asentimentaljourneythroughlife

Tis The Season

2009-12-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

We had our first snowfall last week, and another whopper last night! Very cold, icy and snowy out today! Come on inside and warm up, we'll show you around!

Keeping it simple this year . . . .

Lotsa silly snowmen live here this time of year . . . . .

Santa's on his way . . . . . . soon!

More silly snowmen . . . . hope it's cold enough for them! My favorite vintage red hat box with a Christmas motif. I've never seen another one like it, have you?

Busy chefs in the kitchen . . . . . .

My favorite snowman . . . . . . .

A favorite RED quilt hangs in the kitchen . . . . . .

More little bakers helping in the kitchen. Lots of cookies to make!

Kitchen windowsill. . . . . . our first snowfall outside.

Sweet & simple. Creamy white poinsettias in a rusty old mason's trowell.
I recently found this at an Estate Sale ~ nobody else wanted it * I DID!! :)

My favorite creche. My parents brought the olivewood figures home from Italy many years ago, and my Dad made the manger. Missing a sheep now, a little puppy that is now a fresh dog used it as a teething ring. Thank Gawd, baby Jesus was spared, just in time!

Still deciding where to put my favorite red skates. Kinda like them just on the chair, no??

Merry Christmas to all! Whichever holiday you celebrate this time of year, wishing you peace and joy throughout the season. . . .

Christmas Lights on Crack

2009-12-02T19:06:00.000-08:00

No not really, silly!

This is really cute ~ Enjoy!

p.s. Pause the Christmas Tunes over there on the right and down a bit.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Take a moment today to remember how lucky you are, I will, too.

Hoping you & yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Ironing

2009-11-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of ironing. In fact, I have a horrible relationship with my iron. I go through irons like most people go through paper towels. Before I go any further, let me just say that I'm not a fan of ironing with an iron. I'll take Flossie, my vintage Ironrite Mangle ANY DAY over a newfangled iron. Irons just don't like me, and I don't like them. Don't get me going on the Rowenta Iron ~ JUNK. Tried two of them, and they lasted even less time than a cheapo Sunbeam from Walmart.

Not long ago, Sharon, from Rick Rack, a fellow member over at The Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club posted something similar during a discussion of how cheesy many of the new irons are. She indicated that she now purchases hers at Estate Sales & Auctions ~ Good old sturdy workhorses-of-an-iron. Sooooo, this morning at an Estate Sale, lookie look what I found??! So excited about it ~ and it heats up super hot and works like a charm! Love the spray bottle attachment on the outside. Sigh . . . . . . see?? I'm not hard to please, really.

Obsessed with The 60s

2009-11-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

So for quite some time I've been obsessed with everything 60s. I mean, seriously, have you seen

The third season just wrapped, and it's better than ever!

Every day, when I'm working at home, I have our XM/Sirius Radio station set to The Sixties on Six. . . . seriously, it's addictive. I came of age in the sixties and seventies, and remember all those rebel British rockers, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and so many more. Sistadoggie is always amazed at the wide range of music that I love, that's because I'm way kewler than her. Sistadoggie, JK, I know you're reading this, even if you never comment. xox

So of course, I took DH to see PIRATE RADIO last night ~ FAN FREAKING TASTIC!!! I absolutely loved it, and if you're even mildly obsessed with music from The Sixties, GO SEE IT, you won't be disappointed. Everything from Cat Stevens to Dusty Springfield. So Kewl! Oh, and stay for the credits (wink). Oh, and one more thing, that darling January Jones, aka Betty Draper from Mad Men has a role ~ she's really something, that's all I'm gonna say, so see, now you've gotta go see it!

Off now to ITUNES to purchase the soundtrack. . . . .

Can You Tell Me How To Get There??

2009-11-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

Good Times ~ Happy Memories ~ Happy 40th Anniversary to Sesame Street!

Who knew?? Sesame Street premiered on this little bunny's birthday!

