Where did yesterday go?

Yikes! I didn't blog yesterday. I meant to. I had it all planned out. I even turned my computer on. While it booted up, I started on a few things I wanted to get done before setting out my yard sale. Next thing I knew, I forgot to blog. I apologize to my faithful followers. Then again, maybe nobody even noticed I was gone since it was just one day. Anyway, I'm back today. A little tired, a lot worn out, but I am back.

The yard sale was a big success. I got rid of most of the stuff I wanted to get rid of and what didn't sale, I donated to the NKFD Cadets for their upcoming yard sale.



I am excited to go shopping today. You know I love flip flops. They are one of my weaknesses. I am a firm believer that a girl can't have too many flip flops. However, I don't feel that way about tennis shoes. I am not hard on shoes so when I buy a pair of good ones, they usually last me a long, long time. I have had a pair of Sketchers for about four or five years. They are starting to get scruffy looking so I think I will treat my self to new tennis shoes today. I tried a pair of Danskin's on recently and oh my! Comfortable. I may check them out today.

I love purses and I am tired of the ones I have. I wanted a new one from Thirty-One, but the one I wanted is $65.00. Ouch. I don't like to pay that much for a purse. When I received my free products from the April incentive it was supposed to include a Retro Metro purse, which is not one of my favorites but at least I was getting a new purse. The demand on the new Spirit Collection meant that my new purse had to be back ordered. So instead of making me wait on the purse, they sent me a gift certificate. I used it to order the purse I want. So I ordered my $65.00 purse in the pattern I love and got it personalized. I entered the order and applied my gift certificate and ended up paying $1.40 for my purse, personalization and shipping all totaled. Love it! This all happened on Thursday evening and I woke up to check my open orders and saw that my purse shipped yesterday. It is going to arrive on Tuesday. I can't wait. I'll show you a picture next week.

Wow! New shoes AND a new purse this week. It doesn't get any better than that.

 

Yard sales, plants and freebies..I love my life!

I am having my yard sale tomorrow. I have more stuff than I thought I did. The spare room is so full that you can't even walk in there. I'm selling scrapbook supplies, craft supplies, yarn, material, pattern books, a coffee maker, DVD, VCR, some of my Thirty One totes and purses, some regular purses, a full length winter coat I only wore about 10 times, kitchen items, baskets, knick knacks, a few collectibles and tons more.

Why do we accumulate so much stuff and then sell it off so we can take the money to go buy more stuff? We are a strange creature sometimes.

I am so excited because I won the new Spirit Collection from Thirty One as my April incentive. You just gotta love freebies. Didn't have to pay shipping or anything. Here is what I received yet from our home office for having a $1000's in sales the first two weeks of April.

I also won a Retro Metro bag in Navy, but it was in such high demand that it got back ordered. So they are sending me a gift certificate that can be used to purchase something else. I am in the process of deciding what I want.

My niece's Flutter Mirror Compact came in yesterday in another order I had placed. Isn't it adorable.

My friend Clara broke me off 4 leaves of her Philodendron plant. I stuck two leaves each in Mason jars with water and look at these roots!

This is the only plant that I can grow without killing it. Hubby sent me a planter our first Valentine's Day. It had a Philodendron that I transplanted and had for over 20 years until I just got tired of it and gave it away. I have missed having plants so I have decided to get some more. When I had my cat, I couldn't have anything except a phily plant because K.C. ate them. Now that she is gone (R.I.P.) I think I will try my hand at it again.

I didn't think to take before and after pics, but here are the pots I put them in. I used left over birthday paper to place on my tables when I paint or plant or do anything that will make a messy. It is easy clean up.

One is for the living room and one will go in my lavender bathroom. I am going to look for a couple of other plants that I used to have good luck with. I know I want a peace lily. You can almost ignore them, give them some water and they perk right back up so I should be able to handle one of those.

I have been looking for several weeks now for one that I know I can grow. It is Swedish Ivy. You can find English Ivy everywhere, but I can't find Swedish Ivy yet. I've tried Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart and several of the local florists and green houses. Nobody carries it. Allen bought me one when we were dating and I had it for about five years. We moved and somehow missed getting it off the front porch. When we checked back on it, it was gone. The day he bought it for me was the day he asked me to set a wedding date. So it had sentimental value. I get all mushy when I see Swedish Ivy so that is why I want one so bad. Mine was about the size of this one, but a little longer. I would love to know if you have any ideas where else I can look.

As you can see, I have lots going on right now.....again! I need some down time and soon. But it doesn't look good for May. Right now, I have on my schedule (in addition to my job) a Young at Heart supper, my yard sale, a grandson's ball game, a grandson's birthday party, learning the movements to VBS song Zip, Zoom, Zing!, a Thirty One open house, a trip to McKay's with Sherrie and Bobbi, teaching our Sunday School class by myself next Sunday, helping set up a wedding reception, attending the wedding reception, my annual Memorial Day shopping trip to Tangers with Diana and Sherrie, and that is just what I can remember off the top of my head. I am in need of some beach time.

