Seen Around

Last week after our return from New Hampshire, I was in NEED of a huge supermarket and big box store visit.

While living in suburbia I would stop at the Maxi & Cie store (Canada Superstore)3 or 4 times a week. I loved that you could get a bag of milk, fill out the prescriptions and buy a sweater all at the same time!

Here in the city (Montreal) the HUGE super markets and big box stores are in the periphery and since I live more in the center i don't have access to these wonders....

So before our shopping trip I packed some snacks, because you never know!

  We originally bought this lunch box at a garage sale a few years back.

It was filled with View Master reels...

A few month ago I had to save it from the trash because Dan

said we never used it!

 Apples, Cliff's bars, seaweed snacks...

We are set!

 I am betting this will be the 2015 Must Have in

exterior lighting. It is a projector that projects flurries on

your house!

 Lanterns and systems to keep your decorations well

organized, as if!

 I do like those decorative boxes to give cookies...

 Lights yum!

 The lighted pine cones were my faves!

 I also saw a limited edition Pyrex display at Walmart.

 I loved the turquoise measuring cup....

I had to promise not to buy any....

Dan gets nervous just at the sight of the word Pyrex!

Oh Well!

LOL!

Thrifting

2014 was the suckyest thrifting year for little old me. There were no BIG finds and in a way that is fine since I decided to put the store on hiatus.

But I love a day where all the thrifting stars align and you find good stuff! You just need to appear and pouf! Thrifting magic!

So that’s just what happened on Saturday….We took a small roadtrip to drop a box of donation at the Value Village in Cornwall and cross the bridge for some U.S. groceries….

But our first stop was Michael’s for a Xmas Peanuts flag…I lost mine to a windstorm 2 christmasses ago….I have no idea why they don’t carry seasonal flags , they have Friends and Welcome but no Christmassy joy (SUPER DOUBLE BUMMER)

So back in the car and on to Value Village…I drop my box and went in not expecting much…There was a lot of gooood stuff

But especially a vintage Xmas tree stand new in a box from Zellers. We had the same one , until it rusted out and died and we bought a big ass Xmas tree stand that is super ugly nut the tree never tips over…My step daughter wanted one for a small tree and the price was right at $2.00 ($3.99 minus 50% off).

I also grabbed one of those mixed bags for $1.99 and I was thrilled to find this mini pitcher (creamer) that had been on my thrift bucket list for many years, ever since I bought its big bro in a church basement in Moncton NB…That takes us back to 1988 !

There were 2 other knickknacks that will re-enter the wheel of thrifting pretty soon….

 

 

We also stopped at the Salvation Army and I wa lucky enough to find this

Vintage exterior light set , new in the box for $2.00

 

 

I will use it to replace one of my sets that is cracking under the weather strain.

 

Last but certainl not least...

This is a blowmold vignette that Dan set up for me.

 

It fills me up with JOY!!!

 

                                  I'm off to watch TV because I need to get off my feet. I just came out of
                                 a Xmas cooking marathon! I made cranberry orange bread, cranberry fudge, mini cheese balls and Pfeffernusse dough (I will bake the cookies tomorrow as they taste better the same day).

Tomorrow I will cook the turkey, stuffing and Monte Carlo potatoes....Good times!

So Cheery

 

I am definitely a sucker for nice holiday decor

 

In downtown Montreal you can see some pretty elegant decorations.

 

                                                    I think the trick is matching greenery and lights for
                                                   some great results!

                                               We wanted to do planter with aspen and lights but
                                                we got caught in the snow storm.

                               There is still 13 days until Xmas....

                                            So time will tell!

Snow

I'm glad I kept my Xmas lights and just changed the bulbs to make St Patty's lights!

Too bad you can't see the green hues.

 

They're predicting another 6 inches overnight.

 

Oh well! Let's keep the shovel handy! LOL

 

Good night and sweet dreams

Busy Friday

I took a day off today because I was expecting company....Mike the friendly plumber!

Remember when I wrote that we needed an adapter and we needed to change to pipe in the floor?

Well when I told Mike he just looked at me like I laid a big fat rainbow egg!

Excuse me? Said he; there's no need for anything like that; your new toilet fits perfectly!

Needless to say the Home Depot guys had NO idea what they were talking about!

In by 7:30 out by 8:15 Mike did a splendid job.

 I'm glad they sent him, he was here before when our toilet backed up and the pipe was full of roots and the city ended up digging up our whole street because all the city pipe was full of roots!

                                            Bye bye wobbly friend!

 

Hello new bright and shiny friend!

