Quick garage sale finds.

Last Saturday ...

I hit on far away garage sale early - they didn't really have anything. Nice Asian - Filipino? people though.

And then I saw some other garage sales while on the way driving to another place - stopped and got HELLO KITTY HEAD EASTER EGGS!!! Still in the package!

Dunno why that made me excited but it did. She wanted $1 for them - I think they were originally $1.39 or something at Target this year. So I offered 25¢ and she took it. Yay!

Then I kept seeing a BUNCH of signs for another sale and decided just to turn around and go to it. It was a cute little neighborhood, old, probably, so the streets were quite narrow. And it was crowded.

The sale was in the driveway/carport and was SO organized! Everything set out neatly, presented well, hung nicely on the fence, labeled, priced, everything. And it was all cute and shabby dabby yabby chic!

The freaky thing was when I walked up, the daughter (about my age, maybe a few years older) made the comment that I looked "SO familiar!" Um, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I could buy a plane ticket to England and back. Heh. Pretty sure I didn't know her, but she said maybe I just looked like a friend of her husband's. Probably did.

(I had the same thing happen to me at Goodwill once, with an employee there, and then a couple weekends ago when I went to Chuck E. Cheese's, a random man came up and chucked me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, nice to see you again!!!" Weirdo. He thought I was someone he had run into and started talking to that morning. "Same face, same clothes!" apparently. Oy. And he was a nurse and apparently had "learned to read people really well" and he thought I was sensitive and cared a lot about the kids (after I told him I was a teacher) and other stuff that I dismissed because I was starting to feel annoyed. Okay, enough non-sequitur tangent.)

I had my eye on a blue and white ceramic dish, but it had stains and crazing and junk on it so I passed. But I picked up a cute little Royal Albert Old Country Roses dish, to do with my teacups I bought on eBay.

(This one is obviously not my picture, as I have no stand :P). The dish was $1, and there was also a box of salt and pepper shakers by the cashbox table, and so I got a little cream-colored set of shakers with gold painted accents for 25¢.

A young teenage boy then walked up to the table with the blue dish I'd been eyeing - it was $2, I guess? - and he asked about a pair of metally, stein-looking shakers and the nice lady said he could have them for free if he bought the dish.

And he did.

I also got the lady's number because there was a HUGE gorgeous upholstered/padded rocking chair that was marked $100 and I WANTED IT. But they were having the sale the next day (Sunday) as well so I told her I'd call her. I just found the number but never did call her the next day. I might try calling her today. She said she would consider going down to $75 but that's still kind of a lot, despite it being a BIG, BEAUTIFUL rocking chair. Painted a nice shade of green, and with a pretty, yellow flowered print on the headrest and seat. Argh.

Oh! One more thing - with my newfound addiction to Depression glass, I found THIS at the thrift store for $1.95+tax:

Does it look like a martini glass, or does it look like a martini glass??? I hunted around a bit looking for another, and didn't see one, and almost put it back, since I wasn't sure I had enough cash.

I am very glad I got it, as it is a "crystal" (read: clear) glass Miss America pattern comport/compote! Book price $18, I guess, but it certainly doesn't sell for that on eBay. Maybe $3 with $6 shipping, something like that? But it is a gorgeous display piece regardless, and I think I love it in the clear. The pink ones are going for $12+ and such. The detail is great!

Off to unload the car so I can throw more junk in the back after my rounds today.

Stuff. And manners.

I am definitely not very good at posting in a quasi-immediate, semi-timely fashion.

Last week's hunting was verrrrrrry fun and fantastic and I have the ill habit of not sorting through my finds very quickly - and they just pile up during the week while I revel and lounge in being shuddering, huddled, useless lump after work. Boo hoo.

I have 4 places marked out for treasure-hunting today and plan to post much more today/tomorrow since I have a social event this evening.

I also have profound intentions of taking my own pictures instead of just copying other people's stuff off the internet. But what can I say, I'm not always entirely original.

And now.

I had a weird thought/memory about a week and a half ago when I woke up and got up in the morning. One of my newfound crazes is this homey, nesting sort of gig where I am into buying dishes and setting up a beautiful dining table and hosting tea parties and all that.

