If Spring Won't Come to You....Make Paper Flowers!!!

I'm trying so hard to be grateful for the wonderful life I have here at the Nest.  Fantastic husband, great kids, a job that I love, health, blah, blah, blah blah.......I'm normally a pretty perky, quirky, kooky gal.  These days however I'm just ticked (bleep, bleep) off! Let's all say it together.......

I am SOOOOOOO sick of snow!!

So today I spent some time on the great magnificent time-waster....(I love it!) Pinterest!  I searched for hours and had a blast.  My search topic? Paper flowers!!!  I've decided if Mother Nature won't cooperate, then I'm just going to make my own.  I found so many different ideas and tutorials that I thought I had to share. What a great inexpensive way to bring some Spring color into your life.  Here are my faves.......

Book or Map Page flowers

source

Crepe Paper Peonies

source

Crepe Paper Popies

source

Fun Crepe Paper/Book Page bloom

source

Paper Rose Intial

source unknown

Tissue Paper Mobile

source

Paper Flower Embellished Light

source

**FAVE

Potted Paper Succulent

source

I truly think the last one, the potted paper succulent is my favorite.  Truly unexpected!!! I just love it!  And, most importantly, you can't kill it!!  I'm hoping to make this one....let's be real though.....my pin boards on Pinterest seem to fall into the nooks and crannies of my mind.  But for right now....I'm all in!!

I'd love to know which project is your favorite!! Or better yet....how you get through this crazy weather.

Have a good one,

Robin

Another birthday......This bird is gettin' old!

Source

We all have one every day......a birthday!  Mine was yesterday! I turned 47!!!! I'm not afraid to say it.  I can't change it. I could lie about it....hem hum....(My Mom), but the truth is the truth.  My birthday doesn't usually bother me.  I enjoy the good wishes and attention and then move of from there.  I have to admit that "40" was a tough one.  As I got closer to my happy day this year, I realized that 47 was freaking me OUT!!!  I am now in the ugly 40's....one my way to 50. I had lunch with a group of friends a couple days before my birthday and made my peace with 47.  Big reason....my wonderful, charming, lying, (hehehehehehe)  and loving girlfriends assured me that I didn't look my age.  They also advised me that all the calories I consumed on my birthday didn't count!!  I tell you.....I have some great friends. (and liars)

I thought I would share some of my birthday fun with you.....

Opened birthday cards.......Best card ever! Hand-made card from my husband's Aunt Pam! Does she know me or what???

Got some amazing flowers......vintage dental bin filled with Spring blooms.  Tell me that won't make you smile.

The gals at the shop surprised me by decking out my car aka Q-bert (the rolling juice box) with a blinged out garland signed by everybody.  Of course in true Nest style...I threw a monkey wrench into their plan.  You see it was crazy cold on Sunday at the barn, so I decided to sit in my car with the heat on for an HOUR!!!  I was told later by the gals that they kept looking out the door to see if I had gotten out of my car. They thought I was never gonna get out!!! (hehehehehe)

All in all, it was truly a great day!!  I felt the love from my family and friends.  Can't ask for more than that!  And hey, I didn't photoshop any wrinkles out of this picture!!! It doesn't get any better.

I'd love to hear your birthday story!!!

Have a good one,
Robin

Top ten reasons to love SPRING......

If you are like me, you are ready for winter to be over and Spring to arrive!  The weather in Maryland like much of the east coast has been nuts! Warm one day and 8"of snow the next. My mother bird best explained it...."It seems like winter and spring are duking it out!"  I keep telling my husband that I'm over it....it just seems that old man winter isn't listening.  If I run into him I'm sooo gonna punch him in the nose!

Old man winter takes a dump.

To make life a little more bearable around the Nest I decided to focus on the things I love most about Spring, so here goes!

1. Strawberries are in season!  I could add strawberries to just about anything... Think Bubba Gump Shrimp. Strawberry pie, strawberry smoothie, strawberry pancake....you get the idea.

source

2. I don't have to wear at least 3 layers to keep warm.  I just end feeling like the Pillsbury dough boy with the sweaters and coats. Yuck!

source

3. My spring and summer wardrobe are so much brighter than my winter clothes.  Long gone are the browns and navies. Bring on the pinks, purples and greens!  Just kinda perks you up!

source

4. I splurge and myself a fab pair of sandals.  Usually from Anthropologie...they have killer shoes!  A little pricey, but once a year I just gotta go wild and throw caution and my thriftiness to the wind.

source

5.  I get to drink Mojitos without looking like a weirdo!  Really....it's a little odd to order a drink with lime juice and mint in the middle of winter.

www.classicfaces.com

6.  It starts my pedicure season.  Being a thrifty gal...I feel guilty getting a pedicure in the winter.  I love when I can officially claim it's sandal season.  Let's be honest...there's nothing better than a great pedi!

source

7. I start getting the itch to play in the dirt!  When my kids were younger I gardened like a mad woman!  Huge beds filled with overflowing flowers.  These days....I'm more about compact container gardens.  Small spaces that pack a punch. Eye Candy!!

source

8. Asparagus is in season!  Just love it and it's sooo good for you.  One true down side.  Not gonna lie, it makes your pee stink!

