It's a Purse. It's a Planter!

A Facebook friend posted a picture of purses repurposed into planters onto my page.  She knew that I was in "gardening mode" since I'd been posting so many pictures of my yard.  Once the weather finally warmed up for good, I went a little nuts with buying flowers.  The other day I went out and bought marigolds and zinnias, which is nuts since they are so easy to grow from seeds, but it was too late for that and I really wanted that old school feeling I get when I see flowers that were popular amongst the gardeners in my neighborhood.  My mom cared nothing about gardening, quick to point out that she got enough of it when she was "growing up in the country".  Nope, she never planted a thing, but became well known for her amazing green thumb INSIDE the house.  Sweaty windows and all, she latched on to growing houseplants when I was about eight and I have to say that it's the only legitimate hobby I ever remember her having.

I looked to my neighbors on either side for guidance.  Irma Steele, the nice lady who moved in on one side of us was a mail carrier and a swinging single gal. She really liked me, and I liked her style.  Out of uniform, she dressed in sharp pantsuits and had a boyfriend named "Sully".  He smoked cigarettes, drove a convertible and listened to jazz.  He was cool.  She was too, but she kept the down-home vibe going in her yard.  An avid gardener, she gave me my first cabbage plant and from there, I was hooked.  I never went far with the vegetable gardening because my mom hated them.  She said that gardens attracted snakes and---you know the rest---"I got enough of that when I was growing up in the country".

Miss Steele also gave me red Salvia plants, although I don't think that's what she called them.  I tended to my four salvia and one cabbage religiously, and grew to love my "garden".  We had a white lilac bush, a forsythia bush and one of those red sticky bushes by the back door.  A few years later my Dad let me plant gladiolas which provided many years of statuesque beauty right outside our living room window.  I met a girl named Alice when I was about ten and her family was from the south.  Alice was like a little old lady and she knew a lot about gardening.  She shared some mint plants with me one summer and little did I know that I'd have a yard full of mint in a couple of years.  On the upside, our "grass" smelled really good.  I have mint planted now, but I'm careful to keep it in a container, and trimmed so it doesn't accidentally find a spot in the yard to start an invasion.

Mrs. Reid, our neighbor on the other side introduced me to marigolds and zinnias.  These are very simple, old-timey flowers, but their simple beauty and vibrant color still make me smile.  I've planted marigolds here and there, but not since childhood have I even bothered to look at a zinnia.  When I saw them recently at Home Depot, they reminded me of my neighbors back in the 60's and 70's when summer was a time to sleep late, eat homemade popsicles, round up a crew to play jumprope and when I just wanted to be alone, tend to my tiny garden. The memories have been almost overwhelming this year, and I couldn't leave without them, but since I've been planting so much, I had a little trouble figuring out where to put them.  As it so happened, I finally got around to switching out my purse today.  I've been carrying a straw bag for everyday, and while the straw is in great shape, the handles are torn, probably from carrying too much.  I really felt like making something today, so I got my fix by taking my friend's idea of purse-planter and making a special spot for my flowers.  I just sprayed the straw with clear enamel several times, used plastic garbage bags to line it and put the tray of flowers inside.  I will plant them in a rectangular pot when I find a lightweight one, to stretch the flowers out better, but I needed to get this done.  It was quick and looks so pretty!

And tomorrow is tea party day.  I still don't know what I'm wearing but you will be one of the first to know!

Inspiration.

Inspired by a POTTED PLANT, Thriftanista in the City rocked a floral/stripe combo today that looked absolutely lovely, especially on this bright, sunny day.  Always extra

careful about patterns, and especially mixing them, I figured I would just worship it from afar.  But I got up and dressed for church, and through an  inconvenient series of events, ended up just staying home.  I wore red, which I rarely do, and NEVER red lipstick.  It does complement my skin, but for some reason, red makes me feel so CONSPICUOUS.  I think I may have turned that corner:

With the extra time on my hands, I decided to make myself a bowl of shrimp and grits.  It was delish!

 Now what to do?  I decided to do a little potted plant perusing of my own. 

I found this pretty begonia by the garage which I potted a month or so ago. Turquoise and red doesn't get any better than this and is always the perfect one-two punch.  BUT, I've already done that one:

This is SO last year!

 You really can find inspiration in the strangest places!  It was no surprise that one would find color inspiration in the garden, but fashion inspiration?  I don't think my fashion mind is quite that creative, but having absolutely no shame when it comes to the sincerest form of flattery, I totally stole IMITATED this fashionista's fashion forward pattern mix.

