Red Shoes blog

renewal.....

these days i am finding the products and things I use often have the words "renewal" ,"rejuvenating",  or "revitalizing" on them......obviously this is the stage of life I am at where i need these things.....to help diminish those lines,  and give lift to the spirit,  or various body parts.
  this weekend was ALL about renewal., revitalizing, & rejuvenation.
  I worked all day on saturday at the shop until 6pm and then came home and packed to go overnight with my friend Molly to the Allegan antiques market.
  We drove 3 hours in the rain.... at night... and arrived at 11pm at this adorable little bed and breakfast.

the poor woman had been up waiting for us to arrive after we repeatedly called her to help us find our way.
can I tell you I absolutely HATE driving at night.  i swear I start to hallucinate,  and my vision gets all kooky.  it was the white knuckle express the entire way.
  we got lost in construction,  and laughed our way past exits we needed to take.....then stumbled upon a tiny grocery store in the middle of nowhere for a much needed bottle of wine, ... saw some scary men with coondogs and missing teeth ...and finally.........
pulled up the long and sweeping driveway to our destination where I promptly slammed on my brakes, flinging the un-opened, and much treasured wine bottle and mollys head towards the dashboard so I wouldn't run over a giant bullfrog. 
  The woman graciously welcomed us into her home ,  then left us to have the ENTIRE house to ourselves.  It was HUGE.....we drank our wine on this beautiful screened in porch on lovely wicker chairs.  it was idyllic.....relaxing,  listening to the insects hum,  and the cool breeze blowing through the trees.
  we collapsed on our giant featherbed and promptly zonked out  then  6 hours later popped out of bed for the  antiques market at 7 a.m.!

  we got there in the pouring rain,  but it didn't dampen our spirits,  the place was great!  you gotta love a place that greets you with a giant chicken!  how fun is that!



this place was huge,   nicely laid out and had wonderful vintage goods, and nice people.  we scored BIG and came home with not an inch to spare inside and outside the truck.


  the wonderful thing about this show is that they have a concierge service where these guys in a golf cart will load your stuff up and schlep it to your car for you,  including  hauling giant dressers and bungy-cording everything!  we were so packed the guys told us not to buy one more thing!
found:
2 dressers
1radiator cover
4 pots,
4 giant rosemary topiaries
1 chalkware squirrel
1 LARGE vintage red TEA sign
1 red cross sign
1 green side table
2 vintage folding wooden chairs
1 small metal childs chair
8 pairs vintage 70's glasses
1 super cool retro phone
1 vintage cart
1 vintage dairy separator
1 vintage american flag
1 red gingham tray table
2 large wooden side chairs
1 vintage wicker picnic basket with plastic serveware intact.



... and renewal in faith that you can still find a good antiques market out there!
  we raced home and unloaded the goods and i then went to my friends house....
  A group of us had been organized to help my friend Karen, who recently lost her husband..... we were there to help her do landscaping ,plant a memorial garden, and clean out her pool and do other general home maintenance.
  She lives on over 2 acres of property,  so this was quite the endeavor.
  we had friends fly in from out of town,  and people come from all over to help.  it was a wonderful thing to see,  the transformation of her home was amazing!
  there were beautiful gardens installed,  mulch laid,  patio installed, planters filled, pea pebble spread,  shutters hung, trees chopped....it was an amazing lift to the spirits to see what longstanding friendships can do.
my heart breaks for her,  but I take comfort in knowing that she will never be alone,  she is surrounded by loved ones.
  I went back on monday to finish up helping with things ...I was on burn pile duty and really enjoyed chucking wood and dead trees into the fire.
I must be a closet pyromaniac,  but it was fun.
I  was so physically exhausted when I was done I could have cried,  but i kept going, and because I was so filthy I came home and pulled 5 wheelbarrows full of weeds out of my back yard.
  I am NOT kidding.
now usually my carpal tunnel would be flaring up and my hand would be numb....but i swear the accupuncture is working!!!!!
  i have had NO problems with numbness or tingingly,  have lost 8 lbs, and my bags under my eyes are a little less puffy.
  I highly recommend it.  trust me, I am a person who HATES needles,  and can be quite skeptical,  but this seems to be working!
  So well in fact that I pulled MORE weeds today,  planted up a vegetable garden with my daughter Fiona, and planted Topiaries in giant blue pots.




