Things I Like and the Not So Much

Hoo, looky what I found today.

2008-11-15T20:03:00.001-08:00

I found a couple new blogs that I think are adorable, and one that is jaw-dropping.

This chickie at Romantic Home HAS A GORGEOUS HOUSE! AND SHE'S JUST RENTING!! My place surely don't look like that. Heh. She says she's gotten nearly everything at flea markets and thrift stores, and she has a wonderful eye and beautiful design sense. Check out the flickr page of stuff around her house!!! Her place LOOKS LIKE I imagine my place looking one day. Heh. She also makes me want to start a subscription for Country Living. I just started a new subscription to Southern Accents, and I let my Cottage Living subscription expire. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, I think. And I DON'T want any more dang recipes! What I REALLY WANT is for the JUNKMARKET Style magazine to come back!! I remember seeing it in Target after I got back from my backpacking trip to Europe in 2006, and I freaking LOVED it. Read it from cover to cover, but was slightly broke, and busy getting ready for a new school year with a new classroom and grade level change, and told myself I'd reward myself for my first paycheck of the school year by buying the magazine ... and then I went back and hunted for it and it was all GONE!! Le crushed spirit. So apparently, only one issue has ever come out, and they go quickly on eBay. Grrr. But the editors/authors now have a couple books out, so I suppose that is okay. I LOVE info and pics about flea markets, though! I find it addictive.

I found Cynthia's Cottage Design through one of the pictures posted on the Home Goods blog, and I like her ideas. It's all maybe a bit too busy for me, but she puts things together very nicely. Granny Smith Green is going on my blogroll as well.

So, in wandering relatively aimlessly around the internet, I heard about the ADORABLE Free Hugs campaign (that's ancient history, though, I am so behind the times!), and then - Trash the Dress.

Seriously, it is frickin' awesome, and visual eye CRACK to me. There are some great pictures over on this blog. I guess it started at http://trashthedress.wordpress.com/.

Some more gorgeous pictures are here, and seriously? It is so something I would want to do. A great photographer with great shots, to capture that one moment in time ... that's kinda priceless.

Especially when gravity starts pullin' and tuggin' and things just AREN'T THE SAME ANYMORE. I forget where I read it, but I agree with having a few lovely, wonderful shots of yourself when you are younger, to keep for when you are older, to remember your glory days.

Is that vain??

I think a TTD (Trash the Dress :P) session with my sister would be something we could totally do too!! Maybe I will do it for her for her first wedding anniversary/birthday or something.

When she was shopping for dresses earlier in the year, she found a thrift store with sample wedding and prom dresses ... oh my gosh, GORGEOUS ones for only $50 each. There was one dress I loooooooved, but I was like - what am I gonna do with it???

This is the dress she first showed me, btw.

She took a pic on her cell phone and then texted it to me, and we went that weekend to take a closer look, and so I could give my opinion on it, as well as shop around for other dresses.

I seriously totally LOVE this picture I took of her, and kind of wish the stupid chair was not there. Oh well.

She ultimately ended up going with this one, though:

Ah, memories. I can't believe she's been married for two months now!

I am STILL trying to track down pics from her shower; I was genuinely so proud of that. I should go and organize the stuff that I used for the shower, really; some of it is still piled in the corner of the dining room. Hee.

Home Goods

2008-11-09T08:20:00.001-08:00

OK, quickie post, because I just can't resist!

I typed in "Rachel Ashwell" (you know, I swear, I just made the same darn typo as I did before - HA!) "blog," just to see what would come up.

And I found another blog that mentioned the Home Goods blog ... whee!!!

I love Home Goods now. Earlier in the year, I was on a MAD hunt for a pink medallion-decorated teapot that I first saw at TJ Maxx, and passed on. WHY! DID! I! DO THAT! Anyway, I was thinking about it that whole week, still obsessing, and when I went back, it was gone. And I posted on the wonderful fishing site, and they recommended I check out Home Goods.

I was HOOKED.

I've gotten quite a bit there since then ... hee. Beautiful. I do remember a fellow teacher talking about it a couple years ago at a staff party, where the person in charge got the napkins or whatever from there, but I just wasn't into all that at the time, I think. Actually, a couple weeks ago, I ran INTO this teacher at the Kohl's next door to Home Goods ... she lives in the area and I had not seen her since the summer!

Anyhoo.

While I never did get the teapot, I did find the matching cake stand for 75% off at Marshalls ... $5. LOVE IT. Used it for sister's bridal shower. Will throw up a pic of it some other time. Still wish I'd gotten the matching platter! You win some, you lose some. :)

The one thing I REALLY regret not buying was a tall glass cloche for only $10. It was summer, I was NOT having all that extra bobbly money to throw around, and I had to choose. I KNOW the cloche I could use around Christmas (imitative creative blogger that I am ;) ), so I figured I could always get one later. And I probably will. But now that I am ready to buy one, of course they have none! But geez. $10 for a foot-tall cloche. That's a good deal.

So, the Home Goods blog has several different contributors, and I think one of them has her own beautiful blog too. She's down here in Southern California, but inland, I think.

WELL - this Thankgsiving them and table setting has me drooling. I LOVE aqua and that color blue. I want my bedroom in that color. With white and black accents in wood.

I also poked around their reader-submitted finds/pictures, and found this:

which is TOTALLy the color palette I have in my head for my eventual decked out living room. I am not sure about the floral/chintz couch, I kind of prefer more understated, neutral big pieces, and I KNOW I don't do white wicker furniture (only have a little thrifted wastebasket in the bedroom!), but the red, black, and goldish yellow?? I'm all about that. I have a rusty red rug, and a little tan sofa, and plenty of pillows, and black furniture. From Target! Yayness. I guess the overall feel is quite Italianate, I suppose?

Now to just pull it all together and not have it covered with yards of Target shopping bags.

Then again, I seriously think this season is the trend for Christmas ornaments made from Target bags. Have you seen these?

I saw them on The Hunt for Vintage first (she has more here),

and then a feature in a crafting magazine with Betz White.

:)

Just wondering ...

2008-11-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

If anyone who happens to pop by (randomly, or regularly!) has any opinion on the new look for the blog? I've had a few different palettes percolating in the upper regions lately. I love me some fall colors, but found myself thinking of these current colors most often. Probably because I found some ADORABLE red kitchenware last week at the estate sale, and I love my little red, black, and white kitchen. Which (ahem), needs cleaning.

Any thoughts or feedback would be welcome and appreciated! I like the colors, but maybe the header is a bit busy. And yes, I DID spend way too much time putzing around with all of this this afternoon ... but I felt like it.

It seems most people end up here via google pics ... of diaper cakes, the Eiffel tower, and RACHEL ASSHELL.

Whoa. That was totally a typo, but I kind of want to leave it. My poor brain.

Try #2: RACHEL ASHWELL! and her blog. (I just checked it out today ... boy, it is cute. And hosted on blogger too. I love her pictures. I giggle inside a bit at some of her spelling, because that is just not the impression that I have of her ... but I like the authentic voice that it lends.)

Well, Cath Kidston gets a fair number of hits too, actually.

:)

I have also been thinking of hosting a giveaway, since apparently that is a pretty popular thing to do over in bloggyland, and there was recently that big bloggy giveaway/carnival. It was interesting to see that many blogs (um, seriously, like, 1500, no exaggeration) in one week, and see what was being given away. I know stuff I LIKE, and have been looking around for a swap, but quite frankly, I should clean first so I have goodies to give! And, considering the regular readership of this blog, I reaaaaally think it should be quite easy (read: non-competitive) to win. Ha! Maybe even so few people that everyone might as well get something. Hrm. :/

Being the Target addict that I am, I kind of want to host a "Target clearance" swap. Man, that would be kind of awesome. Hee. Maybe I will do that over in Fishieville.

I'm gonna turn this thing off for the night now.

So many pics to take, and finds to share, and gigantic messes of my own making, to clean. Grr.

The ugly truth.

2008-11-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

OK, so today was going to be my DAY to CLEAN this place up before I have a houseguest in two weeks, or before I even seriously begin to entertain the idea of hosting a small Christmas/tree-decorating party ...

take a wild guess as to how much I have gotten done.

*le cry*

However, I DID clean my sink (whee, did the dishes! I should have taken before pictures. No, I shouldn't have. Oh my goodness, just the memory of the mental imagery freaks me the heck out.) earlier this week and, more importantly, I duly scrubbed my STOVE! Peeps, it was BAD.

My stove is so, so, SO clean. Shining and pristine. I feel the irresistible urge to touch it, and stroke it, and lay down on it. I know, I know, I have issues. However! Thank you, Bar Keeper's Friend. Thank you, Method Frosted Cranberry Countertop Spray. And lastly, thank you, Chipotle napkins.

And back to the brief interruptus of the ugly truth:

As much as I looooooove to decorate, and pretty things up, and my sister's bridal shower was probably fifty shades of awesome in terms of transforming the ambiance of her fiance's bachelor pad...

my hovel is currently, and totally, tricked out in the style of ... DIRTY, at this present juncture.

:(

Very very shabby, not very Chic, and certainly not SIMPLE. Oy. Pictures would just be damning, incriminating, collateral for shame-faced future blackmail!!!

Rain.

2008-11-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, argh.

I was taking a nap and trying to rest, because that is what I need weekends for. Several weekends in succession, actually ... but I digress.

I woke up because the dang RAIN was pattering inordinately LOUDLY. And then my brain screamed "OH CRAP!!!"

Because the huge heavy boxes that I bought were way too heavy :(. And I knew I had to move them. BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE BACKYARD AND GETTING RAINED ON!!!

I haven't had a chance to move them to the storage yet. They are soooooooooo heavy. So they were by the corner, and I wanted to at least move them under the balcony on the second floor. There is a good grading of the foundation away from the side of the building.

I got sooooooooooo wet. Dripping, wet, drowned, rat. Plundering deluge streaming into my eyes. Blech.

I hope the boxes are okay, because I love my furniture.

How could you not??

I bought this piece last year and I think my dad helped me carry it up the stairs. I knew as soon as I was putting it together, that moving it out would be a gigantic pain in the rear. I still don't know how we are going to move it ... I will probably have to take it apart ... but I love it so, so, so-so-so much, though. I seriously wish I had five. That would just look freaking awesome. It looks much better than "giant box in the corner of the bedroom posing as an inflated side table".

I got two of these last week:
and I figured out that while they are quite heavy, even in slickery drenching rain, if you clutch it close to your chest and hug the heck out of it, it is actually relatively easy to move if you are by yourself.

Two of these:

FYI? Estimated Ship Weight: 120.00 pounds. Ridiculous. That, I cannot move by myself. No way. That is why I bought a $20 dolly at Home Depot. Just for that. Yay, dolly.

And one of these:
I so stopped by Target last night and saw that they had it tagged 75% off at $37.24 ... and none left on the shelf OR in the bag. Le crying jag. Then I went back this afternoon and one was there! With ANOTHER dresser!!

All for 75% off.

So, where is the house where I will put them in?????

That's the next ... indeterminate ... step. I should work on that. I did see some surprisingly LOVELY-looking homes on my impromptu walk to a yard sale, early this morning though. I will take some pics and throw them up. They had Halloween decorations out, I wonder if they were all messed-up and ruined with the rain.

I am so sick of my apartment. 1, I have made it into a giant mess by not cleaning for weeks. :( 2, it feels crowded to me, but I refuse to stop buying stuff. 3) Rent is going up (okay, only $25, but still - why??? :((((((( ) as of next month. I can live with an extra $25 through the nose for six months, but dang it, I was planning on travelling next year. I think I will try and plan to move next summer instead! I WAS going to do that THIS summer until I got "laid off" from my old school and ended up having to pack and JUNK. So maybe instead of backpacking for TWO months (it did get quite long, actually), I will backpack for 1!! or 1.5!! And that should give me plenty of time to rest and relax and get into the classroom and clean again. Geez, planning.

What if I die tomorrow?? My mother would firstly have a heart attack, and then after she recovered, would have another one at the thought of cleaning out all my stuffs. :)

I would not have a fun house to clean out if I kicked the can. The ensuing sale (which would take months to prepare for, I assure you) would be kick arse awesome, but still. I have a LOT of stuff.

But still no cat!! Yay.

Hope those boxes dry out. :(

I want this for Christmas!!!

2008-10-25T09:16:00.001-07:00

I was bidding on this item. The start was $9.99. I think I bid $10. It went for $10.50 while I was away from the computer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poops. When I first saw that it sold for only 50¢ above my bid, I was a bit gutted. Then I got over it. After all, shipping was $9. So it wasn't SO great a deal.

What a pretty design, though! Jeannette Cherry Blossom. I'm used to seeing it in pink, clear pink, but I love the delphite. :(

Maybe there will be another one. I just think $10.50 is a very nice price.

It is $35.99 on replacements.com, and the picture shows an interesting shade:

I think, given the right accent pieces, it could work with this:

Yeah! Another Jeannette Harp pattern cake plate, in PINK milk glass! Whee. I think it was $25 at Gum's Antique Mall. Gosh, that place is neat. Apparently it was built to teach children about rain forests? No wonder it gets so hot and muggy all up in there.

I still pine for the oak dresser that was only $50, including mirror. :( I had no where to put it, though.

And the big long shelf at the thrift store ... only $15. I could have very easily painted it. It would have made an honestly lovely display piece for my dishes, etc. I am glad that at least I took a picture of it, to remember it by.

At any rate, I still find this picture:

to be very inspirational, and I just LOVE that pattern. Not so fond of the butterflies on the inside rim of the bowl, and on the big dinner plates, but I love the floral pattern. I think the blue tray might have gone well with that. With some red gingham flatware.

I have so many cute things I want to put together to take pictures of, but my actual productivity level is like, dipping into the negative.

Anyhoo.

Speaking of Christmas, I hit another one of Tom's estate sales on Thursday. Thursday. One of those long, drawn-out, take a number affairs. I happened to have had a training that day, so I was able to head over there relatively quickly. It was in the neighborhood. Because I CONSTANTLY seem to have this picture

in my head, I really sat up and took notice when a guy came out with a basket of boxed Christmas ornaments. Some people call them ornies?? Oy.

Anyway, after half an hour's wait, I was ready to charge down the door. The guy stopped to chat to another lady waiting in line to get in, and he said he bought 2 boxes for $20. I think he is a dealer/re-saler. He said those sold well. I think they do. I don't know WHY people are so frickin' addicted to pink Shinybrite, but they are!!

So, the plain colored glass balls were 20 for $1. I think I got 25, and they only charged me $1. Actually, though the price tag seemed a bit steep, if I'd added everything up and paid what it was listed, it'd be a lot more.

I ultimately put down a twin size quilt. Giant star in the middle, and it was backed on peach fabric. Cute. $30. But no border. $30?? :(

I was tempted to go back today to see if it was still there, since last days are often half-price. I didn't feel like getting up and wasting the gas, though. I did call the number I had from an email, but it went to voicemail.

I guess I will just have to be happy with the 3 quilts I bought on Sunday that were only $15 each!! Hee. I like talking people down. If they're okay with it, I'm okay with it. Nobody's twisting their arm to sell it to me for the price I offer! :P

Off take do a little photo shoot of my Thursday goodies, and maybe some Sunday goodies, before it gets too dark.

Random stuff. Whee, disgusting.

2008-10-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

OK, this first part's not disgusting.

Also, those that know me, well, know I have a full on horrifying streak about a billion beeching miles wide. That's how it is. Grotesque, and a little macabre and warped.

Happy Halloween!!!

:)

So, I visited the lovely Olive, and saw she had a quiz up on there. So I took it too.

You Belong in 1954

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

OK, first of all, well, of course, I like diners. (Check the quiz.) Also, I TOTALLY grew up on oldies music (thanks, Dad!), and find it the most consistenly INoffensive type of music.

And my all-time favorite song in the whole entire world (I would consider playing it at my wedding but it is SUCH a lovely song that it has been totally scavenged and chewed up into a predictable trite cliche by movie after freaking Hollywood movie) is most definitely an oldie.

Anyways, how cute is that chick?? And look! The background of the picture totally matches the background of MY blog! It also reminds me of my costume for the New Year's "Washed-Up Celebrities"-themed party - Amy Winehouse. Ha!!

I have never, ever, ever considered myself a freaking romantic, though. What the heck. OK, maybe I'm in denial. A chick? Who loves Shabby Chic? And doesn't consider herself ROMANTIC? :)

Also, it was probably no small coincidence that I got a hankering for Pyrex eye candy and was trolling some sites and looking up random Pyrex phrases and pictures on google this afternoon.

:) Go, 1954!!

I have actually not yet taken inventory of my Pyrex stash, but I know the pieces I am looking for, and I know what pieces I am considering getting rid of. Facing facts, I HAVE PLENTY OF STUFF. Maybe I should share it with someone who would love it better!!

If you love something, let it go ... but this should not apply to people, unless previously agreed upon by mutual consent!!!

>:@

On to the disgusting. OK, so exactly a week ago, I woke up with a sore throat. Blech. It's been hot, heat-wave-ish, then the Santa Ana winds came gusting around, and we also had wildfires. I gargled immediately, and HALLELUJAH! Never came down with anything. I love having a full-on wicked immune system, which I believe I do have. Maybe I'll get into that another time. Also, it's convenient, since I work with (literally) snotty little germ buckets.

However, this morning, I woke up, laid in bed too lazy to bust a move, and came to the gradual realization that my nose felt stuffy.

I sniffed, and holy moly!! Bolus of mucus. Blech.

I won't tell you what I did with it. Proper disposal, let's just say. But it totally reminded me of this stuff:

I bought it on Target clearance, of course, along with this:

Now, the scrub? Is awesome. Must be the mint. After a long day's work in the 90-degree classroom, my footses are generally NOT minty fresh. Short of a white vinegar soak, this stuff is amazing!!! But still, a vinegar soak is GUARANTEED nast-destroying. :)

Anyhoo, I am not particularly fond of the body wash, because it smells too strongly like honey. There is a weird, tickly smell to honey (sometimes) that I just loathe and abhor. I hate the indistinct stench. To be honest, it smells like sneeze. Nasty, dried, putrid, didn't-cover-the-mouth aerial-spray sneeze.

Le gag.

Interesting enough, sometimes I catch a whiff of the same odor on money. NOT THAT I WALK AROUND SNIFFING AND INHALING THE SCENT OF MONEY, OR ANYTHING. Gross.

I mean, this stuff also has overtones of citrus, so it also reminds me of lemon tea. WHAT A HORRIFIC COMBINATION! So, I've been trying to use the stuff up in the shower just so I can get rid of it. I feel good about using what I have before buying more, and lemme tell you, that is not habitual for me. But I have finished off the Rusk purifying shampoo (nice stuff! I was crazy and washed my face with it, for a little while - tired of THE GREASE!) and the Victoria's Secret Love Spell creamy body wash that doubled for shampoo, too. Looooooooove that Love Spell.

However, every STINKING time I squeeze this citrus honey concoction out into my hand, it quite literally looks like a gob of snot that I'm about to smear all over myself. Sooooo unpretty.

And it's not the first bath item to remind me of URI sputum!!! This stuff did, too:

Once I discovered this brand, I fell in love. I used the blue Curls Rock stuff, mostly because I thought it smelled nicely of grapefruit, and that was nice. I got a great deal on this stuff, then I noticed what the shampoo looked like. Well, it was semi-clear, so that was okay, and at least it smells like pineapples - or pineapple flavouring. The thick, opaque, conditioner though????

Gobby loogie, AGAIN.

OMG, so disgusting. So, I actually held on to the two GIANT bottles I got on sale, for like, years. I ended up being freaking lazy, and bringing the ENTIRE giant bottle of shampoo with me to New Zealand last year, even though I was only staying a week and am not a fastidious, OCD shower-taker to begin with - useless! Uncalled-for! But at least I could share some with my pastor and his wife, because they ran out during our trip there.

Earlier in the year, I finally gave them to my friend Wendy (looooooooooooooove her), because she needed some. And it's not like I was going to use it. I have more hair stuff than you could stuff into the trunk of a car, overly-long hair notwithstanding.

I will say, however, that I LOVE the Bath and Body Works 3-in-1 Temptations that I use basically as shampoo. The Peach one is my all-time favorite, and I never thought I was going to like it that much.

I actually pretty much love and adore anything apple-scented, and was ecstatic to find this stuff:

But I actually don't like it that much. The peach smells more like what I thought the apple would smell like. I also have iced tea. Jenny from New Zealand loved this stuff. Hee!

Anyway, late last year, I saw that Target had the TIGI Bedhead shampoos and things! I think they may have even clearanced. I missed all of them on the shelf, until ONE DAY:

I found that, and it rang up $0.00. Oh, that's generally a very good sign. I ended up getting it for $2.00. She made up the price. I didn't argue. Wasn't it at least $19.99, full price??

So now, that is my shampoo of choice. It is seriously the nicest stuff I have used in a very long time. Maybe the moisture thing is the key. I don't even hardly have to use conditioner afterwards. My hair tends to get greasy, anyway (and I don't mind, to be honest - at least I know it'll deter the freaking LICE that I get exposed to on a regular basis, teaching little kids). It has turned out to be a nice discovery, and I will keep my eye out for it in the future.

Nothing beats the KMS I got at Target for another Christmas clearance, though. Wow. The straightening stuff is seriously mindblowing.

Today I also dug into my hearty Burt's Bees stash, and tried some stuff that I have been loathe to use, because for some inexplicable reason, I felt like saving it. No way! I have enough Burt's Bees (all 75% off clearance at Target!) to last 3 years. I have enough lip balm for the entire nation of India, probably. Savannah Bee Company tinted ones are my freaking favorite right now, though in a state of mild desperation earlier this week I opened up an ancient pack of Lipsmackers to get the cherry cola. Who does not love cherry cola flavored lips?? Dear Hillary also gave me TWO tubes of the C.O. Bigelow Black Cherry Soda lip gloss for part of the bridesmaids gifts.

Anyway, I apologize right this second for my completely out-of-control ADD right now!

Moral of the story: I think Burt's Bees is a little overrated. I don't LOVE the stuff. I love the idea, and I love the packaging. Man, do I love the packaging. I don't even know why! But I haven't tried anything yet that I am IN LOVE WITH. It would make nice presents, though, I suppose. I tried a couple lotions today, and they are okay. Good enough to keep in the purse, in the little bottles, for emergencies.

I had a Domino's Pizza again, today. I think I have had it at least 12 times in the last 2 months. I love their thin crust. And it happens to be across the street from the thrift store, so I ended up getting an ADORABLE Christmas plaque (hand-carved, and SO vintage and kitschy! Can't wait to use it) and some Shabby Chic window valances. And YES, they ARE the pink quilted ones that were selling briskly on eBay! They actually are way cuter than I thought they were. I thought they had the ugly pink chenille on them like the quilt does, but they do not. So a set of 4 valances was $12. It was just OKAY. With the extra clearance at the Target that was closing, I could have gotten them for less, but that store only had one, anyway. And I scored MAJORLY on other stuff, so that's okay.

It was quite scary to drive off afterwards, though, because my mind was all over the place. I decided I absolutely HAD to have some Pepsi, I'd denied myself quite long enough. I thought the Smart and Final was just up the street, but it was closed! I headed to the left-turn lane, when I spotted the new location, just up the street! Whoo, then I pulled out into traffic (non-existent, I mean), and finally made it over there.

It was a bit of a hectic afternoon. That's what happens when the thrift store only takes cash but all you have on you is 2 dollars and change, and you plead with the cashier to hold the items for you for just five minutes so you can run up to the Washington Mutual up the street for some cash, and you get out of the car and try to go in the foyer, only to realize that your debit card is not there.

Oh, it's in your PURSE at your HOUSE and all you HAVE is you WALLET with you because ... the day before you bought some lovely salads at the lovely Elephant Bar with some seriously attractive young bartenders, and a silly, goofy young hostess who laughs when you call the onion soup "bar-made" after she calls it "home-made," because that is what they call it on the menu ... and after hemming and hawing about why the price on the receipt is different than the price on the menu, but receiving an essentially acceptable answer, you throw your debit card into the side pocket of the purse instead of putting it right back in the wallet where it belongs because ... no rhyme or reason, but perhaps a twinge of laziness.

I need to go to bed :P.

Goodwill and Shabby Chic

2008-10-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Goodwill has been blessing me with lovely Target cast-off Simply Shabby Chic-ness lately.

Today, I found a Simply Shabby Chic table lamp (no shade) with little porcelain roses in three tiers. I have two already, which I madly hunted for at various Targets when they clearanced, and I love having an extra. It is honestly one of the most gorgeous, pretty lamps I have ever seen. Along with it, I bought a Simply Shabby Chic damask lace curtain sheer for $4.99. I think regularly they were at least $24.99; maybe even $29.99. Whee!

Last week, I also found this lamp (sans shade):
for $4.99. It had no price, so I had to ask about it. The cashier had to ask her boss, who replied "$4.99. It's probably more, but she can have it for $4.99!" Hooray. I did end up getting a matching one for $9.98 at another Target a couple days ago. I think I'm kinda set on lamps, now, though some are just SO dang irresistible!

In other news, I still totally loooooooooove my Chelsea dishes from Target, and remember being SO excited when it came out over a year ago. I noticed that this set was clearancing a few weeks back, so I kept my eye on it.
I found it for 30% off, bought it and kept it, and kept hunting around - last I saw, it was 50% off. I can live with $20 instead of $40. So now I have a FULL dot set, 3 large serving bowls, 2 sets of serving spoons, 2 extra dinner plates (random Goodwill finds, always $1 each), maybe 5 or 6 of the lovely, adorable, mixy-matchy place settings/flatware, and my various Chelsea floral dishes. Soooooo cute! I also got some adorable blue floral napkins on clearance at Marshalls, but darn it, I could only find three. Four would have been perfect. :(

LASTLY! SUCCESS!! 2 Simply Shabby Chic bookcases (love those things!!!) for 75% off - $49.98, on Friday. That plain and simply ROCKED. What did not rock was not having any help to move them out of the car earlier today. I had to drag and maneuver them to my neighbor's back patio by myself, since she busted up her neck and froze it up again, and he just had freaking hernia surgery 3 weeks ago.

I need to get to the storage and clean.

Hooray for Shabby Chic! Dang, this stuff is addictive. And I pretty much only shop for her cheaporama stuff from Target, not even any of her other lines. I found lots of great stuff for 75% off recently - mostly curtains, and valances (yay for the green ones! I've been looking for some more for the bathroom), and some curtain rod rings.

Now I just want to sneak out some of those lovely pastel-striped curtain samples hanging in the stores, because they would be completely PERFECT table runners. So pretty, SO gorgeous, and perfect for a pastel cupcake party. They have the ruffle all around. I am in love with that.

And ultimately ... TJ Maxx is providing no little inspiration these days. After staying at the General Warren Inne for Hillary's wedding in Pennsylvania exactly a month ago, I am in looooooooooove with the look. The place was gorgeous, the service was genuinely lovely, and I was treated so well - including getting such a deal on a massive suite upstairs - the one with the cathedral window and leather sitting room!! The bedding from the gorgeous inne? From TJ Maxx. I RECOGNIZED it. The throw in my neighbor bridesmaid's room? I HAVE IT. And just bought some pillow shams to match it during their extra 25% off clearance sale this weekend.

OK, so I don't have all the nice FURNITURE and four poster BEDS ...

But considering the prices at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, I have to give props to this eBay seller who sells $19.99 quilted cotton throws (or $15.00, with an additional 25% off, if she's lucky and hits the sales like I did) for $79.99. Without shipping. $79.99? For a quilted cotton throw??? Is it because people just do not know where to buy this stuff themselves, for way cheaper? And even bedding sets - Q to K, usually are max $79.99 at TJ Maxx/Marshall's, and go for $179.99 in her store. Granted, she has some very lovely things that I have never seen in the stores, personally, but I haven't been looking for this stuff for too long, really.

Now I wish I'd bought up more of the Simply Shabby Chic patchwork valances. I had no idea they were selling on eBay for 4 to 5 times what Target was clearancing them for!

If I ever open up a store or have a yard sale (which my neighbor keeps hinting at me to do), I would have Shabby Chic stuff out the wazoo.

ANYWAYS. Bravo to making moolah on eBay in these sour economic times.

:)

Happy Friday!

2008-09-26T23:22:00.001-07:00

I cannot being to describe how incredible RELIEVED (not technically "happy") that it was Friday. It has been the longest week. Yesterday was brutally, repulsively, obnoxiously hot and I alternated between wanting to crumple into a heap and cry out of sheer misery, or blow through a rampaging, screeching temper tantrum. :( Grr, unbridled aggression.

Most people know how I feel about the ambient temperature situation in the classrooms, I think.

:)

So I actually have not checked this blog for AGES!! This last month has kicked my behind. I last posted on the 18th?? Ugh. I think sometimes I try to at least start, save, and bookmark posts, even if I can't finish them right away, but the last month as gotten away from me in a major way.

At least I have an excuse, though! I tend to think that there are basically two ways of going about it: going out and DOING things (called living life) or blogging it. Um, blogging about it takes way more time than actually doing it, I think. At least, it does for me, because I can be such a detail-obsessed anal-retentive self-EDITOR.

At any rate, in the last month, I have been subjected to the following overwhelming (though mostly rather fun) experiences:

August: packing up my massive, massive, massive classroom with boxes and boxes and boxes. I think it is a good thing that I ended up with more boxes, and not more stuff than boxes. Sometimes that happens. My nice neighbor helped me. So I bought her Chipotle. I also laughed my darn fool head off silly because her crazy kid was drooling relentlessly, and gnawing everything in sight, including staples on the floor (oops) though we tried to contain her in a ramshackle cardboard box, i.e., playpen. The corner of that box lost the battle with that child's teeth.

August: getting an initial TEMPORARY placement for teaching. It was at a wonnnnnnnderful school, but it was a temporary substitute assignment while the regular teacher was out recovering from surgery. I love the principal at that school. I would love to work for him. I have never heard a principal speak like him. I won't say how he sounds, even though the very thought kind of cracks me up, but he definitely sounds way younger on the phone than he looks in person. He called himself "an old man" on the phone, and I didn't believe him until I met his wonderfully chipper, balding, grey-headed, slightly tubby, roly-poly old-man self. How cute is it that he went to KINDERGARTEN at the school of which he is now principal??? He is just an adorable little man. I have major fondness for this person and hope to work with him sometime.

August: working like a darn fool and KILLING myself making all the food and getting all the preps for my sister's bridal shower. I heard nothing but compliments, though, and I hope people had a nice time. I have decided my two favorite wedding shower games of all time and I hope to play them always. They are some of the funniest things I have ever heard in my LIFE. :D What household chore do YOU hate doing, and why?? And what DID she say when she opened that gift?? Ah, the gifts. Such beautiful wrapping. Why am I such a wrapping paper FREAK?

And? That chicken salad recipe was awesome and amazing. I LOVE me some AMAZING CHICKEN SALAD. Yum. Also, it was easy. I should make it more often. I added halved grapes to mine. Whee!

