Chasing Fireflies

Chasing Fireflies is a ridiculously priced catalog for children that came in our mail last week. Let us pretend for a minute that I lack good sense and shop! Katherine wants the peacock costume at $78. This does not include the headpiece or leggings those are another $38. The reversible smock and adorable mermaid towel could be mine for $48 a piece.And I must have a "prima pettiskirt" in blue for $80.
My total is $292 before shipping. What a bummer! But it was fun flipping through the pages and dreaming.

HGTV's Design Star

I absolutely love this show. The designer who wins gets their own show on HGTV. They are put through grueling time crunches and difficult situations and then judged. Two past winners that you may know are Kim Myles and David Bromstad. This season there are 2 new judges, Candice Olson and Genevieve Gorder. These two are hilarious! After hearing that two contestants spent $700 for an AstroTurf rug (shown below) Genevieve shouted "you're fools" and Candice raised a polished eyebrow. I'm sure Vern Yip said his usual something snotty but he's not as funny as the girls.
This is now season 4 and this coming week's challenge is called the white walls. The designers will work on their own designing a living room with only items found from a grocery story. I haven't picked my favorite contestant yet as they've only worked in groups. This Sunday's show will give us a chance to see who's got IT.
My favorite contestant from the past was "Sparkle Josh" (as seen smoldering below). There were two contestants named Josh so he earned the nickname "Sparkle" with his uhhm flamboyance. He loved everything glittery, mirrored, and glamorous. I loved all his projects but alas he did not win. Sparkle Josh has a very interesting website if you're in need of entertainment but you musn't skip the intro it's the best part! I don't think he intended it to be funny but it was, sorry Josh.

Scenes from the local Salvation Army

My trips to this thrift store never fail to entertain or aggravate me. It's full of curious folk, some work there and some just hang out. I'm not terribly fond of the old bat who runs the register, she tore off a $5 price sticker and replaced it with $15 on a fantastic lamp I brought to the counter. She voiced that it was too great of a lamp for so low of a price. I refused to buy it and stomped out in a huff. My pride prevented my going back for it so my mother went in and bought it for me a day later. I'm sorry that I don't have a "before" to show you but it did turn out pretty good. I painted the white parts (they were originally gold) and covered the shade with fabric. It is truly an original.


The Old Bat also refused to sell me a vintage Christmas sprig because it is taped to her pen. I really hate her.
There are always quite a few old people milling around. One couple comes in frequently and argue the entire time. He leans onto the tables and shouts across the aisle "now put that down, we don't need another one of those". She fiercely clutches her "precious" and he ends up buying it anyway.
The older ladies are the best. One regular never fails to mention how beautiful Charlie is and how his hair looks just like her Mitch. The older men say "that baby sure looks taken care of, look at those legs!". They are very sweet to him and he always rewards them with a huge smile.
A very weathered man is always there and helps out with the furniture when he's not occupying it. The Old Bat gets onto him continually for leaving coffee rings on the merchandise. He recognizes me now and thinks I'm some sort of expert on all things child related. I just go with it.
Maybe he'll put in a good word for me the next time The Old Bat gives me a hard time.

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

This is one of my all time favorite books to read in the Fall. Okay I'm a bit early but I do so love Fall. I read all of the Ramona Quimby series in elementary school. I discovered how great the audio books (read by Stockard Channing) were as an adult. This particular book has Ramona entering kindergarten so we've been reading it to Katherine as she is going herself in 2 weeks. Beverly Cleary has such talent into taking you right back to seeing the world as a child. One of my favorite scenes has Ramona getting wild with frustration at her friend Howie who never gets excited and when she pulls a classmate's curls just to see it bounce back (BOING). If you haven't discovered Ramona you're in for a treat! However, I'm disappointed in the new illustrations. Doesn't she look much more interesting in the 1968 version?! Or maybe I'm just getting old.

Sale Dates

For all my local friends the dates for the Fall 2009 consignment sales! The list starts from the earliest sale to the last. These dates are for the first day of the public sale, if you consign to any of these you get to shop earlier. The photos are from Kids Carousel who are the only sale with a 75% off day, worth your time to go.

Children's Clothing Exchange (CCE) Old McLendon Furniture Store, 2505 Eastern Blvd.
Sept. 9th 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sept. 14th 50% off day 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

My Kids Attic Coliseum Blvd, Montgomery
Sept. 12th 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sept. 16th 50% off day 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Kids Carousel Eastern Bypass, Montgomery
Sept. 12th 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sept. 17th 50% off day 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Sept. 19th 75% off day 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Doodle Bugs Hwy. 231, Wetumpka
Sept. 26th 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Oct. 2nd 50% off day 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Mom's Marketplace Hwy. 82 West, Prattville
Oct. 10th 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 14th 50% off day 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Oct. 17th 70% off day 9:00 a.m.-3 p.m.

Barbie Chandelier?

I saw this Barbie chandelier in a design book at Lowe's. I was horrified and strangely intrigued. There are several versions of this idea floating around the web. I've been wanting to replace my daughter's clunky ceiling fan with something fun and current. After hunting for several weeks I finally found a large brass fixture for $20 at a thrift store that I can alter into something cute. My plans don't include screwing hooks into Barbie's head.

Happy 103rd Birthday!

This past Saturday we celebrated my great grandmother's 103rd birthday! It was my job to make the cake for around 85 people. I did a large cake plus cupcakes last year but this time I decided to do a multilayer cake. I think people enjoyed the cupcakes more. They're so much easier to serve and eat at a pool party. But it was delicious!
Katherine and her cousin Rachel were inseparable the whole weekend. Those lollipops lasted and lasted.


Charlie wasn't much help but he was so cute making a mess!
This is me before it got really hot. I have to take my own photo each year or I end up with a shot of my eyes shut or an exaggerated double chin or my thighs looking incredibly large.
Here's my Grandma wearing a blonde wig given to her as a gift. She would not be convinced to wear it to the party but she did allow me to take the picture.