Thrifted Treasures

I started off my weekend with a trip to the movies with C and the fam to see the 4th Pirates movie.  How appropriate that this weekend I hit the jackpot!  It was a gorgeous weekend, yet quite hot, and so today C, myself, and the fam decided to hit up some local bargain shops and antique malls.  Let me tell you...I have some new favorite spots in the Northern Neck area now!

The first shop we stopped at, I was immediately drawn to the colorful and fun display of jewelry.  In fact, I spent most of my time and money on that section.  I wasn't even done looking at the jewelry when the rest of the fam was back in the car escaping the heat (this was an open air venue).  This woman was selling vintage pieces, costume jewelry, all sorts of pretties anywhere from $1-$5 a piece!  Needless to say, I went crazy!  There were such fun colors and great pieces, see below for my collection of treasures.

Additionally, I bought a set of 4 little china plates that I don't have pictures of at the moment, the whole set was $12, and it's beautiful.  I'm thinking I'll be mounting these on the wall somewhere.  They were too cute and too cheap to pass up!  AND I bought two glass beer mugs at $1.50 a piece excellent for that ice cold brew, or a sweet smoothie!

After paying for my treasures there, we moved along to an antique mall, where I purchased MORE jewelry (featured in the above photos as well).  AND, found this great booth filled with Japanese treasures.  I loved this booth because the authentic items brought me back to Japan.  There were even Hachinoe (spelling?) horses which originated in a town right outside the military base I used to live on.  I ended up purchasing a beautiful tea set for $45.

The inside of the teacups have painted flowers as well.  So cute and girly!

At this antique mall I also found a cute, pink glass bottle that clasps closed.  Bought it for $5 and will use it for a vase or to put juice in...it was too cute.  C's grandad says he has more that he's going to give me, and I can't wait!  He also gave me a large Ball jar, I have my eye out for those right now.  The ones I saw in stores today were $8 or more, he gave me a big one for free, and he says he's got more to give me.  He says I can come shop in his shed!  (I'm sure they have quite the collection of antiques).  These jars I'm thinking will make cute storage containers, hold pens, flowers, whatever!

Scored that scarf from the first store for $1 too!

All in all, it was a successful day filled with treasures!  I also got crafty this weekend and spent a little bit of money at Michael's.

C bought me this basket for my bike and I bought some hibiscus to make it my own!

C also got me this license plate, and yes, that is how it came from the store!  Things with names on them NEVER have my name...so this was a MUST HAVE.

I took an old clipboard that was handed down to me from my older brother years ago, and turned it into a cute new teacher clipboard for myself!  By gluing scrapbook paper onto it, I covered up all my brother's random doodles, and my old nail polish smudges.

And so friends, there you have it.  And the moral of the story is...next time you've got an itch or a need for some great jewelry, hit up a thrift store, antique mall, or bargain store first!  You'll find unique, vintage, fun, and original pieces for a MUCH better price!  That's all for this weekend, now go out and find some treasure of your own.

A Moment of Remembrance

 

Thank you to all who have paid the ultimate price, and to their loved ones for their sacrifice.

The Magic Continues and Blessings Abound

"Hot Roomies" -The title I gave this picture 5 years ago...SO TRUE!

Roomie = part two of why my weekend was amazing and why I am so blessed.  Another wonderful addition to my weekend was having the chance to reunite with my roomie from undergrad, Meaghan.  She and I became friends the summer before the start of our college careers thanks to social networking.  We met through a MySpace group for the new entering class at our university.   We got to chatting because we were both going to be music majors in voice, realized we'd be living in the same dorm just a floor away from each other, and bonded straight away.  For sophomore year we decided to room together, and the rest is history.  She is BY FAR the BEST roomie a girl could ever ask for, and the most amazing friend ever, and I adore her.  We are soul sistas.  She is my chicka!  She's my home girl from Jersey.  I pick on her for how she says things like "strawberries" (you have to hear it) and she teases me for saying "ya'll" ...(until she slips and I catch her)!  She has listened to ALL my boy drama...and Lord bless that poor woman's soul for keeping up with it all.  She's been there through roommate drama, family drama, school drama, job drama, life drama...and Army Wives drama (until I fell dropped that ball...haven't watched hardly any of this season).

