Vintage Luggage Sitting Atop My New Antique Cedar Chest


“Everything I buy is vintage and smells funny. Maybe that's why I don't have a boyfriend.”
~ Lucy Liu

Today's Joy: An Estate Auction Adventure.
If you've been reading my blog long enough, Reader, you're aware of my love for estate auctions and all the antique & vintage wonderfulness they bring. Right up there with garden nursery-hopping and flea marketing, estate auctioning is one of Mom's & my favorite things to do together.

Mom has been looking forward to this particular auction for a couple weeks. I arrived to pick her up bright and early this morning to find her standing at the door with a big grin on her face and a well-read auction flyer rolled up in one hand.

Once there, we perused piles of would-be treasures and inspected 70's-style modular furniture. I immediately spied a black, vintage make-up case with cream piping that would coordinate beautifully with my black and white toile luggage. Mom found a few goodies too--including 2 gorgeous cedar chests, so we registered for our number (as relatives of the auctioneer, we have a highly-coveted permanent number) and found a shady spot to sit and wait for our would-be possessions to come up for bid.

In less than an hour, the crowd gathered around the pile of luggage where my make-up case lay. But, with no one else interested in buying old suitcases, I got the whole lot for $1!

Later on, the first cedar chest came up for bid. Another auction patron, with plenty of money to burn, made a big show of intending to buy it. Aunt Chef and Uncle were assisting with the auction and, as most items were going for very little money and the cedar chest was worth about $400, we decided to up the anti a bit. I jumped right into the bidding and had things well in hand at $65. Then, the wealthy auction patron joined the fray and we just kept right on bidding in $5-10 increments. She wasn't going to give, and I figured, if she wanted it, she was going to pay for it. I bid her up to $110 and then let her have it. She was ecstatic with the thrill of the win, thinking she got a deal. And I felt pretty smug, having netted a few more proceeds for the estate owner's family.

Elsewhere at the auction, a 2nd cedar chest awaited. Mom, knowing that I had wanted one of these lovely chests for years, won the bidding and presented the chest to me as an early birthday gift. I was so excited! All in all, it was a wonderful day at the auction--full of fast-paced bidding, good deals & on-the-spot decisions. If you've never had the pleasure of bidding in an auction, Reader, you should definitely check it out!


Got four pieces of vintage luggage and a gorgeous
old make-up case (not pictured) for a $1!

Daylily After Rain

Today's Joy: Going Home & Putting Up My Feet.

What a crazy couple weeks, Reader! As you can see by my woefully sporadic blog entries (I apologize and will post the missing entries as soon as all my photos are uploaded), these last two weeks have been a whirl wind of work and art show chaos! All great stuff, but I haven't had a day off since July 25th! So, tonight I am going home to put on my jammies, prop my feet up and watch mindless television for a few hours before hitting the sack early.

After all, have estate auctioning, more work, church activities and house-cleaning on the agenda for Saturday & Sunday. Ah, yes. Another restful weekend. Thank You, Lord, for keeping my activity calendar full. Amen.

Today's Joy: Shark Week.
If you're like me, Reader, you wait all year for the Discovery Channel's annual fear vs. fish spectacle: Shark Week! For that 7-day stretch, I try to get home in time to catch each night's new shark-themed special as well as re-runs from previous years. It's amazing what you learn from watching people-with-a-death-wish climb into the water and into crazy aluminum cages to dangle themselves in front of these fascinating and enormous predators.

I'm definitely an armchair shark enthusiast. Love learning all about these creatures and how they live. However, I have zero interest in getting in the water with them. Much prefer the safety of a swimming pool or land-locked lake. Yep, call me a wuss, but it's true. Thank goodness, then, for the wacky risk-takers who don't mind getting up close and personal with every kind of shark. Without them, there would be no fabulous underwater footage of these magnificent animals for me to enjoy from the safety of my own home. God bless the people who are called to work with the more dangerous elements of God's creation.

Sundown, Bahr Rd., Burlington, IL, July 27th, 2010.

Today's Joy: A Big Day.

It's been a really big day, Reader. Though, I suppose it's the culmination of several seeds God planted weeks ago. Over the past 2 months I've been listening to Dave Ramsey & other sources discuss the benefits of tithing. I know how good giving to others can feel in my own life, so I can easily see how regular tithing would bring much fulfillment. But with my wonderful new job only being part-time and the bills far outweighing any extra income, I figured giving back 10% of my income was a ways off yet.

Still, I felt God nudging me. When the opportunity presented itself for me to have a charitable donation deducted from my paycheck, I immediately signed up. I chose to give to Compassion International. True, it was only a small sum each week, but it was that much more than CI had the week before. Plus I enjoy looking at my pay stub each week and seeing the donation total grow.

