Candlestick Makeover

It finally feels like fall here! Last week it was in the high 80s and now it's raining and in the 60s...I'm so happy. It's finally time for candlelit evenings!

I painted my green garage sale candles white and I think they look so much better.

I was so happy to see that my cloche fits perfectly on this dish!

Here are what the candlesticks used to look like:

I saw this commercial on TV last night and I love it! I had to share it with you because it not only has a good message...it will make you smile...Guaranteed!!! And to the few of you out there reading this that I went to high school with, I still have my pom-poms so when I'm 70-something ...

The Garage Sale Makeover Projects

Remember all the things I bought at the garage sales a couple weeks ago? I finally got them painted. First is this shelf above. When I bought it I had no idea where I was going to put it but it was only $2 so I bought it anyway. It actually looked really pretty in the dark wood (you won't hear me say that very often!) but it didn't go with anything in my apartment so I painted it white (no surprise there). I found a great spot for it on the wall in my dining area. I'm not thrilled with that carrot mold I have hanging above it but that hides my thermostat. I'm always on the lookout for something better to hide that ugly thing but I haven't found it yet. (you can click on the photo above to enlarge it.) The green spots on the wall and shelf are just reflections from the chandelier crystals.


Below is the before photo but before you wood lovers say I shouldn't have painted it, I just want to mention that it was damaged and there was rubbery looking stuff coming out of the corner.

I also painted the little side table white...

Now it looks much better in my apartment...

Tomorrow I'll show you the big candlesticks I also painted.

I have an update on the haunted soup tureen...it stopped making noises. I found that it makes noises after it's been washed. It's so weird, when I get it wet you can see cracks (crazing) all over it but once it dries they go away. I'll have to take a photo of it to show you! It's so weird!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Some New Pretties!

This is the cabinet I painted blue. Do you recognize anything new in here? First off...I finally got a piece of glass cut for the shelf. I tried to take the cheaper route of cutting a piece to fit myself...big mistake, that ended up in the garbage and I ordered this one from a glass company.

I found this pink rose cake plate at the Goodwill. I was trying to read the writing on the back to see where it was made but I didn't have my reading glasses so I asked the young guy at the counter where it was made...he told me "Australia". I thought that was weird because I've never seen anything that says "Made in Australia." When I got home I put my glasses on and saw it said "Austria" not "Australia" Maybe that guy should go back to school and learn how to read! LOL It was a steal at $2.00!

Look at this adorable little chandelier. I think it's meant to be a Christmas ornament but I hung it in the cabinet. I bought it at Vintage and Vogue....remember that cute store?

I can't tell you how many times I went to Marshalls and picked up this teapot. I finally bought it last week. It was only $9.99!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already done so!

A Little Fall Giveaway!

How about a little Fall Giveaway? I got four more of these adorable pumpkin candles. Two for me and two for you?

Anyone can enter whether you have a blog or not! If you don't have a blog, please be sure to include your email address so I have a way to contact you.

The drawing is just for the candles though...not my crystal candle holders....I want to keep those!

I will draw a name on Friday at 9:00 PM Pacific Time. Please feel free to spread the word about my small fall giveaway!

Update: I bought these at Nob Hill (also called Raleys in some areas). They are a grocery store chain in Northern California and Nevada.

Soup Tureens

I have a thing for soup tureens! When I see beautiful tureens at thrift stores I can't pass them up. I found this one Saturday at the Goodwill and fell in love with it. It was marked $9.99 but everything in the store was half off! I walked out of the store with a $4.99 soup tureen that looks like it cost so much more! It was made in Portugal.

I love the little artichoke on top.

Even the handles are gorgeous! I couldn't understand why someone would give this away. Once I got it home I understood completely why they gave this away...it makes strange noises! I'm not joking! Saturday I kept hearing a cracking noise but I couldn't figure out what it was. It sounds sort of like ice cracking. About every 1/2 hour or so I would hear it. I finally figured out it's the soup tureen!!!! Lauren thinks it's haunted and creepy but I love it even if it does make weird noises. I just hope it doesn't explode one day. I won't be using it for soup that's for sure! It will be for decorative purposes only!

