Indulge Your Shelf

I am enjoying my new job. Yes, it has taken a huge chunk out of my free time which has been a real adjustment.  But it's been a long time coming.  It's nice to work for a large company again. May people have asked me how shopgoodwill.com "works" -- so here's a quick explanation: shopgoodwill.com is an auction site, similar to eBay, where some (but not all) Goodwill thrift stores list items that have been donated; in this way, they can extend the reach of their customer base and, hopefully, earn more money from the donations. And you can go thrift shopping at Goodwills from all over the country -- from home! Every day I go into the headquarters office and sit at a desk and write auction listings for items that are sent to me from one of the five or so stores in my region.  The managers/pickers of the different stores choose what they think is most interesting/valuable/has a wider potential audience than the store floor, and it's delivered to me at...

I'm linking this post up with this blog party: Christmas in July ! My Salvaged Treasures I'm doing a lot less thrift shopping these days.  But less is not NONE.  Even after a full day of listing other people's junque, I still find treasure-hunting for myself so relaxing.  Here's a run down of what I've picked up in the last three weeks: At one estate sale recently it was Christmas in July; even though I didn't get there until the last day of the sale, there were still some kitschy holiday pieces to snap up, like this aqua and pink swag... and this awesome box of holiday matchboxes.  I don't think I've ever found them un-used like this before; so I never knew the matches would be... green!  I love them. The matchboxes came in a plastic bag stuffed with these other items...all of which I can do without.  You know how that is. At the same sale, these FABULOUS New Year's Eve hats, with sparkly letters in real metal glitter (I sa...

We had another one of those small town 4th of July holidays this year. If you've been reading my blog for a while you may remember that each year my son's Scout Troop hosts a community pancake breakfast.  Ben, who has been away working as a camp counselor, was home this past week and got to join in the fun. Look how good we look for being up at the crack of dawn to help set up for a 7 am start. The group has gotten very good at putting on the breakfast: cooking up food that tastes really GOOD, keeping it warm, and getting it served quickly to all who come out for the fun. We usually have a great turn out.  Besides the food there's a raffle, a DJ playing tunes (he doesn't start until 8 am), face painting... and the kids get to decorate bikes and have a parade which is always a hoot. We had a bright, sunny, dry, hot day for the 4th this year. As always, we were happy to have our local heroes stop by to give tours of the truck and join in the fun.  We ...

This comment from Kelli on one of my previous posts is a favorite: These swaps that you take us to are just fascinating to me! I have many many interests so I follow all kinds of blogs and I think the group of people you hang with must be the most giving and fun and willing to get together of any I have contact with - you all seem to support each other and don't look down on others if their talent isn't as good as yours - I really appreciate getting to virtually hang out with you and your talented friends.   I couldn't have said it better myself, Kelli.  I have a wonderful group of creative friends!  They are so giving and fun, and I feel so lucky to have met them! Let me give you just one example of their awesomeness : upon arriving at Karla's Birdsong Three on June 7, Beth greeted me with a bag full of these beautiful little badges.  She knew that all the girls who worked on the Breakfast at Tiffany's fabric book that was just published in Somerset w...