I've got big plans for my back yard. . . I'm just not 100% sure what those plans are yet.

What I do know is I know I want a fire pit (but that can wait awhile), I know I want those green Ikea chairs, and I know I want that gazebo from Target. . . oh and I want them to somehow all work together. . .

This is Where I'll Be Saturday

from an OSS email:

Join us for a HUGE yard sale!
One Day only - Saturday, March 28th
8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Location:
Old School Square (OSS) center grounds and the Delray Beach Green Market (located just east of OSS in the parking lot on NE 2nd Ave., 1/2 block north of Atlantic Ave.). The parking garage is right next door.

My grandmother's church is also hosting a jewelry sale - I always find the best vintage pieces there.

And to close out the day I'm hitting Buca early-bird-style for a friend's birthday - another evening spent in the "Pope Room". . .

Buried Treasure

One day after work Emmett and I were wondering about the yard in full on relax mode when something by the fence caught my eye. There was something sticking out of the ground between the ficus hedge and the fence. So I dragged (drug?) Emmett over to investigate and pulled up a 5 lb weight. . . hmm, then next to it I found a 3 lb wieght, and after pushing the sand around a bit with my toe I found a 10 pounder.

At this point it was getting dark so I supended my dig until the next day, and this time I came prepared - garden gloves and a potting shovel. After digging around for about a half hour I had found a total of 10 weights - 4 five pounders, 3 ten pounders, and 3 three pounders. . .

Why would someone bury weights in my side yard (and some of them were too deep not to have been buried on purpose)? Also in my digging I found what appears to be a rib bone (from what I hope was someone's dinner). . .

Local Thrifting: Part 3

And the award for Cleanest Thrift Store in Boca Raton goes to . . .

Goodwill

Located at 1662 N Federal Highway in Boca Raton is Goodwill store is the cleanest thrift shop I think I've ever been in. Normally I stay away from the clothing sections (looking at most thrift store clothing makes me start itching) but at this Goodwill I was able to browse through their clothing without the urge to dip my entire body in hand sanitizer.

Now, this was the cheapest thrift store around, but it's location in eastern Boca does give it the advantage of receiving some of the more high end hand-me-downs.

Changes

As you can see I have been busy making some changes to the format of this here blog and I am far from done so please be patient while I try to figure this whole html thing out.

Virtual Shopping: Let There Be Light

Normally I try to choose Virtual Shopping items that I could (and may some day) actually consider purchasing. . . today that is not the case - today we are looking at some lighting that requires some buckeroonies (yes, I did really just type buckeroonies), but are so completely awesome that I just had to put them out there. . .

If I ever hit powerball these bad boys will be mine:

all lighting above can be found at Anthropologie

The bottom two lamps look like they may be DIYable - I see a summer project in the works. . .

Your Weekly Emmett Fix

For your viewing pleasure:

I think I might spoil him a bit to much. . .

. . . in this picture alone you can count 6 different toys and half chewed pressed bone. . . oh, and Emmett (he is the bump in the upper right hand corner). . . he and his entourage are taking up more than half the couch.

Local Thrifting: Part 2

Let me introduce you to the Boca Raton Quartet of Thrift, also known as Plum Tree Plaza.

In the past few years four of the better known Boca Raton thrift shops have migrated into Plum Tree Plaza, located just off of 20th Street halfway between Dixie Highway and 2nd Avenue.

• Florence Fuller Charity Resale Shop
• Levis JCC Thrift Shop
• Hospice by the Sea Chest Thrift Shop
• Center for Group Counseling Thrift Shop

All of these shops have large selections of furniture and clothing, but none of them are too hot when it comes to dishes and knick knacks.

More thrifting to come as we continue our voyage on the Laurendy Thrift Shop Express (choo choo). . .

Plum Tree Plaza
141 Nw 20th St, Boca Raton, FL

Yes Please

I would like one of these please. . .

. . . thank you

from Room & Board

In the Kitchen: Spicing Up the Simple

Contrary to popular belief, I do actually use my kitchen (see this). The biggest problem I have with cooking at the moment is that cooking for just one person is boring! I'm not going to spend an hour or two making ravioli just for myself, so I end up eating lots of pasta with jar sauce (I think my Aunt Is just rolled over in her grave).

