A Very Lucky Week

BJ and I started the day by heading out to an estate sale in Afton, MN. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, but were really only 38 minutes outside of the city. I was worried when Googi, what I affectionately call the Google robot inside my phone, took us off the freeway and onto a street. She has led us astray a few times, but this wasn't one of them thankfully. We were only slightly late for being early and got numbers 16 and 17. When they finally opened the doors for business, a few minutes late mind you- brrr, I elbowed my way through the crowd taking their shoes off (ugh!) to run to the garage, pushed past a lady who had no direction ahead of me, and promptly squealed with joy. It was mine! For only $15, BJ and I are the proud owners of a vintage turquoise Weber grill with cover, accessory attachment, a bag of something that can be set on fire, and some other grilling gizmo with which I'm unfamiliar! Woo-hoo! That's why we wake up early and stand in the freezing cold.

Since we live in an apartment with a wooden balcony, we can't actually use this, but it will be waiting for us when we finally get a house. Not that fire code stops my neighbors from using non-electric grills on their wooden balconies and endangering the whole building... I'm seriously over living here.

Let's rewind to Monday. I had my best day ever at the thrift store. To start, there were a handful of white cats waiting for me. Then I spotted a cast iron bear bank. He will be for sale at our booth at Auntie M's in Hopkins starting Sunday afternoon. I spent about 8 hours this week pricing everything. I can't wait to set up! Anyway, back to the thrift score. BJ walked up to me with the Fire King Blue Heaven utility dish and asked if it was worth buying. Um, yes! After looking through a couple more aisles, I went to the spot where the Pyrex usually is. BJ had already looked there, but since stuff is always being put out, and I generally have a better eye, I thought I'd take a pass through. I looked at a Glasbake dish, decided against it, looked at the lid bins and found nothing. Then I looked back at the Glasbake dish and setting next to it was a 045 black snowflake!!! My jaw dropped, my body flushed, I began sweating, and felt elated all over. When I saw BJ walking toward me across the store I violently waved at him then picked it up and shook it for emphasis. It was a good effing day. But it didn't end there. I was obviously feeling high off these great pick-ups and thought more would be even better. I headed over to the boxes of new stuff to be put out and found Fire King Jadeite. OMFG! Was this seriously happening to me?! Yes, yes it was. I also picked up a couple of NOS boxes of baking shells, and a vintage hand-painted tray. Most of Monday's finds will be at the shop, but I'm still trying to convince BJ that the jadeite should live with me and obviously the snowflake dish is MINE!!! I'm still excited about it.

I finally gave up on my very, extremely dead rosemary tree and moved my kind-of-dead-with-a-new-bud-of-life pitcher plant into the window in hopes that it will grow. This display took their places. I picked up the insulator for really cheap at Arc's which was amazing because they usually price those like they are gold for some reason. FYI Arc's, they are common as hell and a thrift store shouldn't be charging more than an antique store- ever. I put a small light kit in it and it fits perfectly. BJ found the 'M' glass at Goodwill. The silver on it was really tarnished, but a warm bath brought it back to life. The pink cross-hatch glass was from Arc's out in Brooklyn Center which BJ actually saw and I didn't. Thank you! Please ignore the yellow fiber optic grass below. He's really trying to not be dead right now and wants spring to come soon.

Despite the fact that I don't turn 'location' on, my phone still tracks my every move. It suggested to me that Arc's might be work and that it would take approximately 5 minutes to get there. Thanks, Googi. I guess it kind of is work, but it's strange that you suggested it. BJ and I went to 'work' after work and were insanely lucky enough to find a Friendship lasagna pan for only 6.50, but I had a $10 coupon that made it free so I also got a really cute and comfortable pair of mary-jane heels and a neat vintage bracelet with an inlaid design. One of the very friendly workers also sold me on an aluminum tin that had the original lid. It wasn't a hard sell because I was actually thinking on the ride over about something I could use to store pre-made hashbrown patties in the freezer. Done! BJ had actually been trolling eBay and showed me a picture of this pan and I told him that I wanted one, but didn't want to pay for one. Quite serendipitous that we found one for cheap just days later!

Last week, we made a late stop at the Goodwill in Bloomington where I found this Made in Japan porcupine toothpick holder, two adorable matching boy/girl crewel embroidery pictures, and the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album! Now I really need a record player.

I'll leave you with this image of hope for an early spring. Don't worry, I finally found everything I needed at Menards, including the first four seasons of Roseanne, so the revamp of the gossip desk is not far away. There is also something else fun I have planned that was actually the beginning of my very lucky Monday. Stay tuned!

