“Who are the people in your neighborhood. In your neighborhood. In your neighborhood. Who are the people in your neighborhood. It’s the people that you meet, when you’re walking down the street. It’s the people that you meet each day.” For some reason, when I play, yes I play, with Little People I sing this song in my head. Maybe it’s because when I was little and had these very same people, Sesame Street was always on.

Speaking of the street, has anyone noticed PBS’ new programming line-up? Where did Sesame Street go in the morning? It was a staple around here. Now I just have to record it and play it during breakfast. You can’t have cheerios without Sesame Street.

We have quite a few people in our neighborhood as you can see in the basket. All the usual suspects are there. The swing, the mommy, the baby, the highchair, the trike. The firetruck. The race car driver.

I began a process about a year ago of weeding out the new Little People that had made their way into the house. Out with the new, in with the old. Seems to be a theme around here.

I have scoured yard sales, thrift stores and estate sales for the past year. I was able to find an assortment of people and animals, the house, barn and school house (complete with all magnetic letters). All of the pieces that I had as a child but that have disappeared over the years. Every time I find another little bag of people my heart skips a beat. I do a little dance on the inside. Quickly scoop up my find and hold onto it as tightly as I can.

Fortunately, my kiddos treasure these Little People just as much as I do. They are kept in the living room, not stashed in the closet, and played with all of the time. We set up the house. Rearrange the living spaces. Get the kids into the school. Load up the camp van with unlikely suspects and play all day long. Sometimes even, Makena brings her princesses in for a visit and Keegan brings his Star Wars characters. And I… well I just like to decorate the spaces.

It’s a family affair.

I believe we are on day 46 of over 100 degree temperatures in Austin. That sets a record for high temperatures set back in the 1920’s. That’s 46 days friends. Over 100 degrees. Hot.
So with that brings very few outdoor activities. As the lake level continues to drop and boat docks are now sitting on dry land, we hibernate inside. The air conditioner seems to be pumping all of the time. No rest for the weary.

I’m a window girl. Not the I stand in a window in Amsterdam type, but the I like big windows in my house type. The entire backside of our house is sliding glass doors. The good heavy ones built in the 80’s. In the morning, as the sun comes up, the curtains are closed. The scorching Texas sun heats up my house like a greenhouse. Our bedroom has the same window. Although we like to sleep by starlight, the first glimpse of sunlight wakes both of us up in a race to close the curtains.

There is another window opposite the big wall of windows in our living room that has stood bare for quite some time. The previous owners had installed shades, but that space has always felt empty. Like they were never quite properly dressed for the occasion. The occasion being blocking out the sun in the late afternoon. The sun comes up over the lake and sets in the hills.

Lucky me, I found these silk curtains at the thrift store this weekend. And yes friends, that thrift store is in Dripping Springs run by a retirement community. Shoot, I hate giving away a secret. And yes, they were only $6 for the pair. They are the good old pleated curtains that your grandmother had hanging in her dining room. Actually, mine had lace curtains that are still hanging there. Sorry the picture is dark, it’s about impossible to take a picture of a window with this sunlight.

The bench I picked up at an antique store in Georgetown right before we moved into our house this time last year. It’s made from all repurposed wood. From doors and a vintage bed. It has been living on our front porch but I’m the queen of moving things around instead of buying new. So now it has a new home under the window. Now I need some rocking chairs for the front porch in time for fall and the cool weather.

We just got back from a wonderful long weekend in San Antonio and I couldn’t wait to share a little piece of the past with you. As I dug through piles and piles of vintage toys, fabric, and you name it at an estate sale, I felt like I was unearthing the past. Having a nice conversation with Peggy. Learning about who she was. Listening to her stories.

I picked up a box of vintage stationary that I found in one of the piles. When I brought it home and was sorting through her treasures I found love letters from Peggy to her dear Roland. She touched my heart. I have to share an excerpt from her letter to Roland who was away working.

