What to Know
- Annie Laskey is the Pasadena Senior Center's Director of Events
- She launched a blog focusing on keeping seniors' spirits up during the early pandemic; inspired, she and her dad dressed for dinner for 451 days (with a few days off)
- You can learn more about Ms. Laskey's upbeat project on the Pasadena Senior Center's Youtube
Serving as the can-do Director of Events for a busy and beloved senior center, an important community destination that recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, means you have to wear plenty of hats, and keep lots of irons in the proverbial fire, all while staying focused on creative ways to help people live their best and most joyful lives.
So when life quickly slowed down during the 2020-2021 pandemic closures, Annie Laskey, the Director of Events for the Pasadena Senior Center, turned her attention to an uplifting art project, but a project that also had plenty of personal meaning for her #1 subject: her father.
That upbeat undertaking? Take stylish selfies together. Hundreds of selfies, in fact, before the inspirational enterprise would eventually come to an organic end.
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As for how this poignant project came together? The heartwarming story began as a way to help others.
Ms. Laskey launched a blog for the Pasadena Senior Center near the beginning of the pandemic, a sunny site that offered seniors ways "to keep spirits up during lockdown."
Taking her own advice on dressing up for dinner, the West LA resident began wearing something a little special to the supper table each night, along with her dad Tom, who is 93.
Tom and Annie live together, which made the outfit planning and colorful coordination that much easier. Sometimes the pair went with elegant ensembles, while tropical togs or offbeat apparel made the occasional showing.
A libation was poured and posed with before each meal, so Ms. Laskey could snap a spunky selfie alongside her dad, providing playful evidence that they were sticking to this multi-month goal of documenting their dinnertime looks.
"As time progressed, we started keying our outfits to the type of meal we were having, which is how we started getting into the costume bits," shared Ms. Laskey. "Both dad and I have theatre backgrounds, so both of us love dressing up whether formal or funny."
The duo brought the project, dubbed "Dad-A-Day," to a conclusion on June 15, 2021, when many Californian businesses and destinations officially re-opened.
As for the number of nights they kept to their cheerful evening routine?
Some 451 days passed since the Laskeys launched their lighthearted lark, and the father and daughter kept to their dinner dress-up plan throughout, with only a few days off "for good behavior," shared Ms. Laskey.
The events pro shared her selfie-sweet journey in a video presentation on the Pasadena Senior Center site, if you'd like to see more photos and learn the details on how this at-home project, an art assignment with plenty of heart, came together.
