So *not* bizarre.

A couple of weeks back, I mentioned a local bazaar that turned out to be...well...bizarre. I'm sure there was a lot of good stuff before I got there (and a few diamonds in the rough remained when I got there, just no gems that I needed to take home), and since it was a fundraiser and all I wanted to buy. I did! But a lot of the stuff I saw wouldn't have made it through the Goodwill vetting process.

So as you can imagine, I was a bit skeptical when I saw this sign last weekend:

Though, as a bit of an obsessive compulsive recycler, I appreciated the fact that the sign had been around the block a few times. Don't you love the dates that look like they were crafted into new numbers two, maybe three times over? And that's *after* a piece of poster board was used to cover up even earlier dates? Kudos, ladies of St. Paul. Al Gore would be so proud!

I decided to go on Friday night to increase my chances of scoring, so I moseyed over around 6:45. And when I saw what was coming out the door, I was immediately kicking myself for not going when the doors first opened. Mirrors and rockers and linens...Oh my! Once again, the early bird got the worm (I heard there was a *line* by 5:30) and I apparently overslept.

I did manage to grab a couple of fun things:

That little tea caddy ($1) had to come home...because I already own "coffee" and "sugar." Score! The inside liner is cobalt blue and so lovely. I'll have to photograph the reunited trio.

The bag is fab-u-lous. For $3, I didn't even flinch. Take a look at the inside...

...I don't think it was ever used! Until I used it that night for a hot date with the mister and Uncle Dave (not really our uncle. Our friend. But kids dig him, so he's everyone's Uncle Dave.).

And the Hostess's Complete Handbook? Had me at "hello." When they said .50 cents, I think I stammered, "Are you sssssure?" (To put in context, Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight was $3.00.)

It's a 1950s handbook to happiness. Where else would you learn practical things like the importance of slabbing excessively fatty bacon on your "good looking" baked dish:

Or how to throw a "small, gay party":

I also bought (but forgot to photograph with my trio of goodies above) this 1940s juice jar which was on what I'll call the "good stuff table" and a total splurge at $7 (clearly St. Paul's has a hack in the congregation who knows that vintage kitsch is hot, hot, hot).

Even with that splurge my tab came to $11.50. The ladies were lovely (they worked it!) and deserved every cent for their efforts.

How illuminating!

Ocean Grove’s Centennial Cottage, built in 1879, operates as the town’s “living history museum.” The rooms inside have been painstakingly restored to replicate life at the turn of the century, complete with kitchen gadgets and clothing hanging in wardrobes. Rotating exhibits throughout the summer offer glimpses into seaside life back in the day.

The Victorian home was donated by its last residents in 1969 and moved (!) to its current location in the middle of town, in the shadows of The Great Auditorium. Once a year, the old gem gets gussied up with mini lights and candle-lit lanterns for the annual Illumination Garden Party at dusk. Friday night I took a walk to have a peek at the soiree, and was greeted by silk and paper lanterns swinging (thanks to the breezy weather!) in the trees throughout the garden.




And what’s the around the corner?

A tent filled with beautiful desserts and flowers, right beside the rose garden.

The garden is next to one of my favorite houses in town, so it was fun to that all lit up in the background, seemingly joining in on the fun. For $10, the event seems a bargain as far as fundraiser parties go. Count me in next year.

Flame over.

Well, the Olympic torch has been extinguished and tucked away until the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

What did we learn these games? That Bella Karolyi has a *lot* to say about the ages of the Chinese women gymnasts, and that Michael Phelps is being touted as the greatest athlete of all time.

To the latter I say…Michael’s an extremely talented athlete, but I want him to get back to me when he’s 41-years-old. And squeezes out a baby between Olympics, though that’s not likely to happen. :-)

Rock on, Dara Torres.

Green Acres is the place for me.