Kitschy Cats Vintage

I'm very excited to announce that BJ and I now have a space at Auntie M's in Hopkins, MN! We're calling this little shop Kitschy Cats Vintage. We move in on February first with some great Pyrex and other vintage kitchen items. I have big plans for a super fun display, but I won't be able to get it up until my birthday weekend at the end of February. Not to worry, we found some temporary accommodations for our wares and plan to work with that for the first few weeks. I'm happy to finally have a reason to be a professional thrifter! Not to mention all the space I'll get back after I get all that awesome junk out of the studio, which is slowly becoming a walk-in closet! >_<

As I've told you before, I'm a saver by blood and could easily cross the hoarder line. Some Most of the things we pick up will be going to our shop space, but there are a few things that need to be part of the Misco personal collection. Last weekend we hit an estate sale, scored big on Craigslist, and visited Stillwater for the first time together! The estate sale was a pink sale! I found a full set (minus lids) of pink Pyrex fridgies, but the 501s were DWD beyond recognition. They were what you might call fauxpal, so they stayed behind. The 502 is pretty bad, but the 503 is decent enough to display. I chose this sale for this poor Pyrex set and a gorgeous Westinghouse roaster. The roaster appeared in an original airing of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Presents the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show.) I really wanted it!

Isn't is beautiful? It was waaaaaay out of my price range, but probably fair retail. It didn't have any of the loaf pans, but did have the original instruction manual. The cart was also on my list, but I'd never pay what they wanted for yellow; it just doesn't match my color-scheme. Boo estate sales with antique store prices.

Saturday morning we headed out to Wisconsin to pick up New Dots and 444 Friendship from Craigslist ads that I've been eyeing for the longest time. Seeing as how the Friendship bowl lasted from at least the end of last summer until we finally picked it up in January, I was confident that a Starburst with a big price tag would last until we came up with the money to buy it. That was one of the big things in the works I mentioned earlier. Well, it's gone and my Pyrex dreams did not come true. I can't even pretend that I'm not crushed about it, but I have to move on I guess. I did complete my pink gooseberry set so that's something. When we went to Auntie M's to make our vendorship official, I caved and got a pair of cat eye glasses.

I was hoping to find the cups to match my atomic flower (aka 50's pot leaf) snack set I got at Arc's last year. I actually found a bunch in Stillwater, but they were all being sold with plates that I don't need. I may have bought this NOS set if I hadn't still been holding out for one of my holy grail Pyrex pieces, but I didn't know then that it had slipped through my fingers. Sigh...

We managed to find a few neat things for the shop during the two 50% off MLK sale days at Arc's. The day before the sale started, I found a really old clear, etched Pyrex with the dollar sign logo and a cradle. It's amazing that something made of glass can still be in such beautiful condition when it is nearly 100 years old!

I didn't manage to start on my gossip bench yet. We went to Menards but couldn't find the staples or sandpaper for manual sanding. We should be making another trip this weekend and hopefully it is more successful. It's one of those places that you can go to with a list and leave with everything but what you went for. I've got the added project of the shop display. I can't wait to post about the progress of both projects! It will be a busy weekend for us. We've got Twinsfest and the I Love Lucy stage show, and maybe even an estate sale tomorrow morning. Thankfully, it's supposed to be warm!

Can't Stop, Won't Stop Craigslist

That beautiful baby above is what started my affinity for Craigslist. One morning, after scrolling through pictures on Instragram and noticing someone's super awesome Pyrex score from Craigslist, I thought to myself "why didn't I ever think of that?!" So I decided to do a little looking myself with my favorite keyword. I almost died when I saw this listed for only $8! I even picked up a few Shiny Brites while there.

Of course, it can't be all great. This past week someone was a complete b-face and sold something I had already agreed to buy from her to someone else. Because I couldn't go and pick it up that night she thought it would be polite to pretend to have to speak to her husband to set up another time and increased the price of the listing $10, then gave her address to someone else who was able to go to a creepy neighborhood in the dark with cash. She had obviously planned to just not contact me again, but I really wanted these bowls (Butterprint Cinderellas) to complete (and upgrade in a couple cases) my set. I'll definitely remember not to deal with her in the future. The rest of her Pyrex was brown and ugly anyway, so good luck with that ish.

I thought I'd search for an old chair I could use at the computer in my future house. Imagine a heavy wooden rolling chair from a smokey PI scene from a 40's film Noir. I passed on one from Urban Cottage way back, but the only one I found on Craigslist was about 3 times as much. Pass again! For some reason, this cute little gossip seat came up in the search. The price was right so we picked it up. It needs some major TLC and has obviously been recovered at least once, and will be again. There is an excessive assortment of staples, furniture tacks, and push pins- that should be fun! >_< I've got Menard's giftcards so I might pick up some staples this weekend. I'll try to remember to take in-progress photos to document the process.

