A Jewelry Store? A Bookstore? An Art Gallery? Yes to all!

It's no secret that I love to read! I've mentioned many times in previous posts that I like to go to a special Goodwill Store that we have close by that has books, books and more books! The best thing is that most of them are 80 cents! You can't go wrong with that! Even buying online books at 99 cents can't beat my bookstore. I've also mentioned many times that someday I was going to take pictures of this store and write a post about it. Today is that day!

A little background...the reason for my title to this post is this bookstore has many faces. It's a bookstore, true, but it's also a nick-knack store, a jewelry store, an art gallery and much, much more! 

Here you see books! What I love is that the employees that work here have this store super organized. They have signs posted above each section that says whether it's Fiction, Non-Fiction, Education, Health, Parenting, Religious, Cooking, etc, etc...you get the idea, right? The books are all alphabetized by author in each section!

And in little nooks and crannies, like on the shelf at the bottom of this photo, they tuck little treasures, like dolls, candle sticks, looks like there is even a Santa Claus cookie jar down there! Darn, wish I had seen that!

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Here's the front entrance and they have a bookcase there facing the outside with some of their newer inventory of books. I usually grab about three or four books the second I come in!

And I forgot to put in my title that this is also a Hallmark Store!! Well not really, but see that nice, neat little section of different greeting cards? Nothing goes to waste once donated to Goodwill!

Also look carefully and you will see lots of other goodies, see some purses hanging on the wall behind the cashier? They also have some vintage jewelry back there too!

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Another shot of books and they also sell boxes. I've bought some of these boxes many times to move and sometimes just to store some of the books I've bought and read and need to return to Goodwill so someone else can benefit from them!

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I could spend hours in this place, which is why it's nice that they have created such a nice little reading area. All of this is donated stuff and almost all of it is for sale, but these tables and the little couch and a few chairs on the other side are not for sale but for customers to just sit and relax and look at books. 

The store has regular customers that come in and sit on weekends and just pass the time, just like a Barnes and Noble Bookstore...except without a Starbucks. 

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Another shot of books! As you can see there is a never-ending supply of books coming into this store constantly! Can you also see those posters and pictures set alongside? There are treasures to be seen everywhere!

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Another shot of books! When you read as much as I do it's really a nice option to be able to have such a huge selection for such a great price...plus, when I finish I donate them back so the Goodwill continues to profit from the books and someone else gets the pleasure of reading these books over and over again! Win-Win!

I thought this was an interesting little corner to share because this is all their vintage books. I've been looking for a first edition copy of the book, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney. It was a book I read over and over as a child until it fell apart. I always check out this section and hope that one day I will come upon it. That will be a happy-happy, joy-joy day!

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And say you come with someone that is not into books...well they won't be bored, just tell them to stroll over to the Art Gallery! I love this section!!!

Here's a shot from the entrance, this room is located at the back of the store and there's lots of natural light which is perfect to show off all this cool artwork you can buy. It's all for sale! Someone that really loved ballet must have recently donated!

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More artwork! Isn't this fabulous? And all hung and displayed so nicely. And the store is so clean!!! 

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Can you see why I love this place and constantly rave about it and devoted a whole post to it? And I'm still not done!!! Yes...there is more to see!

I probably should have started with this photo as this is the front of the store. 

Where to start! Ok, so on the shelves to the left you see magazines. Yes, they even salvage magazines, lots of Oprah's and Southern Living and others. More artwork of course, probably their newest arrivals! And lots of little nick-knacks on the shelves and even on the floor! You can see in the background what appears to be jewelry, it is!

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This is a very cute section too. They don't sell the little bookshelf itself, trust me I've asked because I love it, but it is always filled with lots of cute little treasures!

And because I was so busy taking photos I wasn't really paying much attention to what was on the shelf and now I see that little angel blowing a kiss!! Love it! Shoulda bought it!

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And now...my favorite section in the whole store...oh c'mon....who am I kidding, the whole store is my favorite. But you know how you save the best for last? Well I always save looking at the jewelry for last because it is my favorite part.

I have found tons of cute bracelets and necklaces here for great prices! And the great thing is the pieces I find here are unique one of a kind items that no one else has!

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And I didn't leave empty handed. Along with all these great pictures, look what's in my shopping cart?

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I think that book in the front is one my mom or sister threw into my cart because I just looked around here at home and I don't have that book and I know it's not a book I would have been interested in. But the low-carb cookbook and the Atkins book behind it I will love going through.