For some reason, I was reminded of this one time I was invited over for a dinner party and sleepover at my good friend Lorraine Sadler's house - and this was in middle school. Probably grade 7 or something like that.

She lived in a nice neighborhood, in a nice house, with nice things. Nothing overly showy, at all, but different from my house. I always slept in the trundle underneath her white metal daybed. Hee. And I remember the nice icy water I would get from the glass bottle with attached stopper (one of those flippy things) that they would keep in the fridge. We certainly never did things like that at my house.

At the dinner party - and I don't even remember who else was there, really - maybe some other family friends?? - there was a "formal" table setting where I had nary a clue.

I remember taking some salad, and putting it on my dinner plate, and then passing it over to Lorraine's mom, who did the same thing.

I know it was not until much much much later - maybe the next day, or week - that I realized there was also a salad plate, and I was supposed to put the salad on the salad plate, instead of on the dinner plate. Oops. I did keep wondering what that extra empty plate was for, really.

You know though, the funny thing is, I am utterly convinced that Lorraine's mom knew salad was for the salad plate, while the dinner plate was for the other stuff, but she saw me doing what I did. And as a hostess, she did the same thing I did to make me feel comfortable. Maybe I had learned a few things about table manners, and etiquette, and such from our mandatory Home Ec classes (for which I am eternally and wonderfully grateful, by the way), but we honestly did not really eat salad in my house growing up, and I was not familiar with salad plates. A salad compartment on the lunch tray from the cafeteria, maybe, but not a sit-down, formal, social dinner.

And I have heard it said that the mark of a true, polite, well-mannered hostess is to make her guests feels comfortable, and not to point out the relatively small gaffe of her daughter's clueless friend. And if you see a guest do something slightly "off", you should do the same thing so as not to highlight the blunder and embarrass her.

I don't know, I was just thinking about that random, little incident and feeling utterly thankful and mildly chided because as much as I like to focus on manners (especially in dealing with some of these wild! untamed! modern! children!), sometimes I feel like quite a shrill, strident Nazi about it. But Lorraine's mom did something silently like that (she was conversing and being entertaining throughout, I remember) and it was very subtle, but I've never forgotten it and feel much appreciation for how she chose to handle it.

So I guess I still have a lot to learn about being a kind, sensitive, and thoughtful person.

Thank you, Lorraine's mom!!!

P.S. I saw Lorraine at the high school reunion a couple years back and I believe she was happily married and being her old brilliant self. Salutatorian of our high school class, I believe she was?? And she was working on her doctorate in physics at Berkeley. Yowza. But I still remember playing "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" at her house during one of these sleepovers and getting the right answers to two questions, but ultimately caving to her insistence on other, wrong, answers.

Because the difference between a rabbit and a hare is the size of the legs, AND THE EARS. Not the teeth.

And the Mississippi River is not the longest river in America.

:P

Long Overdue - Thrifting! Yard Saling! Junking! (Recycling)

Yay! Whee! Fun stuff!! This is one post I have been THINKING about for OVER a week. I know I'll forget some things but these are the things I am thinking about.

I had some AWESOME finds last week and weekend! AND THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING.

So, if you don't know yet, I LOVE TO BUY STUFF. Yes, it's a compulsion, and yes, I'm working on it. Like, trying to complete themes for the house and stuff. I mean, it was definitely great that I had so much stuff already prepared when I moved in January. AND I got in on great housewares-type things that went on sale then, too! Anyways.

My new obsession? Tea parties and tablewares. GEEEEEEEEZ. Tea cups and plates and saucers and teapots and table linens and so much coolnesses. Viva la eBay! I want to throw a proper English-inspired tea party. The full regalia, the whole works. FanTASTico! Just like The Vintage Tea Leaf, since I'm fine not going there anymore after my LAST experience.

So here they are, some nice finds from the last two weeks!!! (This is like, the MONSTER of all posts. And, I'm just using pics I've found online for now because I'd rather take pics of everything else all together at the same time, eventually, whenever, that'll happen.)

This is one of my favorites!! I saw it and had to get it, even if it wasn't 50% off yet ...