  SO needless to say, I am a little garden obsessed and haven't been great with email lately.
  I apologize.  just know that i read every one of your comments and really appreciate you taking the time to leave something.....i'm just a tad bit behind at responding.
  tommorow I will be hard at work making pillows,  for all of you crafting/sewing locals.....Viking Sewing center on Jackson Road has the new Heather bailey Freshcut line of fabrics in.

  I bought a ton of it today,  and will be continuing to work on more pillows tommorow.....of course it will be in-between kids in the deck pool,  and tending to my weeds,  but with all of this renewal and rejuvenating I am BOUND to produce somethings soon!
so on that note,  I should put this mile long post to bed......hope I haven't
talked your ears off!
thanks for checking in!
  talk soon!
xoxoxo
catherine

      

   
 

Pancakes and other life lessons.....

  In our house Pancakes and the grill are man's territory.
My husband excells in these areas with such grace.  he can grill chicken to perfection,  and his pancakes are absolutely phenomenal.....light and fluffy, and slightly golden.  he even makes them in shapes, like the standard mickey mouse pancake,  but he'll even do other things,  like an airplane that he perfectly crafts with just a flick of the wrist.....  now get him in the kitchen to cook any other thing,  and we'd be eating beans on toast all week.
   So on wednesday,  (my husbands golf-league night) I am home with the kids by  myself,  we usually go out to dinner,  but this time I thought I'd make breakfast for dinner...how hard is that? 
   of course  had to step it up a notch and get all artistic and  make shaped pancakes.....i envisioned sweet little heart-shaped ones,  and a star,  and even a pear.

how do you like them???    my nice little lumps.
  I used cookies cutters to get the shape,  but all i achieved was disaster.  and I burned them too.....along with the bacon.
  I have a new respect for my sweet Ian....i'll be leaving the pancakes to the master.
   This week WAS all about my kids however which was so nice.....Fiona helped me make those
cakes,  she enjoyed mixing the batter and pouring in the milk and eggs.
  I didn't even care that she got flour all over the floor,  she was having fun.
My son had 2 of his friends over for a playdate,  and the kid from up the street came down and had dinner (slightly burned mind you)  with us.
  It made it feel like a sweet little community, like mayberry or something.
i spent the rest of the evening on the front porch, watching the sunset and the kids running up and down the sidewalk.  nice and relaxing.
  Later My son asked me to pull out my old flute because he wanted me to teach him how to play.....


I  haven't picked up that instrument in 27 years!!!
  I  couldn't even read the notes anymore,  but it was weird that my fingers just went where they were supposed to, and did what they remembered years ago. ....  back when recitals, and lessons were part of my life.
the music just came out and it made my heart sing to play.  i even impressed my children slightly,  which is a miracle.
  It's funny but the pages on the sheet music were slightly yellowed,  and tinged brown.....very vintage looking......I could probably use them in an art project!
  Which led me to this endeavor.....
my daughter's dearly loved teacher is leaving her pre-school for another job
so we made her a little picture frame and a tiny book.
I thought i would try one of those altered, glittery, paper project thingys
that  You people make look so easy to do,  but for me THEY ARE NOT EASY!
  I struggled with what to come up with,  and here's what we produced....
don't laugh....i tried.  I think I'll be sticking to my own kooky thing from now on!!!  :)

My daughter also wanted to make her teacher a little book with drawings
and her own words. 
This teacher has been a huge part of her life,  she is the one who cares for my child because i cannot during the day....the woman who rubs my childs back when she falls asleep for her nap....the one who fixes her hair after recess.  my daughter cried herself to sleep the other night knowing this person was leaving and it just killed me.






  So on that note,  this week was all about family and little life lessons....
slow down, take note, learn something new,  pick up something old.
and love all that is around you.
  I hope you ALL have a wonderful Memorial day weekend!  I will be closing the shop early today at 3:00 p.m.
  I will be going out of town over night to a big antiques market, and hope to bring you loads of exciting photos and stuff for next week!
  wish me good vintage karma!!!
Big HUGS!
xoxoxo
catherine

a life in pictures

  I spent last night curled up in bed with my husband and children watching old home movies,  we laughed so much,  some of them are hilarious!   But those things always make me kind of melancholy,  seeing how fast the kids grow up.
  there's also things that I learned about myself...
1.)  I am a very controlling mother
2.) I am a super-paranoid -worried -that- my -children -will- get -hurt type of mother
3.)  My rear end should never-ever be allowed on film.
  So in keeping with the whole "captured on film thing"
I thought I would just keep this as a more "visual" post,  since so much has been done in the past few days I have so much to share,  but it would make a mile long post to do so......so I leave you with these





















