Hot off the press! Popeil's Dial-O-Matic slicer

Oh I forgot this is like Retro Tuesday but on Wednesday. I was midly jealous when i found out that my pal Tracy @ Crazy Suburban Mom hit the chenille jackpot. I tried to grab some for me but the store didn't answer my email. Like I told her, I have a chenille bedspread from my youth, it was white and my mom dyed it turquoise and it's still in amazing shape!

So tonight I stopped at my neighborhood church basement  and I found some mid-century deliciousness of my own.....

The pictures are not great

Look at those designs! I love the veggies.

The color is way better in person, it's beautiful pale turquoise.

It comes with a special blade to make rippled cuts and the instructions.

This is the kind of kitchen gadget I've always loved but my mom couldn't bear. I would be hypnotized by all of Popeil's miracle wares. I know they don't all work, but I still love them!

How tackylicious is that? I saw Dan's face when I brought it in the car.....It's going in the shop after a good cleaning! LOL

Well it's 9:02 and I will go nighty night, I'm pooped and I feel hollow so that means I need a good night sleep.

On the plus side, I'm really happy to wake up in the morning and go to work! I'm learning new stuff every day :) 

Delicious Manicoti

Last Thrusday we decided to skip the dance course and give our gift cards (that we got as Xmas gifts) a run for their lifes.
Yes I know we took our own sweet time, but we have problems finding stuff we love! Anyways, I got a super cute handbag for summer and Dan got books.
After we were getting hungry...and on my must try restaurant list was this one.....

I've wanted to thry the Café Presto for a couple of years now. It's on Stanley street and it's literally a hole in the wall. It has 10 tables max. It has old world tackyish charm, you know checkered tablecloths, opera music,posters of hollywood movie stars. There's no menu; the owner comes over and tells you what they have. On Thrusday night they had homemade manicotti with spinach,penne arrabiata and liguini with rosé sauce. we bought ordered the manicotti, it was sooo good and only 6.95$.

We then shared a piece of heavenly tiramisu. We left with our hearts light and our bellies full.

We will be back for sure. I'm already plotting my next thrusday night shopping trip!

After since it was early and we had the car...I suggested a stop @ the Salvation Army (it's opened until 9pm). And I was rewarded with somthing i've been looking for for a really long time!

A beautiful Pyrex RW shallow bowl in turquoise.

I love those for eating pasta fazul, pasta e cecci and minstrone soup.

It pairs up beautifully with the green one I already have and @ 1$ i jumped on it like white on rice!

 I recently became a Clamato embassador and I received a good bag friday filled with cool Clamato stuff; a cooler, coasters,glasses , a rimming tray and some rimmer.
Yesterday I wanted a Caesar sooo bad, that I didn't even bother with the rimmer!
I'll blog more about my Clamato adventures another day!

Have fun and keep thrifting :)

    

When life gives you lemons....And the winner is.....

What do you do? Sometimes you have a bad day….you must deal with unpleasentness (your mother's will) and it’s not going to good at your job(i.e you’re making mistakes like a diner dishes out blue plates specials!)


So you go out for a walk and see this....

OMG a new to me thrift shop! a stone throw away from my new job!

How cool is that? Pyrex dinnerware in Flamingo with the gold band! Too bad I'm not collecting this one (I collect the one WITHOUT the gold band). It was 7$ for the lot....hum if they're still there next week....
Actually I just got a super kitschy book  Treasury of Christmas ideas by Better Homes & Garden. It's tackylicious!

And you think thank you Thrifting Gods, thank you for making me feel sunny inside!!!
 
 Without further delay the winner's name....The draw was made courtesy of random.org.

Here we go!

The winner is comment no 25! Annalene congratulations! I'm sending an email your way with your prize!

Have a great night everyone! :)

Retro Tuesday Concordia and a Thrifted Skirt

It's not too late for Retro Tuesday! Ok so I have less time to blog and thrift but that doesn't mean I'm giving up! At lunch time I enjoy taking brisk walks and exploring the west downtown area.

