Vacation

September 7th, 2010

My BFF and I headed east for a much needed end of summer vacation in Palm Springs over the long Labor Day holiday. We stayed at her in-laws timeshare (that decor-wise was very Republican Model Home Chic) located in a private gated community that included a golf course, tons of swimming pools and armed guards to boot. Very ritzy for us lower income folks who are usually perfectly at home in places like Laughlin, or Hemet for that matter.

In the desert of Palm Springs it felt completely unnaturally lush and green, but admittedly, the view of the lake from the patio was pretty dreamy.

We spent most of the time lounging in the pool, eating copious amounts of crappy food and driving around aimlessly in the golf cart. At about 115 degrees of blasting solar heat, all you could physically do was mellow out and kick back…which was my secret agenda all along.

The evenings were perfect. Everything cooled down, the skies were clear, the pools were bathtub warm and the liquor was deliciously sweet.

We did venture out of the compound for some thrifting (more on that later) and more eating, but mainly we stayed locked away in this very strange community enjoying the air conditioning and watching terrible movies. (That just means I watched Twilight for the first time. Terrible. TERRIBLE movie. Oh, and all of the last season of Dexter.)

It was great to spend some time with a friend I haven’t seen in many months and get away from the homestead for a long weekend of being lazy.

What did you guys do? Anything awesome? BBQ galore? Home projects? I know a few folks were in Palm Springs this weekend as well. The twitter told me. So, so hot ladies.

Link Dump

September 3rd, 2010

It’s Friday! Cut out of work early, put on your comfy pants and get relaxing for Labor Day. But before you do that check out some of these awesome links:

Very Fine House, Interview

I did a little interview for Take Five Friday at Very Fine House, be sure to take note of my extremely important opinions about things and stuff

Furnish UK, Weekly pick of interior blogs.

Thanks to Furnish, UK for picking The Brick House as well as Rambling Renovators and Making it Lovely as their weekly interior blogs. Elle Decor and The World of Interiors, here I come.

Ivillage, Best of the Blogs: Top DIY Projects

Ivillage rounds up some of their favorite DIY projects around blogland. They picked our shelves, and totally think I’m a dude. Why does that always happen? Thanks for the unisex name, mom.

Shelf Hotness

This is a great hack of the pipe shelving concept (pictured above) found via The English Muffin Blog. Very nice inspiration. I’ve been thinking about making a bench with similar materials…brain wheels are turning.

The Brass Petal

Emily Henderson is giving me some serious redemptive hope for HGTV. Seriously, I just watched a vintage Design on a Dime and cried. She is funny, charming and the blog is a nice behind the scenes look with tips about decor and styling.

The Get Up and Get Down

Nick from A Time To Get just launched his new project focused on featuring craftspeople making good stuff as well as fab DIY projects. Masculine good fun.

Also, Twitter? I think I’m getting the hang of that beast. Now I need to figure out this twitpict thing on my phone, since there are so many CRAZY things I see while out and about thrifting and such.

Enjoy the weekend since the summer is officially over now, right? Damn. DAMN.

Thrifty!

September 1st, 2010

I went thrifting in what feels like the first time since hell froze over and was feeling a bit rusty after an extended break from being out on the streets patrolling for vintage goods. I spent most of the day trying to find a groove but only found jack squat while wadding through packed thrift stores listlessly and a bit distracted. I hit all the usual spots and nothing – not even interesting smalls. It was like a wasteland of overpriced crap out there.

On the way to hit the last store on my route, I spotted a sign for a new thrift store that ended up being tucked away in an industrial storage facility in a total no-mans land of warehouses and despair. I can not explain how nice it is to find somewhere new, somewhere fresh, somewhere very well priced. Inside was great – just that perfect mix of jumbled furniture, racks of clothes and strange electronics, disgruntled employees and that very distinct thrift store smell.

Smells like victory.

There is nothing like 50% off day, and nothing is as good as a comfy vintage chair that swivels and rocks and only costs $10.

I’m calling it “The Captain’s Chair” and The Captain approves.