Thrifting at Savers, Austin, for the Perfect Place Settings

I love pretty table settings, and watching Julie & Julia over and over has only added to my desire for an open air dinner lit by fairy lights, candles, and the reflections off colored glassware.  My Austin apartment might not be conducive to dining al fresco, but it doesn't have to hinder my search for pretty tableware.  The thing that does hinder it, though, are two male roommates who have already broken several pint glasses and a few pieces of my beloved Fiestaware.  Sigh.

I've been reading blogs, though, that focus on thrifty shopping and yard sales.  Indiana at Adored Austin frequently mentions her love of Savers for clothes, and living nearby the North Austin store, I decided to swing by and make my own assessments.  When I got in, I was too distracted to even notice the clothes, because look at what I found!

First, there were these blue glass tumblers that look exactly like the green ones my Ma Maw Mary from Pine Bluff, Arkansas had in her cupboards when I was little.  With the casualties of my Bed, Bath & Beyond pint glasses in mind, I didn't feel bad picking up the lot of six, especially after I saw the price...

.99 cents!  That's right up my alley.  It's especially sweet when I do a little internet searching and find this:

Anthropologie has similar blue tumblers for sale at a not-so-bargain price of $10.00  a piece.  Purchase satisfaction increased ten fold!

I was also drawn to these cute dessert cups.  They'd be perfect for holding soft boiled eggs, candy, decorations, ice cream, or...

berries and cream (yogurt for me), just like this similar dessert cup from Crate and Barrel.  I could pay $25.00 for a set of twelve from them, or I can be happy with the price I paid:

.99 cents a piece again.  I got six and could still afford to buy myself dinner out.

The last thing I found may need a little work:

I've seen several blogs post craft ideas for silver serving trays, mostly to turn them into chalk board wall decor, like at Bless Our Nest.  I'll have to hold on to this and report back once I decide what to do with it, but for this price:

I couldn't just leave it sitting there.  So, for a grand total of $15 and pocket change, I got all of the following:

I think I may have caught the thrift bug beyond just the clothes rack.  This is potentially dangerous and potentially wonderful.  Right now, the wonderful outweighs any potential risk.

50 Of The World's Best Design Blogs

The Times Online posted a list of their picks for the top fifty design blogs on the interwebs.  If you're girly, domestic, or just visual like me, then you'll probably find more than a few blogs you'll want to follow from here on out.  I poked through a few and my eyes are still sore from stretching to take in all of the lovely photographs.  I'm including a few teaser pictures of all of the delicious images and ideas there are to peruse from the blogs on this list.

 Dinner under the gum tree and open bird cages

Country Style via Delight by Design

Frank Juery via Please Sir

Thai paper lotus flowers photo by Ellie Snow at Mint

Can we talk about how much I want the "paper" crane pendant?

Collage by Oh Hello Friend

 Kane Longden photo via Bliss

Collage by Pia Jane Bijerk, partially based in Amsterdam.  Her Amsterdam photos are dear to my heart as I lived in the Netherlands for three years, (Never Never Land, according to my 1st grade self).

I admit it.  I like blurry pictures of pretty girls staring off at things.

Photo by Daydream Lily

After watching Marie Antoinette on the home theatre screen, I'm feeling a renewed passion for turquoise.

Photo from 1st-Option via Lobster and Swan

(although I love this blog, I want to poke fun at the name, as well as the Snail and Cyclops - another I love - and start my own mishmash-named-blog called "Lice & Prawns."  Don't copy!)

Starry eyed, photo by Dress, Design & Decor via Frolic!

Apparently, I'm not the only one who felt the need to dig up Marie Antoinette for it's lush imagery.  Apartment Therapy did, too.  I feel stylish now.

The Marie must still be in me, since I was instantly drawn to these lovely cake stands.  That, or I've always felt affectionate for vintage tableware, mint green, and peony pink... if you need more proof, see the invitations from my wedding that were never mailed.

Photos from BBC Homes & Antiques via Tea For Joy, the compiler of the Time's list.

With that, I'm going to go survey my own messy domain, maybe reach for a vacuum.  Maybe.