A couple of streets west is the Hall building of Concordia University (yes we have anglophone universities). it was built in 1965 (a year for greatness- I was born in 1965-hihihi). Of course I didn't know that when I took those pics!

At the time I was struck with the beautiful vintage architecture of that wall.

What about those? One look and I was back at Expo67 or an airplane!

On another note....Last fall I bought a new skirt in a thrift store, it had all the tags and came from Tristan & Iseult. It's an middle high end store and that skirt would easily have been 70$; I got it for 8$. I was kinda nervous wearing it to work, because I wasn't sure how it fit me.

I very rarely buy nice clothes at thrift stores because I never find anything good and most of it doesn't look new or fits good.

I was quite happy with the skirt, it fit great (the painful gassy cramps are gone) and I wanted to share...so I took self portraits; which are always tricky. 

I looks total shapeless, but you can see the pattern of the skirt and the thights (no crotch hole) and the black bootie.

I was hesitant to post this one, with the zit and the double chin, but heck it is natural! I'm actually laughing all alone because it's so funny to be taking pics of myself during my lunch hour.

The neighborhood is full of fun restaurants ,coffee places and ethnic groceries. I have a lot of exploring to do!

I don't know if I'll have the time to draw the winner of my CSN giveaway 'coz I'm going to the vet tomorrow night; Bob has bladder issues......But don't fret I'll do it as soon as I can!

Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite (litterally)

Don't forget my CSN giveaway!

Still having a tough time on the 'I have a job now' adjustments!!! Besides the tights incident last week, the wardrobe thing is going great. I feel I need to inject more color into it. The office I work at is without color. Everyone dresses in grey and black, what up people?

Where is the color?
 Yesterday we stopped @ Maxi & Cie (Canada's Superstore) and I innocently said: Let's go check out the clothes....We both got super cute trench coats, sweaters and jeans. The damage? less than 100$ for everything! I really like Joe Fresh clothes, affordable and stylish!

We are so tired all the time, it's crazy! We have been putting off cleaning the house since I began work! That is crazy! There's soooooo much cat hair I could collect it and knit ugly stuff i could sell on Etsy and maybe I would be featured on Regretsy!

Did I ever mention I LOVE Regretsy? This is a laugh out loud web site. Who knew there was so many tacky,ugly and tasteless things on Etsy? And I learned a new word! Steampunk. Check it out!

I also wanted to share this restaurant sign I caught in Cornwall, Ont last week. Again just what is canadian cuisine? I'm baffled.

A reminder to enter my 45$ CSN giveaway, it ends on the 22nd. Click right HERE to enter!

  Good luck to all! My cats are not promising a hairball draw, but they are working on it! Hang in there! :)

Let's get this SHOW on the road before it's too late for Retro Tuesday!

I had a weird day...not bad just weird. It all started around 6 am when I was getting dressed. I pulled on a pair of black tights and SURPRISE! They were low rise ??? I had a huge amount of muffin top action going on! This is going to look soooo wrong with the skirt!

I tried another one and there was a HUGE hole in the crotch, might be a propos for triple X movies but not for the insureance biz. Last pair I put on was PERFECT! Good let's get down to business and get to work. I took a gander at my outfit...black and white polka dot shirt (very cute), black skirt and NAVY TIGHTS! I should have given me an idea of the day!

now on to more urgent matters! Retro Tuesday! So today the subject is BUN WARMERS!

To be more precise my BUN WARMER! I am pleased to announce that all our buns shall be warmed from now on!

I like to do some fact finding before I post for Retro Tuesday, this time I found nothing on the Cornwall Corporation from Boston Mass, zilch,nada,sprouten,bouten.

It work, i plugged it in. It's brand new, come on look at that cord! Never been unrolled. The box says avocado, but with the flash...looks sage green.

Don't these people look happy and fulfilled? It's because their buns are toasty warm and crusty; because the lid is vented! I wish my lid was vented!

                                     How chic! Warm rolls and perfect lives...                        

Turns out you can use it for much more than warm buns! Ideal for baked potatoes, spaghetti, rice dishes, vegetables, stews,popcorn,french bread, rolls and muffins, toast,

fried chicken,chops and hamburgers. See? it's good for everything! No more soggy rolls!

