Grab Bag...

i was at a dollar store with my daughter last weekend.  they were selling grab bags.  remember those?  i loved them when i was a kid.  not sure why as they’re usually filled with strange things.  my daughter’s was no exception.  for one dollar she received one glove, a yellow pencil, a comb, and an apron large enough to fit a squirrel.  but what fun it was to open!

i kind of get that feeling right before i walk into an antique store.   you never know what you’re going to find!   not that i need anything, but it’s always fun to look.

so right after we left the dollar store, we headed over to a big antique mall.  god bless my daughter for liking them as much as i do.  well, that might be a little exaggeration.  but i think she’s getting the bug!  i give her $10 and tell her to find something she loves. 

want to see what we found?  

my tastes are definitely changing.  i’m sure a year ago i would have walked right past this rusty old dump truck.  today, i couldn’t wait to see it holding a truck load of pink impatiens by my front door.  the creamy-yellow color and all the rust in all the right places makes me happy.  and for $10, it made me really happy!  

and any brown transferware i find needs to come home with me.  i found this sweet little pitcher with the word juice on the front and the manufacturer's logo stamped on the bottom.  

this little $14 pitcher now holds my honey sticks near my bags of pomegranate green tea.  

notice how this little vignette has already changed in one week?

my husband loves that about me. 

i hear this from him often:

"now where's the salt?  last week it was here, now where is it?

it's like a treasure hunt every time i need salt."

 and unfortunately, you can insert the words "tooth picks", "vitamins", "straws" -- you name it -- into that sentence above.

sorry, sweetie.  i'm working on that.

so since this post is titled grab bag, i thought i’d throw in a few other items i recently found that i want to share with you.

while buying my dark chocolate candy bars at cost plus last week, (remember, dark chocolate is good  for you!  must be 71%.), i found these lovely forks with these pretty green handles.  i have a similar set of silverware with cream handles that my sister bought me as a birthday present from ballard designs a few years ago.  only those forks weren’t $1.29 a piece!  $1.29!  i ask you -- what can you buy for $1.29 that is this cute?  nothing! 

(bad angle - sorry!)

and while i was returning one thing at homegoods yesterday, i found another thing that i just had to have. 

maybe because it's almost easter, it reminded me of jesus' crown.  
i’m guessing you could put a candle in the middle of it or place it on a stack of old books, but i immediately envisioned it with an english ivy tucked inside.  and i had the perfect place for it.  

love it!  love it even more for $14
(i'm telling you, this shade of green in our dining room 
is pretty.  it just doesn't look pretty in photos!)

and the last of my favorite finds, comes not from an antique store, but from the internet.  

i know i’m getting old when i choose comfort over style in the shoe department.  if i try on a pair of shoes and they’re not comfortable immediately, then they’re back on the shelf.  the old me used to buy a cute pair of shoes, hope they would get comfortable in a month or two and then one day, walk by a trash can and throw them away.  (i’ve done this twice after leaving a wedding!)  and please don’t think it’s mean of me to not donate them to goodwill.  no one should walk around in uncomfortable shoes all day! 

so imagine my delight when i found these cute things!

it was love at first sight.  and first fit.  i honestly felt like i had slippers on when i put them on and went to costco.  

i found them at the dsw shoe website dsw.com.  i bought them without even trying them on.  (not sure what i was thinking there, but it worked out beautifully).  i ordered them in navy blue and black.  two colors i wear a lot during summer.  they’re called reef wedge sandals, made by lifestride, are $44.95 and shipping is free.  everyone seems to like them.  and i make everyone try them on so they can feel how incredibly comfortable they are.  and cute!   and since i’m not a big shoe lover, i can guarantee you i will be wearing these most every day of summer.  and i just received a $10 coupon in the mail from dsw, so i might splurge and buy the red ones too.  or the ivory ones.  or the ....

though this week brought me cute forks and comfortable shoes, my joy is not found in these things.  or in any thing at all.  

my joy is found in Him.

my joy is found in Jesus.

