Bowl of Bliss

A picture of my favorite Easter candy. I am addicted to these things. I've been quite good this year though and resisted buying any until Friday. And I just tore open the bag a few minutes ago. So delicious. And even better when they're inside a milk glass bowl, don't you think?

Anyhow,I'm feeling much better today. I was able to talk to Will for 20 minutes last night so that was really nice. Our 20 minute conversation cost less than just one minute did the night before. I really wish I had looked into this whole calling international from our home phone before! I'm definitely just relaxing today. No shopping, no driving, no worrying about everything that can wait until tomorrow. In fact, I think I'm going to go take a nap here in a few minutes! Tomorrow will be insane again but hey, I'm not worrying about it today!

And as you can probably tell, I changed my layout again. I went back to the one I started with originally last summer. I like this the best of all so I'll probably keep it forever! It's not too hard on the eyes, is it?

Realizations (& other important lessons) from Today

Number 1: Estate Sales are never worth my time. Especially when they are 50+ miles (one-way) from my house.

Number 2: That despite #1, I usually find a new-to-me thrift store along the way.

Number 3: Being home alone almost every weekend sucks. Such is the life of a military spouse, I suppose.

Number 4: Being able to come and go whenever I want without having to consider anyone else is fabulous.

Number 5: That #3 has some bonuses, like getting me that handy 25% off discount at the new thrift store.

Number 6: I should listen to my gut more often. Like on the way home from VA when I really wanted to go catch the train into the city but decided I'd come home instead. I really wish I would've gone now.

Number 7: That sometimes it's best to breathe deeply and have a beer instead of calling all of the people that are pissing you off and telling them to go pound sand.

Number 8: That I am going to start making myself less available to certain people. Don't freaking call me only when it's convenient for yourself. Don't tell me you're going to do one thing and then repeatedly let me down. Actually, I should probably tell myself to stop believing anything you say because time & time again you've proven yourself to be nothing more than a self centered b-word. Furthermore, don't pretend like you are too busy to answer my text messages when I know you always read the ones your boyfriend sends. At least have the freaking decency to call/text and tell me you've changed your mind about coming over. God, you get on my last freaking nerve.

Number 9: That if I were (God forbid) seriously injured or laying dead in a ditch somewhere that it would be days before anyone knew. See numbers 3, 7 & 8.

Number 10: That if I had stayed in that crap hole of a town I lived in growing up, had married some local jackass, mooched off of my parents and generally didn't have the gumption to be a grown up, that perhaps my family would still consider me important. I'm damn glad nothing bad has happened to me (yet) because it's impossible to get a hold of anyone. Ever.

Number 11: That it costs $6 a minute to call Baltimore from Chile, but only .24/minute to call Chile from Baltimore. Also, it only costs .08/minute to call Europe but .25+/minute to call South America. How's that possible?

Number 12: That if I lived alone I'd never cook a real meal. I'm perfectly content skipping real meals and having popcorn and Wheat Thins for dinner instead.

Aren't you glad I was enlightened today? I think I'm going to take a bubble bath and try to unwind. See #'s 7, 8, 9 and 10. Ugh! It's just one of those days!!

Early to Bed (sort of) and (hopefully) Early to Rise

Today was packed full of activities and I am beat! Like I said in another entry, I don't usually sleep well while Will is gone and last night was no exception. Will was going to call when they landed in Chile so I was trying to stay awake but eventually fell asleep around 0100. He did finally call at 0400 and then his stupid alarm clock went off at 0700. So, my sleep last night wasn't very restful.

Today I had to run to Target and Wal-mart and then I had to stand in line at the post office for almost 20 minutes. God, I hate that place. I really need to find another post office around here because that place stresses me out. Parking is a joke, the lines are always out the door and the employees are so rude!

After running those errands, I came home for a bit and then had to run *back* to the post office and then I did some thrifting at the VV even though they weren't having any sales today. I found some great things for my shop and a couple of dress shirts for Will. I freaking LOVE thrift stores. I know you all know that. And I know you all probably feel the same way but can I tell you how happy I am when I find fabulous deals?!? Like yesterday & today I found Brooks Brothers dress shirts for Will for like 2.00 each. I mean who, WHO would pay $80 or $90 for a dress shirt? Uh, not me. Not ever. Not even if we won the Mega Millions lottery. But, for $2, heck yeah I'll buy Brooks Brothers! And furthermore, I found two brand new with tags Lands End bathing suits! For $4.00 each. Once again, I would never pay $100 for a swimsuit but I'll definitely pay $4 for a brand new one! Yay! I never really thought I'd buy a swimsuit at a thrift store but the tags mean it's still new right? Right?!? They'll get a soak in some color safe bleach just to be sure!

