dreams do come true

Well folks, today dreams came true! My vintage furry owl totally did it! He made it to the front page of etsy in a cute winter treasury list!  Hopefully it is the first of many times ;)

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

Super fun weekend with some thrifting (oh hi Dries Van Noten) some cleaning & sprucing up, & most importantly I got to meet baby Hazel!  She is an exceptionally sweet pea & looks exactly like an Eloise Wilkin illustration.  I am in love!  Also Brian & Natalie got to see our new home for the first time which was really fun!! We just chilled out baby style & ate homemade soup Tim cooked up.  Vegetarian Southern New Years Day Soup.  Sigh. You can find the recipe here & know that it comes highly recommended!!  So so good.  Oooh we also found this really great donut shop here, straight out of the 60's complete with bright orange stools & a cute counter & the hugest cups of coffee.  We got a bunch of donuts for our guests & have been enjoying them to the max.  Mmmm maraschino cherry donut mmmmm. 

Now time to get ready for Thanksgiving!  We are planning a vegetarian meal & hosting my in-laws & there is kind of so much to do!  Yikes!  Getting on it  RIGHT. NOW!

xoxox

Just thought I'd share these cute shots Tim took last month before heading off to my brother Greg's wedding to Stacey.  This is our breezeway!  That plant was so happy!!

Posing for my LIFE at the wedding!  Dress is a 90's drop waist swingy wool crepe lil number from Saks Fifth Avenue.  Sweater is thrifted Ann Taylor.  Belt is 50's gold lame, I also have it in silver!  Purse is 60's croc textured patent leather, made in Italy for Saks 5th Ave.  It is so extremely glamorous & I should have taken a better photo of it.. My shoes are my wedding shoes!  They are little gold Coach flats, and I have since worn them to two of my brothers weddings. They'll come out next for my brother Ben's wedding someday :)

I felt really cute & at ease!   The wedding was lovely, it was good to see everyone.  It was also the last time I was out about having cocktails!  I remember I ordered wine spritzers with extra extra maraschino cherries! ;)  Ha!  Sounds about right!  I used to down whiskey with the best of the boys, but not so much these days! 

snacks!

One thing I was worried about moving away from Chicago was leaving my local grocery markets behind.  I was really spoiled by Andy's Fruit Market on Kedzie, Harvest Time on Lawrence, and even stupid crappy Stanley's on Elston.  And you know, its not the same.  Tim & I have pita shaped holes in our hearts when we get to thinking about Sanabel & all the beautiful things we made out of hot, fresh, incredible pitas that were a dollar a bag.  A DOLLAR.  But here in Indianapolis we have discovered Saraga International Grocery.  It's got it all, even things we have never seen!  I mean, weird grocery stores are a hobby for us!  It's a big deal!  Its huge & weird & has fresh pita or naan (not as amazing Sanabel's, but a good start..) It has a gross meat section, some cute oddball housewares, good basics & random impulse buys.  Scary things in jars.  Mustard oil that you aren't supposed to eat.  The last time we went there was a booth in front selling appointments with a photographer that could take a photo of you & your man, then make it look like you were inside a giant cognac glass.   Glamour!!!!

Here are a few little finds, on retrospect Pickapeppa sauce isn't that wild, but it is tasty!  (it tastes like A-1 sauce)

Tim drank that Jamaican mountain man soda & it was fermented & sort of alcoholic & super stinky & gross!  Awesome!  Also I haven't had that particular can of Coco Rico & it was delicious.

These were darn good.

Little kitchen flowers

I haven't made either of these yet!  But I've been on a big coconut kick for a few years so I have to try the DoFu Delight!  

We cook with the squid sauce a few times a week, this is our second bottle of that brand.  Also I love sodas in glass bottles!

We haven't tried either of these yet, but that sardine can is too pretty to open anyhow! :)

These are (were) YUMMY!  Crispy sweet little biscuit cookies, way good.  The ginger candies were good & spicy & sticky!

