Happy Valentine's Day!

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day or any other occasion for that matter....than with cupcakes!

Cupcakes and PYREX!


 

I couldn't resist pulling out my Pyrex dinner ware. It goes so well with tea and cupcakes.

I'm very proude of myself because it's the first time I had the courage to use the pastry bag to apply the frosting....Delicious!

Do something sweet for yourself today and eat a cupcake!

Thrift bounty!

Welcome Katrina! Thank you for becoming my 168th follower! I loved you comment, too bad you're not in Canada! LOL
It's always fun to thrift with a like minded pal. Speaking of thrifting....I went to the Salvation Army and Renaissance.
 I'm always flabbergasted by the cruddiness of the big Salvation Army on Notre-Dame street. Every time I go I touch something and my hand is sticky after...EEEWWW! I'm thinking I should bring plastic gloves and look even weirder than usual! In the meantime Dan put some anti-bacterial towelettes in my Xmas stocking....Such a good idea!

No Pyrex in sight but....some nice Spring Blossom Green cups and a cream & sugar set in the same pattern, delicious!

How fresh and springlike! I'm thinking giveaway....

I also found a Pyrex 043 lid and a portable and adorable vintage ironing board. I forgot to take a pic....rats

After I met up with the Danmeister and we decided not to go to the movies afterall; we were too tired and achy (no real reason, maybe a cold?) ...we decided to head home by the scenic route and  stop for some grub along the way.

But before we got on the road a snack was in order (yes I know the diet :(). We stopped @ the Green Spot, a Montreal institution on Notre-Dame street. This place has been here forever at least since the 30's. They make the best greasy french fries (une graisseuse in joual). In case you don't know joual is the french canadian slang spoken in Montreal. Since this is such a vintage landmark I decided to whip out the camera and take some pics to share with you.

Old sign offering poutine and other delicacies...

@ one time the hotdogs were actually 20 cents! OMG

An order of greasy french fries like this is best shared in the car!

 We headed west our fingers greasy and our souls satisfied to Verdun. While on Wellington st I asked to stop at Rennaissance and I even added: Why do I bother they NEVER have good stuff!

Boy was I in for a surprise!

I squealed with glee when I found this big Ziploc bag filled with vintage cake decor! For every occasion,Valentine's, Easter,Mother's day,Halloween, Xmas and ballerinas...I even have some clown heads.  

A great illuminated tree top from the 70's

Some great vintage ornements! They will make a super addition for the store!

Speaking of clowns....I've never liked clowns. NEVER. I would cry when I saw some at the circus, I would cringe when I laid my eyes on those clown paintings from the 70's and the coup de grace was when I saw Stephen King's It on tv. Clowns give me the willies!

I watched the premiere of Mr Sunshine, which I found really funny, and there was a bit with clowns, axes, the director being scared shitless of clowns and little kids. I nearly peed my pants I laughed so hard!

So good luck with your new show Matthew Perry! Because when I really like a show, it's always cancelled. Except Supernatural....Go figure! The networks should pay me....

 I also watched thursday night episode of Jersey Shore (yes I'm guilty of incurable tackiness and voyeurism). et me tell you something, Ronnie is DANGEROUS! If I'd been there when he started throwing things around, I would've called the police. Sammy is not better and come to think of it all of these young people have become really violent at one time or another since the show began which makes me wonder what kind of values did their parents teach them? And what kind of message this is sending to all the kids who watch the show?
Ok so I've said my peace! Have a great afternoon, I hope you find delicious things in your thrifting expeditions. I will practice some new dances for the line dance Valentine's day party tonight!

Stuff I brought back...

Thanks for all the comments on the last post. It was so fun eating @ the Maine Diner. It would definitely be one of my regular spots if I lived in the area. I would try everything on the menu, even the New England boiled dinner, which you probably all know is boiled corned beef, boiled cabbage,boiled potatoes,boiled carrots....Sorry if I made you eat pig out, ditch your diet or fantasize too much about fried food....Believe it or not here @ casa de Vonlipi it is diet time too, well not really diet but changing the way we eat time and I'm proud to report I lost the Maine weight in record time!

Before the Maine escapade I was on a really strict low fat low card diet and I was hungry and angry all the time, the cats were startying to look mighty tasty! Now we are on the GI diet (glycemic index) and we eat all the time and just good for us food, so we'll see.

