Marathon Weekend...Literally

Well, I guess it's a half marathon weekend, if you want to get technical. The Flower City Challenge, to be precise. One million things are happening. Check it out: Friday we went to a church sale. We go every year. Never find anything too epic, but we feel compelled to go since it's pretty close to where we live. Also, I have to support church sales that start on Friday and stay open till 7 or 8 pm. That's just rad. All those old ladies staying out past their bedtime. I'm talking about me and my friends, of course.

We're not going to mention the fact that HB looks drugged in this picture. Or that she's wearing some conglomeration of pajamas. I don't think she reads this, so what she doesn't know can't hurt her. Anyway, the Millhouse sisters have a love of moody sea/ship art. Alicia is in the market for a place of her own and she found one of these at the Friday sale. In the middle of debating whether to keep it for her new place or give it to her sister, she noticed a second one. The same. Twinsies. Boom. I think they were like 50 cents each.

All of the little animals are Alicia's of course. As is the picture frame. Maybe she'll put a mirror in it. Maybe she'll paint it a rad color and put it over her new peep hole. Who knows? the wooden spoons are for her new place, too. HB bought the embroidery hoops, the bobbins and the great vintage Christmas tags. Now, I'm going to show you what I got. You might want to sit down. Because this is good. Almost overwhelmingly so.

Right?? Mouse pad! I'm using this bad boy at work. Goodbye plain red mouse bad. Hello love of my life! The whole shebang cost me 75 cents. Beat that with a stick, if you can! But maybe not, because I think it would break my new wine glasses. I sort of just realized that I don't have stemware. So, I'll be on the lookout all summer long. So then on Saturday morning the husband and HB teamed up for a duathlon. She ran, he biked, she ran. Team Chick and Nick placed 13th out of 49 teams! Not too shabby! We got up at like 5:20 am they did physical activity, I waited around a took pictures. It was nice out. And sunny.

After they finished we went home to clean up. I took a nap, you know, since all that looking around was such hard work. Nobody else napped. That's just how my lazy ass rolls. Literally. That's how I'm maintaining such astounding rolls. Take note. A few minutes later we headed out to a neighborhood sale. It was glorious outside. Just as we started to get hungry we discussed the potential for us to come across someone selling hot dogs. Just at the same moment we spotted said person. The combo was $3. Hot dog, bag of chips and a drink. I opted for Fritos and water. I gotta watch my waistline. The menu said that gossip was free. I'm not sure why I didn't document this in photographs. Too much eating, I guess. Then I belched up hot dog for the rest of the day and remembered why I don't like those little mothers. They don't even really taste that great the first time.

The husband got vinyl.

Sarah got a very cool green bag and a Pennsylvania Dutch Unicorn plaque. Which, makes perfect sense to me. Andrew got a tea bag squeezer outer. I'm pretty sure my family used to have one of those.


Alicia got the hoodie she's wearing and it came in handy right away. Babe the Pig is a toy for her dog. Something about that makes me cringe. Don't worry Babe, it won't hurt for long. That dog will have you ripped apart in four minutes flat. The totally unauthorized Michael Jackson trivia book is nice because we can all learn a little something from it. I don't know if the thing draped over her arm is a rug or a blanket. Knowing Alicia, it's a blanket. Because if it's not a garbage can, it's going to be a blanket every time. Or a small animal statuette. With jewel eyes. I can't wait to see her new place!


HB got the skirt for a quarter. Ridiculous. She wears skirts all summer long, so I'm sure she'll get her monies worth out of it. More vintage Christmas labels which were free and a glass what says "Norma" if you can believe it. The Millhouse sisters have an aunt Norma (Normie) and she enjoys a nice cocktail every now and again. So this is the glass she'll use when she comes to visit.


This is my haul. $1 for the mug which I'm giving to my aunt. She loves cardinals and she also likes cute cartoon things. I think she'll get a hoot out of it. That would have been a funny pun if it were an owl mug. Pretend, ok? The strawberry shortcake things will be listed on my Etsy page shortly and the linen was ten cents. Ten cents, ok LuLu?!? So no guff from you! It's awesome and you are getting it and I don't want to hear about rules! Heather made me do it! She made me get it for you even though I tried to tell her about the rules! She doesn't go in for rules and she's a bully to boot! I blame her.

