New Year Greetings

Happy New Years Sweet Readers!

It's been really quiet around here lately.
You know how it is... Christmas is over, family has left. The excitement is gone, the decorations are coming down....sigh. I always get like this, during this time, every year.
I'm just a little blue today :'(

It's been especially quiet in my shoppe.
I am trying to enjoy it, though, a little depressing at times. But I know it's just that time of year. Some say it's a blessing in disguise.
Though it's been really slow in my shoppe, it has given me time to really enjoy this Holiday Season. I, like this lady, am enjoying the calmness of it all, & I'm going to give it my all in 2010. I'm excited for the new year, a fresh start, fresh ideas & a camera in hand.... and it will begin with lots of new treasures for my shoppe {{Boxes full I tell ya}}!!
Goodbye 2009, thank you for everything you've done for me.

I do hope everyone stays safe tonight, enjoy yourselves and see ya next year!

hugs,
michelle

PS- My New Years goals:
1. Read at least one book a month.
2. Floss twice a day.
3. Save $$$ each week.

The Three Things

That made me smile today.

1. It's a rare occasion for a family member to buy me a gift that is vintage.
My very thoughtful mother-in-law did just that, this Christmas Eve. This is one of the four special vintage treasures she surprised me with. It's a very sweet art deco brooch.
I wore it today.
I've come to find that I would much rather have something vintage as a gift vs. something new store bought. I feel like someone really knows me with a sweet gesture as such..... I don't think she reads my blog but....
thank you debbie!

"A world without string is chaos"
An awesome quote from one of my very favorite movies ever, (Mousehunt).

2. I had a good day of thrifting today, I've been finding some treasures-of-silver lately. Such precious, abandoned pieces of tarnished silver and I can't wait to list them in my shoppe. This giant ball of string is one of the not so silvery treasures I picked up today....isn't it wonderful!?! Silly really... but I snapped it up in a heartbeat. I think it looks great sitting upon this antique lamp base. Kind of sculpture like? No?

3. I always purchase these vintage Apothecary Jars, I know I've spoke about this before in past posts, my love for them. They're just one of those things that has 1,000 uses. Such stylish storage. This one I picked up today is for a very, very special stash ;)

Only 264 days to go!!!

Let The Countdown Begin!

Myspace Countdowns, Fun Countdowns at WishAFriend.com




Who: Stephen & Me
When: September 21-Oct.3, 2010
Where: Germany Excursion
Why: Oktoberfest/ Countryside Sightseeing

I'm SO excited!
I'm sure I'll talk about it all year long!

Details coming soon....

:D

Cold, Gray and Docs Today

Yes, I do wear jeans from time to time. It's not too often though. I only own one pair, that I wear and they/these are like 10 years old and from Old Navy. Complete with hole in one knee from falling on my face while walking my dog one fall day a couple years ago.
And ..when I do wear pants, it's my favorite Docs that are pulled out of my closet!

This pair I actually found while thrifting. I think they were like $3.99, I have a brown pair as well, so similar. I don't think whomever donated them never, ever, even wore them once.
I own four pairs of Doc Martens, though only one of the four I actually paid full retail price for. Which is well worth there weight in gold, as they last a decade or more. I have found that finding Docs while thrift shopping is easier than you think, keep your eyes peeled, you'd be surprised!



I've owned these a couple of years now, I'd wear them more often if they looked cute with skirts/dresses.
They look like boots but they only come up to my ankle. Reasons I can't get away with wearing them with a dress :)
I think I'd look like a little goth girl if I did. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if I were 15 years younger.

December, 27th

is the day that my shoppe had it's


th

sale!!

I just wanted to pop in real quick and share my gratitude. I feel so very fortunate, with my shoppe, my friends, my customers.
2009 has been so good to me.
Nine months ago, I began selling my pretty vintage things. Who would have ever thought I would be so successful with 400 sales in those short months....

not me :)

I have a warm fuzzy feeling inside...

thank you for that!