See how the tank is smalled and all the dust shows? LOL

We will have to clean and paint over this!

 

I also spent close to 2 hours outside, fixing garlands and putting up Xmas lights.

It's not finished so no pictures!

 

And since Xmas is fast approaching, I'm a French Canadian and I love to cook...

I made meat pies!

 

 

Jeez! The crust is not really that yellow!

 

I made 16 small ones like the ones on the right and a big one.

 

This is the most I've ever done ,CRAZY! 

 

I AM POOPED!

 

So I will go to bed, so I can wake up early because I need to make meatball stew and we need to fix the sidding in the back.

 

Did I mention that I have a family gathering too?

 

Thank God I'm not hosting!

 

Sleep tight!

 

I just couldn't help myself!!!

After work this afternoon I had the chance to go to Renaissance for a bit of thrift!

If you're a regular reader you probably remember how I have a love/hate relationship with that place....

The pickings are often of the slim kind!

But tonight with my eagle eye I was able to sink my thrifty claws in these treasures!

 This crazy heatwave was momentarily side swept by these lovelies...
I know I made promises...no more exterior light bulbs....But how could I resist? Hoe could I resist Canadian Outdoor Lights????

Check out the funky shape!

I can't wait to try these! I got a whole bunch for $2.99.

If you know of a name for this disease please feel free to tell me!

I have a vintage ashtray sickness, we don't smoke. I love these!

I figure this one is for cigars.

It might go in the store.

And I kinda went nuts when I spotted this.....I knew Dan would love it.

 And I was right!

  Which bar ware lover wouldn't want this beauty?

And just who is Richard?

 This was a promo Jim Beam bottle from 1968

It will look great with the guys.

I also got a milk glass cup but it didn't look good on film, so that is for next time.

Thrifting is so much fun!

Now please send me some Pyrex....please,please,please! LOL

Have a good night and stay cool! 

 

WOW Pyrex lamps!

As some of you might know we are now on the hunt for a dining room lamp....Doesn't help that the Danmeister changes opinions like people change underwear!

In the last 2 months I've had : We need vintage, new, black, colorful, spaghetti, homemade, homemade spaghetti, colorful homemade spaghetti,  custom made vintage like, flying saucer and I'm sure I missed a couple. Of course price is a criteria as well, so that takes care of custom made vintage like, spaghetti and vintage (can you say CRAZY prices?).

We bought one today...It is colorful, modern yet vintagey looking and the price is ok. However I'm sure I saw something in those big blue eyes that told me nice but no cigars....I said heck we'll bring it home and see, if we don't like we'll take it back. I wanted to take some pictures but both my camera batteries are dead! It always happens that way.

I also wanted to take pictures of some Pyrex in action because we had some company and I made cevapcici one of Serbia's nationnal dish. it is an homemade garlicky sausage served with a yogourt sauce. YUMMY!

Well those darn batteries again!

Instead as a pic I will show you lamps that took my breath away.....Pyrex lamps! I saw those on Etsy and just had to share them with you. Ohhhh you beautiful delicious lamps....

How cool are they? This is recycling at it's finest!

They come as a pair and you can find them at MaggyBeHappy Etsy store.

I'm sure they will fit amazingly well in one of your homes.

I hope to post again tomorrow with pics of the lamp.

Have a peaceful night!

 

Success! Release the Kraken!!!

Ok I did have success yesterday @ the Salvation Army. About the Kraken....I just wanted to write that because it's one of my fave things to say....I have been known to shout: RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!! In public spaces and it's soooo satisfying! try it!

Now about the Xmas light saga...If you're not up to speed, Click HERE! I managed to find quite a few replacement bulbs on my visit; it was like everyone and Santa got rid of the old fashionned lights....

Here's my haul. Unfortunatly most of them are transparent....I need more opaque bulbs!

 Well at least this gives me purpose. I had this talk with Dan tonight about my job hunt...and the fact that I'm really tired lately. It might be that because I deal with a lot of rejection,  I spend a lot of my energy to push back the darkness. I'm extraordinary and I know my worth; so please,please,please send a good job my way!

Here's the rest of it. 105 gift tags for .69 cents, 6 new red and white checkered mason jar lids for .69 cents, a never been used Tupperware microwave pot for .99 cents (this was a START THE !"/$%?&* CAR!!! moment, because those are worth a fortune!), and a vintage Xmas napkinthat I have no idea what I paid for....but it fills my NEED for vintage Xmas.

