The Vintage Shoppe & Lavender Hill Cottage

I and a few others spent all of yesterday visiting vintage and thrift shops in Oregon City. If you grew up in Oregon you know how important this city is to our history - it's the site of the end of The Oregon Trail.

Anyway, our first stop was at...

This shop is on 212 14th St. Oregon City, OR 97045 for all you google mappers. :)

This shop is located in an historic home which just adds to the charm.

I completely spaced taking photos of the downstairs because I was more concerned about dripping on the pretties since it was, of course, POURING rain outside as we walked in.

Upstairs each closet and tiny room is filled.

And you have to really spend a lot of time just standing and moving your eyes around to see everything.

I loved these dishes and teacup stacks.

There's even a basement full of goodies too (there's an old dumbwaiter going down to the basement that I was fascinated by). My mom bought a beautiful shabby chic pillow and I drooled over a few things but didn't have any cash with me - dang!

Just two houses up the sidewalk is...

 There is actually quite a lot of lavender inside and it smells divine.

They had the most fantastic collection of plaid thermoses and lunch kits in one of the baskets on the left - why didn't I take a photo?

Right inside, this closet was filled with vintage clothes and accessories.

The kitchen is filled with kitchen items...

It is completely adorable inside. Talking with the woman working there, the place is run by several people and they take turns working so one person isn't stuck working there all the time. A nice way to run things, I think.

I loved all these vintage suitcases.

If you are in the area do stop by and visit these shops!

 Several stops later and we finally made it home. My future SIL and myself shared some of this uniquely flavored sorbet. It's very creamy and not really sweet but I liked it. I think I may have a mild soy allergy so I appreciated that this treat was made with coconut.

A very wet, very tiring day, but oh the pretties! :)

Mosaic Monday - blooming in a tempest

 Rain one minute, sunshine the next - blue sky battling black clouds - spring is anything but boring weather-wise.

My forsythia is finally in full bloom (days behind my closest neighbor - how funny!) my roses have leaves and my weeping cherry is thiiiiiiiiiis close to opening up.

Click any of the images or collections below to enlarge.

The woods around are filled - absolutely FILLED - with white blooming trees. I can't remember a year where there were so many blooming and they are just so beautiful that I wish I had one of those huge lenses to capture their beauty.

I love the panorama feature on my camera. Click to enlarge.


They just stretch on and on around this field up the road from my house.

Even around back into the trees where they highlight the bare oaks.

It makes me want a yard full of blooming trees. :)

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

The vintage pearl clutch

I would quite like to know where this week went. I have been doing the deep spring cleaning and getting rid of all sorts of things. Taking everything apart and dusting and re-organizing. Feels kinda good actually but it sure makes the time fly! I did find something I'd been looking for. My mom gave this clutch purse to her mom and then later in life her mom gave it back as a "remember when" gift. My mom then gave it to me....oh years ago. It is so lovely.

The zipper is even decorative.

All these little faux pearls are stitched on.

I found this hankie inside. I wonder how long it has been there?

Since my mom gave it to me - and probably before that - the purse has been stored in this greeting card box (and it looks like my aunt scribbled all over it when she was little, tee hee!)

What I want to know is - for all occasions? What occasion calls for fruit with faces? Just wondering...

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Show & Tell Friday

3 Things for Monday

My neighbor asked what happened to my blog last week. Ummm.......

1. I ruined my hair.

The culprit.

I gave up coloring my own hair after several odd shade outcomes but decided to try it again because I was desperate to get rid of my roots. Note to all you hair DIY-ers - if you have red tones in your hair don't use semi-permanent color unless you are going dark. Every time I've used it my hair ends up orange. I'll be wearing a lot of hats until I feel it is safe to get my hair color fixed. And even though it makes me look kinda goth you may be seeing me with dark brown hair in the near future.



2. I watched all three seasons of BBC's Robin Hood in an obsessive kind of way.

I watched the first episode and stared at the screen slack jawed with a half grimace but decided to keep watching to see if it improved. It is not what you're used to but I think the quirkiness is why I ended up liking it. I showed my brother an episode and he exclaimed that it was "so hokey" but I was like "I love it!" (though I'm going to pretend season 3 never existed)
I used to run around my yard with a bow and arrow pretending to be in Robin Hood's gang so maybe I was going to like it no matter what. Also, what is with this photo? Why are all the hot guys clear in the back?