August: delaying the inevitable, and then spending the entire morning in that temp assignment teacher's classroom going through first grade materials and organizing stuff. Then getting a call in the middle of the day and finding out I was actually going to be offered a permanent position (also first grade!) at another school. No, I wasn't angry about having WASTED MY TIME, essentially, at this other school.

Wanna know the freaky thing? I'd actually been to that school AND THAT CLASSROOM before, several years ago. A very good friend I'd met when I previously taught kindergarten and had district trainings invited me over to her school to take a look and everything. I could NOT believe I was in her old classroom. We'd both been bumped (read: laid off) and moved to other schools the same year, as well. So basically, in the last 8 years, I have taught at schools in Lakewood (off of Candlewood!) - East Long Beach (off of Bellflower!) - Lakewood (off of Candlewood!) - East Long Beach (off of Bellflower!). Each school has been less than 5 minutes from the other school in the same city. Blah. What a waste of time, and energy, moving like that!

Oh, you know what else was fun?? Getting to move all my own stuff from the old classroom to the new classroom, even though technically I am supposed to have district help with that. But being told 3 days before school starts that you are moving, and then having two holidays (a Friday and a Monday, no less, when we start on Tuesday!) right away kind of means you end up having to do it yourself. It was RIDICULOUS. But sis and her bf were GREAT help! Whee. Would you believe I was working in the classroom until 10:45pm the night before school started? Yeah. Apparently, nobody believed that I could put ALL of that stuff (four rows of boxes 6 feet high, in the middle of the room) away in 2 days to get ready for the first day. I SHOWED THEM ALL! Frankly, I'd much rather not ever have to do that again. And the main reason why I didn't freak and stress about it all? BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY HAD TO DO THAT ONCE IN MY COTTON-PICKIN' RIDICULOUS LIFE ALREADY. So, whatever needs to happen, will happen, cuz that's my version of hard-working, ethical responsibility, I guess. And that stupid, useless, annoying woman is NOT welcome to come into my classroom ANYMORE, when she practically ignores me, proceeds to search out her friend (who very generously volunteered to help me), and then starts TALKING about me WHILE I am in the ROOM, and asking the most frivolously UNhelpful, pedantic, redundant questions. "How are you going to get all this put away?" "Does she know that school starts tomorrow?" "But school starts tomorrow!!" And when I inform her that I've had to do this once before, already (boxes piled UP in the corner, nothing put away, the DAY before school starts, because the lousy, ridiculous, obnoxious custodian preferred to schedule ALL his other custodians to help HIS 2 pet favorite teachers move their things from the storage room NEXT TO THEIR CLASSROOMS the week before, instead of already HAVING all my boxes moved from ONE SIDE of the school to the OTHER anytime throughout the summer, since I busted my hump to have EVERYTHING packed away 2 days after the previous school year ENDED), she then informs me MOST irrelevantly that she HAS been an aide for 20 years and KNOWS how much work it is to get ready for a new year. THEN WHY DON'T YOU SHUT YOUR YAP AND OFFER TO HELP ALREADY, THEN, RANDOM ANNOYING MENTALLY INDIGENT STRANGER LADY, AND QUIT ASKING USELESS QUESTIONS AND AGGRAVATING THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!

As if I needed more stress!

:)

I seriously was 2 seconds away from unceremoniously kicking her out of my room (yes, MY room) before she wandered off. I am GLAD I have not seen her since! Seriously, I have never even had to CONSIDER asking an adult to leave, before. She was just beyond the pale.

September: Oh yes, my first staff meeting at the new school and the first day of school!! Somehow, I made it through. DANG, it is hot all up in there!

September: Oh, 3 days after school starts? My sister is getting married? Yeah? Family coming in from all over the country? Oh, OK. Actually, it was lovely and fun to have my cousins and aunt and uncle come and help me in the classroom for a bit. Every time I see the lovely bulletin board (with paper donated by yet another cousin!), and the giant gouge in the ceiling tile from the unsuccessful attempt to close the transom - I feel smiley.

The wedding - and rehearsal/dinner/weekend - was fun and busy!! However, it was one of the most stressful, unnerving, and downright cursed, fiasco-laden experiences I have ever gone through. It deserves its own post. ARGH!

September: Oh, best friend from high school? You are getting married too, five days after my sister? And on the other side of the country?? OF COURSE I'LL BE THERE!!!

:/

Couldn't be helped. :)

I'm sure it's interesting for the sub to take over a class when they've only had 5 days together, and with you. Haha!!

The flights were fine. The inn was gorgeous and amazing and inspiring. It was a lovely everything, that area is cute. I will save additional details for later.

September: Oh, the week after you get back, we get to have Back to School night, TOO??? Yay!!!

And then I FINALLY made it to a friend's kid's birthday party. The kid is 3. I was invited to the two previous parties ... and somehow never got the evite invitations until AFTER the fact. Oops. But man, busy busy busy! And there's another kid b-day party tomorrow. The downstairs neighbors' daughter is turning one. Hee.

Anyhoo. Somehow, I survived. And September is now almost over!! Yikes. I hope I can make it through the year with my lovely, wonderful, special "screams-and-cries-every-day" little friend in the classroom.

Like, freaking, food, again.

2008-08-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

I don't usually eat breakfast. I know it's good to, and I'm supposed to, but most times I don't at all feel hungry in the morning, and more often than not, even feel vaguely nauseated for no reason.

Plus, I have discovered that when I eat in the morning, it really DOES jumpstart my system, and I end up being hungry 3 hours later, to the point of ravenous obsession.

My schedule is SO not conducive to working that in. Actually, considering the more recent push for health/exercise/nutrition in the schools, I should probably just plan that into my day and MAKE time for good healthy eating habits, and being a good example. I'll have to consider that. BAD habits are hard to break, though very fulfilling when I indulge in them.

So today, I had some water that I finally remembered to throw in the fridge so it would be cold. I went for a good 3 weeks without even any drinking water in the house. I haven't used my Brita in ages, I can't find my extra filters, and it is SO overdue for a change it is not even funny. After seeing all the ads promoting the drinking of tap water as economical and environmentally friendly - bad plastic water bottles! Bad! - lately, I gave my tap a go.

Oh, H3LL no. I am SOrry, but sometimes I can't even rationalize how my place is not dumpy. These pipes are AWFUL. Water comes out in the tub orange, initially. Any water from the kitchen that dries on the pots and pans that I didn't wipe down end up with white crust. I know it's not necessarily the fault of the pipes, since our prolonged drought has greatly exacerbated the already hard, dodgy quality of Southern California water.

I always did wonder why my hair and skin didn't dry out like a frickin desert when I was in Europe, but I think it's because the water is softer there!

Anyhoo.

I finally hit Stater Brothers and stocked up on some water. I am STILL waiting for my neighbor to take me with her when she goes to the Aquateria (or whateverelse they may call it, I think that's close enough!), because the icy cold water she gets from that, from her fridge, is delicioso. I think it's a little bit dumb to pay for water, really, when you can drink tap, but I did try for a week, and it was gross. Just gross. Metallic, and .... it comes out orange from the sink faucet for a full minute. You can't always tell just by looking at it, but hold up a glass of it next to the WHIT sink and you can SEE. Hork. Le gag. So, I'd much rather buy a big 5 gal. and get the water for 20¢ a gallon, but I did buy several of the Smart Water bottles because I LOVE THE BOTTLES. And I plan on using them for some science explorations in the classroom, regarding density and viscosity. Of course. :)

So then, I wanted to finish up my peaches in the fridge. I bought them like 2 weeks ago, and good thing I threw'em in the fridge, because they would have rotted outside. Yuck. I ate one already, last week, and decided I'd polish off all three of them today. Washed them up, they felt okay, and I took a bite of the first one. Yuck! Tasteless! Mealy! I tried the next one. SAME THING. I was soooooo disappointed.

Then I picked up the smallest one, and it was good. What a waste, though. Blech. So only two good peaches out of the four. And the smaller ones were better. I don't think I want to buy Stater Brothers fruit anymore.

The grapes that I never finished either, were good, though.

Also, I had a HUGE hankering for pizza AGAIN! I think this shall be known as the summer of Dominos pizza. I got a craving about a month ago, looked through my coupons, and found out Dominos is just down the street, about 5 min away.

I swear I have had pizza at least a dozen times in the last month. The Gotham City is a good deal, but I just LOVE their thin crust. And chicken. And I love mushroom.

And Miss Claudia who answers the phone totally already knows me. She doesn't even take down my number anymore; as soon as she hears the name, she just takes the order. Ha! Besides, I always pick up the orders, never deliver.

So that's what I had for lunch, and will probably have for dinner.

I did pass the local farmer's market down the street - first time I ever saw it, because they have it on MONDAYS at 9. So, that's generally impossible for me to go to. Then, as I picked up the pizza, I figured, why not, I'd hit the thrift store across the street, because that is where I found the pink Pyrex last week! It was a bust. I walked out with nothing. That's a good feeling, though, because I spent a BRICK at Vets Stadium and my wallet is now nearly empty.

At the farmer's market on the way home, I took a look, and found the juice people! I have been LOOKING for orange carrot FOREVER. That is my FAVORITE. I ended up getting the orange passionfruit, and some apple. I have been craving awesome apple juice this year, since I went with Jen to Oak Glen. The apple juice I got there was frickin amazing. Like nectar, I swear. Mott's, you lose!

Anyway, I haven't tried it yet, but the orange passionfruit was decent. Decent, and not going to spend $7 on it again. :P

All. Shopded. Out

2008-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the Antique Market today. Just got back, and I am POOPED. Hopped in for a cold shower (which I NEVER take); it was blistering hot today.

It was a pretty good day! I was severely disappointed to only find ONE teacup stand from this one dealer ... when all I needed was two. Just. Two. Bugger. I like symmetry, you know? They hold 10 each, so it would have been perfect, I think. I even asked if I could get one from her sometime this week, but she lives in Northridge! They only brought the one today, and it was not even in new condition. So she knocked off $2. I met other people coming from Moreno Valley and all sorts of place. So I'll have to figure out what's going to work for this darn shower.

My feet got SO dark. :( I am glad I brough the umbrella, even though it has now basically fallen apart. ARGH! I wore my Tevas so I wouldn't get WORSE tan lines on the feet ... but I swear I am now an additional 4 different colors.

Then, the backs of my knees started itching after the shower, and I thought that was weird - and then I realized I should probably stop scratching, because it was sunburn. Yowza!! I remember standing in the sun at the very end, last rummagey (as opposed to "final call") booth, trying to tan my legs ... good thing I put sunscreen on my arms (ouch) and face today. But still!! I always overdo it! :(

Anyhoo, feet were aching, the bag was SO heavy, but I got some things that I am really happy with. I did not, however, get the darn shams I have been looking for for practically a year now. I am very annoyed with that wife person, geez. No pics, either, I didn't get around to it, and I was feeling miffed!

NOW TO CLEAN AND SORT AND ORGANIZE ALL THEM THINGS, PLEASE.

I changed the batteries in the camera so I'll take some pics tomorrow and slap'em up. Now to start matching stuff and seeing what works! :)

A reply

2008-08-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

The first blog on my blogroll is a thrifting INSPIRATION. She gets deals I only dream about. So do other people. People who buy $20 1940's dresses off the Halloween rack at Goodwill and sell them on eBay for $1,360. I am not even kidding.

Anyway, I'm still learning. :)

So, Selena posted about changes in thrifting. I started to add a comment to her post, realized it was 3402978192872937 words long, and reconsidered. I frickin' EDITED myself (nearly impossible for a verbose, detail-oriented perfectionist like me), and figured I better just post it in my own space. So, go read her post there and then stick around here if you want to subject yourself to my garrulous and loquacious and waxing commentary!!

And, can I just say??? Editing oneself is HARD. "EVERYTHING'S important!" :P

*******************************************************************

Selena! Girl, that is SO funny. I was just thinking that ["it's not what it used to be"] today! I'm working on a post on my blog about what a complete and useless WASTE of time the garage sales were today. Blech. I had a decent day, overall, and did get something that *I* considered a good value to me, though it is not a "steal."

But, yeah. I thrifted very intermittently when I was younger, like in high school. In college, I was fortunate enough to have a FREE college thrift store - and what I mostly got were clothes - J. Crew leather boots, London Fog down coat, Levis jeans, a bookshelf for my dorm room ... free, free, free. The nice volunteer ladies (all professors' wives) were BEGGING me to take things off their hands, every week. I felt guilty, but they always said they had more than they knew what to do with. They originally started taking donations because they had so many international students (especially from Africa) who just about maxed themselves out paying for tuition, and they didn't want these poor families with kids to freeze their tooties off in the lovely, inviting, Chicago winters. :P Isn't that nice???? I loved that place. They had free baby clothes and baby furniture, even - and toys! Plus, the local neighborhood/community was VERY well off - there was really nice stuff donated.

I spent a pretty penny at the local thrifts, too, and loooooooooved my camel wool coat for $7 ... but those days are gone!!

I hit 4 garage sales today (decided not to stop by several, though I saw signs), and you know what? I didn't buy a SINGLE thing. I was thinking of you, too, wondering what you do when you ARE hunting and chasing and deciding whether to drive that extra two miles to another random sale. You also often cross my mind when I walk by the shoes at thrift stores, because I HIGHLY DOUBT that I will ever find Borns for $8, or freaking $400 boots ... but shoes are honestly not my thing. I just don't know how! But you are very inspiring!

Today, I think I am glad I passed on the run-of-the-mill garage sales, since it was all old, dumb, nasty junk. Dumb toys (not even anything good), manky old clothes, stained burp cloths, used foot spas ... and overpriced!

Also, I do not appreciate being misled by an advert of a "great, overflowing" yard sale to find only 6 3x3 piles of stuff in the front yard.

I really have only been thrifting in earnest, regularly, for about a year or so, but the two things I notice are THE PRICES, and the selection. Old stuff - vintage, I mean, not just OLD - just is not that common. It's not terribly common here, anyway, being in California, as compared with other parts of the country, I suppose. That is why I am SUPER DUPER excited to spend a weekend in Philadelphia this September, and I'm planning my thrift list, etc. for that Saturday! Hee.

Even the estate sales - I remember going to one a long time ago, with my mom, and I guess we only went because it was in the neighborhood, not because we needed anything. Um, how about finding $300 worth of signed traveler's checks in a book I picked up?? We turned that in, of course. Earlier in the year, I also found a wad of $72 on the floor of the garage at another estate sale, but that was because the guy dropped his change envelope, and he never even knew! I wonder if it was bad that I actually did sit there and count the money first, instead of just handing the stack back? :P.

At the organized, professional estate sale that I'm on the mailing list of, prices are at least double what I think would be a steal, or good price, and SOMETIMES they mark it down half price on Saturdays. Mostly, though, as you said, it's just a wholesale dumping of the contents of a house, including half-used kitchen cleansers and laundry detergent, cans of soup, clothes and shoes right out of the closet ... :(. I guess a lot of the better stuff gets bought up the first day.

I would say there is a combination of two things that impacts what is available at thrift stores now, and maybe impacting the garage sale market. Firstly, I honestly think the internet, and craigslist, and ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, have changed how knowledgeable people are about pricing things. Especially Antiques Roadshow, and maybe magazines like MS and such. People know more - people know what to look for - it's easier to research (even a know-nothing like me has learned a few things!). So prices go up since people can check eBay to see what used old junk is going for.

Also, retail stores have amazing sales - I never realized until a couple years ago that some stores have REGULAR (several times a year) 75% off and 90% off sales. It's too tempting to resist. Some stuff is great to buy new. I know of many moms who stop thrifting and hitting garage sales because they can get brand new children's clothing for the same prices. The internet has helped to disseminate this information collectively - there is so much I would NEVER have learned on my own. The sharing and communication aspect is a monumental shift for me. And, since this stuff is so cheap, and people prefer buying new, they probably don't bother with trying to resell for pennies on their original nickels and dimes. I think this post-modern, not boomer, generation is the "disposable" generation. We haven't lived through rationing or deprivation, we were raised on consumable, disposable goods, and we do buy cheap and replace often. It's a change of mindset. This is a big contrast to my grandfather's generation - going through war shortages, he was a monumental hoarder. I think I get this gene from him - then again, I didn't go through a war!

Anyway, today was just a bummer with lame junk at garage sales, and limited, nasty selection at the thrift stores.

Honestly, though? I talked with one guy, and it's like - when I talk with people about what I find, I mentioned the goods and the times that I DID get something worthy - nothing is mentioned of all the FRUITLESS searching and unsuccessful attempts. People who don't' thrift like this might not understand. Thrifting, and shopping in general, is basically a matter of statistics - going more often, especially at the right time, once you figure out the schedules, even, and you'll hit pay dirt (or plenty of dust!) eventually. Not $35,000-a-year-in-book-resales, necessarily, but still saving quite a bit of money for nice, good, or even just limited availability stuff.

There are times when I don't find anything, and that's okay. There are times when I am only looking for one thing - or when I DO find it, it's about 5 times more than I want to pay for it. Suddenly I start seeing it everywhere. Yes, full 4-pc sets of the pink Gooseberry Pyrex mixing bowls!! But NOT for $75 or $60. :(

The gas is okay, because I don't make special trips - everything is basically on the way, in a loop, otherwise I go only on weekends, or if I'm in the area. It's worth it to check, especially now that I've figured out which stores have commonly had the old stuff I'm looking for.

Thrifting is always going to be around, but it's shifting to REsale, i.e., Target salvage, damaged goods, returns, etc., and not necessarily so much vintage goods.

Long Beach Antique Market, finally!!!

2008-08-16T22:29:00.004-07:00

It's the third Sunday of the month, once again! And it has been so, so, super long, since I visited this place. I just had Sunday School to teach every. single. Sunday. Not that I mind it, really - I've been MUCH better about getting up on Sunday, even though I am shamefully and routinely late to my parents' place in order for us to carpool. And I do like the kids. And it probably is considered "tiring," but dang, them kids is so cute! It's been a leeeeeeetle more challenging lately, transitioning from one crop of kids to another, since the 3 eldest (sometimes 5 eldest) just graduated up to the regular, non Pre-K group, and these younger ones needed a little bit of training.

BUT SERIOUSLY, they are so super awesome and cute about making a line! All. Seven. Male. Toddlers. Of them.

:)

Anyhoo, I begged off teaching Sunday School tomorrow, and thankfully the other teacher will take over for the week. I hope everyone survives! I guess I hear sometimes it's a little different when I am not there. Not to say it does not ever get crazy when I am there ... but compared with MY PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASS OF KIDS, it's a cakewalk. These little guys just dart real fast sometimes, chanting "No! No! No!" as they are running away in dizzying circles around the room the entire time, or, as with last week - wailing and shrieking "Mom? Mom? MOM? WHERE ARE YOU, MOM?!? WHEREDIDYOUGOMOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMY!!!!!" while courageously and doggedly avoiding my labored scurrying after them. And yes, I have to run and snag them because I jus' can't be havin' that.

Thusly, I am taking a day off, and I plan to spend a good several hours at this Long. Beach. Antique. Market.

I have no idea where my hat is, and I hope I don't get burned again, like I have been, several times previously. Duh, I guess the back of the neck reaaaaaaaaaaaaally catches all that sun when you are leaning over with your head bent, checking out the piles and piles upon the tables for ... six straight hours. :|

Maybe I can get rid of the tan lines on my feet, too - they will show in my sandals that I'm supposed to wear for the next two weddings I'm in. OK, the ONLY two weddings to which I have ever been invited to participate.

:)

Yay, I'm so excited! I would like to visit my little fabric peeps (maybe I'll take a picture!) and what I think I really want to get are the teacup display stands that I saw last time. They were going fast. White-painted metal, and darn if they weren't in the shape of a giant teacup ANYWAY. I remember that the lady who was selling them had a distinctly European accent. Maybe German. Maybe Dutch. Maybe something like that. Maybe I should wear my Amsterdam shirt again (that I got at Old Navy, not even in Amsterdam itself!) because I found myself involved in many more interesting conversations with the Dutchie peeps last time. And I enjoy having random conversations with both vaguely, and genuinely, interesting people! Especially foreigners.

Anyway, the teacup display stands were only $5 each, and they were certainly hot items. Several people (all women, of course!) bought them. There were bigger ones that displayed 10 teacups and saucers each, as well. What I'd like to do is set them up as a display for Judy's tea party bridal shower this next Saturday. It's gonna be 20 people all crowded into Dave's place ... and I hope it is not HOT!

I am soooooo looking forward to it. I have spent soooo much money on this. But I like doing stuff like this for people! And, I suppose it's an excuse to buy stuff, and spend money on things I'd LIKE to get, but can't always justify.

I know I spend too much money. I know I have way too much stuff. But it's a free country. And how's my not spending money going to help the starving children in Africa? Oh, yeah, maybe if I send it to them.

Anyways! Like my dear former colleague once mentioned, our hearty Christian guilt complexes are well and thriving.

:/

I would just love it if my family would quit worrying and complaining about how I spend money ... and graciously and gratefully accept what I would like to do for them.

Hope to have pics of the Market for you tomorrow! Once I find some new batteries for that dang camera ... ooh. Maybe I will bring my big one, instead! Yes.

And pics of the bridal shower will certainly be up, because I will be so proud of that event. I hope harsh and brutal reality does not dash the quixotic imaginings of my hopes and dreams, because I would be soundly mortified on that occasion.

Also, ashamed of my under-achieving self.

Goodnight!

What I Had to Eat Today,

2008-08-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. - unbridled self-indulgence.

:(

Alright, so I was all proud of myself because I wasn't going crazy with the food today, even though I'd been to the Farmer's Market at Cerritos Towne Center. Then again, I don't tend to eat a lot in the mornings. I'm a DINNER person. Dinner at 4pm sounds fantastic, along with a LATE 9pm dinner. Where in the world is that culturally common, again?

Here's the unfortunate breakdown for the day:

2 chicken tamales with overflowing amazing favorite mild green tomatillo sauce: $6
Amazing, sublime, indescribable jasmine green tea with milk, blended:$3.13

That was all up until about 2pm. Then I continued on from my morning garage sale rounds (stupid, stupid, and useless, until I hit a semi-decent clearance/liquidation of a real estate staging business! ) to the bakeries, where I was interested in placing an order for some cream puffs for my sister's shower

Honey Bakery cream puff: $0.75

Micasa Bakery blueberry cheesecake: $3.50
Micasa cream layer cake: $3.50
Micasa ham and egg omelette sandwich, 2: $2.30
Micasa "club" sandwich (sliced hardboiled egg, ham, and cucumber): $1.75

Tea Station Seaweed Chicken Rolls: $5.41

Pho Saigon plain large pho, BBQ chicken, and Thai iced tea: $10.39

DANG, THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD!!!!

Seriously, what happened there? I guess I ordered when I was HUNGRY?? Plus, that plaza had a ton of food places and I was just looking and I'd already ready reviews on yelp and I love to try new things and new places ...

Overall total for food for the day?? About $36. For one person. :( It makes me think of all those senior citizens, or young families, that are trying to eat on like, $200 a MONTH. OY. I know I am spoiled from being a single person. And it's not like I INSIST on being single, flying in the face of all other options.

Anyway, in a minor defense, I ate the Micasa sandwiches pretty much as soon as I got them (I loooooove that stuff, but it's not CHEAP for what you get, sandwich-wise!), I didn't end up having the chicken rolls until later, like, 8pm, for dinner.

And I'll have the cakes for breakfast or lunch tomorrow (mm! cheesecake for brekkie! ha), and the pho for Sunday dinner.

So then it's only like, $11 for food on Saturday, and the rest spreads out to Sunday.

Anything to pacify my hearty Christian guilt-complex with a heavy-handed veneer of rationalization, I guess.

Gooseberry days

2008-08-10T20:50:00.001-07:00

Whoa! Yesterday was a GREAT thrifting day. It's been weeeeeeeeeeks since I hit the thrifts, and I missed it and needed a reason!!! Good thing I stopped by, because I fooooooooooound stuff I'd been looooooooooking for for a while!!!!!

My first finds - two pink gooseberry Pyrex mixing bowls!!! Small one was $3.93+tax, and large was $5.95+ tax. I think that's a great way to mark things. They use grease pencil, so sometimes people rub off the dollar amount - this way, the one-cent digit is the same as the dollar amount so people CAN'T STEAL.

And I certainly don't NEED any more glasses, but I couldn't really pass them up ... I don't know if they are Pyrex. I don't think they are Pyrex. But the pattern is so strikingly similar!! They maybe be the flamingo pink color?? But for a set of four gooseberry (type) pattern glasses, I thought $1.91 just JUST FINE. This was at the other thrift store in scary North Long Beach, where it smells inside, but the deals are AMAZING. Like the "madonna blue" COMPLETE place settings FOR FOUR reproduction Madrid, for only $9.09. I loooooove glass. I'll get a pic up, soon, especially since I will bring these out for my sister's bridal shower next week!! I plan to have lots of pics of that.

So, now I have a trio set of the pink gooseberry. I do think I like the pink-colored bowl better than the white. To be honest, I probably only started liking Pyrex because I saw my friend Jen use hers to make some scones. I totally did not even remember where she got it, and when I asked, she said she received it at her bridal shower from the mother of her/our friend Anne. I soooooo don't remember that. But Anne's mom's house is one of my favorites to go to because there are such lovely antiques, and her gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous collections of glass - Depression glass, and elegant glass.

Anyways, I KNEW I already had a larger, white gooseberry bowl. It took some huntin' to find, in my demolished chaos of a kitchen, but I finally found it! And I think the set looks very nice together. It didn't have a price on it, so I don't believe I got it at a thrift store. I'm at the point now where I can't remember where, or what I paid, for stuff - that's a scary thought for me. But I'm pretty sure I got several pieces for $5 each at a stall at the Long Beach Antique Market. I remember those guys, because the weekend before, they'd run an estate sale that I visited. I remembered the dude named Dale. Hee.

I looooooove that pretty picture. These pics were taken on my back porch/balcony, btw. It's nice and quiet, since my apartment only has residential houses behind it. I also saw and looooooooooooved the chair and table set - TJ Maxx! I think the chair and table were $20 each. I thought they went so well with the paint job at this apartment. Too bad they painted out front a HORRIBLE scheme, so super ugly. I'll get pics of that up some time as well. The back looks nicer, for now, especially since there is a nice large tree right there, and a lovely patch of grass.

So here are my kicky rain boots and the umbrella!! Don't know why the duck looks so demented.

Boots: $10 clearance at Marshalls. I looooooooove polka dots!!!
Umbrella: $2.99 at Goodwill. I love cool umbrella handles, and RED. I still kinda kick myself for not getting the big red candy-cane handled umbrella for $1, at that one estate sale.

Anyways! The combo of black/white polka dots, with the red umbrella ... I love it. Singin' in the rain!!

Thankfully, our summer has not been TERRIBLY hot so far, it's already mid-August. This week in particular has been FANTASTIC. Nice and cool. Yippee!

Oh. My. Gosh.

2008-07-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

"Becky, look at her butt."

HA!

Yes, I'm up late. Yes, I should be asleep. Yes, I should feel proud that I actually got SO much done this week.

But no, I don't feel that way, because my mother has a nagging problem. *hiss*

So I'm online looking up all these random things because cleaning out my old bedroom FOR THE FINAL TIME!!! meant that I found all these old pictures and souvenirs and such from my college days (so young! so leetle! so twee!). I toooootally starting reminiscing about a very good friend I had, and wanted to look her up on hotmail to see if she was still around.

On the msn.com site, instead, well, I admit my interest was piqued by the article about a Mormon missionary calendar. As in, a calendar composed of Mormon missionaries - male - AND NOT EVEN FULLY CLOTHED.

It's no Calendar Girls, but goodness. It's WEIRD. As in - are those two things even supposed to go together??

What is TOTALLY EVEN WEIRDER IN THAT STUPID ARTICLE is all the other random flirty calendars that are out there. (Check out the article, since I don't feel like linking to the kinking!)

Now, for those of you with a more delicate constitution, I do believe the next portion is rather PG. Just warning you!

APPARENTLY.

THERE IS.

A CALENDAR.

OF PICTURES.

OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS.

Oh yes indeed. I guess they tried to pick the better-looking ones. And all of them are wearing appropriate attire, I believe.

I dunno, doesn't something like this fly in the face of ... what is generally expected?? I don't think TOO many "religious institutions," including the Catholic church, are totally way too out of touch with reality and the world at large. I'm sure many would disagree with me, on multiple levels on many points - but it just seems freaking WEIRD to put these people/men who have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord in a position where it is OBVIOUS the INTENT is NOT exactly HOLY. You know? I'll be honest, there was some nice eye sugar that I wouldn't mind looking at every day, but actually, I just wouldn't. IT'S ICKY. Also, I am not like that and I would get bored. Appreciation is one thing, and glued eyes are another.

It's so very ... Thorn Birds. Yes, even with Richard Chamberlain!

So, if you must, you can find the gallery of previous years, and a comments section. Good glory.

ALSO!! THESE HORRENDOUS COMMENTS squick me out. Since apparently little innocent ole me never knew there was a gay fascination with priests? Where was THAT particular personage from The Village People, then? Because we all know what song they were singing, apropos enough. :P

OK, enough of the weirdness. I looked up stats for this little blog on google analytics and found some weird referrals again. Yikes.

Admittedly, "Rachel Ashwell" with various accoutrements is a HUGE hit referral. But "a eiffel tower down the middle on a comforter"?? (#24. ) And "cute butt"???? Really? Really?? I don't recall blogging about that!!! (#53.) Maybe I did mention something about a "fabic oy," (#62) or "hyena comforters" (#74). "Octopusmania" (#84).

But the primary referral is still "Goodwill finds." I kind of like that. :)

D-d-d-d, D-d-d-d, TJ Maxx!

2008-07-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

Anybody remember that jingle??

I was out running some errands today and decided to make my OC Goodwill rounds. Whee. Bought a kids' toy, and a duck-headed red umbrella. It goes with my black and white polka dotted rubber boots I bought at Marshalls. I fully intend on taking a pic and throwing it up here because it is seriously just that cute. Red, white, and black. Great palette. Also -

Marshalls is my favorite store.

Maybe Home Goods is tied with it. Home Goods blows my mind. I find the stuff there A-ma-Zing.

That is because I have a sick fascination and uncontrolled compulsion for buying dishes and other breakables.

So, I hit the Goodwills, and TJMaxx is next door to one of them.

Why the post??

1) I'm sliiiiiiiightly frustrated at not finding shoes that FIT my FAT FEET for the two weddings I'll be in, in the second week of September, which also happens to be ... my first week of school! Oh, yay. Such good planning, sis and best friend. :P
(Update: I did go on a little shoe-specific shopping trip with my mom late this afternoon, and actually found TWO pairs of gold shoes that will work for Hillary's wedding - I will bring them with me to her shower in Santa Barbara on Saturday, for her approval! Go, mom.)

