hey guys! happy monday!!! just wanted to let you know that i've marked down all remaining items in the tiny gift collection 25-50% off for TODAY ONLY. this is the last day i'll be shipping orders for holiday delivery, so if there's something you might like, grab it now! it's on sale, and many of the items ship free (first class, US orders, only)
i was clicking through my flickr friends recent uploads the other day when i came across this most amazing story. and let me tell you, i have not laughed so hard in i don't know how long. we're talking about that kind of laugh where you're laughing so hard, you're just teetering on your emotions ever so, and you might just start to actually weep. that was me. i honestly could see myself in this story, which is told so brilliantly, with so many great lines- i could picture the scene perfectly. so i emailed miss *eartha kitsch* and asked her if she would be ok if i shared it with you guys. and she said yes! so here you go. if you are a thrifter, you will really enjoy this- and if you are not, you will become one. as i always say to henry, you never know what might be waiting for you.
so, without further ado, i present to you, *eartha kitsch*'s THAT'S THE STUFF RIGHT THERE!
::
So, this is going to be a ridiculously long story because I am
excited......but if you have time, listen to this - I got out of the
house today! (Thank heavens) I hadn't been out of the house for 11
days, not counting my trip to the E.R.. I know that you all got to hear
me rant about how I was missing all the good Christmas goodies at the
thrift stores. I was completely and totally spazzing out! So, Mister
promised he would take me out today. And thrifting even! I know, right?
It's a Christmas miracle! I kid you not - I couldn't sleep last night
as I concocted my plan of attack: which sections to hit first...how to
get it all in before Mister gets really antsy and asks to leave...
Then, all night long, I dreamed about Christmas kitsch! It was
maddening! But listen to this, you all were there too! Yes, you! And
you! And you! Flickr friends kept showing up in my dream and showing me
cool vintage Christmas items that they had found. I tossed and turned
all night in fits of jealousy and frustration. Yes, I'm a real jealous
girl in my dream state. I woke up so sad because I hadn't come out of
my dreams with anything good. No swag from the Sandman. Oh,
NyQuil.....where is your balm?
So, I sprang out of bed this morning as if my gown were on fire. We
were at Goodwill with the first crowd of shoppers. I limped over to
where the huge bin of outcast Christmas ornaments are, picturing little
people made of gold painted pine cones and grimy pom-pom creatures who
needed me to rescue them. That's where I always find the best things!
Once I got there, I realized that the bin was now filled to the brim
with Happy Meal toys. Happy Meal toys! Oh, I wanted to cry! So, I made
the long haul to the back of the store where the knick-knack shelves
are. I lurched up and down the aisles, sweating, eyes darting from one
item to the next, as slow as an impaired tortoise. I was finding
nothing. Nothing!
The Christmas shelves had been downsized and now were mostly stupid
wicker baskets. (I'd like to take this time to put a pox on stupid
wicker baskets!) Even the general knick-knack shelves had been scraped
clean, no doubt by people looking for cheap presents for their friends
and family. (Damn you, George Bush! People should be in the malls!) I
was at the edge of tears because I had looked forward to the things
that I knew I would find. About that time, Mister came up to me and
asked me why I looked so sad. I eeked out, "There... is... nothing "
and cast my eyes downward towards the dirty floor and my crooked foot.
He then said, "Didn't you see that pile of light-up deer over there?"
My ears started ringing and the room started spinning. I clutched the
shelf of crockery soup mugs to steady myself. I thought he must be
kidding and I asked him to repeat himself. He said, "Didn't you see
them? Follow me..." I swear, it was then that I forgot my foot injury
and began to run. Like a marathon "throw a cup of water in my face as I
go by" runner.
He took me to the furniture section and there they were, right between
the dirty wicker laundry hamper and the brass floor lamp, right behind
the wooden tater bin - an honest to god PILE of light up deer, stacked
like gorgeous cord wood! My heart started beating like a rabbit being
chased. I have always loved these deer and have wanted them for as long
as I could remember. I looked around at the other shoppers, wondering
who would leap in and take this dream away from me. Only an elderly
lady seemed to notice my new obsession. She asked me if was going to
get them and I said, "Oh yes! I have wanted these deer my ENTIRE LIFE!"
