Notes from A Cottage Industry

Champagne taste on a Goodwill budget.

I have been smitten for quite a number of years with a very specific old-school champagne glass. They were most assuredly never pricey, even when they were first on the market.

Made from a fairly heavy, thick glass, this coupe style, as they are called, have a sweet detail on the stem, and I adore the shape of the glass. (I have always known them to be called "Boob" glasses, because history has it that they were originally fashioned after the shape of Marie Antoinette's breast...Have you heard this tale, or am I alone here?)

Anyway.

While living in the biggest little city, I amassed a rather large collection of these glasses, which we used at 41 Taylor,and I sold them at one point, so when I moved to the Pacific Northwest, I began to watch for them all over again at thrift shops.

The challenge has been that because they are so cheaply made, they seem to be at two varying heights and I would really prefer the ones I have to all match. This has made for a pretty interesting treasure hunt.

While on the great Spokane Farm Chicks trip of 2015, the Other Tracey and I managed to stop by the best priced Goodwill either of us have ever been in.

(Seriously, the prices were fair! How unheard of is that?!)

As we walked in the front door of the store, I reminded the Other Tracey that we needed to be on the lookout for my favorite champagne glasses, and we each grabbed a shopping cart and began cruising the aisles.

As we turned on to the glassware aisle I reminded the Other Tracey of my champagne glass obsession. Suddenly, we both spotted, at the exact same moment, an entire shelf of my favorite stemware.

An entire shelf, people.

I grabbed a glass and flipped it over to see the price. (I have always had to pay two dollars per glass. I let out a squeal when I saw the price...just fifty cents a glass!

The immediate dilemma then was how many of these little beauties should I buy?

I ended up buying ten dolalrs worth of glasses (Twenty glasses!) and I am still pinching myself when I think f the sweet deal I got on them. I can hardly wait to throw a girls night in cocktail soiree to break them in.

(Oh! And they work great for ice cream bowls too, which I will be using them for soon, as well....)

Yes, the Spokane Goodwill will forever have a place in my heart.

Magic is something you make.

I love that quote.

(Don't you?)

That's how I feel when I get rolling on a creative project in my work room. (or when decorating around the house.)

Like I am making magic.

I'm on a little bit of a patriotic kick around here lately, with the 4th of July comin' up this week. I've done up my living and dining room up with flags a'plenty.

(More is more in this case, people.)

Oh! And speaking of patriotic decor, the Other Tracey sent me a text photo last night with her vintage flags she scored at Farm Chicks...how fantastically fabulous are these vintage American flags on her dining room table with her freshly painted navy blue walls?

(Be still my patriotic heart.)

(You cannot buy soft cotton flags any longer, you know...they are all polyester, and rather stiff.)

I have my printable Freedom Banner ready for instant download in my etsy shop to add to the Independence Day merriment. It's one of my all-time favorites because it's one simple word that says America to me...Freedom.

(You may purchase it here.)

Do you get inspired about decorating for holidays, and seasons? If so, do you decorate outside as well as inside?  Do share, please!

Weekly words to live by.

Old people rock.

...er..make that older people rock.

(I always forget that I am getting dangerously close to sixty myself, which is old to some of you.)

That cutie-patootie gal in the top photo is Helen. My Rock n' Roll Buddy and I met Helen and her equally cute sweetheart, Jonathan, at a local Pub here in the 'Couve this week. Helen is a petite little wisp of a gal, in her early 80's we guessed, weighing no more than 90 pounds, soaking wet, and she's clearly not your average granny.

Helen and Jon were both participants in the Taco Tuesday weekly Pool Tournament at this Pub, and through a happy coincidence, they were seated at the table right next to ours.

We chatted them up about classic cars, and billiards, and as it turns out, Jon and Helen are regulars at the weekly Pool tourney. (In the end, he took first place and she took fourth, out of sixteen players in the tournament.) They come in from the neighboring town of Longview each week to play.(I don't know why I didn't ask them to pose for a "couple" picture!)

Anyway.

