{Getting ready to flea!}

Oh my goodness, I am a sluggish, tired, lazy beast with almost zero motivation to do anything right now!!! I have no time to lose since the flea market is this coming Sunday, but I seriously cannot get my act together!!! Ugh!! Every area of my house is a mess, especially the places that I have "dumped" my flea market treasures, and all I want to do is lay around and take tums and crunch ice!! Big time ugh!!

Here is the status - I am about half way through with tagging everything, and I still have 2 chairs to paint/upholster and a coffee table to stain! Ahhhhh!!! I need some energy STAT!!

War room # 1 - tagging station (this has been used as a "craft room/play room, but will sometime soon transform into a nursery :) )
War room #2 - the garage. Filled with un-finished projects and my large pieces for sale.
I need to whip myself into action - starting now!! Watch my dust! ;)

Oh....and on a totally unrelated note, has anyone else been TERRIFIED of a vitamin! This thing is RIDICULOUSLY huge!!!
And the picture doesn't even do it justice. I swear it is like an inch long and thick!!! I started to take it but hesitated like 5 times before actually popping it in and getting it down!! I was worried that my husband would have to come in and give me the Heimlich, lol, but thankfully, it went down ok! Ha! Yikes!! I am s-c-a-r-e-d!! No bueno!

Happy Tuesday! Wish me luck with the mojo and the vitamin! At least the flea is over this weekend. The vitamin will be in my life for 8 more months!!! Ahhhh!!

;)
-L

{R.I.P. Red}

So......sad to report that Red didn't have such a long and fruitful life!! He had the "ick" and passed away yesterday! :( poor guy!! I am going to take a fish break for a while, and will start fresh in a few months! It makes me too sad! Rest in peace, sweet Red!! From what we could tell, you were a really great fish!

In other news, Josh and I went to a wedding yesterday - it was a lot of fun!
(disregard the possessed look we have in our eyes - all of the lights made the flash go crazy - haha)

I have SO much to do to get ready for the flea market this weekend, so I am off to get caught up! Being newly pregnant and sleeping in until noon does not make for very productive days!! ;)

Happy Monday!

-L

{Pretty flowers and a new little buddy}

We are dog sitting for a friend of ours this week, and although he is a very sweet black lab that gets along great with our dogs, at this very moment, he is barking VERY loudly because he needs to be taken out, so I have to make this post brief. I just didn't want the day to go by without sharing two things.....

**These beauties....

Pink peonies!!

These are my sisters favorite flowers, and I must say, I am in love with them too!! They have them at Trader Joe's right now ($6.99 for 5 stems), so I couldn't pass them up (and as you can tell, I splurged and got 2 bunches!!)

**And this little guy......

His name is "Red" :)

He is our new little buddy. I don't think I mentioned it on here, but my beta fish "Jobin" passed away on the same exact day that Ali's fish did (weird, right?! totally!). I waited a little while (until I healed) to bring this little guy home! He is so pretty and already seems happy in his new home! Welcome Red! We are so happy to have you in the fam!

I'll chat more tomorrow! Have a great evening!

-lisa

Oh...P.S. - Tomorrow at 3 pm I have my VERY first baby doctor appointment. I get an 8 week ultrasound and an official check-in with my doctor!! I am so excited (and a little bit nervous if I'm being honest)! Fingers crossed that everything is moving along perfectly with our little tadpole! K? Thanks!! :)

{More thrify goodness, a name, and my girls}

As I mentioned in my previous post, we took a family outing to the flea market in Long Beach for Father's Day this year! My dad LOVES walking around looking at everything, just like my sis and I do. My brother puts up with it, and actually got a couple of things this time. Here are some of my fabulous finds....

*Disclaimer: I know I am supposed to be looking for the things for our flea booth, but unfortunately (and fortunately), I think that all things purchased this time are keepers!! I have been really good about not keeping things so far, so I am letting myself have these goodies!

Since I have an affinity for the whole mid-century modern vibe, this amazing lucite magazine rack was a must-have! I L-O-V-E it!!

And I got these two American potato (gunny) sacks.....could be cool as a seat cushion for some of the chairs that I am going to sell at the flea, or maybe stretched across a canvas or on the backing of a shadow box. Hmm...the possibilities are endless!

And then there was this way cool wire basket. I think I'll use him to help store all of my craft supplies :)

I also found this adorable little race horse picture. I thought this could be cool as a part of a vignette of frames in a hallway, or even in a nursery.....hmmm.......interesting!! ;) (side note - I am not typically very "country" or into horse-themed art, but there is definitely something charming about this little guy. He has that little something going on that I like!)

And last but certainly not least, I scored this pristine milk glass citrus reamer for my collection :)

LOVE!! All in all it was a great (long) day at the flea!! I always have the best time hanging out with my family!

Speaking of family, I finally (after only 10 months of being married) officially and legally changed my last name!! I really want all of my "baby" stuff to say "Vinograd", and needless to say, although I love my dad, getting rid of the last name "Lichterman" has been something that I have been looking forward to for a long time - LOL. Sorry papa!

