out of the house, around the house

This past Saturday, Brian and I took a little road trip to our favorite vintage shop, Secret Treasures. They're currently open for online orders and then you pick up curb-side. It was so strange to see the empty streets and sidewalks that are usually bustling with traffic and people, especially on a weekend.

Brian had ordered a lamp for his desk and I had ordered a brass horse bookend. When we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for our purchases, I window shopped. I found a beautiful glass cake plate and dome, plus two pieces of vintage pottery that also came home with me.

 We ordered a sandwich online, picked it up curbside, and took it to our favorite park by the lake. Sat on a bench and shared a sammie, enjoying the beautiful day. There were lots of people out and about, walking dogs, playing Frisbee, having picnics on blankets with their family, but keeping their distance from others.

 One of my favorite Lake Michigan views.

A store we were able to check out in person (donning masks and keeping our distance from others) was Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse. From their website: 

The Evanston ReBuilding Warehouse is a non-profit organization that promotes the reduction of waste in landfills through sustainable deconstruction and renovation building practices. Reclaimed building materials are sold at our warehouse at low cost to the community and the proceeds support our education, job-training and job-development programs which foster individual, community and economic growth in Evanston and beyond.

This place was much bigger than we expected with aisles overfilled with anything and everything you could think of for inside and outside a home. Love this bathroom sink made by Jacob Delafon, Paris. Too big for either of our small bathrooms though.

Isn't this old range amazing?

The back right burner was like a "well" and had a silver pot down inside.

 Does anyone know what this was used for?

If you have a huge kitchen, how about this amazing Miele ventilation hood? Great price. These go for over $2000 brand-new.

Lots of chandeliers...

All kinds of interior doors...

So, back at home, here are my two pieces of gorgeous vintage pottery from Secret Treasures. The green one is Shawnee and the blue one is McCoy.

I added the pottery to my collection on the shelves in the living room.

The lamp that Brian found is filled with old radio tubes. Brian is a big radio and electronic aficionado, so this lamp is perfect for his office. We're still looking for long, floating picture shelves to go on this wall above his desk ~ and that's where this propped up art on his desk will go.

 My brass horse bookend...it may not stay here; I just put it here for the time being.

 I don't collect horse figurines, but for some reason, this bookend spoke to me when I saw it online. I did have a horse when I was a teenager and living in Kentucky...a beautiful brown and white quarter horse named Judy. I still miss her, over 40 years later. And I've always thought that horses were one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen...so maybe that's why I was drawn to this particular bookend.

 We're still experiencing an overabundance of rain. These past few days have been in the high 80's, too so with the heat index, it's in the low 90's. Too early to be this humid! On the plus side, everything is so lush and green now.

 The heat and thunderstorms weren't kind to my lilacs this year. They were here and gone in a little over a week. Barely got to enjoy them.

We're in the middle of contracting renovations in the front of our house. It started with our little Village redoing our front swales and an asphalt company digging out our old driveway. Today the concrete contractor is digging out our old sidewalk that leads up to the porch and digging trenches in our yard on either side of the driveway that lead down into the swales. They're installing pipes on the downspouts in front of our garage that will go down the trenches and into the swales. When this work is done, then the new asphalt driveway can be put in. 

Hopefully, before and after pictures to come in the near future!

Have a good week, my friends ~ and stay well and healthy.

when the going gets tough

Sometimes a little escapism is just what one needs.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were hoping for an easy fix on our central air conditioner. After some excuses (some valid, some seemingly not so), the HVAC guy, Rocky finally showed up. Turns out, our AC was fried. I wasn't surprised - it's 30 years old. The "good" news was that our furnace, despite being the same age, still has another 7-10 years to go. After agreeing about installing a new air conditioner, it's been one excuse after another why Rocky couldn't show up. Yesterday - Saturday - was the last straw. I got up extra early to get ready, expecting Rocky and his partner to be here. Rocky texted me at the last minute, claiming his truck broke down. He sent me photos of his truck being towed away and said the service department couldn't even look at his truck until Monday. So now he was hoping for Tuesday to install our AC. Oh, it gets even better....but first, my escapism story.

I was disappointed and frankly, pissed off due to Rocky's excuses, but because it was a beautiful day, I decided to get out of here and take a little day trip. I went to my happy place: Evanston.

I always start out by visiting Hewn for one of their homemade scones or muffins. I sat outside on the benches they have set up in the nice weather, enjoying my treat and people-watching.

Next, I walked up the street to Secret Treasures, my all-time favorite vintage shop. I did indeed find some treasures...this set of aqua (or is it turquoise? Either way, it's my favorite color) Buffalo China (USA) diner dishes and creamer.

