...'Tri-fecta' ~ VERA-style!

Friday and Saturday were definitely all about VERA this week! Oh, I did pick up a couple of other things in my travels - a Scrabble game with wooden tiles, an airline knife, a bent glass Pharmacist tray... but nothing that sent my heart beating like my 'VERA'! I guess the 'reseller' in me just doesn't come close to the 'collector' in me. I think that I am glad that I still have more of a passion for my first 'love'. My first find of the weekend was this large silk square scarf - VERA 2011 #4 (.79¢) Saturday in the mail, through a swap with the generous Ann of Protector of Vintage, I received my FIRST hankie made by VERA!!! Pristine, with sticker still in place ~ Happy mail indeed 8-)!! 2011 #6

Another ~'Happy Dance'~ occurred on Saturday while at a Rummage Sale, when I found this VERA top!! This is only the second VERA blouse that I have found in all of my saling adventures (2011 #5). Now to dispell any myths/questions that may be floating out & about in blogland...

• WILL YOU ACTUALLY WEAR THAT? with the right pair of jeans, to the right event ~ yes.


• WILL YOU CUT IT UP INTO SCARVES? NO! you will NEVER catch me touching a pair of scissors to a VERA!!!!!


• WILL YOU SELL YOUR VERA? again, NO! i personally value VERA for what she represents in the design world and I cherish all of 'my' VERA items ~ so unless I should end up with EXACT duplicates, none will be for sale.

Now I can just dream of finding the elusive size 8-10 VERA dress...

some day.

some day.

some day.

OH! ...and we rec'd our 'book' on Friday from that freebie Picaboo coupon that I mentioned!

VERY NICE.

Highly recommended 8-)!

...right now.

Yesterday was the First Day of Spring, and rainy......tomorrow we are supposed to get 6" of snow,

but that's okay, 'cause right now I have FLOWERS on my 'sticks'!

...bookworthy?!

...just a quicky!

Found a GREAT FREEBIE (Well, almost 'free' - you have to pay the $7.99 postage, but I think it is worth it). 8 1/2 x 11 Hardcover book of your photos.

Anyone out there familiar with PICABOO? I wasn't. No, I'm not affiliated in any way, shape or form or paid or held liable or any of the other fine print, yadda, yadda. Just like to pass on a good deal. This does expire on Tuesday 3/22/11, so you have to move... quicker than me, but I DID want to try this one out before I said anything.

J & I worked on it this weekend... their program is pretty easy to use.
Here are all of the details . (make sure to use the FREECC code - NOT 'SPRINGTEN'!!)
We had been kind of interested in these books before, so this was a good way to test the water without a big $$ commitment!

...wiser?

So... just when I'm beginning to think that I'm getting a 'wee' bit of wisdom with my 'old-age', you know learning from some of my past mistakes... ie:

• in the photo of the 'sticks' that I'm trying to force into blossom - the plate underneath isn't just a 'cute' accent of red. I've learned the hard way that when using vintage pottery vases, it is always best to have protection under them, as OFTEN they leak (and leave N.A.S.T.Y. water stains on the wood surfaces they are sitting on!!). Such was the case with this new found Royal Haeger vase... no harm... chalk one up for S... 8-)


• The 'stick' buds are just about ready to burst open - not photo worthy yet, but almost - YEH! ... chalk another up for S... 8-)

There were T.H.R.E.E. Sale Ads in the paper for this morning. I was Really excited, after two 60° days in a row I walked out the door this morning without a jacket... there was snow on my blazer! WOULDN'T you think that I would learn?!! Oh well. I DID go to the sales. They were all 'MOVING' sales, so they were all inside. What a bizarre mix! No. 'Bizarre' doesn't even begin to cover it.

The first place was a Lady who was apparently addicted to Holiday decorations - NEW Holiday decorations. I guess if you were into that, you could have gotten a lot of good deals. All I bought were the Lobster crackers for J's annual Clam/Lobster bake and a boxful of peanuts (25¢ ea.).