phewwww!  Tired yet?
these are some of the things that happened this week,
finished the wicker,  made custom slipcovers for the seats, got our shipment of austrian blankets in,  including the kid's dotty ones, went antiquing with friends, found the killer child's table and added some vintage chairs that i have been saving for a year until I found such table for them,   made a new display for the front room, found a great old dresser!, finished that no.3 pillow,  and shipped it off to california, and actually made something fresh with the cherry tomatos and fresh basil i bought,  that in itself is quite the accomplishment,  since it normally would be languishing in the fridge
and the last picture is how i feel most days lately :o....a little stressed.
but all in a good way, couldn't be happier! just trying to figure out how to get more hours out of a day....any ideas?  ;)
well,  hope you all are well out there,  and look forward to catching up wih you all soon!
xoxo,
catherine

murphy's law

  When I say out loud that I will be crafting something,  it never seems to happen...some sort of roadblock materializes .
  So from NOW on, I will be keeping my lips sealed,  and hopefully will become quite prolific!
  We had that wonderful article written about us in the paper on Monday,  so of course when we had a steady influx of new customers coming into the shop and calling for the first time to see where we are located because the paper failed to print our address....our phone lines went down.
  No PHONE,  no credit card machine,  no nothing.
  So today was spent on the cell phone in a perpetual phone maze trying to get some repair people out to fix the problem,  but of course it took about 20 minutes to actually talk to a real person.  hopefully the problem will be fixed by tommorow...but it might not be until 8p.m.
at night....so nice.
   The GOOD thing that did happen is that we had a wonderful shipment of childrens goods delivered,  and our beautiful austrian blankets too!
  Look at how cute these little snack cups are!

and these little dish sets....so perfectly packaged!

they come in the most glorious orange box!  what a perfect gift!

and they're melamine too,  so when your child flings it across the room along with his spaghetti they won't break!  how perfect is THAT!

ooh,  look at that little bird,  and elephant spoon!!!
SOOOOO
cute!
we also got in some of the most wonderful little glass necklaces  with adorable little paper prints inside them!
they are only $18 each which makes these a STEAL!

love the black crow of course, and the little french bull dog....I secretly want a real one of those!
it would take many hours of persuasion for my husband to fall for that one....so maybe the necklace version would be a safer bet.

and squirrels...now don't get me started..i adore them!

and of course pretty florals!
Tommorow I will post pictures of the blankets for you.
  they are so pretty!
  I ran out of time today because I had to run what I thought was going to be a short errand,  but ended up taking 2 hours!
  Who knew it would take that long to update your cell phone when your contracts up!
  the good news is that I treated myself to a nice little birthday present......

and bought myself a fancy phone  (at a great DISCOUNT mind you!) ...... love that verizon!
It has all sorts of bells and whistles...
  I can use a calculator, send emails, write lists, check calendar, record voice messages, video tape, and take pictures among a million other things with this wonderful tool!
...now if I could only get it to sew or make dinner!  :)
but seriously, I LOVE technology.  it amazes me and appeals to the inner geek in me!
  it's funny because i love all of the vintage stuff,  and the old school type of things,  but give me some well
designed slick gadget and I am thrilled!
  maybe i was some sort of techie in a former life?
who knows....but
it just always fascinates me at what they come up with!
o.k., I have rambled enough.....so sorry!
I am off to read my technical manual and put myself to sleep.
hope you all have a wonderful and productive day tommorow!
xoxo
c.

oh,  and p.s.
my sweet adorable friend michael P.....   your minivan is looking nice and tough without those hubcaps my friend....but hey, no matter what.... it's STILL a minivan! and you're drivin it!  :) xoxoxo


 




 

 

A little tutorial

  this is all i managed to do today...Make ONE pillow!
things were wild as usual......we made it onto the front page of the local newpaper,  and the cover of the business section with a full-blown article!  whoo-hoo!
so of course when i am under stress (good stress),  what do I do?  well I go out shopping!  for more fabric!  forget the "use what you have" mentality.
NO!  i really didn't have enough periwinkle fabric to suit my needs,  nor any chartruese for that matter....or this color or that.  fabric really is an addiction for me.can you tell?
  I like just looking at the stacks of it really.  hoping someday it will miraculously become something!
  does this look like $100?  because that's what I spent!
aye, yay yaye!