The eBay lady listing it has it for $6.99, and says she bought them both at an antique shop in the early 70's. Hmm.) This is Saladmaster porcelain in the Heirloom pattern. Beautiful pattern, dorky maker name. I have at least 5 cups and saucers, some salad plates, some dinner plates, and a couple other things - total 24 pieces, for $20. This is the set I totally had to run to Albertson's to get cash for! But I love it. Most of the cups have a new original number sticker on it, so I think they have never been used.

I had a dickens of a time trying to track down info on how old this stuff might be and everything ... the most I could find was on the Saladmaster site, that they expanded beyond the actual Saladmaster shredder/dicer into Bavarian porcelain from at least 1952 on.

Replacements.com has the dinner plate listed for $53.99!! Cup and saucer for $33.99!! Daaaaaang.

On eBay, this 18-piece set sold for $25 BIN with $15 shipping. I'm so glad I ran back to get this set at the thrift store!!!! I think it will display beautifully.

I also saw a cup and saucer on eBay that looked quite nice, made by Hammersley (I'm still learning all these names!) and when I saw this:

I thought it was some weird big salt shaker. But it had two big holes on top on top of the other holes all around so that was confusing- the one I have doesn't have the ribbon anymore, so it wasn't readily apparent at first. And it has a plastic stopper on the bottom. Anyway, the only reason I bought it was because it was made by Hammersley and it was kinda pretty. It was $1.79 at Goodwill, one recently sold for $8 + shipping on eBay, and Replacements.com has it listed for $53.99. The pattern is officially Cornflower-Blue. Yay!

And, in keeping with the whole tea fascination/obsession/fixation lately, I have been searching for some pink glass cups to go with my set of pink Depression glass plates and bowls and sugar bowl I got. I also have one salt shaker, looking for another. I think I got such a good deal on those. But I also wonder if they are a reproduction, because Depression glass is such a huge market that there will always be a glut of reproductions and stuff being passed off as the original, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The set I got was about 12 pieces, for $20. The shaker was $2 by itself. I JUST YESTERDAY found out the name of the goldang pattern! It is Madrid, by Federal:

My plates DO NOT have the 76 on the bottom. But they still look so pristine and new. I just honestly do not know if they are genuine. I need to find some kinda expert to appraise them for me! But even at reproductions, they are super cute for the price.

So, at the same thrift shop where I found the Saladmaster set, I found a bag of 4 cups with saucers dumped in a bag - that's how they sell this stuff. One cup I noticed had a chip on the rim, but that was it - and they look like this:

So I will have to look and see if the colors match up close enough to use together. But I still love them and they are pink glass and adorable even if they are not vintage.

I also got a bunch of stuff at an antique-oriented yard sale last week. I got -

• about a dozen dishes (2 large plates, 4 or 5 smaller ones, none matching, boo hoo),
• a small bone china milk pitcher,
• two Coca-Cola bottle crates,
• gorgeous, dainty, white embroidered handkerchief,
• a beautiful lavender linen fingertip towel with a beige crocheted edge (I was gonna use the fancy-schmancy color word "ecru," but when I looked it up, I mean, gosh, that is SO not the color I think of when I hear that word?)

[tangent]
Beige and Ecru
Originally in the 19th century and up to at least 1930, the color ecru meant exactly the same color as beige or pale cream colour [2] , and the word is often used to refer to such fabrics as silk and linen in their unbleached state. Ecru comes from the French word écru, which means literally 'raw' or 'unbleached'. Now in the 21st century, however, ecru is considered a different color from beige.

THIS is actually ecru!! Dang, I remember the look of the linens in Lithuania last year, particularly in the capital Vilnius. It was definitely BROWN. Weirdos.

And here is some dorkified fun courtesy of Mimi-style.

[/tangent]

• and I think I got one other piece of linen in there somehow at this sale (they had a table full, as well as two garbage bags full to dig through) but I can't remember what it is right now. Hm. I will take pics and post when I can.

This was a nice sale, actually, advertised as 15 years' accumulation. I got there fairly early, had my eye on the Coca-Cola crates, but thought another guy had dibs on them with the speaker piled on top of them. Good thing I bothered to ask after I saw him leave :P.