Not the hit that my red dress was, my photographer/daughter was truly appalled at this getup.  In her defense---what you can't see because I cropped it out, are the ethnic pattern pants and floral pumps.  Nope, couldn't take it that far.  Please stay aware of your limitations.  There's plenty out there for all of us to rock.  I have on multi-colored beaded earrings, but you can't see them very well.  If you could, then the light blue and pink bracelets would make more sense.  The yellow is to complete the bumblebee effect, which is exactly what I was going for...:)  This tunic is actually long enough to wear as a dress, but then I'd have to show my knees and that's not going to happen.  As I said, there's plenty out there for all of us.  Regardless of how narrow or wide your lane may be, try to stay in it.  You'll thank me for this advice someday.

And now, back to World Cup action. We're going into at least 30 minutes of extra time. I miss my soccer watching buddy but he's on a two-week vacay with his dad.  My daughter is eating her way through Chicago at The Taste.  It's just me and Gizmo who's not very good company since he sleeps most of the time.  You know what happens when I have time on my hands.  I'm either going to make something or tear something down.

Or try on more clothes.

Style Challenge, Tea Party Style.

 What did I get myself into?  I chose the style challenge this week, and because I have a bridal shower to attend this month with a "Tea Party" theme, I decided that my fellow Thriftanistas could assist me in finding a look, via the weekly challenge.  For my part, I woke up on Saturday with an idea of what I would wear, then couldn't find my white skirt.  Not much of an outfit without that, so I had to improvise.  Nothing new there...

#TSC Style!

 I found this skirt at Unique for about two dollars a month ago  and I loved it, but wasn't surprised that I didn't really like it on.  I'm glad I gave it another chance because when I paired it with this sheer wrap top from WalMart, even I was happy with the outcome.  The shoes are Guess, and the ankle strap was missing from one of them, so I took the other off.  These are not sensible shoes, so they are for picture-taking purposes only.  The bag is a cute clutch that isn't vintage, even though it says so. 

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful...LOL.  HAD to buy this bracelet!
Lucky for me it was $1 at the thrift store!

I'm not sure if this is the look I'll be wearing to the shower, but I'm definitely loving it. Maybe next Sunday...speaking of which...

 I thrifted this split skirt (or in the vernacular of Thriftanista in the City, culottes) for Syd a couple of years ago.  Fun fact:  She was wearing it while working at the State Capitol last year and was stopped by the Capitol fashion blogger.  I'm not sure who got the biggest surprise.  The blogger-- that the skirt cost just $2, or my daughter-- that Illinois has a Capitol fashion blog.  I've been there and Springfield, Illinois isn't the most fashionable spot.  Just sayin'...

Back to the outfit, sorry!  I thrifted the neon Hollister crop top for .33 last week (that's thirty-three cents for those of you who don't trust your eyes), and the sweater was thrifted as well.  I don't even remember when or where, but trust that it cost no more than $2.  The shoes are retail from Bergner's, clearanced at $10, and the bracelets and shades are from the ever-growing collection.  I'm thinking of making a wall hanging out of bracelets.  Storage space is at a premium.

And of course I had to get in on the act.  Hey, it's Sunday and you know I roll sharp to church!  I bought the dress a year or so ago at Kohl's and it's one of my favorites.  I've worn it a lot!  Bracelets, bag, you already know and I had to take the shades from Syd because we were so bright today we were blinding each other.  The leather clutch is from a swap and it never disappoints.  It's tan, but just orange enough to pop against pretty much everything AND it's buttery soft.  I even put on the dreaded "button" earrings, every round-faced girls nightmare, but I made my peace with them some time ago.  I'm not missing out on all that colorful vintage bling.  (The painted shoes keep surfacing.  Isn't it interesting that no matter how much you have in your closet, a few items just keep jumping out in front?)

Tomorrow it's back to work and back to sensible everything.  BUT, there's always another style challenge.  I can't wait to see what next weekend will bring!

First Annual Alley-Cue!

I get this text message on the 3rd that says I'm invited to an "Alley-Cue"on the 4th.  Leave it to my niece to come up with a cool name for what amounted to her taking over the parking lot and the alley behind her building.  Along with the downstairs neighbor, they managed to turn the lot into a block party for only their families and friends.  How the police department managed to stay away from the cars parked up and down the alley escapes me, given that there are cameras everywhere that can ticket you for parking illegally or speeding with just the click of an unseen lens.  I guess it's all in who you know, and I want to know who she knows.  But I was happy enough to be there...we had a lot of fun!