If you have any info on this piece of pure joy (just looking at the box makes me smile!) please comment or write!

Happy Retro Tuesday everyone!

Don't forget to enter my CSN 45$ giveaway right HERE!

CSN GIVE AWAY YAY!

Why did we fall in love with that fabulous credenza? To tell you the truth we are looking for a TV stand and lo and behold my friends @ CSN stores emailed me about having a giveaway for my readers! Head on to LCD TV Stands to see their fabulous selection!

                                                                    I really like that one!

So you wanna win a 45$ gift certificate to shop @ CSN? Very simple! Just leave a comment on this post with your email address. You have until March 22nd midnight to enter.

Good Luck!

Road trip deliciousness and WARM BUNS...

Yesterday was declared a road trippy fun kinda day; and that was just fine with me!

I made a lot of delicious finds! Like this....

A large Pyrex canister with Spice of life design. The lid is a bit yellowed but it came with a plastic insert that acts like a seal. Glass canister like these are really rare here so @ 2$ I found it a steal!

Then we crossed over to Ontario and headed off to VV. I found some Xmas light replacement bulbs, an amazing almost like new beautiful pink and green full duvet cover for 5.99$ and this truly amazing find....I have to admit when I saw it i got it for the store...but I fell in love with it in no time flat. Next thing I knew I was stroking it and whispering.....My precious.....

 My precious....A JAJ fridgie with the lid, all minty fresh! I have to admit the size is smallish, smaller than a 502.It was 3.99$ at VV. It's in my fridge right this minute with leftover bechamel sauce.

I also got this...Yes it is an electric bun warmer, mint in box, never been used, the cord is still all rolled up. It works I tried it. Mine is avocado green, it's beautifully tacky and hilarious. I need to invite people over and warm some buns!

We also fell in love with these beauties... 

This would look so good with selected barware and Pyrex!

They were too expensive for our taste so we left them there. I will take the pic to the guy where we bought our couch so he could be on the look out for some teck deliciousness...

Tomorrow I start my 3rd week at the new job. The instructor is ok, but I can't wait to work from my desk; she's sending some negative vibes....

Have a great week!

Rotisserie Laurier on Retro Tuesday (late Wednesday)

Picture this Montreal June 1972. My parents had just bought their first (and only house together) in Outremont.
Back then Outremont was a nice neighborhood not the snob and chichi place it has become today. My mom would go to the house everyday to supervize the renovations and would bring me along.

We would often go to Rotisserie Laurier for lunch. It felt just like heaven. The moist chicken, the crisp fries....The gravy!

This pic came from the internet, sorry about the poor quality.

As a teenager I would often meet friends on the weekend for fries with gravy and their signature dessert warm moka. It was a squarrish piece of chocolate coffee cake warmed so the icing would run all over. Quite decadent for the time (remember this was the 80's).

It was a really popular place for a late night snack for those who partook in party activities.

The restaurant was opened in 1936. It was a MUST for the chicken lovers. There is no more information to be found on the web, it's like they never existed except for the address. Too bad the McCord museum doesn't 'stuff' on the place....This was the quintesial chicken place. People in the know didn't go to St-Hubert BBQ (the big chain) but to smaller places.

In November 2010 Gordon Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen and other reality shows) bought an interest in the restaurant (????) and only minor changes were supposed to happen.

Just last week all of the employees learned that the restaurant would close (via letter) and that they would ALL loose their jobs.

Gordon THAT SUCKS! I hope you renovate and hire everybody back. Most of them have been working there for 30 years.

 We want our rotisserie chicken back! And the warm moka cake! LOL

Guess what? Right this minute we have a snowstorm in progress! OMG! It's only wednesday and believe it or not the train has been late twice this week, my boss has been really understanding, I hope I won't be late tomorrow!

Decorating with Pyrex

Friday morning in the commuter train, while meditating....I thought about this....

This poor succulent was way too big for this little planter and was in jeopardy....

I needed to change its pot pronto!

But what could I use?

Believe it or not, I had a vision....

Using this....

This little guy was hanging out unloved in my garden shed....I'm not a big fan of the brown Pyrex.