So, I'm in bed at 10:00 and hopefully I'll rest well tonight. I found an Estate Sale that I want to try to go to tomorrow. It's about 50 miles from here but the description sounds promising. It's raining right now though so if it's still raining tomorrow I doubt I'll go. And then Sunday I may go into the District and do some sightseeing. The Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off today so I'm sure it'll be ridiculously crowded but at least I'll have some social interaction with someone other than the dogs!

Okay, I am going to try to find something to watch on HGTV that will put me to sleep until I get another middle of the night wake-up call from Will! I hope you all have a great weekend!

It's Cold and Dreary & This is How I'm Spending Tonight:

Curled up in bed with the doggies and this stack of magazines that I bought today! One of the thrift stores has a fabulous deal on magazines: 30 cents each or EIGHT for 1.40! I bought 16! No wonder their magazine selection is so slim!

I picked up 10 of these:



And 3 of these:



And these 2:



( I am especially looking forward to The Progressive Farmer magazine which lists the 10 Best Places to Live in Rural America. After sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour this morning, I'm ready to move. Somewhere very, very rural would be fabulous!)

I also picked up an issue of Cottage Living but I forgot to take a picture of it and I'm too lazy to do that now!

It doesn't even bother me that some of the issues are from 2008 (and a couple from 2000) because these aren't magazines I subscribe to so they're all new to me!

Will is gone again for a few days and I'm looking forward to spending the next 12 hours in bed reading and snoozing. How are you spending your afternoon and night?

My New (and Organized!) Space

Hey guys. I didn't think it would take nearly a week to get this done but that's the way it goes, I guess. Will worked really hard this weekend to get my shelves built and painted and I've spent the majority of the last two days trying to get everything organized and into boxes. The boxes are from Ikea and I LOVE THEM! Yes, I'm shouting! Aside from being time consuming to assemble, they are perfect! I love that they come in so many sizes and that now everything looks neat and organized! My room is about 95% complete. I still have a few minor things to finish (like hiding cords) but otherwise, it's done and I am so happy! Pictures are below.

Looking into the room:



And the opposite side of the room:



One of the new bookcases:



The desk area in the middle of the two bookcases:



The other new bookcase:



The wrapping/weighing area




And some of my shelves over in one corner that hold some of my seasonal items and some of my other favorite things



I'll try to take more pictures once it's all put together. These pictures are kind of dark and grainy but hey, at least I finally posted pictures!!

My Office is a Ridiculous Mess

And I cannot take it any longer! I have been struggling since last November to get this place set up in a functioning manner and I have failed miserably. Today, while I was emailing back and forth with my mama, I had one of those light bulb moments. I think I've finally figured out how to set it up in here so that I can actually keep it neat and organized AND be productive! Part of this light bulb moment included the realization that a couple of my favorite pieces of furniture that are currently in here just aren't going to work for this space. And that leads me to the second half of my day:

I'm switching out the two guest rooms upstairs. Currently, we have a larger bedroom which has two twin size beds and a chest of drawers. And then there is the smaller room that has the full size bed and a chest of drawers. Now, this probably seems like a ridiculous set up, given the sizes of the rooms, but last year when we moved in, I was certain we'd need to keep the two twin sized beds and I wanted to have more room in between them so I put them in the bigger of the two bedrooms. Having lived here for almost a year now, I'm realizing that we don't really have many guests and it's pointless to take up that much space when I could better utilize it by switching beds/rooms and taking away one of the twin size beds! Yay for that little insight!

Additionally, once the bedrooms are switched, I'll then have enough room in both rooms to put one piece of the furniture currently in my craft space! So, I'll have more space in the bedrooms plus I'll be able to take the furniture in my craft room and repurpose it to work in the bedrooms, thus freeing up some much needed wall space here in my office/scraproom. I should really stop calling it a scraproom. I haven't scrapped in forevah! Like at least a year! Okay, I think I'll go with craft room. Or maybe just office. I don't really do much crafting either! lol Decisions, decisions!

In other news, Will made it home safely late last Tuesday night and he came bearing a huge Leonidas box *and* some chocolate covered Belgian waffles! We relaxed a lot on Wednesday and Thursday and then headed to the beautiful Amish countryside in Pennsylvania on Friday. Of course I was hoping to leave rather early, giving me plenty of time to explore the area but we didn't even get on the road until a quarter til noon! I visited some antique stores, found a Salvation Army where I bought a couple of cute old suitcases and then found a fabulous Goodwill. We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way home that night and all in all, had a very relaxing day! It was great!!