I'm sure you're wondering if I made purchases in Maine...besides the big bowl in the snow.

Of course I bought interesting things in Maine....

Not the cat! The Crazy Daisy casserole! I didn't have that size and I didn't have any casserole with the small flowers, 3 $ @ Cliff's in Scarborough. Boubou is garding it with his life, good Boubou.

I alway try to have some kind of linen on top of my stove to protect it from spatter. I found this vintagey looking tea towels at Crate and Barrel in Kittery, half price so both for 5$.

Don't they look good with my vintage Tupperware spoon rest from the Sally Ann? That was .99cents and I already started to melt it (accidentaly of course).

Here's Bob glancing at the Autumn Harvest glass canister I found @ Cliff's too....It was 5$ and I was glad to fork it because I'd never seen one in person!

Here it is in all its vintage glory, I will probably put peanuts in it.

I did buy other cool stuff that I was too lazy to capture, but will probably do so in the next few days....

Now about outlet shopping. It was really exotic to go to Kittery for me. I don't really shop retail since I don't work and when I do it's mostly stuff for the house or cheap clothes (like Joe Fresh). I realised I didn't want to go to Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein (their clothes don't usually fit me), I had no use for Le Creuset (yes they have an outlet) and I don't have kids....So I settled on 3 stores:

Crate and Barrel, now I love seeing all these housewares. Piles of votives,pyramids of glasses,barrels of linens. That store makes me weak in the knees

Yankee Candles, I love seeing all those colors...., the jars all in neat rows, the smells! Speaking of smells...I'm often overwhelmed when I go there and I usually reach for my inhaler! LOL

I don't see the use in the BIG jars (how big can  a candle be!). I bought one once and I got sick of it and threw it away....But I usually dig in their bargain bins and bring home a small jar @ 50%off. I understand that for a lot of my american readers a Yankee Candle is something familiar and everyday, but here in Québec very few store sell them and they are crazy expensive!

Bass Shoes, I was always in love with their shoes as a teenager...Top siders, penny loafers,clogs....

In the last few years I got 2 pairs of penny loafers (yes I have pennies and nickels in my shoes) and I love them. This year I wanted some winter boots because mine are taking water and let's face it they stink.

Well I found quite the deals!  

This one is dark purple! Perfect for shovelling snow!

This one is a bit dressier and is water repellant.

I got both pairs for 80$ a saving of 210.00$. Now my feet will be warm and dry and un-stinky (for the time being!)

So that's it for today! Stay warm and keep thrifting! :)

   

Guy was right!

People are watching triple D and actually planning vacations around spots Guy visited! We do it too, well not exactly....We decided to go to Maine and then researched for some Guy approved diners after.
 We went first to The Maine Diner located on rte 1 in Wells, Maine.

The famous sign. The diner is opened later in summer.

They serve down east fare (?). We actually went there because Guy was besides himself about the seafood chowder and the lobster pie...

I got so excited I nearly forgot to take pics! Yes that is a lobster claw in the chowder. It was one of the best I've ever tasted. It was full of lobster,scallops,shrimps and clams.

This is the lobster pie, their very famous lobster pie. It's lobster in a dish top with Ritz cracker crumbs, butter and tomalley (yep the green stuff inside the lobster). OMG! I had a religious experience! This was lobster at its best, I nearly cried!

We liked it so much we came back for supper after a looonnnggg day of shopping and thrifting. I had the rubben and Dan had an open face roast beef sandwich with mushroom gravy. So,so good. I will remember the rubben for a long time, they cook their own corn beef. I decided to push the bounderies and have dessert...I ordered bread pudding served warm with whipped cream (at our sever's strong suggestion). That was a life altering dessert. I never knew bread pudding could be so tasty! It was a cross with Xmas and bread pudding, full od raisins and spices. OMG!

I wish we could've eaten there more, but we had to go home the next day....

Speaking of Friday we headed south to Kittery for some outlet shopping and Bob's Clam Hut!

Yes that is snow pilled real high!

More snow!

We had clam chowder and fish chowder and Lillian style fried clams. I was surprised to see our order top with a mound of delicious freshly made onion rings! Everything was fresh and delicious! They used recyclable containers and compostable utensils. They have the most attentive young man in the dining room who's always wanting to get you refills, check on your order, get you napkins, it's really nice.