But I needed  a planter and it was ready and willing!

Don't they look great together?

I could almost hear the plant giggling!

Have a great week!

Kimybee where are you?

I announced the winner on wednesday and still no news from the winner. Kimybee woohoo, where are you?

Please contact me before sunday night if you still want you prize, otherwise I'll pick another winner.

A word of advice....I know times are scary and the internet is full of wackos but please people an email in your profile is the way to go. Most people are good and honest.

Still loving the job but not loving the lack of time to do other things. My eyes feel like they are on slinkys, I swear.

I'm not used to be seated all the time so I'm full of those terrible gassy cramps that hurt like HELL. I'm bloated but thank god it's friday and I have 2 glorious days with Dan and the cats.

My legs hurt because I'm wearing heels for the first time in 3 years....lol. I'm staying in slippers and sweat pants ALL weekend!

The Winner of my Fab Spring Giveaway!

First of all let's talk about the new job!

I'm still on cloud nine, I'm excited to get up in the morning,to learn all about insurance, to meet my new co-workers and  to explore my new lunch hour neighborhood!

It's a lot to learn and I have problems keeping my eyes opened around 2 o'clock every afternoon....If you recall I used to enjoy a delightful nap with Bob in my arms!

Such a sweetie!

But even if I have the urge to snooze in my instructor's face, I have the energy to cook supper and do a bit of housework.

Ok now for the winner! None of my cats were available for a fur ball so I used the random number generator and the number it gave me was.....

13

So Kimybee come on down you are the winner! Please send me an email with your address so I can send you delicious goodies!

Retro Tuesday: Ogilvy's a Montreal landmark

Today in my lunch break, I took a walk and ended up on the corner of De La Montagne and Ste-Catherine street at Ogilvy's.

Ogilvy's is a unique department store. It was opened in 1866 by James A Ogilvy, it only had one counter and one clerck and was a linen shop.

It moved across the street from its present location in 1896. The construction of the present building was finished in 1912. It was declared the most modern store! One of the store's signature was their tartan; the owner being from Scotland.

This is the tartan I remember but I could be wrong....the 80's were hard! I'm sure my Dad will set me straight. Their shopping bag were of that tartan and their gift boxes too.

In 1928 a fifth floor was added including Tudor Hall, Montreal's first Music Hall. I've seen this room today and it's beautiful all in beautiful wood panelling.

Yep I was there today! Minus the chairs

All this for shoes? WOW!

Nice!

Thank god the McCord museum kept archives!

I tried to find a pic of the elevator operators from my childhood but didn't find any. Those young ladies were dressed in full scotish garb, kilt, sash, the little bag with the horse hair and a little beret...oh my I'm forgetting the white gloves! They would spend all day opening the doors, operating the elevators and announcing each floor (2nd floor women's wear, lingerie and thingamaggigs). My mom would take me there often, I found it soooo exotic! My favorite counter? The sweet counter of course! They sold little candy mice made of vanilla fondant then dipped in dark chocolate. Their tails were made of twine. Oh how I loved these mice! Since I was small my eyes were just at the right level to look at them real good. It was a big drama if I didn't get a mouse!  

Another must from that store? The Christmas animated window!

Since 1947 this window has fascinated kids of all ages for the holiday season.

Progress has changed my beloved Ogilvy in deep profound and not so good ways....long gone are the candy mice, but thank the lord the christmas window remains!

Not only I learned new things for my job today, I also learned that if you visit Ogilvy's between 12 and 1pm anyday you will get to hear a real live piper!

Yep I saw this today! I bet it's the same guy....

Now Ogilvy's is a space where designers and chichi products have their counters....Louis Vuitton, MAC make-up,Chanel, Longchamp (like the handbag Crazy Suburban Mom bought...did you win the loto Tracy? Ok I know none of my beeswax) you get the pic.

I saw scented candles by Dyptique, they smell great, really. I reached to see the price and I nearly fell in the display.....

This 8oz candle was....wait for it.....wait for it......72$. I think about it and I feel faint! Yankee Candle is actually a bargain! Have a great night ;)