Perfectly Doable.

I have no idea who, if anyone is going to read this post.  Who will know, besides me, that I've done this 99 times before, over the past few months?  I would love to have tons of readers, but the fact that I don't hasn't stopped me.  I love sitting down to write about whatever is on my mind, or how my day went. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and a few months ago I finally made myself sit down and get started.  This is a big deal for me, because I'm not great with follow-through, and I procrastinate a lot, especially when it comes to doing something just for me.

I went to a memorial service for a close family friend, a family member by marriage.  He was in his 60's, but never slowed down.  He was living up until the day he died.  Spending time with family, gardening, traveling, teaching...the comments from friends, family and colleagues were all pretty much the same--he was a great guy who loved life, loved family, loved his friends.  He was always willing to lend a helping hand and he never let his status in life go to his head.  He was a humble man, who loved God and lived as exemplary a life as he could.  Love.  Live.  These words must have been repeated 100 times or more, and on the back of the printed program was a picture of him on a ziplining outing, with a huge (if not crazed!) smile on his face.  This was shortly after losing his son and likely in the midst of a devastating illness, even if we weren't all quite aware of how bad it was.  He squeezed as much living into his 60+ years as he possibly could, and while that may seem like a lot of time to us, I doubt if it does when yours is close to ending.  I think maybe when you live that fully, you don't want it to end because you're having so much fun.  Or, like me, if you have spent a lot of your life waiting--then you regret all the things you haven't done, still waiting for the right time to do them.  If you're going to have one of these problems, I'm guessing you wouldn't want to stand on my side of the line.  But, I'm also guessing that a lot of you are.

So here's what we're going to do!  Starting right now, plan something for tomorrow that you've been putting off, afraid to do, not wanting to do by yourself, or waiting for the right time.  Don't go nuts now!  Some things take preparation, but something simple like seeing a movie you didn't want to go to alone (do it anyway, it's dark in there and nobody cares) is perfectly doable, and you can cross that off your list.  That recipe?  Make your list and get to the store!  That phone call or drop-by visit?  Do it!

 Get yourself a hotel room and chill out with room service, a movie, or a late-night swim.  You deserve it!  Color your hair.  Go to an estate sale and buy somebody's old stuff (my personal favorite!)  Drive out to the middle of nowhere, or go to the beach.  Perfectly doable.  Tomorrow.  Today.  Right now.

I started out not knowing what to write about in this, my 100th post.  Now I'm thinking about number 101!  Perfectly doable...

99 Down...1 more to go!

I can't believe I've kept this up for over three months!  I started out vowing not to miss a post, but I have missed one here and there.  That's probably good, because I likely didn't have anything interesting to say.  So consider that I saved you from undue boredom.  Anyway, I'm having a giveaway on my Facebook page tomorrow in honor of my 100th post (this being 99).  I'm still working out the details, but I'm giving away some cool vintage and new items that I just walked around the house and chose.  That's about it--but I think there's something here for almost everyone, so be sure to enter!  14th Street Vintage on Facebook.  

I really shouldn't admit this, but I will...I ran the kitchen sink over tonight.  I ran the kitchen sink over yesterday too.  Explanation:  the water pressure is crazy low.  It takes about 15 minutes to fill the sink.  I can't stand there and watch it, so I always find something else to do while I wait.  Like sweep the floor.  Make the bed.  Get on the computer.  GET...ON...THE...COMPUTER.  'Nuff said.
This has happened more times than I care to admit, but even if I was willing to admit it, it's happened so many times that I've lost count.  My kids keep telling me to just stand there!  Don't move!  Well, they are asleep and don't know that I have towels all over the kitchen floor right now.  They'll wake up and think the sound of dripping water they "thought" they heard was just a beautiful dream about running under a waterfall or something.  Now to hide these wet towels...

I joined a group of friends who have started a "be positive" movement.  For the month of September, we are not too allow any negative thoughts to enter our positive minds.  Well, I guess the point is not too allow them to take over.  Look on the bright side!  This is how I fared today:

I realized something, that with all the sweating I do, I no longer need moisturizer.

After the lady cut me off in traffic and then had the nerve to give me a dirty look, I felt bad about calling her "stupid" and "ugly", but it was too late to take it back.  Besides which she was stupid and ugly.  I'm positive that she was.