 Those clams were much better than some we had in Old Orchard....We will be back to both those restaurants! I can't wait!

So you see Guy was right! :)

Retro Tuesday: What I left behind

Sorry for slacking on the posting. We got quite a boatload of snow too here in Quebec, you know that heavy snow good for snowballs and building forts....We had to shovel the roof over the weekend and I had to shovel the access to the basement yesterday...I could only shovel for a short time then take a break and then go back outside for more back breaking fun!

So today for Retro Tuesday I'm sharing the stuff I saw in the fleas but didn't take home with me...

A Charlie's Angels lunch box. As a kid I was a HUGE fan of that show; and I had a total girl crush on Farrah Fawcett. I was crushed when she left the show. My best pal Sylvie and I would play Charlie's Angels for hours on end.

As Dan puts it so eloquently: Hey you have them all!

Ok so I have these beauties but I still love to take pics of Pyrex in ' The Wild'. 

Divided casseroles, still not loving the divided ones. They don't stack up well, I prefer the open bakers.

But I would love to win some, hint,hint.

I find those mixers soooo cool! But you know my problem...not enough room!

I was so sure this carafe was made by Pyrex but I was wrong! It's by the Inland Glass Works.

It still has the tag with it. I'm always fascinated how somebody can have something and not use it. That is soo weird.

We also hit a lot of thrift stores but I was surprised by the un-vintage nature of their offerings. Everything was 2008 Xmas tree shop or leftover Crate and Barrel. And a lot of Tuscany inspired wares....you know the type. It seems that people in Maine are getting tired of the tuscan look.

So that's it for today! Be sure to visit my blogging buddy Tracy @ Crazy Suburban Mom for more Retro Tuesday :)

Yes we brought a shovel

Tuesday morning at the customs, the agent asked us to open the trunk. He leaned in and we just heard a big guffaw and is that a shovel? Yep we brought a shovel on vacation along with some traction aids, long johns and ski goggles.

We used the later on a walk we took yesterday and I took those pics...

The bowl I found in Oxford at a deep discount. I paid 5.88$ (tax included)

Now zoom out

I was able to take a pic of the sea

This small house litterally hangs on the cliff. Scary! I would never buy a house like that, I'm too much of a scaredy cat!

Wind and snow.

I had a nice surprise in the room. The kitchen cupboards were fully stocked with Butterfly Gold! Not just the gravy boat and the cream and sugar but full place settings and veggie bowls and service plates.

The nice big and very clean room, I still miss my own comfy bed and kitty cats!

We just might use the shovel today to dig the car our for we are going to the fleas!

The sun is shinning :)

Maine: CLOSED

It took FOREVER to reach the resort. In case you live under a rock there's a historic snow storm out there! We got stuck following a salt truck for seemed like hours and then a really slow driver....On I95 we saw some accidents, which makes me wonder, are snow tires mandatory in Maine? Real snow tires, not the all season inferior ones...Let me know

But we did stop at my fave flea in Oxford, for a pit stop and some fast thrifting. With my eagle eye I spotted some interesting items....

We burst laughing when we saw these....Scary Pixies!

They put a whole new spin on cream and sugar...

An adorable village for the tree

I did pick up a NICE piece of Pyrex....but I haven't had time to take a pic.

We wanted to have dinner at the Maine Diner,featured in Diners,Drive-ins and Dives....but it was closed.

We ended up in an asian restaurant EAST. To our surprise it was very tasty and affordable and we got to bring the leftovers home! YUM

ok not a great pic! you can see a bit of the snow falling.

This is our living room in Perkins Cove. Really comfortable! It's all reclinable.

While I was watching tv last night, the network would announce al the school closings....but it's not just schools, it's churches,clinics,vets,town halls,dance classes,karate class, soup kitchens...which made me sad for people who so rely on them.

We had the really bright idea to hit a grocery store in Wells, so we have food and chinese leftovers until tomorrow!

This one is for my Dad, yes we had a cup of brown and a great breakfast at Howard's in Colebrook.

Today we will go for a walk and then phone the Maine Diner to see if they are opened before heading out...other wise it will be ham sandwiches,KD or leftovers.....

Stay warm faithful readers!