2) This little girl was JUST too FUNNY. I think she was about 5 or 6. In the entire time I was there, including two trips to the dressing room, she was just spouting stuff. I am sure she is a hoot at home. Also, her voice carries. Very easily. She's a doll. Blond hair.

So, the first thing I overheard - I was perusing and browsing the shoe aisles, and I hear the little girl's voice exclaim loudly, "Well if you wear that, your peepee will show!!" I believe they were by swimsuits/juniors.

And, I mean, who doesn't love to hear the word "peepee" loudly broadcast across the store whilst you are shopping?? Good times.

She seemed to be on a "peepee" fixation, making several subsequent comments involving the showing of the pee+pee with certain articles of clothing that were under scrutiny.

I find it cute, what some parents teach their kids to call things.

"Peepee" is preferable to the anatomically correct label, I suppose, when one is out in public, and surrounded by strangers.

"Put that on and I'll be able to see your peepee!"

Great. I heard the mom shush her and say, "Alright, that's enough peepee talk!"

So then, the next thing I overheard was in the dressing room. Trying on clothes. I think the mom had an older daughter, and the little one. I first hear anxious worrying over toys - "Mommy!! Mommy! You forgot our toys!!"

I guess they were left in the cart with stuff they weren't trying on, because that's the explanation I heard. This little girl was very worried, though.

So the older one was trying something on, and the mom as well, and the littler one was in the same dressing room as the mother. I hear "Mom, look at this, I love it ..." from the older daughter.

Mom: "But you already have so many ..."
Older Daughter: "No, I don't! I only have that one, and this one is different ..."

Mom shushes the younger daughter, who is making some noise.

A bit of quiet ensues, with faint sounds of rustling clothing and personal adjustments being made.

And then, out of the blue - "I CAN SEE YOUR CRACK BUTT! I CAN SEE YOUR CRACK BUTT!!", followed by some nervous giggling. I don't know if she was feeling embarrassed, or utterly amused by her own hilarity.

Yeah, your "crack butt," mommy. As opposed to your clean-and-sober, or even merely-drunk, butt. Which shows.

You know what this girl makes me wish?? That I could just haul off and holler every little thing that pops into MY head with the running commentary on life's observations, yo.

Mom shushes her abruptly and in earnest, this time, and basically tells her to pipe down, because "That's ENOUGH". I get the distinct impression that mommy is feeling embarrassed. Not mad, just shy of thorough mortification.

I walked out, at that point, and was SO tempted to comment in passing, "I bet she gives you an earful every day, doesn't she?" but I thought that might be a trifle interefering.

And then, just as I was about to leave the store, they were looking at socks, or belts, or purses, or something, in that general vicinity, and I took a quick swing around jewelry.

I do remember edging past them, when they wandered over towards the bath and beauty products, and as I round the corner of the jewelry display, out of the blue, with only silence preceding it, I heard "You're the best mommy in the world."

At least, that's what I thought I heard. It was sweet. It was unprompted. And it also sounded a bit like "You're the Pest mommy in the world."

I mean, I didn't expect a lil Caucasian blonde kindergartener to use the word "pimpest," did I?

Mom, to Little One: "What? *laughs* Where did you learn that? Who taught you that?"
To Older Daughter: "Did you hear what she just said??"
Older Daughter: "No, what?"
Mom: "Say it again!"
Little One: "YOU'RE THE PIMPEST MOMMY IN THE WORLD!!!"

Oh, yes, she did.

I sort of love that kid.

I wonder what the family's holidays and barbecues are like.

More laughs than a barrel of monkeys, I'd imagine.

Have YOU shown your "pimpest peepee crack butt" to the world today?? :)

24/7

2008-07-23T02:20:00.000-07:00

First of all, I just now tried some C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine in the Black Cherry Soda flavor - $2, instead of $7.50, at this past Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale in June.
I have to say, I LOVE IT. I really don't go for minty lip thingies, but since I started with Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Raisin (sheer color), I find I don't mind the minty so much. I mean, mint on the lips - I can't help but think that it's just toothpaste run amuck with a lazy episode of brushing, you know? So, I will NEVER get the freaking Savannah Bee Company Lip Balm in Mint Julep ... but I am officially a HUGE fan of the C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shines.

Verdict: thick enough, VERY shiny, I don't recall much of the fruity cherry scent, but a nice tingly mint. And I love the look of the tube! Very major thumbs up. But I SWEAR I am not turning into a lip gloss fiend. :)

Also, tonight!!!

I went to dun-dun-DUN: WAL-MART!! Twice!!

I know. I am killing true American values just by stepping onto the property. I have been such a die-hard Target FANATIC the last few years, I didn't feel like diluting my devotion.

However, on the nice board, someone shared that they found plastic storage totes for super cheap ($2.25 and $1.50!!!). I had to check it out, especially since it was in the same complex as Mimi's Cafe, where I took my parents for dinner. No reason, just because. I was craving their very-special Cobb.

So, the Wal-Mart. I was feeling kind of hesitant. The last time I was there, I think was after Christmas. Sheer madness, and rampant pandemonium. I was there for ... more storage containers! I still think they have the best prices. And somehow I had remembered that they are open 24 hours a day.

But the disorganization, and relatively cheapy look ... blech.

Anyway, I was quite soundly surprised!! It actually is full of very polite customers, who struck me as being noticeably happy, cheerful, and just generally NICE. Even if it's late at night on a weeknight. Maybe I thought I'd meet some people like those that make appearances on this lovely site. Naaaaaah.

The place was clean - there wasn't stuff and pallets all over the place. Working scanners were a bit scarce, at the second Wal-Mart. Helpful employees were at both.

And the lines were not massively long, like they sometimes are ... but maybe that's just in the middle of the day. I DO, however, recall looking over the morass of lines and then feeling quite pleased with myself for spotting, and heading towards, the absolute SHORTEST line ... when I hear the rattling of a cart behind me. As I round the corner to the last straightaway ... she literally speeds up to try to race me to the finish line! I thought to myself, "Oh NO, you're not!" and then I saw her stop, and look at me in surprise, and say, "Oh, are you ...?" The mere fact that she did that, and took the long way around, incidentally, inclined me to let her go first.

It was a good deed for the day. I don't have any kids dragging behind me, like she did, nor do I have work in the morning. Lucky me.

Just about 500 pounds of loose stuff to get moved around. It goes very fast when it's boxed up, or dumped in storage totes. It's the sorting and organizing that eats up time. Wish me luck! :)

ARGH.

2008-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Good thing: The weather is super nice today. I kind of hate the sun - ironic, considering it's dang CALIFORNIA. Last night was nice also - cool, breezy, and today is overcast and NOT HOT.

Hooray: for getting a new garbage disposal! I NEVER use it, basically. I only run dirty dishwater down that side of the sink when I was dishes by hand - and seriously, it's only worked like, three times since I've lived here. I thought it was rusted. Not sure how that would happen, since it SHOULD be built to withstand, you know, water.

THAT THING WAS STINKING TO HIGH HEAVEN. Reek-OCITY. There are no WORDS. I have NO idea what the frell was going on in there, but it was broken, not spinning, and then it started getting all clogged. At first the water was going down slower than molasses, and then I just stopped putting stuff in there. But I dumped some cider vinegar down there to attempt to clear it out a bit ... and when it started reeking, half a box of baking soda as well.

I was ready to pass out yesterday. SO disgusting. AND yesterday was like brutal hot, so the stench was well nigh unbearable. What rots and smells like full-on vomit???? I didn't get it.

So I put in a call to the landlord and the maintenance guy came out today!!

Bad thing: The terrible state of my existence. I admit it - I am a messy Bessie. Actually, worse than that. I know of few people who are messier than I am - PROBABLY because the people who are, are just like me, and just don't invite me over to see the freaking DISASTER ZONE that is the living space.

I honestly wonder why I am like this. I remember being messy from when I was a whee lil child. I never liked cleaning. I don't remember doing much cleaning as a child - not much organizing of the closets, or bookshelves. I think we did dishes. That was kind of our chore. I don't remember sweeping, mopping, none of that. I remember getting yelled at all the time for having a messy room.

Truthfully, once it gets into that state, I think I have the personality where I am just utterly overwhelmed and don't even know where to begin.

So while the nice maintenance guy was up here in my "Oh, I am SO sorry it's a huge mess, I'm in the middle of cleaning a bunch of things [hah, it's like a constant state!]" - and then he needs to step over boxes and stuff KITCHEN ... I cleaned the bathroom. Just a bit. The counter, and the sink. I nearly always leave the windows open, because I cannot stand stuff like hot wet and humid bathroom CLOUDS. Blech. The freeway is also not too far away, and it's California, and the apartment is on a major street, though set back a bit, and it's California, so the black dust piles up like sand ... because it's California.

So I had gray grout on the bathroom countertops. It's all pure white along the walls, etc., but gray and dirty (and YES, even ORANGE, because the rusty pipes are just ... let me stop there) along the horizontal surfaces.

So I cleaned it a bit. Got out my 75% off Target find of pre-moistened vinegared wiping and cleaning cloths, and went to town. Took stuff off the windowsill, wiped those down, scrubbed the grout ... the pack of wipes is so old that even with the sticky flap closed, it's kind of drying up ... but they are good cleaning clothes. I'd rather use those than an old rag. I scrubbed the rag all holey.

And I realized JUST how much I actually visually, asthetically, and psychologically ENJOY a clean, white, bright and shiny sink. I gave up after a while in trying to get the grout blinding white, but I also know I am unduly attentive to detail and a bit perfectionistic, in the totally-unproductive, ADD way ... and just focused on the sink. Scrubbed that puppy down, and it was WHITE like bleached teeth.

Gosh. Nice. Reminds me of the dang Fly Lady (cleaning and organizational guru) and her "shine your sink" routine.

And immediately after, I also realized to myself that as much a clean sink is a GREAT thing ... I don't really love it as much as I loathe cleaning it. Like, the 20-30 minutes I spent spiffing it up, were not QUITE worth the 15 seconds of pure, calm enjoyment that I got afterwards. You know? I can totally live in filth. I admit it. I do my part for the environment by CERTAINLY not taking too many showers. The showers I do take, I may spend a bit overlong in them. But two showers a DAY??? The water here is so dang hard, I'd be cracked like a dang Old Master painting in a week! I just think it's kind of stupid to dry yourself out with multiple hot showers a day, and then spend more time lathering on lotions and potions. That is not what I want to spend a majority of my life doing, thank you.

At the end of my life, really, I am not sure I want to (not that it will ever happen, really) be known for having a spotless house. Because that really does take so much time. GAH!!!!

So I have a clean bathroom sink and counter, and a kitchen sink that doesn't stink anymore. Hooray. Now for dishes, etc. Hand-drying is tedious, but it prevents the HORRENDOUS water spots that go everywhere with our super-hard water.

:)

I also just have to say - I have had Domino's pizza for three days in a row now, and today was the best yet. Medium thin-crust with grilled chicken, bacon, and beef, light on the sauce ... and then as soon as I took it home, I dumped a can of corn all over the top. Wednesday night (laaaaaaaaate night craving!) I had a medium with ... um, pepperonic, Italian sausage, ham, beef, and bacon. Yikes. I forgot to ask for thin crust, I was so sad. It was pretty good, still, though. Thursday for lunch, I ordered a Gotham and added the bacon. I have such meat cravings this week!! Blech.

But corn on pizza. It's a British thing. I recoiled and dry-heaved the first time I heard of it also. But it grew on me, and now I think it's a fantastic idea. I have always been a huge corn fan. I'm still getting used to the BBQ chicken pizza thing ... but considering all the random things California Pizza Kitchen throws on their pizzas, BBQ chicken isn't all that strange. The Thai pizza is still very inventive.

Inincible, apparently.

2008-07-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hahaha, it's been a while since I've posted. Not that I have nothing to post about, but I've found over the past year ... you can either spend time DOING stuff ... or, in my case, nothing at all ... or you can spend MORE time writing about it and posting to a blog. However, I understand that not everybody is as excessively detail-oriented and all ADD about things.

I think I really may have adult ADD. Yikes. A lot of the symptoms sure sound like me. And I heard someone say that she was a chronic procrastinator, and messy, and then took a webmd quiz for adult ADD, scored off the charts, went to the doc, who put her on anti-anxiety meds. She dropped 20 pounds and the procrastination went away.

SOMETIMES WE TOTALLY LOVE DRUGS!

There was a time, admittedly, in my life ... more in college, perhaps? ... where I would SO run around proclaiming that I loved drugs, and my best friend was named Ibuprofen. Heck yeah! Cramps suck. They went away when I started gaining weight in the last couple years. Three years ago, I went to a vitamin doc that my mom found, and took all his stuff. Dessicated porcine thyroid, evening primrose oil, and oooooooo - HOODIA. Well, I dropped weight, starting at the new (now old and former, darn it :( ) school, and apparently the moms of kids in OTHER classrooms in my building asked their teachers what I was doing.

:D

I stopped taking the stuff, just got out of the habit, since it was a pain when I was working - some pills FIRST thing in the morning, some half hour before eating, some right after eating, pills pills pills. What a waste of money, since they are still sitting in my kitchen on the shelf.

Anyway, I thought the lack of cramps and HORRENDOUS monthlies had to do with the weight gain, but maybe it was just an adulthood thing. I'm middle aged, I think! Almost there. People push the middle-aged boundary, technically. I mean, if the average lifespan is like, 64, or even 70, then 32 IS MIDDLE-AGED. AND SO IS 35 .

There's your happy thought for the day.

So, I found a really cute new blog, and it's apparently more popular than I can ever dream of becoming. That's fine, because life and blogspot is not a frickin contest. But I found great cute stuff on there. http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/ It's very cute. (What's not quite as cute is another one of the Technorati Top 50 blogspot blogs ... geez, there are some very controversial Asian chicks out there. I'm just sayin'. And I never knew. Yikes. They're so ... stereotypical. Unreal, physical-appearance-wise. I don't know whether to be scared or admit that on a certain level, they are very attractive, if altogether FAKE. Anyhoo. :) )

It also led me to some revelatory moments.

Let's start with this, shall we?

You know who I love. This!!
So, that led to this: http://www.sanriotown.com/psycho/psycho.htm Yeah. I should have taken a hint when the word "psycho" is in the address TWICE. This is what was so cleverly revealed:

OKAY, friends, y'all better watch out!! I AM NOT REALLY SENSITIVE. VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO CARE ABOUT OTHERS. In other words, EVIL.

Ok, I guess I should work on that. The funny thing is, when I retook it to try to get the worst possible score, I actually did 20% better. Yikes. This is not good. And then I tried to be VERY caring in the choices and I scored 70%. So now I kind of feel like a manipulative b!tch. :)

Then I started poking around Quizzilla and found an interesting something from whence the title of this post cometh:

What saying are you?

Created by imperial-dragon

17637 other people got this result! That's 21%

Inincible, breaks all resistance and conquers all obstacles (May not sound it but is a actual saying)

You are very confident. You really dont give two hoots about what other people think about you. You have the confidence, skills and abilities of a leader. But whats most important, you have moral perserverance!! They are few people in the world who can stick to their own morals and beliefs. The human mind is easily swayed and people easily give up what they believe in order to go along with the common crowd. You dont care about trying to fit in. If you know you are right and what you are doing is correct, you will go along with it till the very end.

Isn't that just peachy.

And with another quiz ...
What Font Are You?

Times New Roman - You can come off slightly stodgy. You are often found in intellectual circles, but the average person finds you boring.

OK, now that's practically getting offensive. I will say, TNR is not one of my favorites. I much prefer Helvetica. OK, maybe I can deal with being boring TO THE AVERAGE PERSON. Down with being all AVERAGE AND STUFF!

I was also told

You have very high self-esteem!

Your level of self-esteem is higher than most, but good for you! The only thing about having as much self-esteem as you do is people can tend to think you are a little pushy, and may get into peoples faces more than they would like.

You bet I do. Um, what's wrong with that. Also, check this one out if you want to poke your eyes out with a stick. It is PAINFUL. Along the lines of something I've lifted and pieced together from another quiz, verbatim ... you're "Subaschun" from the Little Mermaid just "cilling" in "Figi". Yes. Really spelled like that.

Too bad the color on this one doesn't show up:

you are mediumturquoise
#48D1CC

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.

Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it.

Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Actually, there were a few more quizzes that I found EXCEPTIONALLY interesting. I'll start with one I didn't do so very hot on ... Famous or Unknown Artist? I did okay on it. I think I got 67%. But who knew A.H. (haha, it's in initials so I don't give away any answers!) was an artist like that?

I also kicked major booty on Donald Judd, or Cheap Furniture? Surprisingly well, actually. Yay! 92%, and I never even heard of the guy. Or maybe I just REALLY know what is Wal-Mart furniture!

Probably my FAVORITE quiz was the one about spotting a fake smile. "Most" people are "surprisingly bad"?? Excep they didn't quantify the scores so I don't know what exactly is considered bad. I think 16/20 rocks, though.

Also, in case you wondered, I am a 100% expert at bird crap. And missed only one (86%, baby!) in distinguishing Artist vs. Ape. But I bombed the prose one. 17%! OUCH.

Actually, I did pretty badly on all the prosey ones. Oh well.

I'm currently chipping away at the obscene amounts of cleaning and organizing that I have to do in the kitchen, with my out-of-control dishes collection. Oops. Washing and drying by hand ... the spots from the hard water on the dishes are SO bad!! Geez.

But I'll be moving my beloved and barely-used dining room table to my parents' place this weekend, so all that needs doing. Hmm. Too bad I can't invite my downstairs neighbor over for a little tea party now, since as of this weekend I will no longer have a dining table. Ha! Actually, come to think of it, I suppose we could simply recline on my couch and have an informal afternoon tea.

Whee. I'm hungry.

Burger Smackdown: Head to Head

2008-06-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

OKAY, so I know it's been forever since I posted something. Also, I was wrong (mostly, kind of) on the whole wheeeeeeee Girlicious thing. HAHAHA! Haven't heard from them since the show ended, now have I?? I guess skanks don't invite me to their functions.

That said, the end of the school year came like blazes, I am EARNESTLY thankful I videotaped the kidlets singing joyously to a ripped youtube karaoke video of High School Musical's "We're All in This Together", and while I FULLY intended on blazing through my packing up at the school this week ... It's Thursday and I haven't even left the house for two days.

THIS IS WHAT I CALL A VACATION! Also, it's too darn hot. All I can do is take a nice cool soak in my tub. Why does my tub skeeve me out? Probably because it's in an apartment, and who KNOWS what all has gone on here before. You know what I mean? Then again, a whole lotta people in this country, and all over the world, live in apartments, and probably NEVER think about the Ghosts of Previous Occupant. But somehow, I do, and I still get mail for ... Ronald Echevarria. Yikes. Anyway, of COURSE I HAVE scrubbed out the tub SEVERAL times in my year-and-a-half stay in this current apartment, but have never felt like stewing myself in it. My Bath and Body Works 3-in-1 Temptations on 75% off clearance tempts me, though.

Anyway, LAST time we had a burning heatwave, I took a little dip and it actually cooled me off a lot - just kicking my feet around in the water and splashing a bit. I can already feel the oppressive heat blanket bearing down around my head as we speak.

More recently, I have been busy scoping and drooling over Bath and Body Works' semi-annual sale, and looking for THE HIDDEN DEALS. I also bought a bunch of stuff that I want to try out. One thing I DID try out and have decided I like a lot is Patricia Wexler's line that is sold there. I first heard of Patricia Wexler in some random article about Sarah Michelle Gellar, and her personally mysterious skincare routine. Anyway, I got $60 kits for about $12 last time, and the cleanser is super nice. I fully intend on posting some more about the Bath and Body Works haul, since I half-started heaps of posts in January at the LAST sale and never got around to finishing most of them to post.

AS FOR THE BURGERS.

Last weekend, I had a case of the munchies, and really wanted to try something new. For Mother's Day, I looked around http://www.yelp.com/ , found reviews for Cafe Hiro, and since it was literally 5 minutes away from my parents' house, that is where we went for Mother's Day dinner. It was so good, I dragged my parents back there two weeks ago for regular Sunday dinner. I'll put up my review of that place next!!!

So, as for last Saturday, I found awesome reviews of a place just down the street, which I feel like I always passed, but never felt like going to. I invited my downstairs neighbors, but they already had plans.

So then, I called in my order to Big Mike's, grateful for this, conveniently online:

I ended up ordering a regular Big Mike's combo, chili cheese fries (small), and the peculiarly intriguing Texas-Style gumbo.

Here is the burger:

It had a FAT (as in big, not as in fatty!) soft, crumbly patty, condiments, cheese, and split hot links. My hot links were on top, unlike the picture, wherein the links are at the bottom. Verdict? I do not like hot links. Blech @ the spicy meat. The burger was NICE, and very soft and chewy. I only ate about half of it, though, because I loaded up on the fries. I love the fries. My neighbor said the fries were run-of-the-mill frozen kind, and I certainly wasn't expecting Volcano Burgers-level fries, but they were excellent with ketchup.

In my A.D.D. way, may I SERIOUSLY just say that the french fries, and the FREAKING CHILI CHEESE FRIES, at Volcano Burgers, across from my old high school, are hands-down the best in the entire WORLD. YES, THEY ARE. Better than English chips. Super crispy on the outside, and soft in the middle. I have no idea how they time or measure the temp of that oil, but it is PERFECT. Perfect fries, awesome, addicting chili-cheese fries, and I love me some Volcano Burgers chili cheese dogs as well. Their burgers are okay, but nothing I crave.

I don't think I will crave a Big Mike's Burger, either, though I will probably stop by there for convenience, and for the fries. YUM. MEEEE. They do take about 20-30 minutes to complete an order, though, since apparently all burgers are made from scratch on order.

In the head to head, of COURSE I have to compare it with ... In 'N Out. Yes, I do. I had it Tuesday for dinner, heading home from Long Beach Towne Center. 2 burgers, animal-style, extra tomatoes. They even had a disclaimer taped to each register proclaiming the safety of their tomatoes, considering the recent scare. That's fine, I trust them. And I somehow just LOVE those dinky little uniforms, and those giant red aprons with massive giant-sized safetypins. It looks so cute.

Those burgers were freaking awesome. Love the spread, love the lettuce, love the grilled onions, love the tomatoes. In 'N Out, I will CRAVE. Good thing there's one about 5 minutes away, though Big Mike's is closer. Animal style is luuuuuuuuuvlie - mustard mixed into the patty, extra spread, grilled onions. AND EXTRA TOMATO.

So, as for Big Mike's, I got the pink lemonade drink with my combo, ate the fries with ketchup, and had the chili cheese fries. Um, no. They were put into a styrofoam container, which MELTED, much to my concern. That is not good. I also saw the guy putting the fries in the container, and then adjust a few stray, askew ones with his bare fingers. Then he scooped the chili over it, got the shredded cheddar out of the fridge, and put that on. The chili was okay, but no Volcano Burgers. Actually, the guy kind of cracked me up because he just sounded so entirely addle-pated on the phone - full-on NO idea what the frell was going on, dropping the phone half the time to go consult someone else about the questions I was asking. Ha!

Basically, I will go to Big Mike's to get a burger - bacon cheese, maybe? - with fries and a drink for $7. When I feel like it.

What was that, I also ordered the gumbo? Yes, I did. It looked a bit like this:

Okay, so the picture is of VEGETARIAN gumbo ... but the color and texture-looking-wise, is the same. It was not a good experience, sad to say. Not sure what I was expecting, but I've had gumbo at Popeye's Chicken (love their crawfish!), jambalaya at that place at Downtown Disney, and I KNOW it's not fully authentic.

The gumbo smelled nice, it was very very hot, but the FIRST thing to annoy me was the fact that it was listed on the menu as coming with rice and TWO sides ... and basically they give you ONLY a side of rice. I call foul!!!!

Also, it was so hot, that when I opened the bag and took out the rice, it had made a weakened half-open circle of plastic atop the gumbo. That can't be good.

The gumbo came wit lots of floating okra, shrimp, some imitation crab floating around, some sliced sausage, spices, and loads of chicken. Good glory. The chicken is skin-on, and got kind of slimy. Not nice.

I ended up scooping out the bits I like (sauce, shrimp, sausage, random bits of white-meat chicken) over the rice, and eating that.

And the rest I tossed. Tried it once, and no more, thank you!

It was very nice to say hello to Big Mike himself, though. He IS big. Frankly, he is not too dissimilar to this guy!
Good ole LaVell Crawford, from the last season of Last Comic Standing. Totally hilarious.

Bon appetit!

Mother's Day, two weeks late! (More to the point - Cafe Hiro!)

2008-05-26T22:44:00.001-07:00

Alright, I'm all about the tardy posting. This post is long overdue, and I have soooooo much to rave about, but quite honestly, it was the pics that my mom sent me that put me over the edge. I kind of wish we'd had more pictures of the food.

Mmm, the food. Well, it was super good!

Also, just to get my crassness out of the way - it is not cheap!!! But I will probably crave it a couple of times a year, so I can just plan for that. What bums me out is that I always drove by this place and totally, fully, gungho dismissed it because ONE time I walked by at night, it looked very deserted (totally thought the place was going to close shortly thereafter!) and the menu looked weird. I remember walking over there to check it out, willing to give it a shot ... and I've eaten at EVERY other restaurant in that complex on that corner. Mmm, Sweetee Thai! And even the sushi place, and the revolving door of joints that have occupied the western corner - I think it's Dragon King Chinese food there now. Also, I knew a PERFECTLY nice exchange student name Hiro when I was in college, but I have to admit I found him VERY unnattractive, and the bad associations with the name of the place, etc., etc., etc., .... I know, I am crazy.

So, fat lot I knew, passing up Cafe Hiro. Actually, what I really passed up was throwing lots of money at them over the years!!! Then again, maybe my tastes have changed since way back then as well. I was on a huge California Fish Grill kick for a few years ... I will definitely say that place is the ONE joint that made me love. to. eat. fish. Love, love, love love love. Amazing, amazing grilled salmon with garlic butter on rice, and a cute teeny little raisin and almond-sliver coleslaw that they forget to put in my to-go bag half the time. I also like the calamari (strips of the steak, I think), and the scallops are decent too. But those last two are the frozen breaded kind. The clam chowder is excellent as well. But the salmon. Go for the salmon. I think it used to be $5.95 or $6.95, when they just started, and now it's $8.95, which is okay. I was fully expecting it to be $12.95 last month, considering how they were raising prices every other month for a while. Their $1 Taco Tuesdays (only fish tacos) are CRAZY - get there early, or be prepared to WAIT!!!! They used to have breaded fried shrimp taco deals, and those were my absolute favorite. I don't think they have that on special on Tuesdays anymore. But I really was NOT into fish AT ALL before I tried that place ... so thank you, thank you!!!

Bye bye, Fish Grill!

OK then. So I checked out the raaaaaaaaaaaaave reviews for Cafe Hiro from yelp.com, and we hit it for Mother's Day: Dad, Mom, me, both sisters, and middle sister's fiance. Whee.

We made sure to stop by and make reservations for the evening on our way home from church, and yes, they did take reservations for 6 people ... but only for 7:30pm. It was a bit later than we wanted, considering work and such the next day, but we went ahead and took it.

I will say, the decor is beautiful, and cute, and they have a little river rock feature right up next to the window by our table. The wait was so. Freaking. Long. But we came in during the big dinner rush, so I think they were just swamped. Coming in later, the wait was certainly not as long for the table next to us. I swiped one of their seat cushions before they came because sitting on the hard wooden bench was not cutting it for me.

We ordered sooooooo much food - I love to do that when I first hit a place, to get sort of a feel for things.

Appetizers:

Calamari Friti: fried calamari covered with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
* Super, duper, yummy yummy - the cheese gave it a nice saltiness to the fried crunch and tender calammmmmmaaaaaari.

Crispy Fried Tofu: four pieces of tofu, deep-fried with onions in a spicy apple-ginger sauce.
* These were just okay. I think the tofu was nice and soft, but not as crispy as I like it. Dirty Chinese restaurants have better, super-soft, milky and crispy fried tofu with the most amazing sweet/savory sauce. I think this had some scallions and grated daikon on it as well.

Crispy Salmon Spring Roll: salmon spring rolls with sliced onions and a plum sauce.
* The server said there were two pieces only, which I didn't think would be a problem with that many appetizers for 6 people. However, TWO PIECES means ONE roll, cut in half - albeit served beautifully. They tasted okay. Nothing mind-blowing. Never had a salmon egg roll/chimichanga before. A picture of this can be found here.

Creamy Crab Cake: creamy crab cake breaded and deep-fried to a golden brown with a tomato sauce.
* This was probably the most disappointing thing, actually. I have to admit it. The portions are smaaaaaall. Not what I am used to, or what I prefer!! The crab cakes were little square-soap shaped, and the outside breading was nice, but the inside mostly had the consistency of mashed potato. I didn't taste much crab at all. Never had anything like this before, and probably won't order it again.

Before the entrees, we got the soup and the salad - mine didn't come with either, but we shared. They had the daily soup, a pumpkin soup, which was pretty nice - it had the texture of a pureed potato soup, and I think it was a pale pale orange - I like it okay, but I'm not a huge root-soup fan.

The salads were VERY nice! On the menu, they have the Mesclun Salad: mixed greens with a sesame-miso dressing. The salads are NOT very big, but the dressing is awesome. Nice and sweet and tart and I love miso. Not TOO dissimilar to the lovely, lovely, LOVELY dressing at Sango Sushi, just down the street. Interesting that it doesn't get rave reviews on yelp.com. But it's cheap!

Entrees:

These were fuuuuuuun!!

Front row, left to right: (Chicken? I forget what he ordered) Curry, Pork Cutlet (like Tonkatsu), Pasta Carbonara
Back row, left to right: Roasted Chilean Seabass with Asparagus, Roasted Chilean Seabass with Mushroom Risotto, Uni Spaghetti

Curry: I didn't try the curry, so I have no idea how it was. It seemed okay, though? I will say, the best curry I remember having was indeed at Curry House (the one in Cypress). The curry is brown, sometimes even a dark brown, like beef gravy, not yellow, or orange, or tan, or what have you - I guess it is a Japanese, not an Indian curry. Mm, Curry House.

"Kurobuta" Pork Loin Cutlet: Tender "Kurobuta or Black pig" Pork Loin Breaded and Fried to a Golden Brown w/ Demi-Glace Sauce or Citrus "Ponzu" Sauce, and Sauteed Vegetables
Okay, I admit this one was a little strange. My dad tells me that this is a special delicacy, this black pig business - because it has a solid chunk of lard rind on it. I'm sorry, but I can't eat that! I eat unhealthy enough as it is! I don't remember being wowed by it or anything, but I think the breaded crust was nice.

