Awards and Prizes

Yesterday I was excited to receive this in the mail: I won this pretty album in a giveaway hosted by Christina and Victoria at as time goes by.   Thank you ladies!  They have a really pretty blog, and are accomplished thrifters.

A couple of days ago, I was given this award by Mrs. Petrie of  Casa Petrie.  She has a really cool blog design, an adorable daughter, and has done a fantastic job of decorating her home.  Thanks, Mrs. Petrie!

A condition of accepting the award is to list and explain seven things you love and pass the award on to seven bloggers. 

I am notoriously bad at making statements of commitment, such as “I love…” (unless it’s really not a big deal, like “I love chocolate cake”), but I’ll give it a go, in no particular order.

1. I love chocolate cake.  Obviously.

2. I love my family.  Craig is awesome and would do anything for me, and my kids are pretty great too.

3. I love sunshine, 78 degrees, and no humidity.  For the record, this week has been sunny, 98 degrees, and like 75% humidity.

4. I love going to the beach at Lake Michigan.  I almost never get in the water, but love just to sit under the beach umbrella.

5.  I love solitude and silence.

6.  I love to read a good book, but don’t get to as much as I’d like to.

7. I love pedicures (see this post).

And now, passing this on to seven blogs.  Some are newer to me, some are not, and several have probably already received this award.

1.  as time goes by

2.  Centsational Girl

3.  The Lettered Cottage

4.   Lucy’s Life

5.  The Shabby Nest

6.  Reinvented

7.  Life in the Fun Lane

Back in the Groove

Whew!  I’m glad last week is in the past.  Nephew left on Saturday, and guess what I did?  I went and got my first pedicure.  Ever.  It’s true.  I’m closer to 40 than I am to 30 (gasp!  did I just say that?) and until two days ago, I had never had a professional pedicure.

I had a gift card to a swanky spa that Craig gave me for Mother’s Day 2008, and was going to expire at the end of the month.  Now I know that it was serendipity that I put it off so long, because it was the perfect end to a crazy week.

I hope you aren’t totally grossed out by feet.  I’m borderline, and debated whether or not I should use a photo, but what’s a post without a photo?

So it’s almost back to normal around here (Firstborn is at Boy Scout camp this week, but I’m babysitting again, so still have 3 kids).

Now I need to catch up on the laundry, mop the floor, clean the bathrooms, plan meals, go grocery shopping….  Yup.  Back to normal.

Thrift Store Thursday 06/18

Did I mention that including the nephew and the babysittee, I have five children this week?  I don’t know how anybody does it! 

Regardless, I managed to slip in a quick trip to Goodwill this evening after Craig got home and took them all (the four who sleep here) to the pool.

I haven’t had the best luck at GW lately, so I was pleasantly surprised tonight.  I got a virtually brand new pair of Nikes for Firstborn $2, Gap khaki pants for Pinkerbelle $2, and swim trunks for one of the boys, also $2.  I also got five chandelier shades for $1 each.

Last week at United Volunteers, I got this little stepladder for $3.  It’s in very good shape, and I think it has a charming sort of nostalgia to it.It’s also useful in the kitchen, since I am vertically challenged.

Okay, time for you to show and tell!

1. Please link directly to your Thrift Store Thursday post, not your home page.

2. Please mention and link back to my Thrift Store Thursday post.

3. Please put my button in your post, and I'd really love it if you'd use the code to do so :)

<center><a href="http://www.homebodyholly.com/search/label/Thrift%20Store%20Thursday/"><img border="0" src="http://tinyurl.com/bs7lsj" /></a></center>

Soda Crates

Here’s the deal: the middle of last week my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew arrived. FIL left yesterday, BIL leaves this afternoon, and nephew stays til Saturday. I’m also babysitting this week. And it’s been pouring rain for the last two days. Any semblance of routine is shot, my house is a mess, laundry is piling up….blog is taking a backseat.

I don’t want to leave you totally hanging though. Several of you wanted to know what I’m going to do with the soda crates, so here it is. Don’t get too excited.

The Coke crate is holding books and magazines on the cheap Ikea coffee table.

The Pepsi crate has dividers for single bottles, so I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Should I take out the dividers? If not, what do I do with it? If you’ve seen any cool ideas, let me know!

A Little Reveal(ing)

We are busy with our houseguests today, but here’s just a little sumthin’ for ya.

Remember my garage sale windows?

Here’s what we did with them.I had Craig hang them on either side of the fireplace to fill up the big empty wallspace.  I chose to hang the natural wood side out, rather than the painted side, because the paint was dirty and yellowing, which wouldn’t have looked good with the white mantel.  Plus, the brown goes well with the barn stars, and also echoes the kitchen cabinets at the other end of the room.

We Have a Winner!

The winner of the shower curtain is number 15…

LuLu!

Congratulations!

Thrift Store Thursday

The winner of the shower curtain will be drawn Thursday morning at 9:00. There's still time to enter!

In addition to the shower curtains, here’s what I got this week. At Goodwill I found these pink ‘lantern’ lights for Pinkerbelle’s room. At $9, I might have passed them up as a little too pricey, but P. was with me…you know how that goes.

At another GW, this found its way into my cart, $4. I’ve collected a bunch of glass containers over the last months, but I’m not very good about getting them filled with something.

I found these on craigslist, for $5 each.

Kind of like these, from Pottery Barn, no?

The last couple of weeks, I have forgotten to include the TST “rules” . The items you show can be from a thrift or consignment store, a garage sale, craigslist, dumpster diving…as long as it’s second-hand. Even if it’s new in the package, but you got it somewhere other than the original store (like the Target stuff at GW).

1. Please link directly to your Thrift Store Thursday post, not your home page.

2. Please mention and link back to my Thrift Store Thursday post.

3. Please put my button in your post, and I'd really love it if you'd use the code to do so :)

<center><a href="http://www.homebodyholly.com/search/label/Thrift%20Store%20Thursday/"><img border="0" src="http://tinyurl.com/bs7lsj" /></a></center>