Does any one know why it would be making these strange noises. I have a feeling it wasn't "fired" correctly or something.

Autumn?

The leaves are starting to change color here in Northern California but it sure doesn't feel like Fall... it was 86 degrees here yesterday! It's beautiful weather but I'm ready for it to cool down a bit. The weatherman said next Thursday the temps will drop below average! Yay!

The HGTV "Rate my Space show" I was on will air again three more times. The episode is called "A Romantic Cabana with an Island Vibe" Here is the schedule:
Sat. Oct. 25th 11:00PM ET/PT
Sun. Oct. 26th 3:00AM ET/PT
Sat. Nov. 8th 5:30PM ET/PT

Update: I had put the wrong dates above, they are now corrected. Thank you Joanne!

I made the photo mosaic above last year using other flickr member's photos. It's one of my favorite mosaics I've done!

I've been tagged and given some awards and I'm going to try to get to those this weekend!

How do I clean all this?

I've got a few comments and emails lately asking how I keep so much stuff clean. Hmmm...I really don't think I have that much stuff. I think it just looks like I have a lot because it's all crammed into a 900 sq ft. apartment. If this were in a normal size house it wouldn't look like that much at all...at least that's what I keep telling myself! LOL! Anyway, last weekend I was cleaning my $25 garage-sale chandelier and decided to do a post about cleaning!

I clean my crystal chandeliers by holding a rag behind each crystal, spraying a little Windex on the front and then rubbing it with the rag. After awhile the rag will be soaked in Windex and then I just rub it over the remaining crystals and if needed dry it with a dry rag. It's so amazing the difference it makes. I didn't think my chandelier was very dirty but I guess it was because it's so much more sparkly now!

I dust once a week using a feather duster. I used a Swiffer Duster for awhile but I'm back to using a feather duster because I think it just goes over my collectibles so much easier. I bought mine here, I have the 17" Premium Ostrich Feather Duster (they haven't paid me to say this, I'm just a happy customer.) A couple people commented on how clean my linens were that I showed you yesterday. The truth is they didn't look like that when my mom gave them to me. The white tablecloth with the blue embroidery was really stained and yellowed. It even looked like it had rust stains all over it. I soaked all the linens overnight in hot water with OxiClean powder. That stuff is amazing...it works like magic! Everything comes out so white and the stains were gone! Here is how I dry them...

Magic in a tub...

Most of the time I enjoy cleaning house. Really! I think it's a state of mind and if you think of it as a time to play with all the things you love it actually becomes enjoyable. I just put on Chris Botti or Diana Krall CD and enjoy making my apartment all clean and pretty!

Some More Treasures From my Mom!

Yesterday I showed you the vintage perfume bottles my mom gave me. She also gave me some vintage linens and lace! She bought these all from thrift stores and flea markets over the years. My mom has so much linen and lace that she could open a shop! Her china cabinet drawers are full and she has bags & bags of them! The difference between her and I is that I use them! I have a lot in drawers too but I rotate them. Remember my post I did awhile back about my collection? I think I have a serious linen and lace addiction and so does my mom and so did her mother. It must be hereditary!

There were five of these little doilies. They are the perfect size for a cup and saucer to sit on. I put four of them on the shelves of my hutch (below)
This little linen and lace baby pillow is my favorite! Click on it to enlarge to see the details!
Four little cross stitched linen towels. Again, you have to click on this to see the detail. I can't even imagine the time that women spent making these things!
Four lace place mats.

