Shopping Bonanza

I had a great day of shopping yesterday and want to share my purchases with you.
I would much rather bargain and thrift shop than mall shopping any day but I had to run to by the mall to take care of an errand so I stopped into Pottery Barn looking around for ideas. I could not resist a bag of artificial pears for my dining room table.

There is just something about pears that I find so appealing.

I quickly left the mall and headed for some fun shopping - at one of my local thrift shops.

In keeping with my quest for new accessories for our newly painted downstairs rooms I found this wrought iron plant stand for the dining room. We have a lot of black and this goes perfectly in the room. It is the perfect height for our lower dining room window too.

While I was checking out the woman behind me said it looks brand new!



I found this little shade for a lamp on my mantle - a total bargain at 75 cents!


Last but not least, I can't believe this cute pair of flats that looked like they have never been worn - another incredible bargain for $3!

A girl can never have too many pair of shoes!

I left the thrift shop and headed over to Pier 1 - my intention was just to look but I must admit, I have the best luck at that store finding bargains. I found this awesome Chinese red bird cage. I did not have my glasses with me and thought, I can't be reading this price right, but sure enough, my eyes were not deceiving me and it was 75% off! Sold - I had to have it.


And finally a whimsical little porcelain ball. There was a bowl full of different letters but I just grabbed one, an A for Anderson, and placed it on a single crystal candlestick. I love it!

My shopping adventure today was to the grocery. I thought I better buy food before I run out of money if I continued on with my decorating quest again today.
Hope you all had a good weekend too.

Fun Friday

My blog readers around my age should appreciate this -

Some of the artists of the 60's and 70's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers who can remember doing the "Limbo” as if it were yesterday.

They include:

Bobby Darin ---Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' A Flash

Herman's Hermits ---Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Walker

Ringo Starr ---I Get By With A Little Help From Depends

The Bee Gees -- -How Can You Mend A Broken Hip?

Roberta Flack---The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face

Johnny Nash ---I Can't See Clearly Now.

Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways To Lose Your Liver

The Commodores ---Once, Twice, Three Times To The Bathroom

Procol Harum--- A Whiter Shade Of Hair

Leo Sayer ---You Make Me Feel Like Napping

Abba---Denture Queen

Tony Orlando --- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling
If You Hear Me Fall

Helen Reddy ---I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore

Leslie Gore---It's My Procedure, And I'll Cry If I Want To

And Last but NOT least...

Willie Nelson ---On the Commode Again

P.S. Thankfully the weather predictions were wrong - in our area - a nor'easter did come through with high winds, but we only got about 6 inches of snow rather than the foot of snow that was predicted - like nothing compared to what we've had!
Yeah!

TGIF Everyone!

Oh, No! Here We Go Again!

Here we go again! Another big storm is hitting! Unbelievable!
From WPVI Weather - "TONIGHT: Clouds will remain thick with snow arriving around midnight. The snow will be light at first, but road conditions could still become slippery overnight. The low: 33.

THURSDAY: By the morning rush hour, light to moderate snow will be in full swing with new accumulations already underway. The snow will become more intense as we move through the day, and during the afternoon and night time, bands of heavy snow are likely. The snow continues through the night."

Give us strength!

Photo Challenge

My Creative Friends group is getting together this Thursday - yeah, I can't wait. Our challenge this month was to do something utilizing a photo.

I had a couple of ideas but every time I sat down to bring an idea together, I couldn't do it. I guess it was not meant to be.

Feeling under pressure Saturday morning I went through the drawer in the highboy where I have a large envelope of old photos and first found one of Katie's t-ball pictures. Of course I thought it was so cute and she was so cute at that age....and it hit me, why not use the mat that the team photos were in?!

The creative problem was solved, and I found 2 photos I thought would suit the openings in mat - the cutest photos of George and me when we were little!
I love the pensive expression and pose he has, and I love the happy-go-lucky, I don't have a care in the world laugh that was captured in my photo!

