My Week (Don't Drink & Blog)

I’m going to try and post at least once a week here… my last post was over a week ago, so I already fail. Yay! Here’s what I’ve been up to.

I was going to write a review of the Mumford & Sons concert I went to last Thursday, but if you already love them then you know how amazing they are, and if you don’t I’m pretty sure me rambling on and on about how their shows are pretty much the closest thing a non-religious person can get to an authentic transcendent spiritual experience still won’t be enough to convince you of their power. Also, I saw them last year, in better seats, and your first time will always be the most memorable. The lyrics were still able to connect though, and constantly put me in awe of what the right words together can express.

Mumford & Sons Full English Tour

I tried to go to two different estate sales on two different days, and was thwarted each time. The first was five minutes from my house, but since I didn’t leave till 2 PM (Mumford hangover. Worth it.) I really only had a bit of time, and the selection would have been picked over. However, there were no signs, I saw no cars, and I didn’t even properly see the house. So I drove in a ten minute circle around my house. At least I saw the sun. Sunday afternoon I decided to combine what looked like a pretty good sale (two pianos! You know they have taste) with my Target run. This time my GPS screwed me. Seriously, never buy a GPS without lifetime map updates. Or just don’t be a cheap-ass like me and update yours every once in a while. I couldn’t find the house, so I input a cross-street. That apparently didn’t exist either. So there I was driving around Monroeville in the rain… really pissed me off. I had to hit Goodwill in an attempt to salvage the trip. Luckily, there was an awesome twelve bottle wine rack for $10, so not a total loss!

Wine time!

After a coat or two of copper spray paint it should fit with the bar downstairs rather well. I’m still working out the whole British pub theme that I wanted for that space, but I’m always eclectic, even when I have a design theme, so I’m sure it’ll all work out.

Today was hell, and on the way home my car tried to make me believe that it was finally going to kill me. A giant metal plate fell off in my driveway. It pretty much sent me into an emotionally comatose place, and I skipped my first choir practice of the season. Instead, I took a little nap (mentally checked the hell out) and then got drunk and watched the last competition episode of So You Think You Can Dance. I love that show, and it makes me wish that I had had a freaky stage mother that constantly pushed me, because maybe then I would be able to move that way.  All I got were the insecurities and none of the skill. Bah. 

So now I’m a bit drunk, typing this. I’ll probably read this in the morning and erase the whole thing. Or post is as a reminder that you shouldn’t drink and blog. Either way, I hope this coming week gets better. This weekend is a road trip to the PA Ren Fest, so sometime next week you can expect some amazing photos! I seriously love that place, and since it’s on a winery they have the best festival drinks around. Drunken photos! I need some Advil….

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.