boogaj

Went to IKEA...

... got a BRÄDA...

... like it much. 

Of thrifting and kitchen gadgets...

First let me just say that last weekend was not a very good thrifting weekend, however, I did find this great Jamie Oliver cookbook called Jamie's Kitchen for only $1.  I'm a sucker for beautiful cookbooks and this one is that, but it also has some great, doable recipes.  In fact, last night I made a pasta recipe from it using my own homegrown Amish Paste tomatoes and it was easy, quick and super delicious. 

So, what I'm trying to say, is that what my thrifting lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality.

I also have to mention the awesome Italian Tomato Press I picked up yesterday (and used last night to make the pasta sauce!)  Last year I spent way too much time peeling and seeding plum tomatoes by hand.  A task  which I did not enjoy in the least.  This nifty gadget separates the seeds and skin from the tomatoes and spits each out into it's own bowl.  *So* much easier!  And it was very easy to clean the press which is a plus.  Great investment for me for sure. 

Okay, singing the praises of the tomato press totally makes me think about the other awesome kitchen gadget I bought this year -- a gadget I love and am so happy I purchased -- the Oxo Corn Stripper. Maddie has braces and this has made life much easier! Quick, easy, so much less messy than cutting sweet corn off the cob with a knife -- plus the thing is very easy to clean.

Yes, I have a sickness. I am completely unable to resist a good kitchen tool. What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

Toying with the idea of getting a MacBook

I have this plan -- I want to create an iPhone app.  Something craft related most likely.  Basically I want to get familiar with programming on a Mac -- using Objective-C and their iPhone SDK.  Trouble is, I don't have a Mac.

So, I'm wondering... do you have a Mac?  Do you love it?  Hate it?  Please give me your thoughts. 

Up by Pixar

Another Amazon deal -- Up for only $13. And you don't have to battle the Black Friday crowds to get it :)

Black Friday Deal

I found this awesome deal at Amazon while I was looking at their Black Friday Deals. Basically you get the Nintendo DSi pre-loaded with 5 games for $15 less than the plain DSi with no pre-loaded games. (This is of particular interest to me since my DS lite finally gave out after years of daily play.) So just wanted to pass it along in case this is on the wish list of someone you know :)

Orla Kiely & Target -- I am weak.

I could not resist -- well, actually I did resist a bit because I could have bought everything they had easily. I didn't see all the things at my Target that I've seen around the blogs, but I did find some goodies. I purchased a pear placemat for Maddie to use in the family room, some napkins, the cute flower tablecloth -- which is too long for our round table so I can cut it down and get some extra fabric -- and the towel hooks which are probably my favorite of all. You place the hooks over the top of a drawer or cabinet door, close it and instant towel hook! I loved the canisters, but couldn't justify they cost. And I didn't see the storage bins and such at my Target, but we have 2 other Target stores quite close, so if I'm feeling weak I may go check out their selection.

Little Luxuries

With the economy as bad as it is, pretty much everyone I know is cutting back. I'm a very frugal person in general -- quite fond of saving my pennies for a rainy day -- but there are some things that I indulge in. So I'm going to try to list a few on the blog from time to time.

 

My first indulgence -- and it is truly a daily indulgence -- is Intelligentsia Coffee. While a pound of beans from here might seem pricey, if you are brewing your coffee at home, you are going to end up saving in the long run. And this is *awesome* coffee. I've seriously never had any better coffee form anywhere else. (Starbucks pales miserably by comparison.)

So, what is your little indulgence?

Superbuzzy -- new crafty Japanese import shop!

OMG!  Mariko and Kelly just opened a new shop called Superbuzzy!  It's got imported Japanese fabrics and trims with more stuff soon to come!  They even have the great ribbon I got at Stitches (for less than I paid -- argh!!) in both the red and black.  I already placed an order for some fabric.  Can you guess which ones?  I got two.

Habu Silk Yarn & Japanese Linen Ribbon & Thrifted Buttons!

What a busy weekend!  On Friday, Maddie & I headed out early and went to the Joliet Farmer's Market to pick up some fresh fruit.  I got some lovely peaches and blueberries -- fresh from Michigan.  Then we hit Starbucks and any yard sale we could find on the way back home.  All we found was an old copy of Richard Scarry's Going Places for only 25 cents which Maddie thought was a very funny book!  Friday night I pulled out my King Arthur Baking Book and made a peach cobbler, which was really yummy!  So far that book hasn't let me down.

Saturday morning found Theresa, Bonne Marie & I at Stitches Midwest.  I think one of my favorite booths was Habu, where I picked up this orange, slubby 100% silk.  They only had 4 cute little balls/bails -- whatever you want to call them.  I love them because they are neat little center pull balls and they have a nice piece of tissue in the middle that you pull to get the starting thread out.  How clever! 

But I digress. . . So they had 4 balls in this perfect orange color and I decided that I'd just make a shrug.  So far I swatched and the texture is quite nice due to the slubs.  Hmmm. . .

My other favorite booth was the ribbon & button booth -- Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods in RI -- where I got this super-cute linen ribbon.  It's a japanese import and it cost way too much, but I had to have a yard of it.  She also had lots of vintage buttons that were not matching but went well together and were carded together.  Not sure I'm explaining this well at all, but they were so wonderful!  I could have just spent the day in this booth.

And since I was thinking of buttons, I took a picture of the buttons I got from Goodwill a few weeks ago for 99 cents.  They were all taped up in a bag and you couldn't see what was inside, but I figured I couldn't go wrong for that price! 

Sunday was spent at the river for my sister's birthday.  The water was wild!  We took my mom's boat up the river to a restaurant and just had a nice afternoon, but everyone was exhausted from their various weekend activities so we weren't a very lively bunch. 

