love forever

Friday Five-Thrifting goals this weekend

I am off to Philly for the weekend and we are going to stop at a flea market on the way. I know some of my friends are very opposed to having a list of items to look for but if I don't, I got into some crazy thrift-induced haze and can't seem to focus on anything.
Tomorrow I will be looking for:

1. Paint by numbers. Always the first thing on my list. I have a growing collection on my living room wall and I am always happy to add to it.
2. Vintage fabric. Another one that's always on the list.
3. A Wool coat with a hood and toggle buttons, preferably in some plaid pattern. I dream of this coat. I know it's out there.
4. Silhouettes and small mirrors, preferable with bevelled edges. I have big plans for my bedroom walls.
5. Wallpaper. It's always a million bucks (and impossible to actually win) on Ebay so I always look for it at flea markets. The texture of vintage wallpaper just can't be reproduced.

Do you have a thrifting list that you carry around with you in your head (or on paper! i won't judge you!)? I love to hear about what people are looking for.

I'll be back on Sunday with lots of pictures!

A Very Special Birthday Friday Five

Ack! I almost forgot it was Friday. Yes, today I am 30 years old. I made it! To celebrate, my Friday Five is about the upcoming year. Here are five things I hope to accomplish by next year.
1. Write a book. A crafty home decorating book.
2. Re-learn Portuguese in time for my May honeymoon to Madeira. I once spoke fluently but it's been an awfully long time.
3. Finally read fifty books this year. The last two years have been close but I haven't gotten to fifty.
4. Improve my sewing skills. Mr. Love Forever got me a dress form for my birthday so that should help.
5. Join a CSA. I say this every year but now that I am thirty maybe I will actually do it.

I'm off for a birthday dinner and a night of fun!

Friday Five-Things That are Pumpkin

In honor of my favorite season, this Friday Five is five pumpkin flavored things I have made and/or consumed this week.

1. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars that Mr. Love Forever and I made for a friend's houswarming party this weekend.
2. The aforementioned Libby's Great Pumpkin cookies, which I brought to craft night on Tuesday at the lovely Linda's house.
3. Chocolate pumpkin and pecan cupcakes made by the lovely Linda. I brought two of them home from craft night and gave one to the mister.
4. Amazing Pumpkin Bread Pudding that I ate at Lorelei's house on Thursday. Bread puddng is one of my favorite things in the world. And pumpkin bread pudding-I could hardly contain myself! A suggestion from the chef: use croissants instead of challah and add some rum to the caramel sauce.
5. Post Road Pumpkin Ale. Ok, I only had a sip but I don't really like beer and I needed five. Mr. Love Forever totally endorses it though. A warning: don't visit the Brooklyn Brewery site unless you enjoy annoying sound effects. I don't enjoy them at all.

The First Friday Five

Try saying that five times fast.
Well, it is Friday and I am going to co-opt a little tradition over at Livejournal and post a Friday Five. The five things in question will be different every week but for the first, let's keep it simple:

Five things that made me happy this Friday
1. The song stylings of Lily Allen. Yes, she is incredibly poppy and probably got famous because of her dad, but holy cow, I have been singing along to her all day.
2. Sweater Weather! It's fall at last! I celebrated by buying four pairs of tights.
3. Dark chocolate Non-pareils. My favorite candy ever.
4. Metro Shelves from The Container Store. They're totally basic shelves but they hold a jillion pounds of things and we just got another huge shelving unit for the craft room. I was so excited that the Mr. was a little afraid of me.
5. Sunrise Mart in Soho- I have a freelance job at Anthropologie for a while and I am totally addicted to Sunrise Mart, an amazing Japanese market. My perfect lunch is a vegetable croquette and the avocado salad with the most amazing dressing ever. And who can resist snacks in pretty packaging?