A Few Firsts

The 1st first I want to share is regarding my Friday afternoon.

I was asked to judge middle school cheerleading tryouts.  This was most definitely a first.

With the exception of Mighty Mights, way back in the day, I never yearned for that path in life.  I wanted to be on the color guard team.  And I was.  All four years of high school.

Feast your eyes on the evidence...

Freshman year baby!

True, I was never interested in cheerleading.  But did judging cheerleading sound interesting?

You.  Know. It.

I enjoyed every minute of it.  Especially the parts where I felt like I was watching an SNL skit starring Mary Katherine Gallagher.  It was a super fun time.  And I'd gladly accept an invitation to judge again in the future.

My heart does go out to all those little ladies who didn't make it.  It takes such bravery to put yourself out there like that.

*   *   *   *

The 2nd first I'd like to share has to do with food.

In the year that the Taco Wagon has been in my life, the mister has never offered it up as an option for dinner.  I usually have to beg.  It's always my suggestion that he either does or doesn't agree to.

Today, however, was a new day.  I actually heard the words, "Do you want Taco Wagon for lunch?" come out of the mister's mouth, without my prompting, on his own free will.

Heck YES I want Taco Wagon.

Always.

*   *   *   *

The last first I want to share is the fib from my Find the Fiction post.

The first statement was, in fact, my fib.  But there was some truth to it.... 

I did run a red light during the test.  Which means automatic failure.  But I did not hit anyone or anything in the process. 

I did, however, hit the freezer and put a hole in the garage wall in that separate driving incident.

The gas pedal versus brakes is tricky when you're first learning to drive, right?

I swear my driving has improved since the 90's.

Find the Fiction

I was given some homework.

Blogging homework

It was handed out by Whit, after she had completed the assignment herself.  Brilliant and terribly fun idea.

It all began on Monday, when we had an all day teacher workshop at school.  One activity we did for fun was called "Find The Fiction."  We had to write three sentences about ourselves.  Two were true.  One was false.  We had to present our statements to our team, and they had to decide which was false.

My homework was to whip up a blog entry, stating my facts and a fib, and open it up for predictions.  So like any good student, I'm accepting this challenge.  Even though it's optional.

Because it's fun.

And because my living room isn't completely ready to unveil just yet.  And you probably didn't want to read another Sir Chester story.

So without further ado, my facts and a fib, in no particular order........

1.  I failed my first driver's test.  Because I ran a red light.  And then sort of hit another car.

2.  At my very first piano recital, I played the first note of my song, stopped, looked out into the audience at my teacher, and exclaimed, "Something is wrong with this piano!"

3.  After driving for the very first time, I pulled into the garage only to hit the gas instead of the brakes.  And sort of plowed into the freezer.  Which sort of hit the wall.  And sort of put a huge hole in the sheetrock.

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Okay, now it's your turn for homework!

Assignment #1:  Comment below with your prediction.  Which is my fib?  Am I a reformed, terrible driver?  Was I a sassy piano student?  What's your best guess???

Assignment #2:  If you have your own blog, you have to play along and create your own Find The Fib!  I promise to put in my prediction!

Oh, and I also promise to tell you the bitter truth after the votes are in.

Until then, you might watch out for a small, red car zipping through traffic.

KIDDING!

Maybe.

Meet My Mantel

I'd like you to introduce you to my newly decorated mantel, but first, let's talk about the trials and tribulations of deciding on the perfect decor for it.

For months, I had struggled with what to put up there.  It had never been decorated to my liking.  I just put stuff up there for the sake of filling it with something.

I wanted it to be simple and uncluttered.  I wanted to tie the wall color into whatever I decided on.  And since the actual fireplace is black, I knew I wanted there to be a splash of that color too.  I even considered painting the brick. 

Anyway, I finally figured out what I wanted on my very first snow day.  It hit me after taking stock of things in my special room.

I wanted a black and gold mantel.

I already had most of the elements to create it.  However, it was still lacking a great focal point.  But after one trip to Leola's, all my problems were solved.  I found my focal point and was ready to arrange........

TAAAAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

The only thing I had to purchase was that black and gold frame.  I'd purchased everything else up there previously and had been storing it in the special room.

That's how I function.  I buy something when it speaks to me, whether I have a purpose for it or not.  I store it in my special room until it finds a home.

Thus, I'm often called a hoarder by the mister and my friends.

The empty gold frames were a $1.00 each at a yard sale.  The mirror was $17 at Relics.  The candle holder was from Leola's, but I'd had it awhile ($18).  And I'd had that clock for well over ten years......it still works........and has the loveliest hourly chime (when I wind it)........and was quite expensive back in the day ($150).

Let's stand back a little and look at it all again.......

All vintage.  All black and gold.  Perfect.  

And even better in person!

I do believe all this proves that there are benefits to being a hoarder.

So there.

Lessons you'd think I'da learned by now...

Lesson 1:  Wishing for snow days gets you working on your anniversary.

So why do I still wish for them??

I like to live in the moment.  I adore them.  They conjure up the best sense of nostalgia from childhood.  There's something about a work day being canceled that's just plain exciting.

And because of that, school will be in attendance til the bitter end of May.  The very last day of May.  Our second wedding anniversary.  Unless a Christmas miracle occurs and those days are forgiven.

I'm not holding my breath.

But I'll continue to wish for snow days every year.  I'm just through with them this year.

Did you hear that winter????

*   *   *   *

Lesson 2:  Stacking the trash Leaning Tower of Pisa style, for the purpose of throwing out some not so subtle hints to the mister to take out the trash, does not get the trash taken out.

This is still a mystery to me.

*   *   *   *

Lesson 3:  Leaving a dirty bowl in the sink and filling it with water to soak overnight and then all day the next day, yields the worst smelling house in the history of mankind.

The mister said he almost passed out when he got home today and thought Sir Chester had been naughty.

Actually, the wife had been naughty and left the dirty dishes out.  And almost passed out herself upon getting home.

Lesson learned.

*   *   *   *

Lesson 4:  Cutting one's own bangs rarely works out well.

Especially when using kitchen shears.

Don't use kitchen shears.

(You can thank me later.)

These are a few of my favorite things....

Flaming sushi from Kai.....

And a great Friday night dinner with old friends!

 *   *   *

Hysterical blog posts based on a silly photo........

And working with the best folks!!!

*   *   *

Funtiques and Leola's........

 

And shopping with good friends.

And finding goodies to buy, even 

though you don't need more goodies.

*   *   *

Cake Pops......

And checking out their new store.

  

And buying tasty treats.
All in the name of Valentine's Day.

*   *   *

Listening to jazz at  Springfield Brewing Co.....

And seeing our friend rock it out on trumpet.

He.  Is.  Incredible.

*   *   *

Getting the sofa back inside the house.....

And looking forward to watching the
Bachelor on Monday nights in the living room, as
opposed to the bedroom, since all Bachelor related
shows are banished from our other living room.
So sayeth the mister.

*   *   *

My busy weekend was full of favorites.
I feel lucky. 

Name Change

Maybe it's winter.

Maybe it's all those snow days winter has gifted us with.

I've got a hankering to make a change.

See, there's this blog makeover itch I've been resisting to scratch at for months.

And as you can see, I'm resisting no longer.

When I began to blog, I set it up with no goals in mind. No audience, other than a few close friends. No real focus. And honestly, no clue how long this hobby would last. 

Here we are a few years later, and I'm still obsessed. Maybe even worse than when it all began. 

Speaking of when it all began, I didn't think about my blog name for one second. It wasn't important really. But recently, I began to think about it. I thought about it a lot. For some reason, I was suddenly finding a blog name to be very important.

Maybe it had something to do with getting hits on my blog from being googled. According to the visitor tracking site I use, "Dana-v" is actually a common google search.

In Europe.

Where, evidently, there's some sort of model who goes by that name. And when "feet" or "fetishes" is attached to that search, you begin to wonder who this model is. So you investigate.

And you immediately regret investigating.

Don't investigate.

Sooooo I came up with a new name: This Vintage Grove. 