She currently lives in Jersey, and it is rare that we see each other.  We try to plan girl get away weekends every so often, but we're both so caught up with work and other commitments that it doesn't happen that often.  Needless to say, I was ecstatic that we reunited this weekend over her brother's graduation from CNU, while both of us were in the same area for once.  It was so wonderful to see her and hug her, and see her family, and hug all of them.  It was great.  AND, we FINALLY exchanged our Christmas gifts.  Yes, in May...we have both been holding on to each other's gifts since December...we were both too lazy to take them to the post office, and too cheap to pay the postage, and we were both ready to get them out of our houses.  I was so excited to give her some cute journals I had picked up for her since living with her previously, I know how much she journals, AND I fed her Vera addiction with a new ID Card holder.  Also included in the package was her Valentine card...which I also never mailed...are you all seeing the pattern here?  (My mother can't stand this about me...maybe one day I'll get my act together.)

Meaghan's gifts to me were the kind only a true soul sista could give.  Honestly, I wanted to take mine back and give her something better after what she gave me lol.  All her gifts to me were hand-made by her, they were adorable, thoughtful, and meaningful.  See below:

"May you always count your blessings." 

My 10 blessings counted for the day, and Eph. 5:19-20

 

 

 

 

 My 10 Blessings counted for now are:
1. The best boyfriend in the world
2. The best friend/Roomie ever!
3. A family that loves me
4. A job that allows me to do what I love
5. Warm, sunny days (this was not the case today, but it was this past weekend)
6. Quiet time
7. Hugs
8. Laughter
9. Love in my life
10. Beauty in my world

An adorable collection of assorted, hand crafted push-pins!  Teachers can't get enough of these :)

Additionally, some hand crafted and personalized bookmarks.

The girl is a crafting DIVA!  I can't believe how lucky I am to have such talented, and thoughtful people in my life.  She also got me personalized stationary, another thing teachers need lots of!

Roomie, you are ridiculously awesome, and I love you.  You are always counted in my blessings :)

Do You Believe in Magic in a Young Girl's Heart?

"Do you believe in magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful pretty much sums up my weekend...simply magical.  OK, so that sounds really cheesey, but I don't care.  Everything about this weekend was magical, in its simplicity, in its fun, in the people I spent it with, and everything that happened.

This weekend, I gave myself the treat of a three day weekend by taking a personal day on Friday.  Thursday night I rolled down to C's place after having a delicious dinner with some great family friends up here at a new Irish pub that just opened up.  Friday morning I was finally given some closure to a job opportunity I was pursuing back in my hometown, the principal called me and we had a lovely chat, but it looks like their hiring situation might not be changing after all (meaning they won't have any positions) and if it does, they won't know anything until July or August probably, which is a little too long for me to wait around.  So, with that said, I felt it best to accept another offer I received last week that will keep me teaching in this same county, just at a different school.  So...Friday morning I accepted a job offer for next year at a new school that I think is a much better match for me, my skills, my needs/desires, and my personality.  I am very excited about this decision, and so glad that I was with C when all this happened.  I'm so grateful that we had the chance to talk face-to-face about it and come to a decision together, with him, and with my parents (I clearly called them as well).  I love making decisions with C.  It feels so good to be together on these things, and to be on the same page, plus I just love the fact that I have someone I trust to bounce ideas around with, to pray over things, and to provide different perspectives.

Anyway, so then C had to run off to work, and I dinked around the house, facing booking, reading, e-mailing, and then got cleaned up.  I met up w/C for lunch at his office and found that they were having a birthday lunch for some of the staff there, and showed up to the most amazing and delicious spread of food!  So we had a delightful lunch outside complete with dessert and wine.  Have I mentioned the fact that I LOVE the perks that come with C being employed at a winery?  Anyway, after lunch I headed off to the grocery store to pick up some things for our weekend ahead, while C finished up some things are work before leaving early.