3. My "little" brother turned 23.

So cute.

His future FIL cooked the most amazing meal.

And that isn't even all of the food he cooked.


I'll try to be a bit more diligent this week. I do have several projects going but the dreary rain is keeping me from photographing anything.

Japan Quake Appeal - sakura earrings auction

 This auction is now closed.

Get some goodies for you and do good at the same time!
100% of the proceeds go towards the relief because your "bid" will be a charity/aid/relief donation.

Up for auction are a pair of my Simple Sakura earrings. These earrings are made from Czech glass flowers in a milky pink. They have a beautiful glowing opalescent look in direct light. Flowers face outward so everyone can enjoy their happy faces! Earrings measure just a teeny bit short of 1 and 1/2 inches long. Flowers are approx. 5/8 of an inch wide. See additional photos here.

Auction rules:

1. Auction ends at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 26th (U.S. Pacific time).
2. Leave a comment to this post stipulating your bid amount.  The highest bidder on March 26th wins, so keep checking those comments throughout the week to make sure you are not outbid.
3. Bids are to be made in US dollars. 
4. Starting bid is $5.00 - please make your bid increases $1.00 or more and remember this is going to charity! :)
5. The winning bidder will be announced and contacted after the auction closes on March 26th.  The winner must donate the amount of their winning bid to Global Giving or any other organization of their choice and send me proof of payment within 48 hours.  If proof of payment is not made within 48 hours then this purse will go to the second highest bidder.
6. I will ship to you, or anyone else you wish, anywhere in the world.

For help with donations to Global Giving, you can refer to Jo’s very detailed post at [here].

This auction is being held in cooperation with Jo at A Bit of This and a Bit of That.  Participants are not affiliated with Global Giving or any other aid organizations, they are just our chosen method of getting funds safely to the affected area.  Thank you for bidding and please see all the other lovely items up for auction or raffle listed on Jo’s blog.


Remember all you have to do is leave your name, bid amount and an email address so I can contact you should you be the winning bidder. Remember to use (at) and (dot) instead of the actual symbols so the spambots can't find you.

My friend Janine is also hosting an auction. Click here to visit her site.

Mosaic Monday - March

I went on a walk - followed by cat and dog - to see what all is blooming this week and found a few new things. And the sun was shining so beautifully for us and the sky was full of big fluffy clouds.

It was such a happy walk that I spied this smiley face in the clouds. The eyes are a little wonky but some days so are mine. ;)

I almost forgot these little ones! So cute and what a lovely color.

Yes I think spring really is on the way.


Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

Calling the crafty and generous - quake appeal

One of my favorite Etsy sellers and an all around lovely lady Janine, the Crafty Tokyo Mama, posted about this on her blog so I'd like to help spread the word about the auctions. I will be hosting one here as well, more info coming your way as soon as I have it.

Bookmark storage

Hurray! I accomplished something crafty - other than jewelry making - this week!

This sort of project always comes about because the need is there. I saved this tin after I drank the last of the tea this winter. I only drank it during winter because this tea was so amazing (and called winter fruit blend) and I wanted it to last. I admit, I cried a little when it was gone and stubbornly used the last bits of it even though it was way too small for my tea strainer and filled my cup with tea leaves. *sigh*

Still...the tin smells amazing! And the paper label peeled right off, thank goodness!

I raided my paper stash and discovered this cute blue and brown polka-dot. I measured around my tin, cut my paper to width and glued it on with a light amount of regular white glue applied with a small, old, ratty paint brush. White "school glue" generally washes right out but why risk ruining a nice brush, right?

The bottom lip is black and could be left alone and to get it to fit at the rounded top, I actually cut my paper short so the top is left uncovered. It makes the paper fit better and you really don't even notice it since the tin is silver and goes well with the pale blue.

As you can tell I so needed something to store my bookmark collection. Even my wider ones fit and I can dangle the string kind out to see one side. Perfect and it takes up much less room than the box I was considering.

Now back to my cleaning and organizing...

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