Pupule

Chinoise

2012-01-29T12:58:00.001-06:00

Do you remember this? There is an American checkerboard on the other side. I found it at the thrift. No marbles. It almost comes in its own frame so it will probably be heading to a place on my walls.

Getting warmer...

2012-01-25T04:40:00.000-06:00

I found another Quistgaard pepper mill in a haystack.

Espresso Backsliding

2012-01-24T05:02:00.000-06:00

I have not purchased anything brand new for ages. That is the way it goes when you have a minuscule income. I rarely go shopping for new things. I recently headed out because someone requested that I look for an espresso maker for them. As usual, no good came of this. How cute are these Bodum espresso cups? Glass and porcelain with those rubber grip middles in ridges and dots. No, you did not read it wrong. She did not ask for espresso cups. She asked for an espresso maker. These ended up being for me. I got a pair of each. They were marked way down so if you want some I suggest you head out and get yourself some. They are cheap.

Oh, wait. It gets worse. I also bought a pair of each of these as well. These are various designs, colors and sizes of the larger sized cups. Well, at least my coffee will look good.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-23T04:58:00.000-06:00

Sorry. This is all I have for you image-wise today. The cold snowstorm pushed me toward making some wonton soup. Since I am trying to make them with a healthier slant, they were not as tasty as my regular recipe which means I will have to tweak them again.

At least I did not fry them, which, would have been sooo good.

Abandoned

2012-01-20T05:54:00.000-06:00

So I have this "alley" problem. If I see something that has potential I rescue it for myself or a friend I know would like it. Don't judge. A few years ago I found an Eames ottoman in the exact same alley. Besides, I figure that I can always place it right back in the alley if I change my mind, right? I had to act fast because there is a snowstorm on its way her tonight. Behold, yesterday's pillage. Cute? I am not sure what I will do with it, but it will not be messed with until the weather is spring-like again.

1970's Thomasville.

The top has some issues.

I cannot resist a piece of furniture on wheels. Any transformation suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Jack

2012-01-18T09:16:00.001-06:00

I am digging this new pattern Hey Jack from Flor. Out of my price range right now.

90

2012-01-17T10:19:00.001-06:00

Not possible.

New Year

2012-01-13T14:57:00.002-06:00

I am lagging behind with the posts in the new year. I received this too cute 2012 postcard from a friend in Japan. The cute stamp just sent it way over the top.

New Years Eve eve

2011-12-30T05:17:00.000-06:00

I want the year to go out on a positive note so here is some major cuteness for you.

Love Jones...or hate

2011-12-28T05:14:00.000-06:00

This is definitely going to be one of those things you either love or you hate. There probably isn't any middle ground. The boots above are designed and made by Luxury Jones. All recycled vintage materials. No pair are alike. I chose to show this pair because they were the closest to a pair I might consider purchasing. There are some styles that are a bit too much for me. Lace. Doo-dads. Not really me. This pair is about the extent of embellishment I want. Guess what? $400. I am not saying that she should not charge $400 or that they are not worth $400. I am just saying that I will not be paying $400 to try them out.

You could make those! Of course, I was not the first person to realize that. There are several tutorials on the web, but I am just going to refer to the Mr. Kate tutorial because it is very easy to follow. It also illustrates how each person can personalize their boots. She tends to enjoy her embellishments, while I do not.

Here are my supplies. I went on half-off day at the thrift store so my total came to $10 for all of the above.

These are the finished product. Well, they are not glued yet. Not bad. Either way, $10 is so much better than $400,

Christmas Duck

2011-12-25T16:15:00.003-06:00

This year there was a break in tradition. There is absolutely no snow to be found and I have yet to even wear a pair of gloves to date. It was sunny and in the 50's today. It is just so wrong. I decided that I felt like creating a new tradition to go along with the weather. Peking duck for Christmas dinner. I cannot believe that we are Chinese and we have never had Peking duck for Christmas. I will never make that mistake again. The snow should be back next Christmas and I will make sure that the duck is as well.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T05:29:00.001-06:00

I did not participate in any holiday ornament swaps this year. I made these mini dolls for a few people around the globe. These are the extent of my holiday tree bling. Merry Christmas!

PSA

2011-12-19T14:18:00.006-06:00

I am going to take a disco nap this afternoon because I have to stay awake and watch this. It is on at 10pm tonight in my area. Check your local listings so you don't miss out.

Dusting

2011-12-17T08:48:00.003-06:00

This morning we have out first real measurable snowfall and it has not stopped yet. This is very late in December for Chicago to have its first snowfall. It will all be gone by tomorrow because we are back in warmer temps again. It doesn't really feel like Christmas around here.

Well, it's something

2011-12-14T05:16:00.000-06:00

I made this yarn wreath last night while watching TV. It is a small gift for my godmother. I am still waiting for Ryan Gosling to come over and give me that shoulder rub.

Just what you need

2011-12-11T15:11:00.004-06:00

Have you been going crazy with your holiday crafting this weekend? So you need a little pick-me-up? A little something to help you make it through? A little crafty Ryan Gosling? I have just the thing. Trust me, it is hilarious. You are welcome. http://handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com/

Crunch?

2011-12-09T15:55:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving day there was a soapy bath and the placing of the holiday collar. Now there are only two full weekends left. I am behind. I mailed out my packages right after Thanksgiving and somehow I still fell behind regarding the cookies, the crafts, etc. Time to kick it into warp speed. How about you? Have a good weekend.

Cool, but now what?

2011-12-02T05:01:00.000-06:00

I saw this on my last visit to Tim and Tom's and thought it was cool, but I did not buy it. When I went back a few weeks ago, the vendor was closing their booth so it was half off. Sold. It is a metal vertical file. I had seen card catalogs like this (oh, that reminds me, I never posted about that large card catalog file table I found....), but I had not seen a vertical file. I thought I would use it as a lamp table and possibly store my albums in it. Or I could place a portable record player on top of it. Should I add a wood top? It could be painted since it does have some scratching going on. Like I said, it was a cool idea when I bought it, but now what should I do with it?

Red Hot

2011-12-01T09:07:00.000-06:00

I started to make my jams and butters a couple of months ago so that they would be ready to give away this holiday season. They all seem to have turned out fine. A week or so ago I decided to make an additional jelly. Red pepper jelly. I only made one batch because it is not for everyone and I made it with the addition of a Thai red chili. It has a nice heat with the sweet. The problem is the pectin. I used the powder variety for all of my other recipes. When I found this recipe on Cooks.com for the red pepper jelly it called for the liquid Certo. I used it and it did not gel. It stated that it can take up to 2 weeks for some types of jellies to gel. No such luck. So, the other day I re-boiled and added a second pouch of Certo. It is sitting in my fridge right now, but it is still not thickening to my liking. I will give it a few days, but I am having my doubts. Damn you, Certo!

RED PEPPER JELLY

6 lg. red peppers
1 1/2 c. cider vinegar
6 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 pouch Certo
Process 1/2 pepper and
1/2 vinegar at a time in a blender. Add all ingredients except pectin and bring
to boil over medium heat. Add pectin and reboil. Cook until it thickens, about
20 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and seal process 10 minutes.

Pimp your bird

2011-11-18T05:50:00.002-06:00

I know that you will be busy planning your Thanksgiving menu this weekend. I also know that you want to out-bling everyone at the table. Here is your chance. You can buy edible spray paint and pimp your bird. Get it here. Just some useless info for your Friday.

Effort

2011-11-15T04:45:00.000-06:00

I saw plenty of men in NY that have that effortlessly thrown together look when it comes to fashion. This was one of them. It looks as if little effort and money went into their ensemble, but I know better. Do not get me wrong. I am not complaining.

High Line

2011-11-14T04:44:00.000-06:00

Have you walked the High Line? If not, I strongly suggest it on your next trip to NY. It is such a great addition to New York city and an incredibly smart use of an old dilapidated rail line. I walked the line from 23rd down to 14th. You are among foliage, sculpture and incredible views as you walk above the din of the traffic among the Manhattan skyline.

There are plenty of spots to stop and sit and enjoy the beauty of this place.

This is something you do not expect in the middle of the city.

This is one of the sculptures along the way. Upon closer look you find out that it is also a bird sanctuary. There are houses, feeders and watering for the bird population.

It might take you longer to get to your destination because you are constantly tempted to stop and sit. I would also recommend this for a weekend morning. I do not consider myself a particularly early riser. I was walking this at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and enjoyed a very peaceful walk. There were runners that passed every now and then, but it was not heavily populated at all.

The Look of Love

2011-11-10T09:33:00.002-06:00

All of you dog owners out there will understand when I say that nobody will love you unconditionally like your dog. I saw these two as I waited to meet a friend for coffee. Do you see that concentration and longing in their eyes? They are focused on the front door of the coffee shop awaiting the return of their human. That is love.

