Today I Am . . .

by Katy on March 22, 2013 · 24 comments

 

 Today I am . . . 

  • Happy to be home. I worked yesterday and it always makes the days at home so much sweeter.
  • Attacking piles of dirty laundry.
  • Eating a delicious breakfast of sautéed spinach with scrambled eggs. My neighbors are out of town and gifted me with their veggies which would have otherwise gone to waste.
  • Admiring my wonderfully grotty $6.99 Goodwill mirror, which I painted using a gold-leaf pen. The end result looks like an ancient plaster frame from Downton Abbey.  (I’ll do a proper post on it next week.)
  • Happy to take a week off from waking sleepy teenage boys. Hello, spring break!
  • Relisting my Goodwill chair on Craisglist. No takers so far, but it only takes one interested buyer to get it sold. No problem here though, as my son is enjoying his temporary ownership.
  • Grocery shopping to fill my echo-ey empty refrigerator.
  • Wishing I had the eye to pick up $3 “tag sale” bowls, which I could turn around and sell for 2.2 million dollars.
  • Enjoying a big stack of decor coffee table books from the library.
  • Tucking $3.60 into my son’s college account. This is the amount I was given for bringing two Home Depot light shades and an unused spatula to the consignment shop. Every bit counts!
  • Planning a dinner that will use up the neighbor’s broccoli and some frozen bread ends from the freezer. (Yes, you guessed it. I’m making baked macaroni and cheese with broccoli and a bread crumb topping.)
  • Going to incorporate a couple thrift shop jaunts into that grocery shopping trip. Gotta keep an eye out for ancient Chinese bowls!

Now, how about you. What are you doing?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

Cheryl March 22, 2013 at 10:35 am

Hi, Katy — Just wanted to tell you I was watching Property Brothers the other day on HGTV and saw a gorgeous renovation they did — they used 4 of those white & chrome chairs you picked up at Goodwill; had them around the new dining room table. It looked spectacular!!! You have a great eye for finding treasures!!

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Katy March 22, 2013 at 11:32 am

Really? Their properties are always decorated so well. (Although not my style, as it’s too anonymous and new.)

Katy

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Rachel W. March 22, 2013 at 10:51 am

Today I am…
-wishing vegan cheese was sold in stores locally
-cooking rice so my daughter can eat leftover chicken curry (and I can eat leftover mustard greens and sausage)
-excited about getting an identical tatt with one of my best friends while two of our other friends will possibly tagging along
-glad it isn’t raining yet even though it is overcast and muggy outside
-lazy since I went grocery shopping this morning

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Sharon March 22, 2013 at 12:16 pm

Oh yes, I love it when I find those Tang Dynasty bowls, don’t you?

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Katy March 22, 2013 at 1:30 pm

Very much so. And although I went to one Goodwill today, there were oddly no ancient bowls.

Weird.

Katy

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Tonya March 22, 2013 at 2:30 pm

That is odd. I found two at my Goodwill. 🙂

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bev March 22, 2013 at 1:01 pm

What consignment shops do you recommend in the Portland area?

Tucking $3.60 into my son’s college account. This is the amount I was given for bringing two Home Depot light shades and an unused spatula to the consignment shop. Every bit counts!

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Katy March 22, 2013 at 1:31 pm

I go to Village Merchants at 41st and Division, although I know that others like ReRun at N.E. 15th and Fremont.

Katy

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A. Marie March 22, 2013 at 1:38 pm

Re: the ancient Chinese bowl: One of my favorite moments at my local Salvation Army superstore (no Goodwill in Upstate NY) came several years ago, when I overheard a fellow shopper telling other shoppers that someone had just found the (not a reproduction, but the actual) Mona Lisa at a garage sale. I managed to keep myself under control until I got out of the store, and then I laughed till stuff came out my nose.

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Katy March 22, 2013 at 1:42 pm

Slightly related. I just left New Season’s Market, (like Whole Foods) and overheard one woman ask another if she “wanted to bring any alcohol on the train,” to which she was answered, ‘It’s okay. I’ve got moonshine.”

What?! Is ironic moonshine a thing now?!

Katy

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A. Marie March 22, 2013 at 2:01 pm

Maybe she was thinking that she could put moonshine in a water bottle or something (except that it might dissolve the bottle, depending on its strength!) and it would not be observed to be alcohol. Who knows??

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kate March 22, 2013 at 2:26 pm

Hahaha! Sorry, had to add that as I actually laughed out loud.

Kate

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Kailey March 22, 2013 at 1:40 pm

Today I am…
– At work and counting down the hours
– Happy it’s payday
– Hoping the rain holds out so I can take advantage of the outdoors after work

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Alison March 22, 2013 at 2:19 pm

Today I am:

Celebrating my 51st birthday, and giving thanks that I have my health, and a wonderful, supportive family.
Enjoying some sunshine, finally!
Looking forward to dinner out with my hubbie, daughter, daughter’s boyfriend, and our Mexican student, who is now a member of the family.
Feeling pretty blessed.

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Rowen G. March 22, 2013 at 5:07 pm

Happy birthday, Alison. 🙂

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Katy March 22, 2013 at 6:19 pm

Happy birthday!!!!!!

Katy

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kate March 22, 2013 at 2:35 pm

Love days off and spring break! Wish I could score something worth something at a thrift store.

Have a good weekend!

Kate

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Lois March 22, 2013 at 3:11 pm

So you did decide to list the chair. Good luck selling it.

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Leah March 22, 2013 at 7:31 pm

Today I rolled my spare change and came up with $30! I divided it equally between our two boys, putting $15 in each of their savings accounts because, you’re right, “Every bit counts!”

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JaneUlness March 23, 2013 at 3:04 am

Try takimg the chair to a upscale consignment shop or an antique mall. Just tell them what you want to net. I work for a antique mall, and there is an auction on back. Unfortunately, it’s in Seattle.

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Katy March 23, 2013 at 10:15 am

Ooh . . . good idea.

Katy

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JaneUlness March 23, 2013 at 3:13 am

I just love the goodwill. I watch for what I need everywhere I go. I found a child’s Formica table for my grandaughter. Between Kohls, the goodwill and Fred Meyers 70 percent sale, For 17.69 I got sparsely fuss shoes, a new inside, rose embroidered denim shorts ( summer is coming, right…it snowed yesterday). A top and pants set, and a shirt and jumper that was originally 38.00, and a cardboard Beatrice Potter book. A lot of her clothes co,e from the goodwill, but I like to add a few new things too and I won’t buy underwear or shoes used.

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JaneUlness March 23, 2013 at 11:32 am

Today I am
Helping my daughter do her income tax
“Putting up” six poumds of 7 percent hamburger
Cooking pork spareribs for dinner
Working in my studio
Takimg a nap, naps are wasted on the youngLOL

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Annie March 23, 2013 at 1:32 pm

Running errands with my husband, including the all-important “coffee break with a whole wheat croissant chore.”
Planning next weeks’ meals.
Minor grocery shopping to pick up what Fresh Direct didn’t have.
Prepping the salad for dinner, hubby is making his famous roast chicken. (He makes the BEST roast chicken, one of the many reasons I married him.)
Finally giving myself a long overdue manicure.
Putting together a list of goals for work for the rest of 2013.
Making a lemon olive oil cake to test the recipe before Easter.

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