She smiled at me and said that she was very happy for me. I wanted to
kiss her on the mouth but didn't. I turned my attention back to the
deer and asked Mister, "Can we? Oh, can we?"
He then told me to pick out the one that I wanted. I then placed myself
between him and the reindeer as if they were my new allies. I can't
remember exactly the conversation that occurred next but my end went
something like, " ONE?? But...but...please!..." and "My entire life!!
The deer!! But..but..." and " They have to be together, they pull
Santa's sleigh!!" and " I swear to God! This can be my entire
Christmas!!"
He then agreed and said that we shouldn't take Rudolph because his nose
was cracked. I'm pretty sure my eyes rolled straight out of my head as
I told him, "That's Rudolph! He has the nose that lights up and he
GUIDES THE SLEIGH!" (as if he'd never heard the story) (as if the
future of every gift expecting tot was hanging in the balance). He then
agreed to let me have all five of them and I started doing a jagged,
clumsy jig and tried to hold them against my bosom all at once. The
reindeer and I were engaged in a sort of football field style huddle
and no sucker was going to separate me from my beautiful glowing
destiny! Mister and I had a brief conversation about him getting a
shopping cart but I then reasoned that I was crippled and while he was
gone, somebody would surely take them away from the white-knuckled
grasp that I now had on the whole pile of them.
Hoping to calm me, Mister grabbed a couple of the deer and we started
walking up to the front of the store with reindeer perched all over us.
Me lumbering and limping and giggling like a fool. Him behind me
dragging cracked nosed Rudolph and the one that will be known as
"Prancer". As we walked up to the counter, the intercom came on and the
voice called my name and asked me to come up to the front! It was
crazy! I know that it was someone else by the same name that they
wanted but while I lurched forward with those deer, them calling me to
the front, I felt like I'd won the Showcase Showdown! I squealed, "I'm
coming! WITH THE DEER!" to nobody in particular. A couple of ladies
surveying the once red but now pinkish red Christmas turtlenecks
stopped to look at me but only momentarily.
As Mister paid for the deer (squeal!), we discussed how we probably
wouldn't have time to put them up this Christmas. I then said that I
was going to light them all up and surround our living room couch with
them. The cashier gave me quite the look and asked us, "Y'all have
children?" We said that we didn't. Her look grew even more intense as
she smiled at us with a nervous pity. Mister took the deer out to the
car on his own and told me to go back to shopping (squeal!). As I made
my way to the back of the store, I passed the little old lady who had
congratulated me on the deer before. She said to me, "Honey, you're SO
happy, aren't you?" I blurted out, "I am!! I've wanted them my entire
life! MY ENTIRE LIFE!" She smiled again and told me that she recently
got a large snowman there that had swirling lights all over it. I
smiled back at her (secretly wishing that she would adopt me as her
granddaughter) and told her that we were, "lucky....so very lucky!" She
agreed and we parted.
I began to look over the glassware and as Freddy Fender faded out, the
store stereo started playing Doris Day singing a Christmas carol.
Doris! And yeah, I started to cry. It was absolutely perfect. The
absolutely perfect day.
::
visit the fabulous *eartha kitsch*'s BLOG, flickr stream and check out her etsy shop too!
we trimmed our tree last weekend. i always enjoy pulling out the boxes + bins of ornaments and there's always a lot of, "ohhhh, yeah! remember this one! i love this one!" kind of chatter going on. probably no surprise, but i have a pretty sweet collection of vintage ornaments- but i also have some precious handmade ones that i treasure just as much, if not more. we decided to tackle the trimming of the tree while dotty took her afternoon nap... thought it would be a little bit more of a quiet, peaceful activity that henry and i could do together without having to worry about a pair of 19 month old grabby hands going wild on my boxes of vintage glass ornaments. so henry, matt and i had hot chocolates and hot ciders and listened to a holiday station on pandora and watched the snow fall. and after a couple hours, a certain baby bird woke up and was ready to come out and see what all the hub-bub was about.
