My Perfect Day

Do you ever wonder about how others spend their day?


I think about people in other countries and wonder what their routine is day to day. Or what their perfect day looks like.

I can sometimes wish for or even envy other's lifestyles but I know that I am where I am supposed to be in life and for now it is taking care of my family and my home.

Being home most of the time doesn't mean that I am idle or doing just the things that I have to, like cleaning and laundry. For me, it means I am doing things that I LOVE and that usually keep me very busy!




My Perfect Day....


....starts with a kiss goodbye from my husband Frank (at 6:15 a.m.!)


....is filled with meow's by two hungry kitties....

....starts with a good number on this....

....a strong cup of Joe....Trader Joe's, that is. I do love a cup of Starbuck's Blonde as a treat now and then, but at $11.99 a pound compared to Trader Joe's $4.99 a pound, guess which one I drink every day? Trader Joe's Dark Roast is excellent too.

....a yummy, healthy breakfast....12 grain toast with peanut butter and sliced bananas, all from Aldi's. We are Jif peanut butter fans in this house but I finally tried Peanut Delight from Aldi's. Absolutely no difference in taste. It just happens to be $2.99 for the same size Jif for $5.29.

....a cha-ching or two on this......my phone is set to cha-ching whenever I get a sale in my Etsy shop!

Then it is off to the computer. I have to renew items in my Etsy shop, list new items, hopefully have an order or two to process and also check my email. Oh, and write a blog post now and then!


A perfect day is when my new computer does not act up or go out because of our local service.


My "office".......my co-worker is usually with me all day.

Some perfect days are grocery shopping days, some are out with girlfriends or errand days and others are thrifting days. Love those the most. Even better to have thrifting days with girlfriends!

....a perfect day is filled with a visit from Chloe and JC......

....or a cookie decorating day with Cassidy....





My perfect day......


....includes baking, one of my passions.  I may try a new recipe or make an old favorite. My son wants dessert every night, but I can't deliver that every day! Occasionally I  bake for our community theatre or some other event. This Ho Ho cake is a favorite.



....starts winding down when my son arrives home from school around 2:30 and my husband arrives home around 4:30.

All of my boxes and filler to ship the items for my Etsy
shop come from the dumpster at Frank's job.

....is anticipating dinner time.....these days I am cooking one healthy meal for me and one manly meal for my husband and son.


Mine....

Beet Salad

Theirs....

......is claiming my spot on the couch for the rest of the evening watching this....

or this.....

My mornings are not my own so I don't do devotions first thing. I do them before bed when the kitties are tucked in for the night and can't crawl all over me and I have some time to myself.


I stay connected by praying and talking to the Lord all day long for whatever is going on that day or for what is going on in others' lives. Most people who pray know that you could spend all day just praying for others!


My perfect day ends getting into this.....

....to relax and start reading my devotions which include Our Daily Bread, The Word for Today, Jesus Calling, Jesus Today and A Grandmother's Prayers. Phillip Mouse is a children's book written by a friend that I am reading before I give it to Cassidy to read.

I received A Grandmothers Prayers, by Kay Swatkowski, from Discovery House, the publishers of Our Daily Bread. I highly recommend it! It is a 60 day devotional with an emphasis on subjects grandmothers can pray for their grandchildren, with each day concluding with a Let Us Pray and Think and Do section with prayers included.


Goodnight for now and wake up to another perfect day in my home sweet home.


What does your perfect day look like?


AnnMarie xoxo




I am linking up with these great blog parties:


Freedom Fridays with all My Bloggy Friends
Home Sweet Home
Share Your Cup
Best of the Weekend
"Anything Goes" Pink Saturday
Link Up Party

Thrifting: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Ah, thrifting can be so bittersweet.

My main goal for thrifting is to find unique vintage treasures to sell in my Etsy shop. At least that is the story I am sticking with. I don't need a thing for my home.

But that doesn't mean I don't WANT to keep some of the things I find FOR my home!

I shop what I love so everything is going to be perfect for some nook somewhere.

I have vintage on the brain 24/7 and have my eye out for it whenever I leave the house. I pick up some of my best stuff when I just happen to see something. But when I get the itch to go all out thrifting for the day I expect to come home with a trunk load of good stuff.

