Connecting

My weekend in Statesboro was the big goodbye for me and my girlie, but also an opportunity to say hello to some wonderful new friends!

First of all, Jackie over at Empty Nest Full Life emailed me after seeing the Georgia Southern sticker on the suitcase at Harleigh's graduation open house. She has ties to Georgia Southern and lives about 45 minutes away. Needless to say, we wound up having lunch, meeting for the first time. This is the first blog friend I've met (aside from readers in the co-worker, family and just-around-the-corner-friends categories), and it was such an easy friendship to go from blog posts to face-to-face conversation. It's amazing to me how well we get to know each other through our postings. Thanks, Jackie, for being a friend, and for offering up your home when I visit and to Harleigh if she needs to get away. Generosity and heartfelt prayers define you.

The second connection was through a friend at my church. Clarice's family lives in Statesboro and so she hooked us up. Her parents Barbara and Paul met us on Saturday morning for breakfast at local digs Snooky's. A wood paneled restaurant steeped in the '70s with Georgia Southern paraphernalia on the walls, cash-only, one meat and two veggies kind of place. At the center of the restaurant was a large round table of only men, drinking coffee, talking politics and stocks . . . so old boy Southern. Needless to say a handful of the men stopped at our table to say hello to Barbara and Paul and meet us. Harleigh left with a list of phone numbers for the best dentist, doctor and auto mechanic in town, invitations to church on Sunday and to sing in the choir, a promise that she'd call any one of them if she needs anything, and . . . well, a family in Statesboro. She also got to meet Clarice's sister and her family, and is babysitting the three girls of Clarice's brother and sister-in-law this evening.
God is good.

Window Bulletin Board

I've had this old window around forever, figuring it would find a home somewhere, perhaps in a re-fashioned state. Well, my daughter was heading off to college, and we'd been struggling with what kind of bulletin board we should buy. Hanging stuff on college dorm walls alone is a feat unto itself since we're limited by the dorm restrictions. Then when she spied this window leaning in a dusty corner of the garage, a light bulb went off in both our heads.

So I gave it a good cleaning. All the glass was intact but one piece; no biggee. I covered the back of the 7 pieces of glass with scrapbook paper. Then in three of the panes I glued (to the front of the glass) a piece of foam core covered in corkboard (which I wrapped around the foam core so the edges are finished). For the pane with no glass, I screwed in eye hooks on the reverse of the frame, ran string across, and clipped on a miniature clothespin for hanging notes and memorabilia.

To take the craft factor to the next level, I made pushpins using vintage earrings.

Empty Nest

First of all, Harleigh is safe and sound at school. We said our goodbyes with lots of smiles and I'm proud to say, few tears on my part. And for those of you who know that I cry at the drop of a hat, I'm so proud of myself. She was never more ready to enter this chapter of her life. And I think her confidence in her ability to tackle the workload and all its distractions, her ease with the transition, her overall joy . . . she's going to love college.

During our weekend in Statesboro we withstood one of the hottest days I've ever lived through. Move-in day was so humid that I had to stop several times to wipe the sweat out of my eyes because I couldn't see. But once she got into her suite, met her roommate and her family, and we started unpacking, the nesting began. A trip to Kmart landed us much needed kitchen shelves. We made a trip to the Super Wal Mart for groceries. And everywhere we went we ran into other parents and students and gabbed: strangers all with one thing in common, our children leaving the nest. It made us all family.

Here is Harleigh's room. (I didn't get pix of the living room, dining room, bathroom or kitchen because there was still lots of move-in going on.) Harleigh and Rebekah each have their own rooms with doors that lock. Double bed, nightstand (which Harleigh put in her closet), chest of drawers, desk and chair. We put the bed up on risers and added this Japanese lamp. The wall pix are decals that peel off.
Here is her desk. She brought her baby blanket, Quilty, which hangs on the back of the chair. The bulletin board "window" will be a separate post (not used here the way I intended it, but this isn't my room, so I had to bite my tongue and let her do it her way).
She's using her chest of drawers as a nightstand. We will need something on the wall above it. There are mini blinds at the window but Harleigh wanted something softer (but not curtains, since the room gets very little light) and so we opted for an accordian paper shade and pulled the mini blinds all the way up ; this shade goes nicely with the Japanese lamp and can clip up for full sun or be let out to reach the bottom, which gives the room a soft light .
I found this baker's rack at a yard sale a few weeks ago and it wound up being a great catchall in her room without looking out-of-the-box dorm room.
She loves her room, and I like that she has privacy, yet the experience of a roommate sharing the common areas.