Back in July, I first mentioned my grand germination experiment:

I wanted to plant corn for no other reason than the shock value of having stalks growing right up against the sidewalk in front of our house (I've mentioned before, but can not emphasize enough -- we have *no* property. All of our town is pretty much that way, so people get creative with their "land"scaping). I got a late start planting seeds, (1) because we had a really chilly spring, and (2) I had (have) no idea what I'm doing. The planting was really meant as more of an experiment more than anything else.

To my surprise, after a week or so, there were early signs of life in the sunflower "incubator":
And, to my *utter shock* here's what the front of the house looks like today.

Hilarious, right?! The sunflowers started out slowly, but I'm encouraged by the growth spurt they apparently experienced this past week. The corn, however, grew like a weed from the start. When we sit on the front porch (and, since no one can see us behind the corn field) we hear all sorts of funny things. ("Harold....stop the bike...is that?...I think that's corn there!") I'm meeting neighbors for the first time who are stopping to chat and have a good chuckle over our harvest. My young neighbor suggested we have a corn party...and another neighbor chimed in to add that there may be enough to have a full-on harvest festival (I counted 19 ears this morning). There's still some question as to whether there will be actual corn on the ears; you're supposed the plant them in rows to ensure proper pollination (since they self-pollinate, the rows enable them to pass the good stuff from stalk to silk). I gave a gentle squeeze today and I can't say that I feel kernels on the cobs but who knows. At least maybe the sunflowers will bloom in time for the festival. ;-)

Tucked behind some of the stalks in front are other flowers I planted in the spring, still blooming. In addition to wildflower annuals (also from seeds) there's some Black-Eyed Susans and Dianthus (blooming for the third time!) still flowering.

And I have my co-worker Pat to thank for most of it. Pat makes Type-A people like me look mellow, and apparently her out-of-office energy is channeled into gardening like mad...a process that begins in the early-spring by germinating seeds on every flat surface in her dining room and beyond, which apparently thrills her husband to bits (note: sarcasm). She split some bulbs and assorted perennials in May from her own garden and gifted them to me, along with some housewarming May Night Salvia from Lowe's. Here's the bounty that came out of the car...it was like they had procreated on the trip over there were so many:

I pulled out all the greens (re: weeds) you see in the above photos behind the rocks and replaced with the plants and bulbs from Pat's garden. (Thanks, Pat!) I'm told our home's previous owner used to compost the front "yard" (again, using the term "yard" loosely), even though he never really planted. Too bad he didn't, because *man* is that soil rich and fertile. I'm thinking of adding composting to my bag of earth-lovin' tricks next year.

The man of the house is frightened.

When the moon is in the 7th house.

I don't know if Jupiter aligned with Mars on Saturday night (and I certainly know that peace isn't guiding the planet), but the full moon looked spectacular rising over the old carousel building in Asbury Park, NJ. The structure sat vacant and crumbling for many years until rising once again for the first time this weekend...

...as a theater! How cool is that?!

Here's the beautiful building in the daylight:

And if you haven't guessed from my "subtle" lede, the production is Hair.

The play is being staged by Revision Theatre, a new regional company setting up their base of operations in Asbury Park. Asbury Park was once the cat's meow of the Jersey Shore, a playground for wealthier suburbanites and New Yorkers starting at the turn-of-the-century. The town has seen some rough times in the past several decades, notably the riots of 1970. People and businesses left in droves, and all that remained were the crumbling facades of once-bustling waterfront attractions like the Paramount Theater, the Casino and the carousel that once anchored a suite of rides and attractions housed in the Palace Amusements complex, also home to Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love (Palace Amusements, sadly, did not get a stay of execution from its date with the wrecking ball). The Stone Pony, where Bruce got his start, miraculously stayed put all these years, despite numerous threats of eminent domain interventions.

Fast forward to the last couple of years. Asbury's relatively close proximity to Manhattan (a 95 minute train ride to a station that's walking distance to the beach; just over an hour drive if you don't hit traffic) made people (and developers) say, "A ha!" There's been several failed (re: half-assed) attempts to kick-start this town, but this most recent appears to be the real deal.

