Mid-Century Mom Bakes a Cake!

Good evening, all. I hope every single one of you has had a chance to watch the premiere of Mad Men tonight. :) Not me, alas. Once again, living in a Mid-Century Modern home on the edge of a forest has led to us being without power...for the tenth time since we moved there in 2007. Sigh. At least my dad lives near us and has power for me to get this post done. No Mad Men here, though, as my kids really REALLY want to watch PBS Sprout. I feel like such a good mid-century mom, putting their happiness before my own desire to see people in beautiful outfits drinking. LOL.


Thank you, Getty Images. This image suited my needs just perfectly today! :)

You know what feels REALLY very mid-century mom to me? Baking a cake! I mean to me (and probably many others) this seems to be the activity I see most when watching old television programs or talking with ladies of that generation. Baking was an art form!

The lady in this image is 100% mid-century mom with her frilly, colorful apron, conservative dress, and bright, beautiful smile. The cake she is holding out may not be the stuff of current TLC programming, but it has a subtle, gentle beauty, small and well-formed with the yummiest looking buttercream frosting.


Before we get to what I actually look like baking the cake, I have to show you my festive, fun outfit. I didn't just bake a cake because I enjoy it (more on that later)...but because it was February and my husband and my son share birthdays (almost--one is the 11th and the other the 12th). I needed to show them some love and at the same time fulfill one of my blog needs. (Anything for you lovely 36 followers!)

Like the lady in the photo, I have a full face of makeup, nice hair, pearls, and a very lady-like dress. I also have my baby girl in tow, but she is often there. ;)


But what shouts mid-century mom in the kitchen more than an a graphic apron? Exactly. Anthropologie has a TON of great aprons, and I just adore this one with its green/ivory floral print and snazzy blue buttons.


I had baked the cake for the prescribed time (from a box--baking is NOT my thing--miracle this one turned out so well) and once cooled, I brought out the very fabulous, in a can, whipped buttercream frosting (yum, yum, YUM!). I could eat it straight from the can but I do have to maintain my figure, so I will leave it for the cake.


Yes, that is a spatula, and yes, I am smiling nice and big. This is FUN! (I think the scents of the frosting and cake had put me in a sort of sugar shock...no wonder so many mid-century moms enjoyed baking...)


Trying to spread the icing perfectly is an art form...I really desired that it stay even and smooth. I think the little bend to my leg helps. (Either that or I really wanted you all to see the cuteness of my Boden kitten heels...aren't they just TDF?)


What would a birthday cake be without the candles? Since this was for both my husband and son, there were balloon candles AND number candles. If I was a better baker and artist, I would have piped balloons and written their names and ages in blue and purple. (Maybe in another post!)


Yes, that smile means I know I am nearly done. :)


And there it is...all spruced up and ready to go. Yes, Mr. Mid-Century Mom and Rex were very pleased. The cake lasted all of two days. (And there are four of us in the house...one of whom is a baby and one who doesn't really eat cake--me! So for it to be gone so quickly is saying something!)

Final Thoughts: I am not a very good baker, have never been. The cakes, muffins, breads, etc. I make are fine, just not luscious. But you know what? Like the mid-century moms of the 40s, 50s, and 60s, my family was just fine with what I make, actually more than fine...based on the family's reaction, you would think I was one of the DC Cupcake girls. And that is perfect enough for me.

Ease of being a mid-century mom: 3 out of 5 (5 is the easiest to be a mid-century mom). I find that baking in heels and pearls is just okay. I find cooking in general a lot easier in flip-flops and shorts, but it wasn't terrible. The heels made me taller, so I had to bend over more and that got a bit tiring. And I was a bit concerned for my pearls, as they are real and very special to me. (Nothing happened...maybe if I had been working with hot oil it would be a different story, but baking doesn't really affect your neck...lol.) The apron helped with the dress, and I felt like I could get into it more knowing my clothes would be fine.

I am so glad I was able to do two of these today. (See this post on making a snowman if you missed the one from this morning!) I do look forward to doing more, and hopefully it won't be another 6 months before I do the next one! ;)

Mid-Century Mom Unpacks the Groceries!!!

