Vintage toys

I love the vintage toys that have come into my life since becoming a mother. They are so colorful and wholesome and lack the craptasticness of so many modern, plastic toys. Here are just a couple of my favorites.

I totally had this puzzle when I was a little girl. My brother (in the background of the picture) remembers it as his favorite, too. I picked this one up for 99 cents at Goodwill.

Thanks to Milton-Bradley, Addison can now name every state and knows where it goes too. He even takes bites out of square crackers and holds them up and says, "Hey, Idaho!" Priceless.




This next one really did belong to me as a child. I adore it, and basically had to beg my mom for it before she gave it to me as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. Each car has its name under the puzzle piece, and includes a Fiat, Motor-Truck, Mini-Cooper, Daf, Porsche, Austin, and other loveable vintage cars. I feel so lucky that its mine!





These are a few vintage Sesame Street Flash cards that I found in the garbage bin at my workplace. I'm happy I saved them, they are just too cute, even if they are a bit jumbled and mismatched.


More to come....

What are your favorite vintage toys?

neither here nor there

What a crazy week!

Back from one vacation, catching colds, busy busy work week, fighting off colds, then on to another vacation! This time to stay with some friends and family at Black Butte Ranch -- I promise to take pictures!

The end of this week did come with some lovely treats and rewards. My husband and I had a lovely date at a fun and yummy new neighborhood Portland spot, Radio Room. 50s decor and waitresses outfitted in vintage-hipster style set the tone, and our food, while nothing toscream about, was good and very affordable on the Happy Hour menu. I had a cheeseburger, side salad, and Cowboy Coffee with a layer of sinful whipped cream on top. Ben did the double-dip-deep-fry with Cheddar fries and calamari. Unless you are a die-hard calamari-goer, or its pitch black outside, I don't recommend this dish. I got a little squeamish when the mix of whole little octopi and rubbery tentacles showed up. But Ben insisted it was tasty.

This morning we had a rare chance to sleep in and then I headed out for some of the last garage sales of the season in hopes of finding some treasures. Boy, did I!! I happened upon one of the most amazing garage sales I've ever seen. A beautiful historic house in the Piedmont district here in Portland, whose owners had just unpacked their late parents' storage unit.

Wow. Their gorgeous yard was full of quirky antique furniture, amazing old dresses, rustic mirrors, beautiful books, artwork, vintage dishes and china, imported antique rugs -- a collection of things from someone's life of travels, no doubt. Gifts that could only be received by someone dearly loved by many.



The Bodum french press was brand new in the box, never used. It even had the Christmas card from "Mo & Bonnie" still inside, which reads "Have a wonderful holiday you dear people - you two are so special."

This quilt made my heart skip a beat.


Look at the hand stitching!


As soon as I saw it, I unfolded and knew I had to have it.


Won't it be nice to curl up under it with a cup of coffee from my new press and read this book from cover to cover when the weather gets cold?


It's almost enough to make me wish it were cold already... almost.

For now, I'm hoping for mid 80s all weekend so I we can test out the new pool at Black Butte Ranch. Have a great weekend!

ps. Here are the things I wanted desperately to buy at the sale... but I knew I shouldn't.
Now you can pine over them too....sigh

Thrift and Found

I have a bit of a confession to make.

Really.



Are you ready?





I am a free-aholic. Like many of you, yes I enjoy a good consignment shop, flea market, garage sale... oh yes. But nothing compares to the thrill of getting something absolutely, 100% free.

Now don't get me wrong. I do have standards. I don't climb inside dumpsters and dig around in the muck or anything (though I suppose I might consider it for the right item----shudder--- Did I really just say that?) But I do love free boxes, curbside finds and garage sale leftovers. The little rush of finding something great is totally worth the humility of rifling through boxes of discarded treasures in order to find gems like these:

a gorgeous, well-worn and roomy leather bag


or this lovely little dress, in just my size.

They were both just what I'd been shopping for for months, and I didn't even know it.


These next few things weren't free, but great thrift finds nonetheless:

good ol' Hungry Hungry Hippos. The perfect first board game for a toddler because the rules are simple: eat up those marbles!


no childhood is complete without one of these--


This sweet little hook


and this great original painting



I'm off to finish meal planning for a camping trip on the Oregon Coast...



Wishing you a restful and relaxing weekend!