If you're in the vicinity, please give Asbury Park a try and please try to go see Hair! (The show runs through August 31.) Revision did a great job staging this production "in the round," and the talented cast was full of energy and enthusiasm. The acoustics in the building are a little wonky, but make no mistake - this is a professional production. I especially thought Berger (played by Scoop Sloane...and no, I'm not making that name up but I think he is) and Claude (Casey Gensler, pictured below when I could sneak a lap shot) were quite well cast, and the "tribe" (re: supporting cast) had amazingly good voices, in particular Marah Meese, whose character Chrissy gets to sing the beautiful "Frank Mills" (and sing Ms. Meese did) and cast member Deirdre Grace who belted out "White Boys." She was so good I almost hugged her after the performance. I hope to see (and hear) her again.

It's the perfect play for a town in transition that's rising up before our very eyes thanks to a lot of people of different backgrounds and means coming together to make something good happen. You probably already know I'm partial to this area (I can see the carousel from my widow's walk in fact!) and if it sounds like I'm also partial to Hair, you'd be right...


Yup. That's me in Hair. Eighteen years ago (gasp). I don't know what will be more shocking to people reading this (including people who know me); that I actually dabbled in musical theater or that the clothes I'm wearing in the cast photo were my own.

Hilarious.

Not hilarious to them maybe, but to me. Here's the infraction in question:

It's the door to a home that's above Ocean Grove's popular Day's Ice Cream. (So believe me when I say this sign got a lot of eyeballs on a sunny summer weekend!) While all of Ocean Grove is deemed historic, the Herr family (who apparently own the building) may have higher standards to adhere to than "regular" homeowners since their home is physically connected to a commercial business. (I suspect the rules and regulations are a bit more stringent for commercial buildings.) I hate to side with "the man" here, but I think I'd prefer the look of a frosted glass window. But I still think it's a bit much to make them change the glass?

All work and no play.

Work and a road trip with the mister to Pennsylvania (to help clean out/organize a house owned by his family that's headed to market) has kicked my behind. And to add insult to injury I ended my commute week very late last night on a train chock-o-block with loud, inebriated passengers. On their way home from a Neil Diamond concert. Sometimes the world is so unkind to me.

So I'm a bit behind on the blog (and sleep!) front but my mom's gotten a kick out of the extra mileage (and wonderful comments) her baby picture has gotten in my absence. It's all good. And thank you for your kind wishes...she read each and every one. Probably two or three times. :-)

As the result of an ill-planned late day caffeine jolt, I updated my blog header in the middle of the night this week. It's not perfect, but that sort of suits me. And if you knew the software (or lack there of) I cobbled it together with you'd either gasp in horror or applaud my craftiness. For the designers among you it would surely be the prior. Props to Please Sir for spotting it on her own mere hours after I uploaded it. And Hooked on Houses noticed it today, too, so for Olympic Fever purposes Julia gets the silver medal. Good job!

Now...on to the really good stuff. There was a piece of furniture we spotted in the Antique Emporium of Asbury Park a few of weeks back. The old 1930s china cabinet had solid wood (walnut or chestnut? They said chestnut, I say walnut.) doors and was a nice, usable size. Not too big, not to small. The $295 price tag wasn't too shabby either. But we've pretty much gotten all of our major furniture purchases in so really don't have the room or the need. I was bummed.

The following week I was still pining for walnut, and was surprised to see it still in its place right inside the store's front door. I thought for sure someone would scoop it up. I suggested maybe we could shift around pieces in one of he bedrooms to make it work. "A dining room piece in a bedroom?"

Obviously the mister doesn't watch enough HGTV to know that with creative furniture placement, all things are possible. But he was right -- he reminded me that the bedrooms are on the small side so we need to keep furniture to a minimum.

Last weekend he popped in the room I was in to announce, "I have an idea but I don't think you'll like it."

Whoa. Was he selling his business? Moving to China?