Holiday Traditions, Step Families, and Adaptability

My unexpected trip home on Monday night meant I got to enjoy the fruits of our Christmas-tree-decorating a little extra.  We don't have one in our apartment, because of the combined depressing facts: we're broke, and a tree simply wouldn't fit.  We hardly fit.

Christmas tree decorating has been a Thanksgiving break tradition since I was little, and it's one of the traditions that my mom, dad and I share with my step-family.  The first holiday/s spent with my step-family took some getting used to, as they did things different than the way I always had with my family when my mom was alive.  As much as I liked my new family, I couldn't help but be a bit resentful initially that everything and everyone was so drastically different, which I suppose, in retrospect, is an emotion typical of the mourning cycle.  (As I write, this "In My Life" by the Beatles comes on Pandora.... well timed, Pandora, well timed). 

Now, I love my step-family very much, and all new traditions have become old hat after five (six?) years.  So, keeping up with precedent, we decorated the same fake tree my dad bought at either K-Mart or the PX when I was in second grade, (and it still looks impressive for an aging, plastic tree), over Thanksgiving break. 

Lennon gets roped into helping my dad assemble the tree.  Translation: "stand here and be useful."

My neice, Shelby's, favorite game with Aunt Courtney = aeronautics + dancing to Christmas music.

Aunt Amanda gets in on the fun, but isn't nearly as cool as Aunt Courtney.  Regardless, Bella is jealous of this other puppy-like-thing stealing the attention of her momma.

Amy, (Shelby's momma), Courtney, Shelby, Bitsy, and Carla, trying to keep Shelby from knocking over a marble side table.

We play a game called hide-the-ugly-ornaments-we-made-as-kids.  Courtney already won the prize of ugliest ornament.  And I'm not being mean - she's proud of the title. 

When I was little, my dad would pick me up to put this vintage angel from my Grandmother Mary on the top of the tree.  I may have gained a bit of weight since then.  Height to the rescue.

The extent of our own holiday decor: a string of red lights and a string of multi-colored, thumb tacked to the walls and ceiling.  I like it.

What traditions do you have on the holidays?  I'm also curious about the experiences of other people who've had to assimilate into a new world order of family, traditions, and everything else.  Ha - another good example - trying to find a Christmas tree in Izmir, Turkey, my ninth grade year!  Thank goodness for two foot pipe cleaner trees from the PX.  We certainly didn't ship the monster tree with us overseas.  After moving back stateside, it became a new tradition to have a "Turkish tree" decorated with "ornaments" bought from the Konak Bazaar - copper stars and moons, mini-mittens.  Now all those ornaments are in a box in my closet, and I'm carefully saving them for my future family tree.

Officially a Resident

The past month has been spent moving into my new apartment, unpacking, getting used to a room mate's cats, and figuring how to actually do my new job - which entails co-building and running an after school program funded by very picky grant money. I've also been tied up in attending weddings in Houston, getting outrageous parking tickets in Houston (is there anything GOOD about that city...? I've turned quite cynical), eating avocados fried in cornflakes and stuffed into a cone, learning to play chess on the patio, and dealing with the same kitties thinking that my bed is their bed, (I've actually started to like them... ).


As proof of my efforts, I offer photographic evidence:

The living room from the doorway. Still more books than I know what to do with.

The only desk space I get now is the kitchen table... so any body leaving plates or food in my work space will get a stern talking to.

Itty-bitty galley kitchen, with Turkish clock and Panamanian tray - a few of the findings common to an army brat upbringing. Plus a stool for short people to reach dishes in/on the pressed-for-space cabinets.

Thelonious drinking from Bella's water bowl. He's get her in check. His sister Aretha was probably lounging on my bed at this moment. I haven't seen her leave it in days.

Goodbye, Bachelorette Pad

The books, knick-knacks, and not much else are now in boxes. By early Saturday morning everything will be packed. It's almost sad, I only moved in here November 1st. This apartment is amazing because it's in a renovated cathedral from the 1880's. This particular unit is in the back, where offices and rooms would have been. It has been dubbed "the cave," though, as it does not receive very much sunlight. This is an aspect I will not miss. Everything else, though, I will. I'm going to be optimistic and plan on this being my last bachelorette pad ever. Michael and I get the keys to our carriage house tomorrow. I'm excited for two bathrooms and sunlight. And him, of course.

