52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #21 (from the airport)

What: Leather Jacket
Where: Rhinelander Goodwill
Level of Love: Undecided

First, let's address the elephant in the blog: that is a terrible picture. Here's what happened. It was taken in an airport bathroom. I'm currently traveling back to Seattle on my way back from visiting my family in Wisconsin. The reason for the visit is both sudden and sad. My Grandpa Emmanuel (Manny) Firnstahl passed away. At the time that we got the rather sudden news that he had been rushed to the hospital, my Mom and Jim happened to be visiting us in Seattle. Which left my Mom with a very tough decision. Should she head back ASAP to hopefully be able to say goodbye to her Dad and be there with the rest of the family (keep in mind we weren't sure at this point what exactly had happened or how serious it was)?Or should she stay in Seattle the remaining five days with us and head back as scheduled. The fact that this decision was so difficult is a testament to how much my Mom loves me, because she was so torn over cutting our time short. Finally, we decided that the best solution would be for both of us to head back to Wisconsin on the next possible flight. And so, that's just what we did. We spent a few days with Grandpa and other family members in the hospital, and he passed away on Friday, October 25th. I'll leave it at that on this space, but if you're interested in reading the obituary you can find it here.

Now, back to the terrible picture of this lovely jacket. I'm sitting in the airport with some time on my hands and realize it's Tuesday. Zoinks! Why don't I use my extra time to do a thrift post! I've even got this cool leather jacket - a score from this very trip nonetheless - at the ready! Into the bathroom I go, and as I'm snapping this picture I think to myself, "Is this illegal? Taking a picture in a public bathroom? Am I about to be asked to leave the airport and never come back?". Clearly I have been ingrained with very deep respect and fear of the law. So, I decided not to risk taking another, even though it's a bit bleary and quite frankly not all that flattering.

I'm undecided about the jacket itself, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. I've been looking for a leather jacket for awhile now, and leave it to the reliable Wisconsin thrift stores to deliver one to my exact specifications: bomber style, light brown leather, my size...but...I don't know. Maybe I'm just not a leather-jacket-person after all. In the end I decided to bring her home even though I wasn't 100% sold and give her a few test runs. We shall see.

A Belated Birthday Party Post

For the culmination of Kevin's Birthday Month celebration, we decided to throw a rather last-minute birthday brunch. Since it happened right around his actual birthday in mid-September, this post is a bit belated. The idea was conceived over quite a few pints the night of his actual birthday-day, which was spent at a fantastic funk show (my man loves funk). That night in and of itself was a great time and a wonderful celebration, but we decided to go for the brunch, too.

So, what do you do when you've got a last minute party to plan? Waffles of course! Then call in a dose of beautiful fall weather, pull out the lawn games, and you're set. I used my go-to waffle recipe and pulled out both of our waffle makers. Yes. Confession: we have two waffle makers. I made a quadruple batch of batter and went into full on waffle making wizard mode. In order to have some made ahead of time and not have to spend the whole party manning the waffle make I started waffle-ing about a half hour before the party, then kept them warm in the oven. My system was to put a cooling rack on a rimmed cookie sheet, then pile the waffles in a single layer on the cooling rack so they wouldn't get soggy. Kevin also picked out a fancy sausage from one of his favorite brands.

But enough about the logistical aspects of mass waffle making. Our guests brought all sorts of lovely toppings for the waffle bar. Bananas, peach compote, whipped cream, fruit, peanut butter, and on and on. I loved all the waffle concoction combinations people came up with. It was so fun and heart warming to have our little apartment all full of life and conversation. I pulled out ALL of the Fiestaware dishes I own and the bulk utensil set that Grandma Churchill gave us for our wedding. Records were played. Mimosas were sipped. And eventually we made our way outside for croquet. The weather wasn't supposed to be nice that day, but since it was we took advantage. This was the point at which it hit me that I should pull out my camera. 

