Indulge Your Shelf

This month I've been blogging for here at Indulge Your Shelf for ten years.  If you've been with me for any time at all, then you know that I adore treasure hunting at thrift shops.  It just never gets old.  Over the last decade I'd been hearing about the wonders of the Goodwill "bins" from other junk lovers in other states, and then we finally got one nearby a few years ago.  Oh my goodness -- it takes thrifting to a whole new level. Finding this tablecloth there just made my day.  It's exactly the kind of thing that makes my heart leap -- especially at this time of the year! The graphics... look at that sleigh!  With visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, I sorted through those dusty bins and came up with a few fun little touches: the holly berry "ball" on the far right is going to be washed up and put to use immediately in the last of my Christmas crafting! And, here's what I mean by treasure: how is it even possible that som...

Have you heard Pink's song, I Am Here ?  I love everything she does, but this song is really meaningful to me and it really fits my mood lately.  Where does everybody go when they go? Well, I was here all of September and October, but in November I went to SF to see my family.  The trip was a quick decision I made a few weeks ago -- I was tired of saying, "I should go" and just found a date that worked and got some tickets.  Sometimes you just have to listen to your heart.  My husband and son were on the fence about it, but they made time to go with me and I think they're really glad they did. We spent some time remembering the ones we have loved and lost.  They are in a lovely final resting place. We drove to the wine country, got lost in its beauty, and had a great meal in Sonoma. A really wonderful evening on a patio -- it was cold in Colorado, but in the 80's in California.  Happy sigh. My new favorite wine. We visited my fat...

Dennis and I attended a beautiful wedding last weekend for one of my new co-workers.  Everything about the day was lovely and we were so glad to be included! The wedding colors were dark blue and white, and I was so inspired by the pretty invitation that I decided to create a frame for it for them as a keepsake. Here's how it turned out.  While the images of brides were scans of originals, almost all of the rest of the details including the beaded flowers, millinery and fabrics, were vintage (of course!)  Here are some of my favorite details/close-ups of the decoupaging: The back, and a little gift card I made to go with it.  I know that decoupaging with vintage paper isn't everyone's style, but I hoped she'd like it, and she did! This weekend was quieter; after Dennis was out of town for the whole week (and the whole week before, too), he came home Friday and took me to a local pop up vintage market.  It was small, but we had a l...

So, here I am at my new job.  I work inside the back area of a library, and it's a really sunny, spacious office.  As you can see, they told me to "make the space my own" so I brought in some of my art and a family photo (behind me.)  I'll probably decorate more later, too. I think I'm going to be happy there.  I work every morning and get to leave at noon.  At my last job at the call center, I didn't go in to work until mid-afternoon and I really liked that schedule.  The last couple of weeks I find I'm having a hard time adjusting back to early morning wakings.  Especially since just this week, there was snow on Pikes Peak and, after Labor Day, a chill in the air in the mornings which makes me very sad; it also make me want to roll over and hide under the blankets when my alarm goes off. But --  once I'm at work I do enjoy how quickly the morning goes and then I'm off the rest of the day!  Look at this friendly group of ladies I work...

Well, you guessed it: I had the time of my life at the Rod Stewart/Cyndi Lauper concert!  First of all, it was great to spend time with my old friend Judy -- who I've known since 7th grade.  She visited Colorado for the first time and enjoyed our wonderful weather and the relaxing (compared to the bay area) feel. On the night of the concert we had just found our way to our seats in section 306 when we got the surprise of our lives: I asked another fan to take a photo of Judy and I with the stage in the background.  The next thing I knew this fan, who it turns out was part of the backstage team for Cyndi Lauper, was handing us tickets to the sixth row next to the stage!  She told us, Cyndi liked to gift people with seat upgrades!  We moved down to our new seats in a happy daze! Cyndi Lauper performed first and she was energetic and inspiring.  I re-lived many 1980's moments listening to her songs, which were always both fun and also touching -- like...