Ten things that are making me happy right now.

1. I just renewed my subscription to the Sunday paper, and spent an hour on Sunday afternoon devouring every stinkin' page. I may carry the world record for solving the Jumble puzzle the fastest. And when I near the last page, and look down at my black fingertips, there's a calm and accomplishment that washes over me. Sometimes I think I should have been born in the 1940s.

2. I'm back in the habit of going to the library, which means that I've always got a good book in the works. Just finished In Between Days by Andrew Porter. Now loving The Kept by James Scott. And with the dismal rainy weekend we just had, curling up in a chair with a good book carried no weight of guilt. Rainy days and reading are, after all, made for each other.

3. I'm already getting excited about Christmas (especially the music!!!!!), and have purchased some stellar gifts so far!

4. After 10 months of having my antique mall booth, I'm finally mastering inventory, pricing and staging — what works and what doesn't.

5. I'm getting my hair cut in 2 weeks. You wouldn't believe how long my hair is. It's almost hideous. Granted, I have a great head of thick hair, from the roots all the way down to the tips, but it does NOTHING for me. Mama needs a style. Bad.

6. I am so glad I have a vacation booked. Thinking ahead to what it will feel like — white sand, shelling, sitting under an umbrella watching the ocean — gets me all giddy!

7. I pulled out the card table this weekend and set it up in the living room. I've missed painting, and plan on working with some found pieces of wood from my St. Helena vacation beach walks.

8. We're doing DDP yoga at work, and I'm really loving it. We've done Jillian Michaels and Shaun T, which I enjoyed. But now I really see why people rave about yoga. I think it's a super good thing for this 53-year-old. Balance and flexibility are two things I took for granted when I was younger. It's nice to feel them coming back.

9. My Smiley daytimer. It never ceases to make me happy when everyday I realize just how much it's changed my life.

10. The company I work for is moving offices in November. And I'm stoked about the change. Although our current space holds some great memories, the new space (at Atlantic Station) will afford us so many walking-distance options for shopping and lunch.

And, here's an 11, just 'cause. Gideon got his summer cut this weekend. Probably the latest I've ever waited to do it. His short 'do feels like velvet. He's naked and much more comfortable. See below for the before and after. I love this dog.

A 4-day holiday weekend

We had off of work both Thursday and Friday.

It was glorious. A mini vacation of sorts.

A week ago, a friend from church (and a follower of my blog), Lynne, sent me a link to her favorite auction house (and one that happens to be on the way to her family's vacation home on Lake Keowee) where, lo and behold, a Karen Hollingsworth print was being auctioned off on June 29.

I wasn't able to attend the auction, but put in a left bid (absentee bid) and won!

This past Saturday, Harleigh and I popped a Backstreet Boys into the CD player, and 

headed to Walhalla, SC for a mother/daughter road trip to pick up my win, 

making a lunch stop at Cracker Barrel (because it really isn't a road trip without it).

Warther's posts images of what will be auctioned off.

Here is what I bid on. 

I was 99% sure that it was not an original, but rather a print.

Much to my delight, it's a huge framed print on canvas.

Hung it in my bedroom where I can see it while lying in bed.

My room is finally coming together (after living in this house since 1999!).

I found four salesman button sample sheets at Simple Finds.

Wound up putting them in simple white IKEA frames, 

using a matted silver paper for the background.

On the sheet below, there was a blank spot where a button card had been.

I went into my vintage sewing stash and found one to put in its place.

The four white-button sheets went above my bed. 

This one, all colored buttons, got a floral background and now lives in the ken.

Two weekend projects.

This one completed and now for sale in my booth.

A chippy blue metal patio table used to have a Garden Ridge umbrella. See here.

But after years in the elements, the fabric had started to rot.

So I ripped it off of the wooden skeleton of a frame 

and fashioned a new canopy out of a vintage tablecloth.

I put a grommet in the center of the cloth 

and a small nail in the top of the pole.

That way, it's secured but can be removed easily.

Same goes for the tiny grommets I put in the cloth where each spoke is.

Tied the canopy down at each spoke with teal blue ribbon. 

This project I made only a dent in this long holiday weekend.

This cabinet (a childs' cubby from a preschool classroom)

was on our church loading dock with a sign that said "trash."

This has possibility written all over it.

Gave it a good washing and a coat of white paint.

Deciding what to do next!

And last but not least, was thrilled that the website Red Tricycle

featured my snow globe baby shower invitations!

See my snow globes here.

(And the original blog post where the editor of Red Tricyle first spied them.

And the complete baby shower here and here.)