You Can Go Home Again...

By the sea... by the sea... by the beautiful sea...  Okay, it's a lake... but that song runs through my head all the way there... every time.  This place was such a large and happy chunk of my growing up years, that I still... each and every year... feel physically compelled to get these (now old) bones back up along the water's edge for a recharge. 

 

On this visit, the day was overcast... which mattered only as far as picture quality...

 

 

blue or gray... it's all food for the soul.

Inspiration...

Folders full of torn-out bits from magazines, hours spent perusing Pinterest and blog hopping... searching Google images for a little elusive inspiration... But no one thing has ever gotten the creative mojo flowing like this book...

I have exerted economic restraint and limited myself to two copies... 

Rural Junking... City Style...

Usually, my weekends include several estate sales... this weekend I upped my game... and hit the U.S. Heritage Trail's longest garage sale.  Uh, huh... on four hours of sleep, one multi-vitamin and a cup of java, baby...  and I think I did us junkers proud.  But, I'll let the pictures speak (mostly) for themselves...

very first stop... a salvage barn

 on a real, working farm...

(and me, city girl that I am, wearing flip flops...) 

original old windows (petrified chicken poop included)...

(no prob... brought the Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer) 

primitive tables... feed sacks... hardware... 

 following the road...

stopping at farms... fields filled with sellers...

small towns... and quaint little shops...

 scoring a 1928 Montgomery Ward's catalogue... fresh from the field!

(along with a bag of just-picked corn)

dolls from church basements... 

 

old cookbooks and lard tins...

next to tables of bake sale goods...

piled with cookies as big as saucers...

just a day filled with sweet treats and treasures.

A Cup of Joe and a Movie to Go...

Mornings at my house are becoming increasingly crowded... thanks to Turner Classic Movies... stop by and you'll find all manner of heartthrobs and glamorous gals in my living room.  This morning, I was almost late for work... again!  Why TCM insists on airing the kind of movies that invariably suck me in and onto the couch first thing in the morning... oblivious to time... on a work day no less... is beyond me.   

Today's movie... "Double Harness" with William Powell.  Who could resist?  (Not me obviously.)  A witty script and well acted.  Just a total blast from the (1930's) past!  If you have a soft spot for old classics... this is a must see. 

   

A Leap of Faith...

Since last October, I have moved my little shop space four times in eight months... from downtown (across the river), to a small town 40 minutes down river, back to downtown (on my side of the river).  The early moves were prompted by the shopkeeper I used to lease space from.  In the midst of that chaos, I put myself on a waiting list for a dream space... a five minute STROLL from my office to a quaint brick shop on one of the oldest original downtown corners.  Sweet, original architecture... perfectly revamped inside and out...  When I got the call from those proprietors...  I moved again.  I was there for nearly three blissful months when my new landlords received one of those unexpected, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.  So, they took it and moved to a considerably larger shop across town...  and as much as I appreciated the ambiance and location of that downtown shop... I appreciated my wonderful new landlords more...

so I moved with them... and am still settling in...

but already daydreaming about Holiday displays...

reindeer and jack o' lanterns and all that jazz...

great treasures... great prices... great people

Great Finds in Maumee ...  1414 Reynolds... find it ALL there!

Don't Waste the Day...

random thoughts... 

on a gloriously sunny Friday morning.

Just a Slacker...

When I popped in and actually saw the last time I posted I was a little mortified...  I have had a "little shop around the corner" mini drama taking most of my focus these past few months... but still... really... February?  Ah, well, I'll share my shop saga later... but for now...  I'm...

currently reading...

 

 

LOVE... LOVE and LOVE  (comfort food, how could you not?)

 

currently trying...

 

just started using... so the jury's still out (I've always been a sudsy kinda girl)

 

currently rocking...

 

and while I don't love Summer... I do love me some metallic flip flops.