Favorite antique shop: Northfield, MN

 I went to college in Northfield, MN and there was one antique shop that I always enjoyed going in. One of those little stores that are just piled high with gems. Not my favorite antique store in the world (that title is currently held by a store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin) but certainly a place I stop at every time I go back to Northfield.

A couple of weeks ago some of the girls from senior year were going to meet up in town, have lunch, and then wander around campus a bit. I beat the other into town so I stopped to shop and this is the gem I found!

I have been really into Snow White for a long time. At one point it got a bit ridiculous though. You know when you have a favorite something or other and everyone gets you gifts based on that thing? Well that is what happened with Snow White. My room went from pink with unicorns to blue with Snow White. I had sheets, comforter, pillow, and curtains with Snow White on them. I had books, dolls, beanie babies, happy meal toys all relating to the famous fairy tale. Most of the obnoxious stuff is gone now. The room is redecorated and some of the memorabilia has been put into storage. But as much as I have been 'over' Snow White for awhile now she still holds a special place in my heart. A couple of years ago at our local Gold Rush I started seeing these Snow White statues and I was instantly in love with them. They came in an array of different colors and slightly different styles but they were all beautifully aged and lovely. They were also SUPER expensive. This was a bit of a splurge for me but she was the best price I have seen thus far and I absolutely love her! She has a lovely blue dress, rosy cheeks, and still a hint of glitter.

After just a bit of research I found that these are called "Chalkware" and in the 1940s these would have been prizes at the carnival games. It wasn't until the 1950s that the prizes moved more towards the stuffed animals we associate with prizes today.


I also bought this (not quite all there) croquet set. Someday I will have a collection of old/vintage croquet sets and I will have a massive garden party/tournament. It will happen!

The Letter 'A'

New necklace in the shop. I have been wanting to start making some necklaces that do not have any sort of metal closures. So many cute necklaces these days tie in the back and this is my version. I have also been wanting to incorporate more  embroidery into my work and so I have started this 'tattoo initial' line. I will hopefully be posting more color combos and initials soon but let me know if you are interested in seeing a particular letter/color.

Warrior Dash- MN 2011

 

Well this snuck up on me a bit! All of a sudden it was here! So much for training...

Warrior Dash is a 5k obstacle course. Peer pressure and the promise of a costume contest got me to sign up. Fear and adrenaline got me through the day. Pretty much any event that encourages costumes is a good choice in my book. Of course I wasn't going to be 'competitive' enough to be a bad-ass warrior so I went in the opposite direction- Care Bear. That's right people I said Care Bear. First off I went as 'Good Luck Bear' and let's face it I needed all the luck I could get. Secondly I was hoping to show that I was there to have a fun time and not to break records- and I had a faster time than over 1,500 people...so they all got their ass kicked by a Care Bear!!!! I kid. Everyone was really nice and except for a few crazy people there was more a sense of community then competition. Complete strangers talked me over the cargo net obstacle and the rope wall. I got high fives from groups I didn't even know as we conquered obstacles together. Minnesota Nice at its best.

My time was just over an hour which was fine by me. Most of the group I went with was in the 45 minute range and one crazy guy got done in 28 fricken minutes! CRAZY! The part that really killed me? The hills. The whole course was at a ski resort so the hills were insane. I never completely stopped moving and I did all the obstacles. Our group split up pretty fast so it was just me and my crazy self running around, trying not to die and making friends. Other large groups would wait for each other after every obstacle which was really cute. Adorable couples were encouraging each other along the way and passerbys had hilarious comments on how 'this was a dumb idea' and 'omg we paid for this'. Good times!

The rest of my group is already talking about doing it again next year. I don't know if that is in my future or not. I am super glad I did it but I don't know if I need to do it again. We will see.

Crossing the finish line!

Now that my super-cute costume is a bit roughed up and dirty it might transition well into an adorable Care-Bear zombie costume for this year's Zombie Pub Crawl. We will see...plenty of brain eating storming until then : )

These are just a few of our pictures I am hoping that the official website will have some really cool pictures up soon and I will try to share those as well.

Later that same day I got to go see Captain America with an old friend who I hadn't seen since college. It was a super good day. Go see the movie!(Chris Evans...droooooool.)

I heart pattern sales!

I love sewing patterns. I am nowhere near the point where I can make my own and I just can't help but see a neat little paper package and be overwhelmed with joy of the possibilities ahead. (Funny though how after you cut away all that 'extra' paper you can NEVER fit the pattern back into that envelope!)