The next stop was on a 'less than desirable' street... I told J before I left "If I don't return, I'm going INSIDE of a house on WWWW St. - look for me there." It actually ended up being the most interesting sale of the morning - an old warehouse, rehabbed into lofts. Yeh, the stuff this 'Lady-With-The-Way-Too-Much-Perfume' had was Incredible w/ antique store prices, but just getting the chance to see the interior of this place was worth it! I looked around, but left empty handed.

The last on the list... an apt... no signs... no prices... not much of anything... if you see it and you want it make an offer... couldn't quite get out of there fast enough. Oh well, it was just around the corner from the Salv. Army - so I HAD to stop! When I saw the 2 Lobster plates, I knew they HAD to join the crackers!

WOO HOO! My BIG quarter purchase for ME!!!

...OH Happy Day!

Does it bother me...? that I drove this many miles today (with gas @ $3.59) running errands and hitting F.I.V.E. Thrifts...

~OR~ that all I found of interest that I wanted to buy at those F.I.V.E. Thrifts were gifties for others...

~OR~ that the only other thing that came home with me was a bag of colored 'bags' that my hairdresser had been saving for me for my 'plarn' creations...

NO

None of this bothered me in the slightest, because...
.
.
.
.



The car heat was turned off for the first time in 6 months!
I didn't have to wear a jacket.
I wasn't wearing a turtleneck.
I had the car windows rolled down.
and
I had the music cranked!

...are we there yet?

As a 'TRUE' born-n-raised NorthEasterner, I KNOW that March is NOT a month to even try to second guess around here! One thing I do know... I can coax some EARLY, Beautiful Bright yellow flowers out of these 'sticks' (ie: Forsythia) , if I grab the branches the minute they begin to swell ( and the snow has melted enough to let me get near the limbs!!) and take them inside!! Right about now any signs of life and color are dearly coveted in these parts!! (Don't believe me about the 'sticks' producing flowers? We'll check back in a couple of days!!)

One of the best parts about cutting the 'sticks', was that I got to try out a Xmas gift from J - a BRAND NEW pair a hand clippers - WONDERFUL!

Almost time to plant seeds!!!!!!

Resin Owl instigated another 'PURGE', and now 'Owl' and all of our other 69ers are in the ETSY shop!!

...MCMLXIX

No 'real' sales yet... but I did have a few 'FUN!' finds on Friday while hitting the Thrifts 8-)... All you have to do is look at this guy, and you can figure out that Roman Numeral Conversion!! Such a classic, that I couldn't leave him in the Thrift on Friday!! Love that color combination 8-)!

A beautiful double sided April Cornell scarf. Does anybody know if her stuff still sells??

~a couple of 'Birds-n-Blooms' pins for me.

~a couple of those 'other Vera' pieces, just 'cause I'm groovin' on the orange-pink-red color combo lately (will go nicely in my 'Valentine Train Case!)

~and a Pyrex Fridgie with a CAT?! Never seen such a piece before!!

'MEIER SEIDE' (German painted silk) Owl scarf

Okay, so nothing that FILLED the Blazer, but it sure beat sitting home watching the snow melt, then accumulate a.g.a.i.n., then melt, then accumulate a.g.a.i.n. .... Oh well, I really shouldn't complain about our NE weather - the snow & cold are at least predictable, and we are able to plan for them.

Hoping you and yours are safe.

...oh what a weekend!

NO... I wasn't out 'treasure hunting' this weekend...( ...well, okay, maybe just a 'little', but this turquoise MacKenzie-Childs enamel cup @ $1.00 was the only thing I brought home!!)

The 'Treasures' all came to ME!! Yes. I had a house brimming with friends, food and fun for a long weekend! Throw in a couple of bottles of wine, and 'finally enough snow' (in the words of the small children!) to go sledding - who could ask for more?? ...okay, maybe if that one wine glass hadn't gotten broken...

