My Visit With Linda

Have you missed me?  Yeah, I took some time off from the blog to recharge my batteries :-)  But, now I AM BACK!  

If you remember, a few weeks ago my friend Linda, who blogs over at A La Carte, was traveling back from California to Georgia and made a pit stop in Colorado.  We had so much fun!! Of course, you can't visit Kath without a little drama thrown in too!

Linda & I have been buddies since the first day I started blogging!  She is even sweeter in person than on her blog or emails, if that is even possible!

After picking her up from the airport we met up with Mr. B and went to dinner. Linda and I ordered the same thing.  A BIG AS YOUR HEAD pork tenderloin sandwich!

It goes without saying, we each had some leftover!

We stayed up that first night just talking away, only stopping to sleep LOL!
Linda, being the sweety she is, brought me some lovely gifts too!

The next morning, Mr. B went up to his mom's place as his brother was in town and they were fixing some things up at her house.  That meant, Linda & I were free to to take a road trip.

This was Linda's first trip to Colorado so I had to take her to the mountains.  I choose The Garden Of The Gods as it is breathtakingly beautiful!

The Garden Of The Gods sits at the foot of Pikes Peak, one of the most visited mountains in the world! in July 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote the song "America the Beautiful", after having admired the view from the top of Pikes Peak.

It was pretty crowded so, I dropped Linda off to get photos while I circled around a few times until a parking spot came available and I joined her.

Okay, this next photo, I did not notice the "head" until I downloaded it to my computer!  Love it!

After filling our cameras with photos and picking up some souvenirs at the gift shop, we started back to Denver.  Oh but wait!  On our way, Linda spotted an Antique Mall!  Oh yes!  We had to stop!!   

This was the biggest antique mall I had ever been in!  We only got through half of it in our several hour visit! Oh the treasures we did see!

Linda was able to pick up quite a few little items that would safely fit into her suitcase.  You can see her lovely keepsakes here.

I only found a couple of things that I had to have, but I am kicking myself as there were some many pretties I should have bought!

Linda spotted this cutie pootie and just knew he was perfect with my Beach Mantel decor!

Well hello sailor!

I spotted this glass flower frog from across the room!  A while back, Linda did a blog post and mentioned, "one can never have too many flower frogs". Well, I left a comment that,  not only did I not have a single one, I had never seen one in person!  So, of course I had to have this!! $2.00! And now I have two, this one and the one Linda brought me. One big and one small :-)

Now, for the drama!  After we got home, Linda and I went and had dinner at the Olive Garden (shout out to our buddy Diann at The Thrifty Groove).  We had barely gotten home when my cell phone rang.  I was sure it was Mr. B letting me know when he would be home.  Instead, it was my favorite brother-in-law.  He asked how our day had been and I went on and on about all that we had seen and did.  I then asked about him.  "Um well, I'm sitting here with Mr. B in the ER". Wait! What??  Seems Mr. B started having some serious pain in his stomach.  Mr. B is a strong man so when his brother saw him sweating from the pain, he made him get in the truck and drove him to the hospital. This hospital is about 45 minutes away so, he told me to wait until he knew more before I drove over. He called back in 30 minutes and said I should probably come.  It was either his appendix or a kidney stone.  Linda graciously offered to stay with Max in case I needed to stay overnight and I FLEW to be by his side.  By the time I got there, Mr. B had been given pain meds and had had a CTScan. Prognosis, a kidney stone!  Whew!  No surgery required.  They kept him there for a couple more hours and then I was able to bring him home. By the time I got him settled in, fond a 24-hour pharmacy and got to bed myself it was close to 2:00 am. 

This kind of put a damper on the rest of Linda's visit but we made the most of it!  We spent an hour or so at my favorite Cost Plus World Market store on Sunday and just chilled and talked and talked some more.  Then, before she flew out on Monday, I introduced her to the wonders of Charming Charlie's, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Goochie's Cakes (best cupcakes in town!!).

Then, it was time for her to go (insert sad face!!).  It truly was a dream come true to get to give Linda a hug and to meet my BBF (Best Blogging Friend) and blogging sister! Not to worry!  I have plans to possibly meet up with her in Georgia in 2015!!

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Day Off Deals And Steals

It's been a looong time since I have shared any thrifted finds with you.

Oh, I have tried. I've been to the thrift stores numerous times over the past few months but, nothing has caught my eye or excited me enough to buy.

Plus, we are still trying to sell our house so, I don't really want to bring more in.

Then, I had this past Friday off from work for the holiday. 

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that during the week,

I share some photos from local estate sales and ask if you'd pass or buy. 

It's a fun little game and I get to know my readers better

by seeing what they pick.

Anywho, I decided to actually go to a couple of the estate sales in person.

The first one was pretty picked over and I didn't find anything worth buying. 

On to the second one.  This one was full of nice things but most

seemed priced pretty high until I saw this

Mr. B has been wanting a nice chess set for a long time. 

I texted him some photos and he responded, all in caps, "GET IT!".

Um so, I did LOL.

It is in really good condition and none of the pieces

are missing which is always good! 

He just loves it and can't wait to display it once we get into a new home.

I milled around some more seeing if there was something I could find for me.

I was looking through a closet and waaaay up on top towards the back

I spied something golden and sparkly.  I pulled it down and smiled.

It was really hard to get a good picture but, it is a set of Gold metallic, organzay (yes I did just make that word up) placemats.

Yes!  12 of them for $8.00!  But wait!  There's more! 