and the funny thing is.  I made the following pillow today
out of WHITE fabric,  and not a shred of the new stuff.
yes folks,  i'm nuts.
  SO  would YOU like to know how to make one of my graphic pillows? i will gladly share the recipe,  so at least i can feel like I did something productive today! ;)
*********************************************************************
  Start with a number or letter that you like...you can either pull it from a font off your computer,  or in this case i just pulled something from a magazine...and enlarged it by 400%,  either way,  you will want to enlarge it.

   after you enlarge it,  take some VERY sharp scissors (i use gingher embroidery/dress maker shears because frankly,  they are the best)  then carefully cut out your numbers close to the edge, and straight as possible.

next you will need some black fabric that you have ironed fusible web onto.    take your cut out number and flip it over upside down and glue it onto the back of your black fabric on the paper part of the fusible web....NOT on the fabric side....you will then Very carefully cut out your fabric pieces......they should look like this when you are done

next,  peel off your backing and iron on your pieces to your main fabric.  use a very hot iron,  with NO steam to adhere.

next, place a piece of batting or some sort of fabric stabilizer under your piece,  otherwise, if you don't do this, when appliquing  your needle will push your fabric into the machine=big boo-boos.  yes,  i learned this the hard way many years ago.
  i used cotton batting for this one...

next up...start sewing!   weeeee!
make sure you have black thread in the bobbin,  so you have a nice clean edge...with no other color thread showing through.
keep your needle as close to the edge as possible,  and sew VERY slowly to get a crisp edge.  this takes a bit of practice.  but you can do it!

and Voila!  after several phone calls, emails, lunch, dog barking/walking, school pickups, you too can craft ONE pillow in an afternoon!  :)

now I would show you the finished product,  but of course I was out of stuffing so I can't.  ARRRRGGGGH!
  SO I took the kids to the local fabric store in my neighborhood.  one that also happens to be going out of business, 
if you haven't noticed or heard,  Michigan is one of the most economically challenged states at the moment,  and stores are dropping like flies around here.
(so sad)  thankfully i am not one of them,  but my poor little fabric store is,  and of course when we went in there they were out of stuffing!!!!
  They DID however have fleece in EYE catching colors at 60% off that my kids begged, pleaded and flailed around for.
  This fleece mind you goes against ALL of my aesthetics,  it truly killed me to purchase it.  but my children loved the stuff and how can you deny them their tastes?

and wouldn't you know it,  they ran upstairs and laid them out lovingly on their beds and cleaned their rooms!   this alone was well worth the $16 spent.
  just know you will never ,EVER be allowed upstairs!  ;)

now tommorow, I have one more accupuncture session in the A.M. and then I plan on being productive.
today's session went very well...didn't feel a thing!
So I'll let you know if it works!
I WILL finish that pillow and hopefully some more goodies...I also will try and take a few pictures of the new jewelry line we got in today.  So cute!
  I will leave you with this.....new glass trays and candle votives from fringe Studios just arived....

  really pretty images  somehow tranferred onto glass...
they make a wonderful candle trays or soap dishes!
o.k.,  i am off to bed!
as always,  thanks SO much for checking in!
you're the best!
xoxoxo
catherine

   
 

   

 

today's treat

  O.k., I am literally sitting in my driveway doing this post,  ready to blast out of here like a cannon doing a million things,  one of them being going to an ACCUPUNCTURE session,  wish me luck,  I hate needles.....so more on that later....but I felt compelled to share these goodies with you,  and will post more later today, but look at these.

you know you're gonna want one of these giant sculptures for your garden or deck......or maybe one of these....

Hello! 

how are you doing?
I LOVE these,  and am so happy that these folks blew back into town....you can visit them here to find out more about them....
but for now,  go on down to the shop and see them in person,  they are amazing.  think outsider art with a carribean flair......good stuff.
....O.k.,  i'm OFF!
will post more later today....hopefully  :)
xoxoxo
c.

Happy-happy STuff!

                  

        Happy mothers Day to all you folks out there who are mom's!   I hope you all had a nice and relaxing day where people treated you like a queen!
  one can fantasize right? 
  today's just another day for me,  but I did get treated to a nice breakfast out,
and was able to take a tiny nap,  with only 6 interruptions,  instead of 109....but then in true mother's day fashion,  I got to take care of the kids!  weeeee! :)
  But truthfully,  it's all good, and I am very fortunate to have 2 lovely children, and one big kid, ( My husband,)  and i couldn't be more thankful for that!
                                                                                                                  
