Pick me! Estate sale finds from August 24th

Saturday is Estate Sale day here in Pittsburgh. Anyone who has ever gone to one first thing in the morning knows how intense serious pickers can be. My very first sale was just last year, after we bought our house, and I wanted interesting things to fill it. I think we hit four sales that morning, and right off the bat I got to see some people get into a shouting match over stereo equipment. If you like to people watch, this is a goldmine. The line usually starts forming down driveways well before the set opening time, and the nicer the house, the bigger the line (and belief that you will find that amazing thing you never knew existed and now cannot live without). Some people make a business out of selling their finds, but I'm just in it for my own sick need to hoard as many fun things as I can. Or so it seems; I'm really trying to decorate my house and turn it into the amazing space I can see it becoming in my mind. It's eclectic, classy, and completely me. So of course it will never be finished. 

I don't know if it types, but it Dings!

This Saturday I had to work, so I didn't really feel up to fighting the masses beforehand. I slept in, and it was fantastic. I checked the website just to see if there was anything I was going to kick myself for missing, and there it was. A sale that lasted till 5. That never happens. Of course I had to give it a once over on my way home, and I fully expected it to be bare bones that late in the day. Usually in the afternoon everything gets marked down half off the ticket price, so you can get some great deals but the selection is limited. You want the good stuff, you've got to stand in line with the crazies. I have no idea what the house looked like in the morning, but my guess is it was overwhelming. There was sooo much still there! I think I walked around for half an hour in a daze, just imagining what I could have found if I'd just not been so lazy. As it was, I still found a really fun typewriter, several apothecary bottles, unopened DVD copies of Funny Girl and Pride & Prejudice (Colin Firth style-how did I not already own this?), and an unopened 'appreciating classical music' type lecture on CD (it was practically free, don't judge).

Apothecary bottles in my yard.

In my head, my house will look something like a cross between the library from Beauty and the Beast and Dumbledore's office. I already have an old upright piano that I rescued from Goodwill (and will someday get around to having fixed up a bit). It's not badly out of tune, there are just a couple keys that are broken. And no, I don't play...I plunk. I'm working on it. Pretty much if it's old and looks a little worn (but interesting) and is currently unloved, I'm going to want it to come live with me.

Squill Root? Squirrel Root? 

For a sale that I had no real expectations for, I think I did pretty well! The typewriter did hide out in the back of my Jeep for a few days till I could clear a temporary home (and sneak it inside without having to explain why I'm again buying old things that don't work), but it's going to look so good in the living room on a weird table next to the sofa that I don't have yet either. Priorities. I've clearly got them.

The Spectacular Advance Screening

Last night I had the opportunity to attend an advance screening of The Spectacular Now at the Southside Works Cinema (thanks Pittsburgh Film Office!). I love movies, and I love free things, so this was pretty exciting.  I'd heard a lot of good things about the film, and was particularly excited to see Shailene Woodley's performance, since she can apparently do no wrong. I thought she was incredible in The Descendants, and I'm really looking forward to her role as Hazel in the upcoming The Fault In Our Stars. Now I'm going to get up on my 'Pittsburgh is awesome' box, because they start filming for Fault here on Monday, which means exciting movie biz people are here, which led to a fun surprise last night.... Screenwriter Shenanigans!  Seriously, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who also wrote (500) Days of Summer together, were already in town and knew nothing about this advance screening until someone tweeted them, asking if they were coming.  They not only came, but they did a wonderful Q&A after the film that really made the whole thing click.  Critics have been throwing around John Hughes comparisons when talking about this film, but if you go in thinking you're about to see Ferris Bueller--be warned. It's much more Breakfast Club. I think this praise (which it is) comes more from the honesty of the characters. They defy stereotypes, Shailene's Aimee balking when asked by charming Sutter (Miles Teller) what her "Thing" is... she likes to think that people are more than just one thing. Every character here (with the possible exception of Sutter's alcoholic father) refuse to fit into the neatly labeled character boxes we've come to expect when watching films set in high school. What it most reminded me of was probably The Perks of Being a Wallflower, simply for its refusal to pass judgment on the characters, regardless of their actions. Like their (500) Days of Summer, Neustadter and Weber end on a hopeful, rather than happy, note. I don't enjoy summarizing plots, because I feel that it takes away a person’s ability to give in to the experience if they know what's coming, but I will say that this was a beautiful piece with excellently rich characters you come to quickly care about. The movie is in limited release now (aka not playing here yet, because we’re still not a big enough city, grr) but when it opens wide on August 28 I recommend you check it out. 

Official Blog-World Hello!

My name is Veronica, and welcome to my (new) blog!

I started the year off with intentions to do more, be better, and waste less time. Some of that has gone really well, and the rest of it... yeah, not so much. Since the Tumblr I started has pretty much devolved into a list of what song I currently have floating around in my brain, I'm moving here (yay!) to attempt a more official, yes I'm actually trying to do this for real, blog. My interests are many, my skills are few (warning: I will make fun of myself a lot. A LOT) but my passion is real. Whether it's digging through an estate sale on a Saturday morning, taking photographs, writing little stories, or cooking (mmmm, food), you can bet I'm a little bit giddy about it. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee you that I'm going to geek out on you regularly. On that note, I have TV shows to catch up on, so no more wasting time here trying to figure out what else to write :)  Be back soon!