Having A Fashionable Life!: July 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Big Bang Theory Moment

I had a Big Bang Theory moment happen the other day. My family and I are HUGE BBT fans. My son wants to believe that he is like Sheldon which can be a bit maddening at times such as when I walked out into the Iiving room the other day and saw this;

Which then reminded me of the Big Bang Theory episode titled the Staircase Implementation from season 3. It is a flashback episode which fills in the gaps of the roommate agreement and the reason why the elevator doesn't work. But one of my favorite scenes is where Sheldon pulls out the apartment flag and states to never fly it upside down unless the apartment is in distress.

So I ask you, doesn't it look like my household might be in distress!

Full Circle Farm Box

I've been curious about farm shares or CSA's for awhile but was hesitant to subscribe or buy shares for several reasons.
1. The dietary needs of my family might not fit the fluidity and seasonal nature of a farm box. Several coworkers who received farm boxes told stories of cooking with vegetables that they'd never seen before and none of the men in my family would be able to handle the mystery nature of that type of farm box.
2. There can be a significant investment from the start. Some farms require a prepaid subscription which benefits them in that the funds and customers are locked in to the farm's sustainability. I'm sure there are other reasons for this and I don't pretend to be a farming expert.

However, my daughter brought home a coupon from her college that gave 15% off the first order at Full Circle Farms. I left it on the kitchen counter for a bit and mulled over my farm share debate again. I even did some research on other farms before coming back to the coupon again.

Full Circle Farms is exactly what it says - a circle of farms that have built a sort of farm box cooperative. So in the boxes, the customer is getting produce from all over Washington state. They have a very responsive web interface so each box is customizable. I even removed certain things from being put into our boxes. I hate cauliflower - true story that involves neon blue worms. And my husband should avoid veggies that are high in sugar like beets. But we love corn and carrots which even my veggie-phobic son will eat.
Every box is packed with the week's recipes to use with the produce. If you are worried about spoilage, don't. Some of the veggies and especially the stone fruit are picked early. They may even need time to ripen. This is good for a family like mine who are slow to consume veggies.

In addition to the farm box stuffed full of veggies and fruit (this is especially important -some farms added extra $ to boxes with fruit), I can go to the Green Grocer. The Green Grocer is a separate module where I can shop for other organic groceries such as milk, meat, bread, coffee, and even honey. There's no guarantee that these products will come from Washington but they mostly don't travel very far (except the Parmesan and Olive Oil from Italy). However, they are mostly in-state products such as bread from The Essential Baking Company or Theo Chocolate, both Seattle companies. I have even ordered eggs and butter. And each week, there are seasonal features, produce or groceries that are special and limited in quantity such as this week's pie cherries, just in time for summer pastries, and the bratwurst, perfect for grilling. I ordered the bratwurst and plan on having a cookout with the family one night this week. My menu will include (from the farm box of course!) corn, baguettes, German potato salad, and s'mores made with Theo's toasted coconut dark chocolate bar!

We are two deliveries in. I have paid for each delivery as it is delivered. I even put off one box because we were still using the bounty from the one before it. My family sized share is quite large but not so much that I feel wasteful. The base price is $43 for the family share. I run down to my chosen drop-off point every other tuesday to pick them up. When I've added on groceries, everything from meat to eggs, I end up spending between 80 and 100 dollars. The cost is comparable to a higher end grocery store but goods are organic and locally grown. We've BBQ'd a tasty skirt steak, boiled fresh eggs, used the granola as a crust for a fruit crumble, and more things than I could have expected from a farm box.

The most amazing thing about the farm box is that my son is delighted with the idea of getting food in boxes. He was won over with the delicious eggs and is perfectly willing to try anything from the box!

