Happy New Year!

"The Puerto Rican Pepper Pot" Olga San Juan, 1944

Times Square, NYC, New Year's Eve, 1942

Happy Holidaze!

Lots of fun holiday times going on here at the Simple Acre and a really bad cold that we can't seem to shake. I've been sounding like a 30 year smoker with a 3 pack a day habit this last week. I'm looking forward to my upcoming 3 day weekend and I'm planning on starting off the new year by getting my hands dirty on a DIY project of some sort. That's how the Sgt and I spent last new year and look how well 2011 turned out! How are you planning to spend your New Year's Eve? I've always been a quiet reveler myself and enjoy small intimate celebrations over being out in the middle of a crowd or on a cold street corner watching something drop! How ever you celebrate, I hope you have a Happy New Year!

Dinner and a Movie

Dinner: Stir Fry
Movie: The Shop Around the Corner. (the perfect pre-holiday, holiday time classic movie!)

Set in and around a Budapest store, co-workers Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) hold an intense dislike for each other, while maintaining a secret letter-writing relationship, neither realizing who their pen-pal is. They fall in love via their correspondence, while being antipathetic and peevish towards one another in real life. A major subplot concerns the apparent infidelity of the store owner's wife, and its spillover effect upon the various working relationships in the shop. Comic relief is provided throughout by William Tracy's characterization of Pepi the delivery boy.

~DeluxeVille Oh Sweet DeluxeVille~

Oh how I miss you sometimes...."Le Sigh"...."Le Purr"*

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I hate living here in the little old Farm House with my Sgt sexy pants....I love my Sgt.......it's just that sometimes I miss that little 1950's townhouse I bought for myself oh so many moons ago! And the fun I had turning it into the swanky little DeluxeVille it became. I forget how much hard work and time it took for me to make DeluxeVille what it ended up being. No folks, it sure didn't happen overnight, just like the transformation of the Simple Acre farmhouse won't happen overnight. The farmhouse has been hard work and I see lots more work in the future....like tearing up floors, putting in new windows, tiling, painting.....the list is long. I'm lucky I've got a man with strong shoulders and power tools! Remember my thing for a certain man with power tools....Antonio Ballatore.... sorry Antonio you had your chance...unless you'd want to come on over for a visit and help me with my kitchen remodel???

But back to DeluxeVille....

Insert rant or perhaps words of wisdom?

I think back with fond memories of my DeluxeVille days and all my single girl memories of living there. I'm glad that I've always been the kind of gal to enjoy every moment of my life as it was happening. I never understood people who couldn't be happy with what they had at the moment because they were to busy being sad thinking they needed something they didn't have to be happy. I say.... enjoy every stage of your life even if it isn't exactly how you think it should/would/could be. There is no perfect life....there is right here and right now so why waste it wishing for something else. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, or next year....stop worrying so much and just enjoy what ya got! OMG there I go being a Bus Stop Goddess again!

End rant....

Okay, back to my fond memories! Well to be honest with this picture, there are also plenty of things that I'm glad I don't have to deal with anymore....like...the time I flushed the toilet and I made a waterfall in my living room..(eeewwww I mean who do you call at 11 at night when that happens?? Trust me, there's no one to call and you just have to hold it!)...shoveling 2 feet of snow in the winter with a flimsy plastic orange shovel...(Sgt made sure to bring my orange shovel in the move, if Sgt thinks I'm shoveling snow this Winter hahaha well I'm just not, orange plastic shovel or not!)....taking the trash out ( it sucked, I lived in a row house, so I had to carry my garbage from out back through my house and out the front door)....the noisy neighbors and their barking dogs (yes, I had a fence, which stopped them from shitting in my yard but they would come watch me through the fence cracks and bark at me insanely)....street parking ....the neighbors LOUD ghetto car that he use to drive around the block at 1 am....(ASSHOLE) the neighbors that use to yell at their young children with all kinds of $%#@#$...(I called the cops so many times on these idiots, yup idiots if you're reading this, it was me!) I'm sure there are many more things I don't miss about where I use to live. There is always a yin and a yang with every picture.

New readers might not know....but the old ones still hanging around out there will know...

My DeluxeVille kitchen went from this the first few months I lived there...

To this for many years....

Then ended up like this for the last year I lived there...

And of course there was the bathroom remodel...and the garden makeover front and back. So many projects and so many happy years of my life! To bad my renter who resides there now doesn't have my love of all things vintage....he's a boring beige kinda guy and it just doesn't look the same...but he keeps things very clean. He just has a problem paying rent on time! Oh the hassles of being a landlady.

Is this not just the most annoying pointless never ending post ever? At least there were pictures!

xoxo,
MaryDeluxe

*A common catch phrase used in the popular classic cartoon "Pepe Le Pew" of Looney Tunes.

Bizarre Christmas Decor 1940's

Taken from Life magazine, 264 Christmas ornaments. For the non-traditional holiday!

a flaming umbrella?

Now that's a mantel!

Construction paper mistletoe.

I have no idea....

I actually like this simple idea!

Construction paper and a patriotic flower pot.

He doesn't look very excited does he?

A Sunny Spot

Wow, I can't believe it's December already and the Christmas holidays are right around the corner! The older I get, the more time seems to fly right on by. I'm not a big fan of the cold Winter months, so I'm crossing my fingers they fly right on by in a wink of an eye. However, in reality, Winter is the only time of year that never seems to fly by for me....it just drags on and on until I don't think I can take it any longer. Since I'm living in a new place this year, I've decided to find a nice sunny space to spend some serious time hibernating in. Sunshine in the Winter is about the only thing that makes me feel better. Nothing beats working in a patch of sunshine on a cold Winter day surrounded by some happy plants.

The small 1950's child's table I picked up many years ago at some random auction for a $1. It's in great condition and has a white cracked ice Formica top. I've used it in random ways over the years...I'm loving using it as a small desk. It works great with my Chromcraft fiber glass chair. What I love best about the chair...other than it's amazingly comfortable...is that, it's also a swivel chair! Oh how I love to spin around in my chair! Long time readers might remember me blogging about these finds here.

The plants also enjoy a nice sunny spot. The plants compete for sunny spots with the cats. Now, lets talk about my push pin board above my desk! This was a DIY project. I found the huge wooden frame at an auction this Summer. It had a furniture sticker on the back of it from the 1940's and so I assumed it had at one time held a mirror and been part of a bedroom furniture set. When I found it, it was missing the mirror, but had a bunch of screw hooks in it and being used to hold keys. The minute I saw it, I knew it would be a great bulletin board DIY project. A little paint, cork board, vintage fabric and voila...cool desk bulletin board!

I also happen to be in love with postcards, vintage embroidered postcards, and farmers markets.

I hope you are all enjoying the season... no matter where you are and what ever type of season it is! Stay warm or cool and enjoy a little sunshine too!

Until next time,
MaryDeluxe