A thrifter's lament

Well, then. I thought I was being super clever when I set up three blog entries to post while I was gone this weekend. Actually, I just posted a photo to three blank posts and saved them as drafts, figuring that I could fill in the text at my leisure and thereby not go another six days between posts. However, Blogger pulled a fast one on me and when I tried to type in those saved draft entries, all my text was blue and underlined and I couldn't do anything to the photos or they completely disappeared. Hmph. So I was forced to go six days between blog entries again, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

I made a quick run to a thrift last week before I left and found this great coat for Maren. Unless she hits an incredible growth spurt it will be a good four years until she can wear it, as it's a size 6 but it's beautifully made and for $7.50 I couldn't pass it up. A navy wool Sunday coat will always be in style, and I have plenty of room in the back of the closet. As I was checking out, the lady that runs the thrift shop mentioned it had been her daughter's coat (it's a consignment thrift on base) and she was just tickled to see me buying it. She was glad to know it was going to a good home where it would be appreciated!

Haven't done any other thrifting lately, other than an utterly disappointing trip to Saver's before Quin left. Time was that I never left that store empty-handed, but now that seems to be the norm. I'm not sure if there was a change in management or if their donations have drastically declined, but the shelves seem to be perpetually empty. The store itself has gotten increasingly dirty and prices have gone up. Their patterns used to be $.29 each, the cheapest I could find anywhere and they always had just scads of them. In fact, I've bought most of my vintage patterns there. On this most recent trip, there were probably fewer than two dozen patterns (mostly ugly 1980s clothes) and they were all marked $.69. I foresee my trips to that store becoming more and more infrequent until I just don't bother anymore. Bummer. :(

And now, after that lament: a gratuitous cute baby picture!

I was a lucky winner of Sarah's blog giveaway and I received her package last week. What a fun treat! She sent a gorgeous vintage tablecloth printed with bright red berries--it will be perfect in my red kitchen! She also shared some vintage embroidered linens, an older Martha mag, vintage embroidered trim, a tissue paper fan, a vintage Valentine, and the sweetest little heart-shaped vase that you fill with a sprig of fresh flowers and pin to your lapel. She also sent some fabulous vintage Christmas ornaments, which will be added to my collection! I was just tickled to open her package. Thanks again, Sarah & Jack!

Shonda, if you're reading: Happy Birthday! Shonda was my college roommate and one of the dearest friends I've had the pleasure to have. She is a wonderful person all-around and I'm blessed to know her. :) She's also a really talented photographer--that's her blog over to the right, Through the Lens. Here's her photo site: Shonda Barlow Photography. Take a look; I think you'll be charmed by the images she captures--I know I am!

Things are a little blue around here. Husband left on Monday to head to Missouri for an 8-week training course for work. He's had a rough go of it so far--he woke up dreadfully sick on Monday morning and things just went downhill from there. I feel terrible for him and hope that things start looking up soon. Maren and I are lonesome for him already! We're leaving tomorrow for Utah to visit my folks for a few days, a welcome distraction. I still have to get us packed, so I'm off to watch LOST and fold laundry!

Happy President's Day!

For your President's Day viewing pleasure, a few more pieces dredged from my 'archives' (AKA a box in the basement):

Abe Lincoln, drawn by me in Kindergarten, February 1984. Note the masterful use of chiaroscuro shading and the surprised-looking eyebrows.

George Washington weaving and silhouette, February 6, 1987 (3rd grade). This is a cool project because we first wove the red and blue construction paper, then cut the silhouette. The outside of the silhouette is glued on the other side of the woven paper, making this piece of art reversible! Tres clever!

Have you seen this cool new U2 video? Clever.

Pink & Brown love

I was paired up with MeLisa from Sew Little Thyme for the Pink & Brown Swap. I received my package this week and was immediately flooded with Wayne's World-style "I'm Not Worthy" feelings. Folks, she sent me the most amazing, generous package that I was completely overwhelmed. Everything was packaged so prettily and it took every ounce of restraint that I possess to unpack the box, find a place to set this all up and take the photo before opening it all up.
MeLisa managed to find a whole lot more to fulfill the "brown" part of the swap than I found for her. She sent me 2 little Pyrex square dishes, the prettiest vintage hankies, 2 vintage regional cookbooks chock-full of stick-to-your ribs Midwestern recipes, a great scrapbook idea book that I've always liked but never owned, felt rickrack, the coolest little vintage bridge tallies and place cards (I will have to photograph these closer and post them another time, they're really neat!), frames for scrapbooking, hand lotion, pink & brown pens, a darling starfish cookie cutter as well as 2 vintage cutters , and CANDY!