I finished up grocery shopping at the same time he left work, and we were able to get packing right away for a weekend get away with some friends to camp in VA Beach!  Our trip was amazing.  I was worried about the weather ruining it, but fortunately it worked out for us.  We woke to the sun shining, the boys cooked everything, we made bacon cheeseburgers, pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.  We had good music, good food, good drinks, and great company.  We went for a brief bike ride that got cut off when our friend broke his new $600 bike....LAME oh and this same guy broke his camping chair the night before.  Poor guy...but we got lots of laughs out of it.  So with our bike trip cut short, and the sun out...we decided it was time to head to the beach.  When we arrived the cloud cover had rolled in and we started to worry, but the day went on and no rain, and then the sun came out and STAYED OUT!  We played frisbee, volleyball, football, the boys were crazy enough to do some polar boogie boarding, and I basked in the gloriousness of the sun napping on the beach.  Then we walked the boardwalk, where the whole time I was wishing I had a beach cruiser bike particularly the one I saw a couple weeks ago at Wal-Mart, got some ice cream, and then headed back to camp to get cleaned up for dinner.  For dinner we went to a great seafood place called Bubba's, where we sat outside on the upper deck, ordered calamari to start and crabcakes for dinner, YUM!

Sunday, woke up and did some shopping w/C, went to Wal-Mart and got my BIKE :) (you should have seen me jumping up and down in the store like a little girl, and then when C was putting it together for me when we got home). I also bought a fishing pole, and C bought us a picnic basket (we have been wanting one for the summer) and bought me a picture frame.  Once we got our picnic basket we were on a mission to find a cute plastic dish set to go with it, but we haven't found something we like yet.  I loved shopping for these with him though.  When we shop for things like picnic baskets and picnic dishes together, it feels like we're shopping for the things we need/want for our lives together.  I love that.  I am sooo excited for summer now.  I've got my Panama Jack Beach Cruiser complete with a cup-holder, cooler storage, and bottle opener, I've got a fishin' pole, we've got a picnic basket, I've got cute sun dresses and shorts, we've got aviators and hot new swim suits, and I've got my wide-brimmed floppy straw hat.  Can't wait to have a summer of biking to the water for fishing and picnics, reading books in the Eno hammock, and beach bumming it up!  Hmmm....I wonder what the weather will be like this weekend..I hope it's good bike/picnic weather.  :)

 

More to come on an additional part of the weekend that made more magic, seeing my ROOMIE for the first time in a LONG time, and exchanging our Christmas gifts, (YES, in May...)  Don't worry roomie, I didn't forget, you will be getting your own blog post! :-P

The Niche

This weekend was amazing!  I got to stay at my place instead of making my usual 2-3 hour (sometimes longer) trek down to my boyfriend's place for the weekend.  He came up here for a lovely and much needed change.  I seriously needed a weekend without the driving and the traffic.  I needed a weekend sleeping in my bed, sitting around on my couches, and dinking around my place, and that is exactly what I got.  C came up to visit me, and I told him I wanted a weekend where we didn't feel like we needed to be anywhere or do anything.  We ate delicious food, we did a bit of shopping, (OK, so I did need to get a mother's day gift for the madre...which I did), we cooked, we lounged around and watched movies and episodes of How I Met Your Mother on demand, we baked cookies, and we even found a spot to throw the hammock of for a bit and relax under the trees in the sun.  It was amazing!

One of my purchases this weekend was Julie & Julia on dvd.  LOVE this movie!  This got me started blogging.  I watched it the night I bought it, and now I'm watching it again while blogging.  It's serving as my inspiration.  I've been putzing around online this evening.  Loving wasting my time on stumbleupon.com, pinning on pinterest.com, and exploring various DIY, cooking, and fashion blogs I stumbled upon.  What I've realized is that Julie (from the movie) and many of these folks out in cyber world with these amazing and successful blogs, have a clear purpose and focus to their work.  This is something I lack...annnnnnd it's kind of starting to bother me.  The truth is I've always been one of those people who can "do anything," but I can't seem to pin down the exact part of anything I WANT to do and be good at.  I'm OK at an assortment of things, but I don't feel I have a niche...a THING.  I feel like I'm just a wanderer.  So perhaps among everything else, that is my ultimate project for this summer....finding my THING.

Potential things that could be my THING...

