Last ditch effort

Easter is this Sunday, and I still feel my decorations are inadequate. So I stole this idea from this blog.

I didn't have a large glass jar with a lid, but I did find a large glass vase at the thrift store yesterday for only $1.50. The very cheap plastic Easter eggs cost more than the vase!

And viola! An Easter centerpiece.

Odds are high that I'll make a trip to JoAnn's to buy some super cute eggs on sale to use for next year.

I can't stop--edited

(I had to edit and and one more picture)

Hi, my name is AniC, and I'm an antiqueaholic. The real problem is, I don't want to stop. I want to antique shop every minute of every day. But I can't, so I pretty much stick to weekends. And this past Saturday was a great day for antique shopping. Mostly because I got to buy something I've been wanting for a long LONG time!

Let me start from the beginning

Thursday night I went with my friend Marci to an antique sale that we found out about. It only happens one weekend a month and I felt like an insider being there. I came across an amazing vanity, and told my friend about how badly I want one, but I figured it wasn't going to happen.

Saturday I somehow managed to convince juC that we should go back to the antique sale. So we went back and I showed juC the vanity that I loved. Much surprise and amazement, juC was on board with me buying it!! And now it's home is our bedroom!

(Why yes, that is my house coat you see reflected in the mirror!)

I honestly LOVE this thing! If I could, I'd just sit at it all day. Not because I could stare at 3 of me at once, but to stare at all of these beautiful details.

I love the little details so much, and feel like they are so important, that I spent some time this morning going out and getting my own little details for the vanity. Starting with this.

I went to my favorite store JoAnn's (for some Easter eggs which I will post about in just a moment.) I LOVE JoAnn's. And I love that this jewelry box was on sale for less than $5 so that I could convert it into a make up box. Why not use it as a jewelry box? Because I've had my eyes on this at Marshalls and have been waiting to have to perfect place to put it before buying it for my jewelry.I would say I have the PERFECT place to put it now.

And one other small detail:

I also bought this at JoAnn's...several months ago. I knew I'd need it soon. It's the perfect place to put my hair products while keeping the focus on the vanity.
Seriously folks, this vanity is a dream come true. Call me crazy if you must, but it's the things like this that keeps me happy, when other things, like the government taking control of health care, get me down.

Moving along....
I last posted about my lack of Easter decor. My favorite German living friend said "In Germany they take branches (pretty, delicate and interesting ones, not huge ones) and set them in a vase and hang painted eggs from them." I thought this sounded like a wonderful idea.

And since she also said in her comment, "I have always wanted to do that, but not sure if I will get around to it this year. I usually live my holiday decorating dreams through you anyway..." I didn't want to let her down. So I decided to give the branch-egg-vase idea a try. Of course using the vase that she gave me and the Easter eggs I bought from JoAnn's this morning.
I really have to give a shout out to JoAnn's. I go there any time I need decorations. Their Easter stuff is already 50% off. A package of 10 of these eggs was $2.50
I do have to say, I'm a fan of the branch-egg-vase thing. Although I should have probably taken more time to find better branches, I think it's great. Thanks for the tip, Meg!

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I LOVE decorating for holidays. I bought this last summer from Home Goods (for only 5 buckaroo's) when my sister LoW was here visiting with her family and she and I had a girls night.

Isn't it the cutest? It's my most beloved Easter decor. Perhaps because I only have 2 Easter decorations. Am I the only one that loves decorating for holidays but doesn't have enough decorations?

I think it's time for little JT and I to head out and get some more. Shhhhh! Don't tell juC!!

progress

We have been home owners for 2 years. 2 years, and we still aren't done decorating, painting, and fixing. Maybe in another 2 years we'll be done?

But recent progress has been made.


When I was down in SC a week earlier than juC, he finally painted our stairwell. Which means we finally put these pictures up, instead of having them just rest atop the entertainment center in our living room. Now when you stroll upstairs, you can feast your eyes upon our family. Just know The Wall o' Eternal Love is still a work in progress.

I will also let you in on a little secret. Post cards. Vintage post cards. They are my FAVORITE thing to buy at antique stores. When we were down in SC I got these that now adorn my living room entertainment center. The dates stamped on the back from when the people sent them are 1910 and 1911! The one on the right is inviting the girl it is written to on a picnic July 20th.A while back, I found these in Virginia, but they are drawings of Charleston.They adorn my most beloved newest addition.My antique mantel. It is the most perfectest addition to our dining room. We bought it a few weeks ago, just finally mounted it Saturday, and I've rearranged the things on there about 5 million times. But I'll get it figured out eventually.

I'm definitely thinking no more than 2 years and we'll finally be done decorating, painting, and fixing our house.

And that's how it's done.

Up until recently, I always told juC that I am a woman that needs to be wooed. Even though we are married, I still want the wooing to continue. No matter how much I tried to explain how he could do it, I realized that I just needed to show him by example. So back in January when we decided to go down to S.C. in February, I put a plan in motion.

The plan: to have a romantic overnight date in Charleston with juC with out him having any idea.

For Valentine's Day I gave him a card saying that "due to circumstances beyond my control", he wouldn't be getting his present, but he'd get it at a later date. He assumed that the "circumstances beyond my control" was all the snow we'd gotten that made it very difficult for me to get to the store to buy something. He didn't know that the "circumstances beyond my control" was actually the fact that we weren't going to be in S.C. until later in the month.

I talked to my mom and sister, and they agreed to watch little JT. This would be the first time we'd be leaving him overnight.

My sister-in-law was kind enough to get us a room at the hotel she used to work at. I made reservations at a fancy restaurant in downtown Charleston. I plotted and planned. I wanted him to have no idea we were going overnight until we were already gone on our date. I packed a bag of clothes, toothbrushes, contact solution, and other things and managed to get it hidden in the car with out him having a clue.

So last Saturday we left for our "day date" to Charleston. For all juC knew, we'd be back at my parents house by 6. While we were eating lunch, I gave him a card informing him of my devious plan. I was going to wait until later in the date, but I was just too excited to keep it a secret any longer. He was most definitely surprised!

After lunch, we went shopping. (Every good, romantic date involves shopping.) Then we went to our hotel to get gussied up. We went to downtown Charleston and swung on the big swings at Waterfront Park.

Then we walked around downtown and checked out all of the old buildings and churches. (My favorite part of downtown Charleston)My feet were sufficiently hurting by this point, since I made the mistake of wearing high heeled boots, so it was a good thing it was time for dinner at this place.The food was AMAZING, and the massive creme brulee I got for dessert was even more AMAZING. And the fact that I ate it all by myself was even more AMAZING!

We definitely enjoyed the time to ourselves and getting a good nights sleep with out having to worry if we heard the baby crying. Little JT enjoyed his time with out us too, I think. I just wish that when juC and I got home the next day that little JT didn't run straight past me to his daddy. I guess we know who he loves more.

And now juC knows how wooing is done.