Cruising Craigslist, and Sitting On A Laptop

So a few months back, someone sat on my laptop.
Turns out, this isn't a great idea.

This is what happens:

This is a quite new laptop, Windows 8.1, with one of those

touch screens that ... well, that I hate.  Horrible, horrible computer.

But I did not assassinate it.  I swear, Judge, it wasn't me!

Sometimes the cracks in the screen smoosh together and you can

hardly tell there's any problem; at other times, it's a hot mess.

Are these screens replaceable?

Or should I ask Santa for a new laptop that does not have a touch screen,

or Windows 8.1 because Windows 8.1 is simply awful?

********************************

Okay.  Enough complaining.

Time for some threats.

Dear Craigslist:  It's been three weeks, and I still have not found our

perfect coffee table for our Study.  What the heck?

I'm running out of patience.  Let's see this week's haul of possibilities:

Oval.  Big.  Nicely beat up, so cheap.  And salvage-able.  Maybe. 

 Almost square.  Rustic.  A bit of ironwork on the bottom,  Sturdy.  Another maybe,

Oh.  Oh.  OH.

What have we HERE?

Look at this cute cottage-y coffee table!

We can forgive it for not being square, it's big, 

it's got chubby little legs and scallops.

Can you see it here, in this room, below, painted a nice

new color (what color?) that will bring out its

cottage-y, scallop-y adorableness?

I didn't really expect to find this particular table.

I thought I wanted a more sophisticated one, maybe with some

brass or glass or something shiny, or possibly iron, or an industrial style

. . . not one that looks lifted out of a Mary Engelbreit illustration.

But I kinda love it.

Wish me luck; I hope it's still for sale.

*********************************

Last weekend, I spent a wonderful few days

with my two daughters in Washington DC.

Anne lives there now; Alida came East from Los Angeles

for our "ladies' weekend."  Such fun!  And so rare.

Anne and Alida, selfie-ing front of the Capitol.

Mostly we talked, and ate, and talked, and shopped, and ate ...

but we did a little of the tourist stuff on Saturday.

Including some of the highlights, like the FDR memorial.

Here's what my darling daughters took a picture of:

"Look, Ma!  You have that table!"

Oh my.

What have I done to my children, that they notice the furniture?

I am so proud.  :-)

Meanwhile, it is Halloween, and so far,

at That Old House, not one little beggar

has knocked on the door.

Where are the children?

Don't they hear the silent song of our little ghosties?

Happy Halloween, my friends!  -- Cass

Link Parties

Miss Mustard Seed has Furniture Feature Friday -- Click here!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

Feathered Nest Friday makes its home at French Country Cottage.  Click here!

The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays.  Click here!

Big Apple Baubles On The Cheap

Hello, my name is Cass, and I love a bargain.
I'm kinda cheap.  It's in my DNA.  
(Thank you, Mom.)

I don't go to extremes, like a long-ago neighbor of ours,
who bought desserts that her family didn't like, so they'd last longer. 
 (I am not making that up.)

Pear cake/pudding/weirdo dessert image
from the wonderful website, The Graphics Fairy.

****************************
Long ago, in the 70s, I bought a necklace in the infant department at Lord & Taylor,
on sale for just a few bucks, and wore it for years --
it was primary colored wooden toy blocks strung on a simple cord.
It began my love affair with goofy, cheap jewelry. . .
like this piece, a recent wood-and-plastic purchase.  One buck.

How lucky is my husband?

I like jewelry, and I like cheap.  When they collide, all the better.

See?  Don't I look nice?

Vintage image courtesy of
the amazing Graphics Fairy.

 This combined love of dress-up and cheap is why I found myself
scooping up rock-bottom-priced pieces at a storefront on
7th Avenue in New York City a couple of weekends ago, on a 

fabric buying trip with my daughter Anne.

We are not talking investment pieces, but the costumey-est of costume stuff.
The kind of pieces you don't worry about, and muggers don't want.

I like lightweight necklaces, so I adore . . . plastic.
Not gold.  Not even sterling.  Glass or stone beads, if not too heavy, are fine.
Seriously, Howard, you are a lucky duck.

These are plastic, and long enough to double over.

I got 3, one white, one red, and one goldish-orange,
which seems to have gone AWOL.

Slightly scratchy to wear, because of some flat plastic paillettes.
But, as my Mama used to say,
"You have to suffer to be beautiful."

This one is lightweight plastic beads, very comfy,
and goes so well with Fall neutrals.  

It had a pendant when I bought it.  Leopard spotted plastic . . .
which I didn't notice.
Anne kindly pointed it out to me, and I decided I liked it better sans pendant.
That's the fun of inexpensive jewelry; you can yank stuff off, without your conscience twitching.