I was SAD that while they had SO many linens - especially a bunch of doilies, which are not really my style anymore - there was not much that was in good shape or without holes or weirdo stains. Hmm. That's why I passed on a lot of stuff, but I know I ended up with 3 pieces.

When I brought everything over to the girl, she gave me a price of $20, which I might have settled for, but didn't feeeeeeeel like paying, so I asked if she would take $15 - I only had a $20 - she didn't have change - she said she'd need to get it from her dad - "Why don't you pick out a couple other things, then?" - I decided to hang around - therefore, yayness. Soooooo cute.

Later on I was seriously regretting passing on the Schumann Orchard cup with snack plate, but honestly, that is not one of the best patterns, even if no one else is currently listing it, so it might be rare or something. I also asked about (pink) "Depression-type" glass and was directed to a pink, shallow basket (ick), and saw a yellow cake platter/round tray underneath. It was like a rattan-pattern circle in the center, but yellow glass? I looked up similar things on eBay after I got home - never saw the Schumann Orchard fruit plate, but maybe could have sold the yellow plate for a small profit. The reason I ultimately passed?? Packing china, glass, AND breakables must be SUCH A PAIN in the nads.

I remember when Miss Hippie Rainbow Tie-Dyed shirt girl in cargos and Birks was counting up the stuff to show it was $20, she said $2 each for the Coca-Cola crates, about $2 for each of the bigger plates, $1 or so for the plates and pitcher, and she had only arrived at $12 while I had the 3 small linens in my hands - so $8 for the linens was a major stretch. 50¢ would have been ideal but I can handle $1.

Yay!!

At a Goodwill down the street from where I grew up, when I happened to go there last week, I got a Simply Shabby Chic shower curtain for $4.99, without the packaging - normally $24.99.

I was like, majorly hitting the Mary Engelbreit jackpot at this one thrift store. I walked around, saw this:

and decided to get it, even though the tip of the spout was chipped, and there were some flakes off some of the dots around the middle, but it'd be cute to display with a set of dessert dishes I have from a thrifting trip a few months back. I think it was $3.93.

The I was like, kicking myself because I spent too much time in the book section and walked by a lady with this in her cart!!!!

Oh. My. The TEEMING envy. :'( It was so cute sitting in her cart. I could not have been more than $7. And is currently at $26 on eBay with one day left. Le sigh. I don't particularly like bright yellow, and that's how I consoled myself, but looking at this picture now, of COURSE it looks way more attractive.

So after that, and feeling more irked and sorry for myself, I took another walk around and found this!

I believe it was $3.93 also. They seriously put stuff out CONSTANTLY at this gigantizoid place. And I would rather have 2 semi-matchy teapots anyway. But I could have sold the cookie jar. Man, it looked nice.

I'd also gotten these two cute boxes:

They both open up (the lid of the box is the cap/top of the hat!!).

Now I want to expand a collection to include these:

On Thursday I visited a new thrift store and got a pink rose Shabby Chic-style flat sheet (felt like very nice, crisp cotton), some books, and I PASSED on a big, beautiful footed/pedestal cake stand WITH a big beautiful dome and everything. I mean, I looked at it several times, picked it up, wanted it, but it was so big. Dunno why I was looking at cake plates. Maybe I saw all the gorgeous pink glass listed on eBay as Depression glass, including cake plates, which actually, were never made back then, but were made more post-1976.

It was $6.93. It was heavy, in great condition ... but so big! What could I do with it? The dome just makes it look classy! Where could I put it? Could I put anything other than a cake in it? I don't even bake! What cake could go inside? When? Did I really need it? All sales are final!! Argh. Anyhoo, I left it and told myself that if it was there the next day, I should get it - and it totally was NOT THERE. :( Now I want one even more. And one similar to it, allegedly from Williams Sonoma, is currently listed on eBay for $25 WITH $21 shipping. OUCH!

So just had a nice bright white cotton, crisp-feeling flat sheet with pink roses for $1.91, and some very very interesting children's books. Oh yes, also a CUTE little yellow frilly apron and a black tulle one with red and green rickrack!! $1.91 each!! I want to wear the tulle one for Christmas.

I eagerly went to the next Goodwill, which I had never seen before, found 4 Simply Shabby Chic curtain panels for $4.49 each, a mirrored tray (for the pink cups!!) for $3, and some wooden decorations for the classroom. It was decent.

