Tickled Pink Memorabilia Mall!

We were in Louisville, Kentucky over the weekend to visit our nephew Ellis (and his parents too!). I don't have many photos of what we did, since it was mostly talking and eating but on our way home we stopped at one of my favorite antique malls of all time, Tickled Pink! The owner buys out lots of estates and the selection changes so fast! It is all priced to sell and I haven't noticed anything still sitting around the next time I come in. You can follow their facebook too, I used to, but it would break my heart to see all the amazing stuff that I couldn't get up there to buy! Three hours is just a little too far, even for a boxful of celluloid reindeer. 

 Why oh why didn't I buy that cat pillow! I love it so much and it was $3.99! Maybe it will be there next time we visit....

 I did by this owl latch rub thing. I just couldn't say no! Have I ever showed you my cat latch hook purse? It is a thing of beauty.

 A sweet little poodle who didn't make it home with me believe it or not. 

 These are decals for your camper! The back had all kinds of sport ideas for them. I wish I would have taken a photo. Aren't they cute?

 These patriotic ones were cool too. I was very tempted, but couldn't think of a specific place to put them.

 Haha, this baby thing creeped me out!

 A silly donkey toy

 There is something about that pinata, I need to have one at my next party. And I loved the pattern on that knitting basket.

 Have you ever seen a canister set like this? If they had been pugs I would have had to bring them home.

 Bobble head shadows. 

 That was the only vintage place we hit up this trip, but check out my Louisville tag if you want to see more. There is some great stuff in that city! I was going to show you what I bought today, but my dining room table is piled too high for photos. Ugh, I guess I need to work on that!

And of course I have to post one of our sweet little nephew. Here is strong man Ellis! I can't wait until he starts talking!

100 Books 2014: 9-13

I've made some more progress on my reading Goal for 2014! I might actually have to make it a little higher. We'll see. This edition is a little heavy on the YA. Travis told me he always checks out the teen recommendations table for me. Haha, isn't that sweet? 

9. Timeless by Gail Carriger: This is the 5th and final book in the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. I used to borrow lots of supernatural books from my friend Brittany and she introduced me to this series. I LOVE it! It has werewolves and vampires and romance and Victorian technology without being cheesy, which is hard to do! I'm a little sad the series is done, and I actually cried real tears while reading it on my lunch break at work! I'm going to keep an eye out for more by Gail Carriger. She has a YA series now, as you can see by entries 12-13! I highly recommend this series!

10. Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause: Travis picked this one for me. It is the story of a boy whose parents are "freaks" and he grows up in a sideshow. At the beginning of the book he strikes out on his own to make a name for himself in the world. This was a fun read. There is a weird/unnecessary love story which is the worst part of the story. Thankfully it isn't a huge part. It was great to read about characters based on real human oddities. If you like that kind of thing, check out Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It is WEIRD and amazing!

11. Swamplandia by Karen Russell: This was the first big disappointment of the year. Karen Russell's first book, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves is one of my all time favorites. Read that one! The actual story is so interesting and the characters are really original but the book just draaaaaaaags. I don't usually read more than one book at a time, but I finished three more while I read this. It finally gets good about 150 pages in, but then something terrible happens and the way it is handled (or not handled) is just so bleh. Not a satisfying read at all. Don't even bother.

12. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger: Like I said, I like how Gail Carriger writes and I'm glad I picked up her YA books even though I was a little embarrassed to carry them around at work. They are in the same vein as the Parasol Protectorate but take place in a boarding/finishing school for young women who will become spies/assassins. They actually end up being  a sort of prequel to her other series. 

13. Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger: Book 2 of this series, even better than the first! I have high hopes for the rest! 

There you go! As always, tell me some books to read! I've got all the ones you suggested last time in my too read this! I've gotten a little library happy and have a stack of a about 12 books next to the bed! 

A New Collection: Hey, go stand by the bush.

You know I have a lot of collections. My favorite one is my vintage photo collection. I collect lots of different things, dogs, horses, kids on horses, awkward bathing suits, vacation photos, etc etc etc. Travis is a good sport about digging through huge piles of vintage photos at the flea market, and he kept finding photos that made him laugh. So his own photo collection was born! Check it out, people posing with foliage...

 Some of them are pretty normal. Like this Grandma/grandson duo. I like his face, what a goof!

But look at these ladies with that pretty unremarkable shrub! We were cracking up so much finding these!

 Hey, go sit by those stalks!

 That big palm does make for a dramatic backdrop, I must admit. 

 It is even better if they are crouching down with said shrubbery. 

 Look at that hat! And that grumpy face! Maybe because someone made her go stand in the flower bed!

And there you have it! Travis' fun new collection!

Collection Update: Dream Pets

I was looking through old blog posts recently and realized that my Dream Pet collection has grown a TON since I first posted about it way back in 2012. Here is how it was then, mostly reindeer with one little lion in the middle.  And here it is now! As you can see, the reindeer are all packed up with the Christmas decorations. For a little while I tired to stick to only red Dream Pets, but sometimes others are just too cute to pass on! The surfing dog was a gift my best friend brought me when she went on a trip to Hawaii! Isn't she sweet with her long eyelashes and lei?

 I'm a sucker for any of them with long eyelashes actually. I LOVE this octopus lady!

 Check out this gators "side eye" going on. 

