I ♥ Etsy! The ADK Edition

    

For whatever reason, I have been feeling very homesick for the mountains recently. Maybe it's the depressing pseudo-winter I'm experiencing in this part of the world (it's been cold, then warm, sunny, then grey and very, very little snow). Therefore I present to you, the Adirondack version of I ♥ Etsy!. All items can be found on Etsy.com and are either inspired by the Adirondacks or made in the Adirondacks (or both!).

(left-to-right; top-to-bottom)

White-Tailed Deer Mug,  Adirondack Owl Journal, Rustic Maple Bowl, Adorable Adirondack Celadon Baby Cardigan, Adirondack Wonders, Eco Friendly Cedar Adirondack Chair, Wooden Cutting Board, Authentic by Sweetwater, Adirondack Chairs, Neptune by Tula Pink, Sky Blue Tags, Addie's Summer Lounge, Old Barn in Flowery Field, White-Tailed Deer Bowl, Adirondack Laid Back

Trinkets, Treasures and Pretty Things

    

I have fond memories of visiting my grandmother when I was a little girl. My grandmother's house was a treasure trove of little trinkets to discover and nooks to explore. Back home in the Adirondacks, my sisters and I spent most of our time exploring the woods, so it was always a treat to visit Grandma on Long Island. From the embroidered napkins in the dining room, the figurines in the entryway and the hatboxes in the attic, my sisters and I occupied ourselves for hours just exploring all the wonders. We were introduced to a world unknown to us. A world of hat pins, garters and girdles, fine china and silver.

When my Great Aunt, who lived most of her life in Florida, moved near us, her house introduced us to the novelty and tackiness of kitsch. Her furniture was the color of rainbow sherbet, her decor was gold and gaudy, but oh how fun it was to imagine her bright and floral world. Where my grandmother had pearls, my great aunt had plastic.

At home, the place to explore was my mother's jewelry box. Whenever she was away from the house for a bit, I would run into her room and carefully dig through the pretty things. I would try on her rings and wonder when in her past she wore them. I carefully examined every necklace and bracelet for any glimpse into my mother's past. Who was she when she was younger? I liked to imagine I could find the younger version of my mom in that magical wooden jewelry box.

Nowadays I don't have any places to visit and discover the treasures of the past. My grandmother and great aunt have since passed on. Occasionally, when I make it back home, I still take a peek in my mom's jewelry box. Now I have my own treasures to collect, my own connections to the past. I've even acquired some of my grandmother's and great aunt's trinkets. I'd like to think that someday my own daughter will root through my jewelry box and imagine what her mommy was like once upon a time.

 

(left-to-right: Hummel figurines from my great aunt, misc. figurines from my grandmother; a sock monkey made by my grandmother, my dad's childhood teddy bear, my Cabbage Patch Kid who has been with me since I was 3 or 4, Barry the Beaver, my first stuffed animal, who wears my hospital bracelet around his neck; a small collection of perfume bottles from my grandmother)

 

(left-to-right, top-to-bottom: my jewelry box with a picture of me and two of my sisters; cameo and pearl jewelry from my grandmother; a collection of lighters from my great aunt; my small collection of my special jewelry; a small, misc. container; a pretty ceramic container made by my grandmother; a pearlized pill box and fox tie tack from my grandmother; my grandmothers favorit clamshell earrings and a pair of teardrop costume earrings)

I submit to you, Exhibit A... my ass.

True story. I was taking some pictures of myself wearing the new shoes I bought today. Why? Because that's what I do. Not really. I was taking them to show my sis who lives about 6 hours away. She likes shoes and shoe shopping and all sorts of other girly stuff that I am no good at (I like to think that along with my right eye, she also stole my half of the girliness during gestation, but that's neither here nor there). I'm convinced I have some sort of condition that makes it impossible for me to find shoes that fit me. They fit fine in the store, but the moment I take them home they're either too loose and fall right off my feet or so tight my toes scream bloody murder every time I try to put them on. My closet is full of shoes I've worn once, but I digress.

I thought my sister would be proud of my recent purchases because, not only did I buy pointy-toed shoes, I bought pointy-toed boots. (I have to admit, this is only the 2nd time I've photographed my shoes for my sis to see, but after she was flabbergasted by my purchase of T-strap sandals! I felt I needed to show off my boots too.) So, there I was, standing in front of the mirror, snapping away at my feet when I was struck with a moment of brilliance. OMG, I wonder if my butt really looks the way I think it does when I look in the mirror!?

