Kitchen Bitchen

This is the post where I'm going to spend some time bitchin about how much I hate my kitchen. I hate the layout of my kitchen/dining area. In the 80's a guy who owned the house at that time did some really weird renovations. Like moving the basement steps to the middle of the kitchen?? Who does that? Then he put the fridge where the door to the basement steps use to be?? See the little half wall in the picture below...yup there are basement steps behind the wall. Who cuts up a space like that??

Now I know that the little half wall is there to protect me from falling down the steps...hehehehe and if you read below you will find out that I often fall down steps.... it is just such a stupid place for the stairs. Look right next to the windows and as you can see I have lots of plants and it's so hard to get to them. There's not much I can do about those stupid steps but I'm planning on doing lots to my kitchen this summer... new counter tops and backsplash... I can't wait to tile again!

Before you all start saying OMG your kitchen is soooooo cute, I would like to point out that this is by no way what Deluxeville looked like when I bought it. Someday, I will have to find and scan those original pictures I took before I touched anything! Poor Deluxeville sat vacant and abandoned for over a year before I bought it as a foreclosure property. This was many years ago when the housing boom was going on and there really weren't foreclosed homes like today. I remember coming to look at the house after work and needing a flashlight because the electricity had been turned off. I went home and called my Dad and he came with me the next day to look at it again. I knew the place was bad but oddly enough it felt really right. He looked at me and said... buy it. The blonde bombshell on the other hand thought I was crazy.....hehehehe ....now of course she doesn't but then she just couldn't see past how gross it was.

The weird thing about my house is that I keep meeting people who have either lived in the house, or who know the house because of the guy who did the renovation in the 80's. It goes like this.....I'm calling to order heating oil...the woman I talk to asks me where I live...I tell her...OMG she use to live in my house! I'm talking to the guy at the garage where I take my car.... oh you live in the loft house....I know the guy who did that...cool house. Eventually after I tell people where I live they will probably start saying...oh you live in that house with no front lawn! You're THAT girl! hehehehehehe

LAME-O

Yesterday at the end of the day, I pulled a big LAME-O and fell halfway down a cement flight of steps at work. How did I pull off this amazing feat one might ask?? Simple, I got the heel of my shoe stuck in my pant cuff. Now, I'm not normally a klutz by any means but I do suffer from klutzy episodes from time to time. I don't think I did any real damage but I took the day off anyway so I wouldn't have to be walking. There's nothing like having a little free time on a Thursday!

Vintage Partner

Some of you are married, some of you are single, some of you have steadies. What I want to know is....If you are into vintage as a lifestyle choice, is your partner also?? Do you need a vintage partner to complete you? Is it easier to live your life style when someone else understands it and has a passion for it too? I'm sure this question can be said of many interests? It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. What do you think?

I got my cd from atomic cheesecake studios and look how cute it is! And no you will never see the whole picture so don't bother asking! hehehe I'm saving it for my future vintage husband.

Clear the Calandar

Where will I be on June 27th 2009??? Yeah, I know this is like two months away and everything but that just gives me time to save my money for this auction. My Dad who also is auction addicted ( he is who I get this problem from btw) gave me the info for this one. Yes, I'm probably gonna have to save my pennies for this as I'm sure it will be well publicized and the dealers will be there in full force. But, I really, really need this lamp! It's a Continental Art Company lamp and would look great with the other two I already have. I told you about my lamp obsession right??? I seriously have a problem. I can admit I have a problem but I refuse to ever do anything about....that's right, you can't make this vintage girl give up her lamps. My friend use to joke that I could have my own airport runway.... ..hahaha... we're totally not friends anymore!

So, how much do you think this lamp will go for?? I ran across one here and it was going for $695!! My two current CAC lamps I have, I got for $40 each at an estate sale ..... something tells me that won't be happening again at this one. Now lets move on to the living room furniture! OMG sofa to die for! With a coffee table that looks very close to a Isamu Noguchi. Please tell me that's not a Moss Lamp behind the sofa....I might just die if it is.

But lets stop talking furniture for one minute to focus on the fact that I totally want the house! ( Read about the house) This house has never been touched or updated! A rare gem indeed and you just know some idiot will come in and totally rip it apart with cheesey upgrades. It needs me to buy it...a person who can truely appreciate it for the amazing arcitectual design that it is.

A lonely little ranch from the outside but come inside and POW!! A sunken living room and just look at that fire place! Wait wait is that a fiber glass bullet planter I spy!! OMG Ohhh I need that too! OMG I am so gonna have to sell one of my kidneys!

