Smashing!

I'm addicted! I bought the retro (blue) smashbook last year, and have been adding to it here & there. For me, the first page was the hardest to do. I like it so much better than regular scrapbooking. I also bought the 365 book, & will get started on that one soon.

I'm mostly using it for all our ballpark trips, but there's some random & girlie goodness in there too.

Here's my cover & some of my pages.

A brown themed post.

Hi all,


I just wanted to share my latest finds. 2 Johnson Brothers Olde English Countryside dinner plates. I love them, I hope I can find more pieces. I took a pic of one on one of the faux rustic wood placemats that I picked up at HomeGoods.

The yard has been hopping lately. I was out there refilling the feeders, & was joined by 2 female downy woodpeckers...along with the regulars. I snapped a few shots:

Chickadee

Junco

 

Cardinal & a sparrow

Occasionally I will see a hairy woodpecker back there. They're skittish compared to the downy, so I let them eat & will watch from the window. As soon as I went inside, a male hairy came into the yard.

Of course there's always a cooper's hawk lurking & waiting for lunch. I was passing by the window, & saw him on the fence. The pic is blurry & taken through a window, but I laughed when I saw the shot I snapped. Looking right at me, he's got my number!

I am linking up with: FMFPTY

Have a great weekend!

Finds & a planned trip

I visited an antique mall recently, and most of the Pyrex was way overpriced. I did find this incomplete set of turquoise Butterprint cinderella bowls for $22. Not dirt cheap, but better than what I've seen. They're in great shape. I've wanted a set for so long, & haven't had any luck w/thrift stores. I'm sure I'll come across another 441 eventually (I have 1 with my all turquoise on white set):

I also finally found a pink daisy open baker:

Added some more pieces to my Family Flair Sea Isle collection:

For some reason I cannot pass up platters (or carafes):

This carafe that matches the "Eyes" bowl:

I recently bought these too, they're not vintage, but I think they are great looking luncheon plates. The stickers on them read Ralph Lauren: Haswell Map and sold for $27.00 each. I got them for a steal! 

Hubby & I have booked a trip to BOSTON! I'm excited! I've never been there, and have always wanted to visit.  I'm looking forward to good seafood & beer, visiting another Hard Rock Cafe, and...

This:

  This:

This:

And this:

(above Boston photos courtesy of wikimedia commons)

Blogging...

I have a hard time keeping up with my blogs! I was trying to do 2, one for the house/dishes etc...& 1 for the yard/birds. I have not updated either for months! So, now I will just keep it to 1, & let it ride...

I've been feeding the birds in the yard for about 5 years now, & this cute little Red Breasted Nuthatch is a new visitor.

I need to take pics of some of the Pyrex (& other goodies) that I've picked up over the last few months. Everything gets packed up, because we are *still* working on the kitchen. It's hard to stay motivated when we have opposite work schedules. We are doing the work ourselves, which has been "fun" lol. I've made a few changes here & there, so it's better to work slowly (I guess). It's a small room compared to most standards, and I'm trying to create a cozy, vintage, & functional space. New walls, windows, restoring the maple floor covered by linoleum, adding cabinets/shelves etc. I did splurge, I ordered a light fixture from Schoolhouse Electric.

The only two things that I am leaving alone are: 1. The original to the house sink. It looks exactly like this one: farmhouse sink. 2. Our (also original to the house) step in pantry. it's smaller than a walk in, but bigger than a reach in. lots of shelf space, a countertop area with 3 big drawers, a window off the sunroom (left side), which allows for natural light, a homemade shelf unit below that, room for a small portable kitchen cart... & still room to stand.

I found a nice pie safe which I plan on fixing up! Will post before & after pics.

Hope there will be more progress soon, I feel like we've been working on it forever.



Happy New Year! 

Bucket Lists

We've all got them. We are in the process of planning a trip to Cincinnati, OH to attend a Reds game.  We are trying to visit all the MLB ballparks (we didn't make it to one last year though), we've been to few on the list so far. But now we have to go back to NYC & MN, because we saw games at all 3 of the old stadiums.  Below is a list so I can keep track: Team, name of ballpark & year that it opened. (thank you mlb.com)

Baltimore Orioles: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, 1992

Boston Red Sox: Fenway Park, 1912 - planned for 2013

New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium II, 2009

Tampa Bay Rays: Tropicana Field, 1990

Toronto Blue Jays: Rogers Centre, 1989

Chicago White Sox: U.S. Cellular Field, 1991

Cleveland Indians: Progressive Field, 1994

Detroit Tigers: Comerica Park, 2000

Kansas City Royals: Kauffman Stadium, 1973

Minnesota Twins: Target Field, 2010

Los Angeles Angels: Angel Stadium of Anaheim, 1966

Oakland Athletics: O.co Coliseum, 1966

Seattle Mariners: Safeco Field, 1999

Texas Rangers: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, 1994

Atlanta Braves: Turner Field, 1997

Miami Marlins: Marlins Park, 2012

New York Mets: Citi Field, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies: Citizens Bank Park, 2004

Washington Nationals: Nationals Park, 2008

Chicago Cubs: Wrigley Field, 1914

Cincinnati Reds: Great American Ball Park, 2003

Houston Astros: Minute Maid Park, 2000

Milwaukee Brewers: Miller Park, 2001

Pittsburgh Pirates: PNC Park, 2001

St. Louis Cardinals: Busch Stadium III, 2006

Arizona Diamondbacks: Chase Field, 1998

Colorado Rockies: Coors Field, 1995

Los Angeles Dodgers: Dodger Stadium, 1962

San Diego Padres: Petco Park, 2004

San Francisco Giants: AT&T Park, 2000

& for closed ballparks:

Minnesota Twins - Metrodome - 1982-2009 (visited in 2009)
New York Yankees - Yankee Stadium - 1923-2008 (visited in 2008)
New York Mets - Shea Stadium - 1964–2008 (visited in 2008)

I'm also trying to visit all the Hard Rock Cafe locations. I pick up a pilsner glass at each one I visit. Here is a US list, I have so many left still! I've talked the hubby into going to the Louisville KY HRC while we are in Cincinnati, so I hope we make it.