Carbonara: Spaghetti with Crispy Bacon in a Cream Sauce **Add Chicken and/or Spinach and/or Mushrooms
My sis had the spinach, since she loathes and detests mushrooms. No idea why! It was really, really, really rich. White sauce, that's all I remember. I think she was asking what was in it - eggs in the sauce, maybe?? And I like my bacon crispy, not carbonara. It's not something I would usually order if I'm eating out, I guess. Because I have a sick love affair with marsala, rather.

Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Asparagus: Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Asparagus, Tomato and Garlic-Lemon Soy Sauce.
My sis ordered this off the specials menu, but I think they have it regularly. It was sooooooo good. What a great piece of fish, I can't tell what it is, anyway. Some people say they think it's not Chilean seabass. I had great Chilean seabass at Kabuki, too, though. It was very very good, boiled asparagus, from what I could tell.

Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Mushroom "Risotto": I have no idea why "Risotto" is in "quotes". It was yummy, as well. Great, great fish! Portions small. :( Very teeny weeny. I don't remember the risotto that well, but gee, I loved the fish. Here's a pic!!

Sea Urchin/ "Uni Spaghetti ": Sea urchin spaghetti with toasted seaweed.
I'd seriously never heard of this, but it got rave reviews on yelp, so I finally ordered it since it was the ONE thing I was DETERMINED to try, which nobody else seemed interested in having. I love the uni. But maybe it wasn't totally fresh? Bah, what do I know, I think it was the first time I'd ever had uni. I heard about it before - never had it on sushi/nigiri. My former mentor teacher my first year of teaching, she was from Lebanon - she told me she remembered going down to the port and finding sea urchins, breaking them on the rocks and sucking them out RAW. Um, sounds fun, I guess.
But back to the pasta. It did have a briny, fishy, sea-smell. But I kind of love that. Great sauce, great pasta al dente, I freaking HATE and loathe wasabi, so I picked the smidgin of that off, and the toasted nori seaweed is a fun touch. It reminds me of the gruel/rice porridge/congee for breakfast, with the jars of roasted sesame or dried shredded fish or pork sprinkles. And the sesame seeds. Hooray!

Desserts:

Panna Cotta - A soft and creamy pudding with fresh seasonal fuits.
Walnut Creme Brulee (they have it spelled Creme Crulee on the site :P)

I like the creme brulee okay - I admit to not being much of a discriminating critic of creme brulees. I haven't met one I didn't like, including the septuplets at the Wynn Buffet a few years back! It wasn't too nutty, which was good.

THE PANNA COTTA WAS MINDBLOWING. I love cream. Hate milk. Non-fat milk, sick. It's like drinking white water. Better now than before, when the first non-fat thing came out, but STILL. I'd much rather have my cereal with half and half, and I once lined up 30 creamers at the little campus cafe in college, and I downed them like shots. Never again.

The panna cotta, which was often mentioned in the yelp reviews, was seriously amazing. I will try making some my dang self, I think, since it's basically sugar, cream, and gelatin. Right??? Gah. I love the consistency, like a thick, slightly chunkified yogurt, it was very smooth and silky and creamy and sweet, and the fruit was great. One of my favorite desserts of all time now, and I think it is super easy to make. Hooray!!!

And to add: I dragged my parents back here to Cafe Hiro about two weeks after Mother's Day, because I was craving that awesome, amazing, weird uni spaghetti.

We ordered the calamari rings again (still very good, but slightly too salty this time), I got the Roasted Chilean Seabass with Mushroom Risotto AND Uni Spaghetti (numm!!), I made my dad get the Osso Bucco because THAT got great reviews as well, and my mom got the BBQ Beef Salad.

We ate everything. Seabass STILL great and awesome, but I am still disappointed by their portion sizes. I would like to try the uni risotto sometime, maybe with the grilled scallops!!! My dad liked his Osso Bucco okay, and I thought it was okay. Reminds me a lot of pot roast, basically, but the meat was good, the sauce was nice and dark.

He got it with the rice.

The surprise of the night, which I will DEFINITELY order again (only $7.50, I think!!) was the BBQ salad! Wow, that salad is amazing. So good. The meat was so good and tender and amazing. I think it was medium well. It was definitely red in the middle, and I'm sorry, but I like my meat bacteria-free FUR SHUR. If all meat tasted like THAT, though ... bring on the redness!! Great salad, with a great dressing, again. We did get the soup and salad with our entrees, and this time the "pumpkin"/squash soup was greenish. Tasted about the same. Maybe slightly bland and watery??? But seriously, it was all of about a half-inch of soup in a platter and not very much. DON'T COME HERE IF YOU WANT HEAPS OF FOOD!

I wanted to get a dessert, but didn't feel like justifying the cost. And I already had the two entrees. I liked the uni spaghetti again, maybe it was a bit salty this time too ... but I had my fix and won't need one for a long time, I think.

Next time - scallops and that amazing BBQ beef salad!! :)

A review with pictures

another review

Found a new blog.

2008-05-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I will add it to the blogroll yet. I will have to peruse more. Gorgeous pictures, though. Californian meets Frenchy and moves there and starts buying up antiques.

Tongue in Cheek - stories and things collected while living in France.

I thought it was interesting to start from the beginning.

Wikipedia and the Eiffel Tower

2008-05-24T14:54:00.001-07:00

On my next trip to Europe (hopefully next summer? Since tentative-though-initially-firm plans for a trip this summer are now axed), I will visit Paris and look for an Eiffel Tower snowglobe, probably (though not preferably) made in China.

I have a snowglobe from Venice that I bought for €5 in 2006, my sister gave me one from New York (at my request) for Christmas 2007, and I guess I'm still greatly influenced by that movie Equilibrium, and the scene with Christian Bale when he finds the room with artifacts ... including an Eiffel Tower snowglobe.

I don't think I've yet encountered THE ONE, but I particularly like this one:

Though I could live with having this one:

And this is a very nice and pretty picture as well:

Now, I've read that the very first snowglobes were actually of the Eiffel Tower, sold as souvenirs for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World's Fair), though the wikipedia article about snowglobes states they appeared in the EARLY 1800's in other parts of France. In any event, it is clear that one of the earliest known snowglobes is of the Eiffel Tower, from the late 1800's. This paperweight museum in Wisconsin has one. I want one.

I still remember going down to see the fireworks on the Eiffel in 1998. My memory is fuzzy, and I don't think I took many pictures, but it was Bastille Day (July 14), similar to our 4th of July. I guess they also call it the 14th of July over there, as well.

In 1998, France, the host of the World Cup, just ALSO happened to have won the finals the day before, so it was quite a big dust-up. There were parades during the day, some jets flew overhead, and lots of flags. Lots and lots of flags. I remember one of my traveling partners taking a really cute shot from behind of a toddler waving a little French flag, and trying to be surreptitious and sneaky about it. I have never encountered anyone in Europe who has denied me the request of taking a picture of their child, but maybe they aren't as paranoid about some things as Americans may be. Also, it's nice to take candid shots of children sometimes, rather than the deer-in-the-headlights look they may adopt.

Anyway, we trudged down to find a decent viewing spot, and I totally forget where it was. What I remember is that the fireworks were horrendously late. Over an hour, I think. I can't seem to remember if the French are known for not starting on time or something. Probably not. And they turned off all the lights on the tower for the fireworks. When they finally got going, I remember red, and blue, and pink fireworks shooting off from the top of the tower and off to the side. It wasn't AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING (I was quite impressed by the fireworks I'd seen in Florence in mid-June, during the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which we totally caught by accident - the first time I'd ever seen happy face fireworks and heart-shaped fireworks ... and also stood in the street for an hour breathing in motorscooter fumes because nobody turned anything off), but it was very very memorable. But come on! Fireworks! On the Eiffel Tower!! When I am in Paris, France!! It was a nice experience.

Especially since after the fireworks had finished, because they'd started so late, we'd missed the last metro back to our hostel and had a lengthy walk in the middle of the night.

Paris, 1998. The bakery down the street from our hostel had the best croissant I'd ever tasted in my life. I took my sister to Europe in 2004 and we stayed there again, as well. I got us lost. Waaaaaaaaay into the outer industrial arrondissements, when I was JUST trying to walk us down to Notre Dame and maybe catch a glimpse of the Eiffel. Oops. Guess it's pretty bad when there's an intersection of TWO STREETS WITH EXACTLY THE SAME NAME. However, I DID buy a creme brulee at another little bakeshop and it was divine. And at least we went to Sacre Coeur (fond memories!) and having read up beforehand on scammers, definitely saw all them dudes with the bracelets ripping people/couples off.

So, on to more wikipedia. I don't know WHAT it is, but somehow I always end up on that site. I'm a big ole nerd, basically. The internet is the best library that has ever, ever, ever been invented and I am grateful for it every day. I love to read. I love to research. I look everything up and find it all fascinating. And apparently, Hitler told this guy to demolish Paris and sack it before leaving, including busting up the Eiffel tower, but he didn't. I love this guy, I guess!!

Generally, I try to take everything with a grain of salt, but sometimes I get a little too excited.

I love the wikipedia article about the Eiffel Tower because it also has some seriously neat photographs.

This page has another history of the tower, with a picture of the plans!! Wowee. This site is another nice page.

So somehow I found this picture:

Which I just thought was ... totally mesmerizing, and fairly shimmering with pathos. I thought it was a picture of Russia, or someplace. But no. I totally had my mind blown.

*Warning - the next part of this particular post gets kinda intense with WWII-related material, so be forewarned - it's not exactly happy stuff.

This picture is from the wikipedia article about Oradour-sur-Glane, a town in France near Limoges. It was obliterated by the Nazis (a good portion of the perpetrators were actually from the French Alsace, as well, though that part gets left out sometimes) when 642 of the townspeople were killed in one day - the men rounded up and shot, mostly in the legs, so they were too injured to run before being burnt in the barns, and the women and children barricaded in the church, machine-gunned, and torched as well. There were 6 survivors, including one seven-and-a-half year old boy. The only one to survive the church was a woman who was shot five times, but able to climb up a ladder in the rear of the church and hurl herself through a window that was 10ft off the ground so she could hide in the garden between a row of peas or cabbage. The rest of the men survivors pretended to be dead so they would not be shot, and only ran out of the burning barns when they were starting to be burned themselves. There was a mason amongst them who was able to make a hole in one wall so they were able to escape. I think at least one of the men is still alive today.

And then I'm thinking to myself, am I uneducated? Why have I never heard of this??? I think there have been several films made about this specific event, but honestly, until today, I had never heard of it, much less of WWII tragedies in France involving mostly civilians. I know there was the French Resistance, and Normandy, but ... anyway.

I found the picture mesmerizing, and started looking up more information about it. What I find utterly fascinating is seeing the pictures - some pictures before June 10, 1944, some immediately after, and some taken quite recently. It is compelling for me to find vintage pictures and compare them with contemporary pictures at the same location, from the same vantage point, or of the same subject.

Anyway, seeing old pictures of the town, with more recent pictures, is just fascinating - there are pictures of the church, the post office, and of course, the doctor's (now thought to be the wine merchant's) car abandoned in front of the building. There are several very good sites, but this one is a particularly beautiful and comprehensive one.

It is a bit sad and depressing, especially once you start watching some of the videos from youtube, but it's one of those things that just feels more human not to ignore or overlook it.

So then, in terms of pictures, the WEIRDEST thing I found was pictures on wikipedia with captions such as "This image was selected as a picture of the day for July 04, 2008. It was captioned as followed: English: Car and buildings in Oradour-sur-Glane" and "This image was selected as a picture of the day for June 05, 2008. It was captioned as followed: English: Champagne Pool, Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland / New Zealand."

I was like, wait, what day is it???? I CAN SEE INTO THE FUTURE!! Quite cool, actually, to come upon that by accident - and I only clicked on the picture because I recognized it from my trip last year!

Not quite the same impressive effect, eh??

Anyway, wikipedia has already chosen the pictures of the day for all of June and July if any curious readers would like to check it out.

I will end this post (finally!) with one of the most beautiful pictures I can ever recall seeing.

Food.

2008-05-24T14:52:00.001-07:00

Whoo, it's been a long time since I posted!!! (As Tiffani and Lauren pointed out on Thursday ...)

Speaking of which, yes, we got together on Thursday for "A Taste of Seal Beach"!!

From the Long Beach Press Telegram:
Seal Beach event

"Taste of Seal Beach" will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the McGaugh Elementary School open house.

Area restaurants will donate menu items to benefit the school charity, Seeking Excellence in Education for our Kids, or Project SEEK, which gave $104,046 for the 2008-09 school year in February.

Tickets for Taste of Seal Beach are $10 for adults and $5 for children and will be available at the door of the McGaugh gym, 1698 Bolsa Ave.

Lauren emailed to ask if we'd be interested in attending, Little Miss Foodie that she is. It was nice to see them again, and I should have brought my camera, because I like to take pictures of get-togethers and sometimes forget to. And K is a CRACK-UP. "Meow." It would have been nice to take a picture of the food, as well.

I think it's amazing that the restaurants donated the food! How fun. The line was semi-long, but not too bad, and then they gave everyone a school lunch tray to fit everything on. We were going to go outside to sit and eat, till the little middle-school bouncer girls informed us that we could leave ONE TIME ONLY!!!! Hmm. So we went back into the gym, and just as we were about to claim 2 plastic garden chairs, they were snatched up. So we stood around a table and ate. I just wanted to clean the plate off so I could have room for every booth there!

There were a couple of standouts, fer shur, and places I will probably bring my family to if we get the chance. I went back to the list Lauren included in her email, since I wanted to remember what-all places were there.

320 Main - I can't remember!!! They were there, though. Maybe they were the place with the wraps? There was one place where I had a BBQ chicken in an avocado wrap. It was a bit soggy, but would probably be quite good hot and fresh.
Beachwood BBQ - pulled pork sandwich (some slaw on it, too, interesting) and root beer, which I declined.
Blackboard Bistro - I got a turkey, lettuce, and tomato on wheat with mayo. Maybe it was a turkey BLT, which I see on their menu.
Bogart's Coffee - iced vanilla latte, which was REALLY good. Yikes. Even better with some of Starbuck's half-and-half thrown in. I almost went back for the mocha just to try it out. I have cravings for iced coffee now, probably half due to McDonald's commercials on TV recently.
Cold Stone Creamery - at first I thought I missed it, then I realized that I DID see cups of ice cream and passed on them because I don't have much of a sweet tooth ... and I'm swimming in self-control, natch.
El Burrito Junior - stingy spoonful of spanish rice (like Rubio's), two tortilla chips, and a spoonful of watery salsa/juice/puree. Ha! Weirdos. I think they thought I was back for round #2 because apparently I look like a greedyguts. Or maybe they misinterpreted the meaning of my obviously-used tray and appearance at their station. I wasn't leaving till I tried everything!
Finbars - I BELIEVE this was the place with the freaking amazing pasta. It was simple, and basic, but really good. You KNOW food is good when it smells and tastes good after you've been eating for a half-hour already. :) It was multi-colored rotini with sundried tomatoes in an aglio e olio. Yum! They also had a meatball in marinara sauce, which was just okay. How is Finbar's Italian, though? Sounds Irish, like a Finnegan O'Malley and ...
Hennessey's - maybe it was a big Irish boycott, because I don't remember this place either.
Islands - they had chicken strips and caesar salad. Whee, the caesar salad was super good!! I saw ONE halved chicken strip in honey mustard sauce left when I got there, and asked for it, and chick tells me, "Sorry, we're out." WEIRDO! Maybe it was her dinner??? Then they cleaned up all the rest of the dozen cups that were set out with honey mustard and barbecue sauce. Heh.
Jamba Juice - I think they had smoothies with granola - mango or blueberry. I went with mango and it was just so-so.
Mahé Restaurant - tuna roll. It was okay. Kinda bland.
Marie Callender's - a very nice spinach salad with orzo, walnuts(?), and citrus dressing. I think this was also the place with tri-tip!
McDonald's - hamburgers and cheeseburgers, I think, and maybe coffee. Like I took up room in my stomach with Mc-Heavin'-Donald's. I already had dinner there 3 times last week with the 25¢ Chicken McNuggets!! Used to be 5/$1, though.
Naples Ribs - Louisiana Sausage Bites and BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad ... YUM!
O'Malley's - some dang spicy chili, yo. Were these "the most popular" items from each place? Because friggin' spicy Irish chili is not anything I would have ever considered. The guy was very nice, though!
Patti Bakes - cheesecake, man. Little mini cheesecakes in mini cupcake papers. I only tried the plain one. The guy next to me was raving about them and asking his wife, "Hey, hon, would these work if we got a bunch of these?" And he asks Miss Patti how much 100 would be, for some kind of party, I'm assuming, and she actually says she doesn't know, because she usually sells them in batches of a dozen. I'm like, does she need business, or does she not?? He's asking for 100 and you can't give him a price?? 12x8, man, come on!
Panda Palace - pretty sure they didn't come!
Pick Up Stix - pretty sure they didn't come either! What's with the Asian food no-shows.
Rubio's - maybe I got this place mixed up with El Burrito Jr. Oops.
Starbucks - like, duh. What else.
Taco Surf - a little taquito! I forget what was inside. Flesh, right, probably?
Tropical Juice - a pink berryish slush.
Walt's Wharf - seriously awesome clam chowder. Wow! It was one of the first things I tasted and one of my favorites, but then again, I am a full on seriously out of control clam chowder FREAK. I went and asked for seconds, which they had no problem giving me!
Woody's Diner - at this point, I have no clue, because this took way longer to type than I had anticipated. I kind of think they weren't there, though.
Yucatan Grill - there was a super yellow rice, and some ahredded beef, I think it was. He also had fried plantains as well as tortilla chips with salsa. I only tried the rice and beef. I looked up the site and apparently it's Mexican/Caribbean! That explains the plantains, I guess.
Z Pizza - I had the pepperoni. They also had cheese, and a mushroom onion, I think, as well as veggie wraps which looked a bit soggy.

Well, freak. So the Finbar's pasta dish was QUITE memorable. And pasta aglio e olio is very easy to make. I remember making it all the time in college, on the cheap. Soooooooo much garlic. One time one of my housemates (senior year) felt sorry for me watching, me eat only garlic, oil, and pasta, so she gave me a mini can of spaghetti sauce. It turned out nice, actually, and mixed better than I thought it would. Too much garlic = flatulence, though, so you gotta watch it.

So I was all inspired this week and decided that I was gonna make it for dinner. Then last night I passed by El Pollo Loco and I haven't been THERE for ages, so I had my usual chicken tostada salad (looooooooove it) with some $1 drumstick legs and CHURRRRRRRRRROS. SO. GOOD.

And I was brainstorming lunch today, and realized I have both clams AND half and half, along with half an onion in the fridge, so I could make a basic plain clam chowder ... AND the pasta ... and then I started craving some couscous.

Couscous. Seriously, if you haven't tried it, it is DA BOMB. So easy to cook, goes with everything, lovely consistency. My half-English auntie made it for dinner once when I stayed with them in England in 2006, otherwise I never would have tried it. She put some chicken and red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes in it, and I wanted to lick the pan. Didn't realize how easy it was to cook. Then I found some at Big Lots, and I was sooooold. It is yummy with mushrooms and shallots and peppery olive oil.

Anyhoo, I THOUGHT an aglio e olio recipe should be easy enough to find online, and then I remembered that I have the best pasta cookbook in the whole world:

I randomly got it a few years ago when I was browsing through Tuesday Morning (that store scares me now) and remember raaaaaaaving about it with the fellow kindergarten teachers ... once of whom is married to an Italian, so I don't know why she thinks she needs this book. I told her I'd get her a copy if I ever ran across one again, but I didn't.

I had only tried one recipe - the linguine/spaghetti alla vongole, and it was stunning. Seriously unbelievable. I did not realize how good easy, basic stuff could taste. My dad had gotten about a pound of fresh clams, I wanted to try a recipe, so I did, and the TECHNIQUE he used is what won me over. Never thought about undercooking pasta before draining it, then finishing cooking the pasta IN the pot WITH the clam broth. It made all the difference in the world!

Also: whee, butter.

I am happy to see that the reviews on Amazon are 5 *s across the board, with 21 reviews, and this blogger wrote about it too, on the other side of the world, and exactly a year ago!

So I referred to the trusty Hazan tome for a basic aglio e olio, the first recipe in the book. I remember reading it over before and not being SUPER impressed, because it looks so easy.

So I basically followed it, though usually I am an eyeballer and cook very informally - never use measuring cups or spoons or whatever, so I guess I cook a al Rachel Ray. I was also feeling very Rachel Ray because I neglected to throw the skins from the garlic and junk into the trash bag, but threw them in my "garbage bowl."

Garbage bowl. Seriously, I saw one of hers at Kohl's a few weeks back, and wanted to vomit. Her bowl LOOKS like it's made out of dried, crusty vomit. I thought it was the stupidest idea ever. And it's like, $20.

Feast your eyes:

I love the comments and reviews at Chowhound, and apparently some people really buy into this. Good gravy!

In terms of saving time, if one has a ridiculously enormous kitchen, I mean, maybe. I use the plastic bags from the grocery store, and always have. Dad taught me that. I have never ever purchased garbage bags, it's a ridiculous idea to buy things to throw away. I suppose it saves me a total of 5 minutes to throw stuff in a bowl instead of stuffing it in the garbage bag. My kitchen ain't big enough to justify that. And pukey salmon mottled plastic??? What was she thinking. I feel nausea just looking at it. I prefer my clear, gold-flecked $1 plastic bowl from Target (long live post-Christmas clearance!).

ANYWAY. I did the pasta, probably put too much olive oil in, but ... it was nice. Oil, and I had some leftover spring onion pasta in the pantry, and I broke out my brand new Oneida chopper since the thought of mincing all that garlic (5 large cloves, baby!) was daunting. It was so fast! But I made sure to rinse everything off right away since I wouldn't want everything all garlicky if that's the first thing I ever chopped.

That was all I had for lunch, I ended up not making any clam anything. Maybe for dinner, if I'm still hungry.

All this to say, I have discovered a truly GREAT kitchen secret with regards to chopping garlic.

I usually prefer to hand-mince it. Cut off the part where it is attached to the bulb (does that have a name??? I'd love to know), slice almond-shaped slivers, baby julienne, then cut across to a very fine mince. It's quite time-consuming. I tried a garlic press once, but maybe it was horrible because it basically just juiced them - maybe I need a sharper-bladed one?? I think I will make use of the chopper from now on, though the garlice gets so fine it sticks to the blades and retracts up into the body of the chopper and some goes to waste. Boo. And my neighbor swears by the jars of pre-minced garlic, but somehow that does not appeal to me.

And my dad always seemed to flatted the garlic before he cooked with it. He'd press on it with the flat of the all-purpose cleaver, just enough to break the skin but not crush the clove to pulp. I've seen this done with the bottom of a can, as well, but usually I use the heel of my hand. But that hurts sometimes.

Well, in the midst of my garlic prep, I realize HOW easy it is to actually peel garlic by just twisting the skin in opposite directions between the fingers.

This is like an epiphany for me. I wonder if/how many other people know this. It's what I'm going to do from now on!

Happy cooking!

Guilty pleasure -

2008-04-01T02:01:00.000-07:00

Girlicious! (I might add some links at a later time if I feel up to it. I KNOW y'all know how to google-it. :) )

Man, I love trashy TV. And these girls are horrrrrrriffic. In a way that seriously has me wanting to experiment with some mondo make-up-gun-set-to-"Working-Girl" kinda levels.

This show also made me look up another singer who is not HUGE, but has definitely gotten major airtime ... I is so sorry, but she be seriously harsharoonie on zee eyeballs. I won't say who, but daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang. She gots a face made for radio. And I wasn't even that shallow, I thought, but now I notice stuff like that. I would feel less bad about saying all this, Miss Publicized, if she didn't have stupid-arse ridiculous videos (as they ALWAYS do) proposing the laughable concept that she is indeed sooooooooo sek-say and stops traffic. That anvil banging over my head weighs at least a gazillion tons, YO. *gag* She was born in 1989, though. ;)

I think I was "researching" [trolling myspace] and following links and stuff and found a video that someone had done with aforementioned ESTABLISHED singer. I totally could have lived my life just fine not ever having watched that useless business.

Anyhoo, I just want to put this out there well in advance, because my "research" resulted in some interesting findings ...

I predict the final three for Girlicious - right now, I'm predicting it - will be Natalie, Carrie, and Chrystina.

Yeah, I said it. And I know why! "Research." Now let's see if I'm wrong :P.

Update from a Barkeeper

2008-03-22T21:31:00.001-07:00

Hi there, folks!

Dang, I'm always bad about posting around this time of year. It is called BURNOUT!

Anyhoo, the reason for the title???

The Long Beach outdoor market at Vets Stadium again.

I went last Sunday and I was feeling all chagrined with my mental vacation self because I forgot my hat at school. I should buy another one and leave it in the car or something. I now find that since I used a hat and sunglasses in my trip in 2004, I feel a bit lost without them.

Then again, since I got my new glasses, I haven't gotten a desperately-needed new pair of sunglasses that will actually fit the frames.

Anyhoo!!

I bought some Pyrex. Of course. Because I am addicted to this stuff. There is one bowl I bought for $10 that is a darker blue, and I actually haven't seen too many of these so I don't know what the deal is. I'll either take a picture or snake one off the internet.

For those of you that love visuals, this was $10 also:

That is definitely not a great price, but I'd never seen it before and thought I would really regret not getting it because it is the shade of blue that I really like. I can always resell it, I suppose. I want to use more of this color in the kitchen. Have a Pyrex-themed/inspired kitchen and stuff.

So! I saw this one space that was nearly all Pyrex, and so tastefully arranged according to color. I chatted a bit with the lady and she was very nice and friendly. Their Pyrex was $25-$35, out of my range, and, in my opinion, out of the order of reason, basically. They had the dots Pyrex also, which apparently is rare and always goes for bigger bucks on eBay. I always love hearing about how to clean Pyrex properly since it's a collectible and I want to keep what I have in the best condition possible.

She mentioned this!

I remember hearing about this, probably when I was looking to remove the dingy rust marks in the white porcelain sink, but I was likely feeling all cheapskatey. Another very, VERY nice man that I met at Ola's Antiques who gave me a rare discount from his booth said he uses Softscrub to clean Pyrex. I saw him at a local estate sale last Friday, also. Just seeing him makes me smile, he is SUCH a nice older guy, retired, who just does this as a hobby. I LOVE NICE UNASSUMING PEOPLE! And he had pink glass, which I love. It was a pink Planter's jar. Hee!

So the lady mentioned that she found this Bar Keepers Friend stuff at Smart and Final for $7 a 3-pack, and I walked to the store up the street and got it this afternoon!

I tried it out on the sink and one rust stain it took out immediately, but the other one was stubborn even after three scrubbings. I think I will try some salt and lemon, because apparently that works.

Whee, we love chemistry. :) I should probably have tried this on my big rusty cheapo Kitchenaid ginsu knife before chucking it in the trash. Hmm.

As for the sink? Man, it does indeed look decidedly better. The friend of the keeper of the bar works wonders! I haven't tried it on Pyrex or my bathroom yet, though. But stuff like this makes me like, love cleaning, no easy task. Mmmm, cleaning. I love cleanliness, but not enough to do it every day, because I think I love laziness a bit more. I can't wait to try it on the bathtub, a household area with mondo scuzzy gross-out factor.

Before I hit Smart and Final, I also walked over to the thrift store up the street, because I've had my eye on some Pyrex plates. It is bagged in a set of 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, and 3 saucers. But no cups. :(

Originally? $29.98. Haha. Yeah right. It is now marked $18.98 but that is still too high for me. I have been checking for at least a MONTH to see if it will go down further because I can handle $10. These plates would go so well with my kitchen. They are not impossible to find but they aren't always as cheap as I like.

Basically, I was going to walk out with nothing, but I then spied a little mirrored vanity tray, EXACTLY to match the very, very, very first one I ever bought, which happened to be the very first time I went to the Vets Stadium and oopsy walked in through the back entrance and didn't pay the entrance fee. Heh. There was another vanity tray there, which I didn't like nearly as much since it wasn't as pretty, and it was also marked $5.95 instead of $2.92.

I ended up getting a mug as well, which I'd always seen but couldn't convince myself to buy, except that now it had been marked down to 90¢. It is red and it has a gold decal on it that says VIP! It is shaped like a beer stein and is rawther heavyish. Hee. I also hemmed and hawed and ultimately passed on the GREY glass dessert cups - there were two, and I think they were either $2 or $1 each.

And I just found the picture on eBay!

I love this listing, it's so funny. "Picture show 5, there are 8, other 3 did not make it to the photo session." What, were they held up in traffic or something?

Anyway, I did end up getting 4 adorable, dainty, little dessert cups for 60¢ each because they would make for an absolutely stunning berry/pudding/layered thing.

As I was checking out, one of the Japanese people I'd noticed walking in the store up and said, "You got a good deal!" She was looking at my vanity tray. She had picked up the other one, as well as a swirly candelabra. She asked about the price, since her tray was $5.95, and they called over another chick to see if they should both be the same price, but no go.

I swear, EVERY time I go to Vets Stadium I am seeing more and more Japanese people. I never encountered one in a thrift store before, though. I asked her if she was out here buying old stuff, and how long she was staying, and I recommended Vets Stadium to her, but she was only staying a week and the next one is on the 30th. She didn't seem to interested in hearing my suggestions for other local thrift stores, though. Her loss! She mentioned she's coming again in May, so I don't know WHAT is up with these Japanese people coming over and buying the stuff. They must be rich, firstly, to be all flying over here. Secondly - is it popular over there, coming to buy antiques?? The dollar is so lousy trash now, they may as well.

Speaking of which, I totally noticed a trio of Japanese women scoping out a white-painted foldable dessert tray server when I was at the antique market on Sunday. Jibber and jabber in Japanese, and they ended up not getting it, but one girl seemed to really like it. It was priced $29. I about died.

Because I got two of those at the big local thrift store for $2.95 each. WAZZAAAA!

The mark up I saw on stuff was seriously incredible this time.

There's a wire basket I use in the bathroom to hold extra toilet paper; it's on the toilet tank. I got it at about 30% off at Target, I think, for $6.98. On Sunday, I saw the SAME thing (I love to ask the prices of stuff for which I already know the ballpark price :P), finally found a little handmade tag, and it said "antique iron wire basket - $29.50". What on earth! No way.

It certainly isn't antique, much less vintage, and it's not even nearly as adorable cute as the other bigger one I got at the thrift store for $3.95. THAT one just has class and panache.

Later, I saw a cake stand. TOTALLY not old glass, NOT even that fancy, but it had the basic aura of old time with some glass beading along the edge of the foot and the plate. Made by Anchor/Hocking. $9.99 at Target. I bought it in December. SHE TOLD ME THE PRICE WAS $49, "And I believe it's [insert some random obscure American glassmaker whose name I don't even recognize but it probably starts with an H]."

Yikes, man.

