Jamie Janosz

Every Friday, Miss Wolflin would let students in our 8 th grade music class bring in their favorite record album to play. Slim with short, black hair and a cheerful smile, our young teacher was enthusiastic and friendly. Her class was a place I loved to be, even if I couldn’t exactly sing on key as we belted out hippie-era songs like “Time in a Bottle” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” I loved music. The daughter of a piano player, I had played keyboard since I was 8-years-old and had recently learned to play the flute. I could sing, although my voice was basically monotone, and had even joined Miss Wolflin’s choir. Music was a safe haven in the train wreck of my junior high life. Smart, shy, and painfully skinny, I was a misfit. I tried so hard to fit in, but even my new Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans and black t-shirt somehow looked out of place on my angular figure. I was not only shy, but decidedly less worldly wise than my peers. My classmates were gen...

I recently found this nifty item at our local antique mall. Couldn't resist. Do you know what it is? I was especially enthralled with the atomic boomerang designs on the turquoise vinyl top. For now, it will make a nice side table. Some day - it will go in my huge walk-in closet where I have ample storage for my vintage clothes, shoes and hats! We live in a 1990s era home, but most of our decorating choices come straight from the late 1950s. Soon, we will have to find a house to match our design taste. Here are a few snapshots of my favorite flea-market, garage sale, antique shop finds... Our family room is furnished via Craigslist. This great ivory vinyl sofa, chair, and end table came from a home in Indiana and took three months of bargaining. One of the newest additions is the upright bass - tucked in the corner. This was another Craigslist find - just two blocks from my home! Now, I need to learn to play it. I am fascinated by 50s lamps and curtai...

There are a few places I have visited in my lifetime where I have instantly felt transported back in time. My visit to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, was one of those places. I felt like the main character in "Peggy Sue Gets Married," where she enters a modern-day class reunion and falls back through decades of time and space. Oh how I wish I could be here when the room is filled with music. The dance floor is enormous and gleaming. Small wooden booths line the perimeter of the floor in three levels, where dancers can watch and rest and chat. The Ballroom is forever known as the location for the Winter Dance Party in 1959 - the last concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper, before their plane crashed, and we lost them all. The ballroom is still standing and remarkably similar to what it looked like years ago. They have worked hard to keep the site historically accurate. They have even preserved the phone booth where Buddy supp...