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Archive for May, 2012

Shabby Apple giveaway – NOW CLOSED.

Posted in Free Giveaways, Style, tagged , , , , , , , on May 31, 2012 | 35 Comments »

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If I could enter my own contest, I would.

This is my first big giveaway and I couldn’t be more excited about the prize! Shabby Apple has the most amazing vintage inspired pieces with which I would love to fill my closet. They also donate a portion of their sales to assist women in need worldwide so it’s a great company to support! I’ve picked out some of my favourites here, but please visit the site to see what else they have! From dresses, to swimwear, to accessories + home decor, there is so much to choose from!I love how nearly everything for sale on Shabby Apple is work appropriate! With longer hem lines and higher necklines they’ll work for so many occasions without sacrificing style. These are basically my dream clothes! And check out this peter pan collar/beehive combination. Perfect.

To enter, you’ll need to “like” Shabby Apple on facebook, and leave a comment here on this blog post saying what your favourite item is on their website. Then make sure you’re subscribed to my blog so you’ll know if you won! I’ll be accepting entries until Saturday night at 10 pm, and announcing the winner at some point next week. You must have a U.S. shipping address to win, but if you live out of the country and there’s someone here who wouldn’t mind receiving your package, feel free to enter!

Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t lucky, though, because Shabby Apple is so generous that they didn’t want to leave anyone out! Even if you don’t win, you can enter “jeezejulia10off” as a coupon code at the checkout to receive 10% off of your purchases for a month! Quick – the clock is ticking!

Good luck!

xx.

UPDATE: I’m no longer accepting entries for this giveaway. Any comments left on this entry after 10 pm Saturday, June 2nd will not be counted. Sorry! Find out who won by clicking here!

{Images courtesy of Shabby Apple!}

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Memorial Day yard sale finds!

Posted in Vintage + Thrift, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »

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Who doesn’t love a good yard sale?

Yesterday Ryan + I had planned on going to my hometown’s Memorial Day parade, but it’s a half hour drive from where we live and we left a bit later than we had hoped. It’s incredibly hard for me not to sleep in on a weekend day – I accept full responsibility for our missing the festivities. However, we did stumble upon two fantastic yard sales side by side on our way back to my parents’ land to tend to our garden and that was well worth the trip for me.

If it’s not too weird for me to say, this little clipboard is a dream come true. On Saturday I was doing some planning for the future of my blog + shop and decided to find three clipboards to keep my goals posted where I can see them. One for weekly goals, one for monthly, and one with my broader goals for the year. Perfectly enough, this little beauty turned up in the free bin at one of the yard sales we attended! It’s one of my blog colours, and even has a little calendar in it – perfect for my monthly goals! My thrifting karma must be good.

Also in the free bin were these beautiful big bulb Christmas lights! Ryan has always preferred the smaller twinkle lights, but I grew up with these babies on my Christmas tree! Every holiday season we “fight” over which bulbs are better, but I’m sure he doesn’t actually mind the bigger bulbs since he was the one who spotted these and insisted that we take them home – what a guy!

And our kitchen got a whole lot cuter this week, too! The stove top percolator has never been used! The woman selling it accepted just a dollar for it, and told us that her Mother-in-law had purchased it long ago, but never even opened the box! We gave it a try this morning and are so pleased with the taste – warm and almost a little bit nutty! Even smoother than our french press coffee. The little chopper was another item that came to us compliments of the free bin and will be a lovely accessory for our *coming soon* food blog!

I’m always looking for new ways to organize, so this vintage tin was a must. I haven’t found a specific use for it just yet, but I’m thinking it may become a new home for thumb tacks, safety pins, or my business cards – we’ll see! When pretty vintage things are free, I just can’t turn them down. We walked away from those two yard sales having spent only $3. We also got to chat with an older couple about the quality of vintage items over “new plastic junk” {to quote the old man} and they said that we reminded them of their own children. There were some really beautiful antiques for sale in their garage – roller skates, life jackets, gasoline tins, furniture, and a Swedish toilet {ha!}, but we only had our $3 to spend so we couldn’t take home any more than we already had. It was still a wonderful time in beautiful weather.

I hope your Memorial Day was just as lovely!

xx.

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Memorial Day sale!

Posted in My portfolio, Shop Talk, The Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on May 26, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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10% off from now until Monday!

