Mother Nature Hates Me

Wow, two posts in a week. This might be a record! lol Anyhow, so last Saturday morning I got up at the crack of dawn and came downstairs to make coffee & plan my yardsaling route. There were hundreds of sales around Baltimore so I was making quite the list of addresses and what was being offered at each sale. I was thoroughly enjoying my quiet time, sipping my deelish coffee, when all of a sudden a HUGE storm came through, dumping tons of rain and ruining all of my Saturday plans. Man I was pissed!!! Can someone please explain to me how it can be so nice & sunny every week and then be complete CRAP every weekend?!? I mean really! It rained most of the day and I was so disappointed that I'd missed all of those sales! I ended up convincing the husband to go to Kohl's with me and then we came home and slept for like 4 hours. What a waste of a day.



And then Sunday I spent like 3 hours clipping coupons and organizing my coupon binder and then another 3 hours at the Commissary doing some much needed grocery shopping. I hate clipping coupons. It's so monotonous and I have a short attention span so it's very hard for me to sit there & clip like 25 sets of coupons. But, I'm also very cheap, er, thrifty, so I refuse to pay full price for groceries if I can use coupons to save money. So, there I sat, clipping all of those stupid coupons. But, I saved $40 at the Commissary so I guess that was worth the time it took to clip and organize those things!



Monday was 25% off day at the Value Village so of course I got up bright & early so I could be there when it opened. I found some cute things for my shop and also for my house. And for my someday vintage camper that I am absolutely DYING to get. I hope that someday comes really soon! I think I've almost broken the husband down and convinced him to buy me one just so I'll shut the hell up about it already. I'm constantly checking Craigslist for a cute (and affordable) vintage camper. I look here in MD, and in VA, WV, PA, NJ, NY and OH! That's how obsessed I am. lol So, yeah, I'm putting away items that will one day go in my camper!!



I've been trying to list some new items in my shop today but I'm still having to use Will's crappy work camera and it is just not going well. I'm not used to having such an itty bitty camera and I don't like the way it works. I don't like that no matter how much adjusting I do to the camera, that the pictures still look like crap and I still have to spend tons of time editing them in picnik before I can put them in my Etsy listings. It's very annoying!! I did call Fuji today and they told me I could send my old (and currently deceased) camera to them and they can try to repair it. I really hope that can because at the rate I'm going, I'll never get all of the stuff I've recently bought listed because this other camera drives me nuts!! If Fuji is unable to fix the deceased camera, well, I'm guessing we'll be buying another one. I can't go without a camera for very long. And I've been needing an upgrade for about 4 years now. lol My little Fuji Finepix has served me well though and I've taken probably 10,000 pictures with that thing.



Well, I have to go. Gotta run to the ghetto post office down the street and then it's back to work! I'm going to be home alone for most of the night since Will had to fly to Ohio and Michigan (I think) and he won't be home until late. So, it's work until 6-ish and then I'm going to chill in bed all night, with the doggies and I'm going to catch up on all of my favorite bloggy friends! Yay!!

So, it's the middle of June already...

And here I am making my first entry for the month! This year is flying by, don't you think? Good grief! I wish I could say that I've got lots of fabulous things to talk about or that I was out & about the last 3 weeks doing lots of fun stuff, but the reality of it is that I'm just lazy. There. I said it. Lazy. I mean don't they call it "the lazy days of summer"? Well, I'm definitely a believer!

Despite Maryland's recent monsoon season, I have still been thrifting on a regular basis. Last year after moving here to Baltimore county, I decided it was too far to drive down to Andrews AFB and visit my favorite thrift store. I mean that was almost 80 miles round-trip and with gas prices what they were, I couldn't justify that drive on a weekly (or twice weekly) basis. Of course this was before I started selling fabulous vintage goodies on Etsy and I was just shopping just to shop.