Last night I decided to change things up a little by add a bit of spice to my normally blah meal.

First I added sliced garlic, minced onion, and a butt load of chili powder to the pasta water, then cooked to pasta as usual. Adding the spices to the water makes a huge difference in the long run.

Next I added more onion and another butt load of chili powder to jarred Alfredo sauce. I also added some leftover Cajun-spiced grilled chicken breast. And for good measure I added some more chili powder (what can I say? I'm a fan of the chili).

Finally, I mixed it all together and had myself a pretty darn good meal.

And the Winner is. . .

Gloria!

I want to thank everyone who entered my first ever giveaway. I see a few more in my future, so stay tuned!

fine print:
the prize will be sent out this Friday morning

Local Thrifting: Part 1

A while back I promised I would put together a list of local Thrift shops that I frequent. It's taken me a while to round them all up, but here it goes.

I thought for our first shop on the Laurendy Thrift Shop Express (choo choo) we will be stopping at my favorite thrift shop in all of Deerfield: the NE Focal Point Thrift Shop!

all these pieces were spotted on one of the stores famous 50% off days

This is a great shop if you are looking for furniture pieces or whole (as in complete) sets of dishes. My most recent purchase from this shop was a 60's card table with the coolest folding legs (for $15). I've also picked up my fair share of milkglass here.

Reminder!

Don't forget to enter the Laurendy 200th Post Giveaway. I will be choosing a winner at random come Monday evening (around 7pm or so).

Virtual Shopping: Fun, Yet Functional

When it comes to putting the fun in functional (yes, I really did just type that), Fred is your man (company?).

Who can pass up a knife with its own blood spatter? It's enough to make Dexter envious.

Fred & Friends' products make the perfect gifts for those friends who always instist that they want something useful.

And of course you can find completely unfunctional products from them as well -

I love, love, love, love this Dodge'em game (did I mention I love it), I think the little kid cutouts would be the perfect addition to a child's room.

Eddie Ross Approved Candlestick

I, like almost everyone else I know, am a fan of Eddie Ross of Top Design/Martha Stewart/blog-o-sphere fame. I mean come on, who doesn't like Eddie?

So like everyone else I was super excited to see that he had opened his very own Etsy store. I was even more excited when I saw this pair of candlesticks available in his shop:

I did my own little double take and then looked over at my china cabinet:

Yep, I own something Eddie Ross approved. I didn't take the best picture, but it has the same etching on the bottom. My mother gave me that candlestick when I moved into my house, it had belong to my paternal grandmother, who passed away when I was a baby. So now I can claim that Eddie Ross thought my grandma Mary had good taste (okay, that may be a reach, but it's my fantasy so I'll go with it).

200th Post & Giveaway!!

Woohoo 200 posts and still going. . . to be honest I never thought I would get far. I figured I would have given up a long while ago, but instead here making plans for this blog's future!

And to celebrate this here blogging milestone we're having the first ever Laurendy Giveaway (cue applause). Seeing that this is my first attempt to give something away, we're starting small - up for grabs in the lovely candle set you see above.

In order to win the charming Honeysuckle Votive set all you have to do is comment on this post. Make sure that I you leave an email address or link (someway in which I can contact you). I will choose a winner at random next Monday night (March 16th) so leave your comments before then.

Oh, yeah - oh if you have any blogging suggestions, want to swap links, hair cut ideas - please go ahead and leave those as well.

The Best Flea in Florida

The first Saturday of every month the GLCC in Wilton Manors host an indoor/outdoor flea market - the best in Florida (New Times, 2008)

Okay, okay, it might not be the best flea market in all of Florida, but it in the top 5, and it's my personal favorite here in south Florida.

There is also a great Goodwill nearby in what used to be a roller skating rink (how awesome is that). The Goodwill is located off of Oakland Park Blvd, east of I95 - it's set back from the road behind an auto repair/tire place and is a little hard to spot.

So now you'll know where I'll be this weekend.