Memory Lane Retail

 Lately I've been feeling nostalgic about stores we used to shop at that are no longer in business.  Some of it I remember fondly; other stores, I'm fine without!  Do you remember?

1.  A&P - I never knew what it stood for until today!  The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.  This was a grocery store I remember when I was very young.

2.  Service Merchandise - This was a weird catalog/showroom store where you checked out then had to wait for the merchandise to be brought to you from the warehouse.  I was reading a book recently that mentioned it several times.  They sold a variety of items:  jewelry, sporting goods, electronics, and so on.

3.  Wicks-n-Sticks - What else but candles!  This was one of my favorite stores in the mall when I was a teenager.

4.  5, 7, 9 - This was another mall favorite as a teenager.  Cute clothes!

5.  Weiners - This was another clothing store, but my memories aren't fond.  I hated shopping here, but the clothes were cheap.

6.  Rexall - This was the only drug store in town when I was a kid. I loved going to the soda fountain for a nickel ice cream and a cherry coke. (That makes me sound so old!)

7.  Weingarten's - This was another grocery store that was eventually sold to Safeway.

8.  Hi-Lo Auto Parts - There was a Hi-Lo very close to our house, and I remember going there with my dad, although I didn't really want to look at auto parts.  So boring!

9.  Montgomery Wards - This was a department store similar to Sears. They had everything from clothes to jewelry to furniture.  I read that all of the brick-and-mortar stores are closed, but they still have an online presence.  Who knew?  Did you know that Rudolph (yes, the Red-Nosed Reindeer) was created as a Montgomery Ward campaign in 1939?

10. Mervyn's - Another department store I liked.  I remember their commercials, too.  (Open, open, open!)

11. B. Dalton Bookstore - I love to read, and I love browsing a good book store.  This one was around until 10-15 years ago.

12. Eckerd - This drugstore was located right next to Weiners in the town where I grew up.  It's now a CVS.

13. Woolworth - I call this the original dimestore; others would call it a five-and-dime.  They sold a variety of merchandise such a toys, candy, decorations, but they also had a lunch counter.  This was great fun as a kid!

This reminds me of other stores such as Joske's, Foley's, Thrifty, but this is a Thursday 13, so I'll stop.  I hope you had fun walking down memory lane!

Visit Thursday 13 for more fun!

Random Happy Tuesday and Fun Photos

 Hello!  Welcome! We've had a cute little visitor here for a few days!

We hosted a baby shower over the weekend and had houseguests from Friday through Monday evening, so I'm a little late with the blog.  Oh, well!

We are visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Dallas again soon, and one of the cool places to go is Northpark Center Mall.

There is an amazing place to shop and eat at called Eataly.

They also have unusual sculptures and

indoor fountains including ducks and turtles!

You should see two white ducks.

Cute little turtles swimming around.  They also like to sun on the bricks.

Thanks for putting up with my hybrid post today, and don't forget to visit...

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Happy Tuesday

Image-in-ing

Wordless Wednesday

Paper Crafts

 

I've been paper-crafting!

This is one of my recent scrapbook pages. The base paper is from 49 and Market Vintage Artistry and the textured solid paper is from Recollections.  The accent paper is from Simple Stories Happily Ever After collection. Title and embellishments were cut with the Cricut Maker, and I added a rhinestone to the center of each flower.  The design was my own.

Sorry there is a shadow on the picture

Here is my most recent card-making project.I took a photo while the glue was still drying and at an odd angle because I was in a hurry to get it in the mail.  The words were done in Cricut's gold metallic marker (so they actually match IRL).  I used all scrap paper from my stash, adhesive, my Cricut maker, and pen. (I got the idea from Pinterest.)

I hope you enjoyed this! And I hope you'll come back.  I love posting my creations!

For more crafty fun, visit Crafty Creators and Friendship Friday.

This post may contain affiliate links.  Should you choose to purchase an item via one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.  These supplies were not donated; they were purchased by me. 

Fun Photos - Presidential Library & Museum

 About three years ago, my friend and I visited the George Bush Library and Presidential Museum in College Station, Texas. (This is Bush 41)  We were in College Station because her daughter had a volleyball tournament at Texas A&M.  When her daughter wasn't playing, we enjoyed sight-seeing.

You can learn more about Presidential "Libraries" by going to the National Archives website.

For more fun photos visit Image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.

Random Happy Tuesday

 

Hi!  I hope your week is off to a good start!  I visited my mom yesterday, and her aphasia is getting worse. And she has also forgotten how to do basic things she's done all her life such as make a sandwich.  She has forgotten the names of things such as microwave, bathroom, cat, TV.  She has difficulty with her short term memory.  It is both frustrating and heart-breaking at the same time.

