St. Louis City Garden

Back in July last year, I went to a class in St. Louis.  We were lucky to stay in a hotel right downtown near the arch.  My friend Debbie was also in the class, and she is always great at getting me motivated to walk in the mornings.  The fact that there was a VERY cool garden right outside the front door was also incentive! 

This garden is AWESOME.  It runs the length of several city blocks, right through downtown.  It has fountains, paths, sculpture, TONS of cool plants, even real live bunnies! 

The garden leads right down to the arch, so we walked around there a good bit too.  It was pretty gorgeous early in the morning, and it wasn't too hot.  WHY can't I get myself motivated to walk every day again?! I love it SO MUCH when I do, and I feel SO much better :(

Here's some of the pics.  I only had my iphone, so they aren't the greatest. 

My Most Favorite Far Side Ever

Antiquin'!

My friend Giselle came up to Starkville this weekend to keep me company and hang out, so she, Sally, and I headed out to some of the local antique store.  There are basically NONE that we have found in Starkville, but several really good ones in West Point (of all places). 

I didn't find any treasures.  I'm trying to be very particular.  I did find one thing that I'm sure I will be dreaming about for a LONG time.  It was a HUGE metal advertisement sign.  It would look so super cool in my living room I think, but I'm just not interested in spending that much $ ($450 - worth it I think, just not on my current priorities list).  I don't think it will fit in Melody (my Honda CRV for you noobs), and the first thing Jason (Mr. Practicality) texted back when I sent him a picture was...

Is there rust??  IT WILL RUST HERE!  THERE WILL BE RUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I told him to take a damn chill pill, I wasn't fixing to drag it home.  But I will dream of you, very amazingly awesome old coffee sign.  I will dream of you. 

 The scale is hard to tell - but it has to be about 80-82 inches tall.  There was crappy light in this room and I just had my iphone, sorry about the pic quality :(
            










 As usual, there were many amazing things I did not buy.  For example, this BIZARRE salt and pepper shaker set that Sally found.  I don't understand why one is a CORN, and one is a PINEAPPLE.  Those 2 things don't normally go together, am I right?

 This awesome hat, even though it TOTALLY matched my outfit.  I loved the random dangly jewel on it especially well.  But people's heads are obviously bigger in today's world.  My own personal head is not at all freakishly large, but NONE of the vintage hats I tried on today fit. 

And, I passed on this $3 "GOURD".  And uh....yeah no comment. 

Random - Mom, Close Your Eyes

More random junk:

Here's the explanation:
http://thecolloquialtimes.blogspot.com/2013/03/random.html

# 750 - Sorry Mom.  CURSE WORD WARNING!   I saw this on the interwebs LONG ago, and I am sorry, but it's just flipping funny.  Must share.

It's an example of the perfect photo and caption coming together. I just love it.

NEW BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few months ago, My brother and sis-in-law went on a Disney trip with her family.  The night they arrived there, I got a text that said "K.E.S. wants you to know that Disney really IS magical"  and had the following picture attached -

I happened to be at my friend's house playing poker with several people I had never met at the time, and I'm sure they all now think I'm nuts because I just about jumped up and screamed and did a dance around the room when I figured out what her shirt said.

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The new baby is also a GIRL and is due at the end of April.  Same due date as K.E.S.






Later my sis-in-law sent out the following card in the mail.  SO CLEVER.  LOL!  She is always doing cute stuff like this.  (can you tell what it is?  My picture of the card isn't great.  It's a bun in the oven.)

So yes - we will be drowning in pink over here in just a few weeks.  I can't wait to be Aunt Sonni (that's what K.E.S. is now calling me) to another precious baby girl!

World's Most Amazing Lamp

Found in some antique store in West Point/ Columbus/ Starkville:  The World's Most Amazing Lamp!!!

Who's decor does this match?  Do you want me to go find it and buy it for you?  Let me know!

Didn't Buy It

There's a place in Moss Point, MS called VARIETY OUTLET.  They have some awesome stuff...anything you'd EVER need for a hawaiian/ mexican/ birthday/ party, cardboard letters (I bought a giant "P"), ribbon, burlap, holiday decorations, etc. etc. for CHEAP.  And they also have some um.....CHOICE home decor items.  For example, the following fantabulous fish salt and pepper shaker:

And this awesome duck wine bottle holder:

















I passed on these items, but just thought I had to share them with you, Dear Readers.  Let me know if you'd like me to pick one up for you.  :)

Random

I have so many pictures I want to blog about.  While I sit here and catch up on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Team Brandi!!!), I'm using a random number generator to determine which pics to talk about.  I need to move through these, because it's bugging me.   I know I don't have to blog every picture I take, but these are ones I've saved for one reason or another.  Some are pretty self explanatory and I don't have too much to say about, some will prompt longer discussions.  So here we go!

#6964 - Evidence that I do not know how to use my sewing machine.







#9182 - Dear Jasmine, SOAP IS NOT A SNACK

#9840 -  A long ago purchased Tuesday Morning scrapbooking haul

#157 - Crocus @ the Huntsville Botanic Garden, February 2013.  I think these may be the first crocus I ever saw in person?

Mardi Gras Carnival

My one and only Mardi Gras activity for 2013 was the carnival at the middle school where my sister-in-law teaches.  The bad part of the carnival was busting my ass and falling ON my cotton candy.

http://thecolloquialtimes.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-small-heartbreak-of-cotton-candy.html

The good part was watching K.E.S. go from one activity to the next.  First she and Scot slid on the huge bouncy slide.  She loved that, and wanted to go about 100 times.














Then she got her face painted.

Had a cupcake.

                             And saw the small person's bouncy castle - was SO excited.










