"On second though, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place."

Although my ideal evening plans last night consisted of putting on my jammies and going to bed early, instead we went out to the theatuh. Nothing highbrow for us though--we saw Spamalot! I'm a big Monty Python/wacky British humor fan and my DH is a good sport so we got tickets through a friend. The show was shallow and a little bawdy and a lot silly, which was just what I needed after all of the extreme crabbiness that I've been experiencing lately as a result of sleep deprivation and dealing with Miss Terrible Two herself. We had great seats, the show was fast-paced and kept us laughing. And best of all, there was tap-dancing in not one but TWO numbers! Here's part of the "Camelot" dance number, featuring tap-dancing knights:

Out of my gourd

Isn't this a beautiful photo? This is from the October 2007 issue of Country Home magazine. I love gourds! My dad started growing them in his garden a couple of years ago and has had some really spectacular results. He has given several to me and I love to use them in my fall decorating, which I do after I put all the Halloween stuff away. I may have to use this photo as inspiration when I get my gourds out this year.

My post title is not just about the photo--it's relevant to our continuing sleepless situation with Maren as well. Last night she finally went to sleep at 9:15 p.m., was up again at 12:00 a.m., 2:30 a.m. and a couple of times in between, before finally waking for the day at 5:25 a.m. this morning. We're going on a month of this nonsense now and things are not getting any better; they're actually getting worse in the fact that her wake-up times have gotten consistently earlier and earlier. We finally called the nurse at her pediatrician's office yesterday, who listened sympathetically but had no more ideas to offer. We've also spoken to Maren's speech therapist to see if there are any behavioral specialists at her agency that we can consult on this matter. I just want to know if this is a behavior issue that we're going to have to modify ourselves, or a phase she's going to grow out of on her own. I'm really hoping to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

I'm so excited that it's finally October! I dragged my orange and black Rubbermaid tubs up from the basement yesterday so that I can decorate--I've held myself off this long! It will take a couple of days to get everything out (yes, I have that much Halloween stuff) but I'm going to light a pumpkin-scented candle and enjoy the process. Over the weekend I did some fun Halloween crafting but I'm afraid I can't show you, as it's for my Sweet Sister swap partner, Laurie! My muse must have been fluttering around because I also got some inspiration for the swap projects I need to do for Silver Bella. I've been thinking about those swaps since I signed up in July but inspiration has finally hit! I bought all the materials this weekend and I just hope I can get my final products to match the picture in my head. I'll show those when I get them finished, hopefully by this weekend because next week I have Halloween party invitations to make. October will be a busy month, but I'm really looking forward to it!

A tisket, a tasket, a couple of thrifted baskets

A couple of thrifted metal picnic baskets, to be precise! I'll tell you, the next best thing to thrifting something fab is when someone you love thrifts something fab for you! My dear mom found these vintage metal picnic baskets in a FREE trash pile a couple of weeks ago and sent them up to me.
You see, we've been looking for baskets like these for years now, ever since we saw a MSL article about collecting them. Obviously everyone else saw that article and had the same idea, and we haven't had any sightings other than a few overpriced baskets at antique malls. That's why it was doubly thrilling that my mom actually found not one, but two, and they were FREE!

They appear to have been stored in someone's damp garage or shed for years, because they both have a fair amount of rust on the exteriors. The tartan basket is in worse shape than the yellow one, and the entire lid is pitted with rust. I used a product called Naval Jelly--it's a rust remover used on boats--but I couldn't get the rust to budge. I have one more product to try (rubbing compound) but since the Naval Jelly didn't work I'm not getting my hopes up. I did get the yellow one cleaned up and it's in good enough shape that I can still use it here in the house, but I think the tartan one looks just darling with a big fall mum poking out. I just need a couple of pumpkins to complete the vignette and I think it really livens up my otherwise boring front porch.

Thanks, Mom! I love them. :)

Better not pout

How much do you love this new paper that I bought at the scrapbooking store yesterday?


I don't know about you, but I love it so much I think I might have to marry it. Seriously, people--the vintage Santa, the perfect combination of red and aqua? What else am I supposed to do?

It's from the Peppermint Twist collection by Brenda Walton for K & co and the rest of it is just as yummy! Brenda has lots of neat projects and examples up on her blog--check it out! I see a trip back to Archiver's in my not-so-distant future...

