Early Risers, Bring May Flowers

Today I got up at the crack of dawn to head to my first ever garage sale excursion. A neighborhood here in Chicago was having a big sale that has been hyped up a bit so I thought it might be a nice time to scope out a bunch of sales all at once, but...it was a bust. Maybe I wasn't in the mood or maybe it's just seeing the junk in other people's garages that makes me realize I really don't need anymore junk of my own. Don't get me wrong, I won't give up on garage sales altogether but today I was particularly unimpressed so I might stick to vintage sales and thrift stores, etc. for the time being.

The good news is that being up so early on a gorgeous Sunday morning did inspire me to do something about our drab balcony. It has been neglected since the winter (and the winter before) and the rusty floor will likely not to be repainted & repaired until our Condo Association gets more funds. So I thought I needed to take matters into my own hands.

I went to Home Depot and bought some commercial grade, environmentally-friendly indoor/outdoor mats to cover the unsightly balcony floor.

Let's consider this a partial "before" pic. See 3 out of 5 mats down here, and notice the rust where we do not have a mat down yet...yes that should be black to match the railings!

Then I got an assortment of flowers, and a new plant stand with a huge terra cotta pot to sit on it. I filled each of my four green plastic planters with 2 white geraniums and 6 red salvia.

Then I put a stonecrop 'Sedum Autumn Joy' in a cute yellow planter on the bistro table.

I also filled the huge terra cotta pot with yellow, orange and red gerbera daisies.

And here's the end result...

I even had helpers, well more like onlookers, but I was glad to have them there for moral support :-)

Job well done, Lou-dog! (And yes, we like to taunt the Cubs fans here with our grill cover.)

Vintage Bits and Brooches

Yesterday, I did a quick sweep of the vendors at the Do It Your Own D*mn Self sale here in Logan Square in Chicago and came home with an unexpected stash of vintage brooches and costume jewelry! I got such a steal on a small lot of "vintage bits" and I also splurged for two other pieces, but altogether I spent $16 for a fun little collection.

{THE STEAL}

This little box of "vintage bits" was marked 2 for $1, but when I started digging through and grabbing nine or ten of the pieces, the kind seller said, "You can have the whole box for $2." Well, ok! I'll take it! So I got about 20 pieces of unique, mismatched vintage costume jewelry for less than a tall latte.

{THE SPLURGE}

Since I was on a high from my mega-steal, I apparently left my negotiating skills in the dust as I headed to the next vendor who had a few much larger vintage brooches on display. I immediately gravitated towards two, beautiful enamel floral brooches and was quoted $6 for one and $8 for the other. They were much larger, and in good condition, so I too-willingly forked over $14 for the two.

White, Green and Gold Vintage Enamel & Rhinestone Floral Brooch - $6

Pink and Yellow Vintage Enamel Floral Brooch - $8

Here's the entire stash:

So what do I plan to do with it all? Well, I said I went there to get inspired and indeed I did. I never expected to come back with what I did, I thought it was more likely for me to find paper or fabric, but now I have a few ideas for how to use vintage costume jewelry. The idea I'm most excited about is the possibility of putting together a brooch bouquet!

I found some nice inspiration pics on wedding blogs and floral sites, like Ruffled, Offbeat Bride, and Fantasy Floral Designs with their entire blog dedicated to brooch bouquets. However, since I am already married, I'd rather create individual stems to keep in a vase around the house or to add in here and there to fresh flower bouquets at home. I'm thinking all I need is some green floral wire and tape. I probably do need a few more pieces though for a full display, unless I just do a few in some bud vases. Hmm... I'll let you know how this pans out!

I'm a Mrs!

The dust has settled, the honeymoon is over and today was my first day back at work as a MRS.! Today was actually weird going back to work after being off for 2 whole weeks. Dave has much more vacation than me so he took 3 weeks off and got to sleep in today while I braved the cold and took the train to work :-(

It was strange today, I actually woke up nervous to go to work today, like I was starting a new job or something, only I have had this one for 2.5 years! I wonder if this is normal? My whole schedule has been out of whack too, I couldn't even remember what time to set my alarm for or how long it takes me to walk to the train in the morning...what did the wedding do to my brain!

Also, this is kind of sappy, but it would be the first time in over a week that I would spend my days without my new husband, or with anyone except for him. When did I become a needy wife? Oh yeah, just 11 days ago.

Once I got to work, it was just like old times and my co-workers (that attended) had lovely things to say about our day which was great.

I promise to post various photos and other details in posts along the way, but overall our day was wonderful. Wonderfully chilly, but I was warm off of adrenaline so I didn't seem to mind as much as the guests and the bridal party did. Here are a few photos to hold you over and I promise to post more soon!

Just Married!:

Our Exit Kiss:

Pretty Maids all in a Row:

Me with the Maids:

The Cake:

Centerpieces:

Farewell from the new Mr. & Mrs.:

More to come!