to track us down when we got  lost.  I have no idea how she made it to their event that night, but she made it seem like no big deal.

Uncle Cy reminds me of mom.  He is as high strung as they come, just like mom was.  When he came to greet me, with his hands fluttering through the air, I realized just how much family matters and how alike, yet different, we all are. He took us for a tour of his space, and then outside to see the view.

 

Then we were introduced to Muse Inspired Fashions.

Lisa owns one of the neatest shops I have ever been in.  It is a high end boutique, located in downtown Memphis, called Muse Inspired Fashions.  Even though she was on a tight schedule, she took time to give us a tour of her boutique.  Wow.

Don’t you just love the colors?

Her mannequins are salvaged castaways.  They add a lot of charm to her shop.

Talk about unique dressing rooms.  Imagine the luxury of a 10 ft. x 10 ft. dressing area, surrounded by velvet curtains.  I couldn’t help imagine sitting in that soft easy chair sipping on a glass of wine, while clothing was brought to me to admire.

Old mixed with new gives this shop the perfect funky look.

I stole this little blurb from her website…

Founded in 2003 by Lisa Doss, MUSE, Inspired Fashions has quickly become a staple for Memphians and a destination for tourists. MUSE has been mentioned in Glamour, Southern Living, Air France and Northwest Airlines In-flight magazine. Miss Muse (Lisa Doss) has appeared on B. Smith with Style, MTV's Made, and Ambush Makeover. She has worked with stylist for Martina McBride and Reese Witherspoon and personally assisted Joaquim Phoenix, Buddy Jewel and Isaac Hayes.

MUSE, Inspired Fashions provides unique fashions for the Funky Diva and Metrosexual Male along with great customer support - a combination that can't be beat!
Through our commitment, experience, and expertise, MUSE Inspired Fashions has established a relationship with our customers that combines stylist, friend and personal assistant.

My Memphis family is wonderful and unique!