Another Road Trip

On Friday, the family and I headed over the mountain to the lovely town of Sisters, Oregon to see my husband's parents. We hadn't been over there since December so we really needed to get over for a visit. We couldn't have picked a lovelier weekend. The weather on Friday was a little crummy, but Saturday and Sunday totally made up for it.

While we were over there, my mother-in-law and I made a little trip over to Redmond to check out the "Just Between Us Girls" Spring Sale. I had never been to one of their sales and was curious to see what it was like. The sale was held on a farm out in the middle of the country. Snow covered mountains surrounding the several vendors booths and lovely, lovely blue sky.

I was so happy to see Julie. She was selling with her friend Marci. I also got to see Betty and her mother-in-law too but unfortunately didn't get a picture of them. I first met Betty at Joy's blog party.

I apologize for my not so great pictures. It was hard to get good ones with so many shadows.





My favorite booth had to be one that belonged to one of the organizers of the show, Lisa. I think this was actually her property. Her space was so charming. Lots of pink, lots of roses, right up my alley.


I was very good and only bought a few items. You can see them here. Oops! Sorry about the shadows.

Cute Italian floral wood plaques and metal hanging thingy from Julie, piece of ticking, fabric covered vanity organizer and cute hand towel.

I would highly recommend this show to anyone who likes shabby, garden, vintagy items. I think they have another one coming up this summer. You can check out Julie's blog for details.

The highlight of the weekend had to be spending time with my family. I have mentioned here in the past the fact that I can't get my kids (13 and 15) to pose for a picture together. On this trip however, they decided to go for a walk together and stole my camera to take a few pictures. When they came back and showed me the pictures, I couldn't have been happier. Here are just a few they took.

My daughter has just recently become interested in photography and my FIL was kind enough to give her all his old camera equipment. I told her if she becomes a famous photographer, she can support her old mom and dad. She didn't think that was the best idea.

Can't believe it's Wednesday already. We have had a couple wonderful days of weather, but I think the rain is coming again. Lots to do this week as usual. Painting outside won't be one of those things, but maybe some sewing projects. Have a great rest of the week!

A Little Road Trip

As I mentioned on my last post, we were going to take a little road trip last weekend. Long story short, what was going to be a road trip to Boise to see my brother and sister in-law, turned out to be a trip to the Oregon Coast.

If you have been reading my blog awhile, you know that I love the beach. The weather at the coast was quite rainy, but we were able to get out, stroll on the beach, go shopping, hiking, during a few breaks in the weather. The best part was just getting to spend time with my family. Family bonding, if you will.

We stayed two days in a little cottage in Waldport. Very funky and vintage, with a wood burning fireplace of which we took full advantage. I even had time to read a whole book. One of my favorite authors, Adrianna Tigianni just put out a new novel called "Very Valentine." Some of you may remember The Big Stone Gap series. I loved it. Anyway, it was a wonderful read.

Unfortunately,I didn't take any pictures during our trip. Camera battery died/too lazy. But, thanks to the internet, here a few shots for your viewing pleasure.

Cape Cod Cottages, Walport, Oregon

Path from cottage to beach, imagine a clowdy gray sky and a lot of wet. I think I like this image better.

My family was nice enough to indulge me by stopping at several antique stores/malls we happened to find. Unfortunately the getting wasn't great. I only managed to find a few items. Actually, it was a blessing as once again, I'm extremely low on funds. Here's the loot.

lampshade frame, rhinestone bracelet, lace and pair of rhinestone earrings
My hubby did get one sneak attack picture before my battery died. This is my darling daughter and in the background, just above the hood on her jacket, you can just barely catch a glimpse of my adorable son. This picture was taken on our hike around Cape Perpetua.

Cape Perpetua, photo courtesy of the Internet. (Thanks Al Gore for inventing the Internet!)

I need to get over to Monticello soon to clean up my space. The good news is that I have sold a few items that had been there awhile. Now I have room to bring in more stuff. Hopefully if I get my act together I can head over tomorrow with a few things. Maybe hit a few sales/thrift stores along the way? The weather is suppose to be improving a bit. I hope so.

Thanks to all of you who left comments on my last post about my collections. It's fun to know so many of you share many of the same collections as me. I also want to note that Mitzi is right. I did neglect to mention my most favorite collection of all. My wonderfully fabulous friends and family. All the rhinestone brooches in the world could not replace how much they mean to me. I hope you all have truly amazing weekend.

Home Again

Just got home last night from my long weekend in Southern California. I had a great time visiting with my family and going to some of my favorite antique places. I arrived on Thursday night and was warmly greeted by this crew.

Friday morning my dad and I were up early to grab a bite at this popular local restaurant.

This is what I had. YUM!

My dad and his cute "smart B" which I got to drive while down there.

We then boogied on over to the La Maison Rustique sale. As always, eye candy everywhere.

After that we headed over to some other antique shops in Temecula including this place. Seredipity is always a must stop at shop when I come down for a visit and it didn't disappoint.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside so you'll have to trust me, it is an adorable shop with lots of great bits and pieces all so artfully arranged. This amazing blogger has her fabulous creations here.

We then headed to the town of Fallbrook where we stopped at the Rusty Creek Boutique . A big old barn full of goodies. While there I met Gina who has a blog too.

Saturday morning found me up and at 'em playing tennis with my dad. The last time I played was with him on my visit last year so he was killing me, but it felt good to get the exercise. Now I'm motivated to play more and I think I just may have found a partner to play with me.

After tennis, a hot shower and a quick stop at In and Out Burger (Yum again!), we drove out to the City of Orange to visit this most incredible antique mall.