But that's not all! There was also this vintage apron in the most perfect pink & brown--still can't believe she was lucky enough to find that! And for the crafted item, MeLisa made really neat reversible pink & brown bags--one for me and a little one for Miss Maren! What an absolutely unexpected but super sweet thing for MeLisa to do.

I had such fun participating in this swap and having MeLisa as a partner made it even better!

Bejeweled and Bespectacled

Thanks for all the First Grade Valentine love! I had to giggle at my Mom's comment, though--she said she couldn't believe that I saved those. Silly, YOU saved those for me! I didn't even find that stuff until I was probably in high school, and by then I knew better than to throw stuff like that away. So all credit goes to my dear Mom, without whom I couldn't have made that last blog post. Pack-rattery triumphs yet again!

I had a really nice Valentine's Day, and I have to brag just a -wee- bit. Would you just look at those sparklies? Sweet husband surprised me with this beautiful diamond pendant as a combination Valentine's/Anniversary gift (our anniversary is March 2). It's especially appropriate for our anniversary because there are five diamonds and this year we celebrate five years of marriage. I'm just thrilled with my new bauble and even more touched at his thoughtfulness! What a good husband I have!

Today is my first day of wearing glasses in preparation for my LASIK surgery, which is two weeks away! I'm experiencing the same woozy feeling I had when I started with the soft contacts, where my feet look to be impossibly far away and everything's just a little bit off. I completely forgot about not being able to see myself when putting on makeup! LOL Only two weeks...

Yesterday was an awesome mail day for me! I got packages from both MeLisa and Sarah that I will post about soon and a cute Valentine's Day goodie from my Mom. Between all that and all the spoiling I received on Wednesday, I felt like the luckiest girl ever!

When I was in Elementary School, I loved Valentine's Day. I remember carefully writing out the names of my classmates from the list provided by my teacher and being so excited to deposit each little envelope in its owner's 'mailbox'. I can't remember ever receiving a Secret Admirer Valentine, but I do remember sending one! Can't honestly remember who it was to, but I remember the silly rush of putting it in his bag and wondering if he'd know who it was from. What a goofball I was. :)

For my photo today I dug out my Valentines from 1st grade, which would have been 1985, I think. The thing in the middle is my little decorated lunch sack 'mailbox'. I remember that my mom used to let me order Valentines from the Current catalog, and I loved to pore over it and choose my cards for the year--what a treat that was!

Hope you all have a wonderful day with those you love!

This is the cutest bag that was my Valentine from my dear Mom. She had her neighbor make one for me and a wee little matching bag for Miss Maren. I love the vintage Valentine fabric! The interior is lined in a red and white gingham and the bottom is the black and white polka dot. I love that it has long handles; long enough that I can hold it over my shoulder to keep my hands free to wrangle Maren. I love that it's big enough to keep a magazine in, which came in handy when I was at the eye doctor yesterday and she was running really late. It's been fun to carry something festive and I think maybe I'll just keep it around until the end of February, even though Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I'm just not ready to retire it yet. Thanks again, Mom!

I know this photo is a little out of focus but I think it's kinda neat anyway. Sweet husband had a dozen of the most gorgeous red roses sent to me and I've been enjoying them all weekend. Simply beautiful! They remind me of my wedding, where I had a perfect nosegay-style bouquet of deep red roses and we had the same red roses decorating the tables at the reception. I have a wonderful husband. Thank you, Sweetie. :)

I went in yesterday for another checkup with the eye doctor and got the go-ahead for my LASIK surgery! I have to go tomorrow to get some glasses made and start wearing them right away. Next Wednesday is my pre-op appointment and then my surgery is scheduled for Friday, March 2. I'm excited and scared about it. I'm really not looking forward to wearing glasses for 2 weeks; it's been 14 years since I last wore glasses and they are just a huge hassle. I think I'm most worried about not being able to wear sunglasses when I drive, as my eyes are very sensitive to light glare. Oh well, it will all be worth it, right? My surgery is at 2:30 in the afternoon on Friday and I have to be in at 8:45 am the next morning for a follow-up, and they said I can most likely drive myself to that appointment. That's amazing! 18 hours after having my eyes cut open and lasered, and I'll be able to see well enough to drive. I love modern medicine!