That's me in the red shirt with the super cheesy grin.

This party was BYOE----bring your own everything.  I threw some brats, buns, brownies and iced tea in a cooler and I was off!  I knew there would be sharing, so while I enjoyed a turkey burger, spaghetti, salad and fresh fruit, I have no idea what became of my contribution.  I hope someone enjoyed it.  There was plenty of  music, laughter, dancing, eating and drinking, and a few really cute star-spangled kids.  Yay!  Leave it to my niece to throw a party together in one day and have a hundred people show up.  I can't pull that off so it's nice to be on the guest list of someone who can.

Driving home on the expressway, I caught the fireworks displays of about 15 different cities and towns, finally stopping just in time to catch a grand finale.  Happy Me.  We need more holidays.

Style Can Be A Challenge.

Almost one year ago today, I spent an afternoon visiting with my childhood friend at her house which sits on a beautiful lake.  The timing wasn't planned, but when I looked back at my post from that day, it was June 30 of last year.  I hadn't been to her house since then. 

We had great, fresh and healthy fare.  She's a bit of a health nut and grows and makes her own everything.  The freshly made hummus and vegetable soup were light, yet filling, the fresh fruit with yogurt and the warm from the oven ginger snaps rounded the meal off nicely.  I have tried to figure out how she has the time for this, with a full time job and four girls, but cooking is one of her hobbies.  I guess she spends about as much time at it as I do decorating and re-decorating rooms.  So while we both devote a lot of our time to hobbies, hers results in a great home-cooked meal every time.  Mine just results in something pretty to look at but puts nothing in your belly.  I tried to get a few freebies from her, namely one of her antique tables, but no luck there.  I did leave with a pot of dirt and a few "babies" from her spider plant.  In a few weeks I'll have a viable "spidey" of my own. 

These things are super easy to grow.  I haven't had one in years!

While I was there, she invited me to a tea party/bridal shower for her daughter.  She says that I have to wear "a sundress and a hat".  Sundresses aren't in the current rotation because I'm not digging my arms these days, and I never wear hats because I have a big head.  There, I said it.  But I consider it a challenge, which I love.  I'll report on my progress...
In the meantime, I took on another #TSC Style Challenge, and this time it was all about the floral shorts.  Shorts aren't in my rotation either, and haven't been for many years (like 20), but I dug around in my closet and came up with this:

I was very leery about the pattern mixing.  I've seen it done well, I've seen it overdone, and I've seen it ridiculous.  I am also very conscious, sometimes self-conscious about how "trends" look on me.  At my age and current size, this could easily become "clownish" but I was surprisingly satisfied with the way this turned out and kept it on all day, ditching the shoes because this pair isn't quite sensible enough for me. 

It's been a few weeks since I posted my "Super Sunday" outfit.  Today's theme was black and white.  Super easy--just hard to make a decision.  

I just realized I'm not wearing bracelets!  First time for everything...
I also see just how unsightly the driveway weeds are.  More work...

The accessories are all thifted, including the vintage silver and tortoiseshell bag and the see-through and silver shoes. I found them about two years ago and this is the first time I've worn them.  They were more comfortable than I'd expected, so I'm adding them to the "sensible" list.  

Feel free to show me your Tea Party style because I'm open to suggestions.  I'll be thinking about it all week, in between working, cleaning and gardening.  I'll feed my family too, but there is no homemade hummus or warm ginger snaps in our future...

Thrift Style Challenge!