Away

2011-11-08T08:10:00.002-06:00

It has been silent here because I have been away to New York. Most of my money was spent on espresso and treats. I started many a morning here, at Cafe Grumpy. More later.

Line!

2011-10-18T04:53:00.000-05:00

Having attended a large university where you were never quite sure that you knew everything that was going on, I had a tendency to get into a large line and then ask what it was for. It was a sort of insurance against my paranoia. I did not want to miss out on anything. Especially if it was a class I was supposed to be registering for. This weekend I drove past this very long line and wondered if I was missing out on something that everyone else seemed to know about. My first thought were "incredible house sale", but I was wrong. I went home and looked up the URL that was posted on a banner. There was a two day event in Chicago called Openhouse Chicago that was organized through the Architecture Foundation. It was a weekend when anyone could visit various architectural sites around the city on their own for no entry fee. There were sites all over the city. Some were not regularly open to the public. This particular site was pretty special. I have driven past this house my entire life. I thought it was a Frank Lloyd Wight house, but never thought about it anymore than that. I guess I was just so used to seeing it. This house, the "Emil Bach House" built in 1915 is a private residence that began the restoration process in 2006. It is usually not open to public viewing so it was a special treat. Of course, I had to go and get in line the next day. It was worth waiting a little while in line for this.

They have also done major work on the landscaping. These marigolds are initially a vast sea of colorful tulips in the beginning of spring.

This is from the sitting area and dining room looking back to the sun room.

Sitting area around the fireplace.

I love this dining room table and chairs.

I tried to get the panoramic view from inside one of the front bedrooms. I think my favorite detail in this house is the amount of windows and available light.

Every bedroom has a set of these glass doors which look as if they lead nowhere because there is wood behind them. They are actually doors to an outdoor terrace. Every bedroom leads out to a terrace.

Just outside the back door.

This is the structure behind the house which I think I might like even more than the house itself. I wish I had more detail shots, but it was crowded and you had to keep moving.

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

2011-10-17T05:09:00.002-05:00

I haven't really started to pimp my mini crib yet. So, the other day I was lucky enough to stumble upon a basket filled with ziploc bags containing loads of Lilliputian goodies. How very fitting that I would begin to outfit my miniature house at the same place I outfit my human house...the rummage sale. For those of you who have ever priced miniature items you are aware of their high price points. I thought these items to be a steal. This is only a portion of what I purchased and I only spent $6. Just as with my own house, I started out with books. These even have pages that you can flip through.

I have to prepared for game night.

I am in the middle of renovations and I have to be ready to DIY at any minute.

Candelabra, candlesticks and chandelier.

A nice woven rug.

TWO bear skin rugs. I did not realize until I got home tha they are real fur. So, it is agood beginning from the vintage end. Now I look for the midcentury modern side.

Naked, but finished....finally

2011-10-13T05:23:00.000-05:00

I never thought the day would come, but it has. Let us go back to the day that my toilet started leaking and I realized it was time for a change. Try to remember that tile and tube with a yellowish cast and the water damaged dry wall next to the tub.

Then we stripped everything down to the bare necessities.

Here is the result.

A little rain shower in the morning now.

A newly refinished bright white tub to go with those new white tiles.

Don't forget the $20 medicine cabinet from the thrift store soon to be made over.

And the before lighting - this lovely rattan tulip bulb light fixture.

The lovely wallpaper gifted to me from b.

I guess we had already changed out the faucet here, but it was a different style which is evident in another picture.

Lovely. New toilet and scary ass wall.

There is the old faucet and medicine cabinet.

Voila. Not accessorized, but finished.

I had to take a second shot to include the new vintage light fixture. Since work was mostly done on one weekend day a week it did take a bit longer to finish, but it was well worth it. I have put this off for almost 10 years and now it is finished. It came in just under $825 total for labor and materials. That is a budget I can deal with.

One more day

2011-10-12T17:18:00.005-05:00

They say that today may be the last of a string of almost 14 days of unseasonably warm weather. We have had bright sunshine and temperatures in the upper seventies and low eighties for a good long stretch. They say this will change tomorrow and it will definitely feel like fall next week.

That tiny speck of white is a sailboat on the horizon.

People eeked out one more day at the beach. I will be OK with some boot weather now.

Dreamin'

2011-10-10T05:42:00.000-05:00

"Why?" you ask. Oh, I don't know. I thought I had a good reason. You must know that I am highly suggestible. I can get suckered into a lot of things. You know, "all the cool kids are doin' it". It all started when Emily Henderson posted this on her blog. I thought it was fun, but was not going to join in. I became even more intimidated when people started to build replicas of mid-century homes all on their own. I can't do that. I will only go so far. Then I saw this at a sale the other day. A nice, simple A-frame which could house all of the wonderful mid-century vintage pieces that could never fit into my real home. I would have to do it on a major budget in order to justify my participation. Starting with this house. It was marked $8. You should know by now that I was not paying that. I waited until I thought the half-price sale would start. I made it just in time. The frenzy had started and it was still there. Even better is that it had previously been marked down to $6 for some reason. So, I scored it for $3. My nice, big, empty abode. I am going to pimp this thing out. You wait and see. My sister is worried that I will turn into the "miniature killer" that was on "C.S.I".

Roadtrip Food

2011-10-06T04:49:00.000-05:00

To continue on with the Wisconsin road trip I thought I would mention Captain Porky's. It is now on the way to Wisconsin. It recently moved locations so it is smack dab on the travel route. I had not been there before but ha read about it. It is run bu a Greek immigrant who learned English and how to cook from two creole transplants. They taught him all about that good old creole Louisiana cooking. Captain Porky's? He really does not know why he picked that name and wishes he could change it. I guess at the time it fulfilled the explanation of smoked barbecue foods and seafood. He is really interested in healthful cooking and foods and he offers this along with the not so healthy because that is what his patrons prefer.

This is the barbecue rib tips with greens and garlic potatoes.

I had the lobster po boy sandwich.

I also bought this. Hen of the woods mushroom. They are only available for a limited time each year. He had a mixed mushroom salad including this. He also offered them as a fried mushroom. I asked if they sold it fresh by the pound and they do. I was curious to try them. I brought them home and had them sauteed in olive oil with herbs and a little butter. You should try them if you have not yet done so. They have such a nice texture. I will see if they have them this week at the farmer's market.

Fresh Air

2011-10-05T05:25:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon was a time to get out and get some fresh air. Actually, we had to. The paint being used to finish the bathroom in the morning was rather noxious and we felt we should evacuate for a few hours to save a few brain cells. So, the four legged one rode shotgun and we headed over the border. You only have to drive north for a short time before you witness the leaves beginning to change.

We headed to Tim and Tom's Cheese. They have an outdoor flea market once a month and this was the last outdoor market of the year. Tim and Tom's Cheese can meet many of your cheese needs as well as antique needs because there is an antique mall included in the building. How can you beat that? Cheese, antiques and an outdoor flea market all at once! Well, I am really being excited for you because I am unable to eat cheese, the first part does not really excite me as much.

So, you go inside and there is a cheese shop filled with almost all of your cheese dreams. I would say that they would fulfill your American cheese dreams, not necessarily your European cheese dreams. You can have some cheddar in the shape of the state of Wisconsin.

And right next to that fridge is a display of some antiques for sale. This is not what the whole place looks like. The store is self contained and there are actual antique vendor booths in the remainder of the building space.

You can get your cheese curds or your cheese spreads. By the way, if you familiar with Merkts cheese spread, then you will know Tim and Tom because they are the sons of the Merkts family.

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese.

Even your cheesehead hats in every shape and size.

Back to the outdoor flea market. They had some good things at great prices. I ended up purchasing a few goodies. I found a nice piece of Fat Lava ceramics. It was already a great price and had no plans to bargain when the dealer automatically lowered the price when I brought it over to pay. I also purchased a cool tall glass pyrex piece to use as a vase. It is labeled as a fleaker on the outside. I am guessing that that means it is a fluid beaker.

Finally there is this little midcentury stool. I liked it because it reminded me of a baseball. I walked away to think about it and the woman yelled after me that she would lower the price. I got it for $5. My Mom does not see the reference do you? Does it remind you of a baseball?

Hidden Treasure...Spring Project

2011-09-29T05:08:00.000-05:00

This is one of my hidden treasures. She is a vintage Honda Passport C70 motor scooter. I bought her about 15 years ago, had her brought up to riding condition and she has been hidden away for many years stored at my Mom's house because I have no place to store her where I currently live. I recently decided that enough is enough. Since my bathroom was my fall project, she will be my next big project in the spring. I have found someone who has agreed to work on her until she is in running order. I visited yesterday and decided to take a picture of her among the drop cloths and paint cans in the garage. Soon...soon we will be out on the open road again. Would you believe me if I told you that I found her all those years ago at a rummage sale? It's true.