Tablecloth Thursday

I don't have near the number of tablecloths that Sarah does, but I love the few that I have found. All of mine have been from thrift stores; I've never been lucky enough to find one at a yard sale, but I'll keep looking! This red and blue square tablecloth is from Goodwill. It has a small, dime-sized hole but it's hard to see because of the busy pattern so it doesn't bother me. I actually just took this cloth off the small round table in my front room, where it has been since I decorated for Fourth of July back in June. The colors were perfect to go with my patriotic decor. I left it up until just the other day because it matches the room, but mostly because so much junk has been piled on that table that I couldn't get to it sooner. LOL

For more Tablecloth Thursday, visit Misadventures of Mama & Jack and The Hunt for Vintage to see their beauties!

Sister Swap Twenty Questions--part 2

Here's my other half. You can read Laurie's 20 Questions here! It's fun to see that we have some things in common. :)

11. Do you have any pets, if so what kind? We have a yellow lab named Bronco. He's a lover, not a fighter. LOL He's really the most mellow, sweet, tolerant doggie ever, even for a lab. He's the perfect dog for my DD to love on, because he just puts up with all kinds of ear-pulling and loving and harassment from her without so much as a peep.

12. Are you a reader? If so, what type of books do you like? I love to read. I read a ton of magazines--Country Living, Country Home, Home Companion, Scrapbooks Etc, Family Fun, Entertainment Weekly. I also read a lot of books. This past summer I reread a lot of children's books and the Anne of Green Gables series. I read a lot of nonfiction as well, mostly history and biographies. I recently checked out and read every single book my library had on vintage and used clothing (which sadly, was not a lot). We have a great library system and we use it a ton!

13. Are you celebrating a birthday or anniversary in October, November, or December? If so, what day and what is the occasion? Nope.

14. Do you collect anything? If so what type of things do you collect? My loving husband would tell you I collect old people's junk. :) I like ephemera, buttons, ribbons, vintage sequined fruit and veggies, refinishing projects (the garage is packed), old Valentines and greeting cards, hankies, old costume jewelry, 1940s and 50s kitchen stuff, vintage printed tablecloths. Basically, if your grandma saved it, used it or wore it, I collect it. :)

15. What type of things do you like to cook? Are you an appetizer person, cookie maker, dessert freak or a take out type of person?? I love to cook and do so often. I usually try 1-2 new recipes a week; my favorite source is Cooking Light magazine. I love to make cookies and desserts but since my willpower is nil I have to bake and then give most of it away, or risk eating 3 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies by myself. I do love cupcakes! I think they're the happiest dessert ever. We don't eat out often, as with a wild toddler it's more work than enjoyment.

16. What is your favorite scent? Is there one that you can’t stand? I love the smell of coffee, even though I don't drink it! I also love citrus smells like lemon and lime and grapefruit. I have a very weak sense of smell so scents have to be pretty strong for me to really notice them. I do like pumpkin candles and I just bought a Yankee Candle called Cider Doughnut that smells delicious and is certain to give me mad cravings whenever I burn it.

17. What’s your favorite song? I don't have one specific favorite song. In my iTunes I have a lot of Beatles, Jars of Clay, Tears for Fears, U2, Jane Monheit, and 80s new wave.

18. What’s the last movie you went to see at the movie theater? We went out on an impromptu date last Friday night and saw 3:10 to Yuma. We had free tickets and that was the only one playing at the theater that we even remotely wanted to see. It was pretty good; I love me some Christian Bale! We don't get out to see a lot of movies.

19. What’s your favorite Candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I also love gummy bears and red licorice, and most chocolate things.

20. Tea or Coffee or other? I don't drink tea or coffee. I'm an ice water (no lemon) girl almost exclusively, but I do like Dr. Pepper when we go out to eat, especially with Mexican food.

Sister Swap Twenty Questions--part 1

I'm delighted to be part of the Sweet Goodness Sisters Swap and my partner is the lovely Laurie of Old School Acres. Laura is a very talented sewer of cutie pie softies who just turned fabulous 40 today! As part of our swap we are all to post answers to 20 questions about ourselves, to help our swap partners (and everyone else!) get to know us a little better!


1. Favorite Color: Red and turquoise, especially when they're together

2. Chocolate Lover? Milk, Dark, White, or none of the above? Chocolate lover? Yes indeedy! I will honestly say that I probably eat something chocolate every single day, even if it's just chocolate-flavored, like a chocolate graham cracker or a fat free chocolate pudding cup. I love it. I'm addicted. Hey--I don't drink, smoke or swear, so I'm allowed some kind of vice, right? My favorite chocolate in the world is Neuhaus, a fancy-schmancy Belgian chocolate that is both divine and very hard to find in this country. I like both milk and dark, with dark just edging out the milk for my current favorite. I do not like that white stuff. Ick. I'm not even going to dignify it by calling it 'chocolate'.