Walgreens was out of the $1 aspirin, but they gave me a coupon for $3 off the $3 aspirin.  Now if they'd had the $1 aspirin, I could have used the $3 coupon on something else.  I didn't bother to tell them that I was aware that I was still losing out.  See me being positive??

I drove all over downtown Chicago today and didn't get frazzled.  Normally, this would frazzle me.  Pedestrians and cab drivers are particularly frazzling.  Good thing I'm so positive.

The positive vibes are oozing out of me and you probably can't take much more, so I'll just stop there.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

I was reminded today of a song and dance I loved when I was about five.  It was called "The Boogaloo".  I did my best rendition of it for my daughter.  It's been a few years--cough--50--cough!  Actually, my memory served me well.  Check it out here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xINhBkpFI  Alvin Cash and the Registers.  Hilarious.
Apparently there's a hip hop dance called the Boogaloo.  Do not be deceived.  This is not the real boogaloo.  One day when my knees are being cooperative, and I'm under the influence of something other than good sense, I'll show you!

My daughter had two great interviews today!  She came out smiling and feeling on top of the world.

During the first one, I ducked into Savers to kill some time and found an $8 pair of Doc Martens.

At the second interview they told her she was overqualified...Yay!  I'm overqualified!  You're not going to hire me!  Being facetious, sort of.  She wasn't hired, but the hiring manager promised to find another place within the company for her because she was very impressed her with credentials.  She was so stoked in fact, that she left the office gleefully clutching her portfolio.  Too bad she left her purse!  And with that, we'll usher in---

The Bad:

My daughter left her purse there.  Forty-five minutes from home.  I have to go back tomorrow to get it.

She dropped her i-phone in the bathtub. We didn't have any rice.  She used couscous instead.

I find out at the last minute that my son can't practice cross-country today unless he has a physical.

We go to Walgreens Take Care Clinic.  Nice!  No waiting!  This is supposed to be the bad section, so let me add that they don't take insurance.  20 minutes and $39 later, he's a happy camper, but I'm not because I'm out $39 and there's an iphone soaking in a bowl of couscous back at the house.

While I was waiting at the second interview, I lost a dollar in the vending machine.  Security guard did his best to destroy it (I think he wanted an excuse) but that bag of Smart Pop was still wedged in there when I left.  Right up against the glass. Mocking me.

I went to pick my son up from cross country practice since he had his physical and was able to participate.  After an hour of watching every other kid get off the activity bus and climb into their parents' waiting cars, I decided to go into the school to see what the problem was.  The security guard said that the cross country kids had left an hour ago.  What?? (I'm getting wound up now!) Oh wait...is this Tuesday?  Why was this just now hitting me?  Yesterday was a holiday.  Today is Tuesday.  Dad picks him up on Tuesday. Oops.

No sooner do I pull into the driveway than he's calling me.  He's at home, but since I'm out can I stop by the store to get him something?  Me: I'm here!  Him: Oh, okay.  So can you go to the store?

By the way, the couscous didn't work.  And finally--

The Ugly:

My fan broke.  You know the one I keep on my nightstand?  Yeah, that one.  This is ugly, but it's going to get REAL UGLY before the night is over.

Moving Right Along...

...from the bottle painting disaster of yesterday.  I'm not even looking at that hideous thing until I figure out how to undo everything I did.  Eewww!

Instead, let me just say that kids make you work.  Even the nearly grown ones.

My son wears khakis to school everyday--it's part of his uniform.  He looks very handsome in his blue blazer, button down and tie, but it gets boring and I feel for him.  To mix things up, we're always on the lookout for khakis.  He's embraced the "skinny" slacks so that's my new mission, to find skinny khakis or anything cool and NOT so uniform.  Last week I found a really nice, nearly new pair of not so skinnys, but really nice American Eagle slacks for him at Savers.  They were too long, so he tossed them in the "no" pile.  A few days later, he says "These are really nice.  I like these.  Can you do anything about the length?"  Not in the mood to sew through four layers of heavy fabric, and unable to locate the sewing machine (don't ask), I went to my old standby...Stitch Witchery.  I put a very nice, even and flat hem in those pants that he couldn't even tell.  Tonight, I asked him if he needed anything ironed for school tomorrow, and he presented those same pants.  The hem was gone!  I know that these hems can fall out if you don't put enough pressure and heat on them, but even with that, the entire thing doesn't usually come out without some help, not including the washer.  So why was it that after just one washing, the whole thing had come out of both legs?  "Oh, I thought that was fabric softener, so I pulled it off".  Fabric softener...all the way around the hem...on both pant legs...and nowhere else.  I found myself wishing he'd left them in the "no" pile because they would have eventually made it to my "yes" pile that I am saving for when he's older, taller, or just wants something new and is willing to take a second look at his rejects.  Sheepishly he says, "sorry Mom...can it be put back in?"  HooBoy!