 The Pooh set isn't in the best shape, but they are so cute! I bought them at the World's Longest Yard sale our first year. The tiger isn't the Tigger that goes with this set, but I like to display them together. I keep all these guys on one of the built in bookshelves in my room.

 Long limbed monkey is a favorite flea market purchase. 

 Two lions! There are hundreds of different Dream Pets and knock off Dream Pets out there! 

 This guy is a silly donkey with jointed legs. 

As always when I'm doing a collection post, I find something else that belongs after I've taken all the photos (And now I'm realizing I have a poodle and a gnome that belong in this collection too, dang!). These little mice live on top of my stove and I enjoy seeing them every day. I bought them from Magpie Ethel's shop. She had two different sets and I still regret not buying all 8!

 Dream pets are one of my favorite things to collect! They are all cute and I love how stylized they are.

First Estate Sale of the Year!

I went to my first estate sale of 2014 this morning! There haven't been any good looking ads until now. This one suckered me in with the key words vintage, toys, monkey collection! Haha. The monkey collection turned out all to be modern stuff but it was still fun. Isn't this a cute little house? 

I loved the box of this Bingo game, but I don't need another bingo set. I love the boys face on the right. So disappointed!

 I did find a handmade sock monkey! I love how they look. Especially with googly eyes. 

 It HURT ME to not bring home this stack of towels. I LOVE vintage floral towels but I have a bunch already and Travis doesn't like to use them (they are all pretty small.) What a pretty bundle. I took a photo so it was easier to leave them.

 Here is the little pile I came home with. 

 I got a cute circus themed Old Maid deck. 

 I love it! I actually have a collection of Old Maid decks, I should do a post about it! 

I can't ever resist vintage craft supplies. It was mostly about those spun cotton heads! And old pipe cleaners are so perfect.

 There was a HUGE stack of cute vintage fabric. I was good and just brought home these two.

 I got a little stack of kids books. 

 This little record is an original cast recording of the Sesame Street song. Don't you love that photo in the inside?

And last but not least, I got two games! I love Battleship but only had an electronic Star Wars version. I'm excited to play this with Travis soon.

 The other one I hadn't heard of, but once I opened the box I knew I had to bring it home! 

There you go! A nice little haul for the first sale of the year!

Saturday!

I've been getting Saturdays off lately and it rules! I know it won't last forever so we've been trying to really enjoy it. Here is what we did this past Saturday! I hope you like photos of dogs and errand running!

 The day started with waffles and pets on the couch! I got a waffle maker for Christmas and Travis makes them whenever we are home in the morning together. I love it! Here are Phyllis and Scampi hanging out. Phyllis was probably hoping for a waffle bite.

 We were going to the library so I had to take photos off the books I read before I returned them. That's normal right? Haha. Murray always jumps up on the table whenever I clear it off to take photos. Isn't he handsome?

 We picked up some books I had on hold and looked through the graphic novel/comic section. I couldn't find the book I was looking for, but Travis found a bunch to read! Here are our his and hers library stacks!

 We ran some errands, including going to the international market to buy noodles. I was hoping to find some Pocky that was vegan, but no such luck. Bummer. I did get some of those really fat amazing Udon noodles! I'm eating them now and they are so good!

We also went to Babies R Us to pick up a baby shower gift. We happened to go on baby safety fair day so had to dodge all these vendors "No we're not expecting! No just here for a gift! No we don't need baby cpr classes!" It was funny. 

We stopped at home to wrapped our gift and put some groceries in the fridge. Here is a gratuitous photo of Phyllis being precious. I always feel a little guilty leaving them home alone all day when we're off. I know they don't care. They are content to sleep in a little pug pile all day.

 I have been cleaning out our room and that included going through our cds. I found a bunch Travis made for me in high school when we started dating and we've been listening to them. That blue one he made me the day before prom. Isn't it funny that prom was such a BIG DEAL back then? Our prom was LAME. We left pretty early and went to Crystal's house to watch Poltergeist instead. Much better.

We went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch before we went to the shower. Their vegan pizza is so good! We always get spinach, pineapple, and mushroom.

The only non Christmas wrapping paper I have is this funny tv paper I bought at an estate sales, so I use it for all occasions. Can you tell it is retro style tv's, and they say "punk" and "rock n roll". I love it! It's a HUGE roll too! Like the kind department stores have in their gift wrapping department.

 We wanted to see the Lego movie after the shower but it was sold out for the entire day! Isn't that crazy? We ended up seeing the Monuments Men instead. I'm sorry to say it wasn't good at all. The story telling didn't make you care about any of the characters. And I'm an art lover, but  it didn't make a convincing argument for sending men into a war zone to die to save portraits and statues. Eh. Dissapointing. I did love this Muppets display! I always make Travis pose in these things.

THEN after the movie we went by Flash City to see my best friend Crystal getting tattooed. We've all been going to the same artist for years (Jason St. Clair) and love him! While we were waiting for her to finish I got my septum repeirced. I had it a few years ago but the retainer fell out and I hadn't gotten it redone. Travis loves it and asked me to get it redone so I finally did. I forgot how much it HURTS! Hence my cry baby face in that picture. Haha! I'm still not used to it, but I'm sure I'll love it again soon.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into our dorky busy Saturday. I'm off again this Saturday and I'm so happy!