3. What is your favorite craft hobby? I love to do paper crafts. That includes rubber stamping, scrapbooking and just general messing about with paper, glitter and glue.

4. What is a craft/art hobby that you would like to start? I would like to learn to embroider. I have an embroidery kit that I bought about two years ago and I've opened it, but never taken the plunge.

5. What craft do you NOT have an interest in or just not great in? I don't sew, although that's more a function of my lack of ability than anything. I can see myself sewing simple things for Maren and simple home decor stuff but beyond that, I just can't imagine it ever happening.

6. Do you have any allergies? Does housework count? Otherwise, nothing!

7.What’s your favorite part of Halloween? Decorating, candy eating, costumes, or something else? Yes. :) I love it all! Halloween is my favorite holiday to decorate for. I don't like the gory, bloody stuff, but I do like creepy and slightly macabre and vintage Halloween. I'm not so much into the cutesy. I love to dress up, I love to eat candy, and I love to decorate. I think I'll get out my decorations this weekend, in fact!

8. Do you decorate for Thanksgiving/Fall? Yes, but I wait until after Halloween to do so. The first part of September here feels like summer anyway, and I don't want to get out all my fall stuff then have to put it away for October, then drag it all out again. I decorate with gourds and leaves and have started to amass a few more Thanksgiving-themed items as well.

9. December Holidays--what holiday do you celebrate? What type of decorations do you like to put up in your house for that holiday? I celebrate Christmas, and I like vintage-style Christmas decorations, whether they're original or reproductions. I put up my vintage aluminum tree and trim it with vintage glass balls that I've picked up along the way. Last year I did a pink & aqua theme but this year I'm going to go with more traditional and bright reds, greens, blues and yellows. I'm hoping to find one of those kitschy sequins-and-felt Christmas tree skirts to go with the bright color schemes.

10. Do you have any children, if so what are their ages, boys/girls? We have a beautiful and charming daughter, Maren, who is smack in the middle of the Terrible Twos. Read back a few posts about our sleep issues and you'll get an idea of what kind of fun and games we're dealing with right now. Let's just say that I fought her for two hours last night until she finally fell asleep at 10:30 p.m. and then she was up again this morning at 5:35 a.m. Serenity now!

Tune in tomorrow for the other ten!

Today I'm Loving...

...These cute slingback heels in red (of course). Ooh! And they're on sale too! Hmm, I may have to boogie over to the local store and see if they have these in stock.

...This fun, foofy umbrella that looks like a bouquet of roses when all closed up and has a darling rose border when open. Who cares if it's raining when you're under a pretty umbrella like this? Makes me wish it rained more often here!

...These neato personalized frames using photos of things that look like letters. You can do the same thing yourself for free using this handy tool: Spell With Flickr.

...The October issue of Country Home magazine. Their best in a while--I tore out so many pages to keep! Matthew Mead's pumpkin designs were really original and innovative--love the one with the woven twine especially. Also love the section with pie recipes. Maybe I'll have a prize-winning pie again this year with their help! And I think I'm going to use wallpaper on the interior panel of an old door I turned into a headboard. It's just the touch it needs, and it sounds so easy! I think I'm going to do mine patchwork-style, a la Miss Alicia-Posie's very neat closet door. Now I just need to find some great old wallpaper.

...Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, Thursday nights on Bravo. Have you watched yet? If not, you're missing out! Tim is The Man when it comes to telling it to people straight, but not being cruel or making fun of them. Now when we look at clothing, DH and I love to say "WWTGD?"

Hope your weekend is lovely!

Thrift Thursday

There's a little town that I pass through whenever I drive down to visit my grandparents. It's a tiny place, one of those old towns where the highway is also main street. The town used to be dumpy and dirty but in the past two or three years things have really improved. There's money coming in from somewhere and now the downtown features a few cafes, a day spa, a yarn store and several antique stores--a big leap for this wide spot in the road! We rarely stop to shop, as it seems we're always in a hurry to get to grandma's or back home, but every time we pass through I stare longingly out the window at the the antique stores. One in particular has always looked intriguing--the tiny storefront windows are filled with a jumble of dusty merchandise, perfect for a digger like me--but it is always closed. I mean ALWAYS, no matter what time of year or what day of the week you pass through town.