Schwag

2011-09-26T05:12:00.000-05:00

I think I forgot to post a few weeks ago regarding some great finds at three rummage sales. This pendant light was one of them. I would like to hang it in my living room, but I am undecided. There seems to be some sort of unwritten law against swags in livingrooms. I will have to wait to decide. I also found an incredibly cool table that I will have to share at a later date. I am deciding where it will go and how I can possibly get it to go on wheels. At one of these sales I walked into a furniture tent to behold about 200 - 300 Eames shell chairs stacked in rows. Unbelievable. They were about $10 each I think. One person had purchased all of them. Quite the find.

Saturday

2011-09-24T18:39:00.006-05:00

This picture pretty much sums up my Saturday. I went early to one of my old stand-by annual rummage sales only to fins a sea of people waiting in line. They gave become overcrowded since the days have been moved to Saturday from Thursday mornings. I don't like it. Anyway, I only spent $5. I bought 4 items. Total. That was it. After the sale I stopped at a nearby farmer's market. I am always sucked in by things I have never prepared. I am sucked even further if said item is super-sized. Can you believe that kohlrabi? In order to give you some scale I made my Mom sit in the picture.

This was my only little gem of a find today. Vintage red leather suitcase with a nice old gold monogram. This is definitely going with me on my next overnight road trip.

I consoled myself with a raspberry paczki and it was good. I love that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. Now, what to do with that kohlrabi?

Lies,lies,lies,lies

2011-09-22T05:23:00.000-05:00

Remember these walls before? A little scarier after prep work was completed. Now it was my turn to do some work. I painted and wallpapered over the past couple of days. I was a bit delusional and thought that this was going to be easy. It would be my first attempt at hanging wallpaper. I borrowed a couple books from the library and watched some "how to" videos on Youtube. They all convinced me that hanging wallpaper was so easy. Liars! The one I enjoyed most was this video by Ferm Living. I could do that! Not only was it cute and easy, but they had me believing I would be chilling and groovin' out in my bathroom as I worked. Lies! First off, the paper I used did not employ the "paste the walls" technique so I had to try and paste the entire long sheets in a somewhat cramped area. I also did not find the pre-mixed adhesive so I mixed my own. Oh yes, I screwed up many things, but was able to rectify most. Remember "measure twice, cut once" from sewing? Well, I should have reminded myself because I completely cut one strip incorrectly and was so lucky that I had just enough paper to complete the papering I needed to do. I really don't know why I am being so picky about the workmanship. I act as if I have royalty or interior design magazines visiting. Nope. Just me.

It still needs to be siliconed along some edges, but I guess it's not too shabby for a first attempt.

Weekend Flea

2011-09-20T05:33:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I went up to Wisconsin to check out a small flea market being held outside a small antique mall. I have not been to a flea market in a very long time. Well, if you don't count the Brooklyn Flea when I visit New York. As a small child I would be awakened in the middle of the night (around 3 or 4 a.m.) and hauled into the backseat of a car where I would sleep with the son of my Mom's best friend until we reached the flea market. These were the serious flea markets back then. We usually had to drive a few hours to get to certain parts of Wisconsin. We had to get there extremely early in order to get the best antiques. When I think back on it, as kids we never thought there was anything strange about this. Anyway, as an adult I have not been frequenting flea markets. This was a good foray back in. It was small, not too early (around 8:30) and it did not take long to get there (less than an hour). The people were really nice (hey, it is Wisconsin) and the prices were reasonable.

I was surprised to find that the prices inside the mall were reasonable as well. It is good to know when you want a bargain and it is snowy and cold outside.

I found this great big old men's Timex. I have a thing for men's watches and have been looking for a big one for some time. This was only $4.

I found this handmade tool box. The drawers are wood. It is pretty cool and I will use it to house my smaller letterpress type.

This is some of the other random things I picked up there as well.

A fun day was had by all. I spotted a sign for another one in a few weeks a little bit closer and will probably check it out and report back.

Don't Get Me Started

2011-09-19T05:36:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wish you could put Jeannie back into that bottle. It seems like ever since that toilet leaked and I replaced it my brain has been on a rampage when it comes to decorating changes. Everything was so calm there for a little while. I have decided that I should start going to smaller rummage sales that are unknown to me. I am used to waiting in line with hundreds of people, so maybe a little change might be needed. On Friday I went to a sale I had never been to. I arrived 5 minutes before it opened and there was nobody there. Let me tell you that this never happens. A minute or so later 2 women arrived. By the time I got out to get in line and they opened up for business there were only 5 of us there. Never underestimate what you might be able to find. I found this great bench for $10. I did not really need it, but I could not pass it up and the wheels started turning in my head. In my brain I was rotating furniture all over my house until I figured out exactly where I plan to place it. Now I will have to do all of this planning, moving and redecorating I never planned on. All because of one little leak.

It is in perfect condition though.

Stone fruit

2011-09-15T05:11:00.002-05:00

Fresh peaches and vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream. I have no good reason for this post only to remind you that peaches are in season.

Bathroom project...one of many

2011-09-14T09:40:00.005-05:00

Back to the "before". I think that the medicine cabinet is too small. When I first moved in there was a much larger cabinet, but at the time it was too dark and bulky so I replaced it with that smaller one. Now I am leaning toward a larger one. I like having a large place to stash my stuff and the convenience of a mirror right above the sink. I realize that there are many people out there who hate medicine cabinets. Why the hate?

The problem is that medicine cabinets ain't cheap. $169? Really? If they are cheap, there is a reason.

You know what comes next. By some miracle I found this one at the thrift store for (as you can see) $20.06. It is my next project for the bathroom.

Progress

2011-09-13T05:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, there is actual progress being made. The bathroom is more than half finished. Next weekend it will be mostly finished save for the parts I am supposed to do myself like paint and wallpaper.

I cannot wait until I get to actually use this. I am waiting until the bath is completely finished before I indulge in using any of the new pieces...well, except for the toilet. I am really pleased with the way things are turning out and the impact it has had on my wallet. So far, so good.

I Heard the Angels Singing..this time furreal

2011-09-09T05:27:00.000-05:00

Come on! Is this not a piece of vintage Christmas awesomeness?! About two feet tall worth. This will be my only Christmas decoration. I think the nimbus needs a little blinging out, but I could not pass this up. He also needs a new bulb. He is heavy and I hauled him down the streets of Chicago with no shame. He needs a name now. Castiel? Charlie?

Fight Against Acting

2011-09-07T08:57:00.001-05:00

I just found this via Hello Giggles and it is hilarious. I had to share it and make you laugh today.

A Real Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T05:45:00.000-05:00

This actually ended up being a weekend of labor. As a refresher, remember that not so great yellowish tile?

All day Saturday was spent removing it from the walls and prepping it for the new tile.

These pictures are deceiving due to the flash. That tub is actually a yellowish color similar to the tiles. It looks white in these pictures. Trust me, it is not. It is going to be refinished in a bright white before this renovation is complete.

This section of wall needs to be repaired from water damage so the drywall was ripped off.

See? All clean and ready for tile. The problem is that there is now a gap between the wood and the wall for the tile so we are going to have to add some type of wood moulding there.

All day Sunday was actually spent preparing the drywall for that small patch, plastering, cutting and gluing tile. I was too lazy to take a picture of the tile setting with spacers. Everything is at a halt until next weekend when the grouting is done as well as the finishes to the walls, etc.

Sorry for the awful layout to this post. I tried the new blogger interface and it just really screwed everything up and I am unable to use it successfully.

Let There Be Light...and air

2011-08-30T05:26:00.000-05:00

This weekend was the weekend of electrical work and lighting. I would first like to say that someone out there needs to design some decent looking ceiling fans. I have looked for so long that my eyes hurt. It is all pretty ugly, but I really need some type of cooling in my kitchen. Especially in searing heat like we experienced this summer.

So, it only took several years, but that Poulsen light is finally hung. Please excuse all wall finishes in these pictures. The painting projects will be attacked in the fall.

This huge globe light was added to my dark hallway. I know that people tend to dislike globe lights, but I like to pretend I have my own disco ball. This thing is about 10-12 inches in diameter. It is ready to party.

This is the light fan I ended up installing in the kitchen. It is a nice size - 30 inches. It does not grab your attention so you hardly even notice it and it really gets the air moving around. It will do for now. Do you like the halo of beige paint around it? That's what happens when you replace a large fixture with a smaller one. Remember what I told you about ignoring wall finishes?

This weekend will be the weekend of the bathroom. Finally. That tub and shower will be conquered!

