February 2017

That Thrift Store Down the Road

Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to go to the lovely city of Birmingham, Alabama to attend a Pre-K conference. The conference was quite informative and taught me some new tricks to keep up my sleeve for the classroom. The women who were presenting are seasoned educators that really know their stuff. If you are a fellow teacher and want some fresh ideas you can check out their blogs here:

Lori Elliot

Kathy Griffin (No, not that one. Can you imagine? Ha!)

Natalie Daise

So, let’s get to the good stuff, shall we? I went thrift store shopping, y’all! I got turned on to Goodwill and thrift store shopping when my mom talked about going with one of her good friends and would always scored some awesome deals on Polo shirts for my dad and brother and usually found some really good things for her classroom. Well, wouldn’t you know that this friend my mom goes thrift store shopping with was the other teacher that went to the conference. And isn’t it so convenient that she used to live there and knows about virtually ALL of the good thrift stores.

I’d been going to Goodwill and another thrift store called Here Today, Gone Tomorrow in Louisiana and always found books that were on my TBR list. I love to read, and I love the public library, but I really love to own my books. And when they’re $1.00-$2.50 at thrift stores, I can’t help but to “splurge”.

However while I was shopping in Birmingham, I was able to get much more than just books! I’m so excited about my fun finds!

The first store we went to was called America’s Thrift Store.

It was huge and had rows and rows and rows of clothes, books, shoes, toys, knick knacks, and I didn’t even attempt to look at the furniture section. I knew I’d want to leave with something, and there was not room for furniture.

But at this particular store I found two pairs of shoes.

The leopard flats are originally from American Eagle. They have a few imperfections but ultimately looked like they had hardly been worn. I’ve been wanting some for a long time but didn’t really want to shell out the money for the high price tag of the ones I really wanted. And these were $3.00. I mean…how cute, right?

The sparkly ones are Mossimo brand from Target. They too had been worn very little. The soles are thick like a flatform and are white. They had a little dirt on them, but nothing a magic eraser won’t fix or even a good scrubbing with some soap and water. I also have been wanting some of these types of shoes for a bit of a casual, comfortable shoe to teach in, and I wanted a piece that could maybe take me into the athleisure trend that’s happening right now in fashion. But I wasn’t so sure it was really my style since I’m a little more dressed up with my work wardrobe at my current school. But then these were staring at my all sparkly. I instantly got all the heart eyes for these, and I couldn’t say no to the $2.50 price tag. $2.50 guys…$2.50. Why aren’t you all thrift store shopping?

I had some fun trying on some gems while I was browsing the clothing section. Check out this dress that I believe any of the Golden Girls tossed out. I secretly loved it and had it not been a bit big, I probably would have bought it and found the perfect pair of sandals to go with it. Oh, and removed the giant shoulder pads. 🙂

And then I found this cute little animal print dress that was by Calvin Klein. But it didn’t fit either. Would have made a really cute dress or swimsuit cover-up for someone.

After all that shopping we got pretty hungry and went to The Cheesecake Factory. And if you’ve never been there, just do yourself a favor and go. I can’t believe I’ve lived 30 years without eating there. I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but we ate there twice. The first night I got the original cheesecake with strawberries. I believe it’s call the Fresh Strawberry Cheesecake. It was amazing. But the second time we went………………………..

Yep. That one. The Chocolate Mouse Cheesecake. Listen, I love chocolate, and I love cheesecake. So this was sort of like the best choice I could have made.

After the conference was over, my mom and I decided to stay one more night and do a little more shopping. We were only able to go to this place, The Foundry. This is where I found most of my treasures.

I found some great coffee mugs. I didn’t have any need for them, but I thought they were particularly funny and snapped some pics to share with a few friends.

Any Scandal fans out there? Mrs. Susie thought this one was funny.

Apparently having a coffee mug from the King of Sweden isn’t that cool or else it wouldn’t have ended up here, right? I, on the other hand, thought it was very cool and never would have given it up.

And this one was just too cute. I should have bought this one.

I also saw this gorgeous piano. I love pianos. The picture didn’t pick up how bright and pretty the gold screen was.

I also got these candle holders with a marble base and this milk glass vase. I brought them home and cleaned them up a bit, but the candle holders are going to need a lot of TLC if they can be salvaged. But if not, they were only about $3.00 a piece. I loved the gem-like cuts on the vase. It only set my back $.29!

Then I found the coziest sweater there ever was and it too was $3.00. If only winter would show up in Alabama so that I could wear it more than once or twice.