Dearest husband - I need you very much. I just wanted you to know your strength is with us even when you are away - and Carolyn, too, misses you very much. She was crying almost hysterically after her last bath and pleading “Daddy! Daddy!” the entire time. This is the first time she has been sick that she needed someone besides me - so it’s not only mommy but also baby that needs you so very much. So take care of yourself and come home safe to us. We love you!!!

Time goes by so quickly in some ways - it seems only yesterday that we were married - and we’re still the happiest couple in the world, aren’t we? Did you know that after 6 years - I still can hardly believe that you wanted me enough to marry me! I still live in a dream world - because you are so wonderful and smart and happy, I can hardly believe you’d want to marry me. But I’m surely glad that you did!!

A moment in time. Captured in ink. Saved in a little box. Found. Treasured.

I literally hauled out several bags. As much as could fit in my car. Her entire life. At a tag sale. I am honored to be able share Peggy’s life with you. Some of these items might end up in my shop but let me cherish them for a few days first. With my Exposing Myself series I’m not sure what I’ll be able to fit in the house. I will be honest though and tell you that since finding the love letters I might not be able to let things go as easily.

Garage sale season is upon us! Every Saturday morning I wake up before anyone in the house, sneak my way downstairs, grab a cup of coffee and head out the door. I am ready for the world.

I spend the morning sorting through other people’s trash and treasures. The early bird gets the worm, you have to be there around 7 to get the good stuff. Oh, and what good stuff it is.

This weekend, my loot included a vintage Samsonite train case. Not the usual hard case variety, but the older versions with the stitching around the edges. Six years of Martha Stewart Living Magazines. A couple of vintage straw Acapulco bags, which will be added to the shop this week.

This dresser, which is oh so cute and has a new home in my entry way. Should I paint it? And what type of knobs should I put on it?

And this chair, which I painted red. He’s the ‘merchandising’ part of my shop. He’ll hold all of the dresses and such.

A few weeks ago, my friend Ruth tagged me for a four things meme. Here goes…

4 Movies

• Amelie- I heart French films and Audrey Tautou is one of my favorite actresses.
• Chocolat- Two words, Johnny Depp. Oh how I dream of moving to Europe and opening my own little shop.
• Under the Tuscan Sun- Can you tell I love to travel? There are so many villas all over Tuscany, abandoned. The thoughts of what it would be like to move there and just live. Beautiful.
• A Good Year- Europe. A house. Amazing.
• Xanadu- I know this is 5, but come on. It’s Xanadu!!!

4 Places I Have Lived

• Key West, Florida- Parents moved there when I was a baby. Loads of baby pics on the beach. I’m a beach baby.
• San Antonio, Texas- Where we got married and lived right out of college.
• Arlington, Texas- Where I grew up.
• Stephenville, Texas- Dairy capital of the world. HUGE Rodeo town. Where I went to college and played basketball.

4 TV Shows I Watch

• So You Think You Can Dance- Guilty pleasure.
• The Amazing Race- A race around the world. Sounds like my kind of race.
• Grey’s Anatomy- The characters, the plot, the humor, the timing. It’s all too good.
• Project Runway- It amazes me how they create such fabulous clothes.

4 Places I Have Been

• Australia- Went once with my dad. He sells opals and we went to Sydney and the Outback on a buying trip and to stay with his friends. Got to raise kangaroos while I was there. Went a second time with high school students. I was a leader for a student travel program and we spent three weeks in Australia, traveling up the coast from Sydney to Cairns. Amazing.
• Europe- There are just too many amazing places to leave one out so here’s my list. Most of these places I visited as a travel leader. I did spend some time in Italy with Miles before we had Makena. England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. I can not wait for the kids to be old enough to travel and we can all go! A few of my favorite places: Salzburg, Austria - Cinque Terre, Italy - Paris, France.
• Vancouver/Whistler, B.C., Canada- Our number one favorite place to ski. We like to fly into Vancouver, spend a couple of days then head up to the mountains in Whistler to ski. There is so much snow there it will blow your mind.
• Belize- We went with my dad on a diving trip to the islands in Belize. It’s so pure and natural. My dad says that is the way Cozumel was thirty years ago.