Sweet and Salty Sunday

2011-08-28T13:22:00.002-05:00

I was off this Sunday so I got to skip teaching my class. Do you think I went and exercised on my own since I was not teaching. Of course not. That is why my clothes are currently too tight. I decided to take the opportunity to go and have some early Sunday brunch. Ever since going to see "The Help" I have been craving some soul food. I just read a review of Ruby's Restaurant which opened up in the spot formerly occupied for many many years by Edna's. Why not combine breakfast and lunch, salty and sweet? That's right. Why not since I had already blown it with the skipped workout? I ordered the chicken and waffles. Sorry, I only had fuzzy pictures so they are not included. The chicken were pieces of breast meat, I believe. On another plate I received one jumbo waffle. I asked for the fresh strawberries and whipped cream on the side. It was very filling but not enough to make you feel stuffed. I have to admit that the chicken was not quite as good as MacArthur's, but I could be biased. Their prices were a little higher than MacArthur's when it came to entrees as well. I really cannot compare since I did not try any of their entree items. My chicken and waffles were dirt cheap. $4.99.

I think that this was my favorite part. Look at all of the mile high cakes! They were under $3 a slice. They all sat on that wonderful old counter! I just love counter seating. Next time I am sitting there for a piece of cake and a cup of joe. I hear my running shoes calling me.

Forced rehab

2011-08-22T05:07:00.000-05:00

Pretty, isn't it? My toilet started to leak last week and I had to face the realization that I needed a new one. It was a nice old toilet. This is the new one that was installed over the weekend. Uh, I guess the new one has a smaller water tank and the wall behind it is not finished like the rest of it. Great. I have been putting off doing any bathroom renovations for quite some time. I was going to ease into it bit by bit. Well, not any longer. I am moving it into high gear.

This is the lovely color of the tile that surrounds the shower. Not offensive, but not want I wanted. Now that there is water getting behind them it is time to rehab that as well.

I am deciding between these 3 x 6 white subway tiles

and these 8 x 10 white tiles. I am leaning toward the larger tiles only because the floor is a white hexagonal subway tile and I think it might be too busy.

This is the lovely bathroom lighting fixture. Who doesn't love tulip shades and rattan bases? Especially when one of them does not even work.

I am hoping that this fixture will be replacing it.

Again, I was going to wait a bit until I undertook the task of putting some of this wallpaper up on the bathroom walls. Now I guess I no longer have that luxury.

You hardly notice it now, do you?...with my camouflage...Dangit!

Barbie's Dream House

2011-08-16T05:08:00.000-05:00

I was first intrigued by this because I thought it looked like a Barbie clothing closet. Can't you see the cool faux wood door on the right? No such luck. I dare say it is even better. I know that it may seem I am moving backward in time when it comes to my technology, but I like this for a practical reason. It mounts on the wall. Are you like me? Do you find that you want to whip something up real quick, but you don't want to hassle with your big Kitchen-aid Stand mixer? I'll take it one step further. Are you lazy like me and you really don't feel like going into your cabinet for the hand mixer and then digging through the drawer for the whips? OK, maybe not because I am incredibly lazy.

Voila. That little closet not only mounts on the kitchen wall, it also houses all the parts to your hand mixer.

And really. Where are you going to find that almond yellow color these days?

The Right Tool for the Job

2011-08-15T05:18:00.000-05:00

Don't you love it when you have the right tool for the job and it makes everything go so much smoother? There are so many ways that this discussion could go wrong if you were to go solely on the visual. For oh so many years I have wanted this spice rack from D&D. I admit that it is not very practical, but it just looks so cool. Imagine my surprise when I found this one unmarked at that sale a few weeks ago.

I inquired about the price and the woman said that she would check. Well, they had another spice rack (not anything like this) and it was marked $4 so I could have it for the same price. Um...OK!

It was pretty dusty and a little bit rusty. How was I going to clean this thing? Enter the tool at the top of the post. For some reason, My Mom has various test tube brushes under the sink to clean out bottles. I initially tried a more triangular shaped brush, but it did not get the basin at the tip of the tube. The one above is the clear winner. You see, it has that soft cotton string-like mop at the end that easily cleans the end of the tube. Genius. Also, a little SOS on the rack to minimize that rust.

Ta-dah!

It looks pretty good. Now all I have to do is stock up on some brand new spices and herbs.

Brava!

2011-08-12T09:18:00.005-05:00

Today would be the perfect weather for riding around town on this sweet thing. I think this is one of the best collaborations Target has had so far. Missoni. Love it. If you want to see more you can view the slide show and article from the NY Times here. There are over 400 pieces. I wonder if they can come out with a Fiat Cinquecento for me. Dare to dream.

This is going on the end of my bed this fall. All this and football is on TV tonight. Happy Friday!

So far so good

2011-08-11T10:12:00.004-05:00

This is a small portion of what I have completed so far. They may not be earth shattering, but at least I can say that I threw something. These are very wee, but I sort of prefer working that way for now.

The bowl on the left was thrown on the wheel while the other two were hand built on molds.

Nobody will every say that I am not practical.

Idle Hands

2011-08-06T09:56:00.003-05:00

Doing my best to keep the devil at bay. I have been taking a wheel throwing class for about 4 sessions. In the past, I have never been successful at throwing on the wheel so this is just another self imposed challenge among a long list. I do not know if I will ever learn how to properly center, but I am determined to keep on trying. This is the only fatality so far. Not too bad for about 15 pieces. I should have finished pieces in the middle of the week.

Did you see Coldplay at Lollapalooza last night? They were pretty incredible. It was pretty rainy this morning and it is supposed to get warm and muggy today. Maybe some Eminem and Cee Lo can take your mind off of it.

Heat Stroke

2011-08-04T08:35:00.005-05:00

I have not been posted for awhile because I am just coming out of my daze. I will be the first person to complain about any type of heat when there is any. I hate it. So, it will not surprise you that I have been bitching non-stop for over two weeks now. It has simply been unlivable around here. Trust me, nobody wants to live around me either. Even with the air conditioning, it has not been pretty awful. I have found that people (not just me) are super irritable as well. So, what I am about to describe simply defies logic. If I was asked to walk across the room to go and get something ( say, a glass of ice water ) I whined about it. But, tell me there is a rummage sale and I was out the door. That is correct. It seems I will do anything for some good vintage schwag. A few weeks ago, on the hottest day of the year so far, I got into an even hotter car and drove to a sale. I want you to know that when I got into that car at 8:30 in the morning the thermometer already read 90 degrees. Upon my return at 11:00 a.m. it read 100. I am not talking about the heat index which is the actual "feels like" temperature. That was around 110 degrees that day. I am not exaggerating. I am irritated just typing it. The good news is that it was worth every sweaty miserable moment. AND in all of that hear I did not even want to do physical harm to a single innocent bystander because it was not even crowded. Nobody was elbowing me to get at that used crappy stockpot or stretched out old bra.
This is the first item I purchased.

Yes, it is a real Noguchi lamp. 6 bucks. What heat?

The hits kept on coming. I found a pair of these.

Dansk glass carafes with teak stoppers designed by Gunnar Cyren.

I am just giving you the highlights to rationalize my behavior. I did find lots of stuff for great prices and not all of it was vintage. I must admit that I got a complete Magic Bullet for $7. Hey, sometimes stupid stuff makes me happy. I admit it. I will have to share some of the other items in later posts as they need to be cleaned, etc.

Oh yeah, and a pair of vintage Chanel for $7. It was a good day...even though I looked like a drowned rat that could snap at any moment.

Mid century Joe

2011-07-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

It was love at first sight when I saw this coffee set. You know how obsessed I can be about coffee accessories. We are in the middle of a long heatwave. Right now I am just imagining that I am sitting poolside being fanned by my cabana boy while he serves me coffee with this set.

Slow progress

2011-07-18T05:11:00.000-05:00

Remember this lamp? I guess slow progress is better than no progress. I finally got around to painting the base.

I think it looks pretty good so far. Now I have to make a new cover for the shade. I guess you should expect that some time before 2012.

Paper

2011-07-15T09:00:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine is completely rehabbing a great old row house that has not been lived in for many, many years. She periodically sends me photos of the miracles she and her husband are performing on their own. Are you familiar with the wallpaper above? It is by Julia Rothman for Hygge and West. When she sent me photos of her newly finished bathroom I instantly recognized the paper from many of the decor blogs I had read. I asked her if I could have some of the smaller pieces that she might have left over. Basically, not more than a yard because my plan was to cover the panels on some of my bathroom cabinet doors. She was happy to send them my way. Well, I got the box yesterday and there were two complete double rolls in it! First, I could not believe my luck in having such a generous friend. Second, I am now rethinking my bathroom. Do you think this wallpaper with my Viva Las Vegas ceiling lamp would be too over the top?