Mom picked out this cute grey cardigan that I wore with a scarf I picked up at the other thrift store we went to. I love the bright colors against the black.

Then I found this….

You know that scene in Beauty and the Beast when the Beast shows Belle the library and she’s in awe because, well, because it’s awesome? Well, this was pretty close to that for me. I don’t know that man, but he wouldn’t move so he made the shot. 🙂 I picked up several books here along with a few from another thrift store we went to called Vapor Thrift Store.

This is where I went wrong shopping at multiple thrift stores for books. I ended up with duplicates. I posted about it on Instagram just the other day about how I felt like I had made a thrifting rookie mistake.

This one is full of dog-eared pages and highlighted passages. I love when I find books like that.

I NEVER find Dave Ramsey books at thrift stores. I was so excited to get my hands on one. Who couldn’t use a bit of financial guidance?

This is just one that’s been on my TBR (to be read) list for a while.

I’ve never read this author before, but when I read what each of these was about, I knew I needed to buy them. The Senator’s Wife only ended up being $.85!

I have the first book in this trilogy. Did y’all know Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling?

Another from my TBR list.

This is what I’m currently reading. She’s hilarious! I’m really enjoying it so far. It is also thrifted but not from this trip.

We were pretty exhausted after that, but we pressed on in the name of shopping. We hit up Belk in Alabaster and Walmart too. Then we grabbed some Chick-fil-A and headed back home.

I think we did enough damage. There was more in the back!

My sweet Mama.

Am I part of a small group of people who likes to thrift or are there more of you out there? And are there any other book worms? Have you read any of these books?

I realize thrift store shopping isn’t for everyone. Some people think it’s gross, but I don’t think so. It certainly doesn’t hurt to get a deal on a great pair of shoes, a cozy sweater, and some super affordable books. And if you’re one of those who loves the thrill of the hunt for something, thrifting is your game.

Home Again

I’m home again. I grew up in this lovely town in Alabama, moved a short 100 or so miles away for college and then further south to the great state of Louisiana for my foray into adulthood. But now we’re (my husband and I) are back to our old stomping grounds as they say, and I think we’re feeling pretty good about it. I had my reservations at first. I have always said I’d never come back here to live. What else is it that they say? Never say never. Hmm… Needless to say, we are back and living in our hometown, and despite what I may have said before about never living here again, we’re settling in quite nicely.

When I moved to Louisiana 8 years ago, I assumed I’d be there for a year for an adventure and then come right back the next year to get a job back in Alabama. I’m a teacher by trade, but I was having a hard time getting a job in Alabama. When my cousin’s wife called to tell me about a job at the school where she had previously worked, I decided I had to take it. I moved in with her and her husband (my cousin) and their six month old baby. (What where they thinking letting me come live with them with a newborn baby?!-God bless them for that!) I ended up actually loving it there. I moved in with a co-worker, who also happened to basically be my teaching mentor and taught me incredible teaching tools and helped shape me into the type of teacher I am today. I worked at this school for five years, made life-long friends, and grew up a lot. Also while working there I bought my first car, got engaged, got married, and bought my first house. (I have searched and searched and can’t find a picture of my house. I know I have them somewhere. Perhaps it’s on a flash drive in one of the 15 unpacked boxes still in the corner of my guest room.)

Anyway, I loved that house. I had to go see it without my husband, but as soon as I walked in the door, I knew it was home. I texted him when I left letting him know I thought it was the one, and the rest is history. We painted every room in that house, put on a new roof, replaced the old, dated laminate floors with beautiful new laminate. Here’s an Instagram picture I screen grabbed from my phone. The lighting doesn’t do them justice. They are such a beautiful light, wide plank, but the lighting in the picture looks so yellow.

You can see more of our old house and what I’m currently up to by checking out my Instagram feed.

We’re not here to talk about my old house or my life in Louisiana, but that’s where my current story starts. I got a call one summer about a Pre-K position that was opening up in a public school about five minutes away from my house. I knew the money would be better and the experience would be different and possibly better as well. So I interviewed and got the job. The people I met there became family. I worked with some of the most amazing women. We went through some very good and some very bad times together in the short three years that I spent with them. They will forever be in my heart and thanks to social media, most especially Snapchat, we’ll forever be in each others “inboxes”. I was about to start my fourth year at this school when I got a text from my sister-in-law about a possible job opening in a town close to home in Alabama. I was hesitant at first, but when we learned that there was a job opening for my husband as well, our ears perked up a little and we started paying attention to the things that were starting to happen in our lives. That job my sister-in-law told me about turned out to be a dead end, but the job for my husband did not. And then, my current job fell into my lap. God was really working to bring us back home. Like, REALLY working. As it turns out, my husband’s parents own a few rental properties that just so happened to become available at the exact time we were entertaining the idea of moving back home. We knew it would be a struggle financially because we would have to worry about selling a house. And let’s just brag on God some more here, okay? Because our house sold in about a month during a massive flood in Louisiana that was literally mere miles from our house. We were so blessed to have our home spared. And it was all God.