{{update...... well it was 400 sales, until my 400th customer decided she didn't "want" it, after all :( }} Oh well, what can ya do!

I W.I.S.H...

...each and everyone of you the very, very best this wonderful Holiday
and for the new year!

This Christmas card is for you:

love,
michelle

A tiny CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY

Long story short. Our live Christmas Tree died!
R.I.P.

Sad, sad, sad.
Lessons learned that even though you water your tree everyday, a blazing fire in the stove will dry out your tree!

We got to decorate two trees this year! Phew. All is well in the end, packages are wrapped and under the tree...stockings are hung on the chimney with care.....



....not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse.

I hope your all enjoying the season. Disappointing at times..... with the hustle and bustle, and traffic and madness. So many forget what it's all about.
It's nice to just sit back, watch the twinkling lights on the tree and think how wonderful 2009 has been to us.
I'm looking forward to what the new year brings. Lots of thoughts and new ideas for my shoppe. I have many new treasures, but they will have to wait until after the first week in January.

~Merry.Cozy.Happy.Christmas~
To you.

see ya soon.
xxoo

Christmas Corners

So....
our Christmas decorating has been up for a couple weeks now. I've had this terrible flu-bug and it's kept me from sharing the corners of our Christmas here. We don't go all-out with decorating, we mainly have our tree and little things here and there.
This year we got a real Christmas tree.... we usually set up our flocked-with-snow-artificial-tree, but we just wanted something different this year. I've been collecting Department 56's Krinkles collection for years now and have enough Krinkle ornaments to cover our entire flocked tree. Though I love them.... we kept them tucked away in their boxes.
This year we dug out all of our "vintage" Christmas ornaments. We just wanted a change and it's a nice change too.

It's a smaller tree, only about 5 feet and sitting upon a pedestal. Keeping the fur-babies from eating it!

This little stuffed star is our new ornament this year. Right above his head is one of my most-treasured... a mercury glass Santa. He's very, very, old and so sweet!

I know this looks like real popcorn, but it's just plastic. Isn't it great?

Our nativity scene!

Christmas wouldn't be complete without Charlie and his little tree!

I Need...

...a sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuff-head, fever....so I can rest medicine!
Do you remember that commercial?

It's the end of my vacation at work, I'm back to work and now get the flu-bug... tis the season I guess.
At least I wasn't ill during my vacation.

So now, after about 20 hours of sleep today. I woke up to a very special present from this incredible lady!

Look how sweet this little girl is:

That little enchanting face?

She's already hanging with the others, which a certain someone who shares this room with me calls our creepy, sleepy, silhouette bedroom.

She remembered that I collected them?

I have some incredibly sweet and thoughtful blogging friends. To find presents from faraway places in my mail-box from friends that I have never actually met. I'm amazed and incredibly lucky to have such friends through the wires of the Internet!

I'm feeling better already {who needs medicine}..... thank you Alicia!

Scrambled/Weird Thoughts

Ins't it cazry taht you can raed tihs sntecene atefr i've smbacerld the cneter of ecah wrod and jsut kpet the fsirt and lsat lteetr in ecah of tehm?

That's pretty cool. Huh? I found it randomly last night. My spellcheck is freaking-out! {{lol}}



I was also thinking wouldn't it be weird if everyone drove the same car?
A family member mentioned that the other day, and I keep thinking about it!




Wouldn't it be weird?
Think about it!!

I know, complete random post. {{lol}}

=)

Have a nice day!

Keeping Warm

I have a lot of layering going on here.

Though I love coats, and have a few favorite ones in my dressing room. It's just nice staying warm with layers upon layers-rather than taking your coat on and off when running errands and things.
These photos I took with my iPhone.
Not too bad I guess, really grainy though-sorry.