9. Flea Market shopping is much better in warm weather.  The vendors drag out all their goodies and fill the dirt fields of flea markets will nothing but old fashioned....yup I said it....TREASURE!!! Love the dirt, grime and scrounging through piles of cr@p!!

10. Most favorite....drumroll....I get to work outside!  Dealing with paint, fumes, chemicals and the like I hate wearing a face mask!  It sucks!!!  I have a huge driveways to I just spread out a couple of drop clothes and go to town.  I spray and brush til my little heart's content.  Gotta love it!

I'd love to hear your favorite things about Spring!! 

Have a good one,

Robin

Why I moved to the country.........

Believe it or not....I started out as a small town girl from Ohio.  My grandparents were farmers in West Virginia.  I spent many a summer "down on the farm". As much as I enjoyed learning (in my childish mind) "old-fashioned" skills such as gardening, canning, sewing and baking, the real reason I went back every summer was my Granny!  She was an amazing woman!! Covered in garden dirt and kitchen stains, she was still the most feminine women I knew!

All that being said....it feels as if I spent my whole childhood dying to see the country, the world in fact! Anyone who knows me can attest......I'm game for a road trip anytime!  After getting married my husband and I moved to Northern Virginia in one of the many suburbs that are part of the DC Metro Area.  Truly....I thought I had arrived! My dream house, close to the city.  How could it get any better? 3800 sq. ft. on a .26 acre lot.

Not that my life there was a nightmare....it was just crowded!  I learned something very important about myself....I am more like my darling grandmother than I would have ever dared to admit earlier in my life.  The more I lived the suburban life, the more I realized that I longed for a simpler life.  After 15 years of burb-life...my husband and I dove head first into country life.  Boonsboro, MD, a small town in Western Maryland.  What did we buy???  A 130 yr. old brick farmhouse.  Truly my dream house...I just didn't know it until I saw it.  Love at first site!

Long gone are the traffic jams, congestion and  neighbors just 10yds away.  Bring on the fresh air, starry nights and slow living!  My family has blossomed in the country. I now realize that all the distractions of having everything at your fingertips are just that....a distraction!  Seeing the farms and animals all around have certainly brought us closer to nature...and our FOOD!  We eat local whenever we can.  Truly an awesome thing.  

These may not be your typical neighborhood sites....but guess what?  They are MINE! Love it!

Have a good one,

Robin

Hittin' the Road "Nest" Style.....Part 4

I hope you've been following along....I'm telling 'ya, it was quite a trip.  If you need a refresher you can find Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here.  The rest of the shopping trip home is not nearly as eventful.  However, I think you'll get a kick out of some of the items gal pal and I saw as well as our guilty pleasure.

source

At this point in the trip.....

• We've had a truck fiasco
• Been called names by a man on the phone
• Learned how to wear,size and buy chaps
• Joined a drinking club in Texas
• Been blinded by diamonds and stories from drunkin' ladies

It's time to go home!!  Drive straight home, you ask??  Heck no!!  Two girls and a 26'truck????  We're heading to Nashville!

I have to say, although our time was short in Nashville, it was a blast to be there!  Gal pal and I learned a lot in our 36 hrs....thought I'd share.

Burger Republic in Nashville, TN

• Most antique/vintage shops aren't open on MONDAY!! Yikes! We were there late Sunday and all day Monday.  Wishing for a do-over on this one!
• Best burger I've ever had in my life.  I have celiac disease, so anytime I can get a gluten-free bun with a killer sam-mich....it's a great day!!!
• Truly some of the nicest people I've ever met!
• Some amazing artists live in Nashville.
• Some wackadoodle artists live in Nashville.

A picture's worth a thousand words so I'll show you what I'm talking about......

Bed Pan Banjo....everybody needs one!

Booby Art

Fantastic Shop.... Two Old Hippies

Hot Flash Fan

Mod Egg Chair

Christmas is never very far....

Truly Funky

Hand Crafted Terrariums

I hope you enjoyed tagging along with me during this bizarre, amazing, crazy vintage treasure hunt.

I'd love to here your stories!!!!

