Gimmeakiss Farewell

I've been in a bit of a blogging rut lately.

It's not that I haven't been doing anything worth sharing, I just haven't felt like posting. In fact, I have many posts that I promised you and then never followed up on, like a full re-cap of my cruise; all the thrifty finds I bought at the beach; my fully re-decorated bedroom... and the list goes on. In case you're wondering, the resolutions to those cliff hangers are: I don't like Jamaica and having food poisoning on a boat SUCKS; I bought a weird mirror, vintage cocktail skewers and a brass pear dinner bell; my bedroom still isn't 100% clutter free but all the furniture is final. Now you can sleep at night. You're welcome.

So, that being said, it's time to step away from this little blog of mine.

I think it's the time commitment. Even with the minimal posting schedule like I have, it still takes time to do projects, take and edit photos, and write my content. I read many great blogs with few words and fewer pictures, but that's just not me. I'm a go-big-or-go-home sort of gal.

I'm not going to delete the blog. You can still browse the archives, if you're into that. You can follow me on Instagram. (My account is private but, don't worry, I'm not stingy with the 'accept' button). I'll still be active over on Peanut Stand, mainly because with a 2.5 year old in full toddler mode, most of that content writes itself. I may even make a reappearance here down the road. Only time will tell.

Until then, happy trails!

Happy New Year!

As we open the door to 2013, I thought I might look back on some of the final moments of 2012.

I photographed my mantle the Friday before Christmas - as promised - but never posted them because I was busy doing last minute holiday preparations. Better late than never, eh?

On the left side of the mantle I have a vintage(?) tree candle that I've used in years past, two cone trees I made this year, and a crystal jar full of Andes mints. It's not Christmas without those little chocolates. For a tree-making how-to, check out the bottom of the post!

On the right side of the mantle I have an all-white nutcracker I picked up at Home Goods, a gray sweater cone tree from Target (though I think you could easily DIY this with a craft cone, an old sweater and some sewing know-how), another vintage christmas candle and a folded paper Christmas tree I made. I was so excited thinking I had stumbled on a new craft idea until my mom told me my great-grandmother used to make these a looooong time ago. I was a little bummed she burst my bubble, but I'm glad to have something else in common with my late Granny. Again, see the tutorial at the bottom. Several of the mantle trees are elevated by Blomster candle sticks from Ikea. They're designed to hold pillar candles, but if you turn them upside down the flared bases make perfect little display platforms. I only recently added them to the mantle, but they're going to stick around even after the holidays.

The center of the mantle has some little tea lights and a rolled paper wall hanging - have I showed this to you yet? I'm thinking not - that both live there year round, with the addition of all the incoming Christmas cards and the brown paper wreath I made last year. Admittedly it was too small for the space when I made it, but I was making do with what I could get on the cheap. This year I like the idea of floating it in front of the wall hanging to fill up space but still add a bit of holiday cheer. I'm not a slave to the idea that Christmas has to be an explosion of red and green, so I'm just fine with a neutral mantle with a hint of color on the wall.

The last home item we added in preparation for Christmas was Luke's new tire swing! We installed it the day before Christmas - thank goodness for oblivious toddlers because you could clearly see this through the kitchen windows - and unveiled in Christmas morning as a gift from Santa. I would have loved to taken the credit on this one, but it's hard to wrap a whole tree so all the glory goes to the big guy in red. Here you can see the hubby testing it out to make sure the tree branch would hold the weight. So far, so good.

After the chaos of gift-opening had settled some of the "grown-ups" borrowed Luke's new remote controlled robot cars and created our own version of battle bots, with a taped off arena and everything. We called it Robot Slap Fight. It was awesome.

On New Year's Eve Luke's shaggy hair was getting to me so I gave him a haircut. I intended to just give him a trim, but things got a little tricky on the crown of his head so I gave up and buzzed it all. He always looks so grown up with short hair! After I was finished he said "Thank you Mommy. My hair's all better now!" Could he get any cuter?