I did some thrifting yesterday and had a little bit of luck. It seems that the thrift stores are getting kind of slim though. And what they do have to offer is so much more expensive than it was a year ago. I always get good laugh at some of their prices! Oh, and I roll my eyes a bit too!! I'm quite ready for some yard sales and church rummage sales. I always find good stuff at those places.

Well, I need to get back to the reorganizing or I'm going to lose my motivation. I promise I'll have lots of pictures to share once it's all complete. And yes, I realize I've been saying that for 5 months!! I'll do much better this time around.

The Epitome of Laziness

Have you ever had a day where you didn't get a single thing accomplished? I'm sure you have. We all have days like those. Today was definitely one of those days for me. See, when Will is gone (and especially when he's out of the country) I just do not sleep well. At all. Last night was ridiculous. I was awake until 1:30 waiting for him to finish his shift (lol, I just typed sh!t but caught myself) and for him to get back to his hotel room and give me a call. After we talked, I couldn't get comfortable. I tossed and turned for hours, evidently disturbing Marty because he let out a loud sigh, which I'm guessing meant I needed to stop moving! I kept waking up like every 30 minutes the entire freaking night.

Will called me at 6:45 this morning to ask me a question regarding the Leonidas purchase he was about to make. He was trying to ask me which was more important, the box or the candy, to which I replied "What the hell does that mean?". I'm not very nice when I'm woken up that early. He asked if I'd rather have a fancy box or more chocolate. What kind of question is that?!? LOL Did he really expect me to say "oh, I want the fancy box for sure" Silly husband. So, we get off of the phone and I doze off again. It was peaceful.

Until he called me at 7:30 to ask me how many packages of chocolate covered Belgian waffles I wanted. Oh, dear Lord, just buy a couple and be done with it. It's not rocket science or anything. I appreciate the concern and all but at 7:30 in the morning, I just don't freaking care. I just want to have an hour of uninterrupted sleep. I told him two just so I could get off of the phone. I fell back asleep until 8:45 and then Scarlett (who had been patiently waiting several hours for me to wake up) finally jumped on top of me and let me know she needed to go out immediately.

So, my morning officially started at 9:00, because I consider myself to be completely non-functioning until the coffee is brewed and I'm on my second cup. I sat here in my office, emailed back and forth with my Mama for a couple of hours and then went back to bed at 3:00 for a much needed nap. The doggies let me sleep until 6:30! It was pure bliss. I don't usually take 3.5 hour naps but Will is in transit from Belgium and he isn't supposed to arrive back in DC until after midnight. It's looking as though it will be another late night tonight for the two of us so I wanted to go ahead and get some sleep in before he got here!

As you can clearly see, I've accomplished nothing today. I hate feeling like I've wasted a whole day but it was just unavoidable today. Will has been gone since Wednesday night of last week (minus those 7 hours he was home on Sunday) and I just haven't slept well in a week. I'm not quite sure how I used to manage him being gone 2 or 3 weeks at a time. I guess the exhaustion just takes over after a while!

I think I'm going to go have a cup of coffee and wait for another email from the husband to let me know their status. Isn't technology wonderful? I love that I can send and receive emails with Will while he's flying at 35,000 feet somewhere over the ocean!

Moon Pies (and Other Things I Love)

The thrift stores were a total bust today so to take my mind off of how crappy they've been lately, I'm going to fill this post with pictures of things I love.

Moon Pies. Growing up there were always Moon Pies in our house. I remember my daddy eating a Moon Pie just about every night. I bought a box of them last week at the commissary and I'm ashamed to say the box is half gone already. Ever tried them warm? Deelish!



Cherry Diet 7Up. I have no idea how long this has been on the market but it's new to me and I am addicted. Like I can easily consume a 2-liter a day addicted. And I'm not one to drink a lot of soda. This stuff is like crack though!



My Briard. Marty has been the bestest doggy in the whole world. We adopted him in May of 2003 and he's been my constant companion ever since. He's been there through lots of happiness and lots of tears. He's my guard doggy and I love him so very much. I think we have a telepathic thing going on because he just got up off of his doggy bed and came over and jumped in the bed beside me!



My Schnoodle. We adopted Scarlett in August of 2004 because we thought Marty would like a friend. They don't really play together often but I know they enjoy keeping each other company. She's such a diva! She simply must get her cuddle time in bed with me and Will every night. She climbs in the bed, lays in the middle of us and usually falls asleep while we rub her belly. She cracks me up the way she sits on the back of the sofa and looks out the window. She's the perfect guard dog though...she's got a huge bark for being such a medium sized doggy. I'm so glad we adopted her too. She's a perfect fit!



