You've Got the Cutest Little Baby Face!

hey y'all,

as much as i'd like to be upbeat, positive, cheery, isn't life grand, and all that jazz ... i refuse to placate the glass is half full optimists out there (and you know who you are).

this has simply been the Week. From. Hell.

after a lovely visit with our grandson harrison (see last post), i was tired but happy. then my computer started going wonky. and if there's one thing i hate, it's a wonky computer. just ask my husband.

i started scrambling to save important files (documents, pictures) on my cute little flash drives (one is pink!) because i don't have the sense or wherewithal to do a decent backup of my hard drive. blah blah blah.

anyhow, i got most of the important things saved and then ignorantly, restored all the settings on the damn thing and promptly lost all my stuff. how does one restore settings without realizing it? i don't know.

but i certainly wanted to smack mr. pimply-faced geek squad upside the head when he gave me that look. you know what i'm talkin' about.

"uh, yeah. looks like you restored the original settings."

"no, i didn't. i wouldn't have done that."

"it wouldn't restore itself. it was a user action."

(insert The Look here, translated: [eyes rolling] "geez. these people are sooooo frickin' stupid. hello?! this crazy woman wouldn't recognize a hard drive if it bit her on the ass.")

okay, so the upshot is that my hard drive was on its last leg and since the best buy geek squad is mighty proud of their $ervice$, it was less expensive to buy a new computer.

and this is where the fun really begins.

with a sick heart and without too much fanfare, i purchased another computer. after setting it up, i realized that it didn't have any sound. i spent the next day plugging and unplugging the speakers about, oh, let's say, a bazillion times.

it became painfully apparent that i was going to have to seek help. refusing to deal with the geek squad again, i called the manufacturer's help line. i'd tell you the brand, but i'd be laughed out of texas, i'm afraid.

anyhow, cutting to the chase, i was on the phone with a kind young man named nicky from india for over an hour. i couldn't understand half of what he was telling me to do, but somehow we managed to get the audio working.

woohoo for outsourcing! nicky was far and away a kinder, gentler (and more helpful!!) computer geek than the local best buy boy. hmmph!

and that, dear readers, was just part of my Week From Hell.

i'll leave you with my saturday yard saling experience. a perfect ending to my less than perfect week:

the first yard sale that i hit just happened to be at the home of some people from my past. i won't say how i know them, but let it be said that i've known them all my life.

against my better judgment, i got out of the car anyhow. it's not that i'm anti-social. honestly. it's just that when i'm junking, i prefer not to stop and chat with old acquaintances. it's best that they be forgot, if you know what i mean.

okay, so i'm doin' my best to fly under the radar, quickly perusing their junk offerings. keeping my head tucked so as not to attract attention to myself. don't ask any questions, terry lee. keep quiet and whatever you do, don't make eye contact!

"terry! terry! is that you, terry?!?!"

busted. so fricking busted.

i could've just backed away slowly from the tables and walked to my car, pretending i wasn't terry. i could've.

but i didn't. so i have no one to blame, NO ONE, but myself for what happened next.

blahblahdiddyblahblah, haven't seen you in years! blahblahblah, how's belinda? what church are you going to now? blahblahblah, where are you working? blahblahblah.

and on it went. the older lady was sooo thrilled to see me.

then, speaking to her daughter (who is a few years older than me), the older lady said, "don't you remember terry?"

daughter: "oh my goodness! terry! oh my! you used to be ... you were so ... you used to be so little and have such a sweet baby face!!"

me: "uh, thanks? yeah, well. i guess we've all gotten older."

daughter: "yes, but your face! it used to be sooo perrfect and babyish. i always wanted to have your face! and well, i just can't get over it. you used to be so little and baby faced ..."