Then on Sunday morning HB and a bunch of our other friends ran the half marathon. Right after that we went to the public market for their yard sale day. It was so nice out. Perfect weather for running. I would imagine. Not that I know from experience. But I do have a pretty good imagination, so just trust me on this one. Below you will find the things the husband and I bought. Just the wine glass is mine! (25 cents) This is the most that the husband has ever bought in one saleing event. I think he had a tinch of the bug. The fever. He didn't want to pay full price for anything and ended up getting a $4 plant stand that our friend Mae had been wanting for $2 instead! He's gettin' good at this. The belt buckles were $1 and $2 (he's going to try for all 50 states. The funny part is that the Arizona buckle was made in Colorado.) and the movies were $5 together. Great way to finish off the weekend. I'm proud of you, my son.

OK, time to go get ready for brunch! So many good things! Hearts and bellies full of joy!

It's Really Happening

After what certainly feels like the worst and longest winter in recorded history (including the ice storm of 1993 or whenever that was, in which we had no electricity for a week and nearly my whole extended family came to stay at our house) I am seeing signs that spring might actually, finally be here. Might. Don't think about it too hard and jinx it.

Can I get a witness:

And introducing, for the very first time in my back yard...these!

This color delights me so! I can't wait to see my big, beautiful peonies! Right now they are just small red spears sticking out of the ground. But, when they start to grow, things happen fast! Hopefully this year my lilac will bloom. That's never happened yet in the three years that I've had it. It seems so enthusiastic this year. Trying to be the first to have real leaves. Come on little guy, I believe in you!

OK, I'm done anthropomorphizing plants for the moment.

In other news we went to that church sale last week. By all accounts it sucked. But, it was their bag sale day and we got a large bag of stuff for $3. I ended up with 4 small white plastic Christmas bells on pipe cleaners...covered in glitter. Mom got some clothes for her man, Alicia got a comfy gray sweater, Vig (Side note: New friend Sarah needs a nickname. Her last name is Vigoren so I've been throwing around "Vig" but I also really like "OS", pronounced OZ which stands for Other Sarah. But that is kinda mean, I guess. But OS sounds cooler than Vig. Anyone care to put it to a vote?) Anyway, OS got some...interesting sweatshirts, a pair of socks, if I'm not mistaken and a ashtray with a mallard duck on it to catch coins and such. HB ended up with a very cool cake plate with lid that will fit one of her very tall, very layered, very delicious cakes. I can't remember what else. I have to get better at documenting this stuff, stat! The giant rainbow is for OS & Andrew's hallway of heinous art. You are jealous, just admit it.

Flat Pumps

Would you like to see how awesome my friend, The Guru is?


Ann Taylor. Exactly that awesome. Drool if you like. Drool also, over this:

I found these little flats at Target for $10. In the little girl's section. They are size 3 1/2. I wear a 6 1/2 in women's sizes. I don't understand almost any sizing of women's clothes, shoes or accessories. I find it terrifying that they are Dora the Explorer shoes that are too large for me, in this world.

April Fools

I'm just going to say it. It was nice out today. Nice. Not bone chillingly cold, not snowing and not even rainy. Sunshine. Everyone in Rochester was outside. Rolling around in the fools gold that is the spring sun. We know it won't last, that it's just some crazy dream sent to taunt us into further seasonal mania. But, let us have this beautiful dream while it lasts. We need the lie.

We went to a small church sale this morning. As my mother dutifully predicted, it was pretty picked over by the time we got there and was very small to begin with. But, new friend Sarah ended up with two nice pieces of furniture and a swatch of funky vintage fabric for $5 total, so it wasn't a total bust. The side table is Lane!


Then we went to lunch and then to Stevers. Easter candy...check!

Also, and you may want to sit down for this, I went to an actual store and bought clothes that FIT. Two sun dresses at Old Navy. They were on sale. TWO! FIT! I can't believe the rare beauty of this day!

Season Opener

Last Saturday we went to the first official sale of the season. It's been very sunny here. Deceptively sunny. It's like 27 degrees outside but the sun is shining to beat all. Tricksy, precious. At any rate HB and I took a ride down down to Buffalo Rd.

The thing I love about church sales is the old people. Churches mean old people which, in turn means great, old stuff. We always get excited about church sales.

