I grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This mural was painted by Kenneth Stern at the historic Arlington Hotel in 1977-78. This is in the band shell, and the inscription reads, "For Gloria M. who should have stayed."
Last weekend Madison Hurley made my dreams come true and shot me in the hotel. The Arlington has a new owner who promises to preserve elements of the hotel. I fear for the extinction of the monkey mural.
I'm going to be honest. I wanted to shoot in something very skimpy. The problem is that we could only get access right before guest check-out time. I took my Poison Ivy costume because it was pretty conservative.
Have I mentioned how much I love the monkey mural?
I had a late night of stripping and rolling in cupcakes. I wanted my hair dry for our morning shoot so I used dry shampoo to get Saturday night's frosting and crumbs out. That's how glamorous I am. At least I showered off the frosting and glitter on my skin.
My husband was brushing my hair before bed Monday. I'd been exhausted and busy since we got home Sunday evening so I hadn't had a shower. (So glamorous!) He found a clump of cupcake in my hair.