I looked a bit harder in the closet and found these

Squee!!  Matching napkins!

Missing two but, I doubt I would ever use 12 anyway!

I went ahead and paid for my goodies and thought about going home

but, I remembered that it seems like I always want to go to Hobby Lobby

but only remember on Sundays, when they are closed. So, off I went.

Of course, Hobby Lobby, like Michael's, was already setting up their Christmas displays.  I read an article recently that said they do this because, get this,

we want them to.  I find that really hard to believe. 

What say you?  Do you want the craft stores to start putting out

holiday decor 6 months in advance? 

Well, I wasn't there to see all of that.  I was hoping for some 4th of July or Summer items to be discounted.  Yeah, not so much. 

Red, white and blue items were only 50% off, just like they probably were 2 weeks before the holiday! 

Not one to give up easily, I decided to check out some other aisles.

And boy oh boy am I glad I did!

I rounded a corner and saw this

The whole one side of the aisle, at least 4 deep, full of terra cotta wine coolers!

I believe they were used in the faux floral department at one time and they have gone a different route. Some were chipped or stained but,

I grabbed 3 of them.

My mind was going crazy with all of the uses I could come up with!

Centerpieces of course, wrapping with burlap or fabric, trimming them with some bling, distressing with paints...endless possibilities I tell you!!

Of course, when I posted about it on Facebook,

I was told I needed to go back and buy more! 

I am here to tell you faithful Facebook followers, that when I showed Ms K the photo, she skittered right down to the store and got herself some

and picked me up 3 more!  So, now I have 6 to play with, 

Oh, and the price? 

Sit down, 25 CENTS each!! 

Ack!  I kid you not! 

Imagine if you were planning a wedding, you could have vases for centerpieces for 20 tables for 5 bucks!!  Total!

Not as exciting but still a great deal were 2 of these yellow bottles.

Although I would have liked three of them, they only had the two

but what a nice price!

I'm pretty sure that none of you reading this would have paid $14.99 for one but, I'm thinking there would be an arm wrestling match right there in the store at $1.50, am I right?

My final score was something for my front garden. 

Normally $15.99 but it was marked 66% off so I had to get it!

I think it perfectly states my gardening style and I love the blue paisley!

So there you have it.  My fun day off of deals and steals. 

How do you think I did?

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Updating With Spray Paint - Before & After

Almost a full year ago I joined some
blogging friends and spent the day thrift store shopping.

At that time I had purchased this:

He only cost me $2.50! I had plans of painting him and displaying him on our mantel shelves.

So, a year has come and gone and I just now got around to it!

As much as I love spray painting and it took me a year?

Anywho, last week I saw him just sitting there, looking all scuffed up and dirty,

and decided it was time to clean him up.

In spray painting him white, I learned a valuable lesson.
DON'T buy the cheap .98 cans of paint.
It had to have taken 8-10 coats to get the coverage I wanted.
I went through 2 cans of spray paint!!
Lesson learned, go for the good stuff.
I may pay more but I have no doubt I would have not used even a half a can!

Oh I do love how he looks now!

He is going to be the perfect addition to my summer mantel!

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Thrift Date

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that I recently had the chance to meet up with my bloggy pal, Elaine from Creating Wonderful Spaces. 

I had won her most recent giveaway and what a perfect excuse to get together for some thrift shopping and lunch!

We met in the middle at a Goodwill that neither of us had ever shopped at before.  Let me tell you! This was the nicest Goodwill I had ever been in! It was like shopping at a fancy boutique. And the people working there could not have been any nicer.  Totally different from the location near my home! I know I will be shopping here again!

Anywho, I can't go thrift shopping and NOT show you what I scored! 

 Elaine actually spotted this for me just as we walked into the store. 

Yellow tags were not 50% off but, into my cart it went!  It's a bit scuffed up but, I plan to paint it and put it up in my new office.  That's if Mr. B doesn't claim it for himself!

Elaine is a fellow tablescaper too so, we made sure to go through the plate aisles thoroughly. Look at what made it into my cart!

 4 sweet squarish salad plates. I can't decide what about them I like most, the shape, the checks, the flowers or the price.

White tags WERE 50% off so I only paid $1.00 each. There are some beauty marks, a few chips and crazing in the glaze but, I {heart} them!

I put this next piece in my cart because I really like the shape.  I also plan to paint it to either display in my office or, on one of the mantle shelves in the family room.

Another white tag, so I was only out $3.50 for it. 

Christmas decor was also discounted 50% so we also made sure to check out all of the holiday decor shelves.

I saw this big metal sled and I knew I had to have it!  I can use it next year for a centerpiece, on the buffet or, I can hang it on the wall by the cord. 

$3.00 was worth paying!

And check out these sweet snowman family napkin rings! I may regret posting them as my mother-in-law LOVES anything to do with snowmen and she may want them for herself.

At only $1.00 I may let her have them...if she makes some homemade cinnamon rolls in exchange for them LOL!

My final purchase was this set of four placemats.

 The birdhouses and blue birds will be perfect for a Spring tablescape.  

Only $1.00 for each placemat!

Elaine had a full cart too and I wish I had taken pictures of the beauties she made off with!  Not to worry, we have decided that we will be getting together more often to hit the thrifts.  Next time she will show me her haunts and then, I will have my turn to show her my little secret stores. 
Have you been lucky enough to make friends with a local blogger? I highly recommend it!

Click here to see where I may be partying this week.
And don't forget to come by on Tuesday's
for the link party.