Everyone played in teams so that more could play, but I have to say spectating was pretty fun, too. Our backyard space is small, so Sarah and I (it's actually her set) had to set it up across our little driveway! Our landlady also hadn't mown the lawn in awhile (and still hasn't btw), which made for a bit of a difficult yet hilarious game. In a spark of ingenuity, people started carving out little trails by flattening the grass with their mallets so that the balls would actually go somewhere. The weather really was fantastic and a good time was had by all. 

After croquet we headed back inside with a dwindling yet still party-enthusiastic group to snack on waffle buffet leftovers and play a pretty intense game of Catch Phrase. More records, too. Oh! Then, we broke out the pick-up-sticks! A favorite game from my childhood that is still very much entertaining, especially with a group of awesome party people. 

All in all it was a fantastic get-together and I'm so glad with how it all turned out. We were left feeling so thankful for the good friends we've made since moving to Seattle (thanks friends!), and I was left feeling totally addicted to party hosting. What shall we do next???

52 Tuesday's: Favorite Thrifts #20

What: Silver (for reals this time!) Candlesticks
Where: St Vincent in Monroe, WA
Level of Love: 9 out of 10

I guess I'm still on the silver theme from last week. Although this week, I've got articles of actual sterling silver. Or so says the little sticker on the bottom of these. I have not sent them off to a metallurgist for confirmation of this. The search for these was inspired by a pair of silver candlesticks owned by my mother. If my memory is correct, she told me she got hers as a wedding gift, but I am not certain from whom. I have always loved those candlesticks and confess that in truth I still prefer them to these (thus the 9 out of 10). Mom's are much heavier - I think they're solid silver while these are probably not - and don't have any ornamentation at all. My search for my own set began in earnest after a trip home and a dinner with the candlesticks on the table. I decided I must keep an eye out for a pair of my very own. 

I figured it would be simple the find a little set of tarnished silver candlesticks at one of the many thrift stores I just happen to (ahem) frequent. Folks: I was wrong. There's plenty of brass and a shortage of silver. I became disheartened and started to do a bit of shameful internet searching, which misses the whole point of treasure hunting in my book and should only be resorted to in desperate, time-sensitive gift buying scenarios. Luckily I couldn't pull the trigger on one of the many Etsy listings I favorited and decided to stick to the whims of the thrift gods. I have often said you can find anything at a thrift store - it just depends on how long you can wait. I would bet money on finding an iPhone at a thrift store someday. But that's just not the sort of thing you can wait that long for. 

Fortunately, silver candlesticks are not the sort of thing that suffer from a little waiting. This lovely pair was plucked off the shelves at the St. Vincent de Paul in Monroe, WA. This happened to be on the same trip that we picked up our rickety old coffee grinder at the Monroe flea market. I like them best when they're sitting on our kitchen table with natural beeswax tapper candles in them. 

I. 

52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #19

What: Silver (sort of) Butter Knives 
Where: Helping Hands Thrift Store, WA
Level of Love: 7 out of 10

I can't remember the story behind us picking up these knives, or if there really was one. I'm pretty sure Kevin spotted them and picked them out. I'm also pretty sure his affinity for them was inspired by the style and contents of the photos in Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food. The book itself was not a thrift, but rather a gift I purchased for Kevin while we were living in Scotland, and saved to give to him as a surprise Christmas gift when we were back in the US. It really does have some lovely pictures and recipes. 

What I love about these knives is their nice, heavy feel and pleasing shape. I'm a fan of the symmetrical, round-tipped butter end. The "199 R" stamp on the handle is pretty swoon-worthy as well. But since I don't have a great story for these knives, I thought I'd do a little bit of research on them and share what I found. 