My Morning Mug

This morning, I must have been in a sexy, steamy mood because my morning cup of Joe ended up in this mug. Of course, I suppose you could also play on the double entendre here and say that I was feeling cranky and ready to go off. I prefer the sexy interpretation but with a headache like mine, you might go with the second one! I bought this mug at Marshall's. And amazingly since it's been awhile, I couldn't find a link for you to buy it.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Report shoes

I was delighted to find a pair of Report sandals on clearance Marshall's. Report is a Seattle based shoe company so I love to follow them. I have not purchased any shoes up until now. Not for lack of want though. Just right now on their website, I was just drooling over some of their sale sandals which are priced considerably more than my $10 score. They also have considerably more flare than the ones I picked up at Marshall's. But I love the simplicity of the ones that I purchased. They have a delightful beach or nautical look to them. Now I can only hope that the sun will come out!

Olympia Flea Market

This weekend, during the rare 80 degree heat, I visited one place in Olympia that curiously I have never been. Considering I am the first to love rummaging around in inexpensive vintage goods, it is strange that I'd never paid a visit to Olympia's Flea Market. But as my family and I were on a mission for salvaged building supplies to use on my shed project, our trajectory took us past the flea market when it was open. Excitedly, I made my husband park the Jeep. Entering past the hotdog stand, immediately my husband ran into a coworker who owns a stand in the flea market. While they were chatting, I discovered his bin of vintage photographs. It was a delight to pick through them. When I track down a scanner, I will share my purchases with you! This is almost like a mini-flea market but there were plenty of treasures to behold. I took some pictures but received odd looks from a few vendors so I kept the photography to a minimum. To be fair to the vendors, I didn't disclose that I was a blogger so I might have looked strange snapping pictures with my phone.

While rummaging around I found some things that I wanted (of course!) such as this dresser. Missing the front sliding doors doesn't detract from it's potential usefulness in my craft shed. The top is very grungy and could use a good cleaning. But there's a great vibe from this piece and despite the missing doors, it's a very solid storage cabinet. For the low price of $50, this is a fantastic bargain!

Hiding behind a trunk and tucked away, I'm not sure the vendor really wants to sell this adorable stool. But I want it desperately. Look at the turned legs and the adorable claw feet! In the claws, but hard to tell from my picture, are glass balls. I looked at it twice and even showed it to my husband. It's really high on my want list but $65 might not fit my budget. I wonder if there's room for negotiation. ;)

A little blurry but still charming, there were tons of different things at the market. From license plates to huge modern chandeliers, my son even found Pokemon toys for a quarter each. Oddities included bamboo ski poles, maps of the local coast, and a lock with letters for the code instead of numbers. Somewhere along the line, there may even have been a shrunken head!

Before our excursion, we fortified ourselves with pizza by the slice at Old School Pizzeria. As you can see, the guys are ready for adventure.

Friday, July 22, 2011

My morning mug

No, I'm not talking about my hideous sleepy face in the morning. I'm blogging about my lovely coffee cup. This morning's selection is a gorgeous cup by Hues & Brews. Bought at my local tea shop,I restrained myself to one but here on Amazon, you can buy all four. I own the tangerine one which is a sunny way to wake up!

Here's the next one that I might buy. Of course, I don't need four. But I just love the colors! So bright and trendy. I wonder if the Tea Lady has one of these with my name on it! If not, as a usual, Amazon is my go-to source!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dreaming Of An Oasis

I won't be dreaming any longer once my shed project is complete. After some shuffling of family members this year the promise of a craft room came and went in the twinkle of an eye. It left me feeling hemmed in and frustrated because the space that I aspired to might not be available for a few years. And I'd been putting off crafts that I used to do for years already!
Inspired by some of my favorite home design blogs, including one of my top favorite blogs, decor8 and her lovely blog post about the crafting sheds of the dynamic duo, junkaholique.