Fast forward to last week, when I signed up for my 401K. I read all about the plans my employer offers and took the little risk assessment included. Discovered that with a good 30 years or more to retirement and a certain comfort level with risk, I'm a good candidate for the moderate to aggressive technology-based funds. Now I'm set up with a balanced portfolio that includes stock in Microsoft, Apple, Google and Suncor Energy, among others. (How cool is that?) While figuring out how much income to contribute, it became apparent that in 30 years, 10% would yield almost $10K more than an 8% contribution in principal alone. A no-brainer, right?

I took a good look at how much 10% of my income was and thought again about tithing. That little nudging sensation was back again. So, I prayed about it that night and asked God to tell me if this is what He really wanted me to do, even with such a limited budget. Then I thought about my charitable donation and how I didn't even notice that extra bit of money being gone each week. I broke the 10% down into weekly amounts and divided it between my payroll deduction, my weekly church offering and a favorite radio station I've been thinking about supporting for quite some time. It would be really tight, but I could do it. So, I called HR and upped my donation. Then I made a commitment to God that I would do my 10% and trust in him to make sure I had enough to live on. I immediately felt SO good!

All of that brings us back around to today. I was at work this morning when my supervisor called to say that she wants to make my position full-time with more diverse responsibilities, which would mean full benefits as well as more hours. After only 6 weeks with the company! I immediately accepted and thanked her. When I got off the phone, I was almost in tears as I thanked God. The additional income will be more than enough to cover my 401K contribution as well as the amount I will tithe. It's so amazing how God works! He simply asked me to have faith in Him and as soon as I did, everything changed. Yup, definitely a big day. I feel so blessed!

Driving home along my favorite country back roads tonight, there was this spectacular sunset over misty cornfields, so I stopped and took a few shots. Hard to describe how full my heart felt. Can't wait to see what God will do next.

Today's Joy: Watching God at Work.
I saw God working in the lives of the women in my church community group tonight, Reader. As we got to know one another better, the walls of formality began to drop and we started to to talk about the things we struggle with in our personal faith journeys as well as the specific obstacles we face each day. It was illuminating and redeeming to share and listen and offer encouragement. I love to watch God's plans blossom in the joy of shared relationship. What a blessing these women are already in my life! I hope that I can do the same for them.

Booth at Marklund, May 2010.

Today's Joy: Scheming.
As my show gets closer, Reader, I find that whatever else I might be doing at any given time, I'm also planning and scheming about a hundred little show details in the back of my mind. In fact, I'm obsessed about everything.

Do I need color-coordinated shopping bags? How do I display all the bookmarks in an attractive way that will still keep them neat? What if it's windy? Do I need tablecloth weights? What if it rains? Do I need sideflaps for the tent? Do I need custom order forms? Do I have enough business cards? What about signage? Same table set-up as usual or should I mock-up a whole new display?

My head is full of this kind of fussing. Of course, it's all good stuff. When I get to the show and every detail has been thought through and planned out, I will feel very satisfied. In the meantime, I'm scatter-brained and a tad distracted (apologies to anyone around me this week, for any boneheadedness I may commit).

Still, it's all worth it. I enjoy going to the shows and sharing my work with people. What a wonderful, creative environment. Can't wait to meet new fellow artists and see what kinds of work are being done in the area. There's something powerful and inspiring about a lot of creativity being in one place. You never know what will happen when all that energy meets. I suspect it will yield good things, though. Seems like an irresistible opportunity for God to work some of his magic.

So, here's to scheming, having too many irons in the fire and meticulous attention to detail. May they all come together in a trifecta of preparedness and yield results beyond our wildest hopes. At the very least, may they keep us out of trouble for a little while. Amen.

The greenhouse at a Nursery on Rte. 176, Crystal Lake, IL

Summer, as my friend Coleridge waggishly writes, has set in with its usual severity. ~ Charles Lamb

Today's Joy: Air-conditioning.

Whew! Reader, northern Illinois has turned into a greenhouse this week. The air is so thick with water that a mist has been hanging low over the cornfields well into late afternoon. Add to that the sweltering 90+ degree temperatures and all I can stand to do is come home from work and sit in the AC. Forlornly, I peer out the windows at my plants, who are in ecstasy and growing with great enthusiasm. Even the cat has been turning up his nose at going outside.

Alas, such is the price we must pay for experiencing such a glorious summer. Hope you're enjoying it, Reader. Seems to be especially delightful this year. And I've relished every moment--even the sticky ones.

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~ Russel Baker