Monday, March 18, 2013

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jig!

Does anyone remember that nursery rhyme? Do kids even read nursery rhymes anymore? Would kids even understand why someone would go to the market to buy a fat pig like in the aforementioned line?  I truly don't know. Anyway....

We made it home from Marchmas ( AKA "A crazy late Christmas") with my family out of state. Holy moly, we had a great time.  One of our favorite things to do while home is to hit the thrift stores. My Mom is a serious thrifter and my brother always takes off of work for the day to join us. Without fail, there is Mexican food and a full trunk full of loot by day's end. I'm always talking about how I don't need any more "stuff" but once I hit my hometown, the thrift stores always seem to have the best bargains and so many things that you just don't see in Nashville. It's hard to resist buying things that we could never afford here in the thoroughly-picked-over-by-resellers thrifts.

Quite honestly, I haven't even fully begin to register what I brought home yet. It's still all piled in my office and on the sunporch. Let's just say that when we left my hometown, this is how the car looked.


Fully Loaded! 

Thank God we took the seats out before we went out of town. We drove home like this, praying that we wouldn't get in a wreck because surely, it would mean death by school desk. That's the biggest thing that you see there. I got an old teacher's desk for $30 at one of the first thrift stores that we hit. Let me tell you - that thing took up the whole car! On our final day before leaving to come back to Nashville, it took us TWO hours to figure out how to get the car doors to shut and I had things under my legs and feet. Let me just say that we crawled out of that car like contortionists when we finally hit our driveway many hours later.

We saw this guy at one of the thrifts and it made us feel a little better about our choices.



You should have seen this guy and his friend struggling to get that couch on top of their car. The driver had to climb in and out of the car window like one of the Duke boys and the passenger ended up going home in a taxi. But not just any taxi..



...a taxi loaded down with a chest of drawers! We roll hard in my hometown. 


Back to the desk now.  I was really thrilled to get the desk because there have been two things that I have been seeking for a long time to complete my home office - a desk and a ceiling light fixture. Later that same day, I found a vintage light fixture at another store for three bucks. That right there is a thirty three dollar home office makeover! How do ya like me now, HGTV? Once the sun comes back to Nashville, I'll take some photos of them.



Besides the desk, I got this portrait shown here and another one of a tiny lipped man that the Mister suggests that I name "Keith".  The scale of this shot is so crazy. It makes the portrait look tiny but it's actually the huge thing wrapped in a blanket that you see in the car shot. 

We're having huge storms with lightning and tornado warnings here today. This morning a bank of Poltergeist looking clouds drifted over my hood and it was then that we started emptying the tornado shelter (AKA "the closet jammed with way too many Christmas decorations at the end of the hall"). I think I'd better use this dark, dreary day to start going through the pile of "what on Earth did I bring home?". Oh, I forgot to mention that on top of the thrifting, my family celebrated Christmas so there are also Christmas presents mixed into the mayhem. I even had to leave presents with my Mom because they wouldn't fit into the car! That's totally embarrassing to admit. I keep telling the Mister that we need a cargo van. Or a tractor trailer.

I hope that you all are having a great Monday and if you're a thrifting fan like me, hopefully you've had some great adventures and finds lately. It's that Spring cleaning time of the year and hopefully, folks will be dropping more and more of their trash to become our treasures at the thrifts!

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

19 comments:

Tasha said...

Oooh lots of good finds! I can't wait to see the desk other than from behind stuffed into your car. I remember trying to figure out how to get our entire (granted small) dinette table and 4 chairs into our car, it probably took a similar amount of time to work out.

No good thrifting adventures lately, but at the end of the month my mom and step-dad are driving across the country for the sole purpose of delivering to us my step-grandmother's Danish modern hutch of my dreams!! She's in a cleaning out phase and I asked and she granted. :) Yippee!

SusieQT said...

Awesome haul! I would've wanted to follow that guy in the Neon (but not too closely of course) just to see if he made it home with that couch intact!