When we finally talked her out of the bouncy castle,  we were all freezing and gnat-eaten, and my ankle was throbbing, so we went to Alex's classroom to color while we waited until time for the drawing we entered for a free ipad.









We didn't win an ipad, but it is so fun just to watch K.E.S.  I was also really excited to see my s-i-l's classroom (gooby, I know), but I like seeing where people spend their time.  Hopefully next year I will be in town and can actually do more Mardi Gras playing.  I don't usually do much, one or two parades is all I need, but I really did miss it this year.

Vintage Aquarium Bubbler

Over the years, I have started, obsessed over, treasured, and sometimes tossed many collections.  When I was a kid, unicorns.  OMG I had 800 I swear.  Later it was angels, then elephant planters, serve-u hostess sets, vintage tablecloths, vintage fiesta...... you get the picture.  Now that I'm older and I have limited space and limited tolerance for dusting, I'm more selective.

Years ago, I saw an article in a magazine about vintage aquarium ornaments and it stuck in my mind.  However, until recently I haven't actually purchased any.

Not that I haven't seen any, but if I'm going to buy it, it needs to be cheap, it needs to be exactly the right style and age, and it needs to be in great condition.   But boy are these aquarium ornaments rare.  Especially the mermaid ones.  Of course they are a gazillion dollars, usually even on ebay, when you can find them.  For example, here's one on Etsy right now:












No way I'm paying that. I'm not saying it's not worth it, but I'm too cheap.  So the only one I ever bought was a really cute little castle I found in Wiggins, MS (of all places) for $3.

But on a random Friday when I was off work, junkin' around in Bay St. Louis, waiting to meet Dale after she picked up her kids so we could get coffee, I found this one. It was great.  It was made in Japan.  It was in good condition.  It was BEACHY! And BONUS - it was a BUBBLER!

 (you know - you put it in the aquarium and put a tube in it and bubbles come from it).

BUT.  It was expensive.  WAY more than I am willing to pay for stuff like this.  I thought about it, left the store, mulled it over, looked up comparables on ebay, fretted, and finally went back.  Talked the lady down about $15, and ended up getting it for $48 I think.  I LOVE HER.  My Mom ended up giving me the $ back as part of my birthday present, so SCORE!

So now I have a collection of TWO.  Which for me, right now, is just the right number.

P.S. This was Fiona's pick - #6.  

Yeah....Empty Frames

I have grand schemes and plans for my house.  I get gung-ho and then....well yeah.  When I can't make a decision, I get paralyzed.  Jason is pretty good about forcing me to make decisions when he finally gets good and sick of seeing random projects sitting around.

I saw all these pictures of cool collages of framed pictures on walls on The Pinterest, and was determined to duplicate it in my own living room.

Bought the frames from Goodwill and American Thrift Store for seriously NO money (like $1 - $8ish).  Painted them with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, and followed other internet tips to trace out the shapes of the frames on newspaper and arrange those on the wall to determine where to hang them.

We tried several different arrangements. Lived with each of them for a few days.   Moved some furniture around, and finally settled on a pattern.


That was in September.


Then Jason finally made me hang the actual frames not much after that.

And there they are.  I still have no idea what I'm going to put IN them.  But they look sort of cool.  We finished filling up that bookcase, and I'm super happy with the results of that.

Hmmm I don't have a current picture of that and it's too dark to take one.  I'll post one later.  Remind me!

P.S. This was Andree's pick - 734.  I only had one 734.  

Grlz

They are always up in my grill.  But aren't they cute?  This is their "we are so hungry we will tolerate touching each other to look pitiful" move.















P.S. (Carl's pick - #1, 1)

Pelicans

Shannon, you picked #369.  I must have deleted that one. Here's the next closest  that is divisible by 3.

I actually really like this one.  I think my exposure could have been a tad darker.  This was my first trip out on my own after my photography class.

Ponytails and Spoonches

She stayed bald or nearly bald for SO LONG.  Around fall of last year, her hair was finally long enough for a real pony tail.  I was so excited the first time I saw it up, I took about a million pics.

And I realize now that I'm feeling more blog-y that I have SO much to update on her.  Look how big she is!  Almost 3 now!

She LOVES books, and bandaids (which she calls stickers), and on this particular day, she thought a spoon was called a SPOONCH, and of course I thought that was the funniest thing I ever heard in my life.

Excuse the video quality, but you can clearly hear her say it.  With extra emphasis on the "spoonCCCCHHHH" because I had already asked her what a spoon was about 400 times.

P.S. This was Gillian's #219

Popcorn -Best Tip from Pinterest Ever

I am a popcorn addict.   I REALLY don't like microwave popcorn though because I can just feel all the grease and preservatives coating my esophagus and killing me slowly.  I mean don't get me wrong, I still EAT it, I just wasn't very proud of it.

Enter the most phenom. tip ever from pinterest.

 Get some brown paper lunch bags and some plain popcorn kernels.








Put 1/4 cup of kernels into the paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over 2 times, like this:

Put the bag in the microwave.  I usually do the quick cook for 2 minutes, but then it slows down popping at about 1:35 and I stop it.  The point is, listen for it to be almost done.  It WILL burn if you let it.







Open the bag.  Be careful - there's still steam from the liquid inside the kernels.

Beautiful, right?  Melt some butter with those remaining seconds and drizzle it on if you want.  I personally consider popcorn merely a vehicle to get butter and salt into my body, so I for sure do.






I have AWESOME luck with this method.  It pops almost every kernel, and if I pay attention I never burn it.  It's SO much healthier than the microwave bags with all that crap in them.   Also - WAY cheaper.

You're welcome :)

P.S. this is Rikki's #. Well, it's the next closest # to Rikki's #.  Thanks! This is fun!