Plus! Remember those ModCloth and Swap.com goodies that I said I’d give away to the first five sales? Be my next buyer and they’ll be yours! With Father’s Day coming up, wouldn’t a good bow tie or hankie {or a bow tie/hankie set} be a good investment? Just sayin’! Enter MEMORIAL10 at the check out for your discount.

Enjoy your Saturday!

xx.

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Photobooth Friday – No. 38

Posted in Environmental Consciousness, Free Giveaways, Good Eats, New Hampshire, Photobooth Friday, Style, tagged , , , on May 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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Our week in snapshots:

| highlights |

We can finally smell the first sweet breezes of summer! Although today is a bit dreary, the last week or so has for the most part been gorgeous. Ryan + I have started running again, and are really excited to explore some of the woodland trails that snake between a quiet stream and some rusty old railroad tracks just outside of town. I love running under bright green leaves, and it’s even better when there’s clean, clear water running next to us.

Our radishes have sprouted up so quickly! And our peas are not far behind. It feels like we’ll be eating from our garden sooner than we had thought. All of this rain sure has been great for one thing – waking the Earth up from its long winter slumber. With our ingredients sorting themselves out as I type, Ryan + I are getting more excited for the debut of our cooking blog in June! It’ll be a seasonal-ish vegetarian recipe blog using as much of our own garden as is possible. We’ve done locavore summers twice {2010, 2011} and will still be eating mostly within New England, but our focus is going to be sharing some of our favourite foods with you! I’ll keep you updated as things progress.

Oh, yes! I’ve also made my first shop sales! The very first came in the week I reopened, but since then I’ve had three more – two of which were orders including multiple listings! I’ve got high hopes for this shop of mine. I’m also really excited this week because I’ll be hosting a giveaway for Shabby Apple right here on the blog! Incredible, no? You may want to head to their website now to find your favourite things, then make sure you’re here on Tuesday to officially enter the contest! I’d hate for you to miss out on this – they have such cute stuff {and, they donate a portion of their profit to help women worldwide}!

Good day, my dears!

xx.

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A little inspiration…

Posted in Our personal history, Shop Talk, tagged , , , , , , , on May 24, 2012 | 8 Comments »

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We all fall into ruts.

We all wonder where we are going. We all have inspired thoughts, but sometimes we shove them into the backs of our minds because they are unreasonable, unrealistic, and seemingly unattainable, and during the day we have “more important” things to do. I have a teaching degree for high school English. I picked that major before I went to college because they asked me to pick a major when I was 16 and 17 years old and that was what sounded reasonable to me. I liked to read and I knew I could handle school – but it was never my dream.

When I lay in bed at night waiting for sleep to come {the time when I have always allowed myself to entertain those fanciful ideas I’ve shut out during the day}, my head has never once filled up with images of my life as a high school English teacher. No, these wonderful moments before sleep takes me have always been dedicated to the things that make me feel the happiest, the most inspired. I have always snuggled into my pillow, closed my eyes, and let a smile spread across my face as the thought of something truly perfect came to mind. There, in the comfort of my own imagination, it didn’t matter if my thoughts were unreasonable, unrealistic, or seemingly unattainable – this was the time for dreaming, not for doing.

Now 10 years have passed since they asked me to decide my future, and for the first time in my life I feel like I know myself enough to start making those kinds of major decisions. Those ten years, and thousands of dollars later, I have finally learned the lesson that my imagination and my heart have been trying to tell me all along – follow your dreams. Pursue the fanciful ideas that you are inspired by. Because, if you can make these brilliant things happen in your life {and you can}, you will feel a thousand times more fulfilled than if you simply pass your days doing what you were trained to do.

Oh, and a good place to start is here.

xx.

{click images for sources!}

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The Etsy community | Things I love

Posted in Crafting, Our personal history, Shop Talk, Things I Love, tagged , , , , , on May 23, 2012 | 2 Comments »

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I am so in love with the Etsy community.

Moreover, I’m in love with the people that are a part of it. The sellers (+ buyers!) who join Etsy are generous, thoughtful, and creative people who take pleasure in helping others succeed. I’ve never sensed a competition among sellers. In fact, there’s a common bond that seems to unite us all even if we are sharing a target audience. Everyone on Etsy knows that with the help of others, and if they help others, we will all have a chance for success.

Many of my friends and acquaintances have helped me during my recent shop opening. Dory, Ben, Laura, and plenty of other people responded kindly when I asked for advice and input on my brand and products. I’m so thankful to know them all.