A beautiful lace runner that I put on my hutch.
This table cloth above is gorgeous and it has two different size napkins that match.
Some old tea towels...
This little dish below belonged to my Grandma. Like I said yesterday, I hardly have anything that is hers so it's really special.
I remember a time in my life when I hated lace doilies. I thought only Grannies decorated with them. I guess there are still people that feel that way. I can't remember if I mentioned this here before but one of Lauren's friends calls our home the Grannie House! Hmmm I don't think it looks like a Grannie house but maybe I'm just getting old!!!

Vintage Perfume Bottles

My mom and I love the same things. I sometimes wonder if I would have the same taste in these things if it weren't for my mom. When I was growing up, my mom and grandmother would shop at thrift stores looking for old linens, jewelry and anything else that was a "quality" item that they could get for next to nothing. I think they were way ahead of their time. I also think there were a lot more great things available in the thrift stores back in the 60's and 70's just by looking at some of the things my mom bought.
My mom started collecting perfume bottles and she has quite a collection. Last week she gave me some of hers...all of these pictured above! It was like Christmas as I was unwrapping each bottle. Here are closeups of some of them (you can click on them to enlarge).

This green one is my favorite!

She has 3 more of these old Shalimar bottles in different sizes!

This powder jar above belonged to my Grandmother so it's really special. I don't have very many things that belonged to her. She was born on Halloween in 1889 and she passed away December 19th 1986...one hour before my son was born.

Fall Centerpiece

I decided to make a fall centerpiece with some things I already had on hand. I was planning to put a white pumpkin on top of this champagne bucket but when I was digging through my storage closet this weekend I found this leaf garland that I've had a few years. I just formed it into a circle and added some floral wire at the bottom so I could secure it to floral foam in the bottom of the bucket.
Then I added some Spanish moss to cover the floral foam and added some small white pumpkins. I also added a fall pinecone & pear floral spray and a feather to add some interest.

I put it on my large silver tray and added some more miniature pumpkins, some gourds and some of that fall potpourri that comes with different types of seed pods. It's so hard to decorate a summery home for fall but I think I like this!
This is the second fall centerpiece I've done this year. I kept the first one up for a few weeks but then I got tired of it. I wonder how long this one will last? I love change so probably not too long!

More Beautiful Gifts!

I have met so many wonderful women through my blog. Although we have never met face to face I consider you my dear friends. Debbie, one of my dear blog friends, sent me these beautiful vintage crocheted potholders. I was so touched when she told me she saw them in an antique store and thought of me. How sweet is that!!! Thank you Debbie from NJ! You are a wonderful friend! I'm still waiting for you to start blogging! And look at this! Cathy who is my former mother-in-law's wonderful sister brought this over to me the other day! Remember when I said I was so excited by being #3 in a Google search for "painting furniture" that I wanted to frame it? Cathy knew I probably wouldn't actually frame it myself so she did it for me!!! She even added a blue border and some vintage lace around the edge! Thank you Cathy! It was such a wonderful surprise!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will be painting my treasures I bought at the garage sales last weekend!

My Flickr Most Popular

I've been really lazy this week. I have things I want to share on my blog but I haven't taken any photos since last weekend! I woke up this morning and realized I had nothing to blog about today so I decided I would share my top rated photos that I have on Flickr. The photo above is my #1 most viewed with 7,431 views and 35 people called this a favorite. It's another one of my Google search successes. If you go to Google, and click on "images" at the top and type in "cottage style bedroom"...this is the first photo that shows up in the results! Same thing with a Yahoo image search but you only need to type "cottage bedroom" there. I only found this out after investigating why so many people are viewing my bedroom! I can't tell you how exciting that is to see! This photo of my bedroom above is my second most popular flickr photo. It has 1,009 views and 27 people called this a favorite. It's one of my favorite photos I've ever taken!
This photo above I took on Martha's Vineyard. This shows up as my 3rd most popular flickr photo with 1593 views and a whopping 38 people call this a favorite.
This photo of my vintage linens waiting to be ironed is my #4 most popular with 542 views and 15 people called this a favorite.
And last but not least this is #5 with 709 views and 13 people call this a favorite. This is a photo I took for the issue of Romantic Country that my blog was featured in. I found out that shooting photos for a magazine is really hard. It took me 3 times of emailing photos to Fifi before I could get them to the quality that she needed. They had to be high resolution and have good lighting. The lighting was a challenge because I was taking the photos in December and it was dark and gloomy outside and I didn't have professional lights. Luckily the 3rd time was the charm!