And then! I hit one more thrift store in a last ditch effort, and dang, they only took cash. Grrr. I saw a shabby Limoges serving platter, kind of scuffed, and worn, but nice in its own way, then a weirdish sort of light blue glass cake plate, so I grabbed it, and then I saw some obviously hand-painted earthy-green mini-mugs with bright orange flowers - 60¢ each. I had to decide up at the counter, so I went with the cake plate, and the cups, since I basically only had $9 on me anyway. The nice cashier lady said she liked the cups. And the cake plate was $9.96. And it looks like this:

And apparently, it is VERY collectable. It was made by Jeannette Glass in 1954-1957, the piece is Harp-Blue (Ice) , eBay has one auction for $19.99 plus $15 shipping, various online vendors have it for $30-$45 without shipping, and Replacements.com had it listed, but now I can't find the price. Anyway, that is my find of the week, it makes me happy to look at it, and I'm glad I chose it over the pedestrian Limoges platter (which was still there, today, when I went back to check that thrift store.)

Hooray.

Blast from the Past!!!!

Well then.

Today on yahoo.com "In the News," they had an article entitled • L.A. Philharmonic hires 21-year-old French conductor.

Do you remember this post? You know, the one where I posted this picture?



The blond chick on the right (dreaded hair, even!) was one of my flight partners from LA to Heathrow in June of '06. And she mentioned that she had just spent the last year as a nanny to the ... 2? 3? kids of the conductor for the L.A. Philharmonic. I found it a bit impressive, even though I had no idea who the conductor was, much less that he was Finnish. (I bet my roommate from college still remembers the particular "sound" of "THOSE FINNISH PEOPLE!!!!" from the CD I played a lot in college - w00t, traditional Finnish music in Finnish language!) It was interesting to talk to Saija about her work. She was happy to be going home. I wondered why they got Finnish nannies, especially - but I guess it was obvious! Yeah, and they were all flying out back to Finland for the summer (conductor's family on vacation, with Saija going home) with a layover in London - and Saija was back in coach with me, though she did go up to visit with the young son/family for a bit during the flight. Eeps.

To quote the article:

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Even though he has just wrested a coveted contract with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at just 21, French conductor Lionel Bringuier is keeping his cool and says he wants to continue his studies.

"I live one day at a time," said the young man relaxing in his office at Walt Disney Concert Hall, an ultramodern building in downtown Los Angeles.

The office, with orange leather sofas and bookshelves, will belong until 2009 to the Frenchman, who will serve as a deputy to the musical director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen of Finland.

"Esa-Pekka already was one of my favorite orchestra conductors. Before even coming here, I listened to recordings of LAPhil," said Bringuier, who was selected from 150 contenders for the post.

His job involves being ready to replace the famed conductor, when necessary, while carrying on with his own concert program.

***

He said he appreciates the relaxed work atmosphere under Salonen, 49, who has headed LAPhil since 1992.

"I learn enormously from working with him."

"Once, at a concert of modern music, Esa-Pekka began a discussion with the composer who was on the stage, in order to explain the piece to the public," he recalled.

"Then the orchestra played. This is no doubt the only place in the world where one can see something like this."

Haha. Hi, Saija!!! I guess "Esa-Pekka" was the conductor and family for whom she was a nanny. Boy, she had some interesting tales about that job!!

Whee, I am two degrees away from the famed conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic. Kinda. If I could track Saija down again, ever. Doubtful.

Also, two other Finnish names that I remember from dudes I went to college with are ... Pykkonen and Issakainen. And yay for me that I still remember how to spell them. Ben and Ryan, hugs to you wherever you are right now. Very, very, very, very, very nice, Mid-western boys, they were.

The end.

P.S. Esa-Pekka is a cool name. It's like, the perfect name for a raggedy dragged up ole teddy bear a la Paddington or Winnie. I could even see naming my dog that. Though I don't have a dog. The plan is, though, if I ever get a dog - the first one MUST be named Isosceles. Because that is a cool name for a dog. A Greek name for a canine of indeterminate origin. Also, dogs are bilaterally symmetrical, just like we humans are. And like isosceles triangles are. See, freshman geometry wasn't a gargantuan waste of time, and neither was AP Bio (luuuuuuuuuuved it). :)

Honeydew.

