Heroes

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In memory of the heroes who gave their lives so that we could be free

We will never forget

Rest in Peace

 

And in memory of my dad, Ray

1919-2004

Sgt, US Army, World War II

Good Conduct Medal, Phillipine Liberation Ribbon with One Bronze Star, American Defense Service Medal, Asiastic Pacific Campaign Medal

Rest in Peace, Dad.

A Good Night's Sleep

Hi to all!

You may have thought that I fell off the face of the earth, but I've been busy working, and also spent some time doing this:

That's right, I drove down to OC last Friday.  This is actually light traffic for LA.  I went down for my nephew's fiancee's (my new niece!) bridal shower, so I was able to visit (briefly) with family.  I would have liked for it to have been a longer visit, but I had to get back to work a 12:00 noon shift on Sunday.  Such is the life of one who works retail.


In my off-time, I've been working in the garden, working on my bathroom redo, and working on cleaning and fixing up my bedroom.

I collect a lot of stuff that is best housed in a bedroom: vintage costume jewelry, hats, and purses.  Additionally, I inherited a lot of cool vintage things from my mom: gloves (that I can't wear because her hands were so tiny - but I can't bear to part with them), more purses, more hats, a dresser set, etc.  So, since the only rooms you've ever seen in my house are the living room and kitchen, I thought I would share a few photos of my still-incomplete bedroom:

I LOVE my art deco vanity. It didn't have the original vanity stool, so I'm always on the lookout for an orphaned one.

I inherited my grandmother's bedroom furniture (bed, dresser & nightstands).  My mom said that Grandma bought the set in 1948. In the photo below, you can see from the image in the mirror that I forgot to clean the junk off the top of the little chest that's next to my bed.  Oh well, at least the bed is made.  I can't say that that's always the case.

You can never have too many purses - even though I don't have much money to put in those purses these days : )

Just in case you're wondering, yes, I do actually use my purses. 

And you can never have too many poodles:

And you can never have too much pink:

And you can never have too many puppies:

These are the only puppies I can have right now.  After doing some research, I figured that it will cost about $150 to adopt from the local SPCA.  Of course this includes all the shots, spaying, microchip and dog license, so it doesn't seem unreasonable, but it's going to take me a few months to save for it. So I'm putting all my spare change in an old coffee can.  This dog will be paid for with rolls of pennies and quarters.

A few more images:

I just love this fan.  It was my mom's.  On the side of it is printed "Made in Occupied Japan." 

I don't remember where I originally saw this idea to use old jewelry as tiebacks for curtains.  Both sets of beads were my mom's.

Eventually, I would like to get rid of the metal closet doors (they just don't look right with the vintage stuff).  Also, I'd like to have a shelf made to fit over the closet so I can display my old hats.  Right now, they're stored in hat boxes.  I also need to figure out where the dog's bed is going to go.  My bedroom is pretty small, and I'm already using up most of the space.  Maybe I should just give the dogs (because I already know that I won't have just one) their own room. 

Hope you enjoyed the bedroom tour.  Hope everyone has a great weekend (and a safe one, too!)  Thanks for your visit, and for your comments.  I always enjoy reading them.

Makeovers

I'm a bad blogger.  I didn't realize that it had been so long since I last posted.  I've been battling a slight cold for several days, which partly explains my absence.  So glad the cold isn't severe, since I have to go to work with it, but it's enough to be so irritating in the hot weather we're having.  Here in Visalia, summer has come early.  It's 95 degrees today, and I've been told that once we get the hot weather, it won't cool down again until October.  The a/c is on overtime.  I dread my next electric bill.

In the meantime, I've started a new project: bathroom makeovers.  Both of the bathrooms in my house are pretty boring.  They're both painted white, and while I could be in a painting-rooms-by-myself frame of mind, my body is definitely not ready for that.  Since I stand for long periods of time at work, my back and feet are killing me.  A large dose of Ibuprofen and soaking my feet in epsom salts are in my immediate future.  Painting walls is not.  Once my feet and back feel better, I can start thinking about paint.

But even though I'm not ready to paint the walls, that doesn't mean that I cannot do a makeover on both bathrooms.  All for $15 or less.  Yeah, I know, I'm cheap frugal.  Well, I'm trying to be, anyway.

This is the main bathroom before I moved in:

Kind of blah, isn't it?

I haven't done much with it, other than clutter the counters.  It's time for a change.

Since the light fixture kind of reminds me of the lights in the actor's dressing rooms at the theatre, I've decided on a theme of Old Hollywood Glam.  If you've read any of my Cinema Sunday posts, you'll know that I am a HUGE fan of 1930's-50's movies.  My favorite actors & actresses are all of this time period, and I do love me some glam!!

It's going to be over the top, done in jewel tones, with grey, partly because I already own grey towels and a grey & white paisley shower curtain, (neither of which I can afford to replace) and partly to match the black and white photos.

Some inspiration:

Myrna, Lana and Jean.  Turquoise satin.  Pink iridescent glassware.

"The Women" (great movie), Fred & Ginger, sweet Audrey.

Rita and Joan the flapper.  Faux mercury glass candlestick.  Aqua glass.

The cupboard & drawer fronts will get some paint, although I haven't decided on the color yet.  The Hollywood Glamour Girls will be framed in silver.  Maybe the frames will get some glitter.  And I might use that leaf fabric for a small valance at the window.  The fabric was my mom's, and it dates to the late 50's.

And the back of the door needs something special done to it.  Maybe a large collage.

The other bathroom is quite small and is off the laundry room.  I don't use it very often, but that's partly because it's so dreary. I have done nothing with it.  I didn't even put the shower curtain up. I haven't quite decided on a theme or color scheme for it.  Maybe the seashore.  Light colors, but definitely color.  After 25 years of living with white (well, off-white anyway) walls, I've got to have some color!

I'll post photos as I get stuff done.

In other news, I have spinach, cilantro and chives growing.  I haven't seen any signs of the bell pepper I planted, so I'm quite disappointed in that.  Once I clear my last patch of weeds, tomato, zucchini and cantaloupe are going in.  At least I won't starve this summer : )

Thank you all for your visiting and for the sweet comments you leave.  I really enjoy reading them, and hope you'll continue to visit.

Have a great day.