Rosemary

Basil is my favorite herb but rosemary is a close second! There is something about fall that makes me crave food containing rosemary. Last weekend I made two of my favorites. Rosemary focaccia and a pork roast with a garlic rosemary rub.
I've been making this rosemary focaccia for years. I still remember the first time I made it and my first bite...I was in heaven! There is nothing like fresh warm homemade bread! Click here for the recipe.
A friend (and coworker) gave me this recipe for a Rosemary Garlic Rub. It is so good. I love it on Tri-tip but I used it on a pork roast and it was also good. Above is what it looks like before it's cooked. I rub it all over in the morning and then put it back in the fridge to marinate. Then I roast it for a couple hours. It gets this nice garlicy, spicey crust on it. It has a lot of fresh ground pepper in it so that's what gives it a little kick.

Rosemary Garlic Rub

1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
8 cloves garlic, diced
1/3 cup olive oil

In a small bowl, mix black pepper, kosher salt, fresh rosemary, dried rosemary and garlic. Gradually stir in enough olive oil to form a thick paste. Rub into desired meats before grilling.

I'm so excited!!!

Isn't this pumpkin candle adorable? I bought it at the grocery store (Nob Hill for those of you who are local) for only $2.99. It's too cute to burn, I think I'll just use as a decoration. Okay, the cute little pumpkin candle is not the reason I'm so excited.


Disclaimer: I am now going to toot my own horn a little lot. Some may see this as arrogant but I think those of you who read my blog regularly probably have picked up on the fact that I'm a little mega dramatic and I get easily excited over little things. I happen to believe that we should never lose our childish enthusiasm and I refuse to lose mine.

Okay...I did a Google search on "painting furniture" yesterday and my blog came up as #3 on the list! Can you believe that??? I could not believe it! First on the list is HGTV and then Martha Stewart and then ME!!!! OH! MY! GOSH! I am directly below Martha Stewart on a Google search! I felt like I was going to have a heart attack...really! I was at work when I found this out and I printed it out and ran around to show my friends because I could not hold in all this excitement. I even called my mom and dad! Back in April I did a post when I was #4 but #3 and right below Martha is so much more exciting! And even more exciting...I did a Google search on "painting furniture white" and I'm #1!

Google search results change all the time so at any given moment I could be down in the listing so I had to do a "print screen" to save it. I actually want to frame it, I'm that excited! You can click on it to enlarge it if you don't believe me!

Go celebrate your little achievments today and turn them into something big!!! It will make you feel so good! I think we all deserve to celebrate ourself once in awhile!

Garage Sale and Thrift Store Finds!

Last Saturday the city I live in (Campbell, CA) had a city wide garage sale! I had planned to have lots of money to spend but after spending over $500 for car repairs last week I decided I better not spend too much on garage saling. I need to work on replenishing my emergency money more than I need more stuff so I took $20 out of the ATM and hit the road. I bought everything above for a grand total of $18.00!!! The table was purchased at the first place I stopped and it was only $8.00. Everything else came from one other home and she gave it all to me for $10. What a deal! Lets see what I got...
This beautiful piece above was only 75 cents! I put it above my doorway in my dining room. It looks so beautiful there.
This shelf above was only a couple dollars.
Silver-plated napkin rings for $1 a box. I got two boxes. I love these!!! The had a Ross price tag on them for $6.99 a box.

Below is the table I got at my first stop. It was only $8.00!!! I'll be painting this sometime this week.