Denim Jacket~Gap
Long Sleeve Layering Top~Gap
Lace Slip~TJMax
Dress~Forever21
Cardigan~Anthro
Tights~Hue
Knee Socks~Forever21
Boots~Anthro
Wool-Mittens~Etsy via LittleBYrd
Christmas Tree Santa Pin~Vintage

Brr.... it's really chilly today. I think it's like 40' out there.
HEY!
That's cold to me :D

I just love this time of year when I'm able to wear some of my Vintage Christmas Tree Pins. Several years ago I went through a phase of collecting Vintage Christmas Tree Brooches. I had to dig to find them the other day. My, I have some pretty ones! I'd love to share them with you sometime. This one is probably my most favorite one. A teeny bit evil with his red rhinestone eyes, but he did come that way, isn't he cool?

..... Me Me Me!

Ok, I'll stop now.



But look how pretty:

{Swoon}

Taxidermy Fawn.

"Focus, focus... note: this is a time for giving."
{Sigh}

A Christmas Tree Man In England?

This is just about the coolest thing I've ever heard of!

Meet the Christmas Tree Man!

I want one!!!!

No fair...
I want to rent a Christmas Tree{foot-stomp}!

You pick out your very own live tree, they deliver it, and pick it up after Christmas-WoW.
AND, to have the same Christmas Tree each and every year?-COOL!

I've seriously never heard of such a thing,
Oh to live in England!
He just so happens to deliver to Wales.......... *sigh*
.
.
.
.
.

Speaking of living in England!

I've been shopping/real estate for my dream cottage there, online! wink.wink.

Here a few of the cottages at the top of my list {all for sale}:



This is a fun web-site!

100 pages of cottages for sale throughout the Cotswolds of England. Most expensive are first{castles & whatnot}, than when you get to the 80th through 100th page, they are actually my favorites. Yep- the most inexpensive homes of England would make me very, very happy indeed! I don't need a castle, just give me a tiny.quaint.stone cottage! I have no need for 7 bathrooms.

I get a funny, envious pit in my stomach as I search through some of these homes this morning.
Though I've never lived outside of the U.S, sometimes/deep down, I really think I belong here, living in the Cotswolds..... *sigh*


:)

The 12th Month

Where as many have snow and can actually call this winter. My little neck of the woods here in California is quite the opposite. Though winter here, it's in the 60's & 70's. Very pretty, and I have no complaints at all! Super clear blue skies... and cool breezes!

As far as what I'm wearing it's pretty much been the same.

Skirt, scarf, tights, cardigan,mary-janes/boots.

Here is an example of just that:



Blouse~Target
Cardigan~H&M
Scarf~H&M
Skirt~Gap
Tights~Hue/Anthropologie
Suede Mary-Jane's~Merrell

This skirt, though not much to look at, is one of my favorite pieces of clothing I own. I don't know, it's {in my book} the perfect length, and pretty much goes with everything. I wear it the most, whether alone or as a petticoat.

Holiday Shopping & A Wish List!

Well, I'm working on it anyways!

Such lovely things to see on Etsy!

I do love shopping for gifts on-line. So much more convenient and much less stressful. It would also be quite sad to not take any real life Christmas shopping trips. So, I do feel the need to get out of the house and jump in with the crowds. It can be fun! I'm crossing my fingers that this year we'll head to Union Square in the city!

Here are some of my favorite things on Etsy right now. Such pretty things, by the looks of these photos now, It's looking more like my wish list. My mind wanders, I know, I am thinking of others, but I do get a little distracted.
I can't help it :)

...just a few things that i wouldn't mind giving or receiving this holiday season.

See for yourself:

Vintage inspired 20's dress.

Taxidermy Crow.

The perfect red/white stripe scarf.

Oh! I love her!


Milk Glass Hands.

A cabinet of curiosities of your very own?

I'm on vacation this week.
Nothing planned.
Other than the GIANT flea-market by the bay, on Sunday. Maybe a little thrift shopping, for my shoppe, today, tomorrow and the day after that...... I guess more of a stay-cation.......suits me fine though!

Happy Shopping Sweet Readers!