4 Things to Eat

• Chocolate
• Fish Tacos
• My family’s recipe for spaghetti and eggplant parmesan.
• Sushi

4 Things to Look Forward To

• Disney World- We leave on Saturday for a week at Disney World!!! The kids are going to go crazy. Ah, who am I kidding… we are going to go crazy! I promise to come back with lots of cheesy ear pictures of the four of us.
• Summer days spent at the lake.
• Oliver being house trained.
• Getting ALL of the laundry done.

4 Favorite Places

• Home
• The lake- floating on a raft.
• Granville Island Public Market (Vancouver, B.C.)- A mind blowing market place. I usually stand there with my jaw dropped to the ground, overwhelmed with the choices.
• Savannah, Georgia- We went in the fall for our ten year anniversary. The quaint little shops, coffee shops, parks… it’s all too much!

Okay friends, it’s your turn: Chris, Ellie, Sarah, Misty.

I’ve running into a block, a writers block that is. As I’m typing this, between each sentence a few moments pass by. You see, I’m having a blogging dilemma. So much of what I share is so very personal. My thoughts, my hopes, my dreams are put out there in the public sphere. To be judged. To be evaluated. To be read. My kids are out there. In this public space.

Does anyone else feel this way and have this dilemma?

I have this quilt that I picked up at a garage sale that I’ve been carrying around with me throughout the house. I think about this quilt and the time spent on it. I hold it up really, really close and look at each stitch. The fabric selected and the color combinations used. It’s beautiful.

I wonder how old it is. Who made it? Who was it made for? And how on earth did this beautiful piece of work end up at a garage sale just tossed aside?

I think this a blog is a lot like a quilt. My blog is something that I’ve nurtured, taken care of and looked after for about a year now. Piece by piece, it has been assembled to represent our lives. I look back on posts and see my kids, my life. The rosemary scent of Makena when she plays outside. Keegan and his happy go lucky attitude. I wonder now, as the kids are getting older, if this is the space for sharing their lives.

This quilt of mine, that I’ve hand stitched might need a new outlet. You see, friends, I’m perplexed. Do I toss it aside to the vaults, to one day be unearthed by someone searching on Google for vintage life preservers, or do I continue on, changing the focus of my blog?

I’m just not sure if my time is well spent documenting the kids lives. While I feel like sometimes I am missing it because I’m too busy trying to capture it. Does that make any sense? Probably not. You see, it’s an internal tug of war. Give up the blog and find new outlets. Continue to blog and change the focus. I don’t know.

I would love some guidance here friends. Your comments always mean so much.

Do the laundry. Do the dishes. Spring clean anything else. I don’t wanna sweep, mop or dust. Anything.

I want to go to the fabric store and get more patchwork fabric.

I want to go thrifting.

I want to find my blasted keys!!!

Pfew. Twenty minutes later. Found them.

Look what I found, look what I found! A 1940’s ABC book for the kids.

A cute green pressed glass bowl. Now… where should it go?

And a vintage cake tin.

To match these that my mom got me for my birthday last year.

Oh, and I almost forgot this beauty!  A Texas belt buckle.  Oh ya baby!

Glad I found my keys!

There is something about repurposing vintage items.  The whole idea of taking something that is old and making it new again really appeals to me.  I have to admit that I have become a fabric snob.  The feeling of soft linens, that have been washed more times than I can imagine.  That have spent time basking in the sun on a clothesline to dry.  Carefully pressed, then ready to use.  How many countless nights these pillowcases caught the dreams of young and old alike.  That tooth anxiously awaiting arrival of the tooth fairy.  That road trip that wasn’t the same without that pillow from home.  Pillows thrown on the floor for a sleepover with friends.  Pillow fights.

