Final Interview Outfit

Fingers crossed, I will not have to jump through anymore hoops, put any more powerpoint presentations together...nor balance on my head while drinking water, I kid.

But one thing I don't kid about is a KICK ASS get that job wardrobe.

Babs is a bitchin' cause I'm not in bed, getting my beauty zzz's, so I'll make this quick...here we are:

$2.00 Estate Sale Find

Pearls and Patron Saint Bracelet

Gucci Bracelet, Pearl Head Band, and Bonfire Lip Gloss

"I'm a great belieer in luck and the harder I work, the more I have of it." - Thomas Jefferson

Happy Memorial Day

Bab's and I were discussing Memorial Day today and what it takes to be a soldier. It reminded me of a clip from the movie Southland Tales, in which Justin Timberlake plays an ex-soldier with post traumatic syndrome. The clip is amazing...truly.

My headbands/barrettes off to the men and women who do what they do, see what they see, and keep on keepin' on...they've gotta' have soul!

"The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:

Their courage nerves a thousand living men."

~Minot J. Savage

 

Krzysiak House of Chicken

For my Mitten peeps, you know what I'm talkin' about...

For my non-Mitten peeps, google it....

Mr. UEOF went to back to Michigan a few weeks ago for a wedding...and this was my present he brought back for me...

I believe my response was, "Oh wow--a Krzysiak's coffee mug...just what I wanted!"

Holy Medal Bracelet Complete

Since March, I have been working on a Catholic Patron Saint charm bracelet, and I'm happy to announce, kittens...It's finished!

NEW ADDITIONS:

St. Barbara - Patron Saint of artillyermen, military engineers, miners, and others who work with explosives.

St. Chirstopher - Patron saint of athletes, ferrymen, and travelers. He also is the Patron Saint of Havana, Cuba. (Thanks Babs for the donation of this charm!)

St. Joan of Arc:  Patron Saint of captives, martyrs, soldiers, and Women's Army Corps. Also the Patron Saint of the country of France.

St. John Vianney: Patron Saint of confessors and priests. Fun fact, Patron Saint of the following Archdicoceses: Dubuque, Iowa; Kansas City, Kansas; St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

St. Margaret of Scotland: Patron Saint against the death of children, for learning, parents of large families, queens, widows--and you guessed it...Scotland! My personal fave....

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Patron Saint of the Americas. Unfortunately, this was another one that Bab's gave me from my Granny and it broke as I was trying to attach it to the bracelet. I'm hoping super glue will help mend it! :o)

All in all, the bracelet has been a success! I'm very proud of my hunt for Holy medals down South!

Kudos to that Handsome Man/Happy Anniversary

1. One year ago on 5/29 I married Mr. UEOF after dating for 5 years...Happy Anniversary to us!!

2. Mr. UEOF aka my hubs, has a job that he works his tail off at. They use and abuse him. I would use the word slave to best describe this situation.

We're talking going in at 6 AM and leaving at 10 PM.

Well, he has applied for another job (within the same organization) doing exactly what he went to college for and has an unadying passion for.

On Friday he had an interview and he did an excellent job...to quote him, "I blew it out of the park." Now is the ever stressful waiting part.

Here he is in brand new suit looking Rico Suave'...

Sending positive vibes and Hail Mary's that he gets this position!!

United Estates of Madge (Where Do I Begin)

I have tons of product...and I'm trying to put together a timeline of when I purchased these items.

I start with yet another chair, not such an under taking as the reading nook chair.

The sale was up a very, very long drive way. I almost felt like BCF and I needed to leave crumbs along the way to find out way back, but the owner had VERY funny signs along the way.

I laughed out loud when I saw these signs!

BCF pointing out the Poison Ivy...or something...

If you notice in the background there is a chair, white with an art-deco style backrest. This is the chair prior to the recovering.

And here we have it today. Since I bought so much fabric to reupholster the reading nook chair, I have made so much from the remnats. Not that I have my eggs in a basket, but I've also included the letter "M" that I will be moving into my new office if/when I get my promotion...