And just for good measure, here is a picture of my little Sadie resting near her mama while she "works", and Bear hanging out with us too! Such sweet girls!!



Happy Tuesday! :)
-L

{Another fabulous find...}

Today, my sis and I went to a church furniture warehouse sale that is in our neighborhood. It is open every Saturday, and we had been a couple of times before. The very first time we were there, a beautiful french style bucket chair caught our eye. IT-WAS-BEAUTIFUL - and completely flawless!! We even liked the upholstery just how it was - a cream and orange damask/diamond pattern. We wouldn't change a thing! We asked the man how much he would take for it, and he said $175.00 firm. Yowza!!! Thanks but no thanks!! That was way too rich for our blood! He said he had recently taken the price down to $175.00 from $300.00, so with that in mind, $175.00 sounded like a much better deal, but it was still WAY out of our flea-budget price range.

Boo!

But........today......only 3 weeks later.......the chair had a shiny new price tag on it.....

$60.00

And she is all ours!!

We can easily get double that at the flea or on Craig's List! It is in immaculate condition and is definitely a good statement piece! Needless to say, we were all smiles today! :)

We are off to the Long Beach Antiques & Collectibles Show with our dad tomorrow for our Father's Day outing! I'll keep you posted on other treasures we hunt down!

:)
-L

{Obsessed!!}

Ok, sooooooo......I promise to get back to talking about the fabulous world of home decor/design/crafting/DIY/etc. soon, but being that I am so newly pregnant and have been down and out with shingles ever since the day I found out, I haven't really had the chance to be REALLY excited about everything. So, now that I am finally feeling better, I can really celebrate!!!! Yay!!! I am SOOOOOO excited!! As I mentioned before, I have wanted to be a mama for as long as I can remember. Since I was in college (or maybe even before that), I have had a "hope chest" that I have been filling with things from my childhood that I had wanted to save as well as random baby things that I have accumulated over the years. I must mention that the "chest" is rather small. Let me now mention that I will need to get a bigger one!!! Or wait, maybe a chest of drawers for the nursery!!!! Yesssss!!! Oh yeah baby!!! Bun in the oven!!!! Woohoo!! How's that celebrating for ya!!!! LOL

Today, I have to add the following pieces of adorableness......

this adorable little skunk hat!!

these adorable little pants! :)


this wormy!!
(which I bought for both Noah and Hayden before they were born)


and this adorable giraffe jacket (with ears on the hood!!!)

My hubby is in trouble, isn't he??!!!! LOL!!! I know!! So stinkin' cute!! I promised him that I would be conscientious, and that I would not go over board! So....shhhhhh....this is our little secret (and mums the word, Mama V!!! ;) hehee!). For now, I'm sticking to things that can be worn by a boy or a girl - FOR NOW - but I can't wait to find out what we are having. Then the real trouble will begin!!

:)
-lisa

{Whew!!......}

I must say, that was a pretty rough go! I'll tell you what, those shingles are no joke! This whole thing has not been fun - not fun at all (understatement of the century!). I do think that the worst is over and thanks to the wonderful support of my family and friends (and especially my amazing husband for doing EVERYTHING for me), I am finally on the mend. The rash is still here, but is getting better, and I do still have quite a bit of nerve pain, but it is MUCH better than it was 2 days ago!! MUCH!! This was a very interesting first week of pregnancy (well...first week actually knowing that I'm pregnant). I am truly hoping that the only place to go from here is up!!! :) Fingers crossed, ok guys!? Thanks!

xo -L

**Oh....and someone please tell my sister that the new nickname she has for me - "Shingy's" - is NOT nice and that she must nip that in the bud asap!! LOL!! ( ;) I love you sis! - but stop it!! haha )

{Yay!!!!!!!....and boo.....BUT MOSTLY YAY!!!!!!!!!}

If you've read the small "about me" section on the right hand side of my blog, you would know that my husband and I have begun the awesome adventure of trying to start a family!!!! Yay!!!!!!

Well, after 2 months of "trying".......


we....are.....PREGNANT!!!! :) BIG TIME YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel so happy and blessed that we were able to conceive relatively easy, as I know that isn't the case for everyone. And, I know some might think that it is a little too early in the process to share this news (I think I am only 5.5 weeks along), but I am the type of person that wants to scream it from the roof-tops, so I just couldn't keep it in any longer!!! IF (not trying to jinx it) but IF the worst were to happen, I would need to lean on my "people", so I didn't feel the need to wait. I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember, so needless to say we are both sooooo incredibly excited!!!!!!

Yay!! Yay!! Yay!!!!

So - quick recap: Pregnant = YAY!!!!!!!!

Now for the small "boo":
I found out that I was pregnant on Saturday night (again - yay!!!!!!!!). Earlier that day I had noticed a small rash developing on the right side of my chest and on my breast, but didn't think much of it. My bra sometimes is irritating, and I get heat rash from time to time, so I was sure it was no big deal. Well, fast forward to Monday, and not only had the rash gotten a little worse on my front side, but it had spread to my upper back (also on the right side). What!!? And I felt like I had been punched in between my shoulder blades - there was like a dull sore pain. Ugh!! I then began to really wonder what the heck was going on??!!!! So, after mentioning the rash to my mother in law (who had been the nursing supervisor at a local hospital for 30+ years), she recommended that, due to being very newly pregnant, I make an appointment with my doctor just to make sure that it wasn't anything to worry about.