Shortly after his haircut (and post-haircut bath) hubby and I left him in the capable hands of our family and headed to Greensboro to ring in the New Year with the Avett Brothers - my favorite band and the namesake of this blog. Here are some (terrible) photos as proof:

Since it was New Year's the coliseum was prepared with nets of balloons and confetti cannons to go off at midnight!

As if confetti and balloons weren't enough, those of us in the back of the arena got a special treat. Halfway through the show the band came over to a small stage right in front of us and played a mini-set for us. It was like I was back in college, seeing them in a tiny venue again!

Also, after all these years, I FINALLY bought an Avett Brothers t-shirt. I typically don't buy concert/band shirts when I'm at shows but then I always regret it once I get home. Not this time! Plus, I now have a new shirt-buying strategy for concerts: go to the merch booth as soon as the band leaves the stage after the regular set. While everyone else is clapping and screaming for the encore, you can rush right over to the merchandise and walk right up, no wait! Then you're back in your seat in time for the encore. Alas I can't take any credit for this, the idea was all my hubby's.

image source

So that's how I finished off 2012. I still have lots of Christmas goodies to eat so the holidays are going to last me well into the new year. How did you ring in 2013?

Without further ado, here are the tree tutorials...

-----------------------

Brown Cone Tree
time: 1-2 hours, depending on how thoroughly you glue
cost: $10 or less
supplies:
- craft cone
- jute, or other thick twine
- hot glue gun, several glue sticks
- scissors
directions:
- starting at the bottom, wrap cone with jute and glue as often as needed - I glued pretty much the whole thing
- that's it, you're done

White Cone Tree:
time: 2-3 hours
cost: $10 or less
supplies:
- craft cone (or make your own out of cardstock)
- crepe paper streamer
- silver sharpie, or whatever accent color you choose
- tape/glue
- scissors
directions:
- based on the height of your cone and the width of your streamer, mark where you want each layer to "sit" on the cone
- color a 1/2 inch accent band along the bottom of the streamer - the sloppier the better
- starting at the bottom, wrap the streamer (loosely) until it goes around the cone 3 times - cut streamer
- cut slits in the streamer, starting from the bottom, roughly 2/3 the way up - again, sloppy is fine
- wrap the streamer around the cone 3 times and tape/glue to secure
- repeat steps 2-5 for each layer until the cone is covered
- NOTE: be sure to line up streamer seams in the back of the cone - no one will see that part, so keep the front looking neat

Folded Paper Tree
time: 2-3 hours
cost: free, unless you have to buy a magazine
supplies:
- magazine (I used an issue of Architectural Record, but something hefty like Cosmo or National Geographic is perfect - People or US Weekly would be too puny)
- bone folder (optional)
directions:
- I used this post by Homemade Mamas and it's pretty simple. They link to a separate video tutorial, but I didn't feel the need to watch it.
- just fold, fold, fold!

Christmas?

Wow, I am on a roll.

Last year I did the 12 8 Days of Christmas where I shared all of the wonderful and festive things I did to prepare for Santa. This year, to top that, I posted about Halloween, cats, and then... nothing. It is 4 days until Christmas and I have nothing (blog wise) to show for it. In my defense, I was unemployed last Christmas which left plenty of time for crafty shenanigans. This year, I am gainfully employed (yay!) but that unfortunately puts me in the position of crafting or blogging, but not both. Plus, I'm just really tired, man.

I didn't go as much into decorating mode this year - meaning I didn't decorate my guest bathroom and I didn't strew pine cones everywhere - but I did cover the basics.

Tree up, lit and decorated? Check.

Stockings hung by the mantle with care? Check.

Presents wrapped and under the tree? Check. Presents wrapped in reusable fabric bags? Double check.

I didn't get around to making any oyster crackers or holiday bark this year, but we canned a bunch of homemade marinara sauce - using tomatoes from our garden, no less - to give as gifts instead. So, yay. I did however get around to crafting a few things for the mantle and I plan to take a few quick photos tonight to share with you. If I don't - and that's a big if - just pretend my mantle looks exactly like something out of Martha Stewart Living. Because it totally does.