Undecided

2011-07-11T05:14:00.001-05:00

I picked up this rather large painting a few weeks back. It is about the width of my fireplace. I am still undecided about it.

Let there be light

2011-07-08T04:54:00.000-05:00

I found this light fixture for the price of a cup of coffee the other day. My thoughts are to replace my bathroom ceiling light fixture with it. My current light has a rattan covered base (need I say more?) with three tulip shade fixtures hanging down. I have a more conventional type vintage ceiling light fixture I could use as well. This one is just so Viva Las Vegas that I think I should go with it.

Creuset crazy

2011-07-07T04:44:00.000-05:00

I have often admired Le Creuset cookware, but have never thought of purchasing it for myself. I already have a set of Calphalon that will last my lifetime and I have never been able to rationalize a splurge on more cookware. I have spotted some at thrift stores or rummage sales, but they are almost always ruined. Usually the inside of the pots are completely scraped off and burnt. That was not the case today. I stumbled upon a stash of Le Creuset that was in near perfect condition. I had to decide which pieces to choose. I finally decided that I would only buy pieces that had their lids.

These are what I ended up with. The little orange one is actually Cousances, not Le Creuset. I love the range of colors, especially since I have a very neutral kitchen. None of these was over $18. Even on my budget these still qualify as a splurge, but I could not pass them up. I plan to keep them very busy once the heat of the summer subsides.

Niele

2011-07-05T07:57:00.011-05:00

For those of you unfamiliar with the word niele, it is Hawaiian for nosey. It is a word that was frequently used by mother when referring to her children. Obviously, it still holds true. I have walked past this house almost every day for several years now. I wanted to know what it looked like inside. I did not even really get the view above because there are large bushes and a brick wall locking my view. Not that this stopped me from trying. I just knew that there was something fab on the inside. I am sure that they did not appreciate their nosey neighbor goose necking. Now that it is up for sale, I can satisfy my curiosity.

The house was built by Keck and Keck in 1961. This is the original drawings which were then changed to reverse the garage to the other side of the house.

I knew it!! It is exactly as I pictured it would be. Sigh.

The only thing I don't understand is why they have those awful couches with such wonderful iconic mid-century designer pieces? It is the same in the den which I have not included pictures of.

I love all of the built-ins and that they continue throughout the entire house.

I think that piece is beautiful.

Hello kitchen I want to stay and cook in forever.

Now that I know what it looks like it just makes me want to be able to really go inside and see it. Aren't you glad I don't live in your neighborhood?

2011-06-30T18:40:00.002-05:00

This poor baby bird lost its way. I have no idea where it came from but it somehow attached itself to the screen of my kitchen window. It was sort of sitting there in a Batman and Robin fashion. It would not move its feet from the screen and every so often would flap its little wings. The Dad came by and sat on the ledge to holler at it. It maneuvered its way along the screen and finally landed here on the ledge. Well, if it does not fly away at least it will have an excellent seat for viewing the fireworks.

Taste

2011-06-30T05:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is that time of year again. Time to navigate the millions of summer festivals around the city of Chicago. Yesterday I managed to calculate the perfect outing to Taste of Chicago. You see, it is usually in the brutal heat of July that this takes place and I have no desire to go. Why you ask? Because It is usually sunny, hot and humid and there are tons of sweaty people bumping into you with every step you take. Add to that the heat generated by all of the cooking taking place within the confines of the festival. It can be very unpleasant unless you plan properly. So, the weather was in the seventies and I got there just when it opened to avoid the crush of the crowds that can happen at later hours of the day. I would also suggest that you go with somebody else so that you are able to share the food.

When the festival first started there were actually small "taste" portions that were very affordable and allowed you to actually experience various "tastes" of the food of Chicago. Somewhere along the way this concept was lost and you only had the option of purchasing entree sized portions. I do not need to tell you how gluttonous the whole thing was. They have gone back to the original idea and each restaurant offers 2 "taste sized options" usually for $2 along with the regular entree sized options. Everything I tried was a $2 "taste option" and I shared that with another person to try the most items without having to roll myself home. I would suggest that you do the same because it is very inexpensive and you get to try many more foods than you would if you were to eat them by yourself. I do not have photos of everything I tried because some of it was not very photogenic. So you will have to use your imagination.

The Banana Leaf Restaurant - Two Jerk Chicken Wings - Yes, there were two, but one was snatched before I could shoot. There are three restaurants offering jerk chicken wings. This was the first year for The Banana Leaf so I tried theirs. I thought they were pretty good. Moist and spicy.

Lao Sze Chuan - Dry Chili Chicken - OK, if you do not like heat, do not order this. (I know you can see how many dry chilies are on that plate) I love hot food so I thought this was pretty good. The only problem is that this is a plate of protein. I am Chinese. Where is my rice? Unfortunately, you do not even have the option of paying for a side order of rice. There is none.

The Smoke Daddy - Pulled Chicken Mini Sandwich - This was an OK sandwich. I guess I just like a different type of BBQ, but it is a nice little sandwich for $2. I thought it was good, but nothing to write home about.

Vermillion - Mango Dusted Fries with Tamarind Chutney - I was intrigued by the description and that is why I bought these. In general, I would not go and buy some fries. Unfortunately, these just missed the mark. I expected a lot more from such an upscale restaurant. I really liked the flavor of the tamarind chutney mixed with the salt and mango dust (I think of fairy dust every time I say that), but the fries were not crisp at all. Undercooked and soggy. I like my fries crispy. It could be that the batch that mine came from were just sub-par and you might have better luck. If you can get a look at the fries before buying them I would say that you should go for it if they look crispy to you because the other flavors were pretty good.

If you need a little respite from all of the people and food, you can walk over to Buckingham Fountain for a bit of refreshment.

Speaking of refreshment, this is my big tip for you. You can really go without spending your cash on beverages. There are several beverage companies (Pepsi, Crush, Sierra Mist, McDonalds, Ocean Spray )giving out free drinks along the way. Just remember where each one is along the way and just grab a small glass or two during your journey and you will do just fine.

There were two more places that I tried but do not have photos to post.

BJS Market and Bakery - Mustard Fried Catfish - This portion was pretty small (two small nuggets), but the catfish was tasty. If catfish is what you are craving then you might want to indulge in the regular sized portion.

Loving Hut - Homerun Ball ( Fried Vegetable Protein with Sweet and Spicy Sauce) - I always like to try vegan foods to see what they have done with meat substitutes. This was just OK. I might have not ordered it if i had known it was deep fried and then covered in sauce. Not my favorite choices for summer eating. I will not give up on this place. I am going to go and try out the restaurant since I pass it at least once a week. I think that the food is better than what I tried. I will report back on that one. So, if you are going down to the Taste, that is what I sampled this year. Let me know if you find something I should have tried.

Can you hear the angels singing?

2011-06-27T05:11:00.000-05:00

I can. I was at a rummage sale at the church I attended as a child. I never go to the rummage sale there. Now I see that this might have been a mistake. I was in the kitchenware section when I saw it. Unfortunately, some woman had her mitts on it as she sifter through the pile. I watched. I waited. She put it down and I pounced.

Isn't she something in all of her Cathrine Holm beauty? Perfect condition and a stand to boot.

Three bucks. There go those angels again.

While at a thrift store this weekend I snagged another Jens Quistgaard piece for two bucks.

Who doesn't love a parade?

2011-06-26T19:01:00.006-05:00

They were standing on rooftops...

hanging out of windows. Anything to get a better view of the Pride Parade today.

It was well worth it. The weather was beautiful and so were the...um...floats. A good time was had by all.

That is one long parade. Not that I'm complaining. Though I had to leave after 2 hours.

Uh-huh.

Yes, this is the whole reason I went down there. Every year she wants to go but it is just too damned hot. I finally gave in this year since the weather was perfect. I thought it was only fair since I am sure that I dragged her to many parades when I was a child and they were not even one percent as fabulous as this one. Oh, yeah, she did not arrive with that chair. She talked someone into letting her sit in it. Remember this for it will be the among the many benefits you will gain later in life.

Close, but no cigar

2011-06-17T05:14:00.000-05:00

I found these (or rather, my mother pointed them out to me) the other day. They are not quite as nicely shaped as the other wood handled pieces, but I think they are good for fillers. 25 cents each.

Post oil lube. They look so much better after some oil.

In case you were wondering if I have the maturity of a 7 year old, I do. Yes, I chuckled when I saw this at the store yesterday. I just think that certain products should consider a name change before distribution in the U.S. Have a good weekend.

Efficiency

2011-06-13T05:04:00.000-05:00

Look at what I found yesterday. I only found 4 place settings, but maybe I will go back to see if they find more. It is made in Japan. I really love the design. I oiled the one on the right to make a comparison. I am thinking of using these as my everyday flatware. They have wood handles so I would have to wash them right away instead of throwing them in the dishwasher. I am trying to become more efficient. I am thinking of ways to trick myself into it.