There he was, my sweet man, measuring the living room and moving around furniture to show me that it could fit perfectly against a wall where a palm tree I bought was perched. He wasn't sure I'd be OK with moving the tree.

This is one of the many reasons I love him. He made it work. The cabinet was coming home. We raced over to store...they were locking up, but the lovely coffee klatsch of ladies running the show went back back inside -- the piece was still there -- to make the magic happen. Behold, beauty:

I moved some stuff on top temporarily but I'm also pretty psyched for this new display perch that I've "inherited" along with the cabinet! We're going to drill a small opening in the back and make this our stereo cabinet, so the piece will be as functional as it is lovely to look at.

One of the "side effects" of having this home together has been the unexpected, yet welcome ways renovating and designing our home (and, in a way, new life) has brought us closer together. Yay, team Shore House!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

You're still a babe. :-)

Olympic Fever

Yup. I’ve got me a case of it. Or maybe I’m just overheated from watching the Americans wearing stiflingly warm looking clothing during the opening ceremonies.

Newsflash: It’s 100 degrees in China, with humidity to match.

Ralph Lauren, arbiter of classic American couture for everyman, did not exactly knock it out of the park with this assignment. I feel like the U.S. Olympic Committee would have been better served kicking this design challenge to Project Runway! Even with a $50 budget and a bag of buttons I think one of them could have done better. PR judges Nina Garcia would have sternly scolded Ralph for using so much “fahhbric” (with her delightful little lilt) and Michael Kors would have just spontaneously combusted.


Note: Photo is from Ralph Lauren’s web site, so one would think that would mean the Lauren folks deemed this a good one. Is it just me or do the folks in the photo look rather ticked?

“They displayed noticeably less of the American exuberance at past Olympic opening ceremonies but there were plenty of happy waves from the team as they marched round the arena.”(Sports Illustrated)

Noticeably less exuberant? Probably because they were sweating their ever-lovin’ behinds off! Why the ties? The stifling women’s neckerchiefs? The dark jackets made from a very “sturdy” wool-blend looking (re: sweaty) fabric? The ill-fitting trousers?

Then I saw this picture of Kobe Bryant and realized there were *long sleeves* lurking under those warm blazers! No wonder he looks so annoyed!

Why!?

In today’s New York Times Eric Wilson says the clothes looked “rather poorly made” as they were coming down the runway, er, track, and I have to agree. The look could have been crisp, traditional and tailored, but -- not to sound like a broken record -- with the heat being such a major factor I can’t imagine why Lauren went for so much clothing (I also noticed that the ushers at the Methodist church near my house have the *exact* same outfits! Only the ushers’ were tailored and well-fitting. I wish I had my camera with me so you could see.).

Thoughts for improvement? I have to admit I had visions of very traditional seersucker dancing through my head, and I saw in today’s Times’ feature that the French team wore seersucker (or something similar to). Tres bien! I would have loved to seen Ralph Lauren use this classic – and BREATHABLE – fabric as his canvas.

For the men, I say keep the look relaxed and sans tie (who wants to wear a tie in that heat?) with a polo shirt (Ralph Lauren…Polo…Get it Ralph?). The uniform would be clean looking even when the sports coat was removed (which you know our men were probably dying to do), and I’d probably opt for a crisp white polo. Something similar to this one from Haspel, but probably with the more classic navy and white striped pattern:


For the women I think a dress would be more flattering to their toned and athletic builds, and I like the J. Peterman halter pictured above. And in true Peterman fashion, the product description makes it sound perfectly suitable for a jaunt through the outerbanks or a saunter towards Olympic Gold:

“Sleeveless Seersucker Sundress (No. 2207) in wonderful diagonally puckered cotton, as seen from Campobello to Ocracoke in the 1940s. Halter-back top with shawl collar and princess seams. Wide self ties to tie back or front. Twelve real pearl-shell buttons from bodice down to full sweep. Sweet red locker loop.”

