Woman in Real Life

Happy summer friends! I'm looking forward to sunny beach days, picnics, tall glasses of iced tea and homemade ice cream. And perhaps a few garage sales and flea markets. My latest thrifty purchase is this set of colourful glasses. I want to call them shot glasses, but perhaps they are a bit on the large side for that? Let's just call them colourful drinking glasses.

Last week, I talked about thrifting with my sister while visiting my parents in their small town. Besides the goodies I got at local thrift shops, I also came away with more vintage stuff from my mom.

But, first I want to show you some of the cool things my parents own that I haven't taken home...yet. 

My mom isn't going to be too happy to see the cobwebs in the photo, above, but the collection is up by the (high) ceiling and I didn't feel like dusting all these objects. My parents live by the lake, which means lots of spiders! This is just a part of my dad's collection of beer steins, etc. My favourite item is that little guy who pours shots. He actually moves. I loved it when I was a kid.

Thanks to my mom and dad, I have more vintage decanters than I could ever possibly use. During our recent basement overhaul, I found a way to store them all, so I don't feel so guilty about keeping them.

As you can see, I own decanters in a variety of shapes and sizes. Even if I don't end up putting any alcohol in them, I will admire them now and again.

Last week, in Swimming and Shopping, I showed you some of the garage sale and thrift store goodies I got while visiting the small town near my parents' house.

Here are some more of the little treasures I purchased that day. Above, one of my favourite finds, this sweet little rose jar is now holding cotton pads in my bathroom.

I have received a few great pieces of antique furniture from my parents. One of my favourites is this sideboard. There's just something about furniture with feet.

When I was growing up, this was in our basement, in the "Blue Room." We called it that because the carpet was blue, as was the sectional couch. The walls were panelled in grey.

My parents stored numerous seemingly random items inside the sideboard. The top was used primarily as a bar. They even had a sign above it that said "Peter's Private Bar." My parents and their friends knew how to party, and a fully stocked bar was a given. Here's my dad 25 years ago at his 60th birthday party, rocking his kilt and playing the vacuum as a guitar (or maybe a fiddle). You can see the sideboard on the right, topped with all kinds of drinks.


The sideboard is in my basement now, and it houses all kinds of dishes, many of them given to me by my parents. This summer we have embarked on a big basement clean-up and I have come across a number of drinkware items that my mom and dad have given me.

I shared some other favourite vintage drinkware before in my Drinking Buddies post.

Here are the "new" items I have unearthed in storage.

Somehow I manage to sneak in thrift store visits at the most unexpected times. I even went to a couple stores while we were in Cape Cod. I didn't find anything though.

On Saturday, we drove straight from Cape Cod to my sister's house in St. Catharines, Ontario. By the time we stopped at Wegmans for some grocery items and the Duty Free for some (very cheap) booze, we arrived at my sister's at about 11:00 p.m.

On Sunday afternoon, my sister (and partner in crime) suggested we go to a nearby Goodwill store. The Bibles for Missions thrift store that I had so enjoyed with her on our last visit is closed on Sundays.

The Goodwill has much higher prices than that store, but I found a few bargains nevertheless.

The first treasure we spotted was this Alfred Sung teapot, above, for $2. I decided to give it to my sister because she liked it too, but I snapped a quick photo of it at her house.



I bought this decanter for $2. What I like about it is the shot glass built into the lid. I also got the scarf it is sitting on (for $1.99).


I purchased this rather strange wooden jar. My sister suggested putting cotton balls in it, but we were surprised to find that it has a very shallow interior.


I got this cute watering can, which is actually plastic inside, as well as two of these colourful doilies. I have no idea where I am going to use the doilies, but I couldn't resist their upbeat cheer.


I guess I couldn't quite leave the beach behind, because I snapped up these shower curtain rings.


I then found this bathroom mat at a discount store next to Goodwill.



In keeping with the beachy/shell theme, I used a previous thrift store find to display some shells we picked up on a beach in Cape Cod.

How is your summer going? Are you making time to shop?

My daughter and I managed to hit only one thrift store this week, on the way to an appointment in another town.

She picked out a blue and white wool sweater (yes, with the temperature reaching 30°C/86°F), as well as a Webkinz kangaroo. (Awesome—another stuffed animal to end up on her bedroom floor.)

I had no time to search for treasures at the thrift store this weekend. We had a full schedule of events. More about that on Friday.

In the meantime, I am preparing for a family gathering we are going to host next weekend. I am making an effort to use some of the vintage serving dishes I have acquired from my parents over the years.

They have lots of drinkware from the seventies. Good times, I guess.

I do recall crashing on a couch or spare bed next to my sister quite a few times while they partied, and I say good for them!

Here are some of the drinking aids they have given to me, including my favourite set, above.



Linking up with these wonderful blogs: Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and My 1929 Charmer and Coastal Charm and Beez Rental Designs and Knick of Time and Her Library Adventures