I'm joining the Wednesday Hodge Podge From This Side of the Pond

1. What is a pet peeve you have when vacationing?

Time share people. I resent the fact that I can't walk into a store or go down a street without somebody trying to get in my face to promote time share programs. They offer you these wonderful benefits if you give up "just a couple of hours" of your vacation. I especially dislike the ones that are really pushy and try to walk down the street with you for a little piece trying to change your mind.

2. Would you describe yourself as a light packer or do you need everything in your closet plus the kitchen sink?

Oh, I'm a "take it with you in case you need it" person. I take way too many clothes and way too many shoes. I laugh at myself sometimes. I can go away for a weekend and it looks like I'm going to be gone a month. I worry I will get there and need something that is back home. My hubby has a different philosophy. His is "Oh well, if you forget something there is always Walmart."

3. What's the best lesson a child ever taught you?

To love unconditionally. My grandchildren love me and they show it in every way and I love each one of them more than words can ever express. But my precious little Alexis said something to me one time and it has stuck with me. When she is with me, she is constantly coming up to me and hugging me and telling me she loves me. One day, I was taking them home and she said she was going to miss me. Then she said "But at least you are always in my heart." Talk about unconditional love. She doesn't look for my faults, she doesn't care that I'm not perfect. I'm her Mamaw and that is all it takes for her to love me. One of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned.

4. Share one piece of advice you'd give a recent graduate as they attempt to enter the job market?

Find your passion. Don't enter into a job simply because it is the easy road to take or because it makes the best money, has the best benefits. Determine what you love in life and find a job in that career. You will be happier in your job and it will become a career and not just a place you show up from 8 - 5. I have worked with people who feel like they are in dead end jobs simply because they don't care. They wanted to be a teacher, or a nurse, or an engineer. Yet they sit at a desk day in and day out doing something they despise instead of following their heart and doing what makes them happy.

5. What's your favorite lemon something?

Is lemon anything considered a "something". I love lemonade, lemon jelly beans, Lemonheads, lemon drops, lemon meringue pie, lemon pound cake....need I go on. Lemon is by far my #1 favorite flavor.

6. Flat sandal, wedge, heel...your favorite footwear?

Flip flops, flip flops and more flip flops. At last count, I owned 29 pairs and am still looking for more. I wear them until the absolute last moment in November when the cold comes and in February or March, the minute the temps rise above 50, the flip flops come out of storage. I am ruining my feet I am sure, but I love my flip flops. I am flat footed so anything with an arch wears me out by the end of the day.

7. What do you like best about a beach holiday? If you're not a beach lover (GASP!!) what do you dislike the least?

Oh, definitely a beach lover here. I love everything about a beach holiday. The sand; the sea; the shopping. But my favorite thing is to get my little low beach chair and head down to the sand. I like to put my chair pretty close to the waters edge so that the waves will wash up to about my knees as they come in. I take a book, lather up with sunscreen and just sit in my little chair and read. Just me, the sun, the ocean and my fictional friends. Hubby sometimes sits with me, he sometimes walks and he sometimes flies his kite if the winds are good. Oh, to be at the beach right now! Sigh.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I need to get my office organized. I have been pulling together yard sale stuff and accumulating it in my office. Plus I bought new trays and need to get everything shifted and labeled and organized. It looks like a war zone in here.

Tuesday's Treasure Box

I help out in one of the Sunday School classes at my church. The main teacher had asked me to look for old hats when I was at yard sales. She has the Pre-K class and wanted to have the hats for tea parties during play time. I've been keeping my eyes open, but haven't found anything....until Saturday.

I went to a yard sale at the local Senior Center. When I rounded the corner into the main room, the first table had some ladies hats. The prices ranged from $2 - $5 per hat. Well, I didn't really want to pay that much and I had just stuck four $1.00 bills in my pocket before I went in.

I picked out three hats I liked but they totaled $15.00. I explained to the lady what I was going to do with them. I told her I only had $4.00 in my pocket and didn't want to go back out to the car and asked her if she could sell me one of them for $4 instead of $5. She said since it was for the church, I could have all three hats for the $4.00. WOW! I was thrilled. Here is what I got.

Then as I looking at some things a few tables away, the lady from the hats comes up to me and says, "Here, take these for free. I think the girls will like playing with them with their hats." It was a bag of red and purple boas. She was right, the girls would love those, too.

Well, I know the little girls in the class I knew the plain hat was not going to get played with much. I also knew that the one with the purple ribbon would be really popular between two of the girls. So I took the hats home and decided to do a little "work" on them.

