California has been good to us this last month, and we’ve been happy to be spending time at home in the Owens Valley.

SoCal was lovely to us as we spent time at The Autry National Center of the American West in lovely Griffith Park http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/ and loving everything at Rituals http://www.ritualsdecor.com/index.html where Marty Frenkel has made a career of spotting those treasures that speak to us, too!

We rounded our loop with a night of honky-tonkin’ goodness in Bakersfield – home of such greats as the legendary Buck Owens, his protoge Dwight Yoakam, and Merle Haggard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield_sound

Buck Owens own Crystal Palace http://www.buckowens.com/index2.html is a wonderful testament to the grandeur to the good ol’ days of the classic Bakersfield sound! There, I got to see the Buck Owens suits he was so famous for and the model for my own Rickrageous suit http://www.rickrageous.com/home_page.htm!

The music was great, and the collection FABULOUS, including this Nudie Cohn http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com/ designed 1974 Pontiac convertible “Nudiemobile”, adorned with pistols and silver dollars and wonderful whip-stitch embroidered interior, statement car-turned barback!