But just so you don't think I'm making all this up, here's some Instagram pics of our family getting in the holiday spirit.

Daddy and Luke decorating the tree

tree lit up with Christmas Village and fabric-wrapped gifts

new monster ornament made by Dull Roar Studio, aka my good friend Libby

a few of my favorite Christmas ornaments

wall hanging, of sorts, I made from framed Christmas cards, also by Libby

So there you have it. Photographic proof that Christmas exists at our house this year. Like I said, I will try really REALLY hard to take more pictures for you guys this weekend, but if not this will have to do. 

Merry Christmas!

The Truth of Cat Ownership

There are certain things one must accept when bringing a cat into your life: cat toys will be ignored, precious knick-knacks will be knocked to the floor, empty boxes are the best thing ever, and the cat will always, ALWAYS sit where you plan to sit. In addition, there is one last thing you should know about co-habitation with cats:

Or if you prefer charts and graphs...
(Yes, I did make a chart about this)

I said it. The cat's out of the bag. Pun fully intended.

Halloween Craftiness

Halloween night may be long gone, but the candy is holding out which means I'm still allowed to talk about Halloween. So there.

A few weekends ago the hubby and I took Luke out to pick our pumpkins. We settled on a massive specimen that was almost 2 feet tall and Luke had some fun digging it out and then sitting in it.

Being the tried and true Wolfpack fans that we are, we decided to carve a howling wolf into our pumpkin. Since our pumpkin was so big - meaning it had super thick walls - we had to buy a jigsaw just to carve it. Not that the hubby was complaining. The man loves his power tools.

To go with the wolf theme I made some scary eyes for our bushes using empty toilet paper rolls and some glow sticks - inspired by this pin. Although I did modify it a little bit. I cut a rectangular hole in my tp roll, cut the eye shapes into card stock, then taped the card stock onto the tp roll to cover the hole. This way I could have a little more detail since it's hard to make controlled cuts on a tube. I got a multi-pack of glow sticks, popped em in and covered the ends with duct tape. And voila, pinplementation!

What did you do for Halloween?

P.S. Wanna see Luke's Halloween costume? Head over to the Peanut Stand to find out!

Wake Up Light - Go Buy One

Let's talk about wake up lights. In case you don't know, a wake up light is an alarm clock with a built in lamp that gradually brightens in addition to the typical alarm sounds. According to many studies, the human body prefers to sleep and wake in sync with the sun but modern work schedules prevent that. In the winter this disconnect can cause tiredness or even depression.

I have always been intrigued by wake up lights because I am a terrible morning person and would sleep all day if I could, particularly in the winter when the sun makes itself scarce. The final push I needed was my new running schedule (first thing in the morning, 3 days a week). As the days got shorter I found it increasingly difficult to get out of bed or have any motivation to exercise. With the many binge-eating opportunities this season - the state fair, my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas - this was no time to fall off the wagon. So I put a wake up light on my birthday wish list and my hubby obliged me.

I went with the Philips Hf3470/60 model, available from Amazon for $70. There are a multitude of wake up lights on the market, but I chose this one because it is inexpensive, sleek, and had good reviews. Some of the more expensive models have additional features but I didn't think they were worth the extra cost.

These two promotional photos were pulled from the Amazon listing and give a good illustration of what this light looks like. What? You don't look that happy and gorgeous when you wake up?

This light is very bright and does a wonderful job of gradually waking me. The light has adjustable brightness and will go from 'off' to your selected brightness in the 30 minutes before alarm time. The light is so bright it even helps wake up my husband from across the room - no need to buy one for each of us. You can also add an alarm sound - beep, birds, or radio - that you can snooze. The only downside is that, like a typical alarm clock, you have to remember to turn on the alarm each night. It's not a deal-breaker but I had gotten spoiled by the programmable alarm clock on my phone, which I still use as a back up.