Fashionista

Hot pink high-heeled sandals. They go with everything.

Book reports

I just finished reading Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund. While I was sick I didn't feel like doing much more than laying on the couch and this gave me something to do to pass the time. I like historical fiction and the recent movie and flurry of book releases surrounding it piqued my interest in Marie Antoinette again. I studied the French Revolution in several different history classes and always got the idea that Marie Antoinette was completely out of touch with reality and did nothing but spend money while the people of France starved. This novel made me rethink that previous judgment. I realize it's fictional, and M.A. may well have been every bit as selfish and delusional as I learned before, but the author has really written it in a way that left me sympathetic with M.A. and feeling like maybe she was misunderstood--as we know, history is usually written by the winners, and the French Monarchy didn't exactly come out on top during the Revolution. I agree that she spent exorbitant sums of money on frivolity (working replica of a peasant village on the grounds of Versailles, anyone?) that could probably have been put to better use elsewhere. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction. I'm dying to see the Sofia Coppola/Kirsten Dunst movie that came out last year but since it's a total chick movie I haven't been able convince Quin to watch it with me. I think I'll have to save that one for while he's gone.

The second book I have to review is Thunderstruck by Erik Larson. I read his earlier book, The Devil in the White City, back when it first came out. Both books are in a similar style: he tells two stories that seem parallel but eventually come together. In the first book, I found myself skipping over the architecture mumbo-jumbo to get to the juicier parts about the serial killer. In Thunderstruck I ended up doing the same thing. The two stories are of Guglielmo Marconi (inventor of the wireless telegraph) and Dr. Harvey Crippen, noted wife-killer. The parts about Marconi held my attention only briefly--I started skipping those pretty early on and just reading about Dr. Crippen. Larson's books are well-researched, but they're just plain boring. I gave him two chances and that's it for me.

The third book I've read recently is Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. I'd heard a little about her on the news and thought her premise was interesting--not that I'd be remotely interested in doing it myself, however. I ended up skimming most of this book as well. Levine comes off as a self-absorbed, elitist New Yorker who in one instance throws a fit because she can't find that day's edition of The New York Times in a 7-11 in Bozeman, Montana. How very provincial, indeed. She never misses an opportunity to bash the Bush administration, at times seeming to invent reasons to throw in barbs. Her ultra-liberal, ultra-feminist, aging-hippie dogma was so overpowering that I found it hard to get past and see her message. Hey Judith--I can't hear what you're saying because you're yelling too loud! That was a big waste of my time. Not recommended.

Hello my poor little neglected blog, has it really been TWO WEEKS since I last wrote? Eek. My absence is due to being out of town, being sick, and just general laziness. It seems the same general ickiness that has beset me for a week now has also landed at Sarah, Shara, Kirsten & MeLisa's houses. Hope you're all feeling better soon, ladies! I wouldn't wish what I had on anyone and have tried hard to keep DH and DD from getting it. I noticed yesterday afternoon however that DD has a drippy nose and has been sneezing quite a lot. Oh dear. I'm SO over this stupid 'being sick' thing.

The 'out of town' portion of my excuse was the 3 days I spent in Southern Colorado visiting my grandparents. My mom was in the area for work so she flew in and we took Maren and drove down to visit, leaving Quin and the dog to hang around in their underwear and eat pizza for 3 days. One of my favorite things about going to the town where my grandparents live is that there is a great junk/thrift store. It's a small town and the store is privately run so prices are pretty much rock-bottom. One drawback is their proclivity for writing the prices on everything in black Sharpie, but I guess everything can't be perfect.