So this is why I don't own a Kindle. Owning a kindle would keep me from the pleasure of visiting this great place filled with books and treasures and jewels and artwork and would probably put Goodwill out of business considering that I visit this place almost every weekend...but wouldn't you if you had it in your home town?


 

My Body (and my Mother) tried to Kill Me Last Night!

Ok, someone smack me! The other day I was remarking to my mom about how much I loved the homemade taquitos she used to make for us kids when we were all living at home with her. (Now she lives with me.) 

So I come home last night and I can smell them from the driveway! I walk in and there is my poor mom making deep fried, shredded beef taquitos with all the fixings. I almost turned and ran away from home (I should have).

But I couldn't hurt my mommy's feelings right? Plus she said that it was a lot harder for her to make them now that she is older and that she would never be making them again! She's saying this as hot oil is sputtering and hitting her on the arm. How could I not eat them?

So I served myself two of them and ate them and they were delicious! Crunchy and salty and just perfect! So I thought "well, mom is never going to make them again...so what would it hurt if I ate one more?" So I ate one more. Then I quit...until about 8pm when I remembered that her taquitos were best eaten cold, so I ate one more!!

Around 1:15am I woke up feeling a little bit of heart burn. I have not had any heart burn or stomach problems since I started eating Atkins/lowcarb in January of this year. I tossed and turned and finally decided to get up and dissolve one Alka-Seltzer tablet as that usually did the trick before Atkins.

I did that and drank it down and sat around reading and waiting for the Alka-Seltzer to make me burp to relieve the heartburn. Finally it did and I went to bed, only to realize now my tummy was upset. I barely made it to the bathroom when I felt I was going to throw up...and boy howdy did I! I had not thrown up like that in years. Grossed out yet?

Well I brushed my teeth and went to bed when all of a sudden I felt another problem with my tummy and raced to the bathroom...and sure enough diarrhea! I know, I know...too much information right? The only reason I am posting this is because I was out of my mind to eat what I ate! I know my mom meant well but I knew better.

Why did I sabotage myself? Why did I justify and rationalize to myself that it was ok to eat 4 greasy, carb-ridden taquitos? Why? Why? Why?

I won't be doing it again, let me tell you. I still feel miserable!

Iwanna Wednesday - I Need a New Chapeau!

Hey all...another Iwanna Wednesday post! Wow! I'm amazing even myself. I thought I was all done with wanting things but I'm backkkkk! 

So a little update on what an Iwanna Wednesday is. To make a long story short, I want everything I see, whether it's in a store or on someone else or in someones front yard or on TV. My mom and my sister Lisa started noticing that the second I walked into a store I would see something I wanted and I would say, "Oh wow, look! I always wanted one of these!" So they nick-named me Iwanna because I wanna everything!

My Iwanna cravings got so strong that they started involving others. My daughter April bought me many of the things I would post. My sister was constantly looking for things for me to post. Even my cousin Stella, all the way over in San Diego got in on the act and on one of her road trips she found this!

She told me that when she saw it she knew it was meant for me. She mailed it to me letting me know she wasn't sending it to me for the bracelet attached, but for the little cardboard sign which is perfect for me.

So perfect in fact that it's going to be my Iwanna Icon/Banner for my Iwanna Wednesday's! Cute right?

So for a long time I did a post every Wednesday of things that struck my fancy and that I wanted. I did a bazillion (94 to be exact) Iwanna Wednesday posts. I had kind of strayed away from Iwanna Wednesday for a while because of a bunch of things but lately I've been noticing I'm getting that Iwanna bug back.

This weekend I took a little road trip with my sister Lisa and her friend Lupe to the Morro Bay Avocado and Margarita Festival! Doesn't that sound like fun? It was!

Here's a picture of my sister and Lupe and me of course. See anything missing in this photo? No? C'mon...look harder. All right, let me just tell you. If you look, my sister and Lupe are both wearing Chapeaus! Hats! Lids! Headgear! Millinery! Toppers! But not me...nope, no hat for me, which is why I'm sunburned today!

So I was telling my sister that I really want to get a hat for our next trip and she told me big, floppy hats are in! But...um...I don't see her wearing a big floppy hat. Nope, I see her in a cute cowboy-ish kinda hat. So I went shopping online to see if I can find a cool hat!.

I knew kinda what I wanted, which is what I call a Mennonite Straw Hat. We live in a small town that has a pretty big Mennonite community and they all wear these hats, especially when they are out gardening!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

Here's another one that caught my eye. I really like this one but I would want to be able to change out the hatband to something more colorful when it suited me.

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

But I'm thinking Iwanna one like the one my sister and Lupe are wearing, kind of a cowboy-ish kind of hat. So I found this one which I love! 