It was not a difficult or highly creative or artistic project but I'm happy with it and think it it adorable!

I'm also excited about getting together with the group because I'm introducing a new friend from work who is very excited about meeting the group, a lovely bunch of talented ladies!

The End Result!

We finally have our lovely new hall floor! Isn't it nice?
I have wanted to get a new floor in the hallway since we moved into the house, 20 years ago I might add.
Promises, promises.....we'll do it, or I'll get to it (since George said he could do it himself).
Well, he finally made the decision to do it and it looks lovely. I guess he figured while we were painting we might as well do it.
It used to be a dark brown linoleum floor (yuk). I did not get to take a picture of it because George took it up a couple of Saturday's ago when I was out running errands. Anyway, it turns out there was a white linoleum floor under the dark brown one, and then a nice hard wood under the white linoleum! Yeah!



We were really excited to see a nice hard ward floor underneath.

The story gets better - A couple of days later, while painting the hallway, he missed his step and knocked over a can of paint!

Can you believe it? Of all the luck! Thankfully he got it off where is splashed into the kitchen and a few other places, but could not work fast enough to do anything to get most of it up that fell right on that nice floor.
So, long story short, and unfortunately a few hard earned dollars later, we (George) put a new floor on top of it. It does look great, and we'll always have a story to tell about it!

Peaceful Sunday

It was a nice Sunday. After a morning of doing some much neglected cleaning I had a nice afternoon. My son, Brian, came for a visit. I asked him yesterday what he wanted for dinner and he said meatballs - meaning meatball sandwiches or subs. I got a big pot of meatballs cooking and when he arrived he joined me in the kitchen while I baked him some cookies. Yummy - chocolate, chocolate chip with pecans!
It was a nice afternoon and he was appreciative.
We sent him home with leftovers, and 2 bags of groceries!
Now I'm back to my evening distraction - watching the Olympics!

What Happened??? Where Did All This Good Luck Come From?

I'm still jumping up and down in my chair - I can't believe it. How did all this luck fall on me?
First a beautiful pair of earrings, and now I'm the incredibly lucky winner of a painting from Silke!
Silke Powers, of Metamorphosis generously opened up a give-away for 2 (yes, 2) of her incredible paintings, and I won one of them!
This is just incredible. I've never won anything and now twice in one week. Maybe I should play the lottery!
Seriously, I am so honored and so happy to be the recipient of one of these lovely paintings from a beautiful and talented artist, and friend.
Thank you Silke!

Fun Friday

A couple of weeks ago I blogged, my Words to Live By. I think the levity of it was enjoyed so I just might start doing a Fun Friday blog!

The Silent Treatment --
A man and his wife were having some problems at home
and were giving each other the silent treatment.
Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him
at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.
Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE),
he wrote on a piece of paper,
'Please wake me at 5:00 AM.'
He left it where he knew she would find it.
The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.
Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him,
when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.
The paper said, 'It is 5:00 AM. Wake up!
(Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests)

Vintage Destash

A couple of my blogging friends have talked about vintage and thrift shops, both of which I love. I'd much rather go to a thrift shop than go to the mall.

Anyway, I've decided to sell a couple of my pillows that have been in a blanket chest for years. Why keep them "boxed" up right?
Long before I started rug hooking I did needlepoint.
I moved from needlepoint to a little bit of crewel, and then cross stitch. I still love cross stitching and do stitch from time to time.

My favorite is the simple brown Jacobean flower in cross stitch.

This Foo Dog pattern was one my Mom picked out - never really my style but she always loved Oriental patterns.


I have a couple more pillows I will list in my Etsy shop too. I hope someone will appreciate them.

Distractions

Is anyone else distracted by the Olympics?
I am. I love watching the downhill, snow-boarding, speed skating, and short track
I rarely watch TV but this is so distracting!
If you're watching, enjoy!

Lucky Day - Lovely Earrings!

