Circus Food
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Did some stuff in the baby's room.....

We bought a dresser, so now there's a place for the tiny little undershirts and socks. I had fun folding things and putting them away. I hung the wall decorations and fixed/cleaned up the vintage lamp (the dog's ears and the balloon strings were missing). I hung the crib mobile....although, I'll probably be moving that to the co-sleeper bassinet in our room since the baby will be in there. I kind of suspect that the crib will not get used at all. We'll see. It won't bother me if it doesn't get used, since we didn't buy it - it's my old crib from when I was a baby, so I just love it being in the baby's room for sentimental reasons.

DH says the baby's room is looking like a boy's room. I have to agree. I didn't mean for it to end up that way, but it really is a little on the masculine side. Oh well. If we have a girl, I doubt she'll mind (or even notice).

The jack-in-the-box on the dresser isn't going to stay there. I just thought it was eerily fun to look at it next to the lamp w/ all the other lights off. I have a weird thing for creepy circus stuff. I kind of like spooky vintage clowns and demented carnival music. I know, I'm strange. I don't want my kid to have a scary room, so I'll put the evil-looking jack-in-the-box away before he/she has a chance to get freaked out by it.

Total tangent here: There used to be a pizza parlor in Toronto, Canada called The Organ Grinder. This place was weird. It was all dark and creepy in there....had the feel of an old fun house that hadn't been updated in years. There was a giant Wurlitzer organ in the dining room and the guy who played the organ would take song requests from guests. It was funny to hear modern pop music played on a huge organ. When the organ was playing, a disco ball would spin and colorful stage lights would flash all around the dark restaurant. The place had ski-ball and video games, if I remember correctly...it was definitely geared toward kids.....but oh-so creepy! I loved it. It has since been closed, which makes me sad.....not that I get as far north as Toronto very often. LOL.

I'm a nerd. I searched the web for pics or articles on this place, but didn't find much. Oddly enough, I found a few restaurant guides that still included reviews of The Organ Grinder....but I know for a fact that it is long gone. Rest in peace, scary pizza place.

A restaurant in Madison, WI that DH and I visited once has a similar, albeit not-so-dark, feel. Ella's Deli is a fun place to eat if you're ever in that area. All kinds of toys and figurines have been made into weird mechanical monstrosities and do acrobatics all along the restaurant ceiling. Lots of vintage circus/carnival signs and memorabilia clutter the atmosphere. Tables contain strange interactive scenery like Legos, trains, and Wooly Willy magnetic hair characters under thick pieces of glass. (I dig the Wooly Willy table 'cause there are actual magnetic pens strapped to the table so you can "draw" mustaches and mohawks on the bald heads while you eat your reuben and ice cream sundae.

Labels: baby gear, food

posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 2:24 PM,

6 Comments:

At Tue Mar 13, 05:31:00 PM CDT, LaLibertad said...: I lived a few blocks from Ellas. We would take my parents there. My dad was just like a kid while my mom slowly got a migraine.

The room is looking fantastic!
At Tue Mar 13, 06:59:00 PM CDT, Miranda said...: Looks neat in there, love the lamp!
At Wed Mar 14, 01:58:00 PM CDT, Wendy @ WMF said...: I love the room, but your post as a whole? Shudder::Shudder. You're freakin' me out, man! One of my greatest phobias in life is clowns. My actual biggest phobia is dolls with eyes that open and close. I guess my biggest all time fear would be an antique clown doll with eyes that opened and closed. Thankfully I've never encountered one or I would probably be institutionalized.
At Wed Mar 14, 02:44:00 PM CDT, eipwek said...: I understand your phobia - I think that's why I love creepy circus stuff....'cause I just find it so bewildering that people would create toys and decorations that are so scary looking. It just cracks me up! That jack-in-the-box's mouth and eyes open and close when you press the little button that makes him pop out.....and he makes this weird screeching noise. DH and I found it at a thrift store and just had to buy it because every time it pops up, I laugh hysterically. I just find it so funny that it was normal for toys in the 60's and 70's to look demented. "Here, junior, play with this demonic-looking jack-in-the-box that will surely give you nightmares." LOL :)
At Fri Mar 16, 12:37:00 PM CDT, Sorlil said...: wow I love that set of drawers and the lamp!
At Sat Mar 17, 04:11:00 PM CDT, Danielle said...: Room looks sweet!