As I was digging through boxes of sticky garlands and greasy ornements; I kept thinking that xmas ornements are usually sad; they are meant for joy and cheer and they get discarded as soon as they are judged not in fashion anymore. The worst are the garlands! They keep weird smells forever...like cooking grease and cigarette smoke. Anywoo, my hands were so eeeeewww when I got to the cash that I could barely open my wallet! I saw this girl totally unaware of the eeewww factor of the salvation army (and thrifting in general) that she was rubbing her eyes at the cash, I was too late to tell her not to do that she would be FULL of the dreaded PI NK EYE in the morning!

I have been there people, I have scratched my fave in the Salvation and was all swollen for hours!

Next week more Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Santa and recipes!

Keep your hands clean and don't scratch your eyes! :)

What happened to Xmas lights???

When LED lights came on the market I was all excited! They took less energy,lasted forever, better for the environment, yaddayaddayadda.

Now today I find them boring and un-inpired, and you can't customize them.I have some at home but I'm not about to throw out all the other lights....In my back yard I installed some good old fashionned light bulbs but as you well know you need to change a bunch of bulbs when you install them...So I completely depleated my bulb stash.

This morning I hopped on a local bus that dropped me off the shopping center...I was looking for stocking stuffer and bulbs...I found some at Canadain Tire but at 2.49$ a pack of 4, i left them there thinking that I would find cheaper at the Dollar store. I couldn't find a single one at the Dollar store, rats! I ran to Zellers and only found some transparent ones.....I got a pack.

Don't tell me they're going to be the next HOT collectable? It seems they pretty much killed the Xmas light market with the LED lights because they last forever, so people don't need to buy some every few years...

Now thank god I need to go to Montreal on friday for a some kind of happy hour reunion...I'll be sure to stop by the Salvation Army before...

I often meet friends after Salvation Army trip and they often laugh at my finds....But what can I say but: Variety is the spice of life!

My father offered to look for replacement bulbs at his neighborhood old fashionned hardware store and my friend Josée is going to check to see if she still has her old lights, if so she'll give them to me...Yay!

When I did a search on Google images on vintage Xmas lights, my own pic came up! I use to have these lights in Etsy, but no one adopted them, sniff, so I kept the bulbs and threw away the cords. Unfortunately these bulbs are smaller.

Wrapping Situation!

Every year it's the same scenario; when I go to my wrapping paper stash, I find it boring and uninspiring....So when I saw a sale at .59 cents a roll in a drugstore flyer,  I couldn't help myself.
So yesterday I hop on my bike and head to the drugstore. It's a new drugstore and there's hardly ever any customers. Since I discovered Shopper's has crazy high prices; trust me I had time to check...I've decided to shop at the little new drugstore.
So I find one roll advertised at .59c with big shiny red & green ornements and then I see the same patterns as in the ad...little snowmen on a lime green background and another with red,green & white stripes. I grab one of each. So I'm at the cash and the same 2 patterns as advertised scan for 1.99 each, I pulled out my flyer and pointed the ad to the cashier. She called the assistant manager who proceeded to tell me that the patterns were for demonstration purposes only and the rolls I'd picked had twice as much paper...yada,yada,yada she couldn't do anything about it and left.
At that point I turned to the cashier and said: look as a consumer, I see the patterns in the ad they're .59 cents a roll, there's no mention of quantity i want them at .59c! I'm here because I'm boycotting Shopper's Drug Mart! So she called the manager who told me the same crap, and I told her, there's nothing specified in the ad....
So after waiting 30 minutes and thinking I can't believe that a struggling store is willing to loose a potential customer for 2.80$, the manager came back and I got the rolls at .59c! Boy was I tired after that! lol

But not too tired to finish installing Xmas lights outside!

Here's Robbie the Reindeer and a still unnamed snowman that I rescued this summer from my neighbors trash. Hey it works great! You know what they say: If it's free, then it's for me!

This little guy sits near my front door with the metal sign I bought at the Christmas Tree Shop in October.

And i had time to make a speedy chicken pot pie for supper! In Pyrex of course!

I also had time to make a specail batch of B-Day cupcakes for Dan and I even shot a short video but was unable to load it up. Rats!

 I must say that for the 3rd of December I'm pretty up to date on my Xmas tv shows/movies watching. So far I caught Scrooged (how can you not AMC is showing it for 4 days), Hoe the grinch stole Xmas (the original) and Shrek the halls. This weekend I plan to watch A Christmas Story on dvd, it was one of Dan's B-Day gifts....and maybe Home Alone.

Tomorrow I'll be drawing the name of the winner of my Totally Awesome Holiday Giveaway

Good luck to everyone!

Have a great weekend!