Anywhoo I have a super big week ahead of me and I needed some patterns. Lucky for me they were on sale! For $1.50 each! YES  I WENT OVERBOARD!

So instead of getting one 'little house on the prairie' costume pattern I got three... no judging!

I really hope the leggings pattern works out because I will be unstoppable if I can make my own leggings. (Rough dress count the other day was upwards of 40-yes 40- so I need some more leggings to avoid my Marilyn moments)

The best part was the price. Buying these patterns full price would have cost me $137.15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I only paid $12.50. BOOM! Now I really need to get sewing... I will be updating later this week with my Warrior Dash costume and hopefully a 'little house' dress.

Cheers all! Stay out of the heat!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck!

 

Isn't she simply gorgeous? Today I am celebrating the birthday of Barbara Stanwyck.  If you do not know about this actress I suggest you look her up at imdb. Her bio says that she is probably best known for her role on the tv show 'The Big Valley' but I know her from her movie days.  Beautiful and sassy Stanwyck played a large range of roles from comedic to femme fatale. If you are at all interested in seeing any of her films my two favorites are Double Indemnity and Christmas in Connecticut- and these two movies could not be more different!

Double Indemnity stars Stanwyck alongside Fred MacMurray as a femme fatale in the mood to kill her husband in an insurance scheme. It is a classic noir flick and should be seen by anyone who enjoys the genre.



Christmas in Connecticut is the complete opposite. It is a screwball comedy starring Stanwyck as a writer for a 'Home' magazine. In her articles she pretends to have a big beautiful house in Connecticut  where she is the perfect homemaker. In reality she lives in New York City and has no idea how to make toast let alone cook, clean, and raise children. No one is the wiser until someone has the idea to do a Christmas promotion piece where they send a soldier to spend Christmas at this 'perfect' home. Amazing comedic timing and a great Christmas-time movie!

So Happy Birthday Barbara Stanwyck! You may be gone, but you are not forgotten.

Currently Obsessed With: Carolina Chocolate Drops

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of Currently Obsessed With. Featuring...


The Carolina Chocolate Drops!

If you haven't heard of this band you are in for a treat. This group is filled with super talented musicians sharing their love a music tradition that has all but died out. For more info on the history of string-band music check it out here.      
                                                                                                    
Also check out this video:



 This makes me really want to be in a band. I played violin for years and have messed on and off with the guitar but since high school orchestra I haven't really played with a group of people. My problem  is wanting to do everything. I want to play fiddle, banjo, harmonica, washboard (See Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band), and 'the bones' or spoons to you folks. I just think it would be sweet to jam out on these old school instruments. Anyone up for starting a string/jug band? Let me know.

In other news...

~ I am a super-nerd who has started volunteering at the local history center. I get to dress up and read Laura Ingalls Wilder books to kids in a log cabin. 
~I am freaking out about Warrior Dash. It looks super hard and I haven't been training like I said I was going to oh so many months ago. Oops. One week! BAH!
~HARRY POTTER COMES OUT TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, super-nerd. 
 

Thrifting

 These are just a few things I picked up in the last month or so at the thrift store. First off some vintage aprons that were $.75- $1!

 The detail on this one makes me really smile. Look at those braids!

 This is probably one of my favorite finds. A full length, hooded, faux fur leopard print coat! Perfect thing to buy in sweltering heat! I got a few crazy looks for hauling this one out of the store mid-summer but come winter I am going to be looking uber-fierce. Plus it was $6!

Lastly a lovely vintage plate that I found for $2. It is currently sitting on my dresser holding my plant. Pretty!

In other shopping news I have a serious dress addiction problem. In two days I bought a total of 4 dresses to add to my already overburdened closet. I just can't seem to resist a dress on sale. I need to buckle down a bit though and save up if I ever want to move!

What is the item that you can't stop buying? In addition to dresses I should probably stop buying so many dish/kitchen items since I don't currently have my own kitchen!

Cheers.

Minnesota FAIL.

For any of you that have read this blog at all it is pretty obvious that I am a happy and proud resident of Minnesota...most of the time. If you haven't heard Minnesota is facing a government shutdown. Shut. Down. When I heard those words for the first time I said, "Shut the front door!" or something more colorful. Yep apparently we suck at life so much that we can't even have the state open for business at this point. Everyone is pointing fingers as to who's fault this is but the clear truth is EVERYONE IS TO BLAME FOR THIS. If you were not part of the solution you are part of the problem. I give props to Governor Dayton for sticking to his points but something needed to be worked out! Let us just hope that they figure something out soon because this shutdown is of course hitting the 'little guys' the hardest.