weekend fun and wall decorating dilemma

Remember my friend that moved away a couple of weekends ago? We met up for

breakfast on Saturday morning. These zinnias in front of the restaurant caught my

attention. They're one of my favorite flowers.To me, they are the epitome of cheer 

 and summer and I smile whenever I see them.

On Sunday, me and my aunt spent the day in the city of Elgin, which is about 35 miles

northwest of Chicago, on the Fox River. We walked around the downtown area, going

into different shops (spent a lot of time in a bookstore!) and having lunch in one of

those American pub-type restaurants.

 One of the shops we went into was Retro A Go-Go, which carries cool things from the 

1940's - 1970's. It was a lot of fun to look around.

The only thing I bought was this Snoopy jelly glass for Brian ~ he loves the

Peanuts, especially Snoopy.

Moving on to household stuff...I had showed you all how I put a shadow box on

the wall space beside the front door. I decided after I hung the shadow box

up, that I didn't like it in that space after all.

So, I played around and here's the new look I decided on. I'm not 100% satisfied

with this arrangement either, but it'll do for now. I at least like it better than the shadow

box. My "Big Plan" for this area anyway is to get rid of the console table and utilize

a storage bench instead - the kind you can sit on to take your shoes on and off.

 Then, I'd like to hang a long piece of reclaimed wood on the wall and add different 

kinds of hooks and knobs on it to make a coat rack.

All items were things I had on-hand and all were thrifted.

The fireplace wall is driving me crazy. I've had two black and white pictures hanging

there for over a year. I never did like them. They're not my taste. My cousin had 

purchased them for me, thinking I'd like them and that they'd be perfect for the

fireplace wall. Well, I guess they are in regards to size and fit. But they're too stark

and modern for my taste and decor; plus the photos don't mean anything to me.

I don't have any connection to New York.

In my last post, I had showed you the picture of the mirror that I thought might look

nice over the fireplace, but I wasn't sure if it'd be big enough. I had Brian hold it

up while I took a couple of pictures.

Poor guy, lol.

 

Whaddya think? Too small, isn't it?

But I don't want to hang those black and white pictures back up! And Brian

wants to keep the mirror because he really likes it. He said, "Surely we can

use it somewhere!" Ever feel like ripping an entire room apart and starting

all over again?!

i'm on a mission

I have been on a real getting-rid-of-stuff binge. I think I was inspired by a friend

of mine who just moved...she threw a lot of stuff out while she was packing up

her house. Nothing like moving to make you realize you've accumulated and held

 on to far too many things. So far, I've gone through my bins of household decor 

and have six bags of stuff for donation - and that doesn't include the two bags

 I've already taken to Goodwill! 

Today I moved on to the freezer. This upright freezer has been in our basement

for nine years. With it just being Brian and I living here now, this freezer hardly

had anything in it. Just a waste of space and electricity. So I cleaned it out and

it's going up for sale on a local Facebook page.

 I took the few things from the upright freezer and everything out of the small

kitchen freezer and laid it all out on the kitchen table according to meat, bread,

veggies, nuts, grains, etc. so that I could put like items together in the freezer.

 Side note: see that 3 Musketeers bar near the back, left? That's not for me or Brian

 (neither one of us eat those)...it's for mice! We sometimes get mice in our basement 

and I read that mice love chocolate, especially 3 Musketeers candy.  Go figure, right?

 It's certainly worth a try next time we set traps.

 At first I didn't think everything would fit in the small freezer...

but it did. Good thing we aren't big meat eaters.

Speaking of my friend who moved, this is one of my best friends...and she's lived

only a few blocks away from me for many years. She's now over an hour drive

due to a new job. While I'm very happy for her (new job - and a great one!, new

house, new car, dumped the boyfriend, lol), I'm really going to miss seeing her often.

I helped her move into her new townhouse this past weekend and was really impressed

by her new digs. This is the open living and dining room space. You can't see it

in the photo, but there's a beautiful bay window in front of her table and chairs. I love

the two small windows flanking the fireplace. I told her she needs some little plants

in those windows. Her cat, Vieve made himself right at home. The other cat, Barnaby

was terrified and hid under the nightstand in my friend's bedroom all day. Oh - her

bedroom is bigger than my master bedroom and has a walk-in closet the size

of a small bedroom! Her place also has a basement, garage, and a community

workout room and pool. I think she's going to be very happy here.

I'm now back to the basement and back to work. Next order of business is

going through more household decor (tchotchkes, glassware, dishes) lining

the shelving units. Have a beautiful day! 

Sharing with Cozy Little House - Tweak it Tuesday.

gift of grandma's ruby red glassware

 A friend of mine came to visit the other night and walked into my house carrying a box.

She said she had a gift for me.

She is moving to Washington next year and will be living in a much smaller house,

so she can't bring all of her stuff with her.

I opened the box to find an assortment of beautiful, deep red glassware.

 My friend said these pieces had belonged to her grandma

and she can't take them with her on her move due to lack of space.

She wanted me to have them because she knows how much I love red glass ~

and that I will love them and take care of them.

I was so touched!

The box contained plates, bowls, cups, and a vase.

I hand-washed everything carefully and put some of the items to use

in my Christmas decor.

 

  I told my friend that my grandma loved red glass, too.

And that I have a set of her red drinking glasses.

Funny how we're all connected.

I cried as my friend gifted me with her grandma's precious red glassware.

Because my friend trusts me to take care of, appreciate, and love something

that belonged in her family. Because I will miss my friend who has lived

across the street from me for 22 years.

Linking up to Mockingbird Hill Cottage's Favorite Thing Holiday Edition .