Finding a pillowcase at a thrift store and turning it into a beautiful spring dress for my babe really gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Of course, she doesn’t have the same imagery running through her head that I do.  But, she is creating her own memories in these sweet little dresses.  Running and playing in the yard.  Catching the scent of a rosemary bush as it trails behind her on summer star filled nights.  These are the memories of her youth.  And this is the dress that will hold them.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my stash of vintage linens. I was inspired by your suggestions and have begun to pull them off of the shelves and put them to use. Spring has been making an appearance lately and with the change of seasons comes a change of attire.

I was able to find inspiration here and here. I used a vintage pillowcase that I picked up while thrifting last summer. I made this dress for the kids cousin Camden for her third birthday.

Since the sewing machine was out, why stop with just one dress. It was such a simple and quick project, might as well make a shirt to wear to the birthday party. For this shirt, I used a vintage embroidered pillowcase. The goat seems to like it.

And another goat picture for grins and giggles. We ran across the goats on the way home from the party. There is a local farm that I’ve been meaning to tell you about. We stop there every time we come home from San Antonio for fresh herbs, veggies and some goat action. This time they had free flowers for the kids!

To cut or not to cut?  How do you decide what to cut and what to keep?  What do you do with vintage linens?  My friends, I’m calling on you for assistance to help me figure out what to do with all of these beautiful linens.  I have several pillowcases and sheet sets.  I’m planning on using three pillowcases and one full sheet for my blanket but what do you do with the rest?  I’m not in a hurry to cut them up, I would just love some ideas to add to my list.

These are some of the pillowcases I’m considering using for my blanket.  Right now I’m going with the pansies and the blue flowers.  I also picked up some of these vintage embroidered pillowcases at a garage sale last summer for almost nothing.  What do you do with them?  Do you use them?  They are in great condition and hand stitched by a woman who cared enough for her family to add these beautiful details.  I feel like they deserve so much more than sitting on my shelf.  Any ideas?

Have I told you lately how wonderful my husband is? He has spent the past 24 hours working on my new blog. Adding features here and there since it would take me way to long to figure it all out. I’m not the best student, I’m quite impatient and he takes it all in stride. He’s my in-house social networking guru. I try not to talk about him much because he does have his own life on the internet, but every once in a while I have to brag. My husband is speaking at SXSW here in Austin in a couple of weeks! He’s hosting a panel about social networking. I am proud beyond words! Now I’m trying to get him to get me a ticket so I can hear the blogging mommies that will be speaking. I won’t hold my breath though but I will send him to listen and take notes for me.

Other than being a great husband and daddy he’s also the best friend I could ask for. I know it all sounds so cliche but he continues to amaze me. On the way to our hike this weekend we got sidetracked at a couple of thrift stores and Miles was such the trooper and shopped right along with me. I just love thrift stores in small towns. They have great old stuff and charge you appropriately for it. In other words, it’s cheap!

I wanted to show you some of our finds from this weekend. Makena actually found a great Matryoshka nesting doll. She is in perfect condition and even has another doll inside. This little girl is a great addition to her collection of Matryoshka dolls.  I find them all of the time with little toys and her rock collection inside.

We also found a great vintage table cloth, perfect for our patio table now that it’s beginning to warm up.

For the kids table, I found this handmade red and white checked table cloth. It’s just perfect for their little table.

With Makena crafting daily, she has moved onto colored pencils. I bought the cheapest plastic pencil sharpener for $1 last week at the supermarket. Being an old teacher, I was thrilled to find this vintage pencil sharpener for $.25. And yes, we have properly sharpened all of her pencils.

Check out this great vintage fabric. It has to be from the seventies and I have plans to make some fun floor pillows for Makena. There’s so much of it though that I’ll be using this fabric in a few projects. Spring is right around the corner and that means people will be cleaning out and the thrift stores and garage sales will be stocked. Can’t wait!