Have a good one,
Robin

Hittin' the Road Nest-Style, Part 3

It's kinda hard to top all the crazy shenanigans that the first 2 days of the shopping trip brought, see  Part 1 and  Part 2 here if you haven't been following along. We still had another day left of shopping in Texas and our Bed & Breakfast proved to be quite entertaining.  We learned about how to buy, size, wears chaps (pronounced...shaps, or something like that.) from a total stranger.  I guess we did kinda ask for it when gal pal and I were joking about buying some to bedazzle. ( We were in the common room at the B&B).  We next encountered a drunk as a skunk Texas cutie!  She had her glass and her bottle of wine and proceeded to tell us her WHOLE life story!  All I got out of it was...."I'm co-dependent with my daughter" and blindness from the big ol' honkin' Texas-size diamond dangling off her ring finger.

source

She kept telling us about a little shop were all the art with filled with texture...... (w-ha-t????) She finally took a breath and gal pal and I  made our escape. Question?  Why was she drinking in the common room and not at a fine dining establishment????  Here we go!

I joined a Drinking Club while I was in Texas.  Really!!!  I just wanted a glass of wine after all the drama of the trip.  I was quickly informed that the county that we were staying in was D-R-Y!  Why did no one tell me this before I came!!!  A cutie named Clark told us to go to Applebees down the road and sign up for a membership!

source

Another dialogue..... (drive, drive 26' truck to Applebees)

Gal Pal:  I think ol' Clark was flirting with us.....saying we had to join a club to have a glass of wine.

Robin:  He waasss cute! And he had such pretty teeth!  (I'm a sucker for a great set of chompers!)

Waitress: May I take your order?

Gal Pal/Robin:  2 Margaritas, please.

Waitress:  I need both of your licenses.

Robin: I left mine in the car....truly I am 46 and of age.

Gal Pal:  Does she really need to get it?

Waitress:  Yup......5 min later, please fill out these membership forms for our drinking club!

Moral of the story.... Clark was NOT flirting!  He spoke the truth!  Bummer....cause he had such pretty teeth!

The next morning we packed up and headed Northeast.  Think I'm gonna have to stretch this out to 4 posts just to make sure I don't leave any of the craziness out.  Stay tuned....

Have a good one,
Robin

Hittin' the Road "Nest"-style.....Part 2

If you read my last post, you know that my last shopping trip had a bit of a rocky start.  From the word "go" nothing went according to plan.  Hey I can be as flexible as the next gal, but in this vintage buying business keeping costs as low as possible is a high priority.  As much fun and the treasure hunt is.....I've got to make sure I sell the goodies at a profit, while making sure the prices are affordable.

Here's a quick recap of the trip so far.........

• Budget Truck didn't have our packing supplies
• Budget Truck had junky trucks and rude employees, (cough, cough, Rudy)
• Uhaul cost $200 more plus mileage
• Could no longer use in-laws as a base camp...had to keep mileage low.
• Had to find/pay for lodging while in Texas.

Undaunted by Rudy and his madness......3 hrs. and a 26' Uhaul Truck, gal pal and I hit the road.  Itching to "buy something pretty" I was ready to peel my eyes, get my hands dirty and discover the treasures hidden in the great state of Texas.  Had to figure out where to stay now that commuting to/from in-laws was no longer an option.  Put in a call to hubby, my travel witch (only with a b...his word not mine...hehehe), to find some safe, cheap digs for our time in Texas.  In true Nest fashion, the hotel he found was a bit squeezy, so plan B was enacted and a nice B&B was found in short order. Let the shopping commence.

A pictures says it all.....

 A sample of some of the finds....... 

My new boyfriend...Albie

A sample of the sights.......

Fast forward....two days into the shopping trip and having a blast.  What you ask is happening on the "Rudy-front"? Funny you should ask.  Ring, ring goes gal pal's cell phone. (Robin stands near wondering who is on the phone.)  Insert dialogue here.....

Gal Pal:  Hello

Speaker:  Is this Gal Pal?

Gal Pal:  Yes it is......

Speaker: (barely above a whisper) This is Rudy from Budget Truck Rental and I'm calling to say that I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience with the Budget, my bad experience was with you and the way I was treated.

Rudy/Speaker: (Now shouting) Listen lady....I'm not gonna let you two BITCHES get me fired! (yes he sooo went there.)

Gal Pal:(Loudly speaking...) I have never been talked to this way in my life.  You are rude, obnoxious (fill in the blank)!  Do not ever call my phone again.  I do not want to speak to anyone but your regional director.  If you call me again I will have you up on harassment charges.  Do you know what that is, RUDY?  Just lose my number from your phone. C-L-I-C-K!!!  **Note: gal pal  I might add is about 5' tall and not 100lbs. soakin' wet) You go girl!