All from one former trip!

My recent day out was not so great in volume but oh so good in variety and value.

I see so much of what I already have in my shop so I have to resist buying another one of this or that. I am looking for unique and different. I think I found it this time.

My first stop was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It is a great place to donate items or find great vintage items. They use the proceeds to build homes for those who can't afford them.

I found this great cane seat rocker tucked all the way in the back, marked down to 1/5th it's original price. It is perfectly chipped and weathered and vintage.

Of course I can find a perfect spot in my dining room for it.

 But, alas, it will go in my shop.

I also found this solid, heavy cast iron ornate Rococo frame, the gold gilt perfectly worn in all the right places. It was more than I would spend on a thrifted item but it was marked half price and worth every penny.

Looks so good on my side table in the parlor with my hand painted rose milk glass lamp (a thrifted item that I gave in and HAD to keep for myself!).

But alas, it will go in my shop.

My next stop, was the Volunteers of America, which is a wonderful place to donate or thrift, whose proceeds go to help the hungry, homeless and helpless in the community. I only found one item there but it is unique and from a local department store of my youth, Sibley, Lindsey and Curr or Sibley's as we all called it. Gone now, it was one of the best stores for everything!

A set of four playing card holders, spring loaded to hold your cards with ease!

This is a great novelty gift for the card enthusiast, so, it will go in my shop!

I found this great Art Nouveau brass inkwell stand with the pen holder and couldn't resist it's Downton Abbey flair. Yes, I can see Violet now using this to write a scathing note to Isobel about how she talks too much!

At my final stop I couldn't resist getting a few things for the porch or garden, as if buying them now would make all the snow go away. These are heavy, cast iron tea light lanterns. Growing up spending summers on the St. Lawrence River in Upstate NY, I am partial to the fish. The kitty is pretty special too.

I could easily hang either lantern on my side porch. And when I did, and took a picture, it started snowing on my fish....hey!! (You may have to click on the picture to see it snow).

But alas, these will also go in my shop.

So I mentioned that thrifting can be bittersweet.

I love the sweetness of the hunt and finding wonderful deals while contributing to the cause of local charities. The bitter comes when I have to part with those treasures because people actually want to buy them!

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but, it is all good!


AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up to these great blog parties:

A Bouquet of Talent Linky Party
Amaze Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It
The Scoop
Adorned From Above Link Party
What's It Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Be Inspired
Freedom Fridays with all My Bloggy Friends
Pink Saturday

Hooked on Downton Abbey

Whew!! I just finished watching the Season 3 finale of Downton Abbey. I actually watched the entire three seasons this past month!

I know, I know I am a little behind the rest of the world. I never started watching the show from the beginning but kept hearing about it. I tried getting it from the library but all they had was Season 3 and that was a mistake trying to jump in there!

My friend Irene lent me her thumb drive with season one and two on it and I watched it all, wondering what all the anger was about on how it ended. After all, Mary and Matthew were finally getting married!

Then I saw an interview on Good Morning America and how Matthew's character was killed off in the finale. I didn't even know that I hadn't watched the finale!

There is nothing like a good, clean soap opera. And one that is so well done. It is like reading a good book where you get involved in the characters lives and get to know them, even if they talk funny and use words like "daft".

So I am hooked and waiting for January 5th when the new season starts. It follows another good, clean soap opera on Sunday nights that I have watched from the beginning....Once Upon a Time. 

Sorry, guys (to my husband and son), I have the TV Sunday nights from 8 -10 p.m.!  I won't be doing any Etsy promoting or selling or blog hopping or listing new vintage finds in those two hours. I also won't be doing the Downton workout just yet either!

 

If you haven't jumped on board the Downton Abbey train yet, you still have 10 days to catch up on all three seasons before the new season begins! Also you might want to brush up on your ability to follow and understand the English accent of the early 1900's!

 

In the northeast we need SOMETHING to get involved in over the long winter ahead!

 

AnnMarie :)

 

I am linking up with these great blog parties this week!

 

Marvelous Mondays

Inspiration Monday

Chain Linky CLIMB

Amaze Me Monday