Total Spent By Mage: $2.00 + Fabric

Thursday Tune-age

“Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.” - Bo Bennett

Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat


Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger


Black Keys -  Next Girl


Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over


Kleerup Ft. Robin - With Every Heart Beat

United Estates of Madge (Reading Nook Complete Edition)

or almost two months I have been working on a reading nook area in my master bedroom area. The final piece to my reading nook puzzle was a cozy chair, but it had to be just the right dimensions, and something that I would be able to reupholster myself. So in a box--I needed a small chair with simple lines.

Week after week, estate sale after estate sale...I could not find a chair that worked for this area.

Well great news, kittens--the chair was found!!

Random Saturday a few weeks ago, the hubs had the weekend off, which is a rare event. And he now has developed my addiction to estate sales...so you can only imagine what we did that day.

We were en route to another sale, when we saw a sign on the side of the road advertising an estate sale...we made our way to the other sale...and then headed to the road advertised sale. In was an adorable cottage-like home in downtown Marietta. The house was so cute, little nooks and crannies everywhere.

At one point in time, there was a pair of older men that were trying to maneuver a couch down the stars and were having an incredibly difficult time. Scott volunteered to help them, so I took the opportunity to wander throughout the living room taking in the loads of furniture and nick knacks.

And then...out of the corner of my eye I spotted it. A pepto bismol pink chair. Quickly I reached into my bag and grabbed my tape measurer, it was the exact measurements needed to fit the space!

The chair was marked for $40, but since Scott helped with the couch, the estate sale folks marked it down to $30. Deal-a-roo! I was on cloud nine...until we got to the car. We could not figure out how to fit this char in the car to save our lives. I'm talking people were coming up to us and suggesting different ways to angle it in the trunk, back seat, etc.

Might I add, it was like 85 degree with 100% humidity that day.

We finally came up with the bright idea to put it into the front seat...don't ask why we didn't think of this is the first place. I snapped a pic of an extremely sweaty hub.

And here is "Driving Miss Daisy."

We hauled ass to Ikea to the fabric section, which by the way--is amazing! They have tons of great prints...and it's actually quality fabric that you can use to do pillows, chairs, cat beds, etc. Not to mention the prices are excellent, I wasn't sure exactly how much fabric I would need and at $6.99/yard I didn't break the bank!

Before. Notice the crazy head rest decrotive sash.

Before with new fabric.

We got home and I was on a mission to reupholster this chair. I did some research, had my game plan, and dove in. Here are some snip it's from along the way...

I labeled along the way as to not forget which part was which.

 

Finally all fabric removed. I added some extra padding here and there.

I literally stayed up ALL night working on this chair. I was bound and determined to finish it...and let me tell you, Madge loves her sleep and hasn't pulled an all nighter since circa 2005. I recycled as many parts of the old chair as possible...piping along the bottoms of the legs and arms, and the cushion. While I was stitching the final part I heard the hub's alarm go off...so I quietly pushed the chair in the room.

I made a pot of coffee, popped a sleep aid (needed sleep badly), and sat on the patio waiting for the reaction to the chair. He was shocked...and to be honest, so was I. For my first attempt at reuphusltering I think I did a pretty stellar job.

Reading nook complete!

Big Big Toe

For those of you who don't know me personally...I may have the largest girth of a big toe that a person could possibly have.

It is refered to as a "hammerhead toe."

To put this in persepective:
1. Babs: "You were a JonBenet Baby with the ugliest damn toe...it was hideous to the point of being deformed!"
2. Granny--always kissing other babies feet...not mine.

3. 98% of the time, I cannot fit my big toe through the cute sandles with toe slots.

4. I once asked my husband if he could changed anything about me, what it would be. His answer...my toes.

However large and hideous others may find my big big toe...I find nothing wrong with it. I actually think it's cute. And...furthermore, it made me a stellar dancer/gymnast/cheerleader the "Nasty" had ever seen!

Today, a freak accident occured. I was cleaning our storage room for our store, I picked up a display by the pole....and the 40 lb base came crashing down on my big toe and cute ruffled purple flats.

Long story short...my left big toe is offically broken! I've got crutches and all peeps!

Disregard toes in in need of pedicure.

Big shout out to my gals who covered our big sale as Occcupational Health wisked me to the hospital--I heart my gals!!

Estate Sale Fun with BCF and Madge

A random Thursday with BCF and I...will preface this by saying it is politically incorrect--so if you are offended, so sorry! Wait for 9:12..it's pretty funny!