As I gawked at these tiny spaces, it occurred to me - my own lightbulb moment if you will - that I had a woeful shed sitting out in my backyard. When we bought our house it came with two sheds, both tidily placed on cement foundations and with electricity and at least one had a cold water faucet attached. One shed was converted by my husband about a year ago to house his welding passion and his C&C machine that he is currently building. The other shed was dubbed mine but was named the garden shed. When it was originally built, It was split into half by a wall and two outer doors were attached. One side currently houses our daughter's life goods while she attends college. The other half was the gardening part of the shed, with shelves for seeding plants, chemicals and all sorts of pots and spiders. Used by the original owner (who owned the house for almost 30 years), it had been relatively unused by me except for a bit of garden storage. I tend not to grow plants by seed and it didn't seem to figure into my normal gardening routines. I hemmed and hawed for years with this space even contemplating knocking out the dividing wall and making it one full room.

Then, I saw Decor8's fantastic post and it became very clear what my mission with this shed was to be. Since it had a solid frame, good metal roof, and cement floor, this space could be my craft shed!

While we are not yet finished, here are pictures of my own shed project in it's infancy.

Cleaning out the garden objects took very little time, and I even found a bit of weed killer that I used on the pesky weeds next to the driveway! Of course, the spiders were very unhappy to have their cozy home disrupted.

I should have taken a picture of the inside before we removed the garden shelves. But once they were gone I realized that there's much more floor space than I originally thought!

As you can see, the walls were partially rippled, dingy plexiglass. I have one window that I bought years ago at a garage sale (no really!) and my landscape coordinator volunteered another window that his contractor father had found as a closure sale for $5. So my shed will have two new windows. They don't match but aren't going to be on the same wall.

My hubby has been great at humoring me. He likes digging in and completing a project. You can see one of the shelves below his hammer.

Look at that huge space! Currently it is waiting for walls! My other helper, Wills was very happy to vacuum up all the spiders.

Currently it is waiting for walls! In the meantime, I am dreaming of my future in this great crafty shed!

Living fashionably one day at a time!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Island Dreaming - Estate Sale Findings

It would seem that this weeks findings might be telling me something. Perhaps that I am in need of an island getaway. Many tag sale aficionados pass up tourist or travel goods. There tends not to be much market for there types of items. Again, I was rather slow on my estate sale cruising this weekend. My husband and I were taking apart a garden shed to remake it into a craft shed for yours truly! I probably wouldn't have even gone except that my MIL mentioned it and piqued my interest. So we ended up at the sale on the last day during the last hour. Not exactly prime time to get the best goods. In spite of this handicap, I still ended up with some delightful items.

Travel linens are my absolute favorite. This gorgeous red towel has the family tree for the kings and queens of England, right up through William and Harry. It's never been used and still has the sticker. Just a fair warning. I love to use these highly collectible towels. Sigh. I can't wait to hang this beauty in my kitchen! England is not exactly a warm island paradise but it's certainly high on my "to visit" list.

Since I had my daughter with me, we paid close attention to the antique clothing. We didn't come away with much. But what we did is just a lovely reminiscence of the Greek Islands.

I found this blue bag after the red one but they had been separated, as if some one had changed their mind about purchasing one. I adore the watery turquoise bag with it's summery boho chic. And my daughter liked the burlap, rustic feel of the red one (above).

They look nearly identical in their pattern but mine is a bit smaller and made from different wool fabric. The tag inside of mine has more Greek lettering which is completely endearing.

From Greece and England to the Pacific, this was a well-traveled lady. I came away with some goodies from Hawaii too. I love the ease of putting out disposable coasters. For a quarter, I scored a whole bag including some from the island paradise. And the goddess of fire, Pele caught my eye - a collectible from CocoJoe's. This gorgeous resin rendering of Pele embodies all her sultry sensuality. It reminded me of my honeymoon where we visited Kilauea, the volcano where she resides.

I picked up goodies from other island paradises, including an awesome kitschy Barbados rum apron, embroidered place mats from Sao Miguel, and a cute but sadly yellowed towel from the Bermudas. Now I just need a cool drink with an umbrella and some sunshine! Live fashionably!