And this aqua and white striped McCoy pitcher. I love vintage pottery, but especially McCoy. I walked by this piece twice. I picked it up and held it and looked it over and put it down. Walked around the shop and thought about it. Would I regret not getting it if I didn't buy it? Probably. I'm glad I bought it. It's a beauty.

Evanston has a ton of gorgeous houses. I've featured some on my blog in the past. I was driving around and found a street I don't remember being on before. It was lined with beautiful homes, so I pulled over, parked the car, and went for a walk.

This home was having work done on it. I love the architecture.

This home is almost fairytale like, but elegant.

I then went to the farmer's market where I bought baby greens, romaine and breakfast radishes. I accidentally deleted the photos from the farmer's market, so I had to steal this one from my IG page. The way this vendor displays their vegetables is always beautiful. There's another vendor at this farmer's market that sells their authentic tamales and tacos. We get something to eat from them every time we're at this farmer's market. Since it was lunchtime, I got a chicken red mole tamale, and headed for a shady picnic table. It ended up that I sat across from a lady from Chicago and we had a lovely conversation while we were eating. ("A stranger is a friend you haven't met".)

A trip to Evanston wouldn't be complete to me, until I've visited the lakefront (Lake Michigan). All the shades of blue never fail to amaze me. 

 I sit on the boulder and just gaze out at the water. It's so peaceful.

 Looking the other way into the park. This place is never crowded, even on a weekend. You might see some dog walkers, joggers, a family having a picnic, some teens playing Frisbee, or lovers walking hand-in-hand, but never many at one time. I took my blanket and laid in the shade under a big oak tree. That's when I decided to take a closer look at the photos that Rocky sent me of his truck being towed away. I zoomed in on them and it hit me: There were no leaves on the trees in the background!! Not by his house, nor in the background of the house across the street. These were obviously old pictures! Busted! I called Brian at work to tell him. Brian then called the tow truck company and talked to the guy that had been on call since 4:00 a.m. He hadn't had any tows all day! I immediately texted Rocky and called him out on all this. Told him if he was going to be a liar, at least be a good one. Do you know what he replied? He said, "Whatever. Trees are dead do (sic) to the wetlands." Riight. It got even uglier from there with him saying he was going to send us a bill for a service call (he had waived his service call fee when he finally showed up, since he was a day late) and that if we didn't pay it, his brother was a "lean (sic) lawyer." What a horrible, dishonest businessman.

In the late afternoon, I finally headed for home, but stopped at Gigio's Pizzeria to get slices of pizza for Brian and his work partner. I made a special delivery on my way home. Gigio's is a place that has special meaning to me and Brian. We ate there all the time when we were dating. And when he was working nights as security in the local hospital, I'd pick up pizza after I got off work, and bring it to him for dinner at the hospital. Thirty-six years later, and I'm still delivering Gigio's pizza to him at work. 😉

Back to Rocky and his HVAC business, I did warn locals on my FB page and my town's FB page about him. I was going to write a review on Yelp, but I did my research first and found that you can be sued for slander for posting negative reviews on businesses. Of course, there's loopholes - you have to word your review just so - but I didn't want to take any chances. I also chose not to report him to the BBB - at least, not just yet. I'm still thinking about it. Again, I read about filing a complaint against a business, and it involves communication with that business. I don't know if I want to go there. I've already blocked his number on my phone so I can't receive any more texts or calls. I'd rather just forget this whole thing and put it behind me. Though to cover my behind, I took a drive out to his house today and took photos of the trees and wetlands surrounding his property. No surprise that everything was very green and lush - no bare trees.

We have found a new HVAC company - one that was recommended by several people and has an A+ rating on BBB. We'll be calling them first thing tomorrow morning. Here's hoping we can get a new AC unit installed ASAP...after this week of cool temps, it's heating up again. It's already 82 degrees in the house today and will only get worse as the week goes on. To be continued!

lots of blooms and a little day trip

 How quickly things can change around here! It went from winter-like weather to warm seemingly overnight. Yesterday and today were in the 80's. I actually have the AC on today! As I do every year, I say a little prayer before I turn the AC on for the season, as it's 30 years old. The furnace, too. Looks like it'll be back to normal temps (60's) tomorrow and through next week, but these two days of warm weather really pushed things into bloom. You can almost see the plants grow before your eyes. They truly do change day by day.