***sigh***

are you getting the picture? used to. used to. used to. she just wouldn't let it go, even after her hubby nudged her.

when i finally escaped these folks, i turned once more to the daughter and said, "good to see you again. my apologies for not being little and baby faced any longer."

she finally realized how insulting she'd been and tried to backtrack. "oh terry. i didn't mean it like that. you're gorgeous. you look great now!"

i put my hand up (you know, like "tell it to the hand") and said, "too. late. don't bother."

as i got in my car, i glanced at myself in the rearview mirror. the unforgiving texas heat and humidity had melted what little makeup i was wearing and my mascara had given me the dreaded raccoon eyes. what a friggin' mess. i would've cried but i didn't have the strength.

all the wind had been knocked out of my sails. i drove to the comfort of my air conditioned home and to the people who love me enough to lie about how i look even when i'm a sweaty mess.

sadly, the house was empty.

oh well.

i grabbed a can of pink spray paint and went after an old wicker chair i'd bought at the GW bargain barn on friday. might as well be productive, if not gorgeous. haha

here's hoping y'all had a better week!

love and hugs,
terry lee

trashed wicker chair found at GW bargain barn, $3. matt called it a "hickory chair". whaaa??

painted her pink, added an aqua seat cushion and pink pillow. great patio addition!

And the Winner Is ...

... BETTY from over at Blossoms and Lace. Congratulations, Betty! Looks like you wanted the salt and pepper shakers, but send me an email to confirm (you can change your mind!).

Thanks to those who participated. Honey, I had to disqualify you from the contest since we're married (I don't think he really wanted to win anyhow). ;-)

We had a surprise visit from our grandbaby (oh, and his parents too) this weekend. Harrison's such a precious little man and we love him dearly. It was soooo good to see him, even for a brief time.

Love and hugs,
Terry Lee

breakfast boy ... too cute!!

harry and me (auntie princess terry lee grandmommy ... i can't decide what i want to be called!)

"here grandpa. you need to eat more!"

grandmommy's secret weapon: va-va-vanilla lip gloss. the perfect lure to get him in my lap. he loved it!

there's nothing sweeter than a sleeping babe. nothing.

of mice and men (and women)

hey y'all,

have been in a funk lately (hence the lag between posts). hubby's recovering from his surgery this summer but just not as easily and quickly as we'd hoped. i think the whole experience has gotten us both out of sorts a bit.

anyhoo, the plan (as teased in my last blog) was to have a contest, complete with a fantabulous prize for the winner. okay, so the best laid plans of mice and men ... blah blah blah ...something something ... go astray. there. a bit of literature for you.

okay. the plan. let's get back to The Plan. it was to be a Naming Contest of my sweet lady bust/statue that i bought at the Best-Estate-Sale-I've-Ever-Been-To in fort worth a few weekends ago. i posted a pic of her at the end of my last blog. isn't she beautiful?!

here's her story, as promised. she used to be owned by a dallas millionaire by the name of bill waugh. yes, i'm naming names. his fortune was in building restaurants. his Casa Bonita in fort worth was apparently legendary for its flamboyant decor and ambience (sadly, not for their food, as i've read).

mr. waugh was an antique collector who traveled internationally to purchase pieces for his restaurants. my sweet lady adorned his Casa Bonita restaurant for many years.

how did she land at this estate sale?

the brother of the deceased was mr. waugh's builder of choice for his restaurants. when Casa Bonita closed, the builder somehow acquired this piece from mr. waugh. it eventually made its way to his sister, who kept it until her death.

her family decided to sell it at the estate sale ... and now she's all mine, for a song too!

i wish i knew more about her. her history before Casa Bonita. how old is she? where did mr. waugh find her? though she doesn't look hispanic, her hair and clothing say differently. never mind that she sat and watched people eat mexican food for years and years ...

the FAGs (and family) think it's obvious that i should call her bonita, as a nod to her past. but (no offense if your name is bonita, bonnie!) i just don't fancy the name. ick, in fact.

i've been mulling over names recently, in hopes of finding the perfect hispanic lady's name for her. and this is where i was GONNA say, "let's have a naming contest! send me your ideas and whoever wins, gets a prize!"

but i lost interest in the contest when the FAGs went out this weekend. we hit a large church jumble downtown and a couple of yard sales. as we were cruising the greater (and i use that term v. loosely) downtown killeen area in search of nourishment, we passed right by a quaint little old house with this sign:


now. don't even get me started on the quotation marks. i mean, what IS it exactly, if it's not "fine mexican food"?!?!