            
   On another note,  I am so sorry I haven't been around lately,  it's been so darn crazy at the shop,  and the weather has been perfect,  so that means LOADS of spray painting,  and crazy craft making.
  I promise I will try and get back with all of you soon that have emailed me,  and for those of you who tagged me, I will try and do that soon too!
  honestly,  I have already been tagged, and I share most of my peculiarities with you all on a daily basis,  so I feel like you must know how nutty/weird I am already,  but I'm sure I can come up with some more for you.....!
  Also,  I have been trying to avoid the whole computer lately because it can become Quite the distraction for me.....linking here, to there,  and seeing all sorts of good stuff,  then Poof the day's gone! and not to mention that my WALLET is a little smaller!
  I noticed on several peoples blogs that Martha Stewart had a new line of craft items at Michaels arts and crafts.  I would NOT have known this had I kept my nose to the grindstone,  instead of surfing.....
so that little detour cost me $80-
  Oh you PEOPLE!!!    :)

.....then of course, when I go to Michael's,  it's on the same side of town that Homegoods is on.....
so I popped in there and bought out every single flippen polkadotted towel they had THERE! 
another $110 vaporized.......but oh how cute my bathroom will be lookin with these  :)



they will look perfect on these shelves,  because who doesn't just love to wake up to polkadots ?
what a happy way to start your day!
....  and Speaking of polkadots..... wouldn't it be just perfect to put your morning cup of espresso, or petite cup-O-joe in one of our new little cups that just rolled in friday? 
I'm doing backflips people,  and I WILL be ordering more of this pattern on pretty much everything i can get my hands on,  butter dishes, soap dishes, milk jugs,  bigger coffee mugs......on, and on.

  We placed a TON of orders on Thursday and friday,  and really I can't remember all of what we did,
but we have a BUNCH of new children's things coming in...like  the hilarious Pigeon, from the
"don't let the Pigeon drive the bus"  book series.  we have the book,  and the PLUSH doll arriving next week!
super cute!  you squeeze him and he talks!

we also have more fur books coming in,    austrian blankets, both adult, and kid size.
candles, painted glass, balls, books, suitcase puzzles.

we also have the scandanavian Line MAILEG coming in that is phenomenal!
adorable little handcrafted Rabbits with outfits and little wooden stoves,  and beds that are too cute,  and very reasonably priced for a european toy!

 
 
   since this post is becoming a MILE long,  and i am sure you probably have better things to do than scroll down forever looking at pictures that I can't help sharing!......
SOOOOO..... I will leave you all with these.....
new mood swing jewelry,
and hotcakes jewelry is IN and selling out so fast!

....... a new Vintage wrought Iron Bed spray painted a vibrant Green has moseyed on down to the kids room at the shop. 
it's so cute with little iron heart details like I've never seen before!
And speaking of hearts.......my heart of hearts.....my one and only....
My darling husband
is taking me out tommorow night to a sold out concert to see Morrisey perform Live at the Michigan theatre. because yes people,  I STILL like the 80's music!
I am very excited!
how lucky can I be that he does these things for me?
I am hoping all of that good music will relax me and help me to get a-craftin and a-sewin......i've got one on deck that i'm working on, and hope to have more by next week too!   so on that note,  hope you like all you see,  and I promise I will be sharing more stuff soon!
I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing Sunday, and look forward to catchin up with all of you next week!
as always,  thanks for checking in!
xoxoxoxoxo
catherine

Shoulda,coulda,woulda.......

    I should be doing THIS......cleaning up my garden beds,  and pulling weeds......
 
or cleaning up these beds....

Do you like my dandelions?  it's what I'm best at growing right now.
my husband has taken to just mowing down sections of what used to be a perfectly beautiful perennial
garden bed.  when I shouted that there were actual PLANTS there,  he just said he was desperate,
and could no longer take it anymore!
Oh well,  some things you gotta let slide.....lately, that's alot for me.  :)
on the other hand,  my shop has some nice and newly planted boxwoods, and gorgeous petunias to marvel at!
so instead of doing this......pulling weeds,
i'll be working on this....

spray painting Lovely blue wicker, with colorful seats and pillows,
and playing with THIS....

gorgeous fabrics, that will turn into more pillows and crafty things.
SO I might not be around for a tiny bit,  trying to get down to business and get cranking.
they are coming to interview me tommorow for an article,  and i feel like don't have enough goods,
so I will be trying to be oh-so-productive,  even though I am secretlly fantasizing about flowers and garden beds perfectly pruned,  because come spring-time in Michigan,  with the lilacs and lily of the valley scents wafting through the air,  how on earth can you NOT!

wishing you a sunshiney day!

xoxo
c.