This is what the other pieces look like. Oh yeah. They were .19 each so I got the entire lot for about 2 bucks.

Weekend Reading

2011-06-11T15:14:00.002-05:00

I was supposed to be doing some major projects around the house, but I started my weekend reading my newly arrived magazines. Among them was Readymade. In the latest issue there is an article about Crystal Thomas who is an Aussie that found an old double decker bus on ebay and is in the process of completely renovating it into a living space. The article was good, but not half as good as actually following the day to day progress. So, I went over to her blog "Double Decker Days" and started to read it from the very beginning. It was like a good novel I could not put down. I wanted to see how she accomplished everything and how far they had come with that bus. You should go over there and start reading it now. You don't have anything important to do right now, do you?

On a Budget

2011-06-10T05:52:00.000-05:00

I am always interested in trying new things, but lately I have been on a strict budget. Well, I am doing my best. Anyway, this post came about because of Ai. She is always eating ohba and I have never tried it. I found it at a Japanese grocery store, but I thought it sort of a splurge. So I waited and finally found it at the grocery store of my people. For a lot less. The package above was a buck and a half for about 8 leaves. The large bunch below was 98 cents. Do not get me wrong. I am all about the presentation and beauty of the food. If I were making dinner for anyone else but myself I would probably get the beautiful flawless stack from the Japanese store. It was just me so I went low brow.

I will just have it with my sashimi cubes for now. I intend to cook with it in a few days. I do love the flavor of these leaves. If you have not tried them, you should.

It still looks pretty good to me.

500

2011-06-07T05:36:00.000-05:00

I decided to post these pics from yesterday because they look so serene and peaceful. The truth of the matter is that it is hot as hell and so am I. To save you from my bitching as I usually do in any type of heat I am going to leave it up to you to comment. If there are any of you out there. I have just reached post 500. They might be 500 posts of useless information, but hey, I gave it the old college try. Feel free to leave a comment or introduce yourself. I am too cranky to arrange for any type of giveaway right now, but you never know.

Grab your popcorn

2011-05-28T17:25:00.001-05:00

I do not check the forums at Etsy as often as I should. When you are a seller you should really check in because there are often important messages from the administrators as well as useful information from other merchants. Usually, I am pretty lax. Lately, I have found that they can also serve as a great form of entertainment. Who needs reality TV when you can read the back and forth on some of the forum threads. Drama with a capital D. Sometimes I grab my popcorn and sit down to reading. Recently I have noticed that a lot of the drama comes from peeps here in Chicago. Imagine that. About a week ago there was this ranting seller who was accusing another seller of copying her "process". She believed that she had created a special third ingredient for an already long established process and that this other person had stolen it. Yes, she sounded as if she was a little cray-cray. It turned out that the process was nothing new and that there were hundreds of other artists selling the same type of stuff on Etsy. Oh yes, and she actually explained her process in the description of her items! She also had the nerve to change her item listings so that they included a jab at the work of the other shop owner declaring it sub-par. People started telling her she needed to back off. Girl, it got ugly. The accused showed up in the thread, but she was completely professional and courteous. Of course, the thread was closed by the admin when they finally caught on that the original post was a "calling out". I was hanging on to every comment until that time. Wait, it gets better. After the thread was closed, Cray-cray had the nerve to start another one with the same topic and this time including some copies of e-mails. To make it worse she accused "the accused" of lying about the recent death of her mother which made the accused respond again because she was feeling attacked. The poor woman had been receiving e-mails from Cray-cray for awhile and then was accused of lying about the death of her mother. See? Popcorn time. I just looked at Cray-cray's shop profile and this is what she has written there (I did not correct typos) :
Recently I've ben harrassed abused, called every name in the book by a very select few people. On fact, some of these people even felt the need to write nasty things about me on ratemyteachers.org

I am severely hurt, but I kove to create, so I will continue to do so despite it all. If you do hear anything negative about my shop, rest assured, I'm just a good person with a few internet bullies. Oh! And their IP addresses can and will be traced. Just in case you are thinking about doing such a thing yourself.

OK, Cray-cray.

So, let me get to the real reason for this post. I was trolling the forums again and came across a post about Urban Outfitters stealing designs from artists on Etsy as well as other venues. The comments were up to about 17 pages (I think) before it was closed. The story began with this Tumblr post here . It was then on the Huffington post here . It then got crazy and went viral which you can see with the power of the tweet here. So, I pop me up some new corn and I have a seat to read all of the comments on Etsy. I will condense a lot of it by telling you that most of the comments were foul language and hatred aimed at Urban Outfitters and full support of Tru.che. Until...someone raised an interesting point. There were many artists who had created and sold very similar designs before her and yet, she was getting all of the publicity and support. What about those before her that were not featured in the article, but had the same item before she sold hers? What do you think? Should it have been researched a little better by those that wrote the articles or it is just her bonanza for being the squeaky wheel? I saved the best for last. As of two days after the article ran, she had received over $50,000.00 in orders. I have no idea how much that has gone up since I last looked. Urban Outfitters had pulled the item from their website and according to the rumor mill over at the Etsy forum, staff had been notified to also pull the item from the shelves.

Keep Your Eyes Peeled

2011-05-26T05:10:00.000-05:00

The weather has been sort of weird lately. Rainy and cool then all of a sudden dry and warm. Yesterday started out incredibly rainy. I stopped for some Algerian coffee. I was not really looking for anything, but you always have to be prepared for the random bargain that might jump out at you.

Like this great ice box. It is pretty cool. I can think of so many ways you could use this thing as is or make it into something completely different with a few minor alterations. Can you guess how much? Fifteen bucks! No, I did not buy it so it might still be there.

That cute bench next to it was only $35. They had some pretty good bargains lined up on the sidewalk outside of the store. If you hurry you might be able to snag them for yourself.

Bill Cunningham

2011-05-24T05:17:00.000-05:00

Bill Cunningham New York Trailer from Gavin McWait on Vimeo.

I do not remember feeling so much anticipation to view a film since I was a child. I found the postcard announcement for this film when I was in New York. It opened there shortly after I left. I have waited all of these months for it to finally open here. It was well worth the wait. I enjoyed every minute of it. Bill Cunningham is one of the last of a dying breed...a gentleman. You rarely get to see someone who so loves what they do and is so entrenched in their beliefs. When I saw his apartment I completely understood where he was coming from. I remember guys like that. The only things that they really needed were their camera and their film. For a part of my life I was that way too. There might not have been food in my fridge, but there was always fresh film and batteries sitting next to that ketchup bottle. Who needed food? This film is a nice look into the daily activities of an unsung hero. I am so glad that someone decided to make a film on him before it was too late. When this comes to wherever you are, be sure and check it out.

Public Service Announcement

2011-05-20T04:40:00.000-05:00

I know that some of you might think that I never really post anything informative. All I ever do is post about vintage furniture and stuff that I find at great prices...blah, blah, blah. What's your point? Well, today I give you some information that might actually be useful to you in the future. You never know. It has to do with cleaning vintage enamelware. You may know that I have two of the Finel Arabia Finland bowls in the above pattern. I have one large and one small. I only have a rudimentary knowledge of Finel Arabia so when once again my hand reached for an enamel bowl a few days ago, I went with it. When I got home I found the pattern online and discovered it was also by Finel Arabia. The only problem I saw was the condition. It didn't really bother me but I wanted to try and see if I could clean it up. I had no knowledge of what was the best method for cleaning vintage enamelware so I let my fingers do the research for me. I found a few suggestions and moved forward. I first began with simply trying some dish washing liquid and a sponge. Nothing budging.

As you can see it looks like it sat in a vat of strong coffee for several months. I only used a sponge for cleaning because I did not want to damage the surface. My next attempt was to use a paste of baking soda and white vinegar. Do not ask me for quantities because I was winging it as usual. Once I made a thin paste I coated the inside. You may notice that I have no photos of the interior. That is because I did not think to actually share the information until I started on the outside. So, I coated it and let it sit. It literally only took minutes before I could notice a change.

When most of it was gone I then began to use my fingers to swish the mixture around. Again, I did not want to scratch the surface and my hands seemed to work fine. Once I felt it was clean I rinsed it out with water.

Can you believe the difference?

