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Monday, May 25, 2015

Holiday Weekend in Review

I thought you might like to see more outrageously over priced patio furniture. This lovely aluminum and vinyl bar comes to you from Big Lots for a mere $599. UDS. We didn't purchase it. We did however play with it a bit, pretending to be a barkeep, and an unruly drunk. Guess which one I am. We had people stopping to watch our performance but no one threw us any money to put towards the purchase of patio furniture. Pity.

I have decided to wait until the end of the season and buy something worth the money from Mullhall's. We're not desperate to buy a set (It is starting to look like we may never get summer), and I'd really rather invest in something well made we can keep forever. I'm partial to brightly painted wrought iron, but wicker is nice too. What I refuse to do is plunk down perfectly good money for something that will fall apart after a couple seasons. Nothing you assemble yourself should cost over $100. For that sort of money, it should come assembled, and delivered. I don't know who buys this expensive disposable stuff. 

 I wore my big circle skirt for the first time this season.

-but no petticoat as I don't have a puffy enough one to accommodate this skirt. The silver are sequins, which sometimes catch on one another, so I have to be careful they aren't gathered up in an embarrassing way (because standing in front of the neighbourhood posing like this isn't at all embarrassing).
 I may be a thousand miles from the seashore, but that's no reason to skip the shell necklace and bracelet.
 The bamboo bangles are getting some seasonal wear as well.
When I was a child I would look at my grandmother's hands and wonder what happened to make them so dry and rumply. Now I know. Life happened.
Outfit Particulars:

Circle skirt-Goodwill
1970's jacket-Thrift World
Blouse-K Mart
Caro-Nan vintage bag-Antique mall
BAmboo bangles-Hand-Me-Ups
Lucite bangles-Goodwill (both)
Shoes-Goodwill
Shell necklace and bracelet-Hand-Me-Ups
Hair Flowers-Tiff and Tam
Earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Fragrance-Elizabeth Taylor Gardenia (kinda meh)

So that was Sunday. But we woke this morning and realised we had yet another day free! I love that. But before we get to that, here's those Ferragamos from Saturday:
Are the middle pair crocodile? I can't tell. Whatever they are, they're my size though slightly narrow, so I'm off to have them stretched and have shoe savers put on the bottoms. The beige ones are a sort of textured suede.
That's my perfect heel height and width right there. If only all my shoes were so equipped. That was so lucky, I still can't believe it. I do OK at the thrifts for the most part, but finding three pair in my size and in good condition almost never happens.


Memorial Day weekend, ugh. Hate it. My mother died over the holiday weekend, and though she's been gone a very long time now, it is still unavoidable to spend some time thinking about it .For many years I felt bad that she didn't like me very much. Now that I'm older I understand that she didn't like anyone much, and I wasn't special. Well, that's not entirely true-she liked some people, but none that were relations.

All I remember from that time was my dad being furious she had the nerve to die on a holiday weekend as he'd have to pay holiday wages for the grave diggers. They make good money, the grave diggers. Anyway, as the years decades have gone on, I don't feel the same emotional upheaval when the holiday weekend rolls around, but I'm happy enough to see it over so I can get on with living. I hit the thrift stores bright and early! That's my idea of living.

The photo ain't the only thing overexposed. I really shouldn't wear tanks as I tend to fall out of them. I spent most of the day adjusting the straps on this thing, so needless to say, it is going away. I have enough clothing that I don't need to keep the fiddly stuff. That's the beauty of thrift shopping.
 There's a good white wall in the lobby of Office Max on Maple Street-if any locals are looking for a good, well-lit photo spot. Sure, the employees will laugh, but who cares?
Just don't park in the fire lane. You'll get a ticket.

Outfit Particulars:
70's skirt-Goodwill
Tank-Shop Ko
Cardigan-Goodwill
Bakelite bangles-all over
Bamboo bangles-Hand-Me-Ups
Enid Collins bag-Antique mall
Hair flowers-Tiff and Tam
Vintage Naturalizer shoes-Thrift World
Necklace-Goodwill, Lincoln, NE
Enamel Flower Brooch-Goodwill
60's earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Belt-Goodwill
Fragrance-Vintage Emeraude in perfume concentration (Whoo hoo, that shit rocks! Little goes a looong way though, so be warned).

We're back to school now until the end of May, then we go onto half days for June and July, with August off. I find that works best for us to avoid the Summer, "Brain Drain", but still feel like we had a bit of time to enjoy ourselves. I'll be furiously writing next year's curriculum over the next few weeks (it is due to the State by mid-July) and I know Danny's excited to be getting away from the 14th Century into the Renaissance.  We have about thirty pages remaining in Chaucer, and I don't think there are any more fart jokes. I've never seen this child so happy to start writing a paper, and be done with it.