Gadangadang.

I let TWO months go by without posting now! (Alrighty, technically three...)

This is what happens when the school year starts, I turn into a quivering, useless, gelatinous mass of lazysuck.

I watch a lot of TV because I find it pseudo-stimulating when it is probably actually mentally NUMBING. But that's okay, because I am not addicted.

So, brief recap:

July:

I finished summer school on July 25th, thereabouts. I honestly do not remember whatall I did the rest of the month, but I probably did not much more than sweat. When in doubt of what I did, hazard an educated guess that I shopped at Target, and you will be right. Oh yeah, there was a big toy sale.

August:

I had about a week between the end of July and the arrival of Peter!! He stayed for nearly two weeks. Notable events were ...

1) Visiting the Queen Mary for the first time since the 80's. We used to go a lot, and be addicted. I remember crawling around the inside of the Spruce Goose, even, in that big geodesic dome. The last time I went to the Queen Mary was for a training for the teacher's association, and the food was nice, and the meetings rooms were little, and parking was free. Whee. I THOUGHT there was so much more of the ship that I couldn't see, because walking down the long, nostalgic, wooden promenades hinted at the things unseen behind the walls, but after going with Peter, you realize - it IS a floating hotel, it's just a bunch of staterooms!!

2) We had a really really good dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. Honestly - why do I think I should like beer more than I do? I don't like alcohol very much but the whole "image" of "special drinks" and "grown up stuff like beer" is irresistibly alluring sometimes. I must refrain!! Or make my own stuff. Like honeydew granita. More on that later.

3) Universal Studios!!!! I am very glad I got to go on the Back to the Future ride one last time before they shut that thing down. I like it. It's a good ride. Their props were great and nice and fun too. I wonder what they did with all that. I guess I never got around to scoping out eBay for that sort of thing. Hmm. But I got pics. And Peter and I became one of "those people" that scurry into the Waterworld pyro/stunt show late and get sprayed in the frickin' ear by the "clowns" (a.k.a. pirates) that jester around to entertain the waiting crowd while the show gets set up and stuff.

4) Wolfgang Puck's has AMAZING seafood pasta. My word, it is love. Also, I didn't take any pictures of the red, slurry, weird, chicken tortilla soup I had as an appetizer of which half ended up on my shirt. Oops. I was not a clean eater that day, needed a freaking bib. Come to think of it, I have no idea if I even washed that shirt out yet. GAH!!

5) I got a great antique rocking chair. Seat and back are made of leather. Um, I also owned it less than a week before Peter broke it. Haha!! Sharp poking protruding butt bones + fragile stiff vintage leather + excitedly jumping up = hole in the seat. I will have to get it fixed, I guess. In the meantime it functions as a clothesline in the living room.

6) And I finally drove around Beverly-impressive-homes-Hills. And Mulholland Drive. And Sunset Boulevard. And we ate at In-N-Out like, 5 times and Chipotle 3. Hee!!

And later in August my sis moved back from NYC.

September:

We got a new principal this year. And so far - she totally rocks!!! I think she might be my age, POSSIBLY even slightly younger. But I think she's maybe a year or two older or something. Hee, I just like the way she thinks.

New class of kids! Oy vey. I have a few of my same students from when I did Krazy Kindergarten 2 years ago. And they are losing all their teeth. They are SO cute! I will love them forever. :) And one couldn't resist poking a dang hole in my dang icepack I gave her yesterday. Argh! In other news regarding that class, one of the cute little boys who moved away at the end of kindergarten came back with his mom and new younger brother to come visit me!! I love it when former students come visit me! I love even more when I am actually staying in the same place long enough for them to come visit me and be able to find me! I've also had a lot of student sightings in my various Target excursions this year and I am not the kind of teacher who likes to be left alone to be avoided when shopping. I think it's great fun to run into people from school when we are not in school. Yay! And I don't even mind if they check out what I am buying. Because I see them buying dog food. Heh.

I really, really, really am getting majorly interested in antiques and went on a teacup and saucer BENDER. Oy. Now to organize my burgeoning colecciones.