And maybe we could add pockets (for digital cameras and lip gloss) like his one from Thread:

Heidi Klum, if you’re reading this there’s still time to get the 2010 Winter Games Challenge in place. Just make sure this time the designers actually *know* what the Olympics' opening ceremony is. Last week's challenge to design for the summer ceremony yielded a couple of doozies...like the one Kors proclaimed was perfect, "if her sport was cocktail waitressing." Yowza.

Nice rack!

(Har, har. :-)


My mom’s Uncle John apparently loved to collect antiques (which we, the recipients of his “hand-me-downs,” are quite happy about), particularly from Holland (he was half Dutch). I’ve heard so many Uncle John stories, that I can’t help but think we’d get along famously – he’d come with me to The Red Bank Antiques Center and would probably be the kind of person who could give you a quick history lesson about the pieces that caught his eye.

This plate rack was one of Uncle John’s “fabulous finds” (I have to think if we were alive, he would totally have a blog, and he would post his “fabulous finds” all the time!). It came from his friend Reinhardt (whom I have to mention by name, since it too is fabulous), who I believe brought it back from Holland. It is super, super old – I’ve been told pre-1800? – and it is quite beautiful.

Take a look at the detail in the carving:

Now, here’s where I need your help: What should I do with it?

One of the rails is slightly warped but I don’t want to mess with it so warped it will stay. When I was still a single gal, it hung in my apartment with framed prints perched on the rails which not only looked kind of cool, it covered the “imperfection” a bit, sort of like this:

I think I’ll be hanging this in a spare bedroom, since there isn’t wall space large enough in the kitchen (and our dining room has been sacrificed to the gods of billiard). It will probably go on this empty wall, and since the wall’s a bit large and blank I’ll probably need more art (or something) for the wall so it doesn’t get lost:

My mom told me that my grandma used it for plates, warp and all, so that’s still an option. I’d love some plain, white mismatched dishes and this would give me the excuse to start collecting them!

Any thoughts about what I can do with this fancy thing?

Favorite thrift?

OK, asking me for my favorite thrifty find is somewhat akin to asking a mother who her favorite child is.

But since Southern Hospitality has asked us to make this difficult choice (for her online Thrifty Find party), I’ll skirt the issue a bit by showing you my most recent favorite thrifty find, Lady Liberty:

I got her during what can best be described as a two-week long eBay bender. I was obsessed with finding mates for a Statue of Liberty I bought for a couple of dollars at a yard sale (two summers ago?). I found the perfect spot for her in the shore house, and early last month became obsessed with acquiring an entourage of vintage Lady friends. Here’s my collection to date, all under $10 a piece:

The funny things is, since I work in midtown Manhattan I could probably go to any tourist store on 5th Avenue and save myself a lot of time! But that’s no fun, is it?

The Statues of Liberty are in a bathroom that we’ve only done some minor work on to date. Three of the walls were covered in a toile print that we both kind of liked, so we painted the wall behind the (clawfoot! yay!) tub a deeper brown color to complement the darker shade in the toile. We also removed a nasty laminated kitchen cabinet “situation” that was going on above the w.c., and it made a WORLD of difference. We’re very curious what’s lurking under the very, very bad vinyl sheet floor but have been frightened to lift it. I will share our findings when we lift it to take our first peek in the coming weeks, but here’s a little preview the very little bathroom room so far:

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite shore house thrift to-date (we’ve had the house since the start of the year, so it’s still a relatively new score), my fabulous femme:

I love her so much I’ve already mentioned her twice, including a stand-alone post devoted to her fabulousness. At $10 for her and the nice old chippy black frame she came in, it was a no brainer for me.

And, my all time favorite thrifty find was made on February 17, 2007. I found this one in a cage in a shelter, looking a little lost. But like all thrifty finds, when you get them home and clean them up, they look SO much better!

(Maggie on move in day.)

She hardly cost more than a decent meal, and let me tell you – this old lady doesn’t owe us a dime.