Except.

Except for the last time I came through town in August, on my way home from our family reunion at The Barn. I'd already had a particularly fruitful thrifting weekend and my car was stuffed to the gills with junque, including my grandma's old dress form riding shotgun in the front seat. I had Maren and the dog in the back and we were making good time, but when I drove past the store and realized that -gasp- it was OPEN, I had to stop! I parked in the shade of a big old tree and cracked all the windows for Bronco, but still knew I could only be inside for a few minutes--the length of time I felt comfortable leaving him in the car and how long it would take before Maren was doing her best "Bull in a China Shop" impression. It didn't take long; the minute I walked in the door to the tiny shop I spotted this:

Of course I was immediately drawn to its chippy, mirrored, pink fabulousness! Hard to tell from my blurry photo but it is an old metal medicine cabinet that someone once painted pink. It has its original glass knob and the mirror is all streaky with age. The inside has some really interesting shelves and I just know it's the kind of thing I'd see in a magazine photo, all cleaned up with some really great vintage pearls hanging off the knob and stuffed full of glitter and other trinkets.

So what did I do? Why, I talked myself out of buying it, of course. As much as I loved it, I couldn't imagine where in this house I could possibly put it. Only my daughter's room and the guest bedroom have any pink, and it's heavy so I'd have to anchor it to a stud, which would make hanging it a pain. No, I was just not going to buy it. I had all kinds of other goodies in the car already, and I was going to exercise some restraint for once and by the time I got back to Denver it would be a happy memory. I collected Maren, we said goodbye to the nice old gent running the shop, and I went out to the car to change Maren's hideous stinky diaper.

In the time it took to fix Maren (who was precariously balanced on the driver's seat in a feat of acrobatic diaper changing), I got to thinking about one of my favorite quotes from designer Betsey Johnson: "If you love it and it's beautiful, it goes with anything else that you love and is beautiful."

So you guessed it--I talked myself back into buying it! Man, I am a pushover! I ran the 5 steps back into the shop, threw my money at the man and grabbed my prize. I had just enough room on the seat under the dress form to wedge it in for the ride home. I've never regretted it since, but I can guarantee you that I would have regretted not buying it! It needs a good scrubbing, inside and out. The interior is dirty from being used as a medicine cabinet for who knows how many years. When I first opened it in the shop, I found an old dirty Q-tip (skeeve factor 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. yack.) so I'm going to be donning the ol' rubber gloves and hitting it with a good amount of bleach for my own peace of mind. You just wait--it's going to be a beauty, and I even have the perfect thrift store pearls to hang from the glass knob. Still have NO idea where I'll put it, but I know I'll find a place, because I love it!

Ahoy, me hearties!

Break out the puffy shirts and gold hoop earrings, it's time to celebrate--it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Be sure to visit the ITLAPD official website, where you can find all kinds of fun stuff, including several versions of the Pirate Name Generator and a bunch of other silly fun. I love Pirate day!

And how lucky is Miss Andrea? She gets to share her birthday with the pirates! Happy birthday, ya scurvy wench! (and I mean that in the nicest way! ;)

Just when you think your week can't get much worse...

...you are magnificently proven wrong!

Yesterday morning DH came home from Hawaii and I'm not sure who was more excited to see him--Maren, me or the dog. LOL Maren woke up at 5:50 a.m. (after fighting me until 10:45 p.m. the previous night to go to bed) and was exhausted by noon. DH was able to get her to go down for a nap and he went to take a nap too, as he'd flown through the night without much sleep. I left at about 1:30 while everyone was still asleep to go run errands and get my hair done.

DH called my cell phone while I was having my hair cut. I could tell he had that note in his voice; the one that says something isn't right, but he didn't say what it was and just asked that I call him as soon as I got finished. I called as I was walking out to the car (by this time it was nearly 6:00 p.m.) and he informed me that our basement had flooded! It seems someone (probably culprit: a little 2-year-old someone) turned on the faucet in the laundry sink downstairs and it ran for probably a good 3 or more hours before DH opened the basement door and discovered the mess.

As you might imagine, I cried all the way home from the hairdresser. Our basement is about 1000 square feet but it is a huge, unorganized mess. We've been meaning to get down there and reorganize for a while now but I'm afraid it just hasn't been a huge priority. DH has a $4000 big screen TV and an Xbox 360 down there, as well as a lot of inventory for his business, all of my holiday decorations, and our washer & dryer and food storage, in addition to all kinds of normal basement junk. All I could imagine was all of this floating in about a foot of water.