Hello, my dear readers. I apologize profusely for my long absence. Winter has come in like a lion here in the Northern Virginia region, as has a minor kerfuffle at the house, so dinagideon's alter-ego, Mid-Century Mom had to take a whole month off.

Finally, though, dinagideon got her act together last Friday and said "enough is enough...time to don the pencil skirts and pearls again and get to some household tasks." Mid-Century Mom is back, and with a smile, of course. ;)

My task was three-fold. In my most lady-like grey fitted sheath dress and heels, I needed to attend a parent/teacher conference, go to the grocery store, and unpack the groceries. I am happy to report all three went off without one bit of issue. Since I didn't think bringing a camera into the parent/teacher conference (even for the sake of this little blog of mine that could) would be appropriate, and since I have already done a post on grocery shopping, I knew that the third task would be my "Mid-Century Mom" post this week (let's forget that it has been a month)--so let's go unpack some groceries.


Image of housewife unpacking groceries courtesy of Getty Images. Yet again, a fantastic image from a very well known stock image company.

I do appreciate the care with which this lovely lady is approaching her task of grocery unpacking. Not only is she placing the cans of yummy soup and other goods on the counter just so (ready to be put away when the time is right--but out of the way so her children can't get to them), she is checking her receipt to make sure that everything she has purchased was placed in her bag. I suspect if there was an error, she would be able to get the item they missed without any issue.


I don't know if I, as Mid-Century Mom, have risen to the level that the beautiful housewife in the Getty Images has in this chore, but I think the little leg kick and Mona Lisa smile at least has me on my way there. I would say that the beginning of this task was fairly pleasant. After all, Mr. Mid-Century Mom *did* bring the groceries upstairs for me...which allowed me to focus all my attention on getting the foodstuffs where they belong!


Would you look at that? Cheese grated for you? Carrots washed AND cut down already? These little conveniences will make my life as a Mid-Century Mom much easier...prepping to cook will be virtually non-existent with these lovelies in my life.


Ooh, this bag is a bit heavy. Had I had to bring up these myself, I could have done it (after all I carry a forty-pound toddler on a regular basis), but it was sure nice to have someone else do it for me. In fact, I would say that Mr. Mid-Century Mom was more willing to help me because he didn't want my pretty outfit to get ruined. So sweet...


The one thing that Mid-Century Mom wants more than anything? A full-sized pantry. For a kitchen the size of ours, we have very inadequate space for our food. It is actually sort of shocking! Our old house, which was much smaller than our current house had far more room. But I do best with what I have, and of course, I always do so with a smile!


Last but not least, the refrigerated stuff must be placed in the proper position to ensure proper temperature control. Do not put the meats and fish in the door, it is far too warm for them there, and they will spoil. And no Mid-Century Mom wants to have that hanging over her perfectly coiffed head. Gastrointestinal illness is no fun, no matter what decade!

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed this chore. Even when I am not Mid-Century Mom, I find the process of unpacking groceries and putting them in their perfect place a lot of fun. Doing so in heels and a sheath dress just took the chore to the next level. And hey, Mr. Mid-Century Mom happily brought the groceries upstairs!

Ease of being a mid-century mom: 3 out of 5 (5 is the easiest to be a mid-century mom). Not the easiest, especially when I needed to get down on my knees and put the groceries in the lower cabinets and the fridge. It may have been uncomfortable, but it wasn't difficult. Try it sometime, ladies, you may find you like it! (And if you have a large pantry, you may enjoy it even more so than I did!)

Hopefully, I will speak with you all sooner rather than later!!! Have a very lovely and a pleasant time the rest of this week!

Mid-Century Mom Folds Some Clothes!!!

Sorry that I didn't get this post up this weekend. I was a bit busy with my other blogs, and since most of you read those, I knew you wouldn't be that desperate!!! ;)

This has to be sort of a quick post, I am rushing off to a party with some of my husband's office mates, so I can't go on and on like I like to!!!


Last week's task was for me to get very nicely dressed up and fold the laundry. Nothing terribly exciting, but definitely a need in our house...Mr. Dina gets very irritated if I use the laundry racks too long (we do very little dryer drying in this household, so in some weird way we were mid-century modern even before we started this little project of mine).

The image above is from Getty Images. It was sort of a pain to find this one...who would have thunk it???