It's a junk/thrift store, emphasis on the junky part. You have to be willing to DIG to find the good stuff but I'm always up for the adventure. Here are my takings for this trip: Japanese stacking mug, $.25 (why do I keep buying these? I don't drink coffee or tea and rarely drink hot chocolate), 5 vintage Shiny Brite ornaments $.10 each, vintage Gurley candle, $.50. The neat old buckles are from a big bag that included a bunch of other buttons and notions. The bag was $1.00. The red and aqua vintage tablecloth was actually from a different thrifting trip and was $1.95. I love it and it's on my kitchen table right now!

This thrift store has boxes and boxes of patterns all priced at a quarter which is cheaper than I can find them at any of the thrifts around here. I went through every single one of them but was very selective in my final choices. I chose these specifically for the images, to be used in a future craft project. I had to giggle because I think I've actually bought the one on the top right before but either Maren destroyed it or I gave it away. Funny that it would turn up again! I LOVE the skirt on the bottom right with the birdcages and the birds. Oh, how I wish big, full skirts with birdcages and birds were in fashion still! That looks like an absolute delight to wear.

And last, 2 more darling vintage apron patterns for my collection. Love the shape of the bib on the one on the bottom right. If only I had the 18" waist to go along with it!

Finally got my Pink & Brown swap all finished up and now I just need to pack it up and get it in the mail! Next project is to make Valentines, as I've got to get them in the mail ASAP. I've also got a Valentine craft in the works that I hope to show you in the next day or two. Time to get busy!

Inspired by..

--These cute beaded necklaces that were featured on Martha's show last Friday. I've seen them before but for some reason I didn't like them as much as when I saw them on TV. Must be that 'Martha' touch or something! I know, I'm such a follower. Anyway, the instructions are pretty simple even for someone who is sewing-impaired like I am, and I believe there's a link on there somewhere where you can actually watch the taped show to see it for yourself. I have a few long scarves that I thrifted a couple of summers ago to use as belts. I doubt they're silk but I think they might just be perfect for this anyway as they're already the right shape. Just have to hit JoAnn's for some big wooden beads and I'm all set!

--This gorgeous studio by scrapbook-guru Rebecca Sower. I haven't heard a lot out of her lately but I've always been drawn to her vintage-inspired style. Apparently she has a newly redesigned studio and it's to die for! I love what she's done with old picture frames and corkboard. Even if you don't scrapbook, check out her photos for innovative ways to display your collections or store your craft supplies.

--Sarah's cute vintage Valentine crafts. I have a ridiculous number of vintage Valentines and I'm always on the lookout for new ways to display them. Love what Sarah did!

--The absolutely gorgeous things that Carol sews using vintage chenille and other fabrics. The little soft cakes and baby shoes are just the sweetest things ever! What talent.

Good eats

I know I already posted today, but I had to share with you the yummy dinner we had tonight! I found the Salmon with Fresh Tomato and Basil Relish recipe on Jane's blog a while ago and had printed it off to try. Finally got around to it tonight and it will be a definite repeater for us! I made a few adjustments--I used canned diced tomatoes and basil paste from a tube because I didn't have any fresh. I also cooked my salmon under the broiler because I don't have a George Foreman grill. It still tasted very fresh and light. Delicious!

For a side dish, I made Sugared Asparagus (asparagus was on sale at the store) from a Taste of Home recipe I clipped a long time ago. Recipe is by Billie Moss of El Sobrante, California.

Sugared Asparagus
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 lbs fresh asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
1 cup chicken broth

In a skillet over medium-high, heat butter and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add asparagus; saute for 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until asparagus is crisp-tender. Remove asparagus to a serving dish and keep warm. Cook sauce, uncovered, until reduced by half. Pour over asparagus and serve immediately. Yield: 4-6 servings.

I halved the recipe since there are only 2 of us and I only had 1 lb. of asparagus. I also used beef broth because I already had an open container in the fridge from last night's dinner, and it tasted fine.

Try it! You'll like it.

Valances & Valentines

I'm back, with photographs! Poorly done photographs, but at least you have something to look at. My apologies--I've done what I can in Photoshop, but it's just hard to take a picture of your window when it's light outside!

This weekend I finally got around to putting up the curtain rods I purchased for the kitchen. Up until 6 months ago I still had the valances the old owner of the house had made. They were pretty but just didn't match my decor. In an effort to motivate myself to get something new up there, I took down all the old valances and threw them on my back deck, where they are still sitting, covered in snow. I'm afraid that I just got used to looking at the naked windows so that whole motivation thing wasn't exactly as successful as I had hoped. Well, it finally worked--so I guess you could say it was successful, just not in as timely a manner as would have been ideal.

