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.
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!
Another club! Laural has started a Button of the Month Club. How fun is that?
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!
. . . 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!
About to go out and hit the local thrift stores! Let's see what this $20 gets me. I'll report back later today!
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!
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!
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
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!
Another great gift idea -- Philosophy Greetings from the North Pole
I love L'Occitane! So I was very excited to see the L'Occitane Gift Soaps
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
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 :)
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!