This last shot shows the light at home on my nightstand. All-in-all I would highly recommend a wake up light in general, and the Philips model specifically. I have only been using it for a week, but I am already in love. Anything that helps me drag my butt out of bed is a sound investment for me.

NOTE: no one paid me or perked me for this review. I selected this wake up light based on my own research and all opinions are my own. It makes me happy so I thought you guys might want to know about it.

Snippets of Creativity

By now you probably know that I can fill some downtime at work by making some opensource.com images. Well, I'm back at it!

I made this money web layout for our open source: finance page.

I put together this against the current image for general use.

I also created a text-free version to make it more versatile.

That's all, folks!

WTF

I recently bought a very large stock pot from a certain housewares store. No big deal, I just needed something big enough for making marinara sauce.

I got home and un-boxed the pot to find out that it was less than new. Discoloration, spoon scrape marks on the bottom, and smudges all over the lid. Who does that? Who buys a piece of cookware, cooks with it, and then returns it? Weird.

In the end I decided to keep it because it will look worse than that after one batch of marinara sauce. And really, it's no different than borrowing a pot from a friend but it disturb me. Come on people, you know better.

Laundry Room

We're living in exciting times. We have a black president. Electric cars are available and (somewhat) affordable to the public. And we have this little thing called Pinterest.

It's like someone read my mind, sifted through the tumbleweeds in there, and made my wish come true. Before Pinterest I would email myself things I wanted to remember, so my inbox was a jumble of recipes, crafts, hair tutorials, clothes, and a few dozen actual emails. Now I can organize all the wonderful things I find on the internet. Not that this is news to anyone on the internet...

The downside is that I am also bombarded by beautiful homes with elements I want to put into my dream house.* I am particularly weak in the knees for cozy yet organized closets and laundry rooms. There are so many good ideas it would take a monster of a house to contain it all.
*Dream house meaning keep dreaming, it ain't gonna happen any time soon.

Today, in an effort to tame the madness (and because I was bored at home while the hubby played tennis) I laid out my dream-yet-still-practical laundry room.

Most items in this layout are fairly standard. Fancy front-loader appliances: check! Folding surface, ample cabinets, and utility sink: check, check, and check! But what kind of architect (and Pinterest fan) would I be if I didn't add a few special items?

When I saw this pin, I fell in love with the idea of hide-away sweater racks. So smart!(5)

source unknown

Ever since I bought my laundry sorting best friend I knew I would have to incorporate some bins for clean clothes - one for each member of the family. (6)

And if I end up with a combination laundry/mud room (which just seems practical) then I have to have this super snazzy bench with coat hooks and hidden shoe cubbies. (10)

source unknown

What would you put in your dream laundry room?

A New Twist on Hair

Today was one of those typical autumn days that started out cold but got downright warm by lunchtime. Before I knew it I was desperate to get my hair off my neck. I reached for my purse but I was missing my emergency hair tie. What's a girl to do? Leave her hair down and move on? Nope. I grabbed a pen and did a super fast hair twist.

ta-da!

Then I did what any adult woman would do and took a quick picture of it with my webcam.* 

Normally, successfully completing a hair twist is not an occasion to document. Normally, you are not me. My hair is super fine, meaning it finds it way out of up-dos, clips, barrettes and even the most heavily-sprayed curls. The fact that my hair has stayed like this for more than 10 minutes is a minor miracle. As sophisticated as the red ballpoint is, I am now tempted to get a pretty hair stick. Do I dare?

*You know you're getting old when this is the only webcam picture you've ever captured. I never did get the appeal of that.

One Of My Many, Many Pet Peeves

Let's just get this out of the way now: I am generally a judgmental, irritable person. It doesn't take much for me to roll my eyes at something. In fact, I've even been tempted to start a separate blog just to bitch about stuff that annoys me. In the mean time, I'm just going to bitch here.

Over the past year or so household items made of concrete have become quite popular. From Pinterest to blogs, and everywhere in between there are tons of concrete lovelies to be made or bought, such as this,

source

 this,

source

 this,

source

 or this.

source

That's all fine and well. I love an unexpected use of concrete. In fact my husband's wedding ring has a band of concrete in it.