Hoot n' Anny Home...

as promised, i want to introduce you to the sweet little store i told you about a few posts back.

introducing...

hoot  n’ anny home

(rustic*bungalow*vintage*farmhouse*contemporary)

that’s a lot of styles under one roof!  and for this rustic/bungalow/vintage/farmhouse-loving girl, i love it!

here are a few highlights...

love the chair tucked behind the burlap pillow 

(and the burlap pillow)

and the lamp -- a girl can never have too many lamps!

love, love, love the T!

by the way, i bought the small dark 

brown frame on the top shelf 

in front of the big black one for $14!

if our last name was thomas, 

i would have bought the t too!

i would love to find a home for this chair 

and it's twin

somewhere in my home.

love the big letter A too!

gray and yellow...who knew it could

be so inviting?

the sweet owner, jennifer, (no, not anny) left her job as a 

casting director (thank God!) and opened her store

just four months ago.  

her inventory changes regularly,

so there's always new stuff. 

i think she's a master at vignettes.

i could stand there all day and 

look at each one.

oh wait, i think i did.

while i was there taking these photos,

i couldn't help but buy a few things.

(notice the inexpensive price tags!)

i'm working on a wall of gilded 

frames in my family room and needed a few more frames

and accessories to tuck in.

 a trip to hoot n' anny and voila!

a completed wall that makes me smile.

(photos to come on another post).

so the next time you need a minute or two (or an hour)

all to yourself, make your way over to jennifer's new store.

31149 via colinas, #610

(a few doors down from a la maison)

westlake village

818.575.9011

hours: mon-sat 11 to 5

hope you enjoy!  

please tell her the christian girl's cottage sent you 

so she knows i'm not stalking her!

A Touch of Black at 3 a.m.

have you ever stayed up 'til three o'clock in the morning rearranging your kitchen accessories?  no?  come on, you can tell me. 

well, while some women like a good ten hours of solid sleep beneath a warm down comforter, i like playing house.  'til all hours of the night.  i mean morning.  

first off, let me start by saying i'm getting a little addicted to black.  i know i am because all of my latest purchases have been black.  i see a pattern forming.  but i found i was keeping all my new finds in the garage because i didn't have enough of them to balance out a room.  well, when you stay up 'til three a.m., you can sometimes find balance.  and by the way, when you shop your house at 3 a.m., it costs you nothing!   i actually ordered black/taupe check lampshades from ballard at 2:15, (they're actually there to take your order!) but then woke up this morning and realized i could spray paint my lamps black and run a black velvet ribbon through my homemade cream lampshade slipcovers (don't look too closely at those, by the way) and they would work just fine.

so come take a peek...

yes, that is a pin keeping them closed.

i'll work on that later.

you know me and chalk boards.

i use these baskets to hold my 

can't do cancer without God necklace

supplies.  

and i love anything wire.

another addiction, i believe.

this is one of my new favorite areas.  

our appliance garage broke.

you know that thingy that rolls up and back.

so my dad removed it for me.  

now it houses our toaster oven, toaster and a 

few black accessories.

that tole metal tray was $2!  it's actually

the top of an old tv tray.

the top of our stove was filled with too much stuff.

too many bottles of olive oil and vinegars.

now it's simplified.

this wicker cake stand was $2 at a ventura thrift store and the 

tall, thin wicker-wrapped bottle was also $2.  what a day!

i also de-cluttered my desk.  again.

isn't this a great box?  my girlfriend gave it to me as a gift.

love everything about it.

now it holds our phone book, pens and stapler.

she bought it at a beautiful mess in agoura.

to-die-for store!

and i'm not a coffee drinker, but i do love tea.

found this little coffee maker at the thrift store for $4.

of course, it's black.

and it's so much faster than boiling water.

notice Jesus is in here now?  

nothing like starting your morning off with 

Jesus and a cup of tea.

i replaced my floral plates with black framed art.

i placed a piece of burlap under the glass and inserted an old calling card. 

 i could stare at this all day.

and i added this sweet little chalkboard above two 

things i can't do without: almonds and napkins.

and i love these hand towels from pottery barn.

though they're not really towels.  they're more like fabric with a ruffle attached.  but they don't dry dishes.  they just look cute.

and when i stand at my sink, i am reminded

daily of my favorite verse:  

and i just had to include this photo.  this old ladder did rest

against my kitchen wall a few months ago.  it's now in our family room.  but i love how our cat newmis had to immediately check it out, and then got busy bird watching.

someone needs to eat a little less cat food.

so that's what 3 a.m. looked like at my house.

i now need to get under that warm down comforter for a few hours

before the kids get home from school.

but one more peek at my kitchen!