This amazing outfit was posted on Facebook as a style challenge.  The inspiration is a web series from Ghana called "An African City".  I've never seen it, but apparently the fashion alone makes it worth watching.  We were challenged to create a look using thrift store finds, which pays homage to this one.  Well aware that entries were due on the 21st, I was still super surprised to learn this morning that today was the day.  It sounded like everyone was in a similar predicament, and had nothing to show.  Not wanting to be a quitter, I took a quick look in my closet, which was all I needed to tell me that I had NOTHING.  Plan B--my daughter's closet.  I asked her where "that Stevie Nicks top" was that I bought from a thrift store back in the winter.  Although she said at the time that she would "probably" wear it, it remained unworn until today.  I figured that at least I'd have something flowy to mimic the attitude of the shirt in the picture.  We dug it out and I was happy to see that it was still as awesome as I remembered.  Alas, no pencil skirts in her wardrobe, so now what?  Amazing, at least to me, that I'd picked up this Express maxi skirt at the Free Store.  She really had no plans of wearing it, but we both agreed that this outfit was going to be a winner.  I was thinking that this shirt was navy blue, but you may remember that navy and black are pretty much the same to me.  This midnight blue skirt with the black lace overlay made it very clear that the shirt was indeed black.  Since the resemblance to the outfit above was still quite a "stretch", she put her hair up so at least that was a match.  I also wasn't happy that our version wasn't really summery, so we pushed up the long sleeves which added some drape to the arms as well as made it more appropriate for summer.  The long sides are super dramatic and gave the top a similar look and feel.  We added silver sandals and bright vintage bangles to bring even more summer into the look.  We went outside to try a few shots, and I decided to grab a pair of shades.  I figured I'd get a pair of vintage tortoiseshells, but found this vintage blue pair with a slight cat-eye and super dark lenses.  The blue and black theme was solidified.  The purse pulled the whole thing together with black, silver, and bling.  It was amazingly simple and so much fun to find all of this right in our own closets and in about ten minutes.  This was one of those days that validated my whole obsession with collecting fashion that I either can't or rarely wear:

That this top has a cropped "feel" was a bonus.  The show of skin brought it even closer to the vibe of the original, but is covered enough for my very conservative daughter to feel comfortable in.  

It was such a fickle day weather-wise that every time the sun and clouds switched places, the color of the skirt changed, which was another pleasant surprise.  What I had originally conceived as a darker, more serious version of the style inspiration, turned out to be it's sophisticated and sexy cousin.  I always surprise myself by being more of a fashionista than I'd ever considered, but I guess if you're creative, it just spills over into everything.  For that gift, I am extremely grateful.

I see more style challenges in my future!

No Place Like Home!

 As much as I like to dine out, a great home-cooked meal trumps everything else. My kids seem to agree because I've never heard them say "oh can't we just go out to eat?" when they see me in the kitchen cooking.  I am really lucky that they have never been picky and are always open to trying new things.  Today I tried dandelion greens for the first time.  It seems a little wrong that I just paid someone to get rid of the dandelions in my yard, only to go to Whole Foods and cough up $2.99 a pound for them.  

I knew they were bitter, so rather than using my "pinch of this" method, I consulted Epicurious for a recipe.  It was pretty normal greens preparation, but they suggested boiling them for ten minutes before sauteeing.  Sea salt, a pinch of red pepper flakes and a little onion sauteed in olive oil before adding the greens:

As with all greens, they cooked down to barely anything.  I didn't buy a lot since I wasn't sure about how they'd taste.  It turned out to be just enough for all three of us to decide that this was not a dish I should try again.  I love greens--collards, kale, mustards, turnips--but dandelion greens were not my faves.  I was curious, so I got that out of my system.  Nope.  Not awful, but not on the short list for a repeat performance.

Now this!  This is a winner in my book.  I've been making a lot of iced tea this spring/summer.  A few weeks ago I bought lavender/honey tea bags and made iced tea.  Thumbs up all the way.  Sixteen tea bags gone within a week--we couldn't get enough of it.  The following week I couldn't find the same brand, so I went with a lavender tea and figured it couldn't be that different.  Nope again.  It was okay, mixed with my favorite bottled green tea, but no more lavender tea for us until I remember where I bought the first box.  While shopping the other day I found this.  Sounded good to me since I love ginger, and turmeric is really good for you. I didn't even realize I was buying iced tea bags, but was pleasantly surprised to find three gigantic bags inside.  Add this to the list of summer teas that we'll be drinking.  Delish!

I found a use for this vintage thermal carafe that I bought a few weeks ago.
I knew I needed it!  I was able to add the tea while it was hot, add some
ice cubes and put it right into the fridge.  And it's pretty...

 We love salmon in this house and eat it frequently.  I always play around with the seasonings, but it 's always good.  I used a lot of parsley, a little bit of honey, a squeeze of fresh lemon and I even poured in some of the tea.  My son ate it again today for lunch.  Tastes as good as it looks!

I found this window screen in my mom's basement and it gave me an idea for these eight-inch letters that I bought last week with no real purpose in mind.  In honor of my favorite place.  Now, what color should I paint it??

There really is no place like it.

I'm totally enjoying my little house, my big yard and my fantastic children.  So happy together!