Robin: OMG!!  (figuring out very quickly who was on the other end of the phone.)

Gal Pal quickly relays whole conversation to Robin.

Robin/Gal Pal: (in unison) these b*tches 'bout to GET you FIRED!

A quick call to the Regional Director updating them on good ole Rudy sets the ball in motion.  Let's just say........we did what we said we were gonna do! Guess who's in the unemployment line NOW!  I mean really, he could have faked an apology and all would have been forgotten.  All I got to say is....

No Home Training!!!  Come on, Rudy, did you ready think you weren't gonna get fired?

Remember now....it was a 6 day trip and this is only day 2!  I'll finish up the trip details in my next post.  I'm telling you....I'm a drama magnet! You can't make this stuff up.

Have a good one,

Robin

Hittin' the Road "Nest"-style.....Part 1

As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm ready to blow this popcicle stand.  Well....actually, I been getting the itch to hit the road and do what I do best.  Get into trouble, I mean, buy some vintage treasures!  The tale I'm about to tell is a wild one, but it's true none the less.

Two girls, a truck, and a guy named Rudy!  My gal pal and I flew into Dallas and had my mother-in-law pick us up at the airport.  Our plan was to stay with the in laws and shop about Texas looking high and low for "booty".  What's the saying....best laid plans......  Well bright and early the next morning we headed over to pick up the Budget 24'truck. (Yup, 24'!! We meant bizness!)  Ready for the fun and adventure of vintage shopping, we were in no way shape or form ready for a guy named R-U-D-Y, manager at the Budget Truck satellite location in Tyler, TX.  The only way to truly tell the story is to give you the dialogue....so here goes.

Robin: Hi, I'm here to pick up my truck, here's my reservation.

Miss Sales Lady: We'll get you taken care of. Hey Rudy, can you bring a 24' truck around? Oh, btw, we have NONE of the blankets or packing supplies that you reserved. (cause that's just how we roll, ok, I improvised here).....Here it is.... Make sure to check the truck out first to see if it is alright.

Robin: Great. Hey Gal Pal, (aka Yvette from Foundry by Freeman) check out the truck while I finish the paper work.

Gal Pal: (after checking out truck) This truck won't due.  The transmission is about the go and it's completely filthy.  It's not safe for two women to drive cross country.

Rudy:  (throwing 2 sets of keys on the counter), go in the back and see which truck you want. **Side bar...do you really think Budget Truck knows that we now have three sets of their truck keys and that we are headed back, unattended I might add, to the sanctum sanctorum to pick our truck out???? Me thinks NOT.

We.....walk back, look over trucks, pick one and head to front of store.

Gal Pal: Hey Rudy, we'll be on our way just as soon as you remove the dirty nasty used mattress from the back of the truck.

Robin: Why does the truck have a mattress in it?

Rudy: We don't clean the trucks. I can't have my men move the dirty nasty used mattress (ok, he didn't really use all these descriptive words)....it's a sanitation issue.

Robin: It's a sanitation issue with us!!

Gal Pal:  So let me get this straight....you want me to pay you $1000 and remove the mattress myself?

Rudy: Yup!  You can't leave it here though....I have your info. and I'll have the city fine you.  (YES he DID!!!)

Gal Pal:  I want your name and the name of your supervisor......Dial, dial, dial......Hello Ms. Supervisor let me tell you what just happened.  blah, blah, blah.....

Ms. Supervisor: Of course you don't have to remove the mattress yourself, I will make Rudy do it.  I'll call him right now.

ring, ring, ring.....20 min later.

Gal Pal: We are still waiting to get our truck WITHOUT the mattress.

Ms. Supervisor: I have tried to call Rudy 11 Times  and he hasn't picked up his phone.  (meanwhile, I must point out that Rudy is not in the loo, he has been in the store for the last 20 min.)

Gal Pal:  I want to file a formal complaint.

Meanwhile......
Robin: I want to void this transaction.  Just pretend I never walked into this crazy place.

Miss Sales Lady: We can't void it, the charge has already gone thru.

Robin: WHAT????!!? You need to call somebody and figure it out.  I'm NOT leaving here until I get my money $$$$ back!

2 phone calls and twenty more minutes.....the contract was finally voided.

My poor sweet mother-in-law.  She witnessed the whole thing!  After 2.5 hours we still had NO TRUCK!!

After some quick scrambling and hurried phone calls, we found a UHaul dealer.  (Side note....got lost and drove another 35min, yikes!) The truck cost $200 more and didn't have unlimited miles, but what were we to do????  Chalk it up to another episode of "How hard can it be?" and hit the road!!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this crazy shopping trip!  You won't wanna miss it!

Have a good one,
Robin