Luckily, gas prices went down substantially last winter and I started making the drive down there each Monday. I try to leave my house early enough on Monday morning so that I can go to the 2 thrift stores I like to visit closer to my house first and then I drive down to Andrews and meet up with the husband for lunch. We'll have a nice little lunch somewhere in the hood (remind me to tell you about the absolute fruitcake that we see every week) and then I'll go to my thrift store. I can't deny that I get some of the best stuff at that place so it's worth the drive. Now if gas goes back up to $4/gallon, I'll have to rethink that 80 mile commute!!

Speaking of my favorite thrift store, check out these swanky drapes I found on Monday:



Aren't they fabulous?!? I think they go well with this bedspread I found earlier this year:



I'm having a hard time deciding if I should list them in my shop or not. They're kind of tacky, but on the other hand, I do love the bright aqua and purple! In fact, I think I want to take that bedspread out of my shop too, just in case, you know!

In other news, I've missed some great local sales lately. The Pink Cabbage had their annual Strawberry Days yard sale a couple of weeks ago and I had every intention of going but my friend decided to use that day as the day she removed the rest of her crap from our basement. Of course, she told us the day prior that she would be over "first thing tomorrow morning" which I took to mean 9:30ish, but that really meant "oh, I'll call you around 3, after you've wasted your entire day waiting on me, and then I'll expect you to drop everything and come running". I was *not* happy!

And then last week, my not-so-dear husband informed me that he'd invited various members of the outlaws over to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. We were going to go to an Orioles game Friday night and then some of them would be leaving while others were staying the whole weekend. Now, I have no problem having family over. I just like to know ahead of time. You know, like I wish my husband would at least talk with me about it before he invites people over!!!

So, having said all that, I missed this amazing sale: Sue @ Vintage Rescue Squad's First (and last?!?) Annual Sale I was so not happy about missing that. See those pink chairs in the picture? Yeah, I think those would've come home with me if I had gone. Instead, I sat here at my house having to entertain our guests. Not my idea of a fun Saturday morning. My husband did take me to Ellicott City later that afternoon and I visited lots of antique stores so my day wasn't a complete waste.

Well, I have lots to do today. I need to get dressed and go find my dad something for Father's Day, I need to take pictures (my "good" camera kicked the bucket so I'm using Will's work issued camera- it sucks!) and try to list some goodies in the shop, I need to clean the house (again) and I need to finish putting out some of our patriotic decorations. I can't guarantee I'll be back this week but I will certainly try! Hope you're having a great day!!

Photographic Evidence

Hey guys! I'm back and feeling 1000% better. Finally!! My mom came up last week and spent a few days here and that was fabulous! We did lots of thrift and antique store shopping and I found so many new goodies! Here are some pictures of my latest finds:

Lots of great vintage invitations-








Lots of great vintage flash cards-

German-French cards:



French-English cards:



Some HUGE food flash cards:







A few weeks ago I found a ton of these vintage floral pictures that were once in National Geographic magazines. I must have 30 of these!



So, as you can clearly see, I've been busy doing lots of thrifting & lots of Etsying too! I have so many items I've yet to take pictures of but I'll hopefully get around to that today or tomorrow!

In other news, I turned 29 last Friday. I simply cannot believe I'm 29! It's going to come as a huge shock next year when I turn 30. lol I'll have to start checking a whole new age bracket on surveys. Will was gone for my actual birthday but I still had a great day. It was very low-key and I really enjoyed it!

On Monday, my Mom and I made one last run to a thrift store as she was on her way out of town and I totally scored! The store was having a huge sale & everything was 50% off. YAY! Later that afternoon, Will and I went into Baltimore proper & watched the Orioles game. It was a nice time. Well, until it started pouring rain anyhow. Note to self: don't wear a white shirt to a baseball game. At least not if rain is in the forecast! Oopsie

So, that's about it from here in my cute (yet very messy) office! I need to get off of the computer, package up some items, go to the Post Office and then come home and organize this room! I hope you all are doing great & having a fabulous day!!