Lesson? You now need to really know your stuff when you go to this market, or you will get totally hosed! :)

Lastly, there was the rag lady. Or, the rag couple. Except, the lady is the one that is really in charge and she basically calls the shots. They are an older Mexican (I think, but I ought not to assume) couple who buys rags, I guess, sorts through them, cleans them very nicely, and she has aprons and napkins and sheets and pillowcases and table runners and other nice linens.

I bought a beautiful redwork-type flat sheet (seriously, it was absolutely COVERED in gorgeous embroidery) for $35 in October or something. I was a bit pissed because the price tag said $25, but I have a feeling she changed it on me after I asked her to hold it for me. I got over it, though, because she charged me less than half on a couple other table runners I got, which were amazing french knots and stuff.

Anyhoo, she mentioned that she had matching pillowcases and I wanted to scream. Turns out she didn't bring them, but she said she would next time.

And I haven't been able to find these people since! They always have the same spot, and I missed a couple markets, but they said they at least hadn't sold them and would look again for them. They may be shams, because the lady said she separates shams since there aren't usually as many of those.

Anyway, the man was very nice, and ended up letting me have one pillowcase for $1 instead of $4 since it was fraying on one seam. It is basically a loss as a pillowcase anyway, but the embroidery is gorgeous and I want to use it on a craft or something.

What was a totally crazy altercation was this pair of women, and the guy/husband they went and got after spying a big crocheted bedspread. The chick with the Brit accent wanted it, they consulted with the guy after asking the price (which they thought was a bit steep), everybody was helping them with measuring, etc., I guess they couldn't agree on the price, and the next thing I know, there's this argument back and forth with talk of being "babied" and calling each other a-hole and whoa!!! Bad vibes, man.

But the man was nice to me since I am nice to him and I think I will keep doing that.

The only bummer in an otherwise lovely lovely day? I missed out on a Blue Willow (total reproduction, but still - I wanted it to match my cups and saucers that I have already!) teapot with sugar bowl. Missed out by 2 minutes. Walked up to the table just as another lady started looking at the teapot. :(

I walked away, hoping she would leave and I could come back, but she was thinking about it too, and finally, when I asked the seller about the prices, then looked at the sugar bowl, she decided to take it. Darn it! It was only $10, the bowl was $5, and they matched. Made in England. :(

But Marshall's and TJMaxx and freaking HOME GOODS are my new fixes for the pretty tea time pottery stuffs. Those will have to do.

Home Goods. Wow. Love that store. TJMaxx got me into the tea stuff (I should have gotten that pink teapot, darn it!! $10, Valentine's line), but now Marshall's and Home Goods are on my radar. I guess they are owned by the same parent company or something.

I DID find the teapot eventually, at Marshall's, on clearance, but it was missing the lid!! I bought it anyway, then regretted it and returned it. And it's still there at the Marshall's where I returned it. But after church the week before, I found the giant cake plate on clearance for $5. Yippee!!

When I checked eBay for the teapot, it was listed $9.99 with $7.40 shipping. Poo. I passed. Then it was relisted for $5.99. And I totally would have bought it, except I forgot to bid and be by the computer when the auction ended, since I was on the phone with my future sister-"in-law". Grr. And then it was relisted for $12.99 Buy It Now. Nooooooo.

I gave a best offer of $5 (hee, lowball), she's counteroffered for $8, and I need to think about it.

Not sure what to do.

Except go and watch Mad TV now!! Yippee.

Oh, yeah -

2008-03-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Hillary!!!

Dang. We've known each other for over half our lives now. Hee.

I had a very nice time with her and the high school buddies Frick 'n Frack on Saturday!! :P

I think it's very good to get together with old friends on a regular basis. Keeps you grounded.

Here's to a great, monumental, watershed year, Hilby!!

Late night amusements.

2008-03-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my sleep is totally off. I also had an unusually busy, albeit uber-social weekend (when I GENERALLY prefer to just SLEEP AND REST), along with the time change ... so I have been feeling wonky since like, 7:30pm. I really really really felt sleep at 9:30. And I just woke up at 1:30am. So, whatever.

I was trolling through eBay (again) for some old vintage stuff that I find very interesting. I AM trying to be more discriminating, since I have some things already, and of course space is an issue.

Anyway, in the last month or so, I have come across some listings that leave me utterly bewildered.

I don't know, I find them so hilarious. It's probably NOT nice of me because it falls into the realm of mockery and making fun of people. But it's not like I'm going to out them or anything. Some people that I encounter just make me wonder WHAT on earth they are REALLY like in real life. Also, I need to say -I HATE SPELLING ERRORS AND GRAMMATICAL INEPTITUDE WITH A FIERY, BURNING, PASSION. I just find them so entirely odious. And then I kind of hate myself a little bit when I see my own mistakes. But other people do it more. :P I swear I am not REALLY a grammar Nazi (half the stuff I do is done on PURPOSE, I SWEAR, because I am speaking in THE DIALECT I CALL TONGUE IN CHEEK), but on the inside, I'd be mighty chuffed if someone DID call me that in earnest. :)

In the end, I realize that people PROBABLY are not doing this on purpose and PROBABLY do the best that they can, but geez, would it hurt to be a little more aware of some of the basics? And spell check!! It's free!!! It's standard!! See, there's no excuse in that regard. "If you don't know, you better HIRE somebody who does, dammit."

Okay, so the first *disturbing* listing I found a couple weeks ago. I actually had it saved to post and hadn't gotten around to it until now. I just needed tonight's inspiration, I guess!!

eBay. I swear it just about does me in sometimes. Did you HEAR about the giant cupcake cookie jars that Target was selling for Valentine's Day for $14.99? Limited availability, VERY limited. Had I known, I'd gotten all 6 that I saw when they first came out.

BECAUSE THEY SOLD ON EBAY FOR $200 EACH, PLUS SHIPPING.

Even IF packing breakables is a pain in the butt ... THE RETURN ON THAT IS JUST INCREDIBLE!!! :( Yeah. Shoulda-woulda-coulda all the way to $1200. Ha.

:)

Are you ready for this???

Verbatim, except for identifying details removed, please - and the red is the junk that I found so strange, yet ultimately amusing. This woman had two similar products listed with similar listings. I took the liberty of replacing the name of the lotion with [THIS STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU] the name of the gel with [OTHER STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU].

Exhibit A:
Ladies and Gentlemen! This is the BEST BODY LOTION I have ever used! I use it daily! Its great to moisturize when traveling! I have searched long and hard for that unique body lotion that will absorb quickly and LEAVE NO OILY RESIDUE. This skin moisturizer is it! I absolutely love the smell. Its not strong or overwhelming. Its light scent is as close to the fresh fragrance of oceanside sea air as you can get! I use it on mostly on my extrimities including my arms, legs, hands, and feet, but sometimes when I'm in a rush will apply it to my face. I was always searching for that mystical amazing moisturizer that would replenish and rehydrate my skin, remineralize, calm, smooth, and rejuvenate my skin's surface without an oily residue that stays on for hours. I almost thought there wasn't such the perfect skin cream out there until I discovered [THIS STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU]. You just have to try [THIS STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU]. This is the best lotion out there.

I use this body lotion exclusively with my [OTHER STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU]. Together they make an incredible team. Mostly I use the [other stuff] at home and then this lotion when I go out shopping, dining, sports events, family gatherings, trips, anywhere really. It really absorbs fast, goes on smoothe, and gives my skin that simple shine. I would say I use the [OTHER STUFF] more often for my face and intimate places and the body lotion for my arms, legs, hands, and feet. You really have to try this lotion. The more often you apply the more amazing results!

There you have it. These are my testiments to why you should try [THIS STUFF I AM TRYING TO SELL YOU].

Exhibit B:
Ladies and Gentlemen! This is the BEST [OTHER STUFF] I have ever used! I use it daily! I have searched long and hard for that unique face and body lotion that will apply on smoothly and LEAVE NO OILY RESIDUE. This skin moisturizer is it! I absolutely love the smell. Its not strong or overwhelming. Its light scent is as close to the fresh fragrance of oceanside sea air as you can get! I use it on my face and on my body. On the bottle it doesn't say whether its for face or body, it just says its for skin. I have skin on my face and on my body...so it goes both places. What I have done in the past is use a face lotion for my body. I like doing this because they always seem to make the face lotions and moisturizers better and smoother. I care just as much about my body as I do my face, so I continued with this type of application. I was always searching for that mystical amazing moisturizer that would replenish and rehydrate my skin, remineralize, calm, smooth, and rejuvenate my skin's surface without an oily residue that stays on for hours. I almost thought there wasn't such the perfect skin cream out there until I discovered [OTHER STUFF]. You just have to try this [OTHER STUFF]. Its not a lotion. Its not a cream. Its not a butter. ITS A [OTHER STUFF].

I have classified skin care terminology into these four categories and rank them based upon my own experience and their actual performance.

Lotion: It just hydrates and smells sweet.
Cream: Its smooth, but still oily.
Butter: Its very smooth, hydrates, and soothes, but just isn't a SOUFFLE
SOUFFLE: This is the best of the best. It hydrates, smooths the surface, soothes the tension, remineralizes, AND DOESN'T LEAVE THE RESIDUE.

There you have it. These are my testiments to why you should try [OTHER STUFF].

Le sigh. Can we say hyperbole? Can we say TMI? Whyyyyyyyyy did I need to hearrrrrrrr t hissssssssssssssssssssss.

I don't NEED to hear about your "extrimities" and yer frickin' FEET (honestly, was that mention REALLY necessary???) OR EVEN THE GOSHDARN TENSION-LADEN REMINERALIZED "INTIMATE PLACES"!

Keep your intimates PRIVATE and to your own personal SELF, PLEASE.

*le huff*

At least she's consistent with her general lack of apostrophes, rather than the more commonly seen problem of it's it's it's it's it's ubiquitous frickin' presence everywhere!

Man, I'm getting myself all worked up over there.

Hee.

I will end with this -

Exhibit C:
I read a listing for a neat old photo album of some college students.

Maybe it was a special school.

You decide.

Because apparently, in the photos, "First 12 pages contains teachers and students with their signature below the pictures, I see one Black and Japanese Student the rest appears to be all male."

Gee, I didn't know those labels were mutually exclusive.

Au revoir.

:)

Hey look!

2008-02-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

I can clutter up my blog, tooooooooooooooo.

23

I missed 4 out of 26!!

How is that a C. :'(

I Scored a 100%!

YES!!! REDEMPTION!

And then:

306 WATTSYour Body is Producing 306 Watts!
This is 22% MORE wattage than the average person

* You could light up 3 light bulbs
* You could power 77 iPods
* You could power 2 Xbox 360s
* 3 of you would be needed to keep a refrigerator running

And imbeciles. I can't neglect the mentally derelict on this one.

Oh wait! Let's also add STUPID-@$$ DRIVERS, cuz they suck and I must be a MAGNET for them.

Honestly, sincerely, and quite literally, I do indeed hope they die.

Something's wrong with me, on that one, I think. Probably lots is wrong with me. But still.

Is it really that bad to wish for a speedy end to a completely useless, self-absorbed, dangerous megalomaniac in control of a several-ton weapon??

I don't think so.

:(

Whee, *angst*

I would enjoy eating those squids, though.

I SCORED A 81%

83%LUSH

But I'm not, I'm totally not, I'm just smart :(.

63%

Well, shit, what the hell does that even mean.

45% Geek

41%

Gross!!!!! wut da hayle

38%

136,182 People

And Debussy died on my birthday.

67%

The end.

CHEATERPANTS.

2008-02-16T10:54:00.001-08:00

I have soooo many posts I am working on but I wanted to throw this one up really quickly.

I found a myspace blog with this link: How many countries can you name in 5 minutes?

Here was my first brain dead result:

66

AND THEN I DECIDED TO CHEAT!! And I turned it into a typing test:

122

Haha, funny.

This site justsayhi.com has a bunch of funny stuff on it that I'm going to go check out now.

But as I was reading over the list of countries I'd forgotten the first time, so I could type them in THE NEW window ... I found myself fascinated by these countries that I'd never even heard of. I mean, I figure Africa probably has the most number of countries on one continent ... so I just looked up countries I didn't know on wiki.

And now, it's official - I have already been to the two smallest countries in Europe: The Vatican City, and Monaco.

And the third? A teeny little encapsulated San Marino.

San Marino. San Marino??? We have a city down here called San Marino!

Anyway, I think it would be cool to go visit it and say I've been to the THREE smallest countries in Europe.

I love finding a randomzoid place on the map and just up and going there.

Kind of like I did with Lithuania. Whoa, that was crazy. I'll post about that eventually.

But honestly, my visit to Lithuania is one of my prouder accomplishments and one of the neatest things I think I've ever done. And it also spawned the absolute most deathly terrifying experience I've ever had - just about as close as I've ever come to feeling like I was GONNA DIE.

And I don't think I'm usually dramatic like that.

Okay, off to poke around and "justsayhi" AND ACTUALLY CLEAN SOME MORE. I washed dishes and cleared the sink this morning. :) And organized the piles that had sprouted in front of the stove and in the corner by the counter.

I have so much to doooooooooooooooooooooo ................

Mugs 'n stuff

2008-02-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

The other thrifting post reminded me!!!

Last week I got a set of 3 saucers for about $2. I need to take a pic, but they were "milk glass", with a fluted rim, with 1 in pink and 2 in blue.

They go with the set of mugs I got at an estate sale!! Whee. Need to find those. NO idea where they are. *sob*

I also need to find these:
I got a set of 3 for $1. It was the white, pink, and salmon-colored ones. I didn't realize there were other colors and stuff, especially that pretty blue! It was at an estate sale where WENDY spent the night and came with me!

That estate sale was so sad. :( The house was mostly empty, stuff was just laid out on the floor in the kitchen, and along the walls, chimney, built-in seats, etc., at the perimeter of the living room.

There were two guys running it, along with a younger woman, and the one guy I talked to just seemed SO sad. He was saying how he'd never done one of these before, and just hoped it went well.

It was certainly one of the smallest sales I've ever been to, and it was even hard to find the place.

The "highlight," however, was when I was digging in a storage shed next to the garage at old bags of kitchen towels and linens and other cruddy blankets and carpets and things. I found a couple cute 40's/retro tablecloths, and then I looked at the floor and LITERALLy saw a pile of money.

I was like, what????? A wad of cash, just laying there.

Oy, oy, oy.

I couldn't help but count it. :P I figured it was probably dropped by one of the people running the thing, since I was pretty sure it hadn't been there a while ago, and before I'd gone it, one of the dudes had come out.

So I walked back into the kitchen and handed the money over to the man, and told him how much I'd found and hoped it was the right amount.

His face dropped and went WHITE. Yowzers. He looked like he was about to faint. I think it had fallen from an envelope he'd been carrying with him to make change.

That poor man!! Geez louise. Going through all that.

So I hope I made his day and sometimes people just need reassurance that there are honest people in the world.

Also, it helped me bargain down the price of those mugs. Heh. I think at that point, he ALMOST would have just let me have stuff for free because I found the money! He made some comment to that effect, but in the end, I think I got the mugs, a couple other things, and the tablecloth and maybe some handkerchiefs for $5 total or something.

So those Glasbake mugs are the same color as the taller coffee mugs I got at another sale; those were $1 each and go with the saucers I got as a pack.

I still kick myself every time I think of that sale because I passed on the stinkin' pink Christmas ornaments!! Just pink glass balls, but geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez, the prices people pay for stuff like that on eBay!!! Shoulda woulda coulda.

Then again, with the RIDICULOUS new feedback policy AND the increase of fees and stuff, I think it will be a mass exodus from eBay. Sellers can't hardly make money anymore.

Mm.

Anyway, I also found another one of these!!

I actually don't have this His/Hers set. They are so cute and vintage-y, though. I kind of love them.

The latest one I got is "Brother." Heh, for the one I don't have.

The first one I found was Al.

What a nice, strong name. I think this was at one of Tom's estate sales. 50¢, I think.

And would you believe it, the next one I found was BUD.

Yes. Bud. Al and Bud. I saw it and knew it was meant to be. How could I not?

All I need is "Peg" and "Kelly."

HAHA!!

But now I have Brother. And I will keep my eye out for weird kitsch like this because my affection for Disneyland was reignited.

Awesome recent Goodwill finds.

2008-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's been okay lately. Haven't hit them quite as much as in the fall, with being busy and KNOWING I need to clean my stuff more than I need new stuff. But I love looking!!!!

The other cupcake post reminded me. I found this for $2.99. Whee. I is happy. Those things didn't even last a week in the stores, just like the cupcake cookie jars. It totally DID cross my mind to "buy now, regret later" ... but I didn't. :)

Of course these are like, $30+shipping on eBay.

Last week, I came up on this:

I admit I have mixed feelings about Ms. Martha. I think she has some good ideas. And she has a jail record.

Anyhoo, the pictures are just beautiful!!! Yowza. There is a stunning photo of white and silver items displayed on a hutch that just sold it for me. AND she has patterns for making your own vintage glitter sparkly paper houses (yay). Plus, it was only $2.

The one I saw on eBay sold for $7+shipping.

This was one of my favorites!!!

Down feather quilt. FROM RESTORATION HARDWARE!!! AND IT'S WASHABLE!! THAT'S THE BEST BONUS EVER!!! I got it in gold. It has one little seam that I noticed was coming apart, but that's easy to fix.

A nice down quilt, for $14.99. Whoo! They sell for $149.99 to $199.99 on the site. I love, love, LOVE down, but it can be so expensive.

One of my all-time most favoritest finds is something I'm using now ... it wasn't Goodwill, but I found a king-size down comforter with a feather pillow ... clearanced at Kohl's for $15. *scream* It is literally one of my most treasured possessions. The thing is ridiculously amazing.

:)

Lastly!!!

On Thursday, I happened to be in the area of a Goodwill down the street from where I grew up at a child. I have found Shabby Chic shower curtains for $5, one of the children's line Shabby Chic comforters with sham for $15, and then this time:

The pink one was the large size, and it was $4. It's so cute! Pink is hard to come by. It may have one scratch on it, but I don't care. I'm considering using it as a punch bowl AT MY SISTER'S BRIDAL SHOWER!!

I have some cute Christmas clearance decorations that are not Christmas at all, and some pink and blue Depression glass dishes that I think would be so cute. With all the cupcakey stuff!! Tea and cupcakes. Man, that would be cute.

Anyhoo.

The bottom bowl was not my favorite, and it's medium, but it was $3. Not too shabby.

In trying to find out the darn name of this pattern and stuff, I came up this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21836226@N08/2210501409/

Pie plates as pasta plates in front of the TV, you say?

ALREADY DONE IT! Except I was full-on weirdo and lazy and used a Marie Callender's pie tin that I'd been meaning to turn in for the deposit.

Heh. Yeah, most plates don't have enough of a lip for me to feel comfortable NOT using then at the table.

A lip, on a plate, is a good thing.

So is a flat surface.

And NO knife marks!! Hate those things. >:(

eBay is so ridiculous.

2008-02-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

If I had a little more foresight, MAN! I could buy some Target stuff at full price and still make a killing.

I remember the surfing monkey themed quilts/shams that went on clearance. The were originally $59.99. They went on sale for 75% off (after hitting 30% off and 50% off). So I hunted around at SEVERAL Targets and finally found a set (I was so happy) for $14.98 - 75% off.

Do you know how much I saw this set go for on eBay?? $250. Not including shipping.

Geez louise. I KNOW these moms were buying this stuff for their kids. Any mom that blows money like that on freaking TARGET BEDDING ... um, will never be me.

Okay. And then about TWO years ago, there was this HUGE run on Target "safari monkey" sheets and other assorted accessories. Oh my stinkin' word.

The sheet sets (twin, I believe) were selling on eBay for like, $100. Seriously, there were like, under $10 after clearance.

So since I went to Target regularly, I bought a few things for some people on the ffd site. I found a couple pillows, I forget what else. I know it was popular. I EVEN. Found a clock. A little, cheap, monkey clock. It was kinda flat, but the little body swung around back and forth like a pendulum from the head.

I am pretty sure I bought it for $7.48. NO more than $12.48, at most. And I sold it at cost, because I am freaking NICE like that.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, of course they were $60+ on eBay.

Heh.

AND THEN!

Tonight, I'm looking up some of that cute Valentine's cupcake stuff that Target has out. NO cucpake hand towels left, that's a bummer. But seriously, I can always make my own, that's not hard.

HOWEVER. The freaking giant cupcake cookie jar??? THEY'RE UP TO $50 AND $60 ON EBAY, NOT INCLUDING SHIPPING!!!

Stuff like that is a pain to pack and ship, though, freaking breakable things.

I just needed to vent.

Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous, people paying these prices for Target-made-in-Chinas.

But maybe other people feel the same way about what I pay for Pyrex and other dishes.

Heh.

P.S. I love Chelsea Dot dishes.

Fewds

2008-02-09T15:50:00.001-08:00

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fewd

Seeing that particular spelling always reminds me of this page: http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Hahaha!! Lex was the first one to show me that site. Is IS rawthur amusing, grossly exaggerate syntax and vernacular notwithstanding.

This is going to be a random update post. I have several other more "interesting" posts in the works, drafted, but I feel like tweaking those first before hurriedly slapdashedly throwing them on the internet.

1. I go to Chipotle about once a week. On Fridays, the majority of the 2nd grade teachers go there for lunch. When I first discovered it, there was a span of time (several months) where I was there about 2-3 times a week, ADDITIONALLY. Crazy. Obsessive, that's me. I do like it a lot. So they have this Valentine's "Buy-a-$10-gift-card-and-get-a-free-burrito" deal, and I shared about it with the other teachers. We'll go back next week and see how it works. I've gotten 2 gift cards already. I know of other people who are doing it more times. Good for them. (I also just found a list of offers from wikipedia! IF they have a leap year special,

1. I go to

1. I go to

1. I go to

1. I go to

1. I go to

Vents

2008-01-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Stuff to get off my chest.

Things which bother:

1) TOUCHING OTHER PEOPLE'S STUFF
I don't know why I have such issues with this (OK, I do know why, but let's not get into it "at this present juncture"), but if I EVER marry and have children ... such things will not be. Ugh, ugh, oy oy argh. I just sincerely hate and abhor it when people move my stuff around, or take things and use them up without telling me ... and it's so gosh-darn inconvenient. I KNOW it's not the end of the world but I'm just brittle that way.

2) Dimwits that park too close to the damn driveway, running me at the risk of clipping the corner of their car trying to turn my lugging behemoth into the parking lot. Gosh, I hate this. It's not a huge, wide street, since I believe it's fairly oldish, and since I've lived here, there's already been 3 separate incidents of side rearview mirrors being bashed off, the left front bumper getting crunched in, and the daily insult of scraping one's hind end along the drive pulling out too fast trying not to get t-boned... if they would park further back from the actual driveway, I might have room to have to make less of such a sharp turn, half-jumping the curb on a daily basis.

3) Not having a washer here. Boy, this is really cramping my style. I hardly ever did much laundry when I lived with my parents, but now, it's driving me crazy. I like doing it more often when I live by myself, I guess. Especially sheets and big stuff, like neato comforters!! Even there, there is DEFINITELY not enough room to hang stuff up so I can't go through massive laundry frenzies as I'd like. OK, guess it might help if I bought less at the thrift store.

4) (Some of) other people's children. Ugh. I am like increasingly not a huge fan of other people's children. The love, it is a-fading. Of COURSE it's easy to enjoy the likeable, well-mannered ones, but they are in increasingly short supply. God have mercy on me if/when I ever have any spawn of my own, and they BETTER act right or they'll have a lifelong lesson to remember. I WILL NOT BE SHAMED IN SUCH A FASHION!!! :P I know all of this is bad of me to say considering my current profession, but honestly ... I am just being cranky.

5) Aging! And a slowing metabolism! I found rank cellulite deposits on hitherto-untouched portions of thigh. I can't IMAGINE what it'd be like blowing up all pregnant and stuff? Yowza.

In other gripes, the current housing situation, while mildly improving, still aggravates me. I KNOW the market is correcting itself, but it won't be "correct" like it was 10 years ago!!!! >:(

I can afford more house now than before, and I honestly would love to be in a house by the end of the year. So I am praying about that, and saving and stuff. In the past year I've raised my credit pretty well, now let's work on a freaking down payment :P. Not likely, maybe, but I sincerely believe in miracles. :)

Stupid, stupid, stupid stupid dumb housing market.

I'd like to feel very badly for the poor sods stuck in ARMs and such but I can't help feeling that it's kind of your own dumb fault. Banks now unable to collect were greedy, and took the risk, and now it's not paying off, and people who signed these horrific mortgages - well, did anybody strongarm them into buying something they couldn't afford??? I think I need more compassion. And a big ole milkshake of human kindness. I am like very not sympathetic these days.

Now here I am with no down payment but healthy credit and I'll just have to look and see what options are available to me.

That, or I sell aaaaaaaall my worldly possessions and gallivant around the world as a carefree pauper.

I think I'd rather have a nice, beautiful house with a bit more room.

The Rose and the Beast

2008-01-25T20:54:00.001-08:00

I picked this up at the thrift store, but after reading through all the stories (except maybe one), I decided to put it back.

I just HAD to post about it, though.

I've never heard of this book, or this author, and it was a La Habra school library discard. Hm. I believe it would be considered young adult fiction. The author essentially rewrote classic fairy tales, titling each with a single word.

Her writing style is rather hypnotic and mesmerizing, and what I love is that the stories are short and can be digested in chunks. I lean more towards that type of writing these days. I can't remember the last time I attempted a full novel.

One of the first stories is called "Tiny." Just reading that alone, ESPECIALLY considering the ending, made me want to buy the book right then and there. I still completely and utterly love that story.

Some of the other stories are very disturbing, though.

And I especially hate, detest, abhor, despise, and recoil at stories with completely vague endings. I HATE that. I LIKE resolution. And I especially prefer/insist on happy endings.

So "Ice" leaves me in a bit of a muddle.

I love fairy tale retellings, and seem to be on that track lately. I nearly bought the completel collection of Grimm's fairy tales yesterday at another thrift store, but I DON'T NEED MORE BOOKS.

I do, however, admit to being unable to resist classic Peter Rabbit collections. There were three at the thrift store today, and I bought 2. One was big, with a slipcover, and STILL $10 AFTER 50% off, and the other was only $3. The third was EVEN bigger, with awesome pictures, but it was like, $7.95 or something, AND it had an inscription on a Christmas tag.

I should read the inscriptions, though, eh? Often enough they are from the author.

But, well, somehow I was PRETTY sure it was not Beatrix Potter on a Christmas tag!

Anyway, The Rose and the Beast, by Francesca Lia Black.

An interesting read. I'm recommending it and would love to hear reactions from any of you!!!

If you want something even SHORTER and more humorous, might I suggest "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories," by James Finn Garner.

Such. A. Classic! Good times in high school, good times.

Trashy Naples

2008-01-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

Poor, poor Napoli!!!

I love yahoo news, I mean, it's my home page.

So I saw this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080105/ap_on_re_eu/italy_dirty_naples;_ylt=AgS6VTakExktrHqF.JBDeUKROrgF
(I think the link is broken, but the text of the article is at the end of this post in case anyone wants to read it.)

Dang. I know I still haven't posted everything from Europe TWO YEARS AGO, but ... well. When my sister and I backpacked together in 2004, we decided we wanted to visit the birthplace of pizza and also hit Pompeii. I mean, that is just cool. That place is so stinkin' famous, it's kinda a must-see-place-before-you-die.
We were looking around for good places to stay in Naples and then we heard AWFUL reviews. Aaaaaaaaaand, we decided to listen to them. Why not. :P From Rick Steves' Graffiti Wall off his site, everyone was recommending NOT staying in Naples because it was dirty and "unsafe," and we heard about Hostel Brikette, in Positano, south of Naples.

This was seriously one of the best things I've ever done in my whole entire life.

It is one of my most favoritest hostels ever, even though every once in a while I think about how they only turn on the hot water for showers for like, two hours in the morning, and two in the afternoon. And how last time I went, compared with 2004, there was MASSIVE water and mildew damage in the bathroom showers. :(

But I LOVE and still laugh to myself every time I think about being served breakfast, and passing on the coffee/espresso, and asking for juice instead. And the lovely sweet little Italian boy working there who actually SHOWED US TO THE WRONG BEDS AND ROOMS THE FIRST NIGHT would, without fail, say - "Pineapple - it's OK?" And this was repeated 4 days in a row, verbatim. Heh. It was just the way he said "It's OK?" that always has me cracking up.

Because in the end, you get to look at this:

While sitting here:

Anyhoo, I remember that Judes and I were royally SHOCKED at how Naples appeared. It did indeed look much more littered than any other European cities we went to. Since Positano was so incredibly gorgeous, we were very happy we decided to go to Hostel Brikette and skipped Naples.

So I actually went through Naples twice in 2006 - coming by plane from Vilnius, Lithuania, into Rome, taking the train to Naples, and going straight to Positano. Well, actually, I walked around a little bit with my HUGE pack so stinkin' heavy and wanted to try the best pizza in the whole entire world, but since I was there on a Sunday, EVERYTHING was closed. :( I ended up making time for it later, though, of course.

It still looked kinda dirty in 2006.

There was just trash blowing all over the streets.

However, I did also take a night train from Naples to Venice after I'd stayed in Positano.

(Here is Positano, in comparison!!)

Lovely, lovely, Positano.

I mean, in Naples, they did weird stuff like this:

"Hello, what street am I on?"

Who puts a unit IN FRONT of the street sign? I swear that was the reason I couldn't even find the pizza joint originally, because I could not see the name of the darn street. And yes, in Europe, street signs are posted on the buildings themselves. Because Europeans are less obsessed with tearing down old buildings and putting up new eyesores. Sense of permanency and all that.

So then, after reading the article about the state of waste in Naples, I'm seeing unbelievable pictures like these:

This is just awful!!! I know that lots of people do not ADORE Naples, but I do have a rather fond regard for it. Melanie, a lovely Swiss chickie from Zurich said she LOVED Naples, and would always stay in "Six Small Rooms." She said she loved it, and loved the atmosphere. There were some cards and things advertising it in the Brikette in Positano, since lots of hostels have advertisements at other hostels and things.

I do think Naples gets a bad rap, though ... I encountered SUCH nice friendly people! I will spin some tales of my adventures another time (hello, only one of THE most annoying, pointless, useless, aggravating, and Seinfeldian experiences EVER), with some other pics and stuff ... but this is just sad. Naples has a bad enough reputation already, and now it is LITERALLy being TRASHED.

Que lastima!

And then this guy from TripAdvisor has a freaking hilarious narrative about his personal exploits there.

I want to meet him.

If you want to read some more Naples horror stories, apparently they are not in short supply.

*******************************************************************
By SALVATORE LAPORTA, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 4, 8:46 PM ET

NAPLES, Italy - Stinking mounds of garbage piled up on the streets of Naples on Friday and officials around the country blamed organized crime and bureaucratic red tape for the city's refuse crisis.