It was such fun to watch them play.

I think the sweetest moment of the entire evening was when Helen nailed an incredible shot and Jonathan happened to have just finished his current match and watched her sink it. She beamed and he effortlessly slid over to her in one smooth stride and gave her a congratulatory that's-my-girl kiss on the lips.

My Rock n' Roll Buddy and I let out soft aaaah's in unison as we turned and looked at each other. (Okay, and I may have teared up just a little bit.)

*sigh*

Oh, yeah, old (er) people rock, alright, and Helen and her sweet beau are proof of it.

Happy go lucky.

When we were in Spokane (Yes, it's another post about our fabulous trip. I am sure I told you that it was a spectacular girlfriend-vacation.) I told you we started off our Friday at Chaps. From there we drove the short distance to Celeste's newest venture, which is her oh-my-gosh-cuter-than-we-could-have-imagined shop, Lucky.

The Other Tracey and I decided that the building her shop is in must have formerly been a gas station, but that's just our best guess. Our experience began the moment we drove up and parked.

Such cute signs.

And a vintage sofa full of flowers. (There were cookie sheets on top of the sofa cushions.)

A row of soft pink petunias hung from the old rusted awning frame.

Ca-razy cute, no?

The inside of the shop was equally fabulous. We shopped around in there for quite a little while and both managed to drop some of our shopping dollars without any hesitation.

*sigh*

An adorable shop that is a must-see on your stop-by list if you are ever in Spokane, for sure.

Weekly words to live by.

(The same is true for little girls.)

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad, and all of the other Dad's out there. You are special people.

When you know an adventure is about to happen....

....You want to be prepared.

And cute, at the same time.

Last Sunday's Weekly words to live by showed a photo of my newest fun find, my overnight bag.

(How cute is this?!)

I wanted to share where I got my cutie-patootie bag with you. (I shared it in a facebook comment, but I know not everyone sees those) I got it online (I saw if on Pinterest, of course, in the background of a picture, and googled it up!) from Forestbound.(here.) You can also find it online with Urban outfitters. (here.) It was a bit more than my usual cheaper-is-just-as-cute range, but I think it was worth it.

I took it last weekend on an impromptu adventure with my Rock n' Roll Buddy, and it made me smile each time I looked at it.

 

 

Eat more desserts.

Yes, please.

Jenny Keller, of Jenny Cookies, who is a baker-turned-cookbook-author, was at the Farm Chicks Show, signing copies of her new book.

Of course, the moment I saw the cover of her delightful cookbook, it was love at first site for me. The Other Tracey is not so much a baker as she is a fabulous gourmet cook, but even she couldn't resist this charming little gem.

(Ignore the photo-bomber-guy in the bright blue vintage themed tee. There were over 50,000 people there, so it was pretty much unavoidable.)

We spent Saturday night after the long day at the show, propped up with our feet on our matching beds in the hotel room, both of us, flipping through or books, squealing and calling out page numbers for the other to check out.

Speaking of the hotel room and beds...we had the oddest sized bed pillows either of us had ever seen. Eensy-weensy-very-nearly-square as opposed to standard bed pillows.

Odd, no?

And the little yellow thing on the headboard that looks like a Post-it note?

Yeah, that is what it was, and both beds had one. My picture is a little blurry, but it reads, "Note to Guest, {Sheets, Pillows, are fresh and clean"> Well, yes, we would hope so.

Not sure why they felt the need to have printed Post-its to share this expected condition of our beds.

Again, I have to ask..odd, no?

Anyway, we stayed up way too late that night (As we did each night of this fabulously fun trip!) laughing and talking, and going through our matching dessert cookbooks.

Such a fun way to spend a Saturday night!

A sweet stop in Spokane.

As I shared a few days ago, One of my amazingly fabulous blog-readers, Kori, had sent me an email before the Farm Chicks trip, sharing all of her favorite stops in Spokane with us, and we left a day early on our trip just to spend the day checking them all out. (And, boy oh boy, were we glad we did!)

