ThrowbackThursday | Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author

July 10, 2014October 30, 2018

#ThrowbackThursday Levittown & Mr. Softee

I grew up in Levittown, Long Island, the first planned suburb in America. Some will bad mouth it by saying it was bland, homogenous and sanitized, but to me it was heaven and the American Dream.

My family was able to buy a home and we had good public schools that prepared us for the future. We had friendly neighbors after some initial issues with being Cuban and all in all, things were wonderful.

The community had little village greens with community pools and we were just minutes away from Jones Beach. Summers were spent playing outdoors and going to the pool or beach. Summers were also spent waiting for the visit of Mr. Softee, today’s Throwback Thursday memory. Of course, that just made me remember that the Good Humor man would also visit on another day, but that’s for a future post. LOL!

My family wasn’t well off, after all, we were political refugees who’d been in America for less than nine years when my parents moved us to Levittown. How’d they do that? The old fashioned way: hard work.

But money was tight and it wasn’t unusual that dinner was fried eggs and rice and we ate cream cheese and jelly sandwiches for lunch. If we even ate lunch. I don’t really remember eating breakfast or lunch in the summer. We were too busy playing outside.

Anyway, having enough money for Mr. Softee was a big deal. A BIG DEAL. Back then, you could get an ice cream cone for about 15 cents, but I loved their sundaes, so I’d save up the 15 cents my grandfather would give us and wait until I had the 35 cents for a sundae!

My sister would always get the Brown Cow, an ice cream cone dipped into some kind of magic liquid that produced a hard shell on the cold ice cream. I sometimes opted for the Cherry Cow if I was really impatient.

After we bought our ice creams, we’d sit on the curb and talk as we ate our treats before heading off to play with our friends again.

Those were the good times and it’s nice to remember them on this Throwback Thursday.

Mister Softee Truck 1.JPG
“Mister Softee Truck 1” by Rjsswf8 – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

July 3, 2014

#ThrowbackThursday RWA 2012 & My Buddies

This Throwback Thursday is a photo from RWA 2012 in Anaheim! My wonderful friends and fellow authors KM Fawcett and Cathy Tully came by to wish me well at the book signing. KM and Cathy are awesome ladies and they have a fabulous new release out – Beauty and the Curse.

We had a fabulous time together down in New Orleans as well and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them this year in San Antonio! Thank you for your friendship and support, KM and Cathy!

KM Fawcett & Cathy Tuttle[/caption]

June 26, 2014June 26, 2014

#ThrowbackThursday Heading to see Gloria Estefan

One of my fav singers is Gloria Estefan. This is a picture of my daughter and me getting ready to go see Gloria at a concert! Can you tell we were excited to go?

June 19, 2014

#ThrowbackThurday Man Candy Fun at RT Convention

Today’s Throwback Thursday is from 2009 RT Convention! This is a photo of me and my editor Selina McLemore together with some of the Ellora’s Cavemen. I had such a blast hanging out with Selina and enjoying all the parties and panels at the convention.

June 5, 2014May 10, 2017

#Throwback Thursday Colonial Williamsburg

One of our favorite family vacations was to Colonial Williamsburg. I’d been there many times as a kid since my mom really wanted us to learn everything we could about the United States. I loved all the times we went there!

My hubby and I did a trip together when we were first married and then took our daughter there. We had a blast. We got involved in a militia, did a court case, got shackled in the square and ate at each of the different restaurants. They were really interesting since each one represented a different class of people and showed you what they were likely to eat, their entertainment, etc.

If you get a chance to visit, please do so. You’ll really enjoy it. Here’s pictures of us on this #Throwback Thursday.

Also, check out the new and funny Colonial Williamsburg commercials!

May 22, 2014

#Throwback Thursday Grand Central Terminal & #Vampires

Right now I’ve jumped back into writing FIGHT FOR LOVE, the next book in The Calling is Reborn Vampire series. As I’ve mentioned before, a number of the scenes in the book are going to be set in and below Grand Central Terminal.

Why? Well, there are so many secret rooms, abandoned platforms and more. The terminal is actually the world’s largest facility of its kind with 44 platforms and 67 tracks that encompass 48 acres in New York City. Wow!

One of the areas that has fascinated me since watching a SECRETS OF NY broadcast is the space that holds the generators that power many of the train lines that come into Grand Central. It is rumored that during World War II, anyone caught in this area would be shot on sight and in fact, two German spies were captured by the FBI before they could execute a plan to sabotage the generators.

This secret sub-basement is called “M-42” and its location is not indicated on maps of the Terminal. The exact location is a super secret and closely guarded, although there have been shows which provided glimpses of the old generators and the new ones which now power the trains. The old generators have been kept for historical purposes and I’d love to see them one day!

As for M42 being secret? Well, my Slayer Council (and now Diana and Ryder) know where the M42 is located and meet there. Why? There is something about the generators and their power that helps hide the energies that the Slayers possess and so when they gather in large numbers, it assists to keep them hidden from prying eyes and of course, vampires who want to take a bite out of them.

Here’s a photo of a Redstone missile in the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal. This shot was taken in 1957 during the Cold War.

I hope you enjoyed this little throwback to Grand Central Terminal and that you’ll want to read more about a place that I truly love in NYC.

You can click here to learn about and see photos of FDR’s abandoned railroad car beneath Grand Central Terminal.

To see more about Grand Central’s Secret Rooms, you can click here!

Some history about the abandoned Grand Central-Waldorf Astoria Platform.

More about the M42 terminal and other underground locations.

May 8, 2014

#ThrowbackThursday National Pet Month

It’s National Pet Month so on today’s Throwback Thursday, I thought I’d share some pet photos, both new and old.

Here’s an oldie for you: Spotty, my hubby’s old pet beagle. Spotty inspired the pet in THE LOST. Yes, I know he looks like a bassett hound, but trust me, he’s just a big old beagle.

This is my daughter with our cat, Osiris, shortly after we got her. Osiris is sometimes my writing companion during the summer months. She just loves hanging out on the balcony. Not with me, just out on the balcony.

We have a lot of feral cats in the neighborhood and came upon a mom and little kitten on the deck one morning. The kitten was adorable and we felt so bad, that we set out some food for it. The mom and kitten came and went for months and then the mom kind of left and another set of cats came. We could tell they were related by the coloring and because one of them had extra toes on their feet which was just like the mom and kitten.

Here’s a picture of our two feral pets. We call them Blinkie and Whitey. Blinkie, as you can imagine, seemed to always be blinking, but she is really really friendly and adventurous. Whitey has a big white patch on her chest and is only friendly and adventurous when Blinkie is around. This winter we built them this little area where they could eat and warm up.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some of our pets. What about you? Do you have pets? Beside the feral cats I also have a red-eared slider turtle named Buffy!