I've been wanting one of these wine buckets to put a white pumpkin on top of it. I'm sure you've all seen that Better Homes & Garden photo that's been on all the blogs...I love that look. I went to so many stores looking for white pumpkins but couldn't find one! I don't understand...is there a white pumpkin shortage this year? They are usually everywhere!
These candlesticks were marked $2 each. They are also from Ross. This woman shops at Ross like I shop at Marshalls! I'll also be painting these soon!

I bought this mirror last week at a thrift store for $16.00. It's hard to tell in the photo but it's a really large beveled mirror. This is going to replace the flat unframed mirror in my downstairs bathroom whenever I get started on that project. Let's see...I think I've had the toile wallpaper for that bathroom for more than six months now! I really need to get started on that project!

One Last Garden Bouquet

I know everyone else is showing all their beautiful fall decor but I'm having a hard time letting go of summer this year. I brought this little bouquet from my garden to work to cheer up my boring cubicle and so many people were complimenting me on it that I thought I better get a picture of it. It's a few days old at this point so it's past it's prime but still very pretty. The hydrangea in the middle is an "Endless Summer" variety which re-blooms numerous times and surprisingly a couple weeks ago it started blooming again!
I'm already thinking about next year's garden! Most of my big projects around my apartment should be finished by then so I'm looking forward to having more time to work in my tiny garden. I guess we have to get through Fall and Winter first though!This is Beau's perfect day...nestled in the fluffy pillows with the sun on his face! I snapped this photo just before he closed his eyes which is why he looks like he's in a trance here!

I'm not usually one of those people that dress up their chihuahuas but I had all the doors open to let in the fresh air because it had just rained and it was a little chilly for him. It's so funny when he sees me take out his sweater...I swear...he smiles!

You have to read this story on CNN about middle & upper class people going to thrift stores....I think more people are going to thrift stores because of all the bloggers talking about the great things we find!

And last but not least, if you live in Silicon Valley, tomorrow is Campbell's city wide garage sale! I guess you know what I will be doing tomorrow morning!

Emanuela Marchesini

I had a comment earlier this week from someone who is originally from Italy but now living in the U.S. She told me about a designer named Emanuela Marchesini and gave me the link to her website! It was so amazingly beautiful that I have to share it with all of you!
Breathtaking, isn't it?
Click here to see more of Emanuela Marchesini. Make sure you look at the Photo Gallery!

Thank you Beli71 for telling me about this!!!

Kitchen Canisters

I had quite a few emails and comments about the canisters in yesterday's post. These are made by Anchor Hocking. I found mine at the thrift store but they are available several places online as well as Target. They are really inexpensive but so cute! I saw the idea of putting a teacup in for a scoop in a magazine (Country Living?) awhile back and I loved that idea so I copied it.
You could match the cup to your kitchen. Wouldn't a dainty pink rose teacup look cute if you had a pink kitchen, or a black or red transferware cup if you had those colors in your kitchen.

I think these are too cute to keep in the pantry so I keep mine out on the counter.

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Last weekend we had our first rain of the season. We usually have dry weather (no rain at all) from May - October. It was so nice to see, hear and smell the rain again...I LOVED it! It really put me in the mood to bake. I wanted apple pie but didn't feel like making the pie crust so I decided on Cinnamon Apple Crisp.
Slice the apples and toss with brown sugar and cinnamon.
To make the topping, blend flour, sugar and butter with a pastry blender~I am always shocked at how many people do not have this handy little kitchen gadget, it works great for cutting the butter into the dry ingredients. I could have used the food processor but I enjoy doing this by hand.
Add the apples to a baking pan and cover with the topping and bake it! The scent of cinnamon and apples fill the air. I really wish you could smell this through your monitor!

It's done! Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. I like to grate some fresh nutmeg on top of the ice cream.

This recipe was so easy and so good! I found it here on epicurious.com. (Yes, I'm still on my diet but I do cheat once in awhile!)

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Ingredients

1 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apples and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to prepared dish.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar and butter in medium bowl. Using pastry blender or fingertips, blend ingredients until coarse meal forms. Spread flour mixture evenly over apples.