Probably the most memorable stop for me that day was "Sweet Frostings". It was truly a treat.

This bakery was done up in the most cheerful aqua and white color palate, with a coordinating floral wallpaper on the walls.

The baked goods were simply precious. Cakes, and macaroons, and sugar cookies, oh my! Sensory overload, for sure.

One of the most clever displays for sweet little headbands, done by hanging them all around a birdcage. (I bought two of them! Adorable for summer!)

A party room in the back area was equally charming....oh, it reminded me so much of the cupcakery my daughter and I had dreamed of opening nearly eight years ago...

 

 

Anyway, it was a little slice of heaven on earth, that's what this place was.

(Kori, you done good, honey. We LOVED this place!)

Our haul from Farm Chicks. (Part of it anyway....)

Well, part of what all we purchased wouldn't fit in the car, nor could the Other Tracey get parts of her pile loaded up anywhere for the plane ride home.

Luckily, the couple I bought a fabulous old rusty bike from (To place in my yard!) live not too far from me in Oregon City, and they offered to bring it home for me. (I will be meeting up with her at Camas Antiques soon to grab my bike)The Other Tracey had a friend with a booth at the Farm Chicks Show, and they offered to truck her large items (A set of grey and navy blue vintage suitcases, a wooden medic box and seven vintage Flags with a vintage French metal flower bucket!) to Sacramento for her to drive and pick up. (A two hour drive over the mountain for the Other Tracey, who happens to have family in the area as well.)

As for the stash of treasures that did make it into the car for the five and a half hour ride home, there was plenty! I scored 5 vintage camp stools (two metal ones and three wooden ones!) that will be used later this summer when I plan to host y first annual Camp Cupcake with the big-enough Grands. (Labor Day Weekend is the planned date.)

To go along with the camp stools, I landed a boy scout hat, and a girl scout sash full of badges (We will need badges at Camp Cupcake, after all...)

I got a spectacular vintage quilt in whites, creams, and a splash of red. (It was my first purchase, just about 15 minutes inside the grand event.) I also bought an old shutter to use as  a table runner, and a white wooden toolbox to set on top of it. I'll show that to you up close and personal tomorrow, all dolled up for the 4th of July!)I got the most incredible silver plate dome that is now proudly hanging on my kitchen wall above a sweet little chalkboard.

My favorite purchase was a vintage laundry cart that I plan to use in my craft room to hold all of my loose snippets of ribbon.

The other Tracey and I both bought quite a lot of vintage flatware. (We both are in mad crazy love with the look of mix-matched flatware on our tables.)

I'm not certain what the Other Tracey's most favorite find was, but I can tell you she bought a lot of table and bed linens.

A lot.

And all of it was wonderful.

She has a thing for vintage jewelry boxes, and she added another one to her collection. She also bought an enormous amount of unframed oil paintings to make a grouping in her hallway at home.

Oh, the list goes on and on! It was a junker's heaven for sure. The time flew by, and we were on such a steady stream of adrenaline that it felt like one day in Spokane, and not three.

So. Much. Fun.

(I know I keep saying that, but it's true!)

You can't please all the people all the time.

You know the old saying, right?

It goes like this: You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

I received the following message through Facebook this past week:

I would enjoy your blog sooooo much more if you took the time to respond to readers' comments.

Unlike.

Well, okay.

I think most of you regular readers know this, but for those who may not...I work a full-time-grown-up-girl job for roughly 45-50 hours any given week. I try to pop in to check my personal emails when I get a moment, and if I am very lucky, I just might have an extra minute to answer an email or message from my blog or facebook post. Some days ( A lot of them actually...) I do not have that luxury. Then, once I get home at night, it's sometimes hard to remember to look through open emails or to find those messages from earlier in the day...(My brain, along with the rest of my body, is now 58 and a half.)

Please know that if I inadvertently miss responding to your question posed in an email or message, it is not for lack of caring, but rather a momentary lapse in my memory. I mean no disrespect to anyone.

