Christmas, etc.

 Hoping everyone was able to enjoy every moment of Christmas this year. Can't believe it's already over! I had every intention of being productive over the long weekend, but honestly ended up being incredibly lazy and over-indulging the whole time. 'Tis the season! 

Here's a miscellaneous post about how I've been enjoying the past few weeks: 

 Last weekend, Me, my sister, and our guys took our 4th annual trip to downtown Chicago to enjoy one of our favorite restaurants- Portillos. Its tradition to enjoy hot dogs as our appetizers and ribs as our main course! YUM!

So everything was going off without a hitch as I was preparing to head down to my parent's house for Christmas. My sister and I has wrapped all the presents the night before, and this is what I came home to the following afternoon:

Yes that is wrapping paper strewn everywhere. A very naughty dog named Brody escaped and not only got into a wrapped box of Milkbones, BUT also a present that my sister was gifting to someone!

These are the other two dogs clearly gated off in the hallway. We still have no idea how Houdini Brody got out.

I was so mad- so this is how I decompressed! The destroyed present was ordered from Etsy, and thankfully it was from a local seller so I was able to run to a local coffee shop where she sells her necklaces and replace it with something similar. Disaster somewhat diverted.

Devil in disguise. 

 The dogs packed their suitcase...

And it was a white Christmas indeed. 

I have grown extremely jealous of my mom's vintage advent calendar (from Avon in the early '80s). We always used to argue over who got to move the mouse. A quick search on ebay informed me that these are going for upwards of $50!

My sister's dog Jax. Needless to say we all had a very merry Christmas.

My parents got me this Crosley iPod dock that I've been drooling over for months. Opened it up and plugged it in and the darn thing didn't work! Bad power cord. Imagine my disappointment. Hoping the exchange process isn't too painful for my mom :/

A job well done by my boyfriend! It's a Tiffany pretzel necklace! Cute, quirky and thoughtful- my high school mascot was a pretzel (not kidding).

And finally, here a few thrift store finds from the past couple of weeks. 

Vintage Shiny Brite ornaments

Glasbake casserole dish and holder. I LOVE the design on this thing. And it ended up being the perfect way to display the Shiny Brites!

Pretty vintage broach.

Adorable Raggedy Ann doll

Thanks for sticking around! I'll probably check in again after New Years :)

Christmas Cookies!

We braved the blizzards and icy road this weekend to make it home to bake and decorate Christmas cookies at grandma's house!

Yummy thumbprints and yummier sugar cookies!

Grandma painstakingly decorated these two beauties! That is raw talent (and lots of patience!)

My contribution...candy cane kisses. You can find the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses bag. Pretty and delicious!!

So pretty...almost too nice to eat- but we'll get over it :)

Storing my batch in my Snowflake divided casserole! Yay for finding a resourceful use for those darn divided dishes!

And here's a glimpse of the tree at our apartment.

 And some of my favorite owl ornaments:

 Trying to enjoy every moment of this holiday season, because truly in the blink of an eye it's over!


Now please excuse me while I go enjoy some cookies and milk !

Thrifty Finds, etc.

I've got a whole mess of thrifty finds to unload on all of you this week! Without further ado:

 

Vintage Vera Scarf. I love the ladybug logo! Also found this great site for dating vintage Vera items .

Milton Bradley Memory game and Flash Cards from the '60s.

The pictures on the Memory tiles are to die for! I am so in love with the owls and the fox!!

Boska Tapas Fondue Set made in Holland. Not vintage, but it was new in the box at Savers, and I couldn't resist the whole Danish Modern feel. It will be perfect for our family's annual fondue party in February!

Vintage clutches.

Really neat cosmic kaleidoscope thingy made in France. Its an "hour by hour adjustable system for recognizing and locating the 35 and stars and 60 constellations." Did anyone else have StarLab in elementary school? This totally reminded me of that magical dome.

Pretty embroidered pillow case.

Awesome Homer Laughin advertising plate for Crosley dishwashers! Wouldn't this be dreamy in a remodeled mid-century kitchen?

I was BEYOND excited to find these McDonald's Fireking mugs at the St. Vincent Dig&Save! They were around 35cents because everything is priced by the pound!! Speaking of McDonalds, THE CUSTARD PIE HAS RETURNED FOR THE HOLIDAYS! Pure bliss. Please RUN to your local McD's and order several if you haven't already.

I was very excited to thrift the perfect oak quilt rack! Now my quilts (made by my extremely talented grandmother (owl) and great-grandmother (patchwork) ) can be properly displayed! 

My grandma knew that me, my sister and our cousin are absolutely enamored with owls. And surprised us by making these quilts! One of the most special things ever.

And you know I found some Pyrex, of course! 

Beautiful 043 1 1/2 Qt casserole. This buttery yellow color is my absolute favorite, but I couldn't readily find the pattern name. Help!

This "Gourmet" pattern 2 1/2 qt casserole is perfect for the winter! The blue interior is gorgeous!

Displaying vintage cookbook collection.

And the pièce de résistance:

GASP! The original box!!! 8 cup coffee carafe.

AND it came with the original brochure! PLUS I found it at the Dig&Save, so it probably ended up costing right around $1.00

And this kinda broke my heart a little. At the very bottom of the box was a wedding card! Someone received this as a wedding gift, and it was quite obviously never used! And then somehow ended up at the scummiest thrift store in town! I am so glad I saved it! I will cherish it forever (unlike the former bride and groom)

Maybe If I stopped procrastinating and started blogging more I wouldn't have to dump 3 weeks of finds into one extremely long-winded post!  Sorry! But real quick before you go:

First snow of the season last weekend!

Poor car :(

AND I finished reading Lolita (by the end, really couldn't decide if i should sympathize with Humbert or poor Delores Haze- maybe that was the point).

Next, Into the Wild. I'm 3 chapters in and its super intense already! 

Thanks for sticking around :)