Well, the verdict is in. I have . . . . . . SHINGLES!!!!! What the heck!!? Shingles, I thought only old people get that!!??! Really!!!?? Shingles??!!! Uggggh!!!!

For those of you that are just as naive as I was, here is a short tid-bit on shingles....
**Shingles and chicken pox are actually the same thing. Both are caused by the Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), a type of herpes virus. Chicken pox is the initial infection and is usally seen in adolescence. After the skin heals from the pox marks, the virus retreats into the nerve roots of the spine and lays dormant. It can migrate back out years later to form an irritating rash called "shingles." The rash begins with reddish bumps. In a few days, these bumps turn into fluid-filled blisters. You might feel a stinging or burning pain. The rash might also itch. Shingles occurs most often on the trunk of the body, such as a band of blisters around your back and chest. Even though the rash gets better or goes away in a few weeks, the pain may last longer (it can be a dense aching throbbing pain). This condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia. In most people, however, the pain of shingles goes away in 1 to 2 months. **Most people who get shingles are older than 50 years of age or have a weak immune system. For example, you might get shingles if you have cancer, take medicines that weaken your immune system, have HIV/AIDS (***or in my case, are going through a new and "stressful to the body" circumstance such as pregnancy)
**Helpful info: No one can catch shingles from you. However, they can catch chickenpox if they haven't already had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine.

{Source: familydoctor.org}

So.....that is my small "boo". I am SOOOO excited about the new journey that we get to embark on, and am so excited to be pregnant (more excited than words can even describe), and for everything that comes with it, but I am a little bit bummed right at this moment that my first "pregnancy experience" has to be a negative one!! I am SUPER sore and very itchy and it is making me lethargic and grumpy!!! I am trying to keep my spirits up though, and plan to get back to celebrating soon!! Don't get me wrong, if the choice was to be pregnant with shingles or not pregnant at all, you better believe I would choose the former, but still......kind of, sort of, just a little bit.....boo!!

LOL! Happy Wednesday everyone!

:)
-L

{Little stool}

Yesterday was the IVC flea (the same one that we are having a booth at next month). My sister and our friend were planning on going, but I had a baby shower to go to over an hour and a half away, so I thought that I wouldn't be able to join them, BUT......I was able to squeeze both in. I met them at the flea at 9:30, and left at 11:30 to be sure to be to the baby shower by 1 pm. :) yay!! I only got two things - but I love them both. A vintage iron for $4 (not pictured) and an amazing vintage industrial stool for $25. :)

Isn't it awesome!!!??! I love it! It needs a new leather/vinyl seat (there is a hole in it), but that is an easy fix. I thought it would also be cool to cover it in a hide or even burlap or a grain sack....hmm....I'll have to think on it for a while!

Happy Monday!

-L

{My happy little work space}

Since being laid off in the beginning of March from the best job I have EVER had (I worked at a clothing design and manufacturing company as a Project Manager for 3.5 years - 10 people, small office, Carlsbad, CA., loved everyone and everything (except the long nights emailing back and forth with China - frustrating to say the least - LOL)) I have decided to create a small work-at-home area for myself. I am planning on helping my husband with his admin/office stuff (he is an attorney, and is a solo practitioner working from a home office, so needless to say, he has no time to "organize" himself between all of the clients he is juggling), but I also felt like I needed a space for me - to blog, to email, to dream! So....here is my little space so far (it's in our guest room at the foot of the bed).....

{Excuse the cereal bowl and coffee - those two are frequent visitors to my happy little space - haha}

It is finally coming together. The desk is still a work in progress. I found it on C.L. for $40 (and had to drive to Brea (45 miles) to get it.) It was a cream color with greenish and pinkish details but it had beautiful lines and an awesome light wood-grain top with speckled gray throughout, so I decided to paint the body of the desk gray, and I love it!! I still have to paint the hardware (I'm thinking either the same gray color as the desk - or a shiny metallic silver to pick up the modern look of the chair base - thoughts?) and I am way overdue for putting a wax coat over the whole thing (it's already beginning to chip in some spots - oops!), but I just couldn't wait to get her in and start using her!


Happy Saturday everyone!

-L

**Chair - Ikea
**Lamp - Goodwill
**Organizer/chalkboard awesomeness (that will be hung on the wall at some point) - Homegoods

{More thrifty finds for the flea....}

I had a ton of good luck at a Goodwill that is just outside of our local area. Check out some of my fantastic finds for our flea booth......

A blue and gold steamer trunk for $5.99 (yes, you heard me correctly - $5.99!!)

A vintage hourglass

Yet another fantastic cheese dome (ok, enough already with the cheese domes - haha)

3 very awesome lamps (I am going to keep the silver one for my desk :) )

And......another AWESOME lady!!!!

They are best buds already! ;)

Happy almost weekend everyone!

-L