Sewing...all the women in my family have sewn.  At least all the ones on my mom's side of the family.  My Meme (mom's mom) tried to teach me when I was a lil tyke, I did some cross-stitching, and had done a tiny bit of embroidery...but I didn't really get into it.  Mom, Meme, and Aunt Donna all sewed clothes for me and my sister when we were little.  Mom and Meme both got into quilting for a long time...why have I never gotten sewing itch?  Now my former roommate has the sewing bug and has been sewing these incredibly cute bags.  HECK, my boyfriend can sew and use a sewing machine.  I am going to sew something this summer!  When I was young I used to have this Crayola fashion design kit, and I would sketch and design clothes all day.  Fashion is still something I love...so perhaps, sewing could be my THING.

Cooking:  Cooking could be my next THING.  It's something I really have wanted to try my hand at more, but man my first year of teaching leaves me beat in the evenings.  So I haven't been doing much of that.  Pictured is a successful cooking venture from the weekend.  The cooking idea mine, the recipe idea C's, and C actually did most of the cooking...ugh makes me mad he's always better than me at EVERYTHING.  Not fair.  We also baked some cookies...that didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped and this is the second time that has happened with that recipe, so it is out with that recipe.  But I've been writing down tons of recipes lately, and checking out cooking blogs.  This summer when I'm not worn out by kiddos and have some more time on my hands, I intend to keep on cooking and try more recipes.

Writing:  Perhaps writing will be my THING.  I enjoy writing.  I've always journaled ever since I was a little girl.  I was never able to keep up a daily writing regimen, but I still wrote when I had something to say.  Sometimes I wonder if I have anything of real value to say.  I don't really know if any of my thoughts, opinions, or ideas have any importance or significance for the rest of the world or anybody in the world.  I think this summer, with all this soul searching, experimenting, and creative ventures...I will certainly have things to say...experiences to share...and thoughts to convey.  Perhaps writing about my adventures will be my thing.

Music:  This is one thing I have known that I have some talent in...but I've never felt like I was REALLY good at it.  I have very little sense of rhythm...terrible, but true...I can barely get by on piano and I don't play any other instrument.  I can sing, and sing well...but I don't think I have one of those AMAZING voices.  I do love to write music.  But lately I haven't really felt the urge to write anything.  Is that terrible?  Does that mean that my life is boring, uninteresting, and uninspired?  Again...another example of how I have nothing to say...I feel like I've lost my voice.  I hope to find it again.

Photography:  In middle school I took pictures all the time.  Of EVERYTHING.  My friends, neighbors, the kids I babysat, the world around me.  I lived in Hawaii at the time, and I have countless pictures of flowers, waves, sand, palm trees, and sunsets.  I still love to take pictures, but I don't do it as much.  I'm usually too busy, or too lazy to whip out the camera.  It is something I still love to do, but I know nothing about photography.  I know nothing about lighting, composition, depth, techniques, or photo technology.  All I know is what I see.  When I see something beautiful or inspiring...I just want to capture it...to save it forever in a snapshot.  I envy people that can do this beautifully and creatively.  I want to be able to do that.  Perhaps as I document my various ventures into these different interests, I can develop some photography skill.

Gardening:  C and I have mentioned that we want to grow our own veggies at some point, and I want to start out by growing some herbs, and lavender.  I want to grow beautiful, colorful flowers.  When I was a kid I tried to grow strawberries, and my dog (a puppy at the time) ate them before I could get to them.  As an adult I've never been good about watering things or keeping plants alive.  I want to change that.  I want to cultivate something beautiful.  I want to eat fresh homegrown fruits and veggies.  I guess the only reason I haven't started this one, is at this stage in my life, I don't feel I have a permanent place to really settle and grow something.  I live in a townhouse...that in a matter of months I will be moving out of...so what start growing something here, when I'd have to move it?  C lives at home with his parents...I'm sure they would let us grow something...but I think we'd like to wait until we had a place of our own to start growing...but perhaps we could start with something small in a pot somewhere.

So there are some of the things I intend to explore this summer.  And HECK, why wait for summer?!  I think I'm going to start soon.  I need to plan a little bit more...strategize a little.  I need to choose what to start with, and when.  There will be more to come when I have a plan. 

Thanks for reading.  Thoughts on things I should pursue, or tips for the things currently on my list would be much appreciated!  Until next time...

xoxo