Cans of pina colada that are... kind of cupboard decoration cos they are too cute to eaaaaat! ;)  Those nacho chips were gross.  The Irish Moss is another Jamaican drink, it was like a peanut butter milkshake in a can.  Kinda gross & kinda good!  Probably more gross though..

Saraga is the first place we came across Tapatio chips!!!  Tapatio is the best hot sauce, yum.  Well, I mean I love Sri Racha & Tabasco as well, but mmmm Tapatio.  These Tapatio con limon Ruffles were really delicious junk food!

Annnd then I found Tapatio Doritos while visiting Chicago.  They were in a dollar store & I bought several bags.  I am now burnt out on Tapatio Doritos & probably won't buy them again.  Aaaand after searching for them for like 6 months and getting so excited to randomly find them, they are available in the chip aisle at Kroger.  Which was exciting, but I was already over them by that time!  Yikes.

Crunching!  Not organic, not very good for you, but c'mon!  Once & awhile you have to give in! This is in front of our 1960 Frigidaire Flair oven.  Someday I'll write a blog post on her!  

There are a bunch other ethnic grocery stores we are dying to check out here, I'll keep you updated!  In the meantime, buy a can of something mysterious & tell me how it goes! :)

hats & books

Oh my gosh, just checked my blog & it seems I won the Eka hat giveaway at Freelancer's Fashionblog!  How fricking exciting!  And how perfect, because it is certainly getting chillier by the minute here.   I'll definitely take photos when it arrives :)

Other than that I've been keeping busy with house guests & continuing to work on building my vintage empire! ;)  Plus I've got something big I'm working on that takes up alot of my time, but more about that later...

I've got some really cute things on Etsy right now.  Some black label Frye boots.  A furry owl.  I've got a killer Anna Sui that I've got to get listed asap.  Oh!  A week or so ago I listed the awesome copy of The Golden Book of Biology that I found, which you can check out here!  Illustrated beautifully by Charley Harper, each page is a total feast for your mid century modern eyes!  It was really tempting to keep this treasure, but I've got to focus!  My childrens book collection leans more towards story books like classic Little Golden Books..  So I thought I'd put this one out there in the world, & I believe mine is the most reasonably priced that is floating out there right now so thats exciting!  Anyways, I took some photos so we can all enjoy a bit.

Aren't they just gorgeous & graphic & awesome?!!

Do you collect any types of books?  Do you want to buy me a third bookshelf??  Haha I really need one!! ;)

VIP

   In Chicago recently in a fancy hotel, remember!

no sun no fun

Still raining today!  It's pretty much like I live in Forks, Washington.  Yes I did just say that.  So today I am posting some photos I took last week when the sun was shining away!

We are lucky enough to have two greenhouse windows in our home!  One is above the kitchen sink.  When I was describing our house to my mom she said "Well if it has a window over the kitchen sink then you will be living in my dream home!".  Truly! :)  

Speaking of mom, she is visiting all next week!  For the first time!  It will just be her because dad has to work.  My mom helps care for my younger brother Ben's baby during the week while him & Jasmine are in school.  So visiting my little forest home will be a tiny vacation for mom.  Tim & I are driving to Chicago to pick her up on Saturday & I'm excited for all the thrifting & relaxing that's in store!! :)

I've filled the window with some of the vintage planters I've collected over the years.  Little wooden bird is from a German shop.

Pretty much we can only do cacti, succulents, & non tempting plants for cats :( Stupid Bea eats ALL OF IT otherwise, and the pukes it up & I get so. mad.  So. Mad.  As a matter of fact, the pink girl in this shot has since been killed off by Bea.  I picked it up at Ikea only a couple weeks ago & thought I could get it past her.  Nope!! 

Cute Berggren sugar & creamer!  Cute Berggren fruit tile!  I collect lots of Berggren!!  I found the little wooden mushroom missing its original figure, so I glued that vintage yellow rabbit on there.  Looks pretty snazzy if I say so myself! ;)  

Ok I've got loads of cleaning to do for the visit.  Even though luckily my mom isn't judgemental at all & could care less if I missed a spot!

Sleepy

Dark rainy sleepy day here in Indianapolis.  Lil is hunkering down for her day long nap ;)