Thankfully, when I got home it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined. The laundry room has vinyl flooring and DH had been working hard with our steam vac to suck up all the water, so it was mostly dry. Only a small part of the larger carpeted area got wet--really only a few square feet at the base of the stairs, a huge relief. The room that got the worst of the water damage backs to the laundry room and is the only unfinished part of the basement, which we use for storage. There's no flooring, only the plywood subfloor atop which the previous owners (who also used it for storage) laid down old pieces of carpet and carpet padding. The water soaked more than half the floor, so that meant that we had to take almost everything out of that room and find a place for it in the rest of the basement so we could pull up the soggy carpet & pad and get the plywood dried out. Well, we had been meaning to reorganize that room--nothing like a watery kick in the pants to get us motivated, huh?

We are lucky that most of the things in the storage room were in plastic tubs already, so there wasn't much damage to our belongings. So far the only real casualty looks to be a couple of dozen vintage glass ball ornaments that were on the bottom of a box that was right next to the wall to the laundry room. PSA: vintage colored glass ball ornaments and water do not mix! The colored film comes right off the glass ball when it gets wet. I set them out to dry last night so I think they'll survive, albeit with a much more wrinkly texture than they had before! The box for my beloved aluminum Christmas tree also got wet as did the box for its rotating spotlight, but I think both will be okay once they're dry.

We cleared everything out of the storage room last night and threw the sodden padding & carpet out the basement window, so this morning we'll go out and hang it all over the balcony. Good thing we have a couple of sunny, warm days forecast! LOL We borrowed some box fans from a neighbor and ran them all night. I just went and checked and the plywood floor is still pretty wet, so I'm guessing it will be at least another 24 hours before things are dry. We bought some shelving units to put together and once the floor is dry we can spend a few evenings this week getting everything all reorganized and put back in there neatly, a task we desperately needed to do anyway. And really, things could have been much, much worse--none of the electronics got wet, the carpet is dry, I'm not freaked out about mold growing, the food storage was off the ground on a storage shelf, and the washer and dryer are fine. However, this week as a whole still ranks right up there on the ol' Crappiest Weeks top ten list.

One thing that wasn't crappy about this week? The cute little consignment store I found in Boulder where I found these vintage felt pennants! They were marked down to $5 each and there was a huge stack, so I went through and picked those most meaningful to me. The Utah & SLC pennants are for my guest room with all the vintage travel memorabilia. The space pennant is for the future. If I ever have a little boy, I want to decorate his bedroom in vintage space and robot stuff, and I already have a small collection of treasures to get me started. Now all I need is a son! LOL At the same store I also bought an adorable vintage-style glittered papier mache candy bucket shaped like a black cat. I have considered gifting it but I love it so much that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to part with it. He was only $3, which I thought was a steal!

I am so, so glad that this week is nearly over! I've had enough--Check, please. Today I doubt we'll do much with the basement as it's still too wet. I have a wreath-making project that I'm going to attempt, and maybe if I can go get dressed I can go find a few yardsales; not too many more weeks before the season is over! Hope you all have a happy (and dry!) Saturday!

My thoughts are all over the place today so this entry will just be a bunch of random stuff that's floating in my brain:

• Went to JoAnn's today and they had a display up by the registers of these big silver glittered letters with eyelets in the top. They are clearly a copy of the big glittery Wendy Addison letters but they're not glass glitter like hers are. However, for $1.00 they sure would look cute strung on a ribbon or tied on a package!
• I just got a call from a friend who found out she is pregnant with twins! Yikes! She already has a 4-year-old DD and a DS who is just barely younger than Maren. She is going to have her hands full, that is for sure, but I'm excited for her! Congratulations, Jen!
• Yesterday Maren and I drove an hour north to Boulder to do a little shopping and just get out of the house for a while. Can I just tell you all that Boulder completely deserves its reputation as a haven for ultra-liberal, pot-smoking hippies? Seriously, it's a little weird up there. Good shopping, though! I went into a little consignment store and bought a few fun things that I forgot to photograph today, so I'll show them tomorrow.
• Maren's nap situation is still not great. Yesterday we left to drive to Boulder at 1 pm, which is normally naptime. I thought perhaps she might sleep better in the car than at home and while she was asleep within just a few minutes of leaving, she only slept for about 30 minutes total. She had no problem going to sleep last night although she did get out of her bed at about 1:15 a.m. She went right back without trouble, but then was up for the day at the unholy hour of 6:00 a.m. It's still dark at that hour, and I just don't do well when I have to get up before the sun does!
• A friend of mine watched Maren for a few hours this morning (I watched her DD yesterday) and I went to the craft store and got a pedicure. When I came home Maren was very tired from the early wake-up and playing with the kids so thankfully she went down for a nap without any trouble. I had a long nap while she slept, and we all woke up feeling much better! Amazing how much more positive my outlook on life is when we've all had some sleep, eh?
• Daddy comes home tomorrow! Hooray! His flight leaves Hawaii tonight at 10:00 p.m. local time and he arrives here at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I am counting down the hours!
• I am so saddened to hear Katie's news. I will fully admit that I've been a whiner and complainer this week but when I read her post I shut right up. I know that all of us here in Blogland will be thinking of her and her sweet DH in the days to come.
  