My problem is that people tend to think that "concrete" and "cement" are interchangeable. And, well, they're just not.

Cement is one of the many materials that makes up concrete. Without completely dorking out on you, cement is simply the binding agent that holds all of the ingredients together to make concrete. Think of cement as the flour that you add to the biscuit dough. If you were to walking around referring to biscuits as flour, you'd feel a little silly.

This may seem a bit pedantic to some people, but for folks that know the difference this is enough to drive you batty. Or maybe it's just me.

Long story short, PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET, PLEASE LEARN THE DIFFERENCE.

That is all.

Tonight's the Night to Fake It

Or tomorrow night, whenever you get around to it. Of course, by "fake it" I mean use Photoshop to make something awesome that only looks like you spent hours meticulously writing with chalk.

My mom found this quote and asked me to lay it out and print it for her. She wants to put it in her office because she has difficulty telling people no at work. Or ever.

At first I was just going to pick a pretty font and be done with it but when I found this tutorial by Foolish Fire on how to fake a chalkboard effect I knew I had to try it. I will leave the Photoshop instructions to her, but my basic process was this:

1) I laid out my text in Illustrator. I used a variety of different fonts to create the composition you see above.

2) I printed my file and traced everything onto white trace paper. To add to the chalky texture I used a pencil (both HB and 2B, for you art supply nerds) instead of pen and added dashes and fills to give extra differentiation to the fonts.

During this step I also gave some extra personality to a few parts. The "but" didn't have the curled line work so I free handed it. The "please everybody" didn't curve like that so I tweaked each letter by hand. I just drew a curved guide-line in Illustrator so I knew where each letter would need to extend to.

3) I scanned the hand-drawn artwork and made some adjustments in Photoshop, following the tutorial. If you're comfortable with Photoshop this is a simple process, but if you're just learning it's probably a little more difficult. Either way you really do need full Photoshop for this, a simpler photo editing software won't cut it.

So that's it! I just need to print this bad boy and pop it in a frame then I will have some free and (mostly) easy art for my mom. What have you made lately?

P.S. - If you like the artwork feel free to download it for yourself! It is sized to an 8x10 but you could scale it down if you'd like it smaller. Leave me a comment telling me where you plan to hang it, and please don't use it for commercial purposes. Thanks!

I'm The Funny One

For serveral years now the hubby and I have had an on-going disagreement. You see, each of us is convinced that we're 'the funny one.' In my mind he's the Ethel to my Lucy. He thinks I'm the Teller to his Penn.

Allow me to present the only evidence you will ever need to prove that I am, indeed, the funny one.

Neutrals, Feminine Details, and a Pop of Color

I'm no fashion blogger but every now and then I wear something cute enough to share.

The outfit started with the taupe bib necklace and I paired it with a lightweight white sweater to let the necklace be the star. I liked the look of layered neutrals so I added the gold bow flats (my wedding shoes!) then put on my green ring to keep it from being too bland.

Sources: Necklace: LOFT | Shoes: J Crew | Ring: Lia Sophia | Sweater: GAP

Rockin' the Gibson

Sorry, music fans, this past has nothing to do with guitars and everything to do with hair. This morning I tried the gibson tuck and I am in sweet, follicular love!

photo by Sara Lynn Paige, from her blog

Inspired by a tutorial on Pinterest (where else?) I tried it today and I have since decided this is the updo for me. It's quick and easy without defaulting to the old standards. Ballerina buns aren't for me because my hair is too fine so the bun is too small and tends to slowly slide off my head as the day progresses. The sloppy "un-bun" as I call it certainly is fast and easy, but it's not exactly sophisticated enough for the office. Plus it's erratic nature bothers me - sometimes it looks quirky but cute, other times it looks like a varmint has made a nest on my head.