Effigies of city officials, suspended from lampposts and trees, reflected the fury of Naples' citizens, who have had to live amid small mountains of their own refuse since Dec. 21, when collectors stopped gathering it because there was nowhere to take it.

Residents have resorted to setting trash on fire, raising fears of toxic smoke.
"Garbage is piling up outside our building," said Angela Sepe, a Neapolitan walking on the outskirts of the city. "I don't go downstairs any more to throw it away but throw it out the window because the garbage has already reached" as high as the second-floor window.

Naples and other parts of the southern Campania region have been plagued by a series of garbage crises for more than a decade. Dumps fill up and local communities block efforts to build new ones or create temporary storage sites. In 2004, a garbage crisis prompted weeks of protests.

Some protesters hurled stones Friday evening at a police station in the Pianura neighborhood on Naples' outskirts, where work has begun to reopen a long-closed dump, the Italian news agencies Apcom and ANSA reported. One protester was arrested following the attack which left windows at the station broken, the reports said.

Four empty buses were set afire overnight in the same neighborhood, fire officials said.
About 100 young protesters marched Friday on City Hall. Some occupied a central balcony and the roof, where they hung banners protesting the reopening of the dump and demanding a full-fledged plan to improve recycling in the area, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported.
Local, regional and national officials handed out blame for the southern city's chronic inability to properly dispose of its trash.

Several lawmakers said the government's creation in 1994 of a special office of trash commissioner to deal with Naples' continuing garbage crisis was part of the problem.
Leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera ran a lengthy investigation Friday detailing findings by a parliamentary committee that allege corruption and inefficiency in the commissioner's office.
Such reports have helped fuel local anger at the city's politicians who have failed to solve the problem.

"Let's bring it (the garbage) to their homes," said Rosaria Esposito, strolling through the center of Naples where trash was piled up on some streets.

Environment Minister Antonio Pecoraro Scanio, who has been a harsh critic of the commissioner's office, also blamed what he called the "ecomafia," a reference to Naples' organized crime syndicate, the Camorra, and its hold on garbage collection.

In an interview with the free daily E Polis, Pecoraro Scanio said the only way to escape the mob's hold on Naples' garbage was to get more Neapolitans to recycle and to build technologically advanced plants to dispose of the garbage in an environmentally friendly way.

Pecoraro Scanio said the Camorra was taking advantage of the fires set by residents to get rid of toxic waste.

"The ecomafias are behind the fires that are burning Naples and that are set to burn the accumulated trash," he said. "In the chaos that is created, the Camorra is always the victor."
The effigies hanging Friday carried banners with slogans critical of Antonio Bassolino, the governor of Campania, and the city's mayor, Rosa Russo Iervolino, the Apcom news agency reported. There have been calls for days for Bassolino to resign.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi chimed in, calling for "unity" and warning that finger-pointing was making residents have even less faith in the government's ability to deal with the crisis.

BITING THE BULLET!

2008-01-04T12:03:00.001-08:00

Man, I hate when I'm the forlorn victim of indecision or worse - a bad sense of direction/map reading!

I really need to hone my skills in general SPATIAL REASONING on yahoo maps.

I found a last minute listing for an estate sale literally up the street from where I live but I got the major cross streets all wrong and I missed it, because I WALKED THERE, and got lost. This happened one other time before (reading maps all wonky!!!) but I made a guess that I hadn't gone far enough, and there it was. I think I am very glad I went to that sale, that's where I got great Christmas stuff, but left (boo hoo) some vintage pink glass ornaments that I could have sold.

Oh well.

So I walked over to my landlord's office to check that they got the rent, and ran into my downstairs neighbor! She was just checking out another available place for her parents.

When I came back home I did indeed look up the Craiglist listing and discovered my error, and HAD time to up and go again, but decided not to. I guess I missed out. It was a listing for dad's old stuff, though, and I guess it was cheap, but man, I look around and I have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. I still need to clean out the entire car, too!! Yikes. How did this happen. I have another post in mind, BUT -

so many fishies are posting about 90% off at Target and I think I want to go, AND, I called the Goodwill outlet and they are actually open until 3, not 2, so I decided to go. I can always clean again tomorrow. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT OPEN ON WEEKENDS! That is just poop.

So when else will I have the time to wander down so far there????

I will have to clean all the lovely goods out of the back of the car (seriously, it's ridiculous) and then see how I am on gas. Yikes.

But at least I can say I've gone once.

I'm just bummed that I don't have my camera with me to take pictures, since I left it at my parents' place.

Ciao!

Hee, Rachel Ashwell fun.

2008-01-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

I'm such an addict!

I have been stroking the sheets all day long since they feel so nice and cool and smooth. These are the $5 fitted sheets I got at Target last year or a couple years ago ... which is still 2 years AFTER they clearanced out! Man, this stuff was out JUST as I was getting interested in the Shabby Chic stuff, I'm so sad I missed out. Cuz her older Simply Shabby Chic stuff at Target is way better than the current flimsy thin dorky donkey quilts she gots and the rough ole stiff sheets.

Who would not love this pattern? (Oh, yeah, a straight, beer-guzzlin' scruffy trucker man, probably. With a Doberman.)

I'd love an additional set or some pillowcases (pillowcases!!!!), but I only occasionally see them on eBay, for the nifty sum of $120+shipping, or more.

Nice. Not.

I would have made my own damn pillowcases out of the flat sheet, but not 5 minutes before I came upon the fitted sheet and give an inner shriek of joyful disbelief, I saw another lady with the flat sheet in her cart. I was happy to find the fitted sheet, though, since that's more useful, and that's when the lady came by again and said she was hoping it was a queen sheet because that's what she needed. I knew it wasn't, what she had, and I really wanted it, but didn't feel like arguing or getting into it with her and just hoped she would discard it and I could snag it! But no luck. I was glad they only charged me $5, but man, I would SO LOVE to get my hands on another set of these sheets.

On to the fun! Somehow I found this freaking hilarious post on a the blog by "Your Mama" with pictures of stars' homes and other info.

Oh my - outstanding. Please, seriously, go read that post. She had this picture:

which, like, she and I both found seriously underwhelming. Rachel Ashwell lived in THAT? And now she's trying to rent it out??? For $20,000 a month??? Wuuuuuuuuuuuut. That looks almost boring and dumb. But "de-boned sheep carcass cum beanbag chair in the living room," indeed. Ha!!

This is NOTHING compared to the pics in her books, and on the freaking tags, and such of her Simply Shabby Chic stuff at Target. Yikes. Then again, if she's trying to rent it out, it'd probably be all sparse and not totally spruced up with her bestest jobses.

The page also had a link to Oprah's site with more pics, probably somewhat more flattering:

Well, I've seen better pictures of her before, at any rate. The hair. Yowch.

The blue is pretty, but if Malibu is anywhere as dusty as down here is, um, open shelving would NOT cut it. Unless you like dusty seasonings in your foods.

Wow, that TV is really small.
And the couch, quite white.
I like those cane dining chairs, though.

I guess this bathroom is ALL white ... but she used the stool to turn the sink instantly into a vanity.

Apparently, no closet - and these are her actual clothes! Well whaddya know, even her ENTIRE WARDROBE IS ONLY MATCHY-MATCHY SIMPLY SHABBY CHIC PALETTE. Lol to my head off.

The Oprah site had this captioned as her daughter's bedroom, the smallest room in the house, but this looks more like the big bedroom from the first blogger pic, based on the coverlet. (Arrowhead drinking water product placement!!)

Anyhoo. I really SHOULD go clean now. :0

PrettinessThisIsSuchAFantasticProjectAndIdea!!!

2008-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

I found a wickedly adorable blog that I love the other day.

Did you know there are gorgeous crafty, shabby, country people doing the decorating thing in FINLAND?? Yeah, me neither.

There is white paint everywhere, like, nearly all the walls I see are white, and I figure that must be because they get so little sun they want things to be LIGHT! And guess what. No leopard print anywhere, either.

Also, I totally and completely, fell in love with this post and probably consider it my favorite thing that I've read in a really, really long time.

Here are two of the pics from that post, and seriously, I'm wishing I had little kids just so I could make this.

Firstly, I noticed the blue of the pot - HOW CUTE IS THAT????

The a slew of fabric food, including the freaking fish!!!

Oh gee. It makes me want to DO THINGS. Like, make things.

And it reminds me! Speaking of play food (ooh, I have some little play wooden cherries from the last Target toy sale in August ... wish I'd gotten the adorable little mushrooms, though, I'm a mushroom freak!), in the play room at church they have a little kitchen with food, and the kids are also so cute about "taking orders" and making and serving me food. Cool! Now if they could learn to do the dishes and put stuff back when they are done! But actually, what I mean to say is, some GENIUS came up with the absolutely-madly-frickin'-BRILLIANT idea of putting little velcro dots between the food that comes in parts - the two halves of a tomato, and in between the pieces of the pizza that come in their own pan. Um, I wish the velcro was white, but that's just the anal side of me. The velcro is red and yellow so you can tell which is the soft side and which is the clingy side.

HOWEVER! The stinking neat thing is when you pretend to CUT it, you can actually FEEL the parts separating because of the Velcro, ANd there is that deliciously satisfying scraping splitting sound of of the Velcro. We don't have any knives, but a thick cardboard card from some book or game or something served perfectly well as a wee chopper.

I looked it up to see if there was a proper name for it, but no, Amazon calls it a chopper/scraper.

Ah, little joys. Seriously, people. If you have play food. Try it.

But I guess whoever did it initially probably did it to keep the food together and keep it from all falling apart.

What a LOVELY idea.

In other news, I saw yet another domesticated Finnish blog and have decided my next primary goal in life is to hunt down a gently blue toile'd measuring cup/bowl.

Loving the polka dotted bowl, too, by the way.

Which reminds me (hooray) - Target now has the Chelsea dots procelain dishes as a 16-piece set (4-piece setting for four, with mugs, bowls, salad plates, and dinner plates) for $39.99!! It makes me glad that I bought pretty much everything else and can now get the dots mugs that I skipped out on in the first place.

:)

Stuff!!!

2008-01-02T12:45:00.000-08:00

Oh, interesting. I found an eBay listing for the purple set of Rachel Ashwell Treasures shams I got at the thrift store a few weeks back.

This listing has a pair for $24.99, or $36.99 Buy It Now, and $11 shipping. Hmm. But those are new.

I got mine 3 for $2.95 + tax! Hooray. I guess the pattern is called Regent Park (Floral). Good to know.

Target has had crazy clearance lately. Way more stuff at several of the Targets than I even expected, and for 75% off ! Yowza. I feel like I "should" get out to more Targets and "get stuff," but I honestly don't NEED anything and DON'T! HAVE! ROOM! Pooh.

These were pretty, though.

I also got a couple of these for the table, to go with my as-yet-unused penguin plates (will try to get a pic of those soon).

I also have a red bell topiary tree! It was a bit sway-backed and leaning when I found it in a go-backs cart at Guest Services, and the bottom tin pot kinda broke loose when I tried to bend it back. It is so cute, though, and it jingles! I would be perfect happy taking the pot off so it looks like the blue trees.

I haven't posted a pic of the Christmas trees this year, but I do love tree trios.

Walking to the Post Office again today to claim my packages and then go for some Subway!!!! I'm a freak.

A freak who's gonna clean like a maniac today, I SWEAR.

Review of Johnny Rebs', but I have no pics!

2008-01-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

I've only been to Johnny Reb's one other time before today, with Jen for breakfast. Apparently it is quite a novelty to throw your peanut shells on the floor.

Anyway, overall? I must say, I was QUITE disappointed! I'll go there again for the atmosphere, probably, but I know I won't be getting cravings.

The ABSOLUTE best thing there was the BBQ sauce. Yup.

So, I ordered Brunswick stew, PROBABLY because I read about it in Mom's Guideposts while I was at the house last weekend, and I also got the Cajun Sausage with extra sides: hush puppies, Southern slaw, Cajun rice, mashed potatoes, and then extra hush puppies and Cajun rice.

I actually haven't tried the Brunswick stew yet, since I haven't been hungry for dinner.

The first thing I had was the hush puppies, and maybe I've had other hush puppies, elsewhere, but these were surprising. Basically round cornmeal balls that were deep fried. I think they may have had some pieces of onion in them. Somehow I was expecting chunks of corn.

Anyway, they are dark and crunchy on the outside, soft and crumbly on the inside. But just ok. And you only get 2. Okay, so maybe the inside is a bit dry also.

Then I tried the Cajun rice, and it is rather spicy. Looks a bit like brownish Mexican/Spanish rice, and I am sorry, but I am no fan of bell peppers, especially in my rice! So hmm.

Honestly? If you want some nummy Cajun rice, I HAVE to recommend Popeye's Chicken!

I've never actually HAD their chicken, I'm always drawn in by their Crawfish Festival, but I love their rice. And the Cajun fries are nice too, just like shoestring fries that taste like curly fries do. Oh! And the Crawfish Etouffee is not that bad either. The one I always go to is actually run by a very sweet, unassuming Korean man, which always cracks me up. A Korean dude running a nationwide franchise of LOUISIANA Cajun food in LA-suburb Southern California. Heh.

Then there was the mashed potatoes. I mean, when I first got my to-go order, I was confused, cuz I didn't know what everything was supposed to look like, so I had to ask the waitress, just to check. But apparently the Brunswick Stew is dark brown, and the mashed potatoes and gravy are more like the color of oatmeal. A very light gravy.

It was okay. I could definitely taste a lot of cheese in the mashed potatoes, and it had some real chunks in it. Just so-so. I Looooooooooooooooooooooooove Kentucky Fried Chicken's mashed potatoes, and gravy especially.

The slaw was decent, with some random large pieces of cabbage. Very comparable to that at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I love the slaw there now, and didn't care for it as a kid. The KFC slaw has carrots and is definitely sweeter (probably why I like it more), and chopped much more finely. Both were rather juicy with the white stuff/dressing.

Turns out you get ONE Cajun sausage link for $9.xx, and it comes with hush puppies, slaw, and Cajun rice. There were also two little containers - one had some dark beans, and the other had the BBQ sauce. The sauce is seriously great! The sausage was okay - pork, carrots, I think, and chunks of potato. It was fine with the sauce.

I'll try the stew next and see if it's worth reviewing.

But overall, out of perhaps 5 stars, I'd give JR a 3. 5 for atmosphere and service, and 2 or 3 for the food.

:)

*edited to add: I just tried the Brunswick Stew (they gave it to me in a tall styrofoam cup!) and it's quite decent. A little sweet as well. It'd probably taste a lot better piping hot, but I'm too lazy to reheat it now. So, yay. I am such a soup and stew and chowder fan anyway, you can't hardly ever go wrong. Except with that WEIRD tomato salmon concoction I tried in Vilnius, Lithuania, waiting out a storm ... don't know what possessed me to order it in the first place, anyway.

And I just had a thought - I'd forgotten about Lucille's. That place is definitely very yummy, and I love the atmosphere and decor there, too, especially outside! As a matter of fact, that's kind of how I envision my own porch and loungey backyard area to be some day. AWESOME garlic mashed potatoes.

*the end*

A recap of my day thus far

2008-01-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

So I decided I wanted to go for a little walk, since the gas is killing me, and I've also been very lax about hitting the post office like I need to - I was making a trade with a fellow fishie and bought the postage on Dec. 5 but never got around to mailing it ... I think she mailed me her end of the bargain already since I've gotten a couple notices about packages from the post office. Oops.

Anyway, so I put a light jacket on, grabbed my wallet, walked downstairs with the package and stopped by the neighbor's place to say hello.

Then I started! Boy, it was windy still. Driving to the party last night was a bit worry-inducing since my big ole van car was being blown around all over the show on the freeway, AND there were so many crazies! Like, a weird stream of FIVE cars with the hazard lights on, swerving and weaving. *I* get the impression they were improperly using the hazard lights to zoom around traffic. Nimrods.

It was blustery today, wind blowing everywhere, leaves scattering all over the street, and pretty much nobody out on the main road. I saw several people chatting on the street in the neighborhood I walked through, and it was interesting to see some of the architecture of some of the homes. Some are all cookie cutter, but there are a few unique ones, including one GIANT estate that looks like it was built from two lots. It has practically no yard but the facade and yard and steps and everything are so neat and tidy and clean and gorgeous. I wouldn't mind having a house like that, but I doubt I'd be able to adequately maintain it since I have no idea what it involves. The funny thing is that it's across the street from these little hovelly 20's bungalows and things.

So I discovered a Washington Mutual bank across the street from the post office, which is convenient for cash, and it means I won't have to head in the OPPOSITE direction nowadays.

I dropped the package off after staring dumbfoundedly at a huge, graphic poster they had in the foyer/lobby. It was "encouraging" dog owners to be "responsible" and not let "this" happen - one picture of two huge, deep, dripping blood gashes on the right leg of some poor "letter carrier". Oh, man. He had his leg in one of those tubs to keep the blood from dripping all over the floor of the truck.

But I noticed his oh-so-retro BLACK high-top Reeboks. You know, like what people used to wear in the 80s to do aerobics. OUCH.

And the second picture was of a dazed-looking letter carrier with scratches and scrapes ALL OVER holding a bandage to one arm while being directed by a firefighter with other emergency workers nearby.

Yeesh. Talk about a job hazard. AND YES, DOG OWNERS DO NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE!! It was kinda graphic. A lady who walked in after I did dropped her package off first, and then glanced over at the poster because I was standing there looking at it. She looked like a sweet lil country granny (big grey bouffant, loose knitted shirt, and lil jeans!) mailing something to her wee grandchildren! But that's just my random imagination.

So then I started walking towards Subway since I was having cravings AGAIN for a ranch dressing and spinach-covered meatball sandwich after dinner last night!! Whee, it's a Mimi special. Cuz pretty much nobody else I know would touch a thing like that.

It was closed. Pooh.

I remembered noticing that Johnny Rebs' was open. I was quite surprised the first time I saw it, since I wasn't aware that Bellflower was a bastion of Southern hospitality, but I guess so.

It's so cute in there, I'll take Jenny there when she gets here, and I want to try some of their BBQ ribs.

Incidentally, the manager of another location happened to be there today, and EVERYONE there was SO nice and cheerful and helpful!!

So then I walked home a different route, munching on hush puppies the whole way, and saw sooooo many homes for sale.

I'd really love to buy a house within the next year and a half. If it happens, it will be a total miracle, but quite frankly, I've had miracles happen before and it wouldn't surprise me one bit! I have Someone who takes care of me that way :).

Anyhoo, I saw a CUTE little Arts and Crafts-type bungalow, but it was painted PISTACHIO ICE CREAM GREEN. Still, the design of the house, the original windows, oh my - so cute. It even had a HUGE attachment built in the back (um, kind of weirdly ugly in a 60's/70's kind of way, but so much space!!). I wouldn't mind a house like that.

But honestly, it's all about location, location, location, and frankly, the location there sucks.

We shall see what the new year brings!!!

After that I basically came home and ate and sat on the computer the rest of the day. I WILL be productive tonight, though. If I get the bedroom and the kitchen squared away JUST tonight, that would be a major accomplishment.

In other news: ants, please just go away :(.

Well, darn it. The first post of the new year!

2008-01-01T11:42:00.001-08:00

I was all set to post about how nice and quiet this new year was ... I love quiet in the mornings. Especially since I live on a fairly busy street, around the corner from the fire station, so I hear NOISE.

Not noise like the other guy I met who lives 1 block from the freeway exit ... because he regularly hears car crashing in the street out front from idiots jamming off the freeway. Yikes. I met him when I knocked on his door to inform him about the white hoopty out in front his place with the entire back in smashed up to smithereens, the trunk crunched into the back windshield like 3 feet in the air, ripped open with the woofers showing! I saw it when I passed on the street and GASPEd because it was THAT BAD and I wish I'd thought of getting a picture. Heh.

And NOW the dumb neighbor has music on (not super loud, but maybe I'm sensitive!!!) and I can hear it and it BROKE THE SILENCE AND KNOCKED OFF THE PEACE.

And a fire engine just blitzed by briefly with like, 2 or 3 wails.

Ugh. Real life.

But the streets are dead and that is absolutely lovely.

Shut up, neighbor. I'm sick of hearing the stupid electric guitar licks. Maybe they're playing Guitar Hero??? I never thought of that.

But it's called headphones dude.

Rock on ... silently, please.

Um, not to be totally un-PC here or anything, but how do deaf people rock out??? Just wondering. :)

Happy 2008!!!

Happy New Year!!

2007-12-31T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hm, so I guess I haven't posted since Christmas!! Has it actually been that long? Dang. And I only have one week left of vay-cay. *waaaah*

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope you all make it out alive.

I wonder when this lil card will get annoying??? I may replace it with another eventually.

Sis and her bf have a "Come Celebrate New Year's Eve Dressed Like Your Favorite Washed-Up Celebrity" Party and

1) I'm working on a beehive
2) The black hair CERTAINLY is long enough
3) Yes, I DO indeed have scruffy scuffed up pink ballet slippers
4) I may need to borrow eyeliner for the cat eyes!!!
5) I can't decide between a dress or the hinky denim cutoffs
6) Unfortunately, no authentic tattoos, but maybe that eyeliner can do double duty.

Y'all guessed who I'll be, right??? I DOUBT I will permit ANY photographs of this incriminating evidence. But maybe. If the new year finds me in an appeased and mollified mood.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2007-12-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

I think this happens every year. The two people who work the earliest (hint: one of those people is me. Other hint: the other person is not female) are actually up at the butt-crack of dawn waiting for the rest of the lazy loafers to get their bubbas outta bed and start the holiday stuff.

PRESENTS! Fun.

EATING! Fun.

PICTURES! Fun.

It's okay.

I was up at 7am, though.

AND there are huge blustery gusting winds outside!! I love it. Totally not Christmas weather, but much preferred to the frost on Saturday.

Hoy!! I have been sneezing like a maniac since I got back here, these huge explosive Mach 20 expectorations.

Have I ever mentioned how I have a COMPLETE AND UTTER SNEEZING PHOBIA?? I've been trying to find out the technical medical term for it but I haven't yet.

Also, I am bored outta my cotton-pickin' gourdy skull and I had really, really, weird dreams last night - and one was very disturbing as well. Maybe I semi-consciously accidentally saw Santa doing something he shouldn't have been doing, like picking his nose or summat like that, and repressed it into a weird dream about people I haven't seen for a long time.

:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today!!

And I am just ITCHING to hear my favorite Christmas song of all time, The Christmas Waltz by Barry Manilow.

I haven't heard it yet!

I've heard Burl Ives' "Have A Holly, Jolly, Christmas" (such an old classic standard, and I love the hokeyness of it!), and only heard part of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah ... that might be a tie with Barry.

BARRY MANILOW IS MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SINGER EVER!! EVER EVER EVER.

And I love that "Believe" Josh Groban song, but I wish Barry Manilow would sing it.

Mariah Carey also has decent Christmas music.

Anyhoo, sis needs to get up to make me some quiche and I promise I will help her with the chili and pigs in blankets, because that's what I feel like eating today!!!!!!

And I woke myself up with a tangerine-peel-infused facial sauna this morning, just because I felt like it and spied my mom's $6.99 SPA VENETIA Made-in-China from Big Lots, and my skin is so soft!

Alright, enough random hunger-driven rambling now.

Wait! One last little thing.

I wish to express my deep, undying, and utter gratitude that I am not entrenched and embroiled in a horrid, friction-laden relationship as described by some people that I "know" "online" when they post about their problems and frustrations and I start to feel bad for them. As much as my family is probably dysfunctional, and irritating, and exceptionally uncomfortable when taken in large doses, everyone is settling down nicely as we aaaaaaall age, and I know everyone means well.

And we are still family.

And it's sad to hear about women whose husbands BUY THEM NOTHING for Christmas and birthdays and Valentine's Day, and I'm sorry, but that is totally uncalled for and not to be allowed! Horrible. I could never stand for that. Not that I expect to be spoiled, or anything, but a little recognition on special occasions is always in order.

I intend on being a VERY thoughtful and VERY generous person/partner when it's my time, or not, but hints and reminders would work for me. I wonder why they appear not to work for other people? :(

Well, I try to make it a point to be grateful for everything that I have, and I know that I am a very lucky and blessed person, especially if I compare myself to so many others in this vast, encompassing world.

Life is full of good things and it could be so much entirely super duper horrifically worse!!!

"You have everything you need, if you just believe ..." [in JESUS]!!!!!

:P

ByE nOw!

My FAMILY drives me completely UP THE WALL

2007-12-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

Merry frickin' Christmas to you TOO!!!

How's everybody doing today. :)

I've been very productive this past weekend, in my own somewhat-humble opinion.

I sure haven't cleaned nearly enough, though, knowing that I have someone coming to stay with me in less than two weeks!! :O

However, I did clear out some trash and organize half of the closet and then proceeded to run quickly out of room to put all my various precious junx.

Washing the front porch/balcony was also slightly less successful than I had hoped, but at least it is now done and I did the best I could. Boy, white paint gets dirty in dusty, polluted, Southern California, eh??

So FIRST of all, last night was the first night I was home at the parental palace (hee) for the Christmas holidays.

After church (which was pretty fun!), I came home, and the parents came home, and then they left to go listen to some random violinist at another church, and I ended up passing out on the couch for a good 4 or so hours.

I woke up soooooooooo hungry and baby sis was laid up in bed with a horrible nasal congestion thingy and nobody else was home. So that was like, 4pm. And then I dozed and napped some more waiting for people to come the heck home already and the first person to come home was middle sis, loaded with groceries for the office party today and Christmas dinner and stuff.

Then mom and dad came home fully laden with the goods two hours later, just as I was preparing to lose my mind!! Yum yum, special Taiwanese food that I loooooooooooove.

Till we all sat down and thus ensued the massive piss party.

Ugh, horribly unpleasant.

See, my view of things is ... if we sit down to have a family dinner, EVERYONE is sitting together, and we have COMMUNAL CONVERSATION.

BUT NO.

According to SOME people, if TWO OTHER PEOPLE are already having a conversation about what the youngest will be doing after graduation, and the advisability of taking a graduate research assistant position in the Caribbean ... uh, I'm not allowed to BUTT INTO the conversation. Because, apparently, you have to be invited first, at least at THIS family table.

Oh, and if I ask questions to try to find out details about the situation and what A CERTAIN SOMEONE'S exact plans are, I better stop, because she DOESN'T APPRECIATING BEING INTERROGATED.

Can you tell I am still steamed? I think she is a tart and a horrid little b!tch sometimes, but I will get over it. We talked when I got up to clear the table and do the dishes immediately after everyone finished eating (HELLO! Also I put everything else and all the leftovers away, so there!), and basically it was resolved, I think, and she did apologize also, but sheesh!!

I was so disappointed that the first family get together was so obnoxiously unpleasant. Then again, that's what makes them FAMILY, RIGHT??

BECAUSE YOU GET TO CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS BUT FAMILY MEMBERS ARE PEOPLE YOU WOULD NEVER VOLUNTARILY CHOOSE TO ASSOCIATE WITH GIVEN FREE REIGN, AND YET THEY ARE FOISTED UPON YOU.

'Course I don't REALLY mean that.

Hah. :D

So, actually, the MOST depressing thing was putting up the d@mn Christmas tree, which I love anyway.

Guess what? I did the entire Christmas tree BY MYSELF last year TOO while the rest of the family was sleeping. Oh boy, that was not nice, though I think it turned out marvelously!! I think I did it Christmas morning, no less. I guess I'm used to getting up early. I just remembered that last year, our last day of school was DECEMBER 23, anyway, so it's not as if that much time had passed before Christmas was upon us.

This year, after I finished clearing the table and cleaning up after dinner, both sisters went straight up to bed, since one is suffering the physical repercussions of her horrible relational habits (:P) and and the other had to work in the morning. And daddoo was tired from work also so he went to bed early. And mom wandered off somewhere, don't know where.

So I lugged the Christmas tree set (I like to do three!) by myself, got out all the decorations myself (I don't think anybody else owns any Christmas decorations, anyway, it's all compulsive-shopper-hoarder me), and decorated BY MYSELF.

THAT IS DEPRESSING. IF I EVER HAVE MY OWN FAMILY WHERE I AM THE BOSS, THIS SHALL NOT COME TO PASS AGAIN. UNACCEPTABLE!!

Still, I turned the radio on to the Christmas music, and had a pretty good time throwing all the stuff up on the tree.

It always takes me a little while to decide what I want to have on the tree, and the colors and the decorations. I went completely loco-nuts buying decorations this year at Target, the pink and candy stuff that I posted earlier, but all that was at my apartment, and all I had was my regular older stuff at my parents' place. So I went with a white/brown/light green rustic kind of Christmas tree. I remember 2 years ago it was all white and glass and tin and gold (I probably have a picture somewhere), and last year was red and very countryish, and this year ended up being countryish too, but mostly white. I LOVE IT!!

And once I had nearly finished and I turned on the lights on the tree, it was like, seriously magical. That's my favorite moment so far. I said, "Oh, woooooow, that is sooooo pretty." And my mom, who was sitting at the dining table watching her own weird opera woman sing annoying songs, agreed with me. Wanna know why she didn't help me with the tree? Because she thought the Christmas music I had on from the radio was too noisy. CHRISTMAS! MUSIC! TOO! NOISY!

That's called "you-have-a-problem."

Anyway, the tree looked nice, but a little cold, and off, and missing something, till I put in a few teeny touches of red (little red wooden hearts!) and that was PERFECT. Now I am fully satisfied, but I don't have a pic yet.

Today I put up the stockings, too.

That was after I dragged both parents out to The Original Pancake House, which, if you'll check out the link, HAPPENS TO BE CLOSED ON MONDAYS.

Didn't I feel like the fool, especially since it's 20+minutes away. Darn it!

But both parents were patient and gracious and we ended up going to a Chinese supermarket where we had dimsum stuff instead and shopped for dinner tonight. I think we're having some church friends over - just the dad and the older daughter, since (don't ask me why) the mom bopped off to China with the younger daughter for I-don't-know-how-long.

And now my kvetching about my dear sainted family is over and I will concentrate on enjoying the Christmas season. Whee!!

I'll save the complaining about one of the most horrible, agonizing, cruel and terrible experiences I have had in recent memory for later. This was probably 3 weeks ago already, or something. Boy, was it awful. Even though it ended up being okay. Eye-opening experience.

Anyway, I am now going to enjoy Christmas and go wrap presents while [nosy] [ungrateful] mom is out of the house. I bought her the most presents because she needs them the most :P.

Will have pics up of the tree later.

Productivity.

2007-12-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

Dang, it's 4pm already??? Argh.

Today was the day I was meant to CLEAN! CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!

It's official - Jenny: (hi there, Jenny at Denny's in Auckland, New Zealand!)

will be coming to stay with me for 3 weeks in January!!! I like hosting people. Whee. Which is why I simply MUST move into a bigger place with a guest bedroom, dagnabbit. Also a storage room.

