Bargain shopping

I am constantly shopping for fun vintage for my 3 Etsy shops! I have a few favorite places, one in particular is a cute little thrift shop! I always go right for the glassware and rarely stop to look at the clothes. Something caught my eye yesterday and I had to stop and look!

I'm glad I did stop! A dress for $2.99! A cute rayon dress that has a disco-era look to it! It is a little longer in the front on one side, the perfect dress for dancing! I didn't try it on there, since I really didn't have too much to loose if it didn't fit!

Guess what!? It does fit and I love it!

I guess for now on I'll have to take a few more minutes to go through the clothing!

Happy Hunting!

Jen

New Post Finally

Just wanted to wish everyone and safe and fun Memorial weekend!

Let's not forget to say thanks to everyone that helps to keep our country safe!

You are appreciated! Thank you so much! Not only to those in the armed forces, but also to their families that also have to sacrifice so much!

Jen

Happy Birthday to Me!

No, it is not all about me!

But I will start with me! Tomorrow I will turn another year older! I can't say I'm thrilled! But...I am pathetically optimstic...believe me, I try really hard not to be!

So I am getting older. I know it happens to everyone, but I think it's a bit tougher for women. We have images thrown at us in the media telling us what we should look like. I have never been a follower and have never thought of myself as a leader either; yet when it comes to self image, I need to give my opinion!

Self image is just that! "self image". It is what you think of yourself. Not what others think of you. That is one fantastic thing about getting a little older, I'm not caring so much what others think! There's a strange confidence that has come over me!

I have also have learned a new love...running. I still do not consider myself a runner, but I have 4 medals that prove different! What I have learned is that I'm more competitive than I ever thought I was! I have found a good reason to be older! There is not quite as much competition in my "age category" and I am now winning medals in running!

The reason for this blog update? Is it just for me to brag? Nope! It's for me to tell you-everyone, whatever your age, weight, height, etc....you can do it! Certainly, if I can accomplish something, you can too!

Push yourself just a bit!!

Jen

Bitter Sweet Mother's Day

I enjoyed my day as I hope all of you mom's out there did as well!

I spent the afternoon in a little dressing room at Dillard's with my darling 17 year old daughter, Katherine, as she tried on probably about 30 dresses! It was down to three and we both decided the purple-ish one was the winner! She looks beautiful in the strapless classic-almost-vintage-like dresses! I will be sure to show off pictures of her next week on the big day.

As it always is with Katherine, we end up with several dresses so she has options. We ordered one online that will hopefully be here within the next few days. She also picked out a gorgeous one that her friend wore, and I have that at the dry cleaners right now.

She does have two proms she's going to, so we will need two!

I will also, hopefully in the next few days, go with my oh-so-charming son Mark, to pick out a tuxedo as he is also going to the prom too!

But why did I decide to do another Mother's Day blog? Well, first to say how much I treasure these times I have with my kids, as I know soon they will be off on their own!

The main reason I wanted to do this extra Mother's Day blog was to let you know how much I cherish my own Mom and the time I had with her.

Mona (my Mom) was an absolutely amazing woman and mother! She worked hard as a teenager to keep her family together (7 children and she was the oldest). Her parents had some problems, so she basically was the one that took care of her sisters and brothers.

When she married and had children she taught herself how to be a great Mom (although she had the instincts already). She raised 5 children and the compassion she had for each one of us is truly unbelievable!

She was not only my Mom, but when I moved back here from Denver in 1989, after my divorce, I found a best friend! I truly could not have gone through all of what I did without her.

I went on to get remarried (yay-found a great guy!) and have 2 more children and she was there, everyday, to help me and boy did we have fun! We had great laughs and I will forever treasure those times.

In August of 1994 she came down with what the doctor called "a virus", but within 2 weeks she had passed away.

My life really has never been the same. Of course I am still the positive person I will always be. But my heart has an empty spot.

My Mom is truly one of the most admirable people I have ever met and I want to say Happy Mother's Day to her and to all that give so much like she did.

You are also cherished.

Jen

Happy Mother's Day!

I always say being a mom was the toughest job I ever had, but the most rewarding!

From the moment my first child, Lindsey, was born, I felt an amazing responsibility and love that I had never experienced before! Words really cannot describe how happy I am to be called Mom to my 3 wonderful children, Lindsey, Mark, and Katherine!

My children are 27 (almost), 18, and 17. Yes, quite a difference in ages between my first and my second! Due to life circumstances, I had to wait for my 2nd and 3rd!

I always wanted to be a Mom ever since I can remember! If I accomplish nothing else in my life, as long as I'm called Mom, and they "kind of like me", my life is fulfilled!

For all the new mom's out there I say congratulations! I also say listen to your intuition! There's nothing like a mother's intuition! I know the lack of sleep is tough and some days you need more patience! Try to get rest whenever you can and don't worry about the housework for awhile! If you have family and friends that can help out, take full advantage of that!