So, as I said above, I’m home again. I now live in an apartment downtown on a beautiful street with historically rich buildings all around. I know some of my Louisiana friends have asked for some pictures of our current home, so I thought I’d share some of it here.

Let’s start with the foyer. Like I said, I live in an apartment. It sits above retail space on a main road. We are a one story walk-up from the street that shares a foyer with another apartment. We live on the right. Forgive the wonky iPhone photo.

This building is over 100 years old and FULL of character. Take in those beautiful walls and hardwood floors. I’ve got all kinds of heart eyes for this space. I believe that it is all original to the building. You can’t see it in this picture, but if you were to pan down the sides of both walls there are door ways that look as if maybe it was a boarding house at one time.

Here are a few pictures from our living and dining area. You can see our kitchen as well since it’s an open floor plan, but we’ll get to that later.

The sofa is from Home Furniture. Paul went furniture shopping without me one day and picked out this whole leather living room set. It really is beautiful, but when we moved in to this apartment, all of the pieces wouldn’t fit. Our love seat currently lives in the guest room/office/gym/my closet/my dressing room/storage room. You guys!! I may never show you that room. You would die if you saw it right now. I had to literally step over things just to get to the computer table. (Insert that fun face palm emoji here!)

Sweet Bernie is my little sidekick, so I didn’t argue with her being in the picture.

As you can see we don’t have a whole lot of decor going on. I’ve done a little, but the walls in the dining area are still bare as is the area above the TV.

The buffet and coffee table came from a wonderful store in Louisiana called Kayu that is unfortunately closed now. They are wonderfully crafted pieces of furniture made in India. We have several more of their pieces in our bedroom that we’ll no doubt keep forever.

The painting above the buffet is something I painted a few years ago. I was loving all of the abstract paintings I was seeing on Instagram and Pinterest and decided to make my own. When I scored a canvas on clearance at Joann’s I knew it was time to make it.

This is our door from the foyer, so essentially our “front” door.

The dining chairs are from TJ Maxx about a year or two ago. The round table is the first piece of furniture my parents bought when they got married. They now have a pretty spectacular table that I’ll have to show you soon. It totally trumps this one, but this one is special to me. It’s where I grew up having dinner every night, and I love that I get to have it.

This big mirror is from my in-laws. They also own the retail space that is below my home and while it was vacant, I got to explore and asked if I could have this mirror. It really brightens the space up and I got to hang those fun twinkle lights I found at the dollar spot at Target at Christmas time.

I created this gallery wall just before Christmas. It took me three stinking days to get it all put together, but I did it very cheaply with free printables from Pinterest and some pieces I already had.

I love that the overall shape resembles a heart. Lots of love is represented in those things up there.

I’m standing in our kitchen while taking this picture. I have an idea of what I’ll put above the TV, but just haven’t gotten around to getting it up there. And I also have fabric for some fun curtains for that big window. Can’t wait to get those up and share with you!

Our TV stand came from Rooms to Go. It was a scratch and dent piece that we’ve had for about 6 years and has held up beautifully and through two moves. When we bought it we lived in an apartment on the third floor with no elevator. That same cousin I moved in with when I first moved to Louisiana came over and helped Paul carry it up all those stairs. Again, God bless him!

The sconces came from a precious store in Denham Springs, Louisiana. I can’t remember the name. But if you ever go there and go to that one street with all the second hand stores and other fun stores, it’s the big one on the corner. 🙂 Help me out Louisiana friends on the name!

I believe the rug is from Home Decorators. I found it on sale and fell immediately in love. I think it’s on sale again now! If you look closely, you’ll see Jack up there too behind the coffee table.

It’s such a charming apartment, and I genuinely love our little home. It has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. It also has a very nice deck that we share with the neighbors. We spend a good deal of time out there every day with the dogs.

I hope you’ll come back to see more. It’s been such a journey making it our home, and goodness knows I’ve got a long way to go.