anyhow, the point is, that's my name! i mean, HER name! my bust lady. rosita! can't believe i didn't think of it sooner. as some of you might know, i have an affinity for roses (esp. pink). but i also love the name rose. it was my mother's middle name. so roses have always been v. special to me.

rosita is perfect ... rose with an hispanic flair. love it.

so that's my story and i'm stickin' to it. if you're still with me at this point, good for you! because i'm still having a give-away, it just won't be a naming contest.

here's whatcha gotta do: leave a comment. yes, a comment. on. my. blog. (emails and texts and face to face comments won't count!)

here's what i'll do: put all names (of people who left comments) in a lovely vintage bowl and draw the winner. i will announce the winner next monday (aug. 24, 2009). you have until then to leave a comment.

what you win: okay, this one's difficult. people have differing tastes (and there's no accounting for them either), so i thought i'd offer a variety of items and the winner may choose which one she'd prefer (see pics below).

how fun is that?! i'll mail the item to the winner as soon as the contest is over, barring any unforeseen circumstances that might prevent me from doing so, blah blah (legal crap) blah blah.

good luck!

love and hugs to all,
terry lee

my lovely rosita!

close up of her sweet face

this scary clown pillow was at the church sale. clowns give me the creeps!

this gorgeous painting was on the wall of rosita's "fine mexican food" restaurant (yes, we ate there!). as it happens, rosita's son painted that for her. sweet, eh?

~*~*~*~*~*okay, here are your prize options, should you be the lucky winner! i made them small to save space. click on the pics for a closer look:~*~*~*~*~*~

gorgeous vintage china cup with yellow roses (sorry, no saucer with it)

sweet wall hanger/hook ... says "a family is a little world created by love"

another hanger thingy ... says "dreams are the fruit of the imagination"

suh-weeet blue springy decorative plate (from hobby lobby)

adorable vintage hand-painted salt and pepper shakers

"arriving at destination"

hey y'all!

the FAGs were on the road again last weekend!

destination: fort worth, where honorary FAG (and sister o' the head FAG) Belinda lives. let me start by saying that my sister is one of the finest and most gracious hostesses north of the rio grande.

her house is not only beautiful, but it's quiet, peaceful, calming and restful. thanks for sharing your lovely home with us and for delighting us with your charming company, dear sis!

lest you think we did nothing but lounge around her house and drink margaritas (!!!) all weekend, let me set the record straight: we kicked some major-estate-sale-ass this weekend!

oh sure, there was the occasional pesky yard sale here and there (thanks to "miss thang", the GPS biatch) and the flea-market-from-hell, otherwise known as "treasure island trade days" in fort worth (go ahead. google it. i dare you). but without a doubt, the estate sale in southwest FW was THE place to be if you were looking for great vintage junk, with prices to match.

it was so yummy in fact, that after spending several hours perusing it on friday, we returned the next day for another go at it (we were lured back by promises of even lower prices).

as usual, i chummed up to the lady running the sale ... a sister of the deceased. not because i wanted special prices (okay, that sometimes happens, but it's not like i PLAN it ...), but because i enjoy gleaning what history i can about the deceased, her possessions, etc. (especially about the items i purchase).

okay. so this was a v. sweet family. the deceased was an elderly widowed woman who apparently collected everything and anything lovely and vintage. and obviously never got rid of anything she owned because her house was PACKED (and it was a large home). every room, every closet, every nook and cranny was filled with delightful treasures. you name it, this woman owned it.

ordinarily, i tend to get a little, er, excited at estate sales. but something about this one had my spider senses tingling before we even arrived. within the first 5 minutes, i was hyperventilating to the point of near pukeness.

i thought i'd died and gone to estate sale heaven.

dear-lord-gawd-almighty. she had gorgeous vintage plates, cups, saucers, glasses, crystal, china, cookware and all manner of kitchen items. there were lovely vintage linens piled high on table after table. closet after closet packed with vintage dresses (we learned she was a beautiful woman who did a lot of modeling).