So I won't forget

**Photos from our visit to Ground Zero, November 2006

Naptime Nightmare redux

I've been having a hard time blogging since I came back from the beach. Guess I just don't feel like I have anything interesting to say, but I'd like to stay in the habit so I'll plow on and just be boring.

An update on the Maren-climbing-out-of-the-crib situation: At present time, things are Not Good. After I posted my original "I'm going out of my mind" message, things actually improved. We had a few small struggles but for the most part Maren went back to her normal naps and not once did she climb out at bedtime. At the beach house we rented a crib and the first night we were there she got up at something like 3:30 a.m. and got out of the crib and I didn't get her back to sleep until 6:30 a.m. She got out of her crib several other times during that trip as well, including one morning at about 5:30 a.m. Her whole sleep schedule that week was a mess, but then once we got home things seemed to get back to normal.

Fast-forward to now. In the last few days things have gone all to hell. Saturday morning we did a 5K, with Maren walking/running a good part of it. We thought that would wear her out and she'd have no problem napping, but we were wrong. At one point that afternoon, Quin put her back in her bed again and laid down on the couch to take a nap himself. While he was asleep, she climbed out of bed, came downstairs, pushed a chair over to the counter and grabbed a big black Magic Marker and proceeded to decorate herself, the counter, the chair, and the garbage can lid with permanent black scribbles. He only woke up when he heard her bang on the garbage can lid, and she never did go back to sleep. That evening she behaved like a wild hyena because she hadn't had a nap, and when bedtime finally came she climbed out several times before finally falling asleep.

Yesterday Quin left at noon to fly to Hawaii for the week for work. Or rather, 'work'. After church I put her down for a nap, only to have her climb out of the bed a few minutes later. I've been trying the Supernanny method of just putting her back in the bed without a word and finally after a very long time, she stayed up there for about an hour. Whether she slept or not, I'm not sure but she did stay in her bed. Of course, she behaved again like a wild hyena yesterday evening while we were at the neighbor's house because she'd had almost no nap. I knew she was tired and put her to bed at about 8:00 p.m. (after she was almost falling asleep on the couch while we read books) and continued putting her back in the bed for a good hour and a half past that point.

Today hasn't been any better. I even waited until a little after Maren's usual naptime, hoping that combined with her late bedtime last night (and early 6:30 a.m. wake-up this morning) she'd be good and ready for a nap. Wrong again! I put her back in her bed at least a dozen times before I just gave up. I could actually hear her out of her bed upstairs but since she didn't come downstairs I just ignored her, which of course led to a mess for me to clean up when I finally did go upstairs. DH doesn't come home until Friday and the thought of going through this fight at every naptime and bedtime until then makes me want to poke my eyes out. Oh, and let me remind you that my DH is in Hawaii, all-expenses paid, while I'm stuck at home cleaning up the disasters wrought by a kid who won't sleep. If you think I sound bitter and cranky right now, you're right.

And because I hate to end my post on such a down note, I did visit 2 garage sales this weekend. They didn't look like anything interesting from the street but at one I bought 4 old blue glass Ball jars (the kind with the wire bail) and 2 huge picture frames for a dollar apiece. At the other I went though the owner's mother's costume jewelry and came up with 3 great pairs of vintage earrings and 3 vintage pearl necklaces, all for $5. Lesson 1: garage sales in the cookie-cutter suburbs can still have neat things, and 2: it's always worth a closer look, even though at a distance all it may look like is old VHS tapes and baby toys.