I've learned something about Pyrex indirectly through Craigslist. There was a baking set made to coordinate with the Horizon Blue bowls. It came with a light blue loaf pan which a lot of eBay sellers try to pass off as turquoise, knowingly or not. I found a comparison picture of them side by side and the colors are quite different. Beware. Since I saw so many listed as turquoise/aqua on eBay, I thought one I found on Craigslist was just that. The seller thought it was light blue. He was right. I'd never seen this set before and only found the loaf pans listed turquoise/aqua. I found a picture of the set with the original box in a completely unrelated search and remembered he had the other two pans in the set for sale. For whatever reason he just had to sell two loaf pans as a set together instead of keeping the true set together: loaf, cake, and lasagna. I felt really bad, but we had to call off the deal because I didn't want to pay retail for pans I didn't want in my personal collection. Sorry, man.

Since we were out in Burnsville for the chair, I thought we might as well go to Unique (Valu Village.) Lucky for us it was 25% off day because everything was priced so crazy that I needed a discount to even consider making a purchase. Not a piece of Pyrex in sight, but I did find these cute canisters. The design looks like Franciscan Bursts. One can has a scratch across the front and they all have some minor rusting inside, and they're yellow. I wasn't sure if I wanted them because they were all priced separately and according to size, bleh. I decided with the discount I could at least get my money back if I end up not wanting to keep them. This thrift store was actually trying to get $3 for empty LalaLoopsy mini boxes. Sometimes people donate garbage they don't want to throw away themselves, it doesn't mean you have to sell it...

But the day was made all better because we made a last minute trip to Arc's before heading home and found a Butterprint fridgie!

Well, I'm off to go cry in the most exterior corner of the apartment because I'm tired of listening to my neighbor howling. There's no place like owning a home, there's no place like owning a home, there's no place like owning a home.

This Is Why They Make Long Underwear

Today most schools across the state are closed, except for St Paul- they made it optional. Do you see this? Feels like -30 degrees Fahrenheit. I only live here because I can't afford to leave. Thankfully I'm sitting in a nice warm southerly sun. If it weren't for the fact that I'm human and can't hibernate (and also abhor sleeping,) well then I'd be doing just that because this is terrible! I received two pairs of thermals for Christmas. At first I thought it a bit strange because I most certainly didn't put long underwear on my list, but of course they come in handy.

We decided to visit both Richfield and Bloomington Arc's over the holiday weekend. Someone who collected shakers must have recently bought the farm because I found a ton of cute made in Japan sets. The people who package them for the floor are geniuses- most of them were broken because they were put together loose in a plastic bag then thrown in a tote with all the others. The little pandas(?) in the back left of the picture were too cute to leave behind, but one of them is broken in two places and was already repaired in one of the spots before. Because of that, I think I'll repair it again. The stump is a little sugar dish with a spoon!

Do you remember when I was going through withdrawals because someone picked up a butterprint 403 at Arc's and that someone wasn't me? I found a super nice one in Hopkins that came with a 401 and 402 so I think this will end up being the better deal anyway. Now I just need to tell myself that I really, seriously don't need doubles because my apartment is getting smaller.

I found two Franklin Mint outfits for my Lucy doll that my mom gave me a million years ago when it came out. I always wanted the trunk and the dresses, but they were crazy expensive. I'm fighting the urge to take out the jewelry and play with her. 

I decided to take one last look around before checking out and I'm so glad I did! This Lucy Show paper doll set is so much fun. It doesn't have the stands and seems to be missing some of the clothes, but it's still perfect for my collection. I picked up a frame for it on clearance from Michael's and hung it up next to my I Love Lucy comic and People magazine from her death. I think I'm going to put Lucy and Viv in another frame because they simply need to be seen!

Guess who's finally going to see the I Love Lucy stage show at the end of this month?! I've been waiting for them to come here for years and was almost ready to just go see it in Chicago until I got notice that Minneapolis made the tour! 

There are some exciting things that are in the works that I hope all pan out. In the meantime, I need to go get in shape for the warm months I'm dreaming about.

Artist Promotion!

New year, new artist promotion! There is free worldwide shipping over at my Society6 shop until January 11, 2015 at midnight Pacific Time. Free shipping excludes frame art prints, stretched canvases, wall clocks, and rugs. I've added a new design inspired by pink stems Pyrex. Go check it out! (Only available through link.)