Now you will know what to do when you are floundering back and forth over whether or not to buy that dingy piece of Finel Arabia. You can thank me later.

f***ing awesome continues

2011-05-19T05:24:00.000-05:00

I went to an earlier sale this weekend and then decided to go to another nearby sale that I had never been to. My mistake. There were cars everywhere at the second destination. It had been open for about 15 minute already. I hurry to the furniture tent. There was not really anyone in there looking around. Their loss. There it was. Calling out my name from the chaos of the jumbled furniture. I think it is a Selig, but I am not sure. Please excuse the tape on the arms that read SOLD and the price. I had to rush to take this shot. Eighteen bucks. For realz. I gots the gift and I gots to share it. I you look closely at the picture above you can see the feet of my Sherpa (otherwise known as my mother) schlepping my first load of pillage to the car.

It was a very good weekend.

I had a Jen

2011-05-18T05:15:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was a time of great discoveries. My hands spoke to me once again. I swear. It is getting a little weird. Anyway, I am in the middle of the chaos known as a rummage sale when I spy this casserole. My hands go for it. I think to myself that I have always wanted a Danish casserole dish and this is a nice 4 qt size for only $4! Score! I admit that I was once again clueless. I could not really see the makers mark until I got home. It is yet another Jens Quistgaard piece. It is a Flamestone/Dansk IHQ 4 quart casserole.

She needs a good cleaning, but who cares?

Baking Weather

2011-05-17T05:04:00.004-05:00

We recently had some record high temperatures in the 90's which were making me very unhappy. All of that went away this weekend when we plunged back down into some baking weather! I could finally try out some new baking recipes. First, let me apologize for the photos. I know that you should wait for the goods to cool before indulging as well as shooting, but I was a little anxious for some reason. therefor, a lot of this is going to look gooey since it has not had a chance to set.

Several weeks ago I was at a pie bakery and tried out their Chess pie. I had never had that before. I thought it was pretty good, but I wanted to try it out myself. The result is above. I tried a Gale Gand recipe, because she makes really good baked goods and she went to my church when she was growing up. My mother will tell you that every time you mention her name. Just warning you. This pie turned out really nice. It has a nice sweet and tart contrast and the top of the pie has a nice crisp delicate texture.

I also made Sweet Potato Pie. I used a new recipe. I will have to wait and see how it sets before giving that recipe.

Last by but not least I tried out some Chocolate covered Toffee Matzoh. Now I shall roll myself out of the kitchen.

Hanako

2011-05-16T04:50:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up my Mom had this three shelf cabinet that displayed several items that always fascinated me. Among them was this Japanese geisha doll that had a few costumes that you could change around. Until I saw an identical doll again at a sale last week I did not know why I was so fascinated with this doll.

I finally figured it out. It really wasn't the doll so much.

It was the hair. It came with 6 interchangeable wigs. This could keep me occupied for hours.

Sadly, it might still do so since I bought the one I found last week. I am a drag queen at heart.

It is a sickness

2011-05-13T15:22:00.005-05:00

Aw, c'mon. You know you would not be able to resist it either. Maybe I need a 12 step program for espresso makers.

I would like to say that from now on I will never doubt my hands or my gut. My hands always seem to find their way to something good and my gut always reassures me when I have doubts. The grandfather of 'em all among annual rummage sales happened yesterday. That is where I got the espresso maker at half the price they were originally asking for. During my first run-through I found my hands on a nice wooden object. I looked at it, flipped it over, wanted to buy it, but put it down since it was early in the sale and I was being frugal. I placed it in the back of my memory and forged on. Later on that day after I returned home I decided to do a little research. My hands don't lie. It was Jens Quistgaard. I have slowly been collecting his works since I saw a display in "House Beautiful". You may remember my past finds here and here. Why didn't I trust my instincts? I decided to drive back to the sale to see if nobody had purchased it. It had now been 5 hours since I had left it. I get back to the sale and go immediately to the section where I had seen it. It was gone. I had learned my lesson. The good thing was that I found two great vintage metal pitchers. Then I thought that perhaps somebody had moved them. You know how you pick something up intending to buy it and then when you change your mind you place it somewhere else? Don't lie. I'll bet that some of you are even double offenders. You have done this at the grocery store. Far worse. Nothing is that organized at a rummage sale. I start to walk around a bit within the same department and there it was. The thrifting gods were smiling down on me once again.

Found

2011-05-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

This is the current subject of our artwork swap. The subject is "found objects". This is what I have so far.

I found this bird wing the other day.

I found this note yesterday. I am not how I will incorporate them into my work or how I will use them at all.

Joe

2011-05-09T05:24:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I found another espresso maker to add to the bunch. She is not as sexy as the rest,but she is interesting.

I forgot that I had also found this one about a month ago.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T15:28:00.004-05:00

You cannot tell by the picture, but the sheets are actually cut out so that they are 3 dimensional. I know, I am a good daughter.

Is it just me?

2011-05-06T14:20:00.003-05:00

Is it just me? If it is, you can tell me. The only reason I picked up this Polish board game from the alley was the illustration. Really? This is not an old game. It is pretty current. What is with the racist portrayal of Chinese?

Handcrafted Modern

2011-05-05T05:30:00.000-05:00

I am going to have to join a 12 step group for Border's Hoarders. That is me. Ever since they started to close their stores and clear out their inventory I have stacks of books in my bedroom. these are only added to previous stacks acquired from the holiday 50% off coupons and various rummage sale finds as well. It is sad.

I am slowly starting to chip away at them. I began reading this one the other day and I love it. "Handcrafted Modern: At Home with Mid-century Designers" is not only an interesting read it is incredible eye candy. Go and get this book!

You not only get to see the homes of these designers, but all of their possessions as well. It becomes more of a portrait when their own items are included in the home. Please excuse the crappy shots, but I was too lazy to scan them in.

Can you tell the designer just from looking at the home?

George Nakashima

Walter Gropius

Eva Zweisel

Albert Frey (But I am just going to tell people that it is mine.)

Witness

2011-05-04T05:20:00.001-05:00

I took this photo during my trip to New York, but never posted it. This is the cemetery at St Paul's Church. It is 245 years old. It is directly across the street from ground zero. That was my first time back to ground zero since before 911. I thought that the fact that this structure survived and that these "spirits" bore witness to the event was very moving so I decided to shoot it. I was not going to post this image, but with recent events I decided to do so.

Kitchen Weekend Stuff

2011-05-02T05:22:00.000-05:00

The weather was iffy this weekend so I dropped into a thrift to take a look around. I had been to this one several years ago. There were a few treasures to be found. See above. I already have the large bowl which I believe I bought for some pocket change. This smaller one was found for 90 cents. Not bad. I also found another kitchen appliance that I have been dreaming about for a short time. I cannot wait to try it out.

I have also been looking for something practical, but stupid. A small soy sauce dispenser. I was just getting annoyed with always pulling the bottle out of the cabinet. I just wanted something mini to place on the counter. A couple of weeks ago I broke down and just bought one of those small Kikkoman bottles that double as a table dispenser. Then my Mom calls and says that she has found a soy sauce "penguin" in the basement. What?

It is an old Kikkoman bottle. I have to admit that it makes me laugh and I sort of love it.

Revere

2011-04-28T05:28:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post these way back when I originally bought this old movie camera. I bought this with the hotel lamp. I just love the design of some of the older movie cameras. I basically bought it for that reason alone. It is a Revere which was made right here in Chicago back in the day. I think it dates back to the 1930's.

New shop

2011-04-27T18:38:00.003-05:00

You may notice a new button on the sidebar. I was waiting until I received the new graphics, but I thought I should just launch and announce instead of waiting around twiddling my thumbs. I decided to open a second shop that deals solely with things for your house. Pupule was getting too confusing with the mix of clothing, accessories, and housewares. I now have the vintage fashion in Pupule and the vintage housewares over at Nalo. Nalo is Hawaiian for housefly. I am constantly adding new merchandise. I hope you will check it out.

Are you still with me?

2011-04-25T04:53:00.000-05:00

So, here's hoping that you are still with me on this project. After viewing a couple of video tutorials on Youtube, I think that I might be able to conquer the lamp shade makeover myself. I have found two possible contenders in my vintage fabric stash.

Contender #1 is a bold graphic pattern in the red, pink, orange family.

Contender #2 is a bold floral pattern in orange, black and beige.

Again, any thoughts?

Stay with me now...

2011-04-22T04:42:00.001-05:00

I need you to put on your non-judgemental hat and creative vision goggles. You need to see beyond what this lamp appears to be and envision what it can be. Just stay with me for a minute now. I found this BIG lamp for $6. I am thinking of painting the curvy part of the body and the edge of wood base a solid white. That would leave the little bit of neck, the metal rod in the center and the metal part of the base natural.

Are you with me so far?

Does this naked picture help you out? I then want to keep the HUGE shade the same size, but make one with a large graphic print on a white background. My mother is old school and thinks I should refinish the base and not paint it. She also thinks I should go with a smaller shade which I completely disagree with.

Opinions anyone?