Now it's October!! And I love Halloween! And I am glad I got some of my Halloween stuff before this year since they always have different things! I got some stuff this year but my old stuff just needs to be dug out of my old room.

And that Old Navy sweater commercial is witchery and hypnotically obsession-inducing. What a great track, totally sweet lyrics!! I think it is lovely that a little indie, folksy chicky is getting the exposure. Even if she IS from the East Coast!! Too bad I didn't get in on the $15 Troubadour in LA tickets, with her as an opening act.

http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/

She reminds me of lot of Astrud Gilberto. But I'm no girl from Ipanema.

Since I posted one singer I like, here's another that I don't even remember finding, way back when:

http://www.bonniemckee.com/

I pretty much only listen to the tracks "Trouble" and "January." This chick is super young and impressive!! And I am nothing like her, though I think her experiences and life definitely fall on the interesting side.

Ingrid is happy schmoopy music, and Bonnie is angry, angsty, rebellious music.

Now, as for the honeydew.

In my huge buying spree yesterday (most of it spent at the thrift store, actually), I ran out of cash. Like, not a good sign, right? Anyhoo, was gonna run over to Target (again) to get cash (again) but figured there was an Albertson's across the street and I could get that MinuteMaid Limeade that is pure ambrosia to my tongue.

And then I saw that they had honeydew on sale for 59¢ a pound and fruit sounded like a good idea ... to go with my Cinnamon Eggos!!!! I picked out a smallish one after thumping the mound of melons ... and it sounded quite thick and heavy. The self-checkout was weird and didn't end up being a self-checkout since the chick had to assist me like a dumbnut, and then I didn't want to bring a bag because I am veritably puking petroleum-based plastic shopping bags (hmm, in red and white, mostly, interestingly enough?) in the kitchen ... and the poor big round honeydew took a tumble to the front of the passenger side.

So I was craaaaving it last night, but didn't get around to it ... waaaaaanted it for breakfast but was out all morning yard sale-ing, and ... I cut into it for a very very early dinner.

And whoaness. It was one of the most amazing, interesting experiences of my entire life, actually! Not sure if that says more about MY LIFE or the dang honeydew. Hmm.

I got out my big kitchen knife that's only been used a handful of times, and tried to chop a bit at it to take a piece off so I could rest it on the flat and not have it roll around and everything ... and the knife must have been quite dull because it just bruised the skin a bit.

So I went at it with the knifepoint, and it like, gushed juice all over the chopping block when I halved it.

So then, for the next half hour, I swear I was so fully FASCINATED by this dang honeydew! I love the aroma of this particular fruit - and I know melons digest the most quickly out of all the fruits, with so much water content - but it was seriously juicy inside, the seeds were loose, so I started rinsing out one half ... and I have never seen the seeds and stringy innards float around like that like freaking sea fans, or something. It was gorgeous.

Then I started slicing, and the juice was coming out everywhere, and I swear, you'd touch the pieces, and they'd start leaking the juice. So I just HAD to sample some before I started cutting all the pieces into a proper serving bowl like I'd seen my mom do, and every time I took a bite, I'd have to lean over the sink because sweet, juicy goodness was spurting everywhere. It was like, melt-in-your-mouth good and soft and sweet.

So I had one half for an early dinner, and finally figured out that I didn't have to dump the soft squishy insides but could juice it a bit into the bowl and then have it. And how amazing would this fruit be eaten FROZEN? And I still have another half waiting for me in the fridge, hopefully coloring everything in the fridge with the fresh scent. Even the bologna.

Who knew what fun was to be had with a 6lb, $5 fruit.

And now chicken noodle soup with mondo celery for dinner.

P.S. I found SUCH great dishes yesterday and this morning. I need to track down a guidebook for glass and pottery because it's driving me crazy that I passed on a big yellow Depression glass plate/tray AND a Schumann fruited tea cup with serving plate this morning. I think I could have gotten them for about $3 each and they are going for at least $30 on eBay. I thought about it, but at the same time, packing that breakable stuff must be a royal pain in the patootie, so that's why I passed on the ones I was going to resell, instead of keep. Urgh. Better luck, and better informed, next time.