she's been enjoying our neighbor's lights across the street each night- we have different night time rituals, and a new addition has been to peek out the curtains and look at the lights. and dotty says, "niggggh" and we sort of oooh and ahh over them for a bit, and look for the moon, which we sometimes find and sometimes don't.
note the bed head.
her first inspection of the tree was all i had hoped it would be- quiet, gentle and curious. and between you and me, i was on the fence about getting a tree this year because i just felt like my life for the next 4 weeks would revolve around policing that tree and guarding my precious shiny brites. just didn't know if i had it in me... but so far so good. she zeroed in on this dorothy (from the wizard of oz) ornament and boy, was she smitten. she kept leaning in and hugging it and just loving on it, my heart was kind of melting as i was snapping these pics.
after a couple mintues, she perked up and got more excited about all the niggghhhs and the BALLS! and the sparkly things, and she was working her way around that tree at a pretty good clip. but still being more on the gentle side, which was comforting to me. i mean, of course i fear the breakage, but i've also heard these nightmare stories of kids eating ornaments, so i was a little bit on the edge of my seat. a lot more scattered, excited circling around and inspecting and then
back to that dorothy one.
it was pure joy.
and to think i had considered *not* getting a tree.
an update on this update!
i am going to play it safe and say that i'm not going to make the 4:00 deadline... henry will be home in T-minus 10, and usually that is the crazy hour of the day... so. just to be realistic, I am going to say 9:30 tonight- i hope that isn't too late for you if you've been waiting... i really want to just include everything in one update, and i still have photos to edit and add, descriptions to write and ya'll with kids know how it goes... pretty soon i will have to break for dinner/bath/bedtime, but i will return to work at 8 and get this sucker posted! ok?
thanks a bunch for checking in, and for all your excitement. i think you will enjoy this one, lots of little treasures... XO
hi guys! so i am still on track for posting the tiny gift collection at 4:00 today (EST)
i am working fast + furious over here, thank goodness for long baby naps and nice sun- i've been getting some last minute photos taken and i have some photo editing yet to do... if i get delayed, i'll keep you posted, but so far so good! XO
shop update today at 4:00 EST. lots of little items perfect for stuffing a stocking, giving to your bff, your co-worker, your mama, your pappa, and even yourself! check back at 4!
these items plus more in the shop tomorrow!
and don't forget today is the last day for the coats- all of which are on sale 30% off!
look at this cutie pie miss kelly in all her frecklewonder scores! i didn't even realize it until she alerted me to her flickr set, but this girl has built quite a collection!!! these are just a few of her outfits, it was tough to choose- and so fun to see all these pieces and how she styled them.
thanks so much for sharing, kelly!
and a gentle reminder to those of you who have a little frecklewonder-somethin'-somethin'... please don't be shy and send me a snap of you struttin' your stuff!!! it really is so fun for me to see you in your goods.
xoxo!
a surprise blanket of snow fell this weekend.
it was the kind that hung onto every single twig and branch.
making things unbelievably beautiful.
it was the shot of holiday spirit that i needed.
i was the first one up (thanks to my obsessive compulsive cats who obsessively, compulsively scratch the sides of their litter box for what seems like an eternity, rant for another day). truth be told, i was a little grumpy about being woken up. how dare they, i thought. it's cold out! and it's the weekend! everyone is sleeping and i should be too! but as i came out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee, i looked outside and saw the most beautiful pink sky over a fluffy, white covered world. i decided i should give my sweet family another hour and a half to sleep, and then it would be time to get out there. it was too perfect to miss.
after some coaxing, we all bundled up and headed out to see what we could see.
and it was a sight. we were the only souls out there. so quiet, and peaceful, just us and the birds.
