Things I'm Into Right Now

There have been a few aggravations in my life this morning (one being a strange smell in the living room that I cannot for the life of me find the source of.) I thought it would be a good time to stop dwelling on these aggravations and focus on some of the little things that are making me happy at the moment.

*This adorable kitty cat hat for the girl, bought from my blogging friend Mari's Etsy Shop: Lately every time I turn the camera on my daughter she makes silly faces and tends to ham it up a bit. Because of that, none of these pictures look exactly how I want them to look, but I guess you get the idea that she likes the hat.Mari's hats are fun, she can make them in a wide range of sizes, and they're very reasonably priced. So do check her out.It's in the twenties here, so if the girl is playing outside today she will definitely be wearing hers.

*This picture of the boy: Eating a chicken leg and eyeing the dog:Our dogs are incredibly ill mannered and will take whatever food is in reach.

*Edmund and Rosemary Go to HellThis is a short little book written by a cartoonist for the New Yorker. It's mostly pictures, with only a sentence or two on each page, but it made me stop and think for a few moments and be a bit more appreciative of what I have. Try and get your hands on a copy---it takes all of ten minutes to read and it's worth the time.

*Art projects using homemade glue:When Jay saw me in the kitchen stirring my pot of homemade sticky goo, he asked what I was making. When I told him homemade glue, he was like, "Great idea. Cause I was just about to talk to you about our glue budget being so high lately." Whatever. The homemade glue was fun. (The recipe can be found in this book.)

*Sunday Morning Drives. Most Sundays, Jay and I will hop in the car, stop for coffee, and then drive around some of the older, prettier, more historic neighborhoods in our town. We do this without the kids usually, so we can talk or just have a little bit of quiet. Almost always we come across boxes or furniture at the ends of peoples yards or driveways marked "Free." I would be lying if I told you that this wasn't a big part of why we go---it's like finding treasure. Do other cities and towns do this or is Gainesville just a very giving city? Anyway, yesterday we hit the mother lode. Here are just a few of our finds:

All these dishes are dainty and fragile. I thought about selling them at my next garage sale but I think I may just keep them from myself.

A small bag of coins from around the world:

I love this breakfast tray. Unlike a lot of older breakfast trays I come across, this one is wood-not metal. When I brought it home it was so filthy I didn't even know it was wood. It's definitely one of my favorite pieces.

All of the above items came from the same house along with some vintage lace gloves, napkins, lace doilies, and tablecloths. I'm thinking that the owner of the house is a very old lady. I wish I had been around to go to her actual garage sale. But I'm pretty pleased with the leftovers.

A few streets over we came across a large piece of furniture covered with a tarp. It had a sign on it that read, "Free. Works." At the time we weren't even sure what it was, Jay just knew he wanted it and that it wouldn't fit in our car with all our other finds. So he brought me home and went back to get this:

(Sorry for the crappy quality of the photo---the light was bad this morning and I was not about to lug this thing to a room with better light.)

It looks like just an antique cabinet, but open it up and it's a working turntable.

I am in love with this! The sound quality is a bit off, but Jay thinks he can fix it. Yesterday I listened to one my favorite 80's records of all time:Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid. Heavenly. Want to see some mullets and eighties clothes? Pop over to You Tube and watch the video. You know you want to......)