Hope you're having a better Monday than I am!

Weekend plans

Back from the Beach

We're easing back into non-beach life--wouldn't want to go too fast and strain anything, now would we? ;) We had a wonderful time! The only day that ended up less-than-ideal was Sunday morning (the last day we were there) and even that wasn't too bad, it was just less-than-ideal. For the most part the weather was great, the food was great, Maren behaved reasonably well, and we got to spend time doing whatever we wanted to do! I've got more stories to tell, but for now I'll just leave you with this photo of Maren that I love.

Beach bound

And we're off! We're headed to spend a week at Quin's family beach house in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. We can't wait to see how Maren takes to the ocean; we think she'll love it right up until she gets knocked flat by a wave and gets a face full of salt water! She's a pretty tough little girl so I'm sure it will take more than that to scare her away. I'm excited to spend some time in our beloved Charleston and Savannah again (we moved here from Savannah almost exactly 3 years ago). It's going to be face-meltingly hot and humid and I'm prepared to embrace the horror, but that is not going to stop me from complaining about it!

I most likely won't have access to the internet while I'm away (no email and no Bloglines--the horrors!) but I'll see you all when I get back! And if I return with blog posts full of ya'lls and dahlins, you'll know why! :)

The (not Pottery) Barn

All righty then. I'm just going to ignore that header mess up there and hope that maybe the HTML fairies come by and clean things up for me. In the mean time, I want to tell you a little about a place near to my heart called The Barn.

The Barn is the name by which my family's cabin is known. It's not really a barn, nor is it barn-shaped or barn-colored or anything remotely barn-related, for that matter. My great-uncle's cabin is on the same property and it actually is a barn (or was, more accurately) but for some reason we still call our place The Barn too.

Setting foot in The Barn is like stepping into an interior decorating time warp. It is a repository for old and unwanted furniture and as such is a special blend of interesting antiques and slightly horrifying relics of the 1970s. The carpet is orange & avocado shag, which nicely sets off the orange wicker furniture. Yes, orange wicker. Yes, I know--YIKES. The kitchen countertop is Formica patterned to look like ye olde time advertisements, kind of like they used to have at Wendy's and Subway, back in the day. The refrigerator is brown and very small, and has a tiny freezer inside the larger fridge compartment. The decor could accurately be summed up by that old bon mot, "Late Attic, Early Garage Sale."

Really though, part of the charm of The Barn is the whole "Land That Time Forgot" aesthetic and it's somewhat comforting to see the same yugly furniture, year after year. All of the crazy decor is strangely friendly and welcoming. While I was at The Barn a couple of weeks ago I took a few photos of some of my favorite things to share with you.

Acrylic grapes, fetchingly lit by the afternoon sun. Probably made by my Grammy at a church function sometime in the 1970s. (Note the stack of woven placemats in harvest gold, orange and avocado)

Pretty pillow-ticking from one of the bed pillows; there was also one with lavender flowers. Why don't they make pillows from pretty ticking like this any more?

Very cool 1950s-ish floor lamp and shade. If you look close you can spy a glimpse of the orange wicker desk on the left side, the orange & green shag carpet at the bottom, and the strange orange and yellow Lucite-look artwork on the wall behind.

I have no idea where this goofy sign or the old metal lantern hanging above it came from. All I know is that they've been there as long as I can remember and may well have hung in that exact spot longer than I've been alive. You can also see the old glass doorknob on the bottom left and the big dark shape on the right is the antique player piano.

This is the old wood stove in the kitchen. There is also a new cooktop (well, not new by today's standards but electric) and on the left you can spy a microwave, but this stove cooks the best darn breakfasts you've ever eaten. If you squint, you can also see a couple of orange & green mushroom plaques, an antique ice tongs-turned-paper-towel-holder, and a set of salt & pepper shakers and large bowl in the Jewel Tea "Autumn Leaf" pattern.

For some unknown reason there are numerous sets of salt & pepper shakers in the kitchen at The Barn. My favorites are the Autumn Leaf set in the background, this adorable spun aluminum set with the red tops, and this year I discovered the Hazel Atlas New Dot salt shaker lurking in a cupboard. I never noticed it before but that doesn't mean it wasn't there--it just means I didn't know as much about Hazel Atlas as I do now. That little beauty just might have *sneaked* home with me in my suitcase and be sitting on my kitchen windowsill right this very moment. Maybe. I'm not confirming or denying anything without my lawyer present.