Well, I might have had to work yesterday but I was highly rewarded for my efforts (sort of). Look at these lovely earrings I won!
Aren't they beautiful? They remind me of Snow and Ice!
Kathy Hardy of DornickDesigns was offering a give-away on her blog and I happened to be the lucky winner!
Check out Kathy's shop - she has some great designs and I'm a big fan of her unique jewelry!
Thanks Kathy, or should I say Ozzy, who picked my name as the winner.

These Snow and Ice earrings are a perfect compliment to my winter. After the ton of snow we've gotten now the side effects start.
There is so much snow and ice built up on the roof that the gutters are iced over with 6-8 inches of solid ice. We woke last night in the middle of the night to hear "drip, drip, drip" and found ice was dripping in between our storm and inside window over our bed. It builds up and has no where to go. The worst case scenario is it will build up inside the window and start seeping into the house down the interior wall under the window. This happened once before in our living room and I am really hoping it does not happen this time in our bedroom. We have towels in between the windows and we will have to get up every couple of hours tonight to change the towels hoping to prevent the worst.
George got out on a ladder this morning trying to get some of it off the roof but is is solid and not budging. We're hoping for some sun to help melt it and loosen it a little but mostly cloudy days are predicted. Darn.
Oh what a winter!

Happy President's Day

Happy President's Day to all, however for some, just another work day.

This is the first time in my entire working career I've had to work on President's Day. It was ok - at least I was busy and actually forgot I was working on a "holiday".
For us at my new company it is a long stretch between holidays - New Years Day and then no holidays until Good Friday.
I guess you could call the time off last week with our blizzard my President's Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful day, working or not.

Happy Valentine's Day

I wish you all love, happiness and peace.
You are all my valentines - I love you all and appreciate you for coming into my life and providing inspiration, advice, compassion, comfort, friendship and joy.
I am blessed to have you all part of my life.
Thank you!
Happy Valentine's Day to you, and I wish you all a year full of love and unexpected pleasures.
xo

February 12th

February 12th, 1809 - the day Abraham Lincoln was born.

As the years go by it is strange how remembrances change.
I remember as a child February 12th and February 22nd were both celebrated days when we took the time to remember 2 great men.

I'd like to take this moment to say, Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln!

Back to Normal - Almost!

The storm has passed - what a beautiful sunny day it was today. We ended up with 20+ inches again! Where is it all going to go?
I am so thankful we survived the winds without losing power too. Many were not so lucky.



I could not get around to the back of the house (almost hip deep in snow) but photographed these icicles through the dining room window.

In the Middle of the Snow Storm

We're in the thick of it now.
I took these pictures from my living room window looking out at our neighbors house and our other neighbor's mailbox, which will be covered soon.
Believe it or not, we even had thunder and lighting earlier!


(click on the photo for a larger view)



Obviously, I got a "snow day" today - work is closed.

update - about an hour after these pictures were taken we were in a whiteout state getting 4 inches an hour. The wind was blowing the snow on the windows and they are now totally blocked out by snow!

Did Someone Pick Us Up and Move US to Buffalo?

I feel like the Philadelphia region was mysteriously picked up by aliens and deposited in Buffalo! What's with our weather?!
I don't mind snow - I kind of like it, and big storms, however, this has been a crazy winter.
Last weekend the mid-Atlantic region was hit with a 2nd big storm (more than 20 inches) this year, while just north of us escaped. New York and New England have really not had snow this year but we are sure being pounded with it.
On Saturday, February 6th, the official measurement at the airport was 28 inches. Another storm is hitting tonight.....this one more powerful! The snow totals should be about the same however we are expecting blizzard conditions. That fact has me nervous with the weight of all the snow, coupled with high winds, could certainly mean loss of power! If that happens, it could be days to fix.
Like I said, I don't mind snow, but this potential wind has me nervous.

Here are some pictures from the other day.





I know I've been kind of quiet and neglecting my blog and blogging in general - one of those moods I guess.
Keep your fingers crossed the winds leave us alone.