Because this place is a pigsty!! Look up "compulsive hoarding" in wikipedia and you will get an idea as to the very state of affairs in my now ever-so-humble abode. Grr.

So I have to do something about it.

1. Gonna sweep and clean the front porch because it's disgusting and needs it.

2. Need to clean and organize the bedroom closet so I can put stuff away and tidy the frick up.

3. Something MUST be done about the damn living room. There's like, only a little walkway, and stuff is all piled up! Makes me SAD.

4. Kitchen needs major help and work too. I just have stuff out everywhere. Too much stuff!!

5. Need to clean out the car and put my goods away.

6. I do believe I will take a SIGNIFICANT shopping break for the next week or so, though even MY FATHER (after whom I take quite a lot) asked me today if I was "shopping" when he called me and he also offered to go shopping with me on Christmas Day, though I think he meant the day after Christmas, and I just might take him up on it, if he doesn't have to work. We went shopping together on Black Friday this year, I hope you know. That was nice and fun. He likes buying stuff and collecting stuff as well, and that's probably where I get it from, so as far as he is concerned, it probably does not take much to convince him how WORTHWHILE it can be to go at the right time to the right place to get the right goods for the right price!

So all that needs to get a serious dent put into it and dang I just now remembered I forgot a couple Christmas cards and another letter of recommendation I need to send for a friend so she can work at a hospice (how altruistic and community-minded of her! I don't do productive things like that in my spare time, really) and I also need to wrap the presents I bought for family before I leave to go stay at the parental house for the next 3 days Merry Christmas.

The sun is setting now and it's'a'gonna get chilly and I feel my wilting drive withering already.

This morning was FREEZING COLD and I WORE FOUR LAYERS. There was frost on the car next to mine, frost on the grass of the lawn at the yard sale I hit this morning (only one! I was good! Also, there were not that many since it's only 3 days to Christmas), as well as the roof of another ... um, yard sale that I stayed 1 minute at since I'd forgotten about it - I saw the sign last minute and stopped by.

I did hit a few thrift stores today and it was nice.

The first one I got there a bit before it opened, and dang, people really DO wait outside for it to open! It was a bit of a dud, though I perused, and then picked up, a set of 3 pillowcases that looked prettyish with the flowers and looked like they might match the purple rosey Rachel Ashwell Treasures fitted sheet I got at the same store a few weeks back. So that was pretty much all I saw at that place, and it was a bit disappointing, since how often do I get to arrive as it opens??? But then I thought, well, I might as well check the tags of the pillowcases in case it's something nice AND WHADDYA KNOW, THOSE PILLOWCASES ARE RACHEL ASHWELL TREASURES LINE AS WELL!! I would REALLY like to know who is donating this Rachel Ashwell business, because HONESTLY.

Then I found a few books and that was good.

I hit another thrift store, they had 30% off today as a Christmas special, and I only got a set of votives that will replace the set with one missing from my Halloween candle holder, and I got a white shabby chic-style candlestick missing some pendants, from what it looks like, and the Country Living Cottage Style decorating book in hardcover.

I was all set to head home and hit the weekend farmer's market with my downstairs neighbors, but I stopped by a Goodwill, decided to ask them about the last chance store, since Apron Thrift Girl first mentioned an outlet, and I DID end up driving all the way out there. THEY WERE CLOSED ON WEEKENDS!! But I was able to walk inside and take a look since they were there working. So that was the plan, that I'd take a look at that thing this break since I have time over the holidays. Finding that place was a production, I tell you, because I first tried looking it up in the Yellow Pages that took a long time to be found at this one thrift store, then I drove to the Goodwill, then ended up backtracking to get gas and head onto the freeway to go to the place.

And then I came home and bonded with my computer since I love to do that.

OK, promising myself to sweep and be productive now. Because it will look nice and I will feel proud of myself and then all shall be presentable again sometime in the near future.

I still want to post about my most exceedingly horrible experience at one of these thrift stores about 2 weeks ago. IT. WAS. AGONY.

Oh yeah, and last Sunday I hit Vet's Stadium again and it was brilliant. Hee. Funny story also.

BUT FIRST I MUST ATTEND TO MY BURGEONING PRIORITIES! Ta-ta and hasta la pasta.

Tacky Christmas Yards ... (d0t) com

2007-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

OK, so my homepage is Yahoo. I like it, I love yahoo mail, and it has the news articles, which I read compulsively every day.

Today they had a featured article on the excesses of Christmas decorating. Considering the eyesore junk that I see being electrified and promulgated in modern American commercial and retail corporations ... ick. Tres ugly.

So I read the article and apparently SOMEONE is SO OFFENDED she started a site/blog about it ... hilarious.

I took a look at Tacky Christmas Yards and just about blew a gasket. So, stinkin', funny.

Have a look, and here are my top 3 favorites:

1. Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Angels and their heavenly urine

Violations: None. Just funny.
Anonymous said...
lolol....soo funny!...looks like tapeworms dangling out of angels...

2. Thursday, December 20, 2007
Mr & Mrs C - chillin in the yard

Santa and friends appear to be passed out cold? A little too much egg nog?
(Fallen Figurines/Drive-by Shooting Victims Violation)

3. Thursday, December 20, 2007
Hunting Season

Submitted by Ed
Two of Santa's Reindeer, shot and hung from a tree, blood oozing. Anonymous said...
so thats how Rudolph got a red nose
Anonymous said...
Okay, horrible, but hilarious.

Hurrah!!! Merry Christmas.

LOVING GOODWILL, redux!

2007-12-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

OK, so this is one of my loooooooooooooooong overdue ones. this didn't happen LAST weekend, but the weekend before!! So I guess that would make it ... Sunday, December 9. Dang. (Does December really go by that fast??? I guess it does.)

I have been SEARCHING for these darn plates for over a month now ... these darn big black and white damask plates:

I went ahead and got the salad plates when they were on sale in the weekly circular a few weeks back, because I do totally love them, but those big dinner plates have been impossible to find for the past month.

And of course, guess where I found them!!!!!!! Yarr, Goodwill.

But there's the thing - ONE of the plates was BROKEN!! I honestly was nearly gonna buy ANOTHER in-store set that had one dish broken just because I was so desperate to own them.

Anyway, when I saw the plates in Goodwill, I nearly screamed. I was thinking about miraculously find a set no more than 10 seconds before I actually spied them. Man, it was unduly exciting. I love the hunt.

However, upon closer inspection, I realized the very back plate was cracked exactly in half.

AGONY!!!!!

So, so, very sad.

So, I looked at all the rest of them, and they looked fine ... and so I put the broken one on top, hoping to show it to them so maybe I could get a mark down. I think they were marked $11.99.

I bring it up there, ask about the damage/markdown, and the chick ringing me up (hee, she's a nice, albeit goofy, and slightly clumsy gal) says, "OOOOOOOOOH, they were NOT like that before. They've been sitting there for WEEKS and they weren't like that yesterday."

Inside, I died a little. Yesterday? Yesterday? I'd missed them because of one day?? Because I was too tired to drag myself outta my parent's house to hit the sainted GOODWILL????

Awful. Awful awful awful. I was like mentally beating myself up for not going to Goodwill just a day earlier to get these darn plates that have been totally on my mind since I first laid eyes on them!

So as I got into the car, and drove to the other Target, finger crossed, and wishing and hoping that a set would be there ... I realized something.

I realized that *I* had moved the broken plate up from the back of the set. And if no one had taken a closer inspection, they would not have known. And despite the Goodwill employees ASSURING me that they were not broken before, and they must have been broken some time during the day before ... perhaps they had not realized the rear plate was jacked up. Hmm!!! Maybe THAT'S why the set was sent to Goodwill!!

Anyway, that's the idea that I held on to and have been reiterating, since it pacifies my inner anxious curmudgeon. It does make me feel better. And now I have the big dinner plates!!! So I will keep hunting at and looking for the plates at Goodwill even AFTER Christmas because I can use these other times of the year. And they go SO well with the beaded chargers I got last year that look SO much better than the weird ugly ones they have this year.

Eek.

And you know what else I got for $14.99 at this Goodwill?

And this lil baby is regularly $129.99 at Target.

Yippee!!

December is ending

2007-12-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

And so is 2007.

Can't believe it! I remember talking with a guy last year (don't talk to him no mo no mo!! GOOD) who predicted this would be a good year for me. There were some good things, but overall ... hm, I'm not sure it's gonna be entirely memorable.

Like, honestly? Can't remember what I did when I was 27.

I guess if I go back over the years and try to fit the pieces in with like, memorable events, it's doable ... but the best parts of life are the trips to Europe. So far. OK, New Zealand counts kinda, too.

I STILL am not thinking I will be able to afford a backpacking trip to Europe this upcoming summer with the deplorable condition of the U.S. currency in the international marketplace BUT - I was so, so, SO sure that it was a sign when I found the 1998 Let's Go Europe guidebook at the thrift store earlier this year. Urgh.

*insert sidenote tangent as to the complete and utter relevance of a 1998 Let's Go Europe guidebook*

(Ok, so, like, 1998 was the first time I ever went to Europe. I went with a school group, kinda, with some school friends, and basically 4 of us traveled around together. We divvied up the tasks, and one of the guys was in charge of the money - we had a budget - the other guy was in charge of getting us around, with the maps, and timetables and stuff, I booked hostels and made phone calls and talked to information people, and the other chick was in charge of food. Now that I think about it, it was a pretty awesome division of labor.

Anyway, it was my first time to Rome ... and overall I HATED IT UBER DECIDEDLY ... but one evening we ate out and decided to look in the guidebook for recommendations on places to eat. Seriously, I have decided that Let's Go has absolutely THE BEST dining recommendations for Europe. Sorry, but that's my diehard opinion.

So, we looked for a cheap place to eat, I remember the mappy guy led us around to this little non-touristy quaint back alley area, wherein I feasted on the MOST INCREDIBLY UNFORGETTABLE MOUTH-WATERING OBNOXIOUSLY DELICIOUS SALAD I'VE EVER HAD IN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE. And I really like salads.

I remember it was an insalata tonnato - yes, I DO have an awesome memory!! - and it was totally different than what I was expecting. I don't know why veal in Rome is always so weird and gross, but it is. This was a romaine lettuce salad, with the poached/blanched thin-sliced pieces of whitey veal, and a SIMPLY GARGANTUAN EPIPHANY of a salad dressing. It was a tuna salad dressing. I had no idea how they made it and I'd never heard of such a thing in my life but seriously??? I happen to have strangely good luck with ordering things off a menu. That other Roman veal mishap in 2004 notwithstanding ....

Anyway, I've never forgotten that salad. That salad was SO. INREDIBLY. GOOD. I've never tried to replicate it, but I should. What I certainly WON'T replicate was my friend's white macaroni and cheese which ended up being SPICY. Um, weird, and gross. It's not even orange mac and cheese - hee, Americano - and it tasted of jalapenos??? Nasty.

So, like, great, we had a wonderful salad at the little cute joint, but WHAT happened at the end of the summer? And WHY do I not remember or have a clue in Hades as to where this little dive was??

BECAUSE - at one of our last hostels, we checked it and I left the guidebook on my bunkbed in the hostel. And I did not discover until hours later, when I went back, and noticed ... that ... the book? like, looked a little different? somehow? that SOME STUPID REPULSIVE I-HOPE-YOU-GET-A-THOUSAND-AND-ONE-PAPERCUTS-ALL-OVER-YOUR-BODY-INCLUDING-ON-YOUR-EYEBALLS-AND-THEN-HAVE-A-LEMON-JUICE-BATH JerkFace had switched our nice, new, 1998 Let's Go guidebook with a manky jacked up 1997.

I cannot even begin to describe to you the flooding angst that appeared on the furious horizon.

Anyway, so our precious Let's Go - which we had irreverently considered calling "Satan" but ended up affectionately nicknaming Sklep, in commemoration of a truly horrendous hostelling experience in Prague ... YACK - was gone ... and I did end up getting my hands on a spare copy when we got back to school and I was cleaning out the office desk when I did the school program again ... but then I totally discarded it when I was moving out after graduation, not realizing how desperately I would pine for the information on the joint which introduced me to the joys of a freaking INSALATA TONNATO.

I honestly had NO idea how I was gonna find a 1998 Let's Go - I mean, random, right??? - in 2004, or 2005. Or 2007. Cuz I seriously did look on eBay and even considered posting a Want It Now.

And then I found one in the thrift store a couple months ago and KNEW it was confirmation that I was supposed to go to Europe this year, because I believe in signs like that.)

*end typically long-winded and overly-detailed tangent*

I found another one yesterday and didn't think that it was a sign. But at the thrift store yesterday it was not 50% off but it was tagged a color that was supposed to be 50% off today ... so I took it as a sign that I was supposed to buy it when I went back today and did indeed see it again.

Would you consider that a sign that I am meant to go?? There are other very very important things I could be doing this next dadgum summer but the trips to Europe have all been terribly PRICELESS.

Maybe I'll try to swing it with my youngest sister this time. Dunno how I will be able to afford it, really, but boy, was my middle sister smart to take up my invite to go with me in 2004.

*brag time* I paid for EVERYTHING.

I cringe now to think of how much money I had in da BANK that year. And how much I had LEFT OVER EVEN AFTER WE GOT BACK.

Sadly, that was just about the last dregs of my frugal days.

Anyhoo, I am glad I have some catch-up time on the blog! I need to be all caught up or else it's gonna drive me crazy. I'm still thinking of posting stuff from EUROPE 2006. Shup.

Exhaustia

2007-12-18T01:47:00.000-08:00

I have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more I want to post but I ran out of time and energy!! And my Christmas cards STILL are not done! Oy. Will have to post tomorrow, then. Hope I can finish!

Book-a-Rama

2007-12-17T21:46:00.001-08:00

So, LAST Saturday the 7th, I hit one of the biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Scholastic customer appreciation sales, like, from the big publisher of children's books. I went with Jen.

Actually, I'd called her earlier in the week, like Thursday, or something, and hadn't heard back from her (no fault of hers, I think), so I had actually gotten up to go to the sale (after clearing my car out of heavyish stuff since the sale was a bit far away) and was THERE when I got a call from her!

She ended up meeting me there with her two kids, and that was fine, since I love to see them.

I just remember that this scene was CRAZY. I left the house a little later than I wanted, I wanted to get there about 10 minutes early. Usually on the first day, especially first thing, the lines are pretty long. It started at 9, and I got there at 9:05, there were cars parked on both sides of the street already, and I went ahead and parked in a close spot that had a Reserved sign. Pretty sure that's only for when they are working during the week, and I didn't care too much.

So the line was about 30 people deep, with people streaming in from off the street the entire time, and honestly, I've never had to wait that line, it was moving at a pretty fast clip. Till I realized that I forgot my "Fast Cart" pass - some lil doohickey I can print out to skip the computer check-in process. Well, I've been to so many of these that the check-in thing doesn't take me more than literally 30 seconds, so I decide to just go ahead and do that.

And then I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I swear, like, nearly 15 minutes goes by?? I have no idea what is going on. There's a bank of 3 computers, and seriously, all 3 people up there are taking FOREVER. The line just gets all jammed up with 2 people waiting for each computer, and then all of a sudden, the chick over at the furthest left computer does something and accidentally logs out of the check-in system so nobody can use it anymore. The two women in front of me decide to go and investigate, and they are feeling all fretty, judging by their conversations and repeated assertions that they "should've checked email again" and la di di. I tell them that I've NEVER had to wait THIS long in the FIVE years I've been coming to these sales ... and the one chick goes over because she's starting to get all impatient and stuff. And when she goes to get back in line, she tries to step in front of this other lady, who inches over and doesn't let her, and there's this like, silent confrontration, and the lady who left the line starts with the whole "ExCUSE me ..." when the other lady in line says, "I was here ..." and "Excuuuuuuse me" lady says "Oh! Were you already in line? Oh, I'm so SORRY!!" and tries to laugh it off and pat the other lady on the arm all friendly-like.

I might be shallow, but I admit I took a bit of a dislike to this Miss Bleached-Blonde Smarmy fakey chick.

Man, I'm so judgmental!

So, the OTHER two people on the OTHER two computers are ALSO having major problems and I'm feeling like I've stepped into a village completely populated by inept DUMBASSES, and I decide to take off.

I storm for the entrance, and the woman in charge asks me if I have my fastcart pass, and I tell her that I'd already signed up online (which I had), but I didn't get a chance to print it out, and asked if I really needed it to get inside. She told me it wasn't necessary unless I wanted that $10-off-$50 purchase coupon, and I said I didn't need it, so I got to go in!

Yay! Joy from the circumvention of FOLLOWING THE CATTLE CROWD.

So that was the first mini-victory. Then I get inside, go around a few of the aisles, and finally find the $1 section where they are opening up boxes and still labeling value-packs of 2 shrink-wrapped books for $1. I dig around, find a few odds and ends, nothing overly exciting, then I see a big crowd form and apparently they have found packs of these little hardcover non-fiction books with the clear overlays and stuff. These books usually sell for $12.99 EACH, and they had the 2-packs for $1 each. This stuff is usually Scholastic Book Fair overstock, and stuff returned from schools.

So, this stuff turns out to be a bit hit, and I swear, there was this one woman who parked herself in front of the people marking the books and proceeded to HOG everything they were digging out - hardcover picture books, all of the clear overlay flip books, and nobody else is getting a chance at those. Partly it should also have been the people marking and handing out the stuff to disperse it evenly ... I was just sad that when I'd first asked if they were going to open up any more boxes, the woman there at the time said she had noooooooo idea, she was just a volunteer who was supposed to mark the books $1.

Anyway, that sort of environment is so not my style and I had just about enough of that annoying obnoxious rudeness, so at that point I wandered away and then Jen came and I met up with her and browsed some more.

I did head back to that area later, and got a couple picture book sets, but that was all.

And the point to this story??? When I was making one last round, I actually found an entire STACK of these little hardcover books that someone had just dumped on a random shelf - and they weren't marked. Since I knew they had been marking them there, I grabbed the ones I wanted, separated those, and brought them over so they could slap the sticker on.

HA HA FRICKIN' HA! I hate it when people are all greedy and rude, and I felt vindicated that I was able to get some after all.

I did feel bad, though, because I recognized a lady that I'd spoken to before at one of these sales - she seriously has like, 7 or 8 kids, and homeschools, and all that jazz, so we chatted for a bit - last time I remember she was nursing a kid with one arm while digging through the big ole boxes of cheap books. Heh. AND I think she was pregnant then with the one she was holding in her arms that day!!! She said she got smart this time and left the other kids at home with her husband. He was a nice husband, too, from what I remembered last time, corralling the kids all patiently and stuff and reading to them.

Anyway, I didn't end up discarding any of those books at the end so I didn't have any to give to her :(. I gave a couple other books away, books I already had but had picked up randomly in case Jennifer or someone else wanted them ...

The most outrightly RUDE experience was when we were walking to the line to check out, and I saw a cart of books that had been discarded and were probably going to be reshelved - I looked at the top one, and then saw one that I TOTALLY knew and loved and wanted at the bottom, and reached for it at the same time as this other chick did, so then I stopped myself, BECAUSE I WAS NOT FREAKING RAISED TO BE A RUDE, SNATCHING, IMPOLITE BITCH, and this other young, also Asian, chick, snatches it up. All I said was, "Oh, that's a good one ..." and she goes ... "Yeah, it is!" and walks off with it.

I swear, next time something like that happens, I WILL DO SOMETHING. And it will not be beyond me to snatch it right out of her filthy paws.

I'm so aggressive now!

But I'm starting not to care as I get older. You know that Kathy Bates character in Fried Green Tomatoes, or whatever it is? "Yeah, but I have more insurance"?? It's like that. What do I have to lose? I don't think I'm going to see that person again. Heh. And they have a lesson to learn! And I volunteer to teach it!

I just feel very sad and disappointed in people when they act like that. Honestly? There is enough to go around. People don't need to act like that, especially over children's books in America.

If this other gargoyle had the proper upbringing to see me reaching for it, and stop herself also, I probably would have asked her if she already had a copy or not, and if she didn't, just go ahead and let her have it.

Because, I admit, I already had a copy of that book in my cart. But I wanted another one! Because it's always a hit in the classroom and the books in the library get all chewed up.

Grrrrrrrrrr. What an ugly, ugly encounter.

I called her a stupid biznatch and other choice epithets in my head, and quite possibly muttered a few other choice words after her, and next time something like that happens I FER SHUR will go and have a confrontation, because it is going to BE AWWN, and then I decided to just get over it 10 minutes after that. And 10 minutes after that, I found another discarded copy of that book, so haha. Sucks to be a low-class guttersnipe. I mean her.

:(

This is the book, btw:

We ended up getting into line - the LONGEST LINE I HAVE EVER SEEN there, or just about anywhere, except like, Disneyland, and it took an hour and a half to stand through line. Yeesh. I talked a nice lady ahead of us, recommended a few books, chatted with her a bit, envied her the hardcover picture books she got after I told her about the $1 section, and then we went to lunch. And it was fun.

I think I hit TJMaxx after that, too.

Heh.

Souplantation.

2007-12-17T20:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, before I backtrack all the way to last Saturday (I've been very busy these past two weekends!!), I just wanted to say that tonight I had Souplantation for dinner again.

This makes the 3rd time in like, barely over a week.

I had Souplantation for a late lunch with Jen last Saturday, Dec. 8.

It was so good (albondigas!!) that I decided to have it for dinner again after I left my parents' house last Sunday, Dec. 9. I sat by myself and horfed down so much food my stomach freaking HURT, while reading "A History of Taiwan in Comics." Stinkin' hilarious.

Anyway, so I had it tonight, too. And wonder of wonders, they had Cream of Mushroom soup!! Boy, that is just about my favorite there, I think. I believe it was a tad too salty by the end of my dining experience there, but it was quite enjoyable. I took a thrift store find of a little paperback of vintage children's book covers to keep me company.

The most memorable event was ... well, a guy who uncannily reminded me of FOOLIO:

Like, HELLO.

Okay, so the guy at Souplantation tonight ... had darker hair. And darker eyes. And a smaller nose.

But SERIOUSLY. He talked JUST as loud and obnoxiously as this guy. And just as overemphatically.

Whoa!

I was finishing up my dinner, perusing through my book, and I hear this guy talking loudly on a cellphone, and he walks by. I'm like, alright, maybe he's about to leave.

Oh noooooooo. He stands about 2 tables away from me, where his table was, and proceeds to talk for at least 10 minutes - loud, histrionic, overdramatic, theatrics.

Grating. Annoying. Making of the hackles be rising.

So I sigh deeply, and decide to get one more small plate of salad and a last cup of Cream of Mushroom. As I'm getting up and walking back to the salad bar, I give the guy a mild, stare-y, evil-eye. I'm sure he has no idea why I was staring him down. I was hoping he would be gone by the time I got back.

No such luck.

He was talking to his mother, or something? "Ma, Ma, MA - can I even TELL you how many times - really, the number is innumerable - how many TIMES I have received these FRANTIC PHONE CALLS from you - for what? I mean, FOR. WHAT. I ASSURE you that TOMORROW she will be IN. NEW JERSEY. TOMORROW, Ma. In New Jersey. Tomorrow night, she will be IN New Jersey, I will put her on the plane MYSELF, and could you PLEASE just make sure that when she gets there, that's she nice to me. How come you always do this, Ma? She's gonne be IN NEW JERSEY TOMORROW NIGHT and I AM GONNA MAKE IT HAPPEN."

*itching strangulation fingers*

So seriously, after another 10 minutes of this, I start looking at him - he's facing away from me. I check out the other guests that are around, and they all seem to be just eating quietly, minding their own business.

I consider my options: do I make eye contact with him again? Do I give him the "SHHH!!" finger to my lips? Do I get up and walk over to him and kindly ask him to take it outside? Or should I ask for a manager, or one of the bussers, to go and talk to him? I remember hearing him when I was IN the salad line 15 feet away, and I remember looking around for a manager because I was starting to get IRKED.

And in the end, as I looked desperately for a passing Souplantationed employee, with none passing by, I see a sudden flurry of activity RUSHING up and all of a sudden I hear a woman bellowing "WOULD YOU TAKE IT OUTSIDE! We've all been sitting here listening to your conversation and I paid money for dinner NOT TO LISTEN TO YOU TALK, so TAKE IT! OUTSIDE!" with a stalk-stalk-stalking away for final emphasis.

Have you ever seen a bird like, totally flip-out in hysterics with the wings all flapping and the bird bouncing everywhere and feathers flying all over and all that? Cuz it was a bit like that.

Oh my. Talk about drama. I mean, by the time this woman - who I initially thought was one of the hostesses or something, but turned out to be a fellow patron(ess) - walked away, he was off the phone, had turned it off, and was starting to walk away. Yee-ouch. That had to be embarrassing for him, complete oblivion to others' irritation notwithstanding. I'm glad I thought of calling for an employee to take care of it.

I mean, she was effective, but her whole presentation was like, so entirely hostile!

Still, there were scattered patches of applause after what she did. I looked over to where she sat down and she was with a man, ostensibly her husband, and two teenage/young adult-looking children. I wondered if they were embarrassed. I wondered why the man wasn't the one to get up and confront Mr. Loud Easterner Cellphone Talker.

Hmm. This is how people solve their problems, I guess.

But honestly, loud cellphone talkers DO annoy me. I don't WANT to hear other people's conversations when I'm in a restaurant or out shopping. And I try to talk quiet and not for too long when I'm out shopping also, but quiet has all sorts of subjective interpretations so maybe I shouldn't do it at all.

But seriously, dude's inane, asinine, mother-insulting conversation bordered on the unbearable. So I'm glad he got a chastening talking-to, even if it was a bit overreactive.

Now if we can only manage to get a similar message across to obnoxious, aggressive, self-absorbed, inconsiderate, jackass drivers.

Long overdue.

2007-12-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

I hate went I get stuck in these like, ruts of fatigue. Does it run in the family or something?? I seem to remember my mom going through these bouts when I was a kid.

Anyhoo, it's MONDAY! And I MADE IT! And TOMORROW!! I'm being observed in my regrettably messy classroom by my new principal. Oy. At least I got the lesson plan typed out and sent to her this afternoon.

But seriously, sometimes after work - or after a busy weekend, I wander around in this hazy, funky, miasma of intolerable unproductivity.

Is this normal?? I have no idea. I am starting to think that I just don't really get a lot of things DONE.

However, that might be remedied if I "relaxed" and "took a break" a lot less than I maybe do now.

Hee.

But that's totally so much the fun of being a grown-up, single, adult. Down time.

I had soooooooooooo much that I wanted to post starting from last WEEKEND and then this past WEEK just about did me in and bowled me over ... so I'll parcel this out piecemeal-like.

Overwhelmed by eBay

2007-12-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, so as some/all of you might know, I LOVE TO BUY STUFF.

It's probably a sickness and a compulsion. But it's also fun.

Anyway.

Guess what!! I'm so glad that tonight I got good food in me (seriously, is there ANYTHING like CRAVING a certain something and then sitting down and actually PUTTING IT IN YOUR MOUTH AND SWALLOWING??? - I'm all about life's simple pleasures and had a veritable out-of-body experience tonight just from drinking PEPSI!!!!), got some time here on the computer, which I've been missing all day, I love my bed, I love my cute flowery sheets, I love living all by myself, I seriously don't get lonely, I hate the stupid neighbors that park right smack in the driveway in front of the garages that they don't even use when there's clearly a "no parking or we will tow you" sign, I love how cozy my little place is - especially in the wintertime, I'm mildly perturbed by the frigid nature of the climate 'round here lately, and I'm glad I get a chance to catch up on this bloggedy bloggadoo.

So, long overdue - I've been meaning to go through my eBay/PayPal transactions to SEE if I actually GOT everything because I admit I've been buying kind of a lot lately. And it was a stunning eye-opener, to see what I've been spending and be reminded of several items I don't even remember seeing the packages for. However, I've been getting stuff delivered to the school so it might be getting all mishmashy.

Anyway, I'll have to look up and down and hunt all around to see if I am missing any packages. And it sure is helpful when the seller sends stuff through PayPal shipping with delivery confirmation so then I don't go crazy thinking it hasn't even been sent or anything.

I actually sat down and went through everything, though, that's honestly a marvel. Two months' worth of stuff!!!

Man, sometimes I'm sure I could be categorized as officially, crazy, yet, functional.

A couple more posts are on their way tonight.

And lastly - can I say, while I despise the fact that I have a few TV shows that I'm really into watching that are detrimentally impacted by the current writers' strike, I'm glad nothing is on tonight (like, you know, Heroes, which I watch very, very casually) so I can get caught up on other things. It really is true, you can get so much accomplished when you DON'T WATCH TV.

That's if you don't replace it, however, with stuff like watching youtube videos and playing addictive online games.

Random bedding, linens, and fabric tips that I would like to share.

2007-12-03T21:27:00.000-08:00

In my brief stints of dilly-dallying around with my linens and bedding and spending ALL. AFTERNOON. AND. EVENING. YESTERDAY. after church washing, and drying, and folding, and ironing, bed linens etc., I thought it was about time I share some tips that I think would be potentially quite useful for anyone that does the little things I do.

1. Fold quilts inside out when storing. Remember those baby quilts I bought and showed a few posts ago?? Here's what I noticed, and learned. The fabric and threads get all stretched out when you fold them. On the inside, thin and brittle fabric can just totally split like it was cut with scissors if you fold it like that. And on the outside, it's stretched out so when you unfold it, it's slightly raised and sticks out. Especially after years and years and years. No good!! The ones I have have noticeable folds where you can see how it was folded. I suppose ideally you would gently roll the quilts and store them that way. Currently, mine are folded inside out. It'll minimize sun damage and fading and potential random spills on the pretty side, and the less important side can take the stretching outing.

2. It's a pretty cool idea to iron flat linens RIGHT after they are washed, instead of even putting them in the dryer. Dunno why I never heard of this before. That's IF you bother ironing at all, which I don't often do, but like doing with the bedding so it's nice and flat and stiff and crisp. I THINK I thought of this myself, but I am certain I wouldn't be the first person to think of it. I just wondered why I would hang things up to dry, or throw them in the dryer, and THEN try to iron out the wrinkles that have basically already been set. This is ideal to do with pillowcases, and flat sheets ... though that GIANT king-size pink Nautica flat sheet took way too freaking long to do. It would work really nicely with handkerchiefs, and napkins, and tablecloths too, probably. Just unroll or unfold, and stretch and pull the fabric out a bit before you iron, and you don't have to use the steam function (it's already damp!) and you dry and iron out wrinkles AT THE SAME TIME. Whoo. This worked wonderfully with an embroidered and cut-out pillowcase that had shrunken a bit within the embroidered part so the pillowcase was all warped at the end there. Now it is nice and flat and smooth! I also try (if I remember) to gently straighten and finger-iron wet clothes from the washer when I hang them up the dry. How you hang them up is how they dry all stiffish-like, so save yourself the extra ironing step and do it while it's wet!!