Rae - Say It Aint So said...

i can't wait to see your office make over! and i'm so ready for these storms to move on!

Dolly the Bird said...

Love that portrait! I'm always on the lookout for that kind of thing, but never have any luck around here...nothing but 1980s teddy bear pictures and hunting dogs, pffft.
I love playing tetris with my mini. Such fun...I keeeed! In fact tonight after my little Piperooski has his puppy training 'graduation', I have to go by a friend's house and try and fit two MCM leather and chrome chairs he bought me into the back, which should be a bloody laugh riot to say the least!
And can I just say that I LOVE THE TITLE OF THIS POST!!!! My grandmother always used to say that when we'd pull into her driveway and I say it to Pip every day as we pull into the carport! Makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who remembers that rhyme!
Can't wait to see that desk and light fixture in place!

Sara In AZ said...

Oh wow, looks like you made out with some seriously cool stuff!!! Can't wait to see everything!

SO glad that you had such a nice time visiting your family - it always goes way too fast doesn't it.

SUZY8-TRACK said...

Nice finds, especially your portrait! I had to laugh when I saw that couch on the roof of the car, I've done more than once!

Melissa Blake said...

oh, man, that last photo sort of freaks me out!! :)

Rita said...

Have missed you! Glad you're back. Doing spring cleaning here (just taking a little break) and took a carload to the Salvation Army this morning. Yay! Then had to go back and ask pretty please for the Twilight plate my daughter made at a pottery painting place because she was a little outraged that I gave it away. They were so nice and gave it right back. And then, of course, we left with more new-to-us stuff. And so it goes... :-)

The Curious Holts said...

OMG drrooooooling!!!

Can't wait to see it all.

LOVE the lady portrait so much.

Vivian said...

Welcome back! I have to laugh at the first picture with your car stuffed to the rafters! I especially like the lone sole of a shoe to portray either you or the Mister wedged in there somewhere because a belted passenger seat was needed for a treasure to make it home safely? Was that staged or was it an accident the lone sole was in that spot? I too will love to see the desk in its new home!

Unknown said...

Please construct elaborate back stories for mr thin lips and lady delta Burke doppelgänger

Unknown said...

When I move to Nashville (hopefully this fall), will you please tell me where the good thrift stores are? I'll be lost if I don't get my monthly fix.

Lisa said...

She's back, yaaaaay! :)

My mom uses the exact phrase from your nursery rhyme/post heading in a kind of world weary tone when we've been on some particularly arduous errand for the rest of the day. I cannot wait to see your teacher's desk and all those other mysterious bundled goodies from the back-of-the-car shot. And god bless that guy in the sedan with his couch fearlessly battened to his roof. I hope he and the couch made it home safe!!

(Also, that lady portrait is blowing my MIND with how much I love it. What must her counterpart portrait, Keith, look like?!)

Mick said...

Thats the best way to travel! My Girlfriend to me- "You're short, move your seat up so I can fit this in the back seat..."

Unknown said...

Yay - you are back! What fun pics :-) Cannot wait to see your office makeover!

Librarian Tells All said...

I love the woman's portrit, and I can't wait to see your loot! Pleeeeease post a home office before and after? I really want to see this Keithly looking dude. I wonder if he looks anything like my own Keithly dude!

<3 jen @ librarian tells all

Rob and Monica said...

Oh...this is great! Vacation AND thrifting. By the way, why do you think I have a station wagon? Monica and I never know when we find that must-have large item (plus little crevices for the smaller must-have items!)

R's Rue said...

Great!
www.rsrue.blogspot.com
You are a thrifter!

Stacy @ Stacyverb said...

Very nice! I know what you mean about the price differences. My dad does a lot of reselling of things he finds in my parents' tiny town, but he gave up on trying to find any resellable treasures when he comes to visit me in Atlanta. Folks here know what they have and price it accordingly.