I won't walk you through the tutorial, I will leave that to Sara. But I will tell you this worked even for my super-fine hair and has stayed all day, with only a minor re-pinning after lunch. This is for sure in my hair rotation from now on!

I Win!

And by win, I mean I was given a Sunshine Award by my friend and fellow blogger Kelli of Ketchup and Pomegranates. As part of receiving this super-important blogging award I'm supposed to answer some questions to let you learn a bit more about me. Enjoy the peek into my brain...

Who is your favorite philosopher?
I'm not much of a philosophy reader but I would have to say Winnie the Pooh. Hear me out. In college I read The Tao of Pooh, which explains the concepts of Taoism in a simplistic and introductory way using the characters from the Winnie the Pooh books. It's fun, easy to read, and - most importantly - spoke to me in a way most religious or philosophical texts don't. I highly recommend it.

What is your favorite number?
My favorite number is 4 because it's the first square number. Weird, I know. I also like 16 and 64, which is 4 squared and 4 cubed, respectively.

What is your favorite animal?
Cats. If you've been a reader here for more than 5 minutes you know I'm a total cat lady.

What are your facebook and twitter URLs?
I don't have a non-personal facebook page - sorry, stalkers - but you can follow me on twitter and see what I see on Instagram @allisonharris.

What is your favorite time of day?
Late evening. If left to my own devices - not adhering to a work or toddler schedule - I like to stay up until midnight, working on craft projects or writing blog posts after the rest of the family has gone to bed.

What was your favorite vacation?
This is a hard one. I love to travel and each vacation has offered something unique. I would have to say top 4 are: New Orleans (for the food), New York (for the architecture), Caribbean Cruise (for the scenery), and Washington DC road trip (for the sheer fun of taking a road trip with 5 college students).

What is your favorite physical activity?
I love dancing of any kind. I took 12 years of dance lessons as a kid, with a focus on tap dance, and I was co-captain of the dance team in high school. In college I was a big fan of going clubbing with my girlfriends because if I'm going to go out and drink I need to be shaking those calories off! After college I discovered Zumba and I am IN LOVE. I quit going to my gym because it was a luxury my unemployed self couldn't justify but then I started leading (to use the word loosely) a free zumba class for my mom and mother-in-law. If you're in the Raleigh area I'd love to expand the class - assuming we can find a location big enough :)

What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?
This is also a tough one. I go through phases, so I don't have 1 go-to favorite beverage. Sometimes it's Diet Dr Pepper. Sometimes it's orange soda. Sometimes it's chocolate milk. You can never tell. But, I keep a thermos on my desk at work and try to drink as much water as I can during the day.

What is your favorite flower?
Ever since we used them in our wedding decor I have been fond of blue hydrangeas.

What is your passion?
Making stuff? I would never describe myself as particularly passionate about any one thing, but if you consider what I do in my spare time, I tend to default to making things - jewelry, art/decorations for my home, coming up with better organizing solutions (usually using items in unconventional ways). I also have a big heart when it comes to stray/abandoned animals so if I ever have surplus money I plan to buy a farm and adopt (and spay/neuter) as many stray animals as I can. Every time I say this my husband rolls his eyes, but I'm totally serious.

Well, that's it. Thanks again to Kelli for the nomination!

Techaleidoscope

What is a techaleidoscope? It's a kaleidoscope filled with technology. It's also a word I made up. 20 Internet points to me!

As I mentioned previously, whenever I have a little downtime at work I can get the creative juices flowing by making a graphic for open source. The concept behind this one had been stewing for a while and I finally found some time to commit it to paper pixels. It's easy enough: draw some techie stuff, crop it inside a triangle, mirror it around a few times and... BAM! Techaleidoscope!

The official open source template calls for a rectangular output, but I couldn't help making a round one as well to show off the full kaleidoscope effect.

Bonus for all the nerds in the house: the binary in the background translates to "open source is not limited to software." It's a true statement but it also just happens to be the title of an article that you can read on open source at this very moment. What are you waiting for? Go read! But then come back here and tell me how awesome I am.

