Moving Day

I began this blog in February, 2006. I intended it to be an outlet for sharing my thoughts (as a middle-aged, empty nest mom) about life in general. Now, almost 5 years later, I'm moving off in a different direction and want my blog to reflect my new focus. I might still post here from time to time, but only occasionally.

If you've been following this blog (or have stumbled onto it by accident), please visit my new one!Be sure to follow it (PLEASE!) so you don't miss a single exciting post! There's only one follower right now (boo hoo) and I'm sure she's feeling lonely. Besides, it would give my confidence about my new ventures a real boost!

So, dear readers, today is moving day! See you at the new place . . .

Stepping Out in Faith!

Well, my friend Bargain Hunter and I signed the papers today to get a booth at our local antiques mall! We're really excited and have lots of ideas for making it work, but it's pretty scary, too. We take possession on February 1 (a Tuesday) and hope to have everything in place by Friday, February 4, so we don't lose the weekend traffic. Needless to say, that will be a VERY busy week!

I'll keep you posted on our progress as February 4 approaches and hope to have pictures to post, too.

This is REALLY scary!

About 6 months ago, I radically cut my paid work hours to be available to help my husband with his new business. Since then, I've been trying to find ways to earn money, while still being flexible in my hours -- not an easy task in this economy!

I've done lots of thrifting and estate-sale-shopping with my friend, Bargain Hunter. I've bought and sold on Ebay for years (okay, so I've bought more than I've sold -- who's counting?) but started selling on Etsy in October. I'm having so much fun! I find that I enjoy doing this more than just about anything else.

But, here's the scary part... My friend Bargain Hunter and I were talking about our dream to have a booth in an antique mall. She found out that our favorite local mall, Livingston Antique Outlet, has a few coming available in February and March. BH wants to get one of them and share it. We figured out that we'd have to sell just 13 items each to make the monthly rent. And LAO gets great shopper traffic -- you can hardly find a parking place there on the weekends and there are always lots of shoppers at other times of the week, too. The idea of doing that, though, is REALLY scary to me -- but exciting, too!

What's funny is that, in her last post, BH blogged about how scared she is to sell on Ebay and Etsy -- that's a piece of cake! I'm totally freaked out by the idea of selling in a mall! How can two friends who have so much in common have such different points of view?

So what do you think, dear readers? Should we give it a try for 6 months or so and see what we can do with it? Is it too late to begin doing something you've wished you could do for 20 years or more?

Pretty scary stuff!

Quick Trip to Salvation Army

On the Wednesday before Christmas, I made a super-quick trip to the Salvation Army, just to see what was new. I found a real treasure trove of thrift!

All Christmas items were 75% off and I found lots of older holiday items plus a few other vintage deals:

An oh-so-beautiful, handmade ceramics cookie plate
A red sputnik ornament (free, because it has no hooked end)
A large boot candle
A singleton candle salt shaker (Lefton-like)
3 packages of wired tinsel - I'm thinking of lots of projects...
2 Tin 1960s trays
Mirro cookie press + bin of cutters -- $1.99!

Knitting needles & knitting gauge
Presto pressure cooker user's manual from 1946
I *love* this picture at the back of the book (it's worth the whole thing)!
The kitchen here is the National Pressure Cooker Company's 'cheerful, modern' kitchen --

Here's the caption:
Closeups of the 'cheerful, modern' kitchen

I'll never do THAT again!

Looking back at my '24 Days of Advent', I see that I only managed to post on 19 of the 24 days. I don't think I'll ever do another daily theme unless I do all the posts at one time and schedule them to post each day. It's just too much pressure!

I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas, a very safe & happy New Year's Eve and that 2011 has started off well for you!

24 Days of Advent - Day 21 - Christmas in the Kitchen

We have lots of Christmas in our kitchen -- probably because, like most people, we spend a lot fo time there! Here are some pictures of our kitchen Christmas

A large bottle brush wreath
A shelf with old gift boxes and various Christmas kitsch
The shelf over the stove -- more kitsch
(I wonder how many tinsel trees I have?)
Handmade Christmas tea towels - not easy to find

The top of the hoosier cabinet -- more kitsch
(do you sense a theme here?)

A little pennant from Christmas, Michigan
Lots of angels -- mostly Gurley candles

24 Days of Advent - Day 20 - Too Much to Do!

Yes, dear readers, I've missed another day of my advent blogs. Which brings me to another time-tested Christmas tradition -- having just too much to do! How does this happen? Christmas falls on the same date every year and I know exactly what needs to be done to get ready, so how do I end up so overwhelmed at the end?

There are just a few things left to do . . . baking, icing 3 batches of cutout cookies, wrapping gifts, cleaning, doing laundry and running errands (while still keeping up with work and scheduled meetings). And, oh yes, leaving time to stop and live in the present (NOT two or three days ahead) and think about what we're doing this for. As a special friend said in his Christmas letter, we celebrate "a humble Birth that blesses us all". That's a good reminder to me (and all of us) to keep our celebration humble, as well.

24 Days of Advent - Day 18 - A Christmas Baking Miracle

A few years ago, we redid the kitchen and put into motion a Christmas baking miracle. I have just 4 words to describe it:

KitchenAid mixer & convection oven!