I still haven't been to the garden centers to pick out annuals for the porch and patio. So far, I only have a couple of hanging baskets of pansies and violas. I was at a mega store with a garden center the other day and was walking around to see what they had. I was so excited to see flowers again, that I had to stop myself from throwing everything into the cart. I realized I'd better make a plan before I start to buy stuff. What kinds of flowers do I really want, and which pots am I going to put them in? Sun or shade? Colors?

Around my yard, vinca is blooming, lilacs and clematis are budding, lilies are well out of the ground, hostas are unfurling. In my butterfly garden, phlox, black-eyed susan, lamb's ear, and columbine are all making their debut. In the little circular garden in the backyard, more phlox and bleeding heart are coming back.

These cheery daffodils make a late appearance every spring in my butterfly garden; I think because they don't get a lot of sun. A few days ago, they were just green stalks and now ~ beautiful blooms. To me, they are the essence of spring.

Brian had the day off work yesterday. Since we already had the patio set up for the season (hooray!) except for potted plants, we decided to take one of our little day trips. Sure, there's still a lot more work to get the yard and gardens ready for spring, but sometimes you just need to get out of town and relax a bit.

I love the gorgeous planters scattered around the shops in this town. One of the store owners told me that it's the local florist who does these arrangements every year.

We ate some delicious Greek food for lunch...we shared chicken gyros, a Greek salad, Greek potatoes, and fresh pita bread with hummus; went to some of our favorite shops; picked up olive oil, freekah (the new-ish supergrain) and paneer cheese (I'm going to make Palak Paneer) from a middle eastern grocer; and then we went to relax by the lake. I know I've posted photos of this view before, but it's one of my favorites. I like how you can see part of the Chicago skyline, even though it was a hazy day. 

 No trip to Evanston would be complete without us stopping at Secret Treasures, where I found this gorgeous American sweetheart cake plate. 

 Happy May! What's blooming in your part of the world?

creatures, treasures, and stately homes

It's no wonder it takes us so long to get projects done around the house...when Brian has a once-in-awhile Saturday off, we take off on a little day trip! If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know we love going to Evanston, a large, culturally-rich city right by Chicago. We not only love this city because of all the many cool shops and restaurants, but we also enjoy eyeballing the beautiful homes and relaxing in the park by Lake Michigan. Not to mention, Brian grew up in Evanston, so a little piece of his heart is still there.

We walked around at an outdoor art fair for awhile, then visited some favorite shops. One was a pet shop, where this lop-eared bunny was freely hopping around. He was up for adoption, but we passed. Been there, done that with a rabbit as a pet. They're sweet and fun, but very messy. Which also equals a lot of work.

He was one chill bunny!

I found Betty the turtle under the heat lamps. Usually, she's wandering the pet store, too. Though I stay out of her way. I'm not fond of turtles. I'm a little bit afraid of them.

The resident cat, Will was taking a snooze.

In the cages, they had a breed of rat called dumbo-eared rats - obvious reason. I think they're adorable! We had rats as pets twice when our boys were growing up. They are actually sweet and friendly, like attention, and can be trained to do tricks. They don't bite like hamsters and gerbils either. (We tried those as pets, too.) Unfortunately, they don't live long (only a couple of years; three at the most) and are prone to tumors.

Saw these shoes in the window of a shoe store. I love cats, but I think this is a little much! Though if I were a teenager or in my early 20's, I'd think about it. 

Another stop: the independent bookstore. This is the cookbook section, and there's even another shelf behind where I was standing.

And, of course, a trip to Evanston wouldn't be complete without a stop at our favorite vintage shop, Secret Treasures. I came home with three small treasures - this pretty tea towel, which I'm using on my kitchen table...

and which Monkey and Clementine immediately approved of.

I also found this small, covered butterprint Pyrex dish, which matched my two butterprint bowls.

Last, but not least, I couldn't believe I found a Gregg shorthand book. Who remembers learning - and using - shorthand? Taking dictation? I do. I hated it. I took classes in community college, then used it only a couple of times at work. However, it did come in handy for writing private thoughts in my diary, especially when I knew my sister was snooping. ;-)

On our way to the lake, I had Brian pull over so we stroll the sidewalk and take photos of some of the beautiful houses. If you like house eye candy as much as I do, click here for a previous blog post where I featured some more gorgeous Evanston houses and gardens. I'll let the photos do the talking...

The iron gate on the house was amazing.

An apartment building, not a house, but I thought these balcony flowers were so pretty. 

At last, we made it to the lake. Lake Michigan. Or "The Michigan Ocean", as Brian jokingly calls it. The water was so calm and endlessly beautiful.

Sometimes, projects can wait.