Thursday Tune-age

"I've met many thinkers and many cats, but the wisdom of cats is infinetly superior." - Hippolyte Taine

Civil Twilight - Letters From the Sky


Against Me - Thrash Unreal


Sleigh Bells - Tell Em'


Inxs - Suicide Blonde


Peter Gabriel - My Body Is A Cage

Estate Sales Pay Off

BCF always says that she's going to find the Decloration of Indepedence at one of the estate sales we go to...we joke about it all the time.

But seriously...this article the hubs sent me today about finding $20000.00 in a chair can happen to me at any point in time and I would be 100% okay with it!!

United Estates of Madge (Cleanin' Out the Warehouse)

Let me preface this blog by saying that I have missed this greatly!

For the past three weeks, Madge has busted her ass--countless hours, popping anti-anxiety pills like they were Tic-Tac's, 3 different interviews, 1 PowerPoint presentation, staying up until 4 AM working on said PowerPoint's notes, a handful of informational handouts...and now I have one final interview with the person I would compare to God, of our department.

The bad news, it's not until June 1st. Vacations, meetings, prior engagements, and Labor Day or Memorial Day (whatever holiday that is coming up--always get them confused) has postponed it for almost 3 weeks.

But on the bright, shiny side--I'm taking the next week off from worrying and stressing--and enjoying the lighter side of life! For instance, how lovely Magnolia's are when they bloom.

I have a large Magnolia tree right outside my front door.

Now the question is where do I begin?

Because I did take a quasi hiatus from blogging...I did not take a hiatus from my true addiction...Estate Sales.

The place...a large warehouse. The people involved...BCF and I. The sale...clearing out a warehouse of items left over from estate sales. We're "VIP's" aka one of us is on the mailing list of this companies, so we were notified of the sale a day early.

Imagine this...a warehouse...filled, almost every nook and cranny...with items from estate sales, and prices slashed like "Crazy Eddie" was around. It was a truly spectacular sight.

BCF next to a chandelier fit for a king.

Gorgeous China.

However, there were a few...WTF items...

Example A: Vase Gorilla Glued together on the "Super Clearance Table." Notice bottom left section of vase...remnants of Gorilla Glue. Ironically, we saw this poor vase's mate later in the warehouse...sans Gorilla Glue.

Example B: The "Poof! You now have boobs fairy." Also on super clearance table.

The WTF items were weighed out by the really awesome items. We came across this large box of very old papers...

Upon further investigation they were deeds and wills from 1873 from England. It was so interesting to see how everything was hand written.

The most intriguing find of the day was in an old ratty box. It just so happened to be near all the gloves, so BCF was digging through the box and came across it. We literary sat down for nearly an hour and went through every document in this box. It was like reading a book about someone's life!

I can only tell so much, because there will be an upcoming blog post on the amazing story of Hazel and Duddly Futch (and I cannot make those names up peeps). But this box contained love letters from Duddly to Hazel while he was in the Navy; it contained the petals from the roses on their wedding day...

And pictures and memorabilia post their wedding.

Hazel and Duddly led very interesting lives...as I'm sure you can tell.

I turned to BCF and told her that I was willing to pay $10 for this box, that's how strong of a connection I felt to it/their story. I ended up getting it for $5.

The last interesting lot of items we came across were pictures or lithographs, we still aren't sure, from Europe. There were many creepy angel and children scenes (which BCF purchased...they freaked me out), but they had quite a few of Saints and other Holy figures.

Intermixed with this lot were many random pictures of people...this by far was the best...

With all that being said, I made out with the following:

1. One glass lamp with a lovely lampshade (the lampshade had original price tag from an uppidy up boutique of $85--for the lampshade alone!)

2. The Hazel and Duddly Futch box.

3. An interesting plate made in Greece that goes with my new kitchen color scheme.

4. One of the photo/lithograph of the Virgin Mary.

She offers a calming affect while I'm brushing my teeth.

5. And last, but not least...this kooky patchwork painted kitty cat, who just happens to be our new garden mascot. My granny had this rock that one of my aunt's painted when I was younger (it was painted very similar to the Garden Kitty) and I always thought it was the neatest thing ever. I saw this cat, and immediately knew I must have it!

Who couldn't pass that kooky face by?

Total Spent by Madge: $15