I started with the one with the red roses. I took off the roses.

Then I hot glued the purple ribbon on and tied it in a bow. I am not a great bow maker, but the girls will love it simply because it is purple.

Then I took the one that was just plain and hot glued the red roses on the front of it and on the back, I glued a gold button.

Now we are ready for tea.

It was worth it....

I went to a yard sale Saturday for Relay for Life. I only found one item there, but it was SO worth the trip. I have been searching and searching for a cream and sugar set. I finally found what I was looking for. Check out the price tag. Just $1.00 for the set....

Since I have been accumulating some good finds, I decided to do some rearranging on Saturday afternoon to display some of my treasures.

I started out with the wine rack and removed my rooster stuff. I am not sure where I am moving it to. But here is what I did with the shelves. Remember the oval glass platter? I used it to set the cream and sugar bowl on.

I placed the little stack of saucers right beside it on my new white scarf.

I displayed my long awaited coffee cup and saucer on the same shelf and this was the end result.

Then I took the white milk glass platter from several weeks ago and placed one of the milk glass vases along with a little pitcher and toothpick holder I already had. I sat my milk glass speckled hen salt dip on it and it made a pretty centerpiece for the second shelf.

Next, I worked on the baker's rack. I just haven't liked the way I had rearranged everything a couple of months ago, so I decided to move some things around. I found this Depression era recipe book in my collection.

I thought it went cute with the little tea pot from last weeks treasure hunt. So I put them on my other scarf I got the other day.

Then I dug through a drawer of utensils and found some wooden spoons to put in my crock.

I paired it with an old red plaid apron that Mom gave me over 20 years ago. It is so old that we aren't even sure where it came from. I used one of my recent Pyrex bowl finds and this was the finished product. I must say I was very pleased with the look.

I put my casserole dish from the estate sell on the top rack and this was the end result. Notice my homemade apple butter on the bottom rack. I can't wait until September to make some more.

I still have some of my new items that I'm working on so I should have another post of changes whenever I figure out where to put everything.

Hope everybody has a great week.

Looking for a place to Land...

I have a lot of hyper energy. It is hard for me to sit still for long or to simply just relax. Even when I'm relaxing, my mind is racing with plans and projects. A mother of one of my friends recently asked her, "Does she ever lite anywhere?" I must admit for a 55 year old grandmother of five, I seem to have an abundance of energy. (too much chocolate?)

I thought about that question and I don't guess I do. But then I started thinking about it and wondered why I never seem to land in any one place for long. I think it is because I simply enjoy life. I love what God has bestowed upon me. I love the ability He has given me to squeeze every single ounce of joy from every moment He gives me. I thank Him every day for the little simple things in life that bring me happiness. I appreciate every breath I breathe and every step I take. I don't strive for greatness or world fame.

I have two bible verses that I love that I think explain why I squeeze such joy from every moment. The first one is my favorite verse when Paul wrote:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.- Philippians 4:12

and the other one is

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24

So I guess that is why I never lite anywhere for more than a moment.

Found some great bargains.....

The yard sales yesterday were everything I had hoped they would be. We ended up finding a few more that weren't advertised in the paper. All total, we went to either 7 or 8 sales total. Here are some of the lovely items I couldn't pass up.

This casserole dish will be a lovely addition to my bowl collection. It doesn't have a name on the bottom, so it is not a Pyrex. But I fell in love with it for just $2.00.

I love scarves. I use them on dressers, tables, stands, shelves, just about everywhere. I am always looking for things that are a little different. I picked up two of these for just .25 cents each.

I have become obsessed with pink lately. I have a couple of rooms in the house that different shades of pink go very well with everything else in the room. I found these gorgeous artificial flowers for just a quarter, so I had to get them.

I was beyond thrilled when I found a new milk glass vase that the flower fit perfectly in. Do you notice the pineapple cut and shape of the vase. What a great way to say welcome when you enter a room. I only had to pay .50 cents for this lovely.

And look at these unique pot holders. I actually did not have to buy these. My friend, Sherrie, is getting ready for a yard sale and found these in an old trunk of hers and she gave them to me in swap for a little rooster salt dip.

I found this basket at one of the sales. It has the look of a Nantucket basket and was just .25 cents so I snapped it up.

I'm going to use it for potholders, starting with the ones Sherrie gave me. These will just be for display. They are too pretty to use.

I found this little Christmas tray for .25 cents, but I didn't want it for Christmas. I am going to paint it lavender and use it in the lavender bath to set bath salts, candles, or something on.

I found this cute little celery dish for just a $1.00 at the estate sale.

At another estate sale, I found this clear dish for $1.00 as well.

Not a bad haul for just $5.75. Now comes the fun part. Where in the world to put some of these items.