This week is for organizing.  My office is a mess and it's time to take control!

Button of the Month Club!

Another club!  Laural has started a Button of the Month Club.  How fun is that?

Pocket Journal

I bought this pocket journal from seedpod's etsy shop and it is so cute in real life!  It arrived quickly and safely and I highly recommend her for all your journal purchasing needs. 

Just thought you should know!

I only spent $2, but look. . .

. . . what I got!

Aprons!  Aprons!  And even more aprons!

Spike had to get into the photo.  He thought this was actually a cat toy -- or at least the apron strings!

Gotta have a fancy one for the holidays.

Can you even stand this one?  I just love this owl so much that I want to frame it and hang it on the wall. 

So even though this was all I got in our trek across town (we visited three different shops), I felt pretty darn lucky.  And how can you beat the price?  I saw aprons that weren't even this nice at an antique fair last summer going for $10-15 each.  The nice ones were fetching even higher prices and I saw nothing like my darling owl!

I *heart* thrifting!

$20 Thrifting Challenge

About to go out and hit the local thrift stores! Let's see what this $20 gets me. I'll report back later today!

I'm so chatty!

Post #2 today!  Can you tell that my migraine has decided to let up for a few hours?

I first wanted to point you to something I'm coveting. . . The Jordana Paige Knitter's Satchel (in grape, please  :)

And also a review of Starbuck's new Cinnamon Dolce Latte -- yum!  Too sweet for me, but I usually ask for less syrup in my latte.  The cinnamony taste is so good though!  I'll be ordering them throughtout the winter to keep me warm for sure.

I also worked a little more on the office organization.  Hopefully I will have an update for you on all of that soon! 

Like a kid at Christmas. . .

I am *so* impatient!!  I keep looking out the windows every 5 minutes -- literally.  UPS tracking says that my new computer is on it's way.  My current computer is rather old (and pretty grimey -- believe me, you don't want to see the keyboard -- ewwwww!) by computer standards.  I think we bought it 3 or 4 years ago.  Lately it has started to act a little cranky -- giving me out of memory warnings and malfunctioning every now and then.  Since I am completely dependent on my computer to run my businesses, and since tax time is coming up and I could use another deduction, I decided to take the plunge and order a Dell.  The computer geek in me can't wait to see it!

Where the heck is UPS, it's after 5PM!

Gift for the animal lover / reader. . .

I love Mutts!!  I have lots of the books, a couple shirts, several prints, a few buttons and I even belong to the book club and the fan club.  I *love* Mutts!  So how could I resist this book?  It's called The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell. 

If you aren't familiar with Mutts -- it's a comic about a cat and a dog who pal around together and the strips McDonnell draws are often heart warming or thought provoking as well as funny.  I can't recommend this book highly enough!  It is perfect for anyone aged 4 to 104!

You can find out more about Mutts at the muttscomics.com.

Now I'm off for a day of shopping with Theresa.  I'll report back on any cool finds!

More gifties!

Another great gift idea -- Philosophy Greetings from the North Pole.  Have you ever tried Philosophy lotions and potions?  They are so nice and very gifty.  I gave my sister this gift set last year for Christmas.

Another gift idea!

I love L'Occitane!  So I was very excited to see the L'Occitane Gift Soaps tin when I was at their store last time.  I picked up a few for gifts, but I may go back and get one for myself.  Oh, and their lemon verbena products are incredible!

Fun Saturday!

Sometimes you just need to get out and do something fun with good friends!  On Saturday Theresa & her husband John met Pete, Maddie & me at Intelligentsia up in Chicago.  We went on the roasting tour which was very cool.   

After that it was off to the DIY Trunk Show which was in the old field house in Pulaski Park.  Lots of cool stuff to be seen.  I had to bring home this hand-made book:

It's a soft cover with hand sewn signatures.  Here's a view of the spine:

This book was made by Emily of Orange Beautiful.  I'm hoping she opens up an online shop soon because I loved her stuff!  I'm a sucker for handmade books.  Theresa and I have even taken a few classes on bookbinding at Paper Source together. 

Which is a nice segue for a gift I received in the mail from Freecia. . .

A cool box kit from Paper Source!  Thanks Freecia!

And finally I leave you with proof that I have been knitting.  I received this cute book last week:

It's New Knits on the Block by Vickie Howell.  I'll try to get my act together and post a full review over at Two Friends Collect Books sometime soon!  It's has a bunch of cute designs for kids.  Including hats:

I'm making the princess hat for princess Madeleine!

Other new knitting books I receied in the last few weeks and haven't had a chance to review:

Handknit Holidays
Wrap Style
Yarns to Dye For

I'm on a bit if a knitting book buying spree I'm afraid  :)

IKEA Purchases

Maddie and I had a great time at IKEA today.  We started with lunch -- swedish meatballs for me and mac & cheese for her.  Then it was time to shop.  Maddie had to sit on everything, check out every bed and visit every playhouse.  She wore me out!  But then I got to drop her off at the kids play place -- one hour of child free shopping.  How cool is that?

You can see that I got a nifty apron (a little wrinkly in the picture I'm afraid) that is complete with loops for your dishtowel and utensils.  I couldn't resist the pillow -- it matches my cute lamp from this post.  And what about those dishtowels -- aren't they great?  One or both might become an apron.

I also bought 24 plates -- real ones! -- for only 50 cents each.  I can't stand throwing out all the plastic plates whenever we have a party and now I don't have too. 

Other things were purchased of course -- a couple small pillow forms, some lingonberries and swedish pancake mix, dishes for Maddie just like the kids' ones they use in the IKEA restaurant, etc. . .

I'm so happy the IKEA is close by and I'm sure Maddie and I will both be visiting there often!

New IKEA

I'm off to the new IKEA!  Pictures of purchases when I return!