The inscription reads "WM. A. Rogers Silver Nickel R". First off, turns out this means it's not a silver knife at all, but is rather made up of an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc. The only thing "silver" about it is the color. "WM. A. Rogers" means William Rogers, who was a silversmith in the 1800's (1865 as a start to be exact). It seems that the mark, the ownership of the company, and license to use the mark changed over time. The mark "WM. A. Rogers" was used as early as 1897. But that doesn't really help date my knives, since the mark was used even after Oneida purchased the company in 1929 and used the mark as late as 1978. Some resources I found suggested that "Oneida" was added to the mark after 1929, so since that is absent from mine the knives must be from before 1929. I'm not 100% sure about this, though, since I couldn't find an exact match picture of my mark to match with a more specific date range. As for the 119 R, I think this has to do with the model or style of the knife. I couldn't find a match to any other knifes with this mark, but I think this is a fairly educated guess. 

Here ends my half-hearted attempt at a history lesson. I think I like purchasing and using these just because I like them, and not because they're valuable or noteworthy in a collector sense. So, with that, it's time I go butter some bread...

September in Instagrams

September was a full, satisfying month. As I mentioned in a previous post, September is Kevin's Birthday Month, which means we found big and small ways to celebrate throughout the month. Our trip to San Diego was at the top of that list, plus a rather last-minute Birthday brunch (which unfortunately I didn't snap many shots of), a birthday-day dinner and funk show, and general month-long spoiledness.

Here's how the month looked in Instagram shots. Captions clockwise from top right.

This picture sums up our trip to San Diego nicely, which fulfilled Kevin's number one birthday wish of going surfing. 

1) My finished stripy EPS sweater blocking. 2) Weekend hike up Mount Dickerman. 3) Neighbor Bernadette sneaking over through the window like she owns the place and taking a nap on my lap while I knit. 4) Sunset over the Olympics from Golden Gardens park during my Quit Party (my job...not smoking. just to be clear. because I don't smoke). 

1) A delicious Tunisian inspired dinner of tomato couscous, merguez sausages, harissa, and a deep fried egg. 2) Weekday lunch meet-up with Kevin for past at Il Corvo. 3) Kevin's birthday-day morning surprise from Bernadette (and Sarah). 4) The birthday boy at birthday-day dinner.

1) Framed new favorite picture from Sarah's vintage-y high school camera. Taken at the beach during my Quit Party. And a "new" old Stanley thermos we found at the Fremont Sunday Market recently. 2) A selfie from the day I pulled out our winter sweaters and hats. 3) Sunday at the pub with proper British food while watching the Sounders game. We ordered our Scotland standard drinks of a Strongbow for me and a Guinness for Kevin - just like we used to do at Masons in Dalkeith. It was quite nostalgic. 4) Sprinkle cone. No further captioning needed. 

52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #18

What: Wool Pendleton Blanket
Where: Dearborn Goodwill, Seattle
Level of Love: 10 out of 10 (seriously...why do I bother to rate these anymore)


I have been looking for a wool blanket like this to stash in the car for impromptu picnics and general grass lounging opportunities. And that is exactly what this blanket has spent the summer doing. You can catch it making an appearance here at the KEXP Concert at the Mural in August. 

This is the point at which I wax poetic about wool. How could I not? When in a sort of felted stage like this it's extremely water resistant - good for both the oft-soggy Seattle turf and the occasional picnic-related spill. Just last week I spilled chocolate milk on it and was able to simply shake it off. Yes, I was having chocolate milk if you must know. Our picnics are very sophisticated. In addition to it's water resistant qualities, it's also durable without being bulky. Which means it folds small enough to be thrown into my purse with ease should a picnic need to happen afoot (instead of a-car). 

I didn't have my heart set on a Pendleton brand blanket but was very pleased to have found one at a reasonable price nonetheless since I'm a general fan of the company. They're one of the few woolen mills left who still produce their fabrics in the USofA. Something that has become increasingly important and noteworthy to me since starting my own US manufacturing business (albeit on a small scale...wink). They used to do most (if not all) of their actual clothing production here as well, but I think most (if not all) of that has now gone elsewhere.