My one *possibly* great find today was a pair of "sailor pants" complete with bell bottoms and button closures on the sides. For .99 cents I didn't bother trying them on, but at worst I get a pair of gardening trousers. At best, I get bell bottoms.

Today's bird is an oriole. This particular bird was spotted at Standing Bear Lake, Monday afternoon. It was beautiful this today, but the weather has turned and that blue sky has been replaced by storm clouds. We're under all sorts of weather watches tonight as well. For the most part, we've had a quiet spring weather wise, but I know we're nowhere near done with it.

I hope your week is going well.

7 comments:

  1. Just had another aftershock here. We're averaging 4-5 aftershocks daily of M4-M4.8. When does this end?
    Anywho.
    Those Ferragamos are GAWJUS! Love that tropical skirt too.
    Funny, I avoid wearing anything with gardenia as it was my late mom's favorite scent. I swear she had every gardenia fragrance on the planet from Chanel Gardenia to Giorgio, & Jungle Gardenia to Island Gardenia. Now gardenias just make me sad.
    Since when does Big Lots sell $599 items?
    PS- Danny' looking very patriotic in his red, white & blue ensemble.

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  2. I hope your weekend wasn't too hard on you - I've seen how losing his mother has affected my husband, and it's been strange to think that we'll never get 'normal' back, that we have a new normality and it's got a gopping great hole in it.

    I love your tropical outfit with the mango-coloured cardi. It looks made for fun.

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  3. Mr ETB is a good sport playing pretend drunk at the bar! All my outdoor furniture is second hand, like you I am blown away at the retail prices being asked. I am happy to take someones cast off outdoor furniture when they tire of it. Your mother sounds like mine. She is still alive and kicking, and doesn't particularly enjoy me. I have distanced myself from her which is far better for my peace of mind, but hey that is a whole big long story!!! Loving the full circle skirt and I hope you neighbour coped an eyeful of something they cannot have!!!!

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  4. Families, eh? They're rarely straightforward... Wonder what our kids will be saying about us when they're grown up and reflecting on it all? At least Danny - and hopefully my three - will feel loved and LIKED by us.
    Great skirts, elegant shoes, and you've nearly done with Chaucer - hurray! xxx

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  5. About contemplating the ancestral bones in the cemetary and/or closet -- may I urge you to read Clarissa Dickson Wright's "Spilling the Beans" and to view the video bio (on YouTube) of the other Fat Lady, Jennifer Paterson. I've nothing so grand in scale or drama in my own clan, but the Ladies give me comfort. Great recipes, too!

    I do like that circle skirt; however I'd wear it with black top, tights and flats. Always looking for a chic way to wear flats -- and have you seen the great debate about whether one "may" wear flats on the red carpet? Pfui. HM the Queen has been scooting about in her little patent pumps for 6 decades. Of course, she does wear HATS.

    The Ferragamos are Sue-worthy shoes. I'd buy an outfit just to flaunt those crocs!

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  6. @Bibi
    I am really hoping it ends soon, it must be awful. Jungle Gardenia was exquisite, but alas gone forever. There's a reformulation from the "New" owner of the trademark, but it isn't even close. As for Big Lots-I have no idea. It used to be a good place for cheap bookcases, etc. but now I just go there for inexpensive tea and sardines.

    @Sue
    No one would ever know that the pots, furniture and even some plants in your beautiful garden are second hand. I'm the youngest of siblings, cousins, etc. I've been living with hand-me-downs my entire life-doesn't bother me one bit.

    @Curtise
    I'm sure your children will look back fondly on you. Mine? Not so sure.

    @Beth Waltz
    I'd write a memoir, but now that everyone's dead it would be so much less satisfying. Most families have an irrational relative-we had had several. I'll have a look at that memoir. Mr. ETB likes to tell people, "My wife grew up in a Ken Loach movie." But I think that's unfair...to the people in Ken Loach movies.

    The flats at Cannes issue is so...fill in the blank__________. It gets a bit absurd when they demand a woman with a prosthetic foot wear heels. I like ballerina flats, but that's about it. I have some nice "comfort" shoes, and I wear them, but given the choice I'd rather a heel.

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  7. @Mim
    It sounds like Mr. Robot had a good relationship with his mother, and hopefully those good memories will keep him going through the difficult times.

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