Today was a pretty boring Labor Day, which I guess isn't so bad.  The idea is not to do any labor, right?  I made plans to attend an art fair, thinking that the weather was going to be cool and breezy.  I don't know what the temperature actually reached, but I know that I was HOT.  Uh, no outside activities for me today.  Instead, I watched a "Minute to Win It" marathon at my mom's house.  Old sitcoms, religious programming and the news are standard fare, along with game shows.  If the Game Show Network is on when I arrive, I am absolutely not interested--until I sit down.  Four episodes in and I realize two hours have passed and I am yelling at the television.  What has my life come to?  Art fair vs. game show and the game show wins?  Oh my, it's worse than I thought.

It's pretty quiet here on 14th Street tonight, except for the incredibly annoying din of the downstairs neighbor's video game with surround sound.  Really?  Is this necessary?  You live in an apartment!  As much as I love being back here, I hope to move again soon.  Maybe I'll return in a few years...when I'm an empty nester, when they install an elevator in this building, and when the video game downstairs is obsolete.  It could happen!

Good Project, Gone Bad...

So I had this perfectly good, useful, and beautiful leather decanter.  When I bought it I thought it would make a great decor item, gift or sale.  When I got around to research pricing, I learned that they are pretty plentiful on the internet.  My great find wasn't such a big deal after all.  That being the case, I felt it was a perfect candidate for painting.  It was smooth, evenly colored and couldn't possibly look anything but great.  Right?  It's about 11" tall and has a great gold medallion decal.  Love it!

I decided to clean it up, not that it looked dirty, but if I was going to paint it, I wanted anything slippery to be removed.  No alcohol?  No problem!  Sea Breeze is just great smelling alcohol anyway.  

The chocolate is to keep me energized---!  BTW, have you ever had these things?  They're delicious, I'm just saying.

Don't face the sun when you're taking a picture.  I knew that. 

Shortly into the project, I realized that my "Jamaican Joy" paint and my leather bottle weren't getting along very well.  I decided to chuck the whole idea and just wash the paint off.  

Not so fast!  This side, which was a little worn anyway, wasn't letting go of that paint.  Soap and water did nothing to get rid of this, so I am at this point, committed to the Jamaican Joy. 

I started over:

Three coats in and I'm not happy!  Why didn't I use a primer?  The leather is devouring this paint.  What to do?  I know!  Leave it alone, go do laundry, and it will miraculously repair itself while I'm gone.  It worked for the shoes, didn't it?

Three hours later...

It is looking better, but the brush strokes just won't go away, and the finish is so DULL.  This is about six coats in.  What have I done?  

Unfortunately, that's all I can show you tonight.  I need more coats of paint and the lighting stinks.  I can restore the luster with some clear acrylic, which I need to use anyway, but this surface is just too porous for this project.  I will forge ahead anyway.  

On another note, I attended my nephew's play yesterday.  He didn't ham it up as much as expected.  I guess he's becoming a serious actor.  It was cute, he was cute, and for ten bucks, it wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  

\

He played an angel.  I won't expose that myth today. 

And last, but not least, I am totally disappointed that I couldn't find orange fabric yesterday even though all the Halloween stuff is out.  Nothing suitable for clothing...not for an adult, anyway.  So the orange skirt didn't happen.  I even went to Salvation Army, looking for an orange skirt, dress or shirt that I could transform but to no avail.  What I did find were these great orange glass tumblers. 

And I did sneak in those white shoes, right before Labor Day.  Goodbye until next summer!

Have a great day tomorrow!

Both Sides Now.

Yes, I totally stole that line from Judy Collins, and don't you dare ask me who that is!

In less than two hours, the sky went from this:

                                                                                To this!

And I'm not sure which one I like best!  