3. Featherbeds can sometimes suck. My king size Woolrich one that I got for 75% off at Target ($17.48!!) is on the bed and the feathers are sticking out EVERYWHERE. Horrible. I know it's just that the weave on the cover is probably not fine enough, but feathers also get all flattened in the middle where the big ole body lays so you end up sleeping in a ditch, basically. If the feathers pile up around the outside enough, it's almost like a grave. Ick.

4. Old, garish, yet serviceable comforters make awesome mattress toppers. So, Target sells "mattress toppers" - basically like the foam toppers, or feather toppers, or down-free toppers, etc. They basically provide more cushion atop the mattress/bed. (I swear the next mattress I get is going to be a Tempur-pedic, though. Cousin got one AND I LOVE IT!) I love myself a firm mattress so I never thought I needed one, but I reaaaaaally wanted to sleep on feathers and try it and I kinda did not totally care for it. So then I got a cute Tommy Hilfiger reversible Hawaiian print comforter for $7 at the thrift store. And I folded it in half and used it on the bed and it totally kept the feathers from poking out through the sheet into me!! Just now I remembered that I forgot to put the gorgeous VELOUR (fuzzy, and soft like velvet!) mattress cover on ... but last night I fixed up the feather mattress, and threw the comforter over it for extra padding, AND THEN put on the Woolrich down-free comforter on top of THAT before I put the sheets on. And this bed is now like sinking into a cloud. A flower-covered, Laura Ashley/Rachel Ashewell cloud.

5. Shower curtains make perfectly acceptable and serviceable curtains for the bedroom windows. My little apartment has drapery pull hardware so it already comes with the kind of hooks that pin into the drapes. I just used shower curtain hooks and shower curtains and what with the collection I have, I can change the curtains however often I want. Also, it is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper to buy the shower curtain in RACHEL ASHWELL BRITISH ROSE FABRIC than it is to buy the window panels. $60, for 2, on eBay? People are craaaaaaaazyyyyyyyyyy.

Clue - Master Detective

2007-12-01T22:21:00.001-08:00

Ok, how many people know this game??

See, I have a little sad story about this game. I LOVE it.

Some time in the early 90's, I think, I took some of my own money and bought a couple games. LOVE Clue. So this Master Detective game came out - more suspects, more rooms, more weapons! More more more. More everything. Pretty sure I bought it at the Toys R Us on South Street in Cerritos, before they redid the inside ... ah, memories.

I got this game for $20 and the Clue Master Detective VHS video game as well.

So this one random time, we have family friends that came over ... and my mom, as the hostess, felt that we should give them (the kids of the family friends) a present, to be hospitable. So, basically - and it's a Chinese thing - she doesn't have anything of her own likely appropriate for kids, so she asks ME what I HAVE that I could give them ...

And did I offer up this game? I have no idea. I know sometimes she would say (because it certainly happened more than once!!!), "Let's just give it to them now and I'll buy you a new one later."

Oh, guess how often I actually ended up with "a new one later"??? :)

Anyhoo, Master Detective was given away, it was never replaced, even when I (think) went back to Toys R Us to try to get another one ...

I've been bitter about it ever since. I'm talkin' years, people!! And it might not be completely off the wall to blame my somewhat compulsive spending habits on things like this that have happened.

Thusly, I think I'd been checking eBay over the past year or so to try to get another one in decent shape. I wasn't willing to pay more than $20 for it, even with inflation adjusted and everything.

Seriously, folks, any of you that thrift, or go to garage sales, or whatever? BUY THIS GAME.

This game sells for beaucoup bucks!!! I just did a quick search and the cheapest that sold in the last month was $15, with $15 shipping. That was missing the knife weapon piece, as well as having only photocopied detective sheets. There were several sets that sold for $45. Eeps!!

So the thing is, in my thrifting adventures in the last few months I actually DID come across this game, in semi-decent condition ... for $3.95. I was ecstatic the first time I found one, since it was a childhood trauma that needed not-a-little amelioration.

Since then, I've found a couple more, and it's worth it to open it up and check to see if it has all the cards and pieces and green dice and stuff. In general, the game board is pristine, sometime the pieces are missing, and sometimes there aren't that many pads of detective sheets left. But it's okay!! Spend $3.95 (potentially half price!) and sell it for $45+shipping on eBay???

Ugh. I also collected a couple other vintage Clue games in my thrifting hunts (for CHEAP - like, $2), and managed to snag a first edition Clue game off eBay too.

But you wanna know my HOLY GRAIL OF ALL CLUE GAMES???

It is freaking Clue on a ca. 1920's TRAIN. Do you see Istanbul/Constantinople in the distant scenery??

Heh. This is CLUEDO because that is the name of it in the U.K. ... limited run, generally goes for like, $70 or $90 ... and they have versions in French and Italian as well.

Ooh, greed.

But go out and buy Master Detective if you can. :) I just love that this one thrift store has gotten them in REGULARLY!!!!!!!!

Amy Winehouse

2007-12-01T21:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I totally have mixed feelings about this chick.

I first saw her, and heard her, on her premiere on Dave Letterman.

Had no clue who she was, thought she was dressed WEIRDLY with that hair and makeup, and didn't quite get why she was singing such a retro song in that weird semi-ska register.

So, I was profoundly unimpressed with and disinterested in her.

Then, lately, especially this past week, there's been such a steady media stream of her well-nigh-unto-Britney-esque slow implosion. I've seen pics of her massive weight loss, attributed to her newfound addiction to working out ... but I kinda think all the drugs have a lot to do with it??

I think she looked really good and nice, about 4 years ago, without all those inky tats and before the chemical addictions. I certainly prefer her arms embellishment-free.

Anyway, so I just had the one experience with hearing that Rehab song (arrogant! geez) ... and thought I'd look her up on youtube and see what the big deal was, since her concerts were selling well and now they were all cancelled because she basically was stumbling around, unable to perform.

And I am in LOVE with her sultry singing style, such a great soulful sound! Some of her songs have whack lyrics, but for this week at least, it's been an all-Amy soundtrack and she is now one of my favorites. I can totally picture myself listening to her and dancing around during the day while I'm in Europe!! It's the kind of music I'd like to have with me, walking around, or soaking in the sights.

So here's what I've been listening to non-stop for the last two days. That's how I get, in obsessive spurts - listen to a song compulsively for a week or so and then find something else. It happened with Ingrid Michaelson's "The Way I Am" (in essence, the Old Navy sweater song) and Cansei Ser Sexy's "Music is My Hot Hot Sex." (Dang, but they are kinda weird people, yo.)

Enjoy!

You Know That I'm No Good - I LOVE THIS REMIX!!!!!

And for some reason, I don't know WHY, I am SO totally mesmerized by Linda Ronstadt's background singer with the huge pile of hair, in the high-waisted yellow pantsuit. Her cute little pumpkin face caught my eye, then I kept watching the video, and seeing her rock out is totally hilarious. I want to know who this woman is!!

Stronger Than Me - Live

I think she looks completely awesome here, and this rendition is all sassy and fulfilling. Too bad I get occasional irate fits of irritation when I happen to think abot how completely grammatically INcorrect "stronger than ME" totally is.

He Can Only Hold Her/That Thing (Lauren Hill)

This one looks so fun. I especially like how she quickly leans down to get a drink before the first line of the song and half stumblers/staggers but makes it on cue. It's just stinkin' hilarious.

And her backup singers!!! Oh my. They are pretty awesome. The hug at the end is cute also. :)

In case you are interested, other nice cuts are Back to Black and Valerie, a cover of the Zutons (sooooo many covers on youtube ... and most not that good, hmm). She has exceptional vocals on Valerie, in my opinion. I also think her studio versions in general sound the best, but she has had some seriously awesome live performances also.

It's too bad she seems to be taking the rock'n'roll fast-track to accelerated self-destruction. I hope she's okay, but she sounds like she has moooondo problems.

In the meantime ... dang. What talent at such a young age.

Rachel Ashwell

2007-12-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

I guess the universe is also dispensing of some Rachel Ashwell goods, along with Classic Winnie from Target (I can't STAND those "popping" brightly colored Winnie things, I find them garish. Actually, the use of the word "pop" in describing colors and elements in interior design sorta chafes on my last throbbing nerve ALSO. It seems ... gauche ... unwieldy ... trying too hard?? "Tap-tap-tappin' on mah last NURVE 'bouta BREAKIT!" ~ Michaela, age 8.)

So, twice in the past week, I have found Rachel Ashwell TREASURES stuff (her super duper expensive designer line). At the thrift store. Um, who buys this stuff and then gives it away to the thrift store??? Weird.

Since I actually only know her Target stuff, I don't know any of her other patterns, yet both times it was the colors/patterns (yes, roses on striped ticking - hm) that caught my eye and made me fumble around for that TAG.

Yay!!

So one was a darkish blue stripe, with little pink roses scattered all over it, and it was a flat sheet. Yesterday I found a full fitted sheet - purple ticking stripes with purple roses on it. I have a feeling these were her early patterns or something, because I can't find anything close to these on the net now. The longer I held the fitted sheet, the nicer it felt - it was some really nice soft cotton.

I'll take pics later today to show the pattern. The flat sheet I got mostly for quilting, and the fitted sheet ... well, I like fitted sheets. :)

I honestly think flat sheets are a great thrift store find for making quilts. It's bedding, it's cheap fabric, and you can get some awesome patterns. It's just a matter of having enough fabric to make whatever pattern you have in mind.

At the same thrift store, at the same time, I found a little decorator pillow in this old-time pattern:

I mean, I like it okay, but don't much care for brown. Was debating for a while before I took a closer look and found a bleached yellow spot on it. Uck, gross. It was only $1.95 though.

So then, a couple weeks ago, also found Ashwell's book The Shabby Chic Home sitting on top of a pile of other books at the thrift store - $1.91.

I am also ASTOUNDED that THIS: can be found on eBay as a Buy It Now for $49.99!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's ridiculous. It was $19.99 at most last year at Target, sheesh. The most I paid for mine (I might even have two!) was $4.98. It's possible I even managed to snag one at $1.99. Christmas stuff goes 90% off! They didn't have many stockings, I think, last year, and they have loads of Shabby Chic stockings this year, but no skirt! At least, that I have seen. Anyone who would care to correct me may do so freely.

Baby quilts!

2007-12-01T05:10:00.000-08:00

I've been having some pretty decent luck in the last month with quilts, and this past week or so especially with Classic Winnie!!!! I love Winnie the Pooh - Classic Winnie, especially from Target. I love pale, muted, pastel colors; it's so soothing! So I sort of have a little collection going on just because I like the stuff, but should the ticking time bomb of my dessicating, shuddering, shriveling ovaries *le gasp* suddenly go off, I suppose I could give a great big basket o' goodies to my sister. Who might be married by next year. But we'll see. It was nice to find out that she would choose me as her maid of honor (I was kinda doubting that, yo, since she has SUCH good friends, but then I was pleased as punch! Good thing for her I am also SO creative and generous and at this point VICARIOUS).

Thrift store find!!!!!! Winnie the Pooh crib quilt:

Price: $1.92+ tax

Headboard and crib bumper:

Price: $1.92 for the two.

Earlier this week I ended up getting another of the Pooh quilts for $2.95 just because it was so soft and cute after I washed it. This second one might need a bit of bleaching - can't tell if it's part of the print or not, how weird is that? - but it's always nice to have a spare. Especially a dumpy one that can get messed up. The store also had TWO of the headboard bumpers and another crib bumper, and EACH was $2.95 (this was a different thrift store, not the nice $1.92 one!), but I passed on those.

On eBay these used sets are selling for over $20 before shipping. I've seen some crib sheets and things too, but I'm gonna hold off on getting those for now. Honestly, though, I was thinking - even if I don't use it as a bumper, the fabric would be nice to play around with somehow, with my NEW SEWING MACHINE (that I haven't tried yet ...)!!!

And on eBay!!
Embroidered baby quilt, blue redwork, aka bluework, with pictures of nursery rhymes. Each patch is also outlined in a pink featherstitch. The only damage is a faded spot at the upper right, but I thought the colors and embroidery were so charming!!

Price: $22.75 after shipping.

Vets Stadium find!!!! And you guys wonder why this is so addictive ....

This is also hand-embroidered, appliqued, and hand-quilted. The lady said "Somebody really loved a lot," meaning - old, worn, faded. But that's what drew me to it! The colors are totally faded, and the binding is certainly threadbare, but there's nothing like old, worn, soft, washed cotton! It's so sweet. I also don't generally care for ANYTHING circus-related, such as dang elephants, but I got over it. I wonder if it originally had much brighter colors and faded like this. It looks like it's been bleached before. I don't care, it's supersoft!

Price: Half off of $6 - $3. Whee!!!!

Honesty.

2007-11-30T06:56:00.001-08:00

Dang, it tries my patience sometimes.

On Wednesday, I went to the thrift store that seems to have severely overpriced furniture, but also has cool stuff like the blue glass cake plate and the aqua Pyrex, with weekly markdowns.

So I got this:

I remember when I first saw it for $29.92. I loved it, picked it up, tapped it, and it sounded great. Yay. But not for $30.

I think last week it was down to the $14.91 price. However, I saw the $6.96 on Wednesday and HAD to get it! No chips or anything on the lid, but the gold has worn a bit around the rim of the lid. AND it's Austrian. Pretty. (I tried to find the pattern on Replacements.com, and think I found it - $117.95. A same dish by this maker, just with a different floral pattern, is $155.95!!!! Yikes. I'll have to investigate further.)

So, I go to pay, and had also gotten a book about Victorian customs $2.92, I believe), a 60¢ Mary Engelbreit mug, and was thinking about this aqua vase. I asked the lady to ring up everything except the vase first because all I had on me was $10 and they only take cash.

I get frustrated with this place because it's at the end of my thrift store "rounds" and it closes at 6 - SO early, and they only take cash. So half the time I'm all rushed there.

Anyway, I ask her if she knows what color tag will go 50% off ... they do that on Fridays. There was a neato Grandma's Flower Garden quilt top I was looking at $14.xx, so I wanted to wait for 50% off. Actually, it wasn't there anymore when I checked on Wednesday (it was there Saturday, maybe), but I just wanted to know.

She says she thinks it will be 50% off, she's wrapping the dish in newspaper, and she goes to give me the total, and I'm like - "Did you ring it up?" She totally didn't!! Dang. I could have afforded the the vase if I'd let her do that. Ha! So she realizes she didn't, thinks about unwrapping it to check the price, then asks me, and I tell her, and she says "I trust you!"

So she puts it in and gives me the total, and it's $11.34 after tax. Crud. I ask her to take off the Engelbreit mug, then. She's looking at the register, then starts digging in her pocket, and I'm like, what? Is she going for a key to the register or something?

She ends up throwing in the extra buck for me (I had 34¢) just to not have to do an override. She asked if I was there often, and I said at least once a week, and I thanked her and told her I'd pay her back next time I was in.

So there it is. An Austrian covered dish for $7, A TOTALLY REPRESENTATIVE SYMBOL of my unquenchable habit of being honest. Urgh. I think that's worth at least $7.

That's what I'm gonna think about every time I look at it. That's not so bad.

I also stopped by last night on my way home from work to try to give her $1 (even though I only had $20 coming straight from the ATM!), but they had just closed, the door was shut, they didn't want to let me in, and couldn't understand what I was yelling through the glass door since they didn't feel like opening it!! So I left. Will try again next time.

While I was taking pics, though, I found a HUGE chip on the bottom of the dish, another with another smaller chip on the inside lip of the bottom. Boo hoo. I will have to be careful because the big chip flaked a little bit, too.

I think it's a pretty good deal, though, and at least the chips are where I can't see them.

That's the bummer about that place, they have nice stuff, but sometimes when you wait for it to go lower, it's been all dinged up and whacked about in the meantime. Like that set of Japanese teacups and saucers, with the teacups all broken now, in the bad! Tragedy.

But hey! I'm honest.

1,000! Whee, attention.

2007-11-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

Yay, a milestone. I woke up yesterday to see "1,001" and that was nice. Thank you all for coming and I hope I'm not boring the dreck out of you!! And thank you to all who have left comments. :)

Cupcake frenzy!!!

2007-11-25T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am totally on a cupcake kick because I am apparently a huge follower. I see other bloggers' posts on adorableness thingies and I seem to develop a hankering as well.

So lately, it's cupcakes. And candy. It all started with a picture of a cupcake candle, and then I found one at Target. And now ...

Like, look here, at this Christmas display I took a picture of in Target:

I saw it and decided it was going to be my new favorite Christmas theme for the tree. Even though I already have tons of decorations, actually.

I decided I totally loved these gumdrop ornaments AND THE LITTLE KNITTED SWEATERS!!! The blue is my favorite because it has the most sequins, but the pink is nice too. If the tree is green I think there is no need for green ORNAMENTS. I say that because they have the knitted sweaters in a lime green.

Here are the cupcake ornaments that I was SALIVATING over and finally got a few of!!! I'm pretty sure they are all sold out in the stores now, actually. I think I got 2 of the white and a half dozen of the pink. Mmm, pink. Pink pink pink.

So the new tree theme I have is white/glass, light blue/aqua, pink, and GLITTERY!! Will take pictures of the tree when I put it up. Dang, I'm behind on a lot of decorating stuff.

In my hunt to FINALLY find a picture of the darn stuffed cupcake from Target, along with the PINK cupcake candle (that I missed out on!!!), I found THIS from Hallmark:

It was pretty pricey, probably something like $24.99. Oy. I will look, but not touch.

However!! Since I got the sewing machine from Target for $65 over the weekend, I can now indulge my craftiness and start in on the quilting stuffs (been buying up old flat sheets at the thrift store for nice, worn in, recyclable material!!) as well as the cupcaking creating.

I found gorgeous pictures and ideas on other sites so here they are!

This is from eBay. I can TOTALLY make this.

Betz White is apparently totally famous, with her own book, and on Martha Stewart, and she makes stuff like this:

She also sells kits where she has coordinated the sweaters and fabrics and you put it together. They are so sweet and adorable!! There are several sites with directions for how to knit your own cupcake pincushion but I love the idea of recycling sweaters into something adorablemente like this.

Lastly, these girls are totally diehard!! I am swooning over their Gymboree find of cupcake-themed children's clothing and accessories. So! Stinking! Cute!!

Sugar high - over.

I got a bit lucky, Pt. the 2nd

2007-11-24T21:11:00.000-08:00

1. The Estate Sale.

Here are some pics of the craigstlist listing that got me hooked. I still have some of the Christmas ornaments that I've been meaning to take pictures of ... bummer I didn't pick those up the other pink ones that were at this sale, because they are selling like hotcakes on eBay - just regular, pink, vintage, Shiny Brite glass ornaments! I did see another lady swoop down on those things and grab a half dozen boxes, though. However, I like my clear glass with white and silver glitter, etc. ones better. I picked out all the more fancy pink ones that I could find, too.

We walked through the driveway which was lined with the bigger furniture pieces, to the garage which had the bulk of the stuff. This was the view into the back of the garage. Lots of people were just digging through the piles of Christmas storage on the floor - in the middle here. All the boxes at the bottom of the picture, in the middle, were full of Christmas things. The umbrellas I neglected to look through were on one of the back shelves! The also had some vintage fruit crates with original labels, but they were in such sad, horrible condition - totally grease-stained and everything, and looked like they had been stacked up in the garage for makeshift shelves of greasy greasecans.

Here, they had set up a row of shelves about in the middle of the garage. Can you see the Pfaltzgraff canisters in the upper right??? :) There was some Pyrex, too, but I passed on that and a lady walked off with it shortly thereafter.

Here is the covered patio area that had the more "valuable" small stuff. I just picked up 4 Glasbake mugs, though they did have some pretty, white, milk glass.
The Glasbake mugs were on the table on the left, though I know you can't hardly see what's on these tables here. It was nice browsing, though, and much less crowded in here.

And here is the beautiful picture from The Hunt for Vintage which inspired my eye for vintage Christmas ornaments. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs, and I love her pictures, and she has SUCH a good eye AND gets amazing prices!!!

I love this display and think it's such a good idea. I've been collecting quite a lot of candy jars, and covered jars - from England and Italy, incidentally. Mini-ornaments in a jar or glass bowl would look nice. I also got a GIANT Italian blown glass jar filled to the brim with various old wine corks (no way on earth I would EVER drink that much wine, sheesh) which I have been playing around with for display. There has to be over 200 corks in there.

Christmas and other catchy-uppy posts next. :)

I got a bit lucky.

2007-11-22T02:54:00.001-08:00

I ran into a spot of what I would call "luck" last week out hitting the estate sales, and thrift stores, and the Vets Stadium Antique Market!! I am so addicted. It'd be nice to have a hunting buddy but it's cool to also just wander by myself.

Alright, I'll keep it to 3 excursions:

1. Estate Sale.
This one was from craigslist, I believe, and there were lots of people there bright and early!! I got lost on the way there, even though I had looked up the directions. (That is why I will be looking for a dang GPS on Black Friday!!!) They advertised it as an 80-year-old collection of items. While I was there, I believe I heard that it was a couple of spinster aunties that lived there!!! Never married, and they kept EVERYTHING.

I love love love love love the vintage glass Christmas ornaments that I got, thanks to inspiration from another blogger (link to be added, and pics, when I get back to my apartment and computer!), but I was MOST pleased with this set of canisters:

I saw the set, liked the country feel, and noticed that they were Pfaltzgraff. I asked about them, the nice, nice, nice jolly man running the front said $15 for the set of 5 (I actually have a salt one instead of the Cookies one in this picture), though I wanted $10, and he went to go ask his associates to run it by them!! The sugar one even had a big old bag of sugar in it! In the end, after I dug through 4 boxes of old ornaments, I went to another more supervised area - got 4 Glasbake mugs (one green, one blue, two pink - all pastels!) for $4 - to check out, and she counted the set of canisters as $7. Um, I didn't correct her.

It was at the end of this sale that I walked out and saw a young teenage girl with a red umbrella WITH A STRIPED CANDYCANE HANDLE. I was suffused, awash, with regret, because I remember seeing a stack of a half-dozen umbrellas in the garage when I had been digging through, and ignored them. It is the HANDLE that did it for me. Yowza. It honestly even looked like Bakelite, darn it. However, despite its cuteness, the pattern of stripeyness was a bit smushed and marred around the curve and bend of the umbrella, making it look like a measled zebra. It would have been $1. I asked the guy. So I keep telling myself about its perceived flaws because I'm a bit sad I missed out on it. I did get another browny and pink vintage umbrella fro 50¢ later at another sale, though.

2. Thrift store.
I have a mad obsession with Pyrex. It started out with the clear glass stuff, like what I used in chem class, and especially what I prefer to use for storing leftovers in the fridge. Also, Anne's nice mommy gave Jen a pink gooseberry mixing bowl for her wedding shower, which I've seen Jen using, and now I absolutely love pink glass. I've been fortunate enough to find a few sets of cups, and bowls, too, in the pink. So I definitely keep an eye out for this stuff when I'm out and about, and on Friday, I found this:

It was not sold as a set, but they were priced individually. It is not my favorite patern, but I love the color because it will go with my strawberry stuff!! (whee, aqua and red, just like in this picture, incidentally!) The large was marked $8.98, the medium $6.98 or $4.98, and the smallest was $2.98. Not great prices, by any means, but cheaper than eBay, in good condition, and it was okay.

When I got up to the counter to check out, I had them stacked together so that I could carry them properly. The lady took a look and only entered the price for the large one. Yikes! Stuff like this has happened before at this place so I should watch it. I pointed out to her that the other bowls had prices too, so she picked up the smallest one, rang in the price, thanked me for being very honest, and then wrapped it up.

She never did enter the price for the medium one. Oops. So it was a good deal (at least, in this area) for that set.

3. Vets Stadium.
This one is sooooooooo cool. I had to rush to church so I didn't even go through half of it, this time, when I usually do prefer to browse as long as possible, and there were some really awesome things and deals this month. (I still am meaning to post about last month, when it was completely surreal with the Santa Ana winds blowing through like the dang Sahara desert ... it was sad and pitiful to see all the broken and smashed glass and pottery all over the lot! I fully regretted not having my camera with me.)

I found a wonderful linens seller that I don't recall seeing before ... her aprons are what caught my eye (Nov. 21 was National "Tie One 'Round" Day, did you know?). Then I saw her table runners, and hand embroidered napkins, handkerchiefs, and pillowcase. THE PRICES ARE GREAT!! $4 for a tablerunner, $10 for matching pair of pillowcases. Everything clearly washed.

The most amazing thing I found was a giant, like, king-size, redwork embroidered flat sheet. I really must take a picture of it, it is just stunning and compelling. It was tagged $25, which I thought was a steal for the sheer effort.

Well, I was digging through the table runners, to make sure I had a good look at everything, and the lady running the booth saw me with this sheet, which I had set on the table, and she picked it up and it looked like she was going to take it away. I told her that I did want it, and she asked if I knew how much it was. Her nice, nice, nice, NICE husband said that we had just been chatting and the price hadn't even come up yet. I said, "Well, I saw the tag for $25." She stopped, looked at me, and said, "Oh no, no no, this is $35. You go anywhere else here and they will charge you at least $65, $70, this is all hand done." I felt very very mild irritation but told her I still wanted it anyway, while I continued looking.

I'd found a gorgeous delicate appliqued table runner (pic coming as well), along with another embroidered table runner that was ALL FRENCH KNOTS. She told me her table runners were all $4, "even all this, look at this, mija, this is all hand done! for you - $4," but I did notice that the french knot table runner was marked $12.

Anyway, I got everything together, folded it nicely (folded the $12 price tag inside the runner), and told myself that I would just let her have a look at the pile and if she saw the price tag and wanted to charge me that price, I'd probably go along with it because they were JUST that nice. She looked through everything, didn't open anything up, charged me $4 for each price tag, went down on the price of the pillowcase pair, threw in a free apron, basically ... but still said the embroidered flat sheet was $35.

So I bought it. And honestly, when I post a picture, you will seeeeeeeeeeee ... stinkin' price tag was CHANGED! From $25 to $35, I think it's pretty obvious. Grrr. Anyway, I think I don't care because it is definitely worth at least $35. Totally. And the table runners themselves are beautemous. She said there were originally pillowcases to go with the sheet, but we never found them, and then she said she thought she was arranging at home and they were shams, and she had pulled all the shams out. I said I was definitely interested in the shams, for the set, and asked if she could call me if she did find it, just so I would know to come the next month. "Oh, no, I can't, I'm so busy, I'm working 40 hours a week ..." Hmm. I guess she does this as a hobby???

The husband was nice enough to inform me that they got all the items from a rag distributor, and they are usually in sad, horrible, awful condition, but she washes and bleaches them and spruces them up. I CANNOT BELIEVE what some people use for rags. Yeesh. She also had a nice pink tulip quilt but wanted $75 or $65 for it. Le sigh. Quilts are dang expensive.

I hope they have the shams next month!! And I am GLAD I hid that stupid price tag, what with her changing the price on me.

Pics to come when I get back, and once again, happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving - and Black Friday.

2007-11-22T01:21:00.000-08:00

Hello, peeps.

Happy Thanksgiving!! It's such a nice holiday. I have been looking forward to it all month, and especially, WEEK. It's been hectic having parent conferences, the kids have been totally wired, and I just need a break!!! We had a good day, though, I had the kids bring soups, veggies, crackers, chips, drinks, etc., for our "Thanksgiving Feast" and we made "Friendship Stew" for lunch. They all seemed to really like it, and I admit it didn't taste too bad. Basically we dumped everything in the crockpot and stirred it together. I tied in themes of hygiene (washing hands, preparing food, cleaning up after a meal), nutrition (veggies, portions, balanced diet), table manners and etiquette (table settings, waiting until everyone has been served, saying "please" and "thank you"), and social studies - celebrating Thanksgiving. I have pics, and I will post this weekend!!

What I REALLY wanted to do after school today was to go home, relax, turn on the computer, and post about all my latest forays into the secondhand business. I have a billion crazy things going on upstairs all jumbled up.

But no. After a fairly wonderful day - and it was quite fun, even if I spend SO much of the majority of my time coralling these dang heathens - I decided to hit the shops. I hit a couple little thrift stores that I usually love, and only got a bag of about 6 big candles (including a sweet pea scented White Barn Candle Co. jar - new!!!, a flowered glass candle, cinnamon, etc.) for $1.91 and a set of 3 shot glasses, also for $1.91. They go with the other set I bought at an antique dealer's yard sale a few weeks back. Oh yes, I also wandered into two "antique/furniture" stores in little dumpy places ... I might go back, might not, but you never know what you can find!!! And before I went to Target (2, and it was nearly 3!!), I hit another thrift store that I usually don't find much at, and spied some very pretty blue and white plates - they were Pier 1, and I ended up passing on them for $1.51 each - but looooooove the red plates that just jumped out at me from the shelf. They were red, and look stoneware, and when I turned them over, they are German, but produced in Spain. They just have this LOOK. They are a bit too bricky/slight tinge of orange to go with the aqua/red theme I'd like to get going some time, but they would work for Christmas. I'll have to pull them out and put them next to some other pieces to see how they go.

And then!! Mad Target shopping! Pretty much all I got were Christmas ornaments. There is a new line of ornaments out (perhaps it was around last year, and I did not notice, since I was focused on other things) that I love - pink, and sugarplum-themed, and all that goodness. I looked at the stuff when it first came out, after the big Halloween clearance, and loved it!! And they have pink stuffed cupcakes! I admit I took pictures in the store because I loved the display so much. Anyway, I anticipate that after Black Friday they will have their typical 15% off Christmas things this next week and I will just go get a price adjustment. Hee.

I am looking forward to Black Friday and should have prepared more, since I could have gotten the things at Target and just gone in Friday or Saturday to have the price adjusted, but I kind of like the feeling of walking into the store very early and joining in the fray. Last year was fairly calm in Target, and they were very well-stocked. Circuit City was another crazy store, and I mistakenly let a 2G SD card slip through my hands ... $2!!! I haven't seen anything like that this year, I'm afraid.

Anyhoo, I then REALLY need to clean because my stuffs are taking up my LIFE!

Tomorrow we are having dinner with middle sis' bf's family who flew in from Texas, up at the apartment in El Segundo that he shares with our cousin. I met his sister last Saturday and think it will be fun to meet the rest of the family. It's interesting to hear what she has to say about his family dynamics and compare it with our own. It's also quite likely that they will be engaged soon and possibly get married next year, so we need to all meet and see where this is going! I think it was very nice of them to fly out for Thanksgiving. And his mom already has the tree up at their home because they won't be back until next week.

Food!! Sis was making cheesecake brownies earlier and will make a few other dishes in the morning. I am in charge of salad and drinks so those will be quite easy to whip up. I should make my lists of what to bring, Miss Scatterbrained!!

Ok, and because Miss Wendy requested it, I will cut this long post off now because I'd like to talk about something else and am switching topics. :)