So there you have a few of the highlights of The Barn. I wish you all could come and stay for a week--it's charming and quaint and relaxing and very orange, but I know you'd like it anyway!

Redecorating

Things are under construction on the ol' bloggity blog. If you're reading on Bloglines you won't be able to see my messed-up header but trust me, it's there. I successfully got the new header (made by my fabulous little brother, Nick) installed but I'm having trouble deleting the old title. I thought I followed the instructions exactly and deleted the proper code but now when I try to save my new template, Blogger tells me that I've made an error somewhere and my code is broken so it won't save. Arrgh! I'll try again tomorrow, but please excuse the mess in the meantime!

Thrifting on the road

I didn't go yardsaleing on Saturday morning, something I'll probably regret in cold January when I'm stuck paying inflated thrift store prices to get my junk fix. I did get to do a good amount of junkin' when I went to visit my grandparents a couple of weeks ago and have goodies to show you.

The three blue Ball jars were from an estate sale that we ran into while we were on the way out of town. My mom and I made a spur of the moment decision (involving a U-turn) and I'm glad we did, as we found good stuff. Usually estate sales are overpriced but the small jars were only $2.00 and the large one was $4.00, which I think is a bargain. The estate sale was interesting--the man worked for Kellogg's and had all kinds of cool memorabilia and promotional stuff, most of it priced pretty reasonably. I bet I could have bought some good stuff for resale if I'd had more time & money & knowledge (or a wi-fi connection!) The cherry teacup is a Mary Engelbreit piece and matches a honey pot & set of candlesticks I sold last year. I think it's an unusual pattern because I almost never see it, and I had a buyer email and ask if I had any more to sell. That was purchased at a brand-new church-run thrift store in the town just one over from the one where my grandparents live, so I will definitely be going back. Prices in there were high but it was their first week being open so maybe they'll get a better idea of what's reasonable in the future. The clear glass Ball jar was $1.00 and came from the thrift in my grandparents' town.

With the exception of the Girl Scout cookie cutter (which came from the same estate as the blue glass jars), everything else in this photo came from one estate (but two different sales). This one was an estate sale we happened onto when coming home from the pool Maren was just about in full meltdown-mode so I couldn't shop long. The old-lady beaded necklaces are great! I've already worn the pink one with a brown top. The dog broke one of the vintage ornaments. :( The vintage silk hankie is printed with an image of the Oakland Bay Bridge and will go in my guest room. Not sure what the crocheted thing is--a potholder, maybe? I forgot I was holding it until I got in the car! And I keep buying those darn painted-handle utensils, even though I already have about 3 of this particular tool (an egg beater?) and no good way to display them. Somebody stop me! I just can't leave them behind.


The two vintage felt pennants were from the same estate sale, and will also go in the guest room. I also bought a great big vintage Ball glass jar but that went to my mom as a birthday gift. Wish there had been more! This sale was held in an old shed/barn and it was the kind of place you have to dig. There was neat stuff and great old furniture, but everything was very dirty and would have needed a lot of work. I was there just an hour before they closed the sale on a Monday afternoon but I wish I'd known about it earlier--they said the place had been packed to the rafters on the Friday before. It makes me slightly ill to think of the treasures that must have been in there, since the leftovers were still pretty darn good. The calendar with the cute black terriers was from the same estate sale as the blue jars. The top part is embossed cardboard and it's really quite charming. Not particularly old--the calendar is for 1973--but a really sweet piece of ephemera nonetheless.

The Avon Outlook is a booklet sent to Avon ladies and is dated 1943. It's a hoot! I should scan some pages to show you. It's all about encouraging sales and such and I find the pictures highly entertaining. The Girl Scout catalog is from 1949 and is really fun to look through. There was an official Girl Scout Apron and it's just darling! Another one I where I need to scan and post someday.






And last, another pile of ephemera I bought in a bag at the barn estate sale. Lots of vintage Valentines for my collection (my fave is the one on the right with the astronaut), some neat old flash cards with scalloped edges, and a few random old playing cards with fun pictures. There was a bunch of other random stuff in the bag, including school pictures and report cards for a boy that my mom went to high school with! She took those and is planning on sending them back to him. Yeah, it's a small town. :)

One other thing is a very old carved wood frame from the barn but it's really dirty and it's pretty darn shabby. It has potential but it's going to need some work. I love small town junking! The prices are usually low and you don't have as much competition from other pickers. Good stuff!