We've all been there at some point in time, right? You're in the fitting room, trying on the perfect pair of jeans, and your butt looks fabulous! and you just HAVE to buy them, right? Only to get them home and realize that your butt looks nothing at all like you thought it did? (I believe dressing rooms are secretly equipped with magic mirrors that make your ass look good in everything. On the flip side, they make your thighs look hideous in every single bathing suit you try one. I think it's all part of some man's conspiracy to keep normal women out of bikinis. There. The secrets out. You're welcome.) My perfect jeans are from H&M and have back pockets with flaps that make my butt look cute and high and round and perfectly grabbable. And the best part, they continued to look that way once I brought them home. Score! (Let me just add that nothing ever looks good in an H&M dressing room, so I felt like I had literally struck gold here.)

So, in typical What Not to Wear secret footage style (you know, that awful video footage they show to the women, who up until this point thought they looked good in what they were wearing until they saw themselves on film? From behind.) I photographed my butt. I submit for your consideration, my ass, or as I now like to refer to it, the-ass-that-never-was.

(sigh) I can just hear Stacey and Clinton now...

Clinton: Where's your tushie? There's no tushie here.

Stacey (as she waves her hand in circles over my butt):  Look at how flat this is. These are not flattering.

(SIGH) and the quest for the perfect pair of jeans continues. I'm sure hitting the stairmaster couldn't hurt either.

I think I'm in love

  
that is all

Stephen King ruined my life.

Okay, not really, but he has made it more difficult to maintain a normal, functioning life. I love Stephen King (the author. I don't know him personally and couldn't say one way or the other if I love Stephen King, the person; I get the impression he might be a difficult man to love though, but I digress). I first discovered Stephen King in 7th grade English class... It was a "reading" day (opposed to a "writing" day), and I didn't have a thing to read. And then I discovered Mr. King and have been reading (obsessing over) his work ever since. Seriously, his writing is like crack, and I'd come by it any way possible. I used to "borrow" my older sisters copies, request the new releases for Christmas (because the timing was always right, and the best crack is crack you don't have to pay for. But dammit! Under the Dome was not under my tree this year!), and once, I discovered a very old copy of The Eyes of the Dragon in someone's garage and proceeded to relieve them of it (I really loved that book, and the first time I read it, I borrowed it from our school library, and they tend to charge you money when you don't return their books, so...). Well, to make a long story short (too late.*), I read a lot of King's books and have been for some time now. Moving on...

So, back to the point of this post, Stephen King's books mess up my life. I go through phases (benders?) where I become obsessed and so sucked into his tales that I can't. stop. reading. Right now I'm re-reading the entire Dark Tower series and I find myself counting down the hours until I can crawl into bed and rejoin Roland and his compadres. King's writings change my routines, affect my habits, invade my dreams (click here for proof), mess with my moods and emotions and turn me into an anti-social shadow of a person (was that too severe?). (Sigh) But oh how I love me some Bag of Bones (my personal favorite), Green Mile and Dark Tower. Not all work is created equal though. I can not abide most of his work pre-1984 (which was when The Talisman was published. Good book), but oh, what a sad, sad, day it will be when Stephen King really retires and stops writing for good (not this pseudo-retirement he's currently living).

I wonder if all of King's Constant Readers feel the same?

 

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* For those of you unaware, this is a Clue reference. One of the greatest movies ever. I think I might have to watch it now.

There Go the Eggs! -or- Oh Crap!

As we all know, I just turned thirty this month. I was feelin' pretty freakin' fantastic about it until I saw this fabulous feature on GMA this morning:

Women and Falling Fertility: Women Lose 90 Percent of Eggs by Age 30 - ABC News

90%!!! Well, sonofabitch, way to ruin my day. Here I was, innocently watching the "news" while eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee thinking I've finally gotten my life figured out; I know what I want and how I'm gonna go about getting it, and then bam! Robin Roberts goes and throws me this curve ball. Damn it! What does this mean!?! I was all set to finish my Masters... find myself a job.... slowly stroll into the whole motherhood thing. Now it seems I better tie on my running shoes and get ready to sprint because by age forty only 3% of my little, miraculous, life-creating orbs will be left.

I ♥ Etsy!

I window shop on Etsy all the time! While viewing my Favorites list, I've noticed a trend in the items that have really caught my eye. Apparently, if an item is blue, green, brown, tree, bird or turtle related, chances are, I'm going to ♥ it. Bonus points if it manages to combine any of those themes together. The other night I was searching for unique new wallets and came across these fantastic finds (Note: I realize these items aren't all wallets, in fact, only one is, but getting sidetrack is inevitable on this damn site):

(descriptions from left-to-right, top-to-bottom)

1. Eco-Recycled Dragonfly Blue Glass Recycled Brown Leather Bracelet by designspirit
2. Opening by carrieprince 
3. Funky Little Bird by carrieprince
4. Black Leather Cuff with Natural Hematite Beads by LeasBoutique 
5. Metallic Teal Green Vinyl and Gray Flower and Vine Applique Snap Card Case by uniquehandbags 
6. Blue Damask Leather Doctor Bag by bonspielcreation