I think most of you know and understand this, so this post is for those who do not. For you, I'd like to say, if you are in need of a direct response from me, and you do not receive it in a timely fashion, please don't hesitate to re-message or forward it on to me again. I'd much prefer a reminder than for anyone to get themselves worked into a lather over a non-response.

Moving forward, I will certainly do my best to be responding to all questions asked. (I pinky-swear.)

Oh, and Lana, to answer your question in regards to my buttercream frosting recipe- I make the frosting recipe exactly the same consistency for cookies as well as cupcakes. You add milk to thin to your own desired consistency. (It's up to you. Whatever consistency you are comfortable with in your pastry bag.)

Weekly words to live by.

One more post about the fabulous eye candy at Farm Chicks.

Last post about the event itself, I promise.

Oodles and toodles of cute stuff, and fantastic signage on almost all of the booths.

Did someone say wild animals in paper hats?

A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. These pictures are going to take me back to a million and two happy memories with my dear friend.

Fifty thousand new friends, give or take.

The Farm Chicks Show, twenty-fifteen.

My, oh, my.

I'll get back to sharing the incredible, fabulous, better-than-either-of-us-could-have-ever-imagined day before the Farm Chicks soon, but I really want to share some pictures from the actual event today.

We went to bed late (crazy late) the day before the event; Friday evening, after purchasing our Farm Chicks tickets out at the Fairground Friday afternoon, and woke up early 5:15 to be exact) so we could be ready and waiting in line by 6:30 for the 9:00 show opening. (The crowds number in the tens of thousands, don'tcha know.) We were very near the front of the line to waiting to get in the show (we were only about 50 or so people back!) and we got to park in the second row. (That in itself is huge because that means when we needed to schlep out our first big load, we didn't have to far to schlep!)

We entered the show, eyes darting to and fro, checking out any and all possible gotta-have purchases and we worked our way back. (I was doing double-duty, as the designated photographer, catching all ideas that inspired us, and things I wanted to share with you.)

Have you ever been to an event/party/whatever that was so fun for such a long period of time that you feared you might expire from the sheer length of time you remained in a gobsmacked state?

Such was Farm Chicks.

(I was slightly concerned we might need a defibrillator for one or both of us at any given moment as day one unfolded.)

(I must say here, that it was doubly fun, as the Other Tracey and I think so alike that we often finish each others sentences, and so we would both squeal in unison when we saw something extraordinary.)

The clever displays.

The think-outside-the-box signage.

Oh, my. (again.)

The coolest of cool merchandise.

To use the Other Tracey's current favorite quote... "It was just TOO MUCH!!!"

By 4:30 or so, we had made it through the entire event, and we had the car a bit more than half full. We were blissfully exhausted, and so we headed back to the hotel to rest our-by-this-time very weary feet.

After a short rest, we headed to dinner at the Davenport Hotel, and then back the room for more girl-talk and laughs-till-we-nearly-cried, and then finally drifted off to sleep some time around midnight.

There is no substitute for time spent with a good friend.

(More Farm Chicks pictures to come!)

Weekly words to live by.

A visit to Chaps, the day before Farm Chicks.

We drove to Spokane yesterday just as planned, and the ride was a six hour series of laughter and chattering, with a few pit stops for gas, refreshments, and potty stops.

Too. Much. Fun.

Today we sprang out of our beds at the Hampton Inn (Tom Bodett may leave the lights on, but the Hampton Inn gives you a huge breakfast buffet for free each day.) and by 8:00 am, we were on the road to check out Chaps.

You may recall that Chaps was on the tippy-top of my list of places to visit while in Spokane. It did not disappoint.

The decor was incredible. Black walls. You might think that would be terribly dark, but, oh my! Stunning!

 

We had already had breakfast, so we had opted for a beverage, but the pastries were spectacular to look at, and I couldn't resist photographing them.

Chaps ranks in the top two or three restaurants I have ever been in on the atmosphere scale, for sure. If you're ever in Spokane, you need to make sure you stop in.

Farm Chicks or bust.