Bake crisp 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake crisp until apples are tender and topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Then and Now

(The photo above is my room now, you can click on it to enlarge it)

When I started my blog back in 2005 I posted a photo of my living room looking into my dining room (below). So much has changed since 2005, including this room. Although I think the biggest change is my photography skills but that probably has more to do with buying a better camera than my actual skills!

A new dining room table, hutch, sofa, pillows, a crystal chandelier to replace the ceiling fan/light fixture...little by little there have been changes. I think it looks a lot better now, don't you?

Watch it online

For those of you that couldn't watch the HGTV's Rate my Space show that I was on you can view part of it online (click here) and then click on "watch the reveal".  I'm not in this portion but my armoire is.  I think later they will have a full episode that can be viewed online so I will keep watching for that and let you know when it can be viewed. 

I know I can't please everyone but...

It was brought to my attention that at least one person felt mislead with all the hype I did about being on TV when I knew the show wasn't about me.  This wasn't my intent at all.  I assumed everyone knew something about the show and that I wasn't the main focus. I was just 1 of 3 "inspirations" for another couple that was getting the room makeover.  I understand now how this could have been misleading if you haven't been reading my blog since last spring when all this started.  I did mention it back then.  I sometimes get overly excited about things and this was one of those times.  To me, being on HGTV was HUGE even if I was only on for a small amount of  time!   I'm really sorry if I mislead anyone, it was not done intentionally...I just wanted to share my excitement with all of you.  

We Celebrated!

To make my TV debut last night more fun I made Lauren and I some chocolate covered strawberries and bought champagne for me and sparkling apple cider for her. It was a celebration even if it was just the two of us. I chose not to have anyone over because I wanted it to be a relaxing evening. If I had people over I would have been more stressed out!
Lauren walked in the door with two of her friends just as I finished making these. The look on her face when she saw these was priceless and she yelled out to her friends "LOOK WHAT MY MOM MADE!" Chocolate covered strawberries are one of her favorites!
Thank you all so much for all the nice comments and emails you left about my performance. It was okay for me...the only thing I hated is how fat I looked but at least I'm down about 20 lbs since that was filmed last May!!!

Have a good weekend!

Edited to add: If you don't know what I'm talking about...I was on HGTV's show "Rate my Space" last night as one of the inspiration rooms. It will air a few other times so you can check the HGTV website. The episode is called "A Romantic Cabana with an Island Vibe"

Flowers, Awards, Tagged, Gifts and RMS Tonight!!

I woke up this morning at 5:30am and I was eager to start this day! Can you believe it's finally here! I'll be on HGTV's Rate my Space tonight at 9:00 pm! Check your listings though because there are some people around here who have satellite dishes and it's on at 6:00 pm for them. I picked the flowers above from my garden this morning. There are 2 different roses and gardenias. The scent is so beautiful!

Also, I was tagged by Rachel ~ Yard Sale Mama and September~A Picture is Worth a 1,000 words to do this:
7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die
1. Travel to Europe
2. Buy a house
3. Fall in love (3rd time's the charm?)
4. Have my own shop (online?)
5. See my kid's find loving spouses
6. Have grandchildren
7. Have my home featured in a magazine!!

7 Things I Do Now
1. Shop too much
2. Clean too much
3. Spend too much time reading blogs
4. Paint everything white
5. Work
6. Eat Nutrisystem food 5 days a week!
7. Think about exercising

7 Things I Can't Do
1. Whistle (hardly)
2. Sing
3. Play an instrument
4. Change the oil in my car
5. Get over my fear of spiders
6. Be on time to work
7. Relax (not for very long)

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex
1. A smile
2. soulful eyes
3. a kind heart
4. a sense of humor
5. intelligence
6. a sense of style
7. cleanliness


7 Things That I Say Most
1. Really?
2. Wow!
3. That's cool
4. LAUREN?
5. #&^@ *! (I have to be honest, there are some not so nice words that come out of my mouth)
6. I love it!
7. You've got to be kidding me!!!

