Tooth Fairy

Last night Ryan and I ate Pizza Hut and talked about the things we love. He named off Ninja Turtles and Universal Monsters and I gave my heart to teeth, miniature silverware, and Jell-O pamphlets. In the midst of all this listing he logged on to Etsy and found this pictured pendant printed with dentures and the phrase "Why'd you buy those false teeth at a garage sale?" How perfect is that? I am so excited for this charm to dangle from a chain and grace my neck. I was lucky because Ryan said he was "in the mood to buy me something" and this is something I certainly can't live without!

Doin' what I want...

This morning I slept in and awoke, not to the sound of an alarm clock, but to the ring of my phone buzzing in a Lemon Thrift call. "Hello my name is James and I know you're closed today but I'm out front and I see some suitcases just sitting here and I'd like to buy them before they just get up and walk away." I told him he could have them both for $5 bucks and he was thrilled. I crawled out of bed, still in my PJ's and went to the door to say hello and get the Lemon money. "Something told me to give you all a call today, I figured someone was home. It's Monday and these suitcases have already made my week!" I gave James a wink with my squinty morning eyes and he told me to have a good day. I am having a good day! I had time to get my eyebrows waxed at "Modern Nails" in Catonsville and then I skidaddled over to school just in time for the production meeting of this semester's big play The Accidental Death of an Anarchist. I am the Prop Designer and they finally gave me a tax exemption paper so I can shop for the show and get refunded for my expenses. Note to self: Need to go to Wal-Mart and/or Erica's Grandma's room for fake limbs, hand-cuffs, and a bomb. The set is looking really spectacular and I can't believe the show goes on in 2 weeks. Nathan, the "assistant set designer", and I went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then I went back to school to work on the CCBC Connection paper. The newspaper photographer, Henry is a crazy man who helps me get pictures of students for blurbs about their life that we publish monthly. Somehow he always tricks me into posing for shots that will NEVER get in the paper... but will somehow show up on my blog.

Blonde Bombshell

So I dyed my hair. After three and a half years of virgin hair, I have bleached it to a white "virgin snow". (It's actually yellow right now... but once I get that Manic Panic! toner it will be the "virgin snow" of my dreams!) Don't hate. With my short haircut the way it was at its natural mousey brown I was starting to look like Justin Beiber and we can't be having that. Now I feel more 90's glam and I love it!

Last night I went to a Halloween party just up the street next to the East Drive Apex gas station. I dressed up like a Dead Housewife (pictures coming later) and premiered my blondie threads. I wanted to post a picture of my new hair, but pictures are only worth a thousand words and I'm going for a million so enjoy the video!

J-E-L-L-O (It's Aliiive)

"When was the last time you used your Jell-o rings or fish-shaped salad moulds? Maybe you don’t even know what those cobwebbed copper hearts and roosters hanging from Grandma’s kitchen ceiling were for. But once upon a time, glistening gelatin towers of layered jewel-toned fruits and shredded cabbage quivered from every table.

Whatever would a gal don an apron for, if not for a tropical tuna salad, congealed in the shape of a pineapple? It would be unthinkable to serve a crab or lobster mousse in anything but a crustacean form. Yes, Virginia, there were days of yesteryear when salads were made out of layers and layers of spun marshmallow, shaped into shimmering swirls, and dyed pink to match your dress. Marshmallows with mayonnaise, no less." -Lorette C. Luzajic ("The Joy of Community Cooking")

I keep having visions of wobbly jell-o desserts in the arms of a beehived woman. This should be my next play! I guess these visions all started when yellowed booklets about the "Joys of Jell-O" kept getting tossed at Objects Found, and I kept diving in the trash after them. Most of the time I cut-up my favorite gelatin images for fruit salad inspired stationery or card sets. But these days I can't bear to part with them! I'm growing quite the collection, but I would never dare try any of these strange recipes piling up in my file cabinet. And if I won't eat it... I'll write it!

Do you believe in MAGIC?