Birthday Parties (and other fun stuff)

So, our doggy turned 9 on Sunday. Well, we're guessing he's 9- we honestly don't know because he was homeless before the rescue group we adopted him from picked him up on the streets of Columbia, SC. The rescue guestimated him to be 3 when we adopted him in 2003, so we're assuming he's 9. Either way, we celebrate his birthday on 17 May, which is the day we adopted him. So, we did a little doggy party for him on Sunday, complete with ice cream and a new toy! I made him a little party hat but it looks more like a dunce cap than a party hat. lol He quite enjoyed his ice cream! Here's a picture of my favorite boy in the whole world.



And I'm celebrating my 29th birthday on Friday. Ack! I can't believe I'm turning 29. That seems so old. I mean didn't I *just* turn 18 like last month?? Geez. One more year before I enter a whole new decade. And as my luck would have it, Will is gone for the entire week. Fabulous. But, my mom is coming up tomorrow to spend a few days and I am SO freaking excited!! She's coming up ALONE! We haven't spent any alone time together in over 3 years so I'm so looking forward to this week/weekend!! Will comes back from eastern Europe on Saturday morning so we'll celebrate my birthday then I suppose.

I have a busy, busy day ahead of me. I have to ship off some items from my Etsy shop, refill Marty's medicine, drive the 80+ miles round trip down to Base & pick up Will's truck since my friend is supposed to move into her new condo tomorrow and we need to get her crap loaded up tonight. I still need to do some cleaning before my mom gets here tomorrow, too. Did I mention I've been terribly sick with a sinus infection? lol Good times!! I'd really love to sleep all day but we all know that it's impossible to do that and not feel guilty so I'm pushing on!

I'm back. (I think!!)

Wow, blogging peeps! I've been gone almost a whole month and I'm hoping I've finally found enough motivation to get back on track. This last month has been insanely busy though so I've had good excuses for not writing. Between my doctor appointments and the appointments at the vet for my boy dog, I've seen enough doctors and offices to last for a while! My uh, issues, from last month were never really diagnosed and I've been referred to a rheumatologist so maybe I'll have answers one day!

In other news, my friend moved in with Will and myself a few weeks ago. She's waiting for the condo she's going to be renting to get new carpet & paint before she moves in. It's been a lot of fun having her here and I'm sure Will is enjoying having 2 "wives" lol! And our girl doggy is loving having the other doggy here to play with, so all in all, it's working out well.

I've been trying to get some Etsy related stuff accomplished this week too. May is proving to be a very slow month! And my thrift store visits today were mighty slim. Pretty disappointing but there's always next Monday!

Will left today for a little jaunt to California for 2 days. And he'll be overseas all of next week. Boohoohoo. I'm trying not to be sad about it because my Mommy is coming up to visit. ALONE!! WOOHOO!!! We haven't really spent any time alone in 3 years so I'm really, really looking forward to her visit.

I've been trying to get my momma, who is a fabulous seamstress btw, to join Etsy and start making some cute stuff to sell. Hopefully we'll be able to work on that while she's up here visiting and hopefully she'll do really well and be able to sew full time again soon. I started a blog this morning for her so when she does get her shop up & running, she'll have a place to post pictures and whatnot.

I have so much reading I need to catch up on too. So many blogs I haven't had time to visit lately - I'm going to try very hard to get by those tonight and see what you all have been up to.

Well, I need to unload my purchases from today and start taking some pictures. I hope I'll be back again soon with lots of fun stuff to share! I certainly don't want to wait another month to update so I'm going to force myself to come back here tomorrow & post something, even if I don't really have anything worth talking about!!

Hi. Remember me?

I'm back. Not that anyone knew I was leaving, myself included, but I've been away for a bit & have finally found the time to actually sit in front of my laptop and catch up on everything!