My 1980's era kitchen. Complete with dragonfly lights and pretentious wine book.

Yes, that is a giant pile of clothes on the floor. And yes, it lives there.

My "dining room." Also known as my desk. Who cares for the computer armoire right next to it. I prefer dinette sets. And the boy waving from the kitchen.

The windows on the side are the original tall church windows. The stained glass windows are in the apartments that were built into the sanctuary.

Luckily, we are only moving across the highway, and about two blocks over. More space and splitting rent for lower payments each month are quite tantalizing. Plus, Michael currently rents a $600 dollar a month storage shed, because he doesn't live there, but this apartment is too small for his furniture and clothes. So, sad as I am to move out of my church apartment, a carriage house from the 1800's with original brick floor downstairs is still neat. (And yes, I said neat).

Officially in Escrow

This week has been my spring break - which is one of the fabulous aspects of being a teacher. All the same vacations I enjoyed while still a student!

Despite the fact that I did not go anyplace out of city nor did I go shopping for clothes or shoes once this break, (I spent most of my week working on the historic home I'm co-renovating), it has been a very expensive vacation for me. It started when I viewed a two bedroom, one bath home close to the university in town, and decided I needed to buy it. The original list price was 82,000 but had been dropped to 79,9000. After several counter-offers, I secured it for 75,500 with closing costs to be paid by the seller, giving them a net total of 72,000 for the house. The house was built in 1950 and has been well maintained but needs some cosmetic fixes that will have to be low-price in order to not out-do the price range of the neighborhood. Most homes in that location go for $65,000-90,000 so I landed right in the middle with my final offer. I'll take possession of the house at the end of April, assuming nothing disastrous happens.

After this purchase occured, I began planning and mapping out the minor fixes I am going to do to this home. I will fund all of my work on this house using my AmEx card rather than taking out a bank loan, as I have 0% APR/interest until September, plus a nice, hefty credit limit, (potentially dangerous but thus far under used). I'm going to paint the "L" shaped living and dining area a lightlight chocolate brown and cream, and decorate with a chocolate and turquoise design scheme centered around my oatmeal colord couches. Luckily, I have a grandma who can sew curtains and pillows in any color I desire.

The kitchen has white cabinets I would like to reface, and I'd like to re-do the counters and floor with new laminates, as well as paint the walls a gun metal blue. I'd also like to find some used black appliances, and maybe purchase a butcher block island to put in the center, (the previous owners fit a set of table and chairs, so it's quite large).

The bathroom is going to be either cream or light celedon, and I bought a leaf covered shower curtain and candle from Pottery Barn that were both on sale, as well as an antiqued map wooden wall hanging that was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and will match the shower curtain beautifully.

To top off what I bought for the house I don't even technically own yet, I bought a beautiful vanity/mirror/stool set that I found at a high end furniture gallery for about 45% off. I go pick it up tomorrow. It's a bit feminine for staging a home, but it will go nicely with my wrought iron bed that has been sitting sadly in storage all year and the pistachio walls I intend to paint in one of the bedrooms.

The good news is that the backyard is big and fenced so I can have both my black lab and M.'s chow mix come live with me.

The interest rate on the house is good, too, coming in at 5.7%. Now is a good time to buy properties as prices are low due to lots of product on the market, and banks really want to seduce qualified buyers into making home purchases. NPR said that home sales are actually on the up-swing because of this. Hopefully it will last. I would like to put my home back on the market by July/August and seek a $95,000 initial price tag. Or it may be wiser to rent it to university students and just hold on to it for a few years and hope it appreciates.

Who knows. As a last ditch effort, M. can move in with me in August if the property is still unsold/unrented, and we can split the costs.

I hope buying this doesn't shackle me to my job teaching, because I am on the hunt for a new job that doesn't involve a commute or teenage children. If I could be guaranteed I'd make $8,000-$12,000 on this house I wouldn't need to renew my contract, but of course, in life there are no guarantees. But, there's also no reward without risk! And hopefully the house will be cute enough to be reward unto itself.