What I miss most already: talking to her about what she's doing. I want to text and call her every hour and ask what she's doing. I know, I know, too much. But I want to hear every detail. When I left, she already had plans to shower and then go to the Baptist Youth Group open house. She was already making plans for church this morning and hadn't quite cemented what last night would hold. Ahhhhh, this is killin' me. Letting go has wound up being far less emotional for me than I had anticipated. What I didn't expect was the separation anxiety over communication.

I'm sending a telepathic message . . .

Harleigh call me.

Harleigh call me.

Harleigh call me.

Harleigh call me . . .

The Final Days

We leave for college this Friday. In the meantime there are prescriptions to be refilled, new tires on her car, emission and car registration to tackle, packing and more packing, laundry, last-minute shopping, some life-guarding gigs, lots of time with friends (camping, off-roading, movies, tubing). She's squeezing the last bit of childhood into her last week at home. I'm holding it together, watching her happiness, her confidence, her humor, soaking in her smile, hugging her and stroking her hair, being an absolute idiot over my only daughter.

Onto something non-emotional. Yesterday we went to Goodwill to find her some tennis skirts. We found a Prince skirt with the price tag still on it ($49.99!?!?!?) and got it for $2.09. Dang, are we some smart girls.

And this white ceramic basket made in Italy for $5.05 was too pretty not to bring home.

Ripple Afghan and a Big Snuggly Boy

When you find linens and knit goods at Goodwill, they're often taped up and difficult to see in their entirety. Such was the case with this ripple afghan. When I got it home and untaped it, it wound up being big enough for the foot of my king-sized bed. I love that whoever crocheted it pieced two sections together. Not to mention the fact that it contains every color imaginable. Happy ripples, to say the least.


This afternoon I undertook a craft project for Harleigh's dorm room. Will share tomorrow. I have a denim chair in the craft room where Mr. Gideon often naps, a prime spot to catch up on some ZZZZs and keep an eye on me. I adore the head between the paws.

The Newest Cage

Back a few posts I talked about the courier bag I got at a yard sale. Well, the darling lady seller was getting rid of many items that I fell in love with. This vintage bird cage by O.L. & Co. out of New York was quite the find at $2.00. The lady and I got to gabbin' about bird cages and she took me inside to show me all of her decorative cages. She must have had 50 of them. Some were more TJMaxx kind of finds, but others were true vintage cages. Gorgeous! We chatted a long time about our collections and what joy we find in them.

I did some research on this particular cage and it's an all-brass Art Deco cage that dates to the 1920s (and appears to be worth way more than the $2 I spent on it). Such a sweet find, especially with my thrift-store ceramic parakeet inside!
And here is the cage in its new home on my living room shelves.

What the heck?

Was thrifting with my girlie this weekend when I came across this bag of Russ Trolls for $3.00. Put it in my buggy, Harleigh questioned my sanity, and I checked the buyer's remorse gauge . . . yes indeed, I would regret not buying these freakishly fun vintage treasures. So the trolls followed me home.

What the heck am I gonna do with them?

So Little Time Left

I'm savoring the last days of our summer. The fridge is covered in all the weekly camp pictures from Harleigh's summer of camp counseling. We're doing the last-minute packing of dorm needs and scheduling all her doctor appointments before she heads out of town. I've got the dog walker lined up since Harleigh won't be home in the afternoons to take Gideon on their daily afternoon stroll through the neighborhood. The laptop is purchased. There's lots of time being spent together doing absolutely nothing and enjoying simply that. It doesn't seem real that I'm in this phase of life. It crept up on me so quickly. Savoring, that's what I've got to do these next two weeks.

Dressing Up

I've posted before about my obsession (one of many, thank you very much!) with dress-up clothes. I plan ahead for lots of things, but this one is rather specific. You see, I would adore a granddaughter someday. I'm such a girly girl when it comes to my home and my lifestyle. I could make Marmie's house into a super fun girl retreat. If nothing but boys come my way, I'll make do in other ways, but for now, collecting dress-up clothes is too fun to consider stopping for the obvious reasons that 1) my daughter is a mere 18 and not close to marrying age much less motherhood, and 2) if no grandchildren or only boys come into my life, I've got big ol' tubs of vintage negliegees, boas and high-heels cluttering up my attic space.

I started collecting dress-up clothes when I was pregnant with Harleigh, and they were one of her most favorite things to play with! Hours and hours of imaginary play. Loads of great picture opportunities. And all of that collection has been saved, and that is what I'm adding to. Here are four new dresses I found on the $1 rack at a thrift store this weekend. They're all smaller junior sizes.



This is the back, with all the lace and the two ribbon roses.

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Apparently this stylin' plastic lace-like bicycle basket has been around forever but I've just discovered it. And for $24.95 at The Container Store (plus an additional 20% off), I picked up one for the Candy Spelling Gift Closet and one for me! I'll use it just to haul stuff back and forth from car to house. Ain't it darling?!?!?