JoAnn's had curtain hardware on sale last weekend so I bought two curtain rods for my kitchen. On Saturday Quin and I put them up, which was unexpectedly difficult and resulted in more random holes in my wall and a few bits of salty language. For window dressing, I used 3 of my beloved vintage printed tablecloths. They are all different patterns, but all have red, blue and yellow as the main colors so I think they still coordinate. I folded them roughly in half, gathered the ends with a rubber band and tied them to the curtain rods with wide wired ribbon from my stash.

I love how the one over the sink looks. I do need to trim the ends of the ribbon. The two over the slider didn't drape as well as I would have liked, plus their patterns are such that the main designs are in the corner but they will have to do for now. I love that I can display some of the tablecloths that I adore and that I can change them out at any time! Even Quin commented on how much he liked them, so that's a great compliment! Next, I think I may try this cute idea using vintage hankies and embroidered napkins on the window in one of my spare bedrooms.

This afternoon I have another check-up with the Lasik doctor. I've been wearing these darn soft lenses since January 1 and they will map my eyes against my October visit to see how my corneas have changed, and thus how close I am to getting the surgery. Due to our schedule it will either have to be before the middle of February or the first weekend in March. I'm nervous, but excited!

It snowed all day yesterday. Blizzarded, more accurately. For anyone who's keeping track at home, that's the 5th weekend in a row that it has snowed here. We got about 6 inches out of this storm, effectively obliterating all of the progress the sun had made in melting the snow over the last few days. We have about 85% of our average yearly snowfall already, and it's not even the end of January! Traditionally our snowiest months are March and April so this is very out of character for our weather. I know when most people think of Colorado they think mountains and snow, but normally the snow that does fall here melts within a day or two. We're now at 30+ days of continual snow on the ground, and that's probably not going to change any time soon.

I got out my Valentine's Day decorations today. I had planned on waiting a little longer before putting them up so that I wouldn't be completely sick of them by the time the 14th rolls around. Oh well! It was fun to put things out. I followed my Christmas method of not displaying everything; holding some back so it will be fresh next year. It's liberating! I have a few ideas for some new decorations to make over the next couple of weeks and I'm excited to get working on them. Tomorrow I'll take a photo of my vintage Valentines to show you.

In the mean time, look at these cuties from Gooseberry Patch. I LOVE this yo-yo quilt. It's $150, way out of my price range, but I covet it still. Thing is, by the time I made 300 yo-yos and found a quilt to sew them on, $150 would probably look like a great deal!

I also love these darling reproduction vintage Valentines with hankies tucked inside. What a sweet little giftie for a friend, no? Two of my favorite things: vintage Valentines and vintage hankies! Gooseberry Patch has lots of other cute vintage-inspired things, so go take a look if you're not familiar with them.

Oh, and thank you all for your comments about the nighties hanging in my house. I feel so vindicated! :)

First, the mail treat: Miss Heidi, the Spiritual Knitter herself, sent me these wee little mittens as a thank you for the Christmas box I sent to her. They are only 3 1/2" long each and just as cute as can be! She designed the pattern herself, and you can find it here. I'm completely impressed at her ingenuity! Again, thank you!

I was tagged by Sarah and Tiff to share 6 weird things about myself. Shara, I had to laugh at your comment about just choosing 6 weird things...I told DH last night that I needed help coming up with weird things for this post and he gave me that *look* and said, "Just six?" Yes Dear, narrow it down. And don't forget that you married this weird girl!

So here we go:
1. I have an unhealthy obsession with lip balm. It must only be Mentholatum Natural Ice; no substitutes. When I was in High School I used to carry one in my pants pocket every day in the same place and eventually I got a little worn spot in my jeans, like guys who keep a wallet or snuff can in their back pocket. I must have a chapstick near me at all times or I go nuts. Instead of having numerous chapsticks, I carry the same one around with me--purse pocket when I go out, upstairs to my nightstand at night, in the kitchen during the day.