 

Busy Bee.....

   o.k.,  that was nuts!
we cleaned out the basement and unloaded a TON of junk, and goods on friday for midnight madness.  i'm pretty much wiped out!
the basement looks SO much better however!
  We hung up canvas tarps to cover the  shelves and everything looks SO much tidier!
  honestly it was an inexpensive way to cover an area,  I took j hooks and screwed them into the wood beams in the ceilings,  hung shower hooks that have clips on them,  and bought several packages of canvas painters drop cloths from Lowes.  It really cleaned up the space,  and made it look much more cozy.
  SO cozy in fact,  I might have to start a monthly get together down in that basement,  like i've mentioned before.....a place where we can congregate, and work on some craft projects,  chit-chat,  maybe drink a little wine,
and have some FUN!
  I honestly want to do this,  but have always struggled to keep that area tidy.,  by now,  you should know I can be messy! 
but this time,  I mean it!
(and i promise it will be bug free!)  i'll keep you posted!

  We also started to plant some flowers.....here is my little helper

  ....and I started to spray paint some furniture,  and wicker that will be headed down to the shop in the coming weeks......i'll show you those soon.
..........along with the pictures of the jewelry that came in too!
  there is SO much i'd like to share with you,  but I am too tired to post much, but I had to tell you about these few things,
first off,  many thanks to Kim at daisy cottage for being so kind and sweet and teaching me how to make my blog photos larger! Thanks So, so  much!
hope you all like them!
  Secondly.....LOOK at what the amazing Lia (art-junk girl) sent me,  now how sweet is she?
I mean,  she took the TIME to think of me when she was visiting her son at college,  and took MORE time out of her busy schedule to send this to me!  that is extraordinairely thoughtful.
  isn't this book just perfect?

now who doesn't just LOVE a good pair of red shoes?.....
you know this mom is fantasizing about some right now!


thanks Lia,  you're amazing! 
oh,  and I swear,  i'm going to start that art-journaling soon,  you are so inspiring!
now....on another note,  since I am too tired to think of anything remotely interesting,  I have to share a couple of funny things with you.....
first off,  my crazy dog.  (by now you know I am obsessed with her,but how could I NOT be?)
of all the places she chose to sit....

a miniature sandbox seems perfect now doesn't it?
:)     she kills me!
now,  this next one COULD have been serious,  but since it wasn't I can safely look back and laugh at it now,  but parents....please warn your children NOT to try and stab RAW carrots with a fork...because,  if you live in OUR household,  your fork could slip,  and stab you right between the eyes.
(see dot)

oye vay!
now,  lastly,  my husband has never- ever read my blog, and finally did so the other day.  (he didn't even know my website address,  or any of those silly little details in life)  but he read it,  and left me the sweetest comment,  and then sent me a private email that made me cry.
i'll just sum it up to tell you that he is proud of me.
he's the quiet, reserved type who doesn't dispense the praise much, so
every once in a blue moon the man can crumble me. 
i have to tell you it's so nice after 21 years of being together that you can still feel loved,  and all of those other things that come with marrying your best friend.....even if it's done quietly.
I am most definately a very lucky girl.
talk soon....
xoxo
c.

Scary things

    This is what's creeping and lurking in my basement at the shop at the moment.
  and they are about the size of a half dollar,  i'm NOT kidding.  I killed 5 of them yesterday,  So i had the creepy crawlies all day and night because of it.
   So what does this all mean?  and how does it affect you all?
  well,  it means that I have WAY too much stuff,  and junk, and I need to PURGE at the shop!
  So on Friday, during Midnight Madness downtown,  which is where shops stay open late and offer fun sales, or activities  (we'll be open till 11:00pm)
So if you haven't been downtown, well, it's a fun and vibrant way to shop!
THat Being said....  I will be opening up my basement at 6p.m
for a big SALE,  and I mean,  I am going to be giving you HUGE deals on things.......shop worn ($175) wool rugs
for $25,  easter, christmas, halloween, goodies for cheap,cheap, cheap.  Old Sleds, for $5,  great for decorating with greens at christmas!, vintage goods,
old dishes, linens, big vintage Laundry tubs,  a horse trough, great for raised gardens,  you name it, i'm selling it.
  Now my so-called junk just might be your treasure,
so come on by,  and grab a deal,
and please,  the sale starts around back at 6:00PM
the only bird I'm not crazy about is the early-bird.
so please...6:00 PM o.k.?  thanks!

(oh, and that garage sale part will be cash and carry only too)

sorry for any inconvenience that might cause, but hope you understand

  xoxoxoxo
catherine