And so we start on part two! Let’s get right down to business, shall we?
Saturday was the car show. It is THE day of all of Viva. The men and women don their best day garb, their best hairdos, and their best poses (as well as parasols!) for the day of vendors, cars, and shows.
After my friend Nicole left back to California, I made my way to the car show. I followed the flock to just outside the Orleans Arena. As soon as I walked in, the fun began!
The vendors were all over as soon as you walked in. There was Pin Up Girl Clothing, Steady, Bomber Betty, Miss L Fire, Secrets in Lace, and various independent sellers. I walked around for at least an hour before I managed to see everything. I wanted to buy it all! But I made my go around again for actual purchases and I nabbed this beautiful purse:
I scooped up these gorgeous NOS bakelite earrings – 3 for $50!
I picked up some Viva playing cards (I had to!), and a tube of the amazing Bomber Betty lip gloss that Cherry Dollface came out with. And guess who I got to meet?!
She is SO sweet and you can just feel that she is a beautiful person on the inside as well as outside. I was by myself, but her rad husband Trevor took the picture for me. I said, “He’s your photographer too! He’s your everything, huh?” She giggled and gushed, “He IS my everything!” Isn’t that so sweet?! After meeting her and chatting with her for a solid 5 minutes, I have even more respect and admiration for her than I had prior!
After meeting Cherry, I made my way over to the bleachers to wait for Imelda May to come on. Just before her, the pinup contest was held on the side stage. It was so cute! All of the ladies were great.
After that, it was Imelda May time! I managed to nab a few clips of her performance which I posted below:
She was amazing! She is one of the few who sounds exactly the same live as she does on her albums. Perfection!
Oh, and did I mention the marriage proposal in the middle of the show?
It was beyond sweet :-)
And the cars! Oh my :-D
After Imelda May, I went back to the hotel for a quick relax and chat with the hubby, and then I went on my merry way back to the hotel to see the Jive Aces! They are an amazing British jive/swing band infused with just the right amount of rock n’ roll. If you haven’t checked them out yet, what are you waiting for?!
Here is a montage of their performance:
After the show, I just had to nab myself a Jive Aces shirt (but you knew that already, huh? ;-) )
My Sunday Viva outfit was this lovely little frock I recently nabbed on eBay:
Sunday is always the wind down for Viva, so I relaxed in my hotel room until about 4:30 when I left to see the last Charles Phoenix slideshow :-( But he was just as amazing as ever! It was Easter, so he got us doughnuts!
Here is Charles with his Test Kitchen rat meatloaf:
Imaging eating that?! LOL.
After his awesome slideshow, I grabbed a bite to eat and went to wait in line for burlesque bingo. I went back in 2012 and loved it – I had to at least make one trip back!
I walked in and found a seat in the front row to the left side of the stage. And who did I see I sat next to? The one and only Raquel Reed!
She was so sweet. She is also from NY/NJ so we bonded over that and talked about how we were away from our men and they didn’t like it :-P She is an awesome gal whom I hope to see perform soon around this neck of the woods!
Burlesque Bingo was put on and hosted by the awesome Audrey DeLuxe.
The first performer was the amazing Bettina May!
There were so many other great performers like Ms. Redd, Cleo Viper, Tara Misoux, Frankie Sin, and more!
That last one is of Tom Ingram doing a split to make good on a bet he made with Audrey DeLuxe. He did a great job! It was hilarious.
Here’s a montage:
After that I went to the vendor room again one last time, when they have massive sales to unload stock so they won’t have to cart it home. I bought one last thing: a pack of Rockin’ Rollers!
I can’t wait to try them! I will give it a go and report back on how it went :-)
The next day (morning), I woke up at 3:30 AM and made my way back home. Eight hours and a layover later, I was back in NY Town.
It was over :-( But I had an amazing time. And I can’t wait for next year!
