finally. no, really.

finally, truly, at last.
the waiting is over and it is official.
i have been given my house. thank you, Lord!
i sign loan docs today and should have the keys this weekend.
i will be posting lots of before, during and after photos as i put my plan for this house into action.
flooring, paint, lighting, kitchen cabinets...so much to be done!
it took nearly another month after the last post before i had word, with many more ups and downs to endure. that was a lot of waiting.
but that is all behind me now as i look forward to getting in there and getting started.
so excited!

waiting, still...

after a very rough process qualifying, fulfilling the application requirements, and filing endless paperwork, i am STILL WAITING to hear if the loan process is complete.
never mind that i was pre approved at the start of this process. that seems to mean little or nothing in this housing market.
two weeks ago i endured a very long weekend with my escrow ready to fall out at any moment.
through lots of prayer and God's grace, i survived that and am moving forward.
but i am still waiting and still do not know for sure if i own a home or not.
i have been comparing this process to a pregnancy, with the last two weeks the most difficult. especially if you are overdue. you just want it over with!
i will not be jumping up and down until i have a key in my hand.
but my heart is hopeful.
maybe this week....

finally...

the last time i posted was nearly a year ago, and i shared then how i was waiting to buy a home.
after many months and lots of looking, i have found a place to call my own.
it is in the ugly stage at the moment...brown tile-look linoleum from the 70s, shot ceilings, ugly windows...but it will be mine and i can't wait.
i am hoping to close escrow within 2 weeks and will begin to post then, on a regular basis; there will be lots of 'before and afters' with details and sources.
i am ripping out all of the kitchen cabinets and going with free standing furniture and a farmhouse sink and cabinet from ikea.
and with the house comes a vintage wedgewood stove.
EXCITED!!!
the best part will be unpacking all of my things. i have things that i packed away that i received for christmas LAST year (that's 2010) that i looked at for a week and then had to put in storage.
this is a task i am looking forward to with great anticipation and delight.
until next time...

ticking stripe goodness

i confess. i went on a binge. recently i sold some stuff on ebay so i went shopping. spent all the money i made buying things for my house, but had a lot of fun doing it.

i found several vintage ticking stripe pillowcases and using my mad bidding skills, i scored and won them all. (i think i bought 4.)

i really really really ♥ ticking stripe. but it has to be vintage. and it should be pink. and it probably needs to have roses in there somewhere.

i have several already in storage and recently found another small child's feather pillow that fit the bill.
but then i found something i have never even heard of before...a vintage ticking stripe duvet cover!!!

actually it was made to be a feather bed cover, but it will fit my full down duvet perfectly once i get moved.

here is a picture of it thrown over the duvet i am currently using. it is wrinkled from being shipped and stored, but i am totally in love with this piece.
i don't think i would use it at the same time as using the ticking stripe pillow cases (too matchy-matchy) but i will have a great time mixing it up.

back when my sister and i had our shop, i remember having a pair of ticking stripe cases in a wonderful bright, cheerful lime green. they had pink roses, too, and i can't believe i let them be sold. i have never seen any like them since.

one last thing...last summer i found a pink wicker baby bassinet. its on a stand, and has a big shabby dusty pink satin ribbon on it. but the best part is that inside, the little mattress is covered in ticking stripe.

if it stops raining here in the next few days i will show a picture.

until next time...

waiting

for the past year, i have been somewhat of a vagabond.
i sold my home a year ago, and in the meantime have been waiting to buy a new place.
i have spent much of that time staying in a tiny guest cottage at my sister's home. she and her husband have been very gracious and kind. but i must admit to longing for a place of my own.
all of my belongings are in storage. a 27'x 10' unit packed to the rafters with boxes and furniture, mirrors, china, glassware, linens, lamps and books. all that and my dress form, miss priss.
i miss my stuff.
in the ensuing year, i have continued to buy stuff. most of which i hardly remember.
i am sure once i finally move there will be one massive yard sale. it will most likely never all fit!
i hope to be posting here about my hunt for the perfect place, and will in the meantime show pictures of my latest finds. (just bought a new camera...my other one is buried, somewhere, in storage and i got tired of waiting to find it again...)
i hope you will visit now and again as i share my dream and my latest vintage finds.

spanish lace and calico

this is a photo of my mom and dad that was taken shortly after they were married in the 40s, post WWII.
my dad was 1st generation spanish. fiery and exciteable. passionate about many things, most notably, my mother.
my mom, a nebraska farm girl, was as wholesome and down to earth as fresh baked bread.
my two grandmothers were as different as could be: my dad's mom was short and plump. she was born in a small town in spain. she moved to los angeles in her teens, where she met and married my grandfather, who, strangely, was actually from the same area in spain. they did not meet until journeying separately to america.
my other grandmother, tall and pretty, was a nebraska farm wife.
she and my grandfather packed up my mother, their only child, and moved to los angeles in the 1940s.

dinner at my spanish grandmother's meant six different courses, all of them delicious. fresh, home made broth with fideo noodles. salads and stews and roasts and vegetables, all of them with a mediterranean flavor.
dinner at my mom's mother's house was all about farm food: fried chicken, corn on the cob, cream gravy, biscuits and pies.
i long for both of their cooking.

the two sides of my family came together happily, and often.
big family dinners, with lively talk (much of it in spanish) and too much food. it was always multi-generational and included aunts, uncles, and cousins (first, second and distant).
my family is small now. my parents are both gone, and the children of my generation have not yet married.
the cousins have scattered and we mostly have lost touch. it saddens me.
i embrace my roots, and am glad for the influence both of my grandmothers had in my life.
one, spanish lace.
the other, calico.