Flamingos. I have no idea why I love flamingos so much. Maybe because they are pink-ish. lol I really don't know why but I love them. A lot. I'd like to have a whole flock of them in my backyard. I took this picture at the zoo in DC the other year. It's one of my favorites!



University of Florida football. Growing up in SC, college football is almost a religion! Most people from SC like one of two teams: Clemson or Carolina. I strayed somewhere along the way because I've been a huge, huge Gators fan for as long as I can remember. I'm counting down the months until it's football season again.



The Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. I think the warmer weather this weekend really got me in the mood for Spring. Last year, Will and I went into the District during the Cherry Blossom Festival and it was so beautiful. I'm hoping we get to go back this year too. Here's a picture from last year. Isn't it gorgeous? That's the Jefferson Memorial in the background.



Country Living Magazine. With all of the magazines that have folded recently, I'm quite happy that Country Living is still around. I have subscribed to this magazine for years and I'd be heartbroken if they ever decided to stop publishing. I look forward to the new issues every month and much to my husband's dismay, I keep every single copy. I mean how could I possibly throw away a magazine with such great information in it?? I read them over and over and look at the pictures for inspiration constantly! It's definitely my favorite magazine ever!



Leonidas Chocolates. Back in 2003 while Will and I were still engaged he had to take a two week trip through Europe. One of his stops included Belgium and he brought me back a huge box of Leonidas Chocolates. Up until that moment my favorite chocolate had always been Godiva. Ha. Needless to say, I was very quickly converted to Leonidas. It's the best chocolate I've ever tasted. Ever. And I've tasted a lot of chocolate. So, since that moment in 2003, it's been mandatory that whenever Will is in Belgium, he simply must find a Leonidas store and bring a box of chocolate back. Did I mention that Will is currently IN BELGIUM? He'll be home tomorrow and he damn well better come bearing a Leonidas box. lol



And finally, I was looking through some old pictures on the computer today and I came across this one. It's from our wedding and it's probably my all time favorite. It just shows how relieved I was. I was so nervous leading up to the actual ceremony. I was so stressed out, it was hotter than hell outside that day, I had so many last minute things to do that day. This picture just shows how happy I was that all of the planning was finally over and we could just get on with our lives. You can't really see Will in this picture but I just love when he gets all dressed up in his Mess Dress. He's so handsome!



Whew! That's only a small portion of things I love. I didn't write about my love for fried okra, convertible mustangs, miniature donkeys, good beer or good ol Carolina Beach Music. Hmm, those may be topics I write about tomorrow!! What are some of your favorite things?

My Latest Acquisitons

The last couple of weeks have been very good on the thrift store front. Along with tons of goodies for my Etsy shop, I've also found quite a few things for my house!!

Like this adorable lemon yellow chenille bedspread:



I think it's a great addition to my small collection of other chenille spreads. Like this one:



And my favorite so far:



I can't decide if the peacock spread is beautiful or tacky. Or somewhere in between. I love it though!

I also picked up this Morgan Jones bedspread:



And this Bates bedspread:



And this great quilt, which besides having too many brown petals for my liking, is still really cute.



I went thrifting again today hoping to find more goodies for the shop but that was a no-go. I think I've bought every cute thing the thrift stores around here had out on the floor! I'm either going to have to wait a few days for them to restock or I'm going to have to expand my thrift store radius and find some new places!! Probably the latter of the two! Will is gone again for a couple of days so I have plenty of time to shop! My friend is supposed to come over for a slumber party tonight so I may finally initiate her into the whole fabulous world of thrifting tomorrow!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Snow Day!

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, the East Coast got hammered with a big ol snowstorm last night and today. Luckily, Will had a snow day today and didn't have to drive the 80-ish miles to and from base. Unfortunately, I missed the 25% off day at the Value Village!! There are a couple of stores I'll run to tomorrow though!

Here's a couple of pictures of our puppies playing in the snow. Please ignore the fact that their coats and snow boots don't match!

Scarlett, our Schnoodle in her snazzy purple coat with pink boots:



And Marty, our Briard, in his handsome green coat with blue boots!



They are both sporting their summer cuts a few months early this year. We normally cut their hair around May or June but they were looking a little too scruffy and I shaved them down last week.

They love sitting here on the sofa looking out the window. Today they were watching the snow. Usually they watch for the Boxer across the street or the neighbors or a stray cat. Or squirrels, which are Scarlett's absolute favorite!



Well, the Bachelor is on so I need to go watch this train-wreck! I don't know why I keep watching this crap every season! Mindless television. I have a million other things I could/should be doing but I cannot turn the tv off...it's like an addiction!