2. I have what DH refers to as "the tankard". This is one of those big plastic mugs with a straw like you get at the hospital. Every night before bed I fill it up with fresh ice water and put it on my nightstand. This no doubt is a major contributing factor to why I always have to get up to go potty at night! When I went to the hospital to have DD, I was excited because I knew I would get a new mug and my old one had a broken straw. My current tankard is getting a little worn, so it must be time to contemplate having another baby!

3. I have texture issues with food. I can't eat things that have a weird texture, even if they taste good. I desperately want to like oatmeal, but the slimy texture is completely off-putting.

4. In the same vein, I hate pumpkin pie. I think it is vile in every way. I do like pumpkin bread, cookies, and pumpkin-scented candles, though.

5. I have never seen a single episode of American Idol. You couldn't pay me to watch it.

6. When I was pregnant, I craved snow and ice. Lucky for me it was winter and I would step outside the back door and eat the fresh-fallen snow off of the deck railings. When there was no snow, I took to eating the snowy shavings left at the bottom of the ice bucket in the freezer. I used to bend over the freezer (ours is on the bottom) and scoop it out with a spoon. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I had pica.

And just for DH, I'll add one more. I have 2 vintage nighties hanging up in my house: one in my bedroom and one in the guest room. DH thinks that is the weirdest thing ever. I told him that the people who read this blog will not find that one bit weird. Am I right? Back me up here, friends!

Let's see, who hasn't yet posted...Heidi? Shara? Shonda?

Thrift finds, Thursday

Hit the thrift shop on base today. I rarely go to that one because it's only open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 2 pm, which happens to be right about the time Maren naps. When I do manage to make it there, I am always rewarded! Things are priced really cheap and since the general public isn't shopping there, there is less competition. Here are some of the things I found today:

Level, $2.00. Needed one of these, as the only one I have is a keychain model and sometimes you just need a level that's longer than 2 inches.
Child's ice skates, $2.50. These are too big for Maren so I think I'll just keep them for a while. I first saw these months ago and I was shocked to see them still there today. I considered that a sign, so I bought them!
Vintage Christmas ornament & sequined clip-on bird ornament, $.25 each.
Vintage souvenir plate for my guest room from Excelsior Springs, MO, $.50
Pretty needlework purse with wooden handles, $.25
8 pieces Stangl dinnerware, hopefully for resale, $3.00
Snowsuit for Maren, $4.00. It's a little big right now but will probably work with a few layers underneath, and we might even be able to use it again next winter.
Wilton spaceship cake pan, $.75--hope it will be a good one for resale.
2 1976 Fitz & Floyd Christmas king candleholders, $.75 (will hold onto for eBay next year).

I also got all of these packages of vintage rickrack and seam binding for $3.00. I am a sucker for rickrack! I will always buy it when I see it. I have a pretty sizable stash right now, so I need to start using it. And just look at the fabric! It was $2.00 for a little over 2 yards. Keep in mind that I don't sew, but what did it for me was the little German couple. Too freakin' cute! I will just put this in my stash and someday, I will have the perfect project for it.

Long day, today. Maren was a perfect monster when we went to visit teach a friend of mine. I'll be getting a sitter for her from now on, as it's not fair to those ladies to have her running around and I can't enjoy myself and listen to them because I'm so worried about Maren-zilla destroying their houses! In the past few days she has finally learned to say "MINE" and I can tell this one is going to be used a whole lot. It's kind of cute to hear her say right now because it's new, but I can see it very quickly devolving into the seagulls from "Finding Nemo". Oy.

Time for bed, friends! Tomorrow I will share a treat I got in the mail from one of you dears and I will share 6 weird things about myself. Good night!

The writing on the wall

I mentioned back in October or so that I went to a home party for a company called Uppercase Living. Uppercase Living is a company that makes vinyl lettering that you can put on your walls, wood, mirrors, windows, cars...basically any flat surface. I have worked with vinyl lettering before and one of the best parts about it is the absolute ease of application. The letters are really reasonably priced and look really cool on walls.

I ordered two different phrases--one for the living room and one for Maren's room. I received them back in November but only just got around to actually putting one up. I chose the one in Maren's room, and followed the directions provided to me (even though I knew how to do it, having used vinyl lettering before). I have to say that I was terribly disappointed by the difficulty I had in putting the Uppercase Living lettering on my wall.