Happy 25th Birthday, B ~ Love You! xoxoxo Mom

Sunday Morning Baking ~ CRANBERRY BREAD

2009-11-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

This time of year I get up early on Sunday mornings and get the urge to bake something yummy. Our Sunday Morning Flea Market is winding down and it's getting cold out, so instead of rushing out at 6:30 am to the flea, I'm up early in the kitchen! This has been a long time favorite of mine. I got this recipe from my sister in law about 15 years ago, and every year when the markets start putting out the bags of red cranberries, I pull it out and bake up a batch! SUPER SUPER easy ~ no mixer, no chopping ~ and quite delish ~ Enjoy!

Donna's Cranberry Bread

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 C Orange Juice
2 eggs, beaten slightly
3T sweet butter, melted
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1 1/2 C whole fresh cranberries
2 tsp grated orange peel

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a standard size loaf pan. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the orange juice, eggs and melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients, folding gently without over mixing. Fold in the walnuts, whole cranberries and orange peel. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and set on the middle rack of the oven, bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely.

Delicious toasted & buttered ~ I double the recipe and make two. Stick one in the freezer for next time ~ ENJOY!

Do You Know Me??!

2009-11-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

If you do, you know that I'm a red & white polka dot kinda gal. RED is definitely my signature color ~ it speaks to me, like this:

Cute, right?? Loving Red with Yellow.

Tons of prints ~ great old RED Patchwork Quilt!

So what's up with THIS???

I can't get enough of these pretty vintage linens ~ beautiful old fabrics from the 50s, 60s and 70s, and by the way my friends . . . . .

it's just not right to say "70s Vintage". I grew up and came of age in the 60s & 70s. . . . . . where did all THAT time go?? I mean, Go Trojans ~ Spirit of '76!! DH and I first met in high school, and being the Red Sox Fans that we are, were watching the Yankees/Phillies game, hoping for the best, and they showed a close up of the Phillies pitching coach, who we graduated with, and I'm thinking "Man, he looks O*L*D ~ hmmmmm .

Anyway, back to the pretties ~ aren't they lovely??

My challenge now is how to incorporate bits of red in with these, a la Cath Kidston, y'know?? She's so gosh darn good at mixing the colors & patterns. I still hear my mother whispering in my head " Purple & Red Clash" or "Don't wear Pink with Red" or "Don't wear White after Labor Day" . . . . . you know, right??

Love these yummy buttery soft yellows.

Pretty, pretty pinks!

Are you hooked yet?? I know, it's addicting. Very difficult being a fabric/vintage linen hoarder.

So MOD ~ I think Twiggy had these!

All of these are listed on Etsy, link over there on the right :) Plenty more where these came from. I need a 12 step program, seriously. . . . Have a great weekend!

Smarty Pants Tribute to Michael Jackson

2009-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

I love You Tube . . . . . this is amazing. This boy, Sam Tsui is a student Yale University, right here in my home state of Connecticut. Through the magic of technology, this guy and his Math Major friend, Kurt Hugo Schneider, created this amazing video. There are no instruments at all, and that's the same guy up there six times with the beat boxing math major pal on the left. He's singing all of the parts himself ~ NO INSTRUMENTS ~ amazing ~ Enjoy!

A Little Birdie Told Me . . .

2009-10-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings Bloggie Peeps! Sure seems like Twitter is everywhere these days, doesn't it?? We've been tweeting for quite a while now ~ it's a great way to stay in touch with family & friends, especially my own kids, one out on his own, one in Washington DC and one away at College (Go Huskies!) So that you don't have to sift through all that nonsense, I separated my Twitter so that you can follow my tweets that relate only to my chatter about vintage treasures, fabrics, quilting, antiques and other little tidbits. We'll be posting on new eBay and ETSY listings and updating where you can find us at live shows. If you wanna follow and be in the know, just click on the link to the right ~ the little birdie told ya so!!