I love the way it's rolled up like the one my sister had. I love the color of the headband and the ribbon that hangs off the back. Really, really loving this one, but at close to $85...I don't know!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

So maybe it's best to look for a floppy hat, since my sister says they are coming back into style. I found a site that had some really cute ones at a reasonable price. This one is $7.90 American Dollars!

Courtesy of AliExpress.com 

So I am seriously going to be searching for a hat. I've never considered myself a hat person but everyone seems to be wearing them! And Iwanna be just like all the cool kids.

Do you wear hats? What kind? What would you recommend?

Hoping all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Wait...wait...wait...hold the presses! I think I have found the perfect hat! My favorite color, green, it's cowboy-ish and Iwanna this one with my whole little pea-picking heart. *sigh* Isn't it dreamy? Sad thing is it's out of stock but I'm entering my email so they can let me know when it's back in stock!

Courtesy Overstock.com 

 

Road Trip! - Morro Bay Avocado and Margarita Festival

In my world there are two things that go hand in hand, just like bread and butter, burgers and fries, fish and chips...I'm talking about avocados and margaritas! Nothing I love better than a delicious Margarita with some avocado turned into yummy guacamole. That's why when my sisters' friend Lupe suggested we take a road trip to the Morro Bay Avocado and Margarita Festival I was all like, "Yep...count me in!"

So yesterday we made the little trip from Wasco, which is where Lupe lives, to Morro Bay. I say little trip, but it's actually a little bit over two hours away. But when you are in good company a long car trip is just the ticket to get caught up on girl talk and snacking!

And that's what we did. We stopped and bought Cheetos, Beef Jerky, M&M's, Fritos and Diet Pepsi's and we laughed and talked and shared memories and gossip until we got to Paso Robles. Even though this was not our destination we stopped at a TJ Maxx to shop a little. Shoes were purchased and the bathroom was used and off we were again to do one of my favorite things and one of Lupe's favorite things...shop the local Goodwill! Yay! I finally found another bird of a feather!

See, my sister is not a big lover of Goodwill or any thrift store for that matter, in fact she is not a big lover of shopping of any kind at all, although she does indulge me quite often. But Lupe loves to shop the Goodwill's and she knew exactly where we could find one in Paso Robles. Yay! Treasure Hunt!

It was not my day to find a lot of treasures, but I did find this cute little lady. I know she's kind of odd looking, but I just love the little spider and her cute purple hat with the little pink flower and her little curly hair and her precious smile with that very bright red lipstick! For a mere $1.00 she was mine! Can't wait to display her at Halloween!

Lupe found some treasures as well, but the one that found the most was my sister Lisa. Funny how she dislikes shopping at Goodwill yet she always spends much more money than I do!

From there we headed to San Luis Obispo, which was about a 35 minute drive through some beautiful scenery. Once there Lupe took us to another Goodwill where I found a black sweater that I love and Lisa again stocked up! 

After this one Lisa drew the line and said NO MORE! I AM HUNGRY! So we decided to head on over to the Avocado and Margarita Festival in Morro Bay which was about 25 minutes away. We made a quick stop at a campsite along the way as Lisa and Lupe are both infatuated with camping!

Once we got to Morro Bay we realized that this was a huge event and thought we would never find parking! But we did, a few blocks away and it was such a beautiful day we didn't even mind the walk and we stopped to take pictures along the way.

My sister and her dear friend Lupe. No...that is not our Rubicon,
but I thought they looked great standing next to it!

Another great picture of Lisa and Lupe with Morro Rock in the background. More information on "the Rock" coming later! Aren't they pretty? Love these girls!

Hey! What about me? I want a picture with my sister!

And one of just me! Love the background!

Then it was time to continue our walk to the festival itself. A salesclerk in one of the little shops we stopped at along the way told us that Morro Bay has a population of about 10,000 people and that the Chamber of Commerce was expecting about 12,000 people for this event! 

For the price of a whole $2.00 each we gained entrance and it was packed! Barely room to turn around in. Everyone was walking around with paper plates filled with chips and avocado...not guacamole because the star of this show was the avocado so it was virgin avocado, no salt or onion or jalapenos, just the pure taste of creamy, buttery avocado mixed with the crispy texture of a salty tortilla chip! Yum! 

Sad to say I didn't get a picture of the avocado and tortilla chips because we were starving and devoured them. But here's a picture of another delicacy we tried a little later on. Bacon wrapped hot-dogs!

These were so good. We only bought one and had them cut it into thirds, but we piled sliced avocado and onions on it! 