A mother's love is unconditional. I take pride in all my children's accomplishments, but I also love them no matter what they do or say. I'm not saying I always like what they do or say, but I will love them forever no matter what.

Happy Mother's Day to all of these moms out there! I know it's not always easy! We do the best we can, right!!?

Enjoy your day!

Jen

Yummy Cookies!

The nice UPS guy just delivered two boxes of my favorite cookies from Cheryl & Co.!! My sweet husband ordered them for me (yep-I gave a huge hint!) for Mother's Day!

They're all individually wrapped so I only unwrapped three for this picture. Aren't they just so cute!? And even better, they're delicious!

The 2nd box came with some other decadent cookies like Pecan Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and another of my favorite cookies, Snickerdoodle!

Happy Mom's Day to all Moms!! Put your feet up and relax (at least for a few minutes)...you deserve it!

Jen

Thank you Twitter

For those that "don't get twitter"....well I don't get that!

Today was another great example of why Twitter is so important to me.

I received a very strange convo from another Etsy shop rambling that I should be selling my vintage items on Ebay because Etsy was only for handmade items. Wow! Thanks lady! (I use that word loosely in this case.)

These days I'm more about concentrating on positive people. Negative people are sad people and I want to avoid them. I'm not saying I don't have my negative moments, I do, like everyone else. But I let it go and move on. I certainly try not to take it out on anyone else!

Back to twitter and why I love it! No matter what I say about forgetting about the nasty convo, I still keep going back to it in amazement.

Wait, I said back to twitter, right!? Okay so this is a shout out to some of my twitter heroes that came to my rescue today.

First and foremost thank you killerella! Wow-you definitely should be wearing a cape! You are definitely my hero! This lady can write!! I'm so impressed and thankful!

Thanks to ttotshop too! and I can't forget to mention one of the funniest twitter people- vintageeye! She not only has an awesome Etsy vintage shop, but she's so witty and entertaining!

So all of you that don't "get twitter" you should get it! Twitter is awesome! Full of interesting and fun people! Give it another chance!

Happy weekend everyone!

Love you twitter,

Jen

Pretty Things

I would love to say these pictures came straight from my home! But I shall not tell a lie! I do imagine myself with a quaint little summer home that looks just like this!

Every Wednesday at our library they have a book sale. I haven't gone there for awhile but I'm glad I stopped by yesterday!

If you follow my blog you know I have a darling 91 year old neighbor/friend, Rea. She loves to read and she loves those Harlequin books! She tells me they're an "easy read" and heck, they only cost me 10 cents! This time she requested mystery movies so I picked her up several of those!

I also found perfect little coffee table books for myself. These are all from Victoria. I used to subscribe to their magazine; everything in it is so inspirational! The Victoria books I found at the libary sale are "Decorating with Wallpaper", "Intimate Home, Creating a Private World", oh...actually, two are titled like that..and my favorite "At Home With White"!

The pictures shown here are from the "At Home With White". As you may or may not know (I'm telling you now) I have a milk glass shop http://www.mymilkglassshop.etsy.com/ (so I had to thrown in a little advertising-you don't mind, do you!?). This book reminds me of the milk glass decor; simple and clean.

So I will continue to look through the pages of these books and maybe...just maybe, I will be inspired enough to at least clean my house!

Happy Decorating!

Jen

Bonanzle!

When the going gets tough the tough get going!

For those of you that have Etsy shops, maybe you're noticing sales are a bit slow right now. They have been for me. With some encouragement from my twitter friends, I decided to open another shop on Bonanzle! It's really a quick process, you can list an item with basically just one click!

Check out my new shop at http://www.bonanzle.com/jenscloset. I still have my 3 Etsy shops of course-I do love etsy!

So keep your chin up and think positive!

Jen

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

I love springtime! I get to put away those heavy sweaters and coats and bring out my cute bright cotton skirts, shorts, tshirts...and all of my summer sandals!

I've been spring cleaning for the past few days and managed to collect about 8 bags of clothes that I know I am not going to wear and will be donating them to a few of the charities that pick up every month or so right at our house! There's the Purple Heart Vets, Vietnam Vets, and Easter Seals, to name a few. Be sure to have them leave a receipt! If you donate enough throughout the year, it's a tax deduction.

I also cannot wait to start planting my annuals! The first ones I plant are the pansies. Believe it or not, they are quite tough, despite their name! Even if that surprise snow comes once more (and it does happen), they will survive! It's still a little early to start the planting, but not too early to start checking out my local garden centers!

Spring is a great time for new beginnings! A fresh new start! Open the windows, let the fresh air in. Bring out the spring and summer clothes. Think about your garden and start planning. Heck, I may even attempt to tackle the cleaning of our basement....well...maybe!!

So put your timer on for 20 minutes. Don't go near that computer! Get to work! When that timer goes off, you will be amazed at what you were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time! Then you can pat yourself on the back, put the time on for maybe 10 minutes for that computer break (or whatever)..and then back to work! It works for me! Try it!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Happy new beginnings!

Jen