Category Archives: Beauty

Grandma Gets Real on Instagram

I am often asked why I started my Grandma Gets Real Instagram account. Here’s the story: My Modeling Story Living Beyond Barbie Message Happy Family Grandma Barbie   How Barbie Got Real Time Magazine Article   GrandmaGetsReal Instagram Moms.com Article My Press & Media Page    

Happy 60th Birthday Barbie From The Barbie Generation

Happy Birthday Barbie! #Barbie60 Today, many around the world are celebrating Barbie’s Birthday. Did you know Barbie was introduced on March 9, 1959 at the New York Toy Fair? She sold for $3. In 1963, Life Magazine declared five-year-old Barbie – The Most Popular Doll in Town. I was born that year into the Barbie...

Not So Great Shape Grandma Barbie

Are You in Great Shape? As opposed to Great Shape Barbie? I’m the Not So Great Shape Grandma Barbie – but I’m overcoming my struggles with body image. Do you want to know why? As a teenage-fashion model, I worked in an industry with beauty standards few could attain and even fewer could keep. During...

Aging Gracefully or How to Embrace Aging

  I’m much more positive about aging in my fifties than I was in my thirties, when I first began to experience the second law of thermodynamics – and noticed that my body was indeed degenerating into a more disordered state. When I turned 30, I dug through a box of my modeling pictures and came...

Success in Modeling?

Modeling is a tough business for anyone and especially a teenager. Two On The Town, a Los Angeles television show, did a feature on modeling. The introduction stated that it is not enough just to be beautiful—that height, weight and bone structure alone will not make you a model. They posed the question, “What does...

Tonya in TEEN magazine 1980

As I read thru this article from TEEN Magazine 1980 – I realize that I was just beginning my journey into the Ugly Business of Beautiful People. I was 16-years-old.  

Old Before Your Time

Snapchat has lots of filters – one is for aging yourself. I’m guessing this won’t be a popular item for anyone past 40. 😉

In Pursuit Of Blonde

It looks as if I’m trying to contact extraterrestrials. The reality is that I am willing to do some pretty silly things in the pursuit of beauty – or in this particular case, blonde highlights.