I was so busy looking at all the wonderful stuff I didn't get many pictures, but here are few for your viewing pleasure.

I had been here several years ago and had fond memories of great stuff, but I was amazed at all the awesomeness they had there.

After spending about 2 hours and a little bit of money at Country Roads, we visited a few more stores in the area, but none could even compare.

That evening we spent some time visiting with my Aunt and Cousin and had dinner at Hof's Hut. One of my favorite Southern California chain restaurants. I had a wonderful shrimp and crab melt but forgot to take a picture. Trust me though, it was beautiful for about a minute until I dug into it.

On Sunday we went out for breakfast at Swing Inn again. This time I had yummy biscuits and gravy. After that my step mom and I went and had our toes done.

What do you think? I've never had my toes painted black before. My daughter always says that I pick boring colors so I thought I would surprise her with the black. I love the little flowers with the rhinestone centers. Such fun!

Sunday evening we had a little Academy Awards party at my dads house. I think this was the first time that I actually watched this show from start to finish and I have to say that I think they and Hugh Jackman did a fabulous job.


On Monday morning I packed for my trip home, trying to get everything I bought in my suitcase. I bought some great stuff which I'll have to show in my next post. We did hit a few thrift stores while down there, but I found nothing there.

I know I promised I'd do a giveaway for my 200th post on this post, but I'm going to have to wait a bit. Honestly, not sure what to give away just yet, but I'll figure it out. And soon. Hope you enjoyed coming along with me on my little trip. As with any trip, for me at least, I love getting out of my regular routine and seeing and doing new things, but it is always so nice to be home.

A Party, Another Family Day and Some Bargains

I'm going to try to fit it all in one post if I can. So much going on and I have some other posts in the works so without further ado..have you seen this?



Back in November, I think, Joy and Isabel and I were talking about how much fun it would be to have a blog party where we could meet local bloggers in person. We were going to try to do it in December, but with the snow and holidays it just didn't make sense. So, now it's all planned and we are committed (or maybe we should be-ha ha). I think it will be great fun to meet some of you who I have only known through comments or by reading your blogs. If you would like to join us, and I hope you will, you can RSVP to me here in my comments or to Joy or Isabel or Martha. I guarantee a good time will be had by all.



After the success of our last family outing to the beach, we decided to make a day trip to the city of Astoria. I had never really visited this lovely town that is rich with history, so off we went. First order of business, find all the thrift stores. Fortunately it was pretty easy to find them and I was able to find several great items for very little money. More on that later.


We were starving so we decided to have lunch at a lovely restaurant called "Baked Alaska" that was right on the water. I had some delicious clam chowder and a fancy green salad.

Next we decided to visit the Flavel House. It was built by a retired sea captain and it was just lovely. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the inside, too dark, but the furnishings and the wood work was amazing, trust me.


Our next stop was the Astoria Column. Great views from up there even with the cloud cover.


Finally, we drove out to Pier 39 and had some hot cocoa at the Rogue Brewery. Okay, hubby had a beer while the rest of us had hot chocolate. A great ending to a fun day.


Now for the part you have been waiting for. My thrifty finds.

Miscellaneous rick rack and vintage garters .....................$2.00

Doll slip & little crochet basket with roses..............................$4.75

Two locker baskets and Christmas book............................$2.00

Pink satin vanity tray, birdy in nest & crochet tea cup.....$1.75

Day out with the family....................................................Priceless

Well, that wasn't as long as I thought it would be. Not much planned for this week yet. Just the usual thrifting, trip to Monticello, a little housework thrown in. Not too exciting, but I am going to try to get going on a project I have been planning. We'll see how that goes. Have a great Monday!

Fun at the Beach

Last Sunday my family and I, along with my daughter's boyfriend, took a trip to the beach for a little fun. We started off at Lincoln City where we bought a bag of day old bread to feed to the seagulls.

We really lucked out with the weather. It didn't rain all day and even though it was a bit overcast, it wasn't really all that cold either.

After a little stroll down the beach we decided we should drive on down for a yummy lunch at Mo's. If you are an Oregonian, you already know about Mo's. I always get the same thing, bowl of their yummy clam chowder, dinner salad with shrimp and garlic cheese bread. The Mo's restaurants are famous on the Oregon Coast, plus it is a tradition in our family. A day at the beach = lunch at Mo's.

We stopped at Depot bay and watched the waves breaking. There were some pretty big ones. Mesmerizing to watch.

My two favorite dudes.

After lunch we decided to go to the Newport Aquarium. It was fun to see all the cool sea life. My favorite were the sea otters. Isn't this little guy cute?

Cute puffin. A little camera shy though.
This octopus was huge. He was moving around a lot and it was hard to get a good picture of him behind the glass.

Cool jelly fish.

After the Aquarium we decided that we needed a little bit more beach time so we headed on down to Nye Beach in Newport. It was fun strolling on the sand. I just love the beach. Must be because I'm a water sign (Cancer). Every time we go to the beach I always say the same thing, "I want a house at the beach." I actually say it several times and I'm sure it drives my hubby nuts.

Here's a picture of my daughter and her boyfriend. They just celebrated their 3 month anniversary. It was his first trip to the Oregon Coast and I'm glad he was able to come with us.

You can tell that she's smiling in this picture.

This was a really cool old house/hotel in Nye Beach.

One of my favorite things to do at the beach is walk on the sand and check out the neat houses along the beach. The older and funky ones are my favorites.


After awhile we decided to head home. It was a very good day.