You all saw me in this outfit already...I wore it here in this post over at My Superfluities. I had alluded to this post then, but am only now getting around to it. Bad me!

Don't I just look so happy folding these pants? My goal was to not look at this chore as a chore, but more as a way of keeping everything in my household just so and right. I am (normally, not just as mid-century mom) very particular about my clothing (shocker, right?), so this task is something I do on a regular basis and NO ONE is allowed to do it for me. But I wanted to elevate this chore to something else...a sort of gemutlichkeit (in German it means a coziness within the house) task. I wanted to do this job because this task enlivens me...and it almost worked.


Here I am folding a top. I am always folding my tops just like they do in the stores. J. Crew should hire me, if only to fold, fold, fold. I look at the sales assistants on the floor using that board thing and think, "amateurs." ;)

There's the smile (just like the lady in the photo from Getty Images).

Final Thoughts: I didn't quite reach zen-like highs doing the folding, but I was amazed at how quickly the job went once I sat down and just "folded." I had no distractions (outside of Mr. Dina and the camera for the first ten minutes). For twenty-five minutes, I folded clothing.

The only thing that made this task difficult was the couch I was sitting on...it is kind of cushy, and I felt like I was sinking into the cushions. Also, the dress and fishnet stockings combo was a little itchy, so I felt uncomfortable.

Ease of being a mid-century mom: 4 out of 5 (5 is the easiest to be a mid-century mom).

Okay, I am off to party (I should get that outfit up tonight over at My Superfluities). :)

Mid-Century Mom Does the Dishes (in Heels)!!!

Oh, you all, you sweet, sweet 8 followers of mine...I am sorry this took so long to get together. I have had the images of me doing dishes in the dishwasher wearing a dress, heels, makeup, and jewelry for over a month now (I did the dishes in full-on mid-century mom gear on my anniversary), but I had the hardest time trying to figure out which image to use as my inspiration. Many of these images are from people's personal stores (either from magazines, family photos, or books) and I didn't want to infringe on copyright law. (I can't afford to...)

But this morning, I discovered that Getty Images lets you use their images, but with a watermark. Well, yippee!!! I don't need an image with no watermark, I just want you all to see an actual photo from the 50s or 60s of a housewife, looking all snazzy and ladylike, doing chores.


I found this image at Getty Images. I love this because even though this housewife is clearly loading the dishwasher, and I am sure her hands are getting all dirty from the used dishes, she is smiling and seemingly excited because she realizes that the dishwasher will SAVE her from having to actually "DO the DISHES." You know, the old-fashioned, do the dishes in a sink full of greasy water, and if you don't have plastic gloves, well, prepare for "dish-pan" hands.

I also love that her hair is perfectly coiffed, that even her apron is pressed, and that her makeup is utterly fresh.

In contrast, when I do the dishes in the dishwasher, I normally have NO makeup on, I usually am wearing either yoga pants or pj bottoms, and my hair is "tousled." :)

But in keeping with the experiment that I want to turn my life into, I did the dishes a la this beautiful housewife on October 13, 2009.


Look, no need to worry about dishpan hands, I can place the dishes straight INTO the dishwasher without stressing that my hands and nails will look ravaged in the end...


Oh, and look there, I am happy and smiling about it. (Much like our real mid-century mom.) I realize that the dishwasher is so easy a CHILD can do it...see CW, right there, helping???

Final Thoughts: Doing the dishes in the dishwasher is EASY enough in heels, makeup, a pretty dress, and nice hair. I suppose that I could do this chore every day all dressed up. I haven't changed my ways (I still frump out when doing the dishes in the dishwasher), but I don't hesitate to do the dishes when getting ready to go out on the town.

Ease of being a mid-century mom: 5 out of 5 (5 is the easiest to be a mid-century mom).

Okay, now my dear 8 followers, I need your help. What would you like me to do next in pearls and a pencil skirt? Do you want me to do the dishes the old-fashioned way or take the kids for a walk in their stroller all decked out? Or would you prefer that I rake leaves looking lady-like?

It is up to you.

By the way, I plan on posting her twice a week (if I can get the images easily enough). My Superfluities will be where the bulk of my posting will continue to be (4-6 posts a week), but when applicable, I will link from that site to this one.

Thanks for waiting...hope it was worth it!