Hoo, looky what I found today.

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

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 ...

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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

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!

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.

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