The way the lettering works is that there are three layers: bottom layer is the backing sheet, middle layer is the cut vinyl words which are adhesive on the back, and the top layer is also adhesive and sticks the whole thing together. To apply it, you peel off the backing layer, stick the rest of it to your wall (or whatever surface you're using) and use something like a credit card or Pampered Chef scraper to burnish the lettering onto the wall.

Well, I burnished right through the top layer of paper in a few places, and all they way through the vinyl in two others! :( The problem was that the adhesive on the top layer was far stickier than the adhesive on the back of the vinyl, so the vinyl could not separate from the top layer and stick to the wall. I have worked with vinyl from two other sources previous to this, and I've never had that problem before. I don't know if the adhesive somehow got stickier while it was languishing for two months on my desk, but I do know that I probably won't be ordering from Uppercase Living again. I want to order a long quote to go over a doorway in my house, but I'm glad I waited--I would have been tearing my hair out trying to apply it and probably would have ended up calling the consultant and asking for a refund.

Anyway, if you don' t look too close it turned out pretty cute. The print in the middle is vintage and was purchased at an antique store for Maren by my grandma. The little porcelain cherubs are a new addition and I think they may have belonged to my great-grandmother. The whole thing hangs over Maren's crib and I'm hoping that she doesn't figure out how to climb out of it anytime soon! I know it's just a matter of time but I'm crossing my fingers for a little longer...I don't know what we'll do when she isn't confined at night! Shudder.

Ya'll are a big bunch of enablers...and I LOVE YOU for it! :)

I did go back and get the cabinet on Friday afternoon. Last night I scrubbed it good with Murphy's Oil Soap and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I'm going to use it as a bookshelf as our other one is completely packed. I rearranged that one, threw away a whole bunch of garbage and today I got all my books in the new cabinet, and I'm so happy with it! I love that it has a door so I can close it and not look at all the mess, plus it will hopefully act as some sort of a deterrent for Maren, who loves to pull books off the shelves and tear them up.
Our other bookshelf has the tendency to collect junk as well as books and it was in pretty sorry shape prior to Friday night. We even managed to clean off the computer desk, now that there is room on the bookshelf again. I still have work to do here in the office/craft room but things are progressing.

It's still bitter cold here. The overnight temperature may get as low as -10 degrees, and it snowed all day. Unfortunately, Quin has to work tomorrow so he'll have to venture out on the icy roads early in the morning. I have lots to do around here--a mountain of laundry and still more organizing and cleaning, and I need to get cracking on listing some things on eBay. I took a long break and spent all my money so I need to get back in the saddle again and get selling! I have big plans for the money so the quicker I can make some, the better.

I'm thinking of all of you in the Midwest who are being affected by the ice storms and hoping you all still have heat and electricity! It may be ridiculously cold here but I've never had to worry that the power would go out or a tree would fall on our house! Hope you're all warm and safe.

Brrr!

Just a little check in from the North Pole--the outside temperature is somewhere between 3 and 5 degrees right now, depending on who you ask. When I got up at 7:00 a.m. it was ZERO, and it was well below that last night. There was about an inch of dry, powdery snow on the ground as well. Our high temp today is not projected to be much above 10 degrees and at this point, I'll be surprised if we even make that! The real snow is supposed to roll in sometime tonight. I've been to the grocery store and to JoAnn's for provisions--hey, if I have to be stuck inside all weekend, I need to have something fun to do, right?

Hit another thrift yesterday and found a few more goodies for the Pink & Brown swap. I also found an old white-painted wooden cabinet with a door on the front and shelves inside--more like an armoire, really. Priced at $14.99, but there's a catch--it has a big SOLD sign on it. But there's another catch: the pick-up date was 6 days ago, so I asked the furniture guy what happens now. He said he'd give the original buyers until today to pick it up but if it was still there this afternoon, he'd sell it to me. So now I'm trying to decide if I really need it or not. It looks old, but not extraordinarily so. I have NO IDEA where to put it, but I know I could find a place. And heck, I couldn't find something new at Target for that low of a price, and more storage is always a good thing, right?

Well, there you go. I think I've just managed to talk myself into it! Now to go get the car seat out so I can bring it home and break the news to the husband...