And after all the saltiness of the chips and the bacon wrapped hot-dogs we were a tad parched. We soon found refreshment!

I think they call these Corona Beer-ita's!
The cup was filled with Lime Margarita on the Rocks and then using a special lid on the cup a small Coronita Beer is turned upside down, mixing the margarita and beer. Then you sip with the straw and it's delicious! They also made a strawberry version, but we stuck to the original. ***My sister called me after reading this and said they are called "Corona-ritas"***

We wandered around the various arts and craft vendors, we people-watched, we chatted with strangers, we listened to music, we ate kettle korn and bought big containers of fresh fruit salad and just generally had the best time ever!

Because it was standing room only, we finally got tired of all the standing and walking and decided if we stayed any longer we would only end up eating more, so we left and walked down the embarcadero wandering in and out of shops.

We saw some seals and watched them for a while. People were barking at them and little kids were getting such a kick out of seeing their daddies barking like dogs! It was hilarious!

Then we did another couple of things that are a MUST DO when you visit Morro Bay. One is eat fish and chips and the other is visit THE ROCK!

My photo of the Rock!

Official photo of THE ROCK

A few details on THE ROCK

Sunset at the Rock!

At the entrance to the rock is this power plant which plays a large role in Morro Bay,
and in providing electricity to the Central Coast and the Central Valley of California (primarily Fresno and Bakersfield). Due to its tall smokestacks,
it is known locally as "Three fingers".

After having seen and done almost everything there was to see and do in Morro Bay we three ladies headed over to Cayucos to watch the sunset.

Lisa got poetic on us and remarked that we will each see many more sunsets, but at this moment, at this time, on this date, the three of us shared a sunset and a day that we will never forget and that will be one of a kind. Love you my sister and love you too Lupe! Hope we do this again real soon!

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Tired, sun-burned and happy, we three ladies made the long drive home glad to have been able to make wonderful memories and already making plans for our next "road trip!"

 

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…Let them grow up to be Gentlemen instead!

So my co-worker came into work the other morning frustrated and disgusted with the fact that traffic was so horrid and how people have no common sense and no manners.

I have to agree with her. You used to be able to drive into work in the morning and have a reasonably pleasant commute. But now all you hear are people honking their horns because you don’t turn fast enough or you don’t take off fast enough when the light changes to green.

 Then you have those people that think they are Mario Andretti or

Jeff Gordon because they zip in and out changing lanes willy-nilly. Many times I will see someone coming up behind me and I know that he’s going to zip in front of me and he’s not going to make it if I don’t slow down to give him enough room…so I slow down and Voila!, he makes the lane change safely without clipping me or the vehicle in front of him. I’m sure he drives on to work thinking “Damn, I’m a great driver!” But if not for me being a defensive driver and slowing down to make sure he doesn't ram into the back of the big rig in front of him he would be toast!

But anyway…that is my co-workers rant for today; I’m just empathizing with her. My rant today is boys/men that don’t open the door for a lady.

Ok…I know that during the hey-day of the women’s movement it was frowned upon to open the door for a woman. Many women were known to become outraged at the common courtesy because they can open their own doors.

I’m not arguing that point. I’m simply going to tell you a story of what happened to me the other day. During the lunch hour, I had to run to my local bank to make a deposit. Usually I do all my banking in the ATM or online or on my smart phone, but I had cash and that meant a trip to the bank itself.

After I finished my transaction with the teller I stepped back to turn and head out the door. At the next window there was a boy, about 20’ish and he stepped back as I was behind him and he almost knocked me down. He kept going and didn't say anything. My reflexes moved me to say, “Excuse me”. I didn't say it in a sarcastic tone, I said it in a sincere tone like I say when I cross in front of someone, it’s just reflex to be polite. He said nothing and continued to the door.

The bank has two sets of double doors. The first double doors open into a small foyer where there are two ATM machines, and then there is another set of double doors that lead to the outside. When we got to the first set the boy opened the door and waited for me and I said “Thank you” and smiled. Then we got to the next set of doors and the boy stood to the side…I kid you not…he stood to the side and looked at me as though to say “Ok…it’s your turn to get the door for me”. I just stood there, unsure of what to do, but he wasn’t going to open the door, so I opened the door and held it for him and he walked outside without a thank you or a have a nice day or anything. He just walked out. . .

I thought about beaning him in the back of the head with my purse, Gladys Ormphby style…but then just shook my head and got into my car and wondered why it bothered me so much.

And I think anyone that is old enough to remember Gladys Ormphby should have the door held open for her! Am I right?