#ThrowbackThursday Magical Days of Youth

Sometimes there are days that just stick out in your memory. These photos are from one of those days when we were kids. We hadn’t been in the U.S. all that long. Two or three years at the most. My family and some friends went out to Long Island for picnic. It was a glorious day and my sister, brother, and me all remember it well.

I remember those saddle shoes as well. I hated them. I’d always manage to scuff up the white and my saintly grandfather would clean and polish them to whiteness again.

And my parents, in immigrant fashion I think, always dressed sis and me alike. Kind of Sound of Music-style, right? Still, none of that could detract from the memories of this fun day.

In the first picture, that’s my mom in the middle. My dad is off to the left behind sis. My brother is in the maroon shirt behind me in the first photograph and then behind sis and me. A dear family friend, Albertico, is off to the far right in the first photo.
MomFun

PineiroSibs1

#ThrowbackThursday The Easter Parade

When I was younger we lived in Queens and I remember coming into Manhattan several times for the Easter Parade. We would walk along Fifth Avenue seeing everyone in their Easter hats and then go by Rockefeller Center to check out all the lovely flowers. One year we went to see The Sound of Music and it was a very moving experience for me since I so identified with the Von Trapp family and having to leave home.

This is a picture of my mom, sister, me and my grandmother in the Rockefeller Center Promenade. Don’t look too happy in this one, but these trips were always fun!
Easter Rockefeller Center

#ThrowbackThursday Fun Family Times

I don’t really remember when this was taken, although I remember the day! My parents took us out to one of the Long Island parks to relax and have some fun. That’s my younger sister Carmen to the left, my mom Carmen in the middle, and me to the right, all just hanging out having fun.

The three men in the back are my dad, my older brother, and a family friend.

We had such a good time heading out to “the country.” LOL. My mom would always pack a big picnic lunch for us and we’d spend the day out on Long Island before heading back to Queens where we were living at the time. We eventually moved out to “the country” and I grew up there.

For those who are wondering, my sister and I are not twins. My parents just used to dress alike. I think it was a thing back then and I always felt like I had stepped out of The Sound of Music or something like that. I hated those Mary Janes. They’d come home scuffed and dirty every day and my poor granddad would have to make them look spiffy again.

CarmenMomMe

#ManCandyMonday Christopher Plummer

Have to say that one of my first crushes was Christopher Plummer once I saw him in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

I was very glad to hear that he had wone Best Supporting Actor last night for his role in “Beginners”.

I know this is a blast from the past, but I figured it was a nice change of pace. Do you have any favorite old time actors?

Photo Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/van.5a52527

Fun Friday – Jersey Shore, Baseball and The Hills are Alive!

Still celebrating the release of STRONGER THAN SIN which means you can visit with me over at my friend Lois Winston’s wonderful blog where I’ll be talking about how to select locations for your novels and why I chose the Jersey Shore. Anyone who leaves a comment will have a chance to win an autographed copy of SINS OF THE FLESH. If you win and already have that one, just let me know and I can substitute another release for you!

Another fun thing for you! With the World Series underway (and me struggling to watch it on MLB.TV which is so much harder to follow than a Fox feed!), we’re going to have some baseball fun here next Friday. My friend and fellow author Ronnie Norpel will be here to talk about her latest release, BASEBALL KARMA AND THE CONSTITUTION BLUES from Three Rooms Press.

Finally, one of my all time favorite movies is THE SOUND OF MUSIC for so many reasons. My family and I went to see it when I was a kid. We did a special trip to New York City in our Easter finery, hats and all for the Easter parade. Then we went to Radio City Music Hall. I cried at the end (and still do) because I could connect with those children who were forced to leave their homes because of a crazy man.

But on a brighter note, the cast reunited recently and here’s a clip for you to enjoy on this Fun Friday!