 United States HRC's
- Atlanta
- Atlantic City
- Baltimore
- Biloxi

- Boston - Planned for 2013!

- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Dallas
- Denver
- Destin
- Detroit
- Foxwoods
- Gatlinburg
- Hollywood at Universal CityWalk
- Hollywood, FL
- Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard
- Honolulu
- Houston

- Indianapolis 

- Key West
- Lake Tahoe
- Las Vegas
- Las Vegas at Hard Rock Hotel

- Louisville -

- Maui
- Memphis
- Miami
- Minneapolis
- Myrtle Beach
- Nashville
- New Orleans
- New York
- Niagara Falls USA
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
- Pittsburgh
- San Antonio
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Seattle
– St. Louis
- Tampa
- Washington DC
- Yankee Stadium

I've got the Blues...

I've had some luck finding some blues recently:


Pyrex Embroidery! This was found at an antique mall, I paid $8.00 for it. The tag incorrectly stated that it was a "single Pyrex Butterprint bowl", I couldn't believe it! I have wanted this one for awhile now, and I'm very happy with it.

 

The baker & pie dish were from a trade, and the loaf was found online for around $9.00.

 

I got a super great deal on 6 Chinese Grass (Sea Isle) dinner plates, & 5 side plates. Worked out to be $1.66 per plate! I have some mugs in the matching blue, and saucers & mugs in pink that are packed away for now. The yellow 8x8 was ebay'd. 

 

I also have a small collection of Franciscan Starburst. It can be very expensive to try & collect pieces from this set, so I only pick them up when they're at a reasonable price.

I was surprised to come across these HTF candle holders for only $5.00, at an estate sale on my own block.. of all places!

We went to a flea market last weekend. I found these 4 pieces, & happily added them to my humble collection.

I also LOVE Liberty Blue, and came across the covered vegetable bowl awhile ago. Finally photographed it. Top view: 

& side view.

I'm on a utility dish kick lately & have recently added the yellow loaf & desert dawn cake dish to the mix. Love!

Fire King Gazelle. It's not 'new', I picked it up months ago, but never blogged about it. It fits in nicely with the blue themed post though. It's one of my most favorite bowls. One of the Flickr Pyrex peeps pointed out an interesting fact that I didn't know about... this was actually a vaporizer!

My mugs & tree that I forgot to include in my "Butterfly Gold" post.

And finally, my wonderful husband painted my aluminum Kromex wall dispenser for me! I love it! The color is "50's aqua" & it has an enamel finish. It looks great with the other Kromex items that he bought me last Christmas. I have a breadbox that I want him to do next.

Butterfly Gold Pyrex

It's been a long time since my last post, I haven't been able to sit down & post in a while, but over the last year, I've made great progress in my Butterfly Gold collecting, along with some other favorite finds.

Here's a pic that I took over the summer:

Since then... came the pitcher & tumblers:

Found my 043 at a flea market:

Lasagna pan was found at an antique store:

 The round 4qt casserole dish, probably my favorite piece:

I have talked the hubby into building me a pie safe like cabinet  with glass doors to display all my Butterfly Gold.


I also finally finished my turquoise on white Butterprint set. (my other favorite pattern), & I finished my pink Butterprint as well! (not the best pic of the pinks, sorry)

My awesome husband gave me these Kromex sets for Christmas!

I've also been picking up Hazel Atlas Candy Stripes, I love them!

My favorite juice set from Hazel Atlas: the glasses are cloudy in person, but not as much as the photo picks up though.They display just fine.

& now...for some randomness. ;)

Hubby bought me a birdcam recently, I'm still learning the settings etc, so while this is on the darker side, I still think it's adorable. Snuggle doves.

My lilacs were in full bloom earlier this week, and we had a butterfly invasion, I counted 12-15 at one time, it was so pretty!

My Hydrangeas. I am waiting to plant these until I am sure that we are past a frost, our weather has been very nutty here. My luck, I'd transplant them, & then it would snow. I'm in Chicago, it can happen. I've been taking care of them in the sunroom for nearly 3 weeks now, this pic was just taken yesterday.

 My kitten Gracie, short for Graceful... when I brought her home, I didn't know what to name her. Then she did things like try to jump on the couch, and miss...by a lot! lol. Or fall off the window sill while walking. She's just about to turn a year old, and thankfully she's much more agile...but still a source of comic relief. I made this poster because she looks innocent, but she's sneaky & steals everything & she's fast! Earbuds, napkins, scrunchies. The other night I turned my back for a second and she ran off with my small bag of cool ranch doritos! She's a lovebug though, I adore her, & she gets along with the older bosscat very nicely.




Have a great weekend!