Chairs. I'm obsessed. Chairs remind me of dollhouses. Why? Have no idea. When I see them at a thrift store, they always seem to be saying to me "Take me home." Help me. I only have so many opportunities to sit in my own home. These two are some of my favorites.
Nests. Found ones. Empty. Sometimes with a long forgotten egg nearby. This one is especially sweet as it's on the tiny side.

Ridin' in Style

This chair cushion, found at Cost Plus World Market, was too dern cute to pass up. I have no chairs inside the house with a naked seat, and so I had to turn to the one chair I probably spend way too much time in and therefore is deserving of a little pick-me-up. Call me an old character.

26 days . . .

. . . until we pack it up and head off to college. We wrapped up another round of shopping yesterday. With a dorm room that contains a kitchen, living room and dining room, plus the two bedrooms, the needs list seems endless. In the meantime, I take one day at a time, and enjoy my girl every day that I have her at home. Here is a text message picture I got from her last week, asking if the Goodwill skirt she just bought worked out as a dress. Yes it does. Yes I love you. Yes you are sweetness and kindness. And yes you are growing up and will be leaving soon. Yes I will miss you beyond words.

Vintage Sears Roebuck Courier Bag and Baseballs for the Boy

Running errands on Saturday morning. With Harleigh going off to college, the thrifting isn't happening with the vigor it used to (every penny goes toward what the HOPE scholarship doesn't cover), and so pit stops at my favorite places was not an option. But I did see a yard sales sign that was written in elderly lady writing. Ya know what I mean? The letters have that lilt and deliberateness to them. Detour.

Indeed, it was an older widowed woman making a move to California. Getting rid of as much stuff as she could. I got a few items I'll share in later posts (along with a good story), but here is one that at 50 cents I couldn't resist. I've been wanting a new tote bag, preferably one that zippers. Have eyed the vintage airline bags but they're so doggone pricey. This Sears Roebuck Courier bag has a missing piece that locks the zipper in place, but who cares. Perfect for toting around all my loot.


Also got a box of old baseballs. Gideon has had a blast with these. Inside, in the evening, I can sit in my chair and roll these across the room. He's in heaven. Back and forth. Back and forth. Drop the ball in my lap. Roll. Fetch. Drop the ball in my lap. Roll. Fetch.
And last night, after a rousing game of "baseball," he fell asleep with his head on the clean laundry. Pure cuteness, if I must say so myself.

French Larkspur turns one = oolala giveaway

Take a stroll over to French Larkspur for this loveliest of giveaways. But do it quickly as it closes midnight on July 10.

She'll be giving away these be-U-ti-ful items from Maria at Dreamy Whites. Take a look . . . (photos by Dreamy Whites).

Lavendar pillows made from vintage French ticking —
A vintage zinc pitcher from France —
And a European grain sack pillow —

Happy Independence Weekend!

Harleigh went to the Duluth fireworks on Saturday night, and then she and I went to a picnic and wonderfully orchestrated fireworks show at a neighbor's house on Sunday night. The fact that they crossed state lines to purchase the pyrotechnics leads me to believe that what they shot off was probably illegal, but I suppose the magic of the lit-up sky while sitting in a lawn chair in the driveway made me quickly forget.

Then this morning was the Dunwoody parade, the largest Independence Day parade in the state of Georgia. I've never been before, which surprises me because 1) I love parades, and 2) Dunwoody is the next town over from Norcross. It was small town at its finest, but on a grand scale. Can't wait to include it on next year's 4th of July agenda!

This darling magazine cover has been hanging in my craft room, in a found frame with an ill-fitting matte. In desperate need of being reframed. I kept the painted wood frame and got rid of the matte, exchanging it for a background of scrapbook paper. The magazine cover is glued onto a piece of poster board and lays on top of the paper. Much much better.

College Orientation

Headed out of town yesterday around noon. Got into southern Georgia early enough that we decided to head straight to Savannah. Neither one of us had been there before, and we were both charmed by its . . . well, Southerness. We walked around, shopped — lots of vintage clothing stores (Harleigh found a great pair of worn-in Dingo cowboy boots and jeans) — ate dinner, witnessed the throngs of fans waiting for seating at Mother & Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant) and standing in line for her live cooking show at the theatre around the corner, then made it back in time to shower and lie on the bed with the laptop watching episodes of Modern Family and replaying portions that had us in pants-wetting laughter.

Up this morning and ready to head off to today's orientation!

The drive to Georgia Southern is quite desolate. Came across this gas station on one of our pit stops. El Cheapo . . . only here in the South.