The colors look odd in these pictures, but they work.  Really,

This one is plastic discs and beads, strung on twine.
It's my favorite.

Shades of brown, with tan and a bit of black.  My colors!

So light, I forget I am wearing it, which means I'll surely lose it one of these days.

Most of these art pieces cost me a whole dollar.

A couple of them set me back $2.99.

And they say New York is expensive!
:-)
Have a lovely Thursday.  -- Cass

Craigslist, You Are On Thin Ice

Dear Craigslist,
While your on-the-job performance has heretofore been quite 
satisfactory, recently you are not performing up to ability.

The lastest contestants in our 3-week search for a

previously-owned-large-decent-condition-and-under-a-hundred-bucks 

coffee table are as follows:

#1:  Square (our first choice of shape), sizeable, and cheap.

I might want to paint its little bottom.

  

#2:  Same size as above but simple lines.  Kind of a wallflower,

but an easier keeper -- no carving to dust.

#3:  Not square but long enough to hold all the stuff that inevitably collects on a

family room coffee table.  Scuffed, but that's why God made paint, or Olde English.

#4:  From Ethan Allen -- a pine piece with a past.

Also scuffed, and I don't much like lower shelves... things get lost & dusty down there.

#5:  Another square.  Good condition, cheap, but there's that lower shelf....

#6:  A dark horse in the race!  Certainly not square, but l-o-n-g enough for any amount

of party wineglasses and plates of half-eaten nibbles.

#7:  Another contestant in the "Love Me I'm Square" category.

But -- lower shelf.  Not sure if that's a deal breaker or not.  It's from West Elm.  Looks heavy.

#8:  Remember these?  Almost square, and with a drawer.

Books might work.  We've got a lot of them in the study (below).

(That chow table went to Goodwill year before last,

but that's how we know we want a big square table.)

Do you like any of them, or think they are right for our room?

Help me out -- tell me which one!

C'mon, Craigslist.

Empty space does not hold magazines, catalogs, a scented candle,

television remotes, books, pens, and boxes of tissues. 

If all else fails, this beauty is still available for a piddling thousand bucks.

All we need is the Adirondack lodge to go with it.

#9:

Have a spectacular weekend!

I am having a very rare weekend with both of my daughters.

At the same time.  Such fun! -- Cass

Link Parties

Miss Mustard Seed has Furniture Feature Friday -- Click here!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

Feathered Nest Friday makes its home at French Country Cottage.  Click here!

The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays.  Click here!

BOO-tifying The Sunroom

Nowadays, I need a kick in the britches to
motivate myself to decorate for Hallowe'en. 

No kids pestering me = lazy.

But when Howard brought the bins up from the cellar,

well . . . it was time.

Ignore, please, the lampshade on the wooden boxes.  Real life isn't always pretty.  :-)

Most of my kitschy, corny Hallowe'en stuff ends up in the

Sunroom.  The good stuff goes in more serious rooms!

(Not that I have any real good Hallowe'en stuff!)

Weekend before last, I got a fall-themed wreath at The Christmas Tree Shops store.

It lights up.

This is what happens when you go shopping with children.

If by "children," we mean "Howard and Anne."

Yes, my husband and grown daughter forced convinced me

to buy a glittery, battery-lit, cheesy, corny wreath.

Not my usual style.

This is my usual style.  Dull and safe.

So, I didn't put it in the usual wreath-hanging place on the front door.

No-sir-ee.

Instead, it's lying down on the job, and making believe it's a centerpiece.

With a ceramic Jack O Lantern in its tummy.

Kitsch has its place, especially at Hallowe'en.

Several old wax candle ghosties have nestled themselves

into the gold and glitter.

 And guess what, Martha from Lines From Linderhof?

I'm copying you!

We went to Home Depot, and got a wee baby stove for the sunroom,

and we adore it.  

Oh Holy Mop-and-Shopping-Cart, Batman.  Nice picture -- talk about Real Life.  I am a doofus.

It adds a nice bit of warmth, and the fake flames are such fun;

they crack me up.  They MOVE.  How does that happen?

I am mystified.

I would not have gotten one of these, without your vouching for it,
so Thank You, Martha!

So, I think I have proved that cheese knows no bounds!

Glitter and fake flames?

Welcome to That Old House!  You rock.  -- Cass

Linky Parties!

At The NY Melrose Family blog, it's Whimsy Wednesday.  Click here!

The Style Sisters host Centerpiece Wednesday.  Click here!

And Kim at Savvy Southern Style is the brains behind Wow Us Wednesday.  Click here!