The other thing about old people is that they are sticklers for rules. The sale opened at ten. We got there at about four minutes to ten. We had to wait outside. It was bitter cold. But it wasn't ten.

This particular sale has stuff all through the church in all the small rooms. Sometimes it's hard to maneuver. Especially if some lady wants to buy a stroller that she can't figure out how to get it to fold up, right in the doorway of a small room for like, say, ten minutes or so. Just sayin'.

There are two small rooms filled with toys that I always take my time in because as you know, I have collections. It paid off, just not for me. I found a vintage my little pony for H.B.!

We met some old friends there, and a new friend, too. The husband even came. A good time was had by all. When it was over I ended up with the following:

I'm in the midst of changing over all of my glasses to beer glasses. Mostly because I've broken all but four of our regular glasses. 25 cents each! The juicer was also a quarter and the copper bracelet was fifty cents. Not a huge haul, but not too shabby for the season opener.

Easter Decorating 2011

Last year, I felt like I maybe had too many Easter decorations. This year I don't have enough. Let me tell you how I worked that magic. One word: expansion. New areas, new frontiers. An no, I'm not talking about the bathroom or garage. Yet.

This year I put decorations in the cabinet. I did it with Christmas, why not Easter? The real beauty part of this is that I don't even have enough to fill said cupboard. Room to grow baby, room to grow! So let's jump right in, shall we? Vintage candy containers. Vintage Strawberry Shortcake minis, a little chick sitting on a bunny (the chick is covered in....glitter!) and a felt crafted egg.


Middle cupboard: What is it with plastic? God, I love plastic. Plastic chicks in plastic baskets with plastic flowers. Oh mama. I made the chick and the bunny in the metal wire basket out of eggs. Real eggs. Then there's the box of mini chicks.


Last cupboard: More plastic. Chick head easter basket. For an actual easter basket it's a bit...much. But as a decoration, pretty cute!


Look at how skimpy the green cabinet looks! Oh so much room to fill!


This is the top of the cabinet. Would anyone care for a darling amuse bouche?

Cake plate and sundry trinkets.

I just love the things in this pre-made Easter basket. I bought this from a thrift store. What we have here is a card, a hat on a stick, a plastic rabbit, two plastic chicks in plastic eggs and a knit easter egg. Then there is a bracelet like thing covered in yarn. I have no idea what that is. I can imagine some kid in the 60's getting this on Easter morning and being like...., "What the shit is this? No chocolate?"

Red shelf. Middle top bunny made by me!

This garland always reminds me of a picture from the Little Golden Book, "Baby Dear". The baby has a chew toy that looks a lot like this garland. Which I'm sure you all find very fascinating.


I have a string of Peep lights. They are covered in the sugar-like glitter that I love so well.


Turns out I had a ton of tiny little things that fit nicely into my shadow box. The rule is, if it's tiny and plastic, I'm probably going to love it.

The Easter Mantle.

Happy Spring, everyone!

Ignore With Me

Whilst we are all ignoring the out of doors and putting the finishing touches on the tropical paradise in our minds, I've officially decided that Yard Sale Season has commenced. Take that Mother Nature and Old Man Winter! I've joined The Rebellion! (cue Cantina music)

Last weekend we went to two thrift stores in Henrietta. We had plans for a third, but we got too hungry. As oft happens. I went to the jewelry straight away. If one thing can cure my hibernation sickness it's jewelry. (and booze) After that I wandered in brick-a-brack and sheets/blankets for a while. I didn't do a full scan of the clothes. May I present...my finds from the first store, AmVets:

Large, funky earrings. I love a good hoop earring. Teal! 99 cents.

Next we have a Koi T-shirt from L.O.L. I'm not even kidding. This brand is named L.O.L. Part of me just died inside. $2.98


Arizona jean skirt. $4.98 My old jean skirt is so faded it's starting to look acid washed. I won't go back to that hell.

Old Navy sweater. This is the softest sweater ever. And it has the cutest button details! $3.98

Pink canvas shoes! Fioni (I think it's a payless brand) $2.98


On to the second store: Thriftyshopper


Billy Idol shirt from vintage vinyl. 60% off of 4.99


American Eagle pink shirt with polka dots. 30% off of $4.99

This Saturday I'm going to a church rummage sale. Stay tuned for our finds!