I've been quite busy here in Maryland! Will and I built some raised garden beds for the yard. Well, technically Will built them. But I had to explain to him how I wanted them built and the sizes I needed, etc. That took up one afternoon. And then the next day we decided we were building a deck on the back of our house. Just kinda out of the blue. That took the next two days. It's still not finished. I'm not pleased about that because we can't even use the deck yet seeing as there are no stairs. Or rails. And I'm quite clumsy so we need rails for sure before I get on the deck.

And last weekend we went over to WV to spend the weekend with Will's side of the family. We drove over Friday and had a fabulous home cooked dinner with the family because Will's uncle was leaving the next morning to drive to Texas for some military school thing for 6 weeks. After dinner, we sat around the bonfire and had some drinks. Normally, I'm a beer person. I used to drink only mixed drinks but sometime around the age of 22 I switched over to beer. I freaking LOVE beer. I switch brands/flavors constantly. But Friday night I was a big dumbass (with a capital D) and had mixed drinks. Oh, they were mighty tasty, those cherry flavored vodkas and diet Sierra Mist drinks. Oh, the Hell I paid on Saturday though.

I woke up that morning to a severe allergic reaction to something in the vodka. I was violently ill (and not like hangover ill) and ended up spending 3 hours in Urgent Care and the ER. That was not fun at all. I felt so bad. Not just because I literally thought I was dying but because Will was supposed to go play golf with his brother and dad that day but ended up having to drive me to the hospital. He was such a trooper though. I know he hates shots and needles and he didn't even pass out while I was getting that huge shot in my behind. Or those huge vials of blood taken. I'm proud of him!

We had Easter dinner with my aunt-in-law's parents (got that?) on Sunday and then drove back here to Baltimore, where I promptly passed out in bed for a couple of hours. Monday I was a little too optimistic and despite feeling like poo I ended up driving down to the Base & meeting Will for lunch and then doing some shopping at the thrift store across for the base. Yeah, I kind of knew I was overdoing it when I kept getting lightheaded and feeling like I was going to faint while shopping. I did manage to pick up some great stuff though!!

Tuesday I had a doctors appt on base so once again I had to drive those 80ish miles round trip. I am not pleased with military doctors. At all. I have yet to have a good experience with any of them. I had an EKG on Saturday which came back abnormal so I needed a follow-up done on Tuesday. Can I just say that I think that after years of schooling that doctors lose their common sense? My doctor (whom I just saw for the first time) is a idiot. I'm being kind. I really want to call her something that starts with a B! I have to see her again next Tuesday to try to get to the bottom of all of my ongoing symptoms because she wasn't interested in listening to my problems the other day. I really, truly hope she doesn't come across as condescending as she did this week or I might have to go off on her AND Tricare!

Today was 25% day at the Value Village (for cardholders, anyhow) and I managed to find *tons* of great stuff, some of which I've listed in my Etsy shop already. I've still got a lot of pictures to take tomorrow though! Will is gone again so I should have ample time to get stuff done before he comes home tomorrow night.

Well, that's the latest news on me. I hope to find something interesting & worthy to talk about soon because I don't like ignoring my blog for weeks at a time! Maybe if Will gets the deck finished this weekend I'll have pictures to share!! So, what have you all been up to the last couple of weeks? I haven't even stopped by to read any of my favorite blogs lately so I'll definitely be doing that later tonight.

Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday Will & I went into the District for a couple of hours to do a little sightseeing. The Cherry trees are so beautiful! I'm hoping we'll get a chance to go back this weekend so I can take some more pictures. The weather yesterday was amazing. It was only about 60 degrees which was both warm and cool enough. And it wasn't windy and it wasn't too crowded. We walked around the Tidal Basin and saw the Jefferson Memorial up close & personal for the first time. I had such a great day, despite the asthma attack close to the end of our outing, and I wish we could've stayed down there longer. Here are some pictures of all the blooming trees & shrubs!

A Magnolia tree:





The Washington Monument





Cherry Blossom