Yesterday I bought this little turntable with Ryan. Oh isn't it darling!? I got it on a whim at the local record shop in Catonsville, TRAX ON WAX (along with a Dexy's Midnight Runner's LP and Patti Smith's Horses). I'm hoping this baby music machine will inspire me to treat my records with more respect and to listen to at least one everyday. Last night Erica and I sprawled out across my bedroom floor and categorized my collection into subdivisions: Instrumental, Big Band, Rock N' Roll, Beatles, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Hip/Modern, Country, British Invasion, etc. I estimated that I had about 150 records (which is a heavy amount, in terms of lifting and moving from apartment to apartment to thrift store) and after we got done counting (and I put at least 20 into a donation pile and gave at least 5 to Erica) we arrived at the number 139. Not bad. I'm trying to cut down on my record buying habit but I have to wonder... what will my 140th one be?

thumbs, cinnamon raisin toast, and a BAZAAR

I have chubby fingers, it's a fact. But today was a good day... and I give it TWO THUMBS UP! First I woke up without delay at exactly 6:08AM. Just in time to get ready with ease, instead of scrambling around like a breakfast egg. Tuesdays are my days with Callie, the little girl I babysit. I make it to her house by 7:20 so her mom can get to work before the traffic hits. Callie and I usually start the morning with bubbly cartoons about talking dogs and pet store animals. Before long it's time for me to toast her some raisin bread with "extra butter sauce". This morning I made her breakfast so deliciously that she ate all of it except the crust! We also had hot cocoa with mini marshmallows. At Callie's bus stop all the girls thought I was cool because their fifth grader friend had a shirt similar to mine, except with a crying orange. Lemons of course are way cooler. I wore my "Mom? Lemon Shirt" today because I was setting up for CCBC'S "Fair Trade Bazaar" to represent our little Lemon Meringue Thrift & Gift (check out our shop blog at www.lemonthrift.com). In the midst of YouTube videos about unfair child labor and the importance of fair trade coffee, clothes, etc. I had a mini yard sale and fluffed up the Lemon's secondhand/save the world policy as sweetly as the meringue on top of a pie. Even though my style was a bit different, the people at the bazaar made me feel like I really did deserve to be amongst their exotic goods crafted by starving women in third world countries. That was nice of them to make me feel so welcome EVEN THOUGH I STUCK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB!

Jim's Kitchen

This morning I woke up kind of grouchy. I had a bad dream, slept in too late, and felt overwhelmed in my own bedroom. Still in the process of organizing, there are colorful boxes and crates everywhere filled with stuff that I can't figure out where to put. I had a wonderful time with Julie at the flea market yesterday (too busy with customers to get much footage) but I ended up spending all of the money I made on more stuff! I didn't go too overboard but now I'm a little stressed because I need to get everything straightened out. I had finally made room with all the junk I brought to the market... only to bring more home!

I'm getting ready to go to Ryan's now so that I can breath and escape my clutter. This sign pictured is the one thing I bought guilt-free from the flea. Our kitchen needed some flair on this wall next to the entrance door and I feel confidant that this is just the thing! I only paid $2 for it and I love the way it has made our kitchenette come together. Hanging below the fork and spoon clock (that I got Samantha for her birthday) I believe that it is a fine tribute to my Dad and his framed grocery list that I also have nearby below the cabinet that holds our drinking glasses.

Friday Morning, Brings the Dawn IN

Here is the desk (donated to Lemon Meringue Thrift & Gift for FREE) and the shabby green vintage cabinet (for a BARGAIN from Objects Found, consignment shop) that has inspired me to blog! I rearranged my whole room so I could have an office up against this wall, and my bunk bedroom on the other side. I feel like a new woman.

Today I work the graveyard ten hour Friday shift at Objects Found. I'll be going in by 10am and out by 8pm. No biggie. I do it every Friday. Afterwards I'm spending the night at my friend Julie Junk Chick's house. I met her from my Lemon Thrift shop and after she spent all her money here and made me laugh hysterically... I decided she was my new best friend. We are going to swim through second-hand all night and then load up her pick-up truck to prepare for tomorrow morning. I'm bringing my video camera so I can attempt a poor attempt at Vlogging. We are setting up at 4:30am at Brummel Brother's Flea Market in Pasadena! And trust me, that should give me plenty of video material. Wish us luck and send some dollar bills our way!