Maybe we can focus on something happy now.  Nightly TV with my husband is a happy thing.  Last night we were watching a movie called The Post from 2017.

  It has to do with leaked documents and newspapers.  It got me thinking... Do you shred your documents?  Do you even keep any documents, or do you, like me, prefer to take care of as much business online as possible?

Does your city still have a local newspaper?  Ours does, but I only read it online. 

I'm just curious if most people are still conducting their business on paper or doing things online instead.  Even my calendar is on my device now, and I used to LOVE getting a planner every year and writing everything in it.  Let me hear some answers in the comments!  I love to read comments!

Without further ado...

I didn' REALLY win $2!  I just thought this was funny! And I haven't bought a lottery ticket in decades!

I hate to say it, but this cracked me up!

This is valid!

And along those same lines...

And last, but not least...

Awwwww!

Visit Happy Tuesday and Random Tuesday Thoughts for more fun!

Sunday Synopsis

 

Clouds in My Coffee by Julie Mulhern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For a "cozy mystery" as it's dubbed, this book deals with some pretty un-cozy topics: a death by poison, multiple shootings, a car tampered with, and a fire. There must be another reason it fits that category, maybe the length, the style, or the completely unbelievable plot.

First of all, I did not know that it was number 3 in the series. Having obtained this from a great book deal, $1.99, I didn't check to see what number or even if it was in a series. I had a feeling I was missing some context, especially at the beginning.

The blurb reads, "When Ellison Russell is nearly killed at a benefactors' party, she brushes the incident aside as an unhappy accident. But when her house is fire-bombed, she's shot at, and the person sitting next to her at a gala is poisoned, she must face facts. Someone wants her dead. But why? And can Ellison find the killer before he strikes again? Add in an estranged sister, a visiting aunt with a shocking secret, and a handsome detective staying in her guesthouse, and Ellison might need more than cream in her coffee."

There was some comedy sprinkled in, but the writing became tedious due to the countless similes. For example, she was as angry as... she was as tired as, it was as rough as... over and over and over. It almost felt like it was written by a middle-school student who had just learned about similes and used them excessively. The writing is not particularly sophisticated.

The characters are mostly one-dimensional. They each have one trait that defines them instead of seeing a character grow or change. In addition, Ellison, the main character, continued to refuse police protection although it seemed clear that someone wanted to kill her. There was one mishap after another, but the reader never sees detectives trying to unravel the mystery. It is simply solved at the end.

This book was adequate. It was good for a short read and didn't require serious brain power as the plot unraveled. It's what I would call a "bubble gum" book, and we all need one of those every now and then. 3 stars.

View all my reviews

Handmade Handbag

 

I've been contemplating making myself a purse since I saw this cute fabric.  I did not have a pattern.  I decided what size bag I wanted and cut 2 of the main fabric, 2 of the lining fabric, and two interfacing that I ironed on the lining fabric, and 2 top trim pieces. I cut fabric for the D-ring loops, straps, and pockets as well.

It has 2 inside pockets and 2 outside pockets, one with a zipper.  The zipper really worried me.  I had tried to make a couple of zipper pencil pouches, and only one of them turned out well.  But I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out! You can't see the main zipper because it is hidden by the trim.

The strap is connected with two longish straps (like a crossbody) connected to D rings which are attached to the bag with loops.

I couldn't have made this wihout help from two Youtubers! Smarmyclothes and A Fate so Twisted.

But even with their help, it wasn't easy.  I made good use of my seam ripper while working on this bag, and I already know what I will do differently on my next one.  It was fun making this bag, and I especially love that I saved money because making one is certainly cheaper than buying one.

If I can do it, you can do it!

For more crafty goodness visit Crafty Creators and Create with Joy.

And have a great weekend!

Dead Expressions (No, it's not morbid! It's Thursday 13)

 

On Tuesday, I talked about the phrase "dead to rights," when and how it came about.  To refresh, around the time the phrase was coined, the word dead actually meant full or complete.  That makes a lot of these phrases make more sense!

1.  dead to rights - you can read about that here.  Completely in proper order

2.  dead stop - a complete stop

3.  dead wrong - completely wrong

4.  dead end - the road has completely ended

5.  dead serious - completely serious, not kidding around

6.  dead silence - complete and utter silence

Image Credit

7.  dead heat - a race or competition that ends in a complete tie

8.  dead broke - completely out of money

9.  dead set against something - completely against

10. dead weight - the heavy weight of something or someone inert

11. dead drunk - completely drunk

12. deadbeat - totally fails to pay personal debts or expenses.

13. dead-end job - a job with no future, completely going nowhere

How fun was that?  For more fun, visit Thursday Thirteen!