7 Celebrities That I Admire (I'm not a big celebrity admirer so this is hard)
1. Diane Lane
2. Diane Keaton
3. Steve Martin
4. Oprah
5. Paul Newman
6. Brooke Shields
7. Sandra Bullock

7 Favorite Foods
1. Sushi
2. Fish
3. Potatoes...prepared just about any way!
4. Pasta, preferably with lots of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.
5. Pie
6. Steak - Medium-rare with lots of A1 Sauce
7. Sauteed mushrooms

7 People Who Need To Do This
1. If you would like to do this then you can do it!


I was also given this award below from Arleen~The Tea Room! Thank you Arleen! Brandi also gave me an award but I can't get to her profile and blog for some reason (the link didnt' work).

Earlier this week I received a package from Ginger~The Gingerbread Shed. She had signed up with Julie~Equus Villa to do a "Pay it Forward" Giveaway and chose me as one of the bloggers to pay it forward to. She sent me this adorable bird and a cute little pumpkin! Thank you Ginger and thank you Julie!

Okay...I'll see ya tonight on TV! (I'm pinching myself...this feels like a dream)!

The Very Manly Estate Sale

Last Saturday I went to the estate sale I told you about on Friday. It was not good at all and it was a 35 minute drive away from my apartment! I was supposed to go with my friend Nelson but he called me at 10:00am (the time he was supposed to be picking me up) to say that he just woke up and wasn't going to make it!!! It sounded like a great estate sale so I decided to go alone. It was in a quaint little home in Redwood City so I was excited as I walked through the door. I walked into the first room and I could tell right away that the former owner was a history buff. It was filled with old military portraits, wagon wheels, big ship pictures. I didn't see anything that interested me in there. I walked towards the kitchen where I saw about a gazillion oil lamps on a dining room table. As I walked through the rest of the home I came to the assumption that other than a sewing machine and a few other pieces everything was very manly! It's amazing how you can look at someones belongings and know so much about the person. This man loved old things, he was a collector, he loved cowboys and Indians, old ships, and war memorabilia.

There were more things out back. There was an old wooden wheelchair. It looked just like the one Heidi's cousin Claire was in or the little boy in The Secret Garden movie. I don't know why but those old wheelchairs are really creepy to me. It was only $35...no thank you!
I was able to find a few things and I only spent $4.00 ...yes four dollars!! I think the gas to get there and back cost me more! I bought the Ball jar above for $1.00. I'm going to use it as a vase for flowers. The mega ladle above has a hook to hang it on the wall. I planned to paint it silver and hang it in my kitchen but when I got home I couldn't find a place for it. I'm not sure what I will do with it now but it was only $1.00. They had another larger one just like it for $2.00.
I also bought this huge fork and spoon which I want to paint silver. Hopefully they will look better in my kitchen once they are painted. They were $2.00. I'm planning on starting a online store in the future so these and the ladle above may end up being sold there.
Sunday afternoon Lauren was ready to go out the door to a friend's house and I told her to be careful because there were a couple of large Rottweiler dogs roaming around out there. She jokingly reached for the big fork and said she'll take that and stab them if they attack her. It was so funny...you probably had to be there though because as I'm writing this it's just not as funny as it was at that moment!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is my TV debut on HGTV's Rate my Space! For those of you on the East coast, I know you'll probably be watching the Vice Presidential debates at that time but Rate my Space will be airing at other times. Just check the HGTV website! Luckily the debates are on at 6:00 pm pacific time so I can watch both!!! If you are on the east coast and you watch it, you'll be seeing it 3 hours before me so if I make a fool out of myself, please DO NOT email me to let me know! I'm nervous enough!!
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also, I added the paint colors I used for the cabinet at the bottom of yesterday's post for those of you who asked!