Laura, for example, went out of her way to make a personalized banner for my shop, but didn’t stop there. We checked the mail yesterday and she had sent me the original hand painted couple that mascots my page, tucked inside one of her beautiful handmade cards, and along side a vintage sewing book that she had originally purchased for herself, but thought I might like – just outstanding.

I’m so happy to be a part of this community and I’m finding that I’m finally excited to wake up every day and go to work.

xx.

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An afternoon in the park

Posted in New Hampshire, Our personal history, Reading, tagged , , , , , , on May 21, 2012 | 2 Comments »

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One of the things that we liked about living in the city

was that everything was within walking distance. Turns out, though, that living in a small town is even better. There’s only one of everything (post office, grocery store, library, park, diner) so there is less variety, but they’re all even closer together than they are in cities and much less populated.

Yesterday we walked out our front door and past just two buildings before arriving at our town’s little park and spent some time there reading. We had the whole place to ourselves minus one couple who came in just to eat their lunch then were on their way again, oh, and a pair of Canada geese. We don’t have a Target, Walmart, or ten different pizza places, but it’s still incredibly convenient to live here.

There’s also the most perfect sitting tree in our park. How very Huck Finn-y! Although I was wearing a white dress, I still tried to climb it – it’s that irresistible. Turns out this particular tree is not so good for climbing in dresses {unless you don’t mind a little exposure}, so I let Ryan have the tree to himself and I occupied the blanket below.

We’re off on a walk to the post office now, then to work on our garden. It’s much too nice a May day to stay inside any longer.

Enjoy your Monday!

xx.

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Christmas lights in the spring + summer?

Posted in Home Decor, My portfolio, The Holidays, Vintage + Thrift, tagged , , , , , on May 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »

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Good afternoon, dears!

Happy Hugo‘s birthday to you! Yesterday my most recent post for Goodwill Industries International went live, and I simply had to share. There are several little peeks into our new apartment and some fun ideas about how to decorate with Christmas lights – even though it’s nearly summer. Personally, I think their subtle glow is perfect for warm months because it reminds me of the dreamy atmosphere of A MidSummer Night’s Dream {which I am inspired to reread nearly every summer}. But, you make the call in your own space.

Thanks for having a look!

xx.

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Photobooth Friday – No. 37

Posted in New Hampshire, Photobooth Friday, tagged , , , , , , , on May 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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Our week in snapshots:

| highlights |

I’m getting used to the view from our bedroom window: pine trees. This is, ironically, something I really missed when I lived in the Pinecone + Chickadee State. Funny how things like that work. Speaking of which, we took the Maine plates off of our car this week and updated them with fresh New Hampshire ones. Slowly but surely we are updating the things that need updating and making ourselves at home again.

I am definitely getting used to seeing my best friend more often. The other day I spent the whole day at her house mostly chatting, but we also got a little bit of our respective projects done, and it felt good to do some of that with someone else around. Usually when I work on my Etsy or blogging stuff I’m alone while Ryan is at work. Such a nice change.

We got to plant part of our garden on Sunday with a little help from our footsy-pajamaed niece, LG. She’s 3 now and other than getting distracted by little critters who came across our planting path, she was of great assistance dropping one little seed in every hole we made, then carefully covering it up with her tiny hands. She did have a bit of an accident later in the night, so she asked my sister and I if she could borrow some of our clothes {that we haven’t worn in 20+ years} that my Mom still had hanging around. She left in a vintage half-apron of my grandmother’s – bare bum in the back -, a sunhat that belonged to a doll, a tank top that my sister wore as a little, and a sweatshirt that said “JULIA” in puff paint across the front {one of my favourite pieces of art work at that age}. She  has such a wonderful little personality.

Have a wonderful weekend,

xx.

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A playlist for driving in Alaska

Posted in Music, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on May 16, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

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My friend Erin went to Alaska last week,

and before she left she asked me to pull together a playlist that she + her boyfriend could listen to while they drove through the State. I was immediately happy to accept the challenge since I love making themed playlists! Here’s what I came up with after a lot of dreaming of what it would feel like to drive through those gorgeous mountains and clouds and past that clean + clear water. I was definitely channeling a bit of Dick Proenneke, trying to feel what he must have felt every day – the power and the beauty of the Earth.

Safe travels!

xx.

{Click image for source.}

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