Happy Passover

2011-04-18T11:03:00.000-05:00

f***ing awesome

2011-04-14T05:05:00.000-05:00

They say that patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait, etc. Believe it or not, I actually do have patience when it comes to certain things. For about 10 years or so I have been looking for a certain chair. I could picture it in my head. Many years ago when I did not find them, I purchased a pair of the chairs similar to the one you see above. I figured it would keep me satisfied until I found the real chairs of my dream. Sale after sale, year after year I waited for the day when I would find those chairs. My patience finally paid off.

Aren't they cool? I had to fight off an older woman for these babies. I ran for a sale volunteer to get first dibs. It took some major contortions to fit them into the car but I finally got them home today. I think they were a pretty good deal at $45 a piece.

I like the little things about them as well. For instance, the cushions are still in incredibly good shape. I love the little air vents on the sides.

So now I have some major chair selling to do in order to make proper room for these babies.

Soon

2011-04-12T05:24:00.000-05:00

Behind in my posts. Working on a new shop.

Food Confessional

2011-04-08T05:05:00.000-05:00

I know that it seems like I have been indulging myself this week, and I have been. In fact, I am pretty sure that I will be on the express train to hell for breaking Lent this week. So, please follow me to the Icosium Kafe. Slide right into the booth and relax.

Have a nice glass of water with a sprig of fresh mint.

Order up a nice hot Algerian mint tea with honey. The last time I was here I tried the Algerian coffee which I highly recommend. After today, I also highly recommend this tea.

Now order up one of the many delicious crepes they offer on the menu. I admit that I have not had one of the dinner entree crepes because I have only gone there for a beverage and dessert. Today I tried the caramel crepe. Oh, so warm, buttery and sweet. These are definitely large enough for 2 to share as a small treat. I have seen an order of the dinner crepes and they are HUGE.

This is a great low-key, friendly place to go and hangout. I guess I should have mentioned it for Valentine's Day because it is a nice way to end an evening out and it is incredibly inexpensive. Coffee or tea for two and one dessert crepe and you have need no more than a ten dollar bill.

Banh me, please

2011-04-07T08:03:00.005-05:00

Get it? Sort of like when you are playing checkers. "King me, please." OK, maybe not. I have been here twice in the past week. I had to try one of the best Banh Mi places in Chicago. In case you are unfamiliar, banh mi are Vietnamese sandwiches and they are incredibly good. I headed to Nhu Lan on Lawrence because I had read that it was the best. They bake the best bread and they supply most of the Vietnamese places in the city. They have a sign stating that they make in the 'hood of 1,000 baguettes a day. I included the parking sign so you are aware that you have to pay into the blood-sucking leased parking system of the city of Chicago. Well, you don;t have to. You can go around the corner and find yourself some local street parking.

I sampled the variety pack of spring rolls. They are pretty super sized. You get three in a package and you can get a single kind or get the sampler variety pack like I did. This variety pack contains one of each - shrimp, vegetarian and pork.

I had the vegetarian ham, pate. Scrumptious. Oh, I forgot the best part. The price of most of the sandwiches is only $3.50! You can't beat that.

This is what the inside of the sandwich looks like. Looks like meat, right? Amazingly, it also tastes like meat. Sorry for the photo quality, but I was stuck dining in my car. The only downside to this place is that there are only 2 tables in the place which means you have to be hella lucky to be able to sit and dine in there. I suppose it is a small price to pay in order to have the greatest and cheapest sandwich in the city.

Championship Ring Bling

2011-04-05T05:12:00.001-05:00

When you reach a certain age nobody remembers your birthday except for your mother. So, at this point you find joy in making your own fun and buying your own gifts. Since I am a little broke, I have to be creative about these things. This year is extra nice because the NCAA championship game fell on my birthday. You have no idea how happy this made me. No idea.

I also have a tendency to purchase large cocktail rings. No reason. I found this one and sort of liked it. It is very chunky so I am thinking it is for a man. For now I am calling it my championship ring.

I have wanted this Marimekko comforter for quite some time. Birthday luck. I found it. I also decided to do a little home decor window shopping. I headed over to check out the Flor showroom.

I really started to like this particular design. I am thinking of using it on the kitchen floor until I am able to get the hardwood floors repaired and refinished.

Now it was lunchtime. I decided that I would break all of my restrictions I had chosen for Lent. Just for one day. It was that or have nothing but bland food to eat. So, it was down to Chinatown for Peking duck.

It was too dark in the restaurant to take any decent photos so the poster will have to do. Trust me, it was delish. I really wanted to indulge in one of those Veruca Salt cupcake, but I held back and picked up this almond Swiss roll as my birthday treat. Topped off with an evening of college basketball and I am happy as a clam. See? It is really easy (and cheap) to treat and entertain yourself on your birthday.

Bo-nan-za

2011-03-29T05:19:00.000-05:00

I was walking past an antique shop window when I noticed a bunch of wood type on display. The shop was closed, but I wanted to find out what type they had and what it would cost. The other day I went in and discovered that they had a bunch more in a box in the back. Among them were these BIG letters.

There was just an assortment of fonts and sizes. I feel like It was like finding buried treasure. When I asked the price I was in disbelief. I bought every last piece.

This bag was part of it along with another box full. I counted close to 100 pieces. I cannot wait to try out some more printing.

Score!

2011-03-18T05:33:00.000-05:00

I realize that the setting for this shot is incredibly strange. There are so many captions I could place under this photo. One about how I took my lamp for a walk in the forest. Or how this is really my back yard and that shelter is just a resting spot on my estate. It really is taken in the forest because that is where I stopped to eat lunch after acquiring this lamp. It was unseasonably warm so I headed outside to dine. Don't worry, it will be back to freezing temps next week. Isn't this lamp awesome? I think there are two reasons that I am so in love with it. The first is that we used to have one of these in our den when I was a child. The second is because it was an incredible deal. I found it at a resale store that was going out of business. The guy had 3 of them. He tried to sell me all three. Oh, I would have taken all three, but I used restraint and only looked for one. They were originally from the Bismarck Hotel here in Chicago. When I saw the price I almost fainted. $5! I sized up all three to see which I would take home. I chose one and the owner plugged it in to make sure it worked. It did, but he did not like the way you had to jiggle the switch to get it to turn on. He did not think I should take it. I stated that I wanted that particular lamp because of the color and the size of the table. He then told me if I was going to take it I could take it for free because I was going to have to fix it. That is a price I can agree with! Happy Friday!

Vintage Views

2011-03-11T05:38:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been attracted to anything with a vintage lens. I picked up these great vintage binoculars the other day.

I found this beauty today.

A lovely Kodak Retinette 1A. She is sexy, isn't she? The shutter needs some work, but other than that she is pretty clean.

I seem to have developed (ha) a pattern when it comes to purchasing cameras. I have been picking up a lot of cameras from the sixties lately. Most of them are rangefinders. I am not sure why. I intend to find out how each of them performs.

Swap

2011-03-09T04:52:00.000-06:00

Do you know what it is like when you have a good idea and then when it comes to fruition you decide that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all? At the end of last year I decided to ask my friend Suzanne to participate in a monthly swap. Once a month she and I would exchange a piece of artwork. It did not matter what it was or how long it took to create. The idea was that it would keep the both of us producing creatively and the bonus was getting to see the work of the other person. She was very excited with the idea. I have known Suzanne for several years now. We met in France when we were both given art fellowships to live in Giverny for the summer and work on our art. When I think of her work I think of incredibly beautiful pieces made with precision and craftsmanship. What was I thinking? This arrived in the mail just the other day. I placed the film canister next to it in order to give you an idea of scale.

I am showing it to you as you would open it yourself.

FYI - there is a large stack in here. I am just showing a few examples.

There is such a special quality that is added since you can hold this in the palm of your hand.

Maybe I am sorry that I came up with this idea. I mean, I do get a nice piece to add to my collection every month. She, on the other hand might feel a little ripped off. Mine pales in comparison. The pressure is on for next month.

Fountain Pen Hospital

2011-03-07T04:47:00.001-06:00

Yes, it is called the Fountain Pen Hospital. Unfortunately, I was not there during business hours. I have some fountain pens in need of some aid.

Maybe not such a good idea

2011-03-03T14:36:00.002-06:00

Please excuse the dust and dirt. I was too lazy to clean it off before taking the picture. I picked this up for $3. The idea was that I would use it for my bedroom TV. I am thinking that I could probably find a black narrow replacement piece in the As-is section of Ikea that would easily accommodate my TV . (Note the big chip along the edging as well as the bolts in the top that do not make a smooth surface on which to place the TV.) It might look swanky. Then I could swing my TV in any direction and it would sit atop this nice black pedestal.

I could also wait to find a nice table top and turn this into a side table for my living room couch. I am not sure that any of this will end up working. Maybe this was not such a good idea.