I'm picking the other Tracey up at the airport later this morning, and we will be hitting the road after I bring her by to see my cottage.

(Insert long squeal here!)

I need her to see my cozy little home so she will know what I am talking about when we are in some booth at Farm Chicks and I ask her if she thinks this fabulous vintage item I have just discovered will look perfect in a specific spot in my cottage. (I've been in her home a million times, and I can already do that for her.)

Anyway, after that, we will get back in my little hatchback Ford Focus and head to Spokane. (I wanted to take Old Blue, but that ol' 53 pickup of mine gets eight miles to the gallon, while the focus gets upwards of 35, and it has air conditioning.) It's about a six hour drive, and I am honestly not quite sure which part of this trip I am more excited about; the Farm Chicks Vintage Flea Market, or the girl-talk time in the car ride. I know that might sound crazy, but I've lived up here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for over five and a half years, and while I have lots of new friends here, no one replaces my old ones.

We're heading out today so we can spend tomorrow shopping around Spokane, thanks to one of my blog-readers. (Thanks, Kori!) When I posted that we were going to the show, she wrote me with a detailed list of all of the don't-miss stops in Spokane, and we're glad she did! We have the list printed and we will be searching out the hot-spots on Friday. (Chaps, here we come!) We will also go purchase our Farm Chicks entry tickets on Friday.

The weekend will be spent at the event of course, with dinner and lots of girltalk in the evenings.I'll be hearing stories and pictures from our upcoming adventure, so stay tuned!

I'm off to shower and finish packing now!

 

Stairway to heaven.

Or should I say a heavenly staircase?

(In case you haven't noticed, I've been on a bit of a song-title-for-my-blog-posts kick this week.)

Anyway.

Would ya look at this Before and After?!

Talk about inspiration.

Yeah, baby.

The picture on the left shows the formal stairs in my daughter's home as they appeared when her family moved into the house two years ago. Pretty, sweeping stairs in a huge, elegant yet homey entry. White rails, banister, and carpet. (Did I mention that she has four boys?)

Very pretty, but they knew they wanted the wood on the stairs exposed and a carpet runner from day one...however, as I mentioned just now, they have four boys..so it took a while to get this project completed, between little league, birthday celebrations, soccer, and life in general. They completed this project yesterday.

I'd say it was well worth the wait, wouldn't you?

Good advice to all of the Mother-in-Laws out there.

One of my girlfriends has a daughter that got engaged this past weekend. I created a card to share my best advice from my vast experience as a veteran Mother-in-Law with her to celebrate the exciting months that lie ahead, planning her only daughter's wedding!

 

I'm excited for them all, as they begin planning for the big day!

(Oh, by the way, this advice works perfectly for all of us Gramma's too.)

Easy-peasy cuppy-cakes for a graduation party.

Good golly, Miss Molly, it's June.

(Whaaaaaa....? How did that happen?)

...

Speaking of it being June...

It's graduation season, and I made cupcakes for one of my girlfriends. They had a graduation party for their son on Saturday. The school colors are blue and gold, so I went with my nearly world-famous white buttercream frosting recipe. (There is nothing more unappetizing, in my mind, than blue food, not to mention the gawd-awful long-lasting-blue-mouth-and-lips after-affects brought on by blue frosting.)I use a simple large star tip to frost both large and small cupcakes, going in a spiral motion from the outer edge of the cupcake to the center.

I added stars and flags on two thirds of them. The stars were made with a simple star die punch on glitter cardstock that I then hot glued to toothpicks. I created the Class of 2015 cupcake flags on my computer, and used a glue stick to attach the flags to more toothpicks.

The stars were placed on the large cupcakes, and the flags waved atop the baby cupcakes. I then placed the large cupcakes into extra blue and white checkered cupcake papers for an additional color-pop. I find that I do not have any success with printed cupcake papers when used to actually bake my cupcakes, and so I prefer to use plain white or chocolate brown cupcake papers for actual baking. I then use the cute, colorful printed papers afterwards as an embellishment.

See how easy that was?