The Beach, In Pictures

I've already told you about my coastal thrifting* adventure but now I'm back to show you the actual beach stuff, as told through pictures. The hubby, Luke and I stayed at my grandparents' condo with my mom and step-dad. Luke slept in a twin bed for the first time (and rocked it out) but preferred the pool to the ocean, we visited the aquarium, my step-sister's boyfriend took us out on his boat, and there was much lazing about taking place. It was wonderful. Now, to the photos...

*My iPad autocorrected this to thrusting. That would be the perfect adventure to share on the blog, don't you think?

date night for the hubby's birthday :: summer wheat, convertible time, birthday crab legs, The Campaign

North Carolina Aquarium :: turtle rodeo, swimming turtle, jellyfish, so tall!

kite store beauty, sleeping in a big boy bed, mother daughter drinking, moody storm clouds

kite flying, juice box break (booze optional), writing in the sand, wrinkly pool feet

on a boat, part 1 :: marina, sunset, sunset, underbelly of a draw bridge

on a boat, part 2 :: not sure about boating, obligatory self-portrait, hubby, glamorous mom

squatting is the only way to sit in a tree, home of the shrimp burger, you are what you eat, bye bye beach

What have you been up to this summer?

When In Rome, Go Thrifting?

Our family has escaped to the beach for a week and yesterday my mom and I had ourselves a thrifting adventure while the men-folk had their afternoon naps. I admit thrifting is not the first thing most people think of when they hear "beach trip" but when I get the urge to thrift, it must be satisfied. I grabbed a few gems, which you'll get to see in a later post, but today you get to see the lovely items I had to leave behind. *sniffle*

One of our stops was Deja Vu which had some quirky little knick knacks, but was mostly nice antique (i.e. out of my price range) furniture. Before I even walked in the door I spotted this chair and promptly fell in love.

Between the wicker body and the curvy tube legs I fell hard for this guy. The seat cushion was a little grungy but that's to be expected for old furniture. At $90 it wasn't exactly a steal, but doable for a vintage chair with character and in good condition. But, it failed my (husband's) major shopping test: where will we put it and do we actually need it? No on both counts - curse you tiny house with adequate seating! - but it didn't make it any easier to walk away from.

Just inside the door I found yet another chair that I was pretty sure I needed.

It doesn't immediately seem to match my style but it was just so sculptural and striking. Plus the stripes were way cute. It was even more impractical bigger than the first chair AND more expensive, costing an imposing $175, so yeah, it didn't make the cut either.

Buried in the middle of the showroom (thus the wonky photo angle) was the granddaddy of all mid-century furniture. I call it the granddaddy because it's freakin' huge! It's as tall as me and about 12 feet long. Yowza!

It was deliciously leggy and it would hold so much stuff! I really, really, REALLY wanted to justify buying it for our master bedroom (which is technically finished in terms of furniture) but A) it would dwarf the room and the other furniture, 2) there is no way we could get that home with a van full of beach-going cargo, and D) it was $650. Again, not outrageously expensive for what you're getting but still more than I happened to have in the change jar at the moment. Drat. The last treasure I left without buying (or photographing) was a set of mounted bull horns. Why do I want them? I'm not exactly sure. But I just might stop by the store again on my way out of town to make them mine.

After failing horribly at my 'No Chair Left Behind' program, we moved on to Seahorse Antiques. This was one of my favorite types of thrift stores - one big space with smaller booths stocked by individual vendors/consignors. I like this set up because the various sellers guarantee an assortment of items in term of style, price, age, etc. Once again I was struck with chair envy when I stepped through the door.

Maybe it's because a certain super-blogger was just on the hunt for an egg chair, but I was immediately smitten by this chair. What can I say? I'm easily influenced. As fun as this blue vintage chair is, it is the mayor of "I-have-no-room-for-this-ville" so it stayed put.

Like I said, I ended up bringing a few goodies home with me, but you won't get to see them until they're in their new habitat.

Do you like to go thrifting on vacation?