If anyone knows anything about me, they know vintage should be my middle name.  Vintage had to be in the new title.  As for grove, well, I've got nothing.  I just liked how it fit next to vintage.

I'm trying it out up there underneath Dana-v. I think I like it.  Eventually, I'll drop the Dana-v part, I think??  Thus, decreasing the hits from those model seeking folks. And in turn, decreasing the sadness over there in Europe due to clicking on a link that doesn't deliver their intended purpose.

That's me ~ saving the world ~ one blog name change at a time.

Opinions please?????

Diary of a Living Room.......That's All Folks

February 7, 2011

A Surprise

I knew the minute I caught a glimpse of sawdust covering the snow in the driveway, and I've been smiling like a Cheshire cat ever since. 

Bob surprised us and installed the trim while we were at work........

A good floor cleaning is all we need to move back in.  Yes, I know the door still needs to be painted.  First things first, people!  Like furniture!

I'm downright giddy. 

I feel like singing, "The hills are aliveeeee with the sound of muuuuuuusssiiiiccc."

But wait!  The day even got better from there!  Next, I checked the mail and had another suprise!  My curtains for the special room arrived.  No sneak peeks yet though. 

A girl must be a little mysterious.

Today was a very good Monday.

Cabin Fever Musings

Remember that almost 70 degree day we enjoyed a week ago? The day that you could almost wear shorts out???

Well, it was replaced with temps in the single digits and snow up to my knees....













This drift isn't the tallest in our yard. It's the only one I wanted to reach. Right outside our backdoor.

Obviously, I've been confined at home this week. The Red Baron would probably not make it out of the driveway. I'm on snow day number four today. Sort of getting restless. I just want to go to Target. Or the grocery store. Or to get a Dr. Pepper.

The mister has been nice enough to air me out daily, once he gets home. A trip to a Redbox. Or a trip to return a Redbox. He's even brought me things. Like Starbucks.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luckily, I woke up on snow day number two feeling much better from my bout with strep throat.

To feel better about my sick days, I needed to make good use of my time. Cleaning was obviously necessary. But something fun was essential.

Fun, like as in making snow ice cream?

I think yes.

The mister was adamantly against the idea.
He said, "That's disgusting. I will not be eating snow."
I thought shoving the spoon in his face would change his mind.

It. Did. Not.

No snow ice cream for the mister.

* * * * *

Fun, like working on another yarn wreath?

Heck yes!

I don't typically decorate for holidays other than
Christmas, but when I saw the heart shaped
wreath form, I knew what was in my future.

* * * * *

Fun, like buying something online for my furry friend?

Fur real!

So I know Sir Chester is, in fact, a sir.

But does he really care about his food mat?

I say no.

I found this cute little oil cloth mat shaped
like a bone on Etsy, and I couldn't resist it.
I love this particular etsy shop! She has
tons of fun stuff made from oil cloth!

* * * * *

Speaking of online shopping, um, yeah, I've done a bit of that this week.

For all my girls who know what my "special room" is, take a deep breath........fasten your seatbelts........I purchased curtains for it today.

You were thinking I worked on the room with all this free time, weren't you?

Hahahahaha.....

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A Great Weekend & Fickle Weather

What could be better than spending time with friends, shopping, eating......all while it's almost 70 degrees.......in the middle of winter?

I can't think of much!

We are good at having a fun time no matter what we're doing. I'm really lucky to have such amazing girlfriends.

From left: Andrea, Whit, Ash, and me

Getting a coat that was originally $130 for $25.48 was pretty great too. I love the dark olive color and fur collar! Thank you American Eagle clearance rack.













Or getting a Coach purse that was $378 for $104.30 wasn't too bad either.

Don't judge me for spending that much on a purse.

Just don't.

Here we are just a few days later with a blizzard warning and drifting snow. It's definitely a winter wonderland out there.

I only wish two things had happened prior to being snowed in and getting more snow days......

1. Bob would have come. He didn't.
2. I wouldn't have come down with strep throat.

Stupid fevers, sore throats, and trimless living rooms.