My kids don't get my fascination with clouds, and at times are completely impatient (and embarrassed) with my attempts to stop the car and take pictures of them.  How can you not be intrigued?  If I wasn't needing to watch the road, I stare at them a lot more than I do.  Yes, I was stalking another construction site earlier, but I was downtown Chicago, waiting for my daughter, and hoping to avoid putting any more money in that darn parking box by watching for the meter maid.  After I paid $5 and realized I only had an hour and 15 minutes to park, I decided that I would just sit in the car if my daughter's interview wasn't over by then and watch for him or her.  Four bucks an hour is obscene!  With no ticket writers in sight, I got out of the car and took a few shots of a building renovation going on nearby.  I figured for five dollars, I might as well have something to bring home to show for it.  Not two hours later, I was rushing into the house, trying to avoid the rain that was obviously coming when I decided to grab the camera again.  I mean, those clouds are gorgeous!  And they need no retouching, unlike my "selfies".  

Tomorrow my 12-year old nephew is in a play...an encore performance if you will.  He is reprising his role of the Angel in "Broken Butterfly".  (Typecasting is so overrated.)  Anyway, I'm the only one in our family who didn't see it the first time around.  I understand that he really hammed it up the first time so I'm expecting him to "outdo" himself and give me something to write about.  Not a shy bone in his body and he tends to "go big".  I'm expecting to laugh a lot, even though I don't believe it's a comedy.  

I'm working on a few things here in my "office bed" tonight. 

I know it's awful but it does have Garrett's popcorn!  I really am working...I really am...

Just a reminder, with Labor Day approaching:

You have 3 days left to wear white!  

For my part, I'm wearing the off-white shoes I bought two days ago tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, just to get it out of my system.  I so wish that I had found them sooner! And on the creative front, one simple no-sew project and one painting project to be completed tomorrow.  Hold me to that, okay??  I'll have so much to share!  Happy Long Weekend!

I did it!  I made it five days out of "uniform".  I took my daughter for a job interview, which turned into two interviews, which meant that I spent the whole day away from home when I had big plans to spend most of the day there...cleaning...organizing...figuring out what to do with all the clothes.  But my day didn't go as planned so I guess it's a good thing that I did not resort to the yoga pants and t-shirt, but opted for a cute dress instead. ( Of course I would have been a lot more comfortable in the uniform, so I was smart today and went back to the tried-and-true.  Today, I was ready for anything!)  We spent the down time between interviews at the nearby mall. We ended up getting manis, pedis and eyebrow threading which I swear was done with barbed wire.   And green tea YogenFruz.  I love anything green tea, as I have just finished off my third glass of the day.  My drink of choice at Starbucks is a green tea latte.  Green tea caramels are the absolute best, and yesterday it was time for frozen yogurt.  It got two big thumbs up!  After I dropped her off for interview #2, I decided to check out Savers (it was all I could afford after I left the mall!) and hit the jackpot with three pairs of shoes that actually fit me.  At eight dollars each, I thought I might wait until Labor Day when everything is 50% off, but like plus size clothing, it's equally hard to find vintage or thrift shoes for plus size feet.  In excellent condition, of course.  That's a non-negotiable, unless I plan to revamp the item, like remove something, or paint it--http://14thstreetvintage.blogspot.com/2013/06/paintfast-becoming-my-best-friend.html

I really want to paint the Liz Claiborne black booties that are sooooo comfortable, but I know I'll be wishing I hadn't done that when winter's here and I could have had that fall back pair of shoes available.  I also got a really nice pair of menswear-inspired Enzo Angiolini black lace up oxfords.  Last but not least, a pair of off-white t-strap pumps.  Did I forget to mention that all these shoes have "sensible" heels?  Right, so I will actually WEAR them.  Back to the white shoes, they're already figuring heavily into my go to church outfit for Sunday, one day before Labor Day.  I'll wear them once, then into the closet they will go until next year.  Speaking of my closet, there's actually no room in there, which is bad because there are a few things I'd like to add to it, like an orange skirt.  Don't ask me why, but I started "craving" an orange skirt and blue top just this evening.  I think it's because a friend posted a really pretty pink and green outfit today, which happens to be one of my favorite color combos.  Not sorority girl pink and green, but a nice vibrant kelly green and hot pink.  And so, as my mind works, I just naturally started thinking orange and blue.  Weird.  A trip to the fabric store is in order and I really have a feeling that I'm not letting this weekend go by without whipping up an orange skirt, even though I haven't sewn in YEARS.  I don't even know where the machine is, but I'm not above hand-stitching.  Don't laugh...wait 'til you see it!  And now, since I feel a hot flash coming on, I'm heading to the kitchen for some ice...to dump onto my bed.  Don't judge me!