But 'MORE' there was! They came loaded down with 'gifties' for S - not nearly enough blog space to show them A.L.L., but I must show HAEGER 2010 #3 that they presented me with!

(You'll also see the GREAT sweaterclips - 2010 #2 & #3 that arrived Friday in the mail from the South - I'd MUCH rather have these tossed my way than those Mardi Gras beads any day! THANKS Christine!!)

It was SO MUCH FUN hanging with the kids... they are turning into 'real people'!
...and the cheap 'slave labor' is GREAT! NO, I wasn't the 'meanie', and didn't make them count/sort SCRABBLE tiles for me the entire time they were visiting ~ but that is an 'educational' activity, right?!??


I did teach them the FINE ART of the Easter GumDrop tree, and I think that they rather enjoyed that!

~ ~ Ah... but then it is back to the real world again...~ ~

5C: I tried to do another 'Scarf Fashion Shot' for you, but alas, I just don't have it in me. For what it's worth, the long skinny ones are great as belts... Your best bet for inspiration - Go to the ANTHROPOLOGIE catalogue site on the computer and look at their scarf section - prices are outrageous, and I know that I probably will never buy anything from them (other than that VERA book that I couldn't live without) - but I love pretty pictures 8-)

...AND a quick THRIFT FIX on Tuesday... vintage Laredo,Texas straw Hat - .50¢; vintage square Lampshade $1 (for what - I don't know, but I liked the lines!) and a cool old wood cane for another buck.

...A.D.D. MAXIMUS!

Why is it that when I want to accomplish THE MOST, I take the longest possible path?? Well, at least I KNOW that I'm not alone!

Let me give you some background... with friends coming for a visit this weekend, I've been trying to do a little early Spring Housekeeping. J has been good and joining in on the 'fun'!
(**Not to worry Mrs M. - I definitely have not been doing anything that didn't 'NEED' to be done even if you weren't coming!!! Not a lot of the 'need' has gotten done either... Oh, and please only pack dark colored socks so that I don't feel so guilty as to the color of the bottom of your feet when you leave... THANK YOU!)

What do I find J doing the other night?
...replacing the top stair tread to our basement stairs! Because...??? OH! It came loose when he was taking stuff down cellar... so the whole thing needed to be replaced, painted, new trim cut, installed, painted, new tread found, bought, installed... It is pretty though! Now the others look REALLY BAD! NO, we ARE NOT GOING TO REPLACE THEM ALL NOW!!
(**and NO Mrs. M. you are NOT allowed to bring this up OR go see it - this is your only siting!!)

But hey, that's okay, like I said - just proves that I'm not the only one who gets side-tracked!

table with VERA 'washable' placemats awaiting the weekend!!

Wondering what's up with these other photos? Well recently I had a question as to how I used all of my VERA findings/vintage scarves. I think she probably wanted me to show more of how I wore them, and while I DO wear Lots of them, I'm not much of a model!! I'd much rather show how I use them around in vignettes and in everyday life as VERA intended 'Art for living'. Plus, since I've got NOTHING along the lines of new thrifted goodness to show, these are good filler!!

Okay 5C here's a vintage scarf shot just for you! I must confess this is an ECHO and not a VERA... I know, the shame... the shame... - but I do love me a good ECHO or PAOLI too!! I will try to show more 'fashion' shots, because WEARING scarves is a lot of FUN!

FEBRUARY REPORT: YEH! I'm still keeping my New Year's Resolution of purging 211 items per month!! It really helps when you have your own personal cheerleaders at your favorite thrift who know of your Resolution, and that part of the resolution is that you can't visit the thrifts without taking a bag for donation. I stopped by last week, bag in hand, and the lady at the desk said "Good Job S! You made it TWO MONTHS!! That's better than most people do on their resolutions!". I guess (depending on how you look at it) even better is that I left with nothing.

VERA as Wall Art in the laundry is always FUN!

O.K. speaking of laundry... fresh linen for the guest room is a calling 8-)
Back to my mission at hand! HAPPY FIRST DAY OF MARCH!