the house rambled and rambled, and just when you thought you'd discovered every room, there was yet another one, or a nook or closet or cupboard or pantry beyond that.

on our first visit, i bought some fantastic items. i'll let my pics do the talking. on the second visit, i discovered (not surprisingly) things i hadn't noticed the first day. some oh-so-lovely vintage plates and saucers with pink roses/flowers. ohmygawd. it almost makes me sick to think of all the things i left behind. but it's not like i could buy the entire frickin' house, could i?!?!

we did spend some time at a place called nellie's flea market on the east side of I35. the girls were somewhat taken aback by the neighborhood, but hey, you gotta crack a few eggs if you want an omelette, right? however, i think i'm the only one who did any egg-crackin' at nellie's. still. i got some cute things, including a v. sweet vintage aqua "canaster" (pic below).

the tag was written "blue canaster" and being the spelling snob that i am, began calling it a "can-ASS-ter", pronouncing it as it looked. when we went to check out, i simply said to the FAGs, "follow my lead." and naturally, they did.

me: "hi nellie. do you know how old that blue can-ASS-ter is?"

nellie: "oh, probably from the 40s."

me: "really? that old? did you hear that, belinda? the can-ASS-ter is from the 40s!"

belinda: "wow, that's an old can-ASS-ter!"

jannetta: "i wonder if there are any other can-ASS-ters like that!"

me: "that's the only can-ASS-ter i saw like that one."

bonnie: "i really like your can-ASS-ter!"

me: "nellie, could you please put my little items inside the can-ASS-ter?"

nellie: "sure, that's what i was going to do!"

and. on. we. went. can-ASS-ter this, can-ASS-ter that. nellie never blinked. no telling what she thought about us and that can-ASS-ter. but the rest of us nearly peed our pants stifling the giggles created from saying it over and over. then it became quite the inside joke for us the rest of the day. fun times.

on with the show! be sure to pay attention to the last picture!! :-)

~*next blog: a contest! and a prize for the winner!!*~

love and hugs to y'all!

terry lee


the girls, just arriving at estate sale

jannetta and the estate sale lady discussing the jewelry

a sweet vintage blue estee lauder case (filled with crap, but still.)

belinda found some lovely yellow roses

me, checking out a vintage dress. not. my. colors. check out the sign ... marked down from $1 to 50 cents!

jannetta in possession of my "canaster"

tag on "canaster". i told you.

so here we are at home, with all my treasures together for a group photo

let's take a closer look! here's the "canaster" with some lovelies on top, which i also purchased from nellie

it's actually a cool, retro "krispy kan" cracker tin with "space-age" technology to keep the crackers dry and crisp!

read all about it!

blue magic crystals!!! how cool is that?!

close up of sweet miniature pink heels. couldn't resist!

this is also a sweet, tiny piece ... a little creamer or toothpick holder?? i don't know, but it's small and cute and has pink birds on it.

old, well-used kitchen trivets with pink roses. 10 cents each.

crusty, rusty, yummy vintage bread tin!!

score!!! another tole tray!! 50 cents!

found this little cutie at one of the yard sales. a yellow vintage "tropic-aire" heater. $1.50

this rose plate is one of my faves from the estate sale.

more lovelies

more and more!!

love this sweet coffee/teapot!! roses, roses, roses. $2

franciscan divided platter. score at 50 cents!!!

sweet small vintage plates


some of these are trimmed in 23k gold, some homer laughlin (score!!). each piece 50 cents!!!!!!


this v. adorable old handmade, embroidered pot holder just called my name. sweet little girl with her poodle!! notice the letters "HERS" near the bottom.


probably my favorite of the bowls. how sweet is that?!?!

more franciscan pieces. 50 cents-$1 each!

lovely rose cup


ladies and gentle(man), the piece de resistance of my estate sale treasures!!!!! this gorgeous little lady was just sitting on the floor, waiting for me to take her home. she has a fantastico history, which i will share with you in my next blog! stay tuned!!