Mildred aside from all the fake plastic plants, tacky blue carpet, and strange dining room table you are my kinda woman and where ever you are right now (living or dead) I'm very sad that I couldn't have been related to you in some way!

So, who wants to come to auction with me??

The Gatchellville Store Adventure

Last week I ran across this ad for The Gatchellville Store over on Craig's list. A sale on bakelite! If that doesn't make a gal want to drive off into the country looking for Gatchellville, I don't know what would! So, I did! Now, I know I probably could have taken the more direct route to Gatchellville, but I have this thing for wandering around back country roads and getting lost when you have nothing better to do! Eventually, I found Gatchellville. Actually, I drove right through Gatchellville and had to turn around! hahaha It's a tiny town, don't blink or you'll miss it and the awesome Gatchellville Store!

Linda Sarubin and Carroll Swam are the owners of the store and couldn't be more welcoming! I was in love as soon as I walked through the big, old front screen door! Of course I made a bee-line right for the lovely bakelite!

Bracelets, pins, and buttons oh my! I said buttons right! Linda has the biggest supply of bakelite buttons that I have ever seen! There are buttons every where in the store. Linda has a whole corner full of vintage buttons in old boxes! Amazing! I now know where to come if I ever need vintage buttons for a sewing project!

I settled on this fab red carved bakelite bangel!

Then I headed upstairs to the 2nd floor where everything was half off! That's where I discovered this cute little atomic drinking glass set, at half off, a deal I couldn't pass up! I also spied some vintage dressing robes from the 40's and a couple pair of side zip vintage dungarees from the 40's/50's. Not my size or I would have snagged them up too.

Linda also has a selection of vintage barkcloth. I just couldn't resist this cute tote bag made from vintage bark cloth fabric. It's very well made, has lots of pockets, and perfect for carrying my laptop and work supplies! The Gatchellville Store has lots of interesting old things and reasonable prices. Worth a drive in the country!

After leaving the Gatchellville store, I headed to New Park to check out the New Park Exchange. The store isn't as full of interesting old stuff as the previous store but I did find something for my tiki collection among the shelves! I totally needed some palm tree stir sticks and a new tiki mug! And the cute little old woman at the counter only charged me $3.18! My tropical summer drinks will taste soooo much better now with plastic palm trees in them!

Here's some other antique places to check out in the area of southern york county if you want to make a whole day of treasure hunting!
Shrewsbury, Pa has lots of interesting antique shops. There use to be a really fab vintage clothing shop there called Another Time Vintage but sadly she has closed her actual store and only sells online. She had AMAZING vintage clothing! Also try Red Lion, Pa ..... Vintage JoAnn and Hometown Antiques. Another time Vintage use to have a booth at Hometown Antiques but sadly that is gone too. I could just cry!

Have fun!
Hmmm, I wonder where I'll go tomorrow??!!

Love/Hate

Things I Love:

• Baby Duckies in the court yard at the school I work at. Every year Momma Duck has her babies out in the court yard. The kids love it for about two days and then they get totally pissed off because we won't let them go outside in the court yard again until the ducks get removed. The science teacher always takes them out to a wild life preserve. This year Momma Duck had 14 babies!!!! I have to say it's very amusing to watch the tough high school boys stand at the windows and get excited over a bunch of baby ducks! hahaha!

• My two favorite yummy new foods: Quorn with cranberries and goat cheese and Rachel's flavored cottage cheese!

This 1959 Vespa Piaggio Scooter I found for sale on Craig's List $2500 and it could be all mine! hahaha I could just imagine what the neighbor's would say about me zipping around on a scooter all over town! It's so cute....I really need it...: ) It only goes up to 40mph so it's not like I could kill myself on it or anything.

Things I Hate:

That stupid Heywood Wakefield Dealer check out his ebay auctions...... He bought that for $550 and is selling it starting at $995......

Omg that's like the only thing I'm hating right now! Not bad!

Update:
I heard from my Dr.... I have to get a follow up mammogram in Oct. What they found is probably benign. No evidence of cancer. I was told my right breast is very dense! I always knew my right breast was much, much dumber then my left one! My right breast now has a complex and is developing low breast esteem! It needs a little bit of a lift to make it feel better. hahahaha okay I'll stop now.

Road Trip!

I am so gonna go on a nostalgic Route 30 road trip this summer! I've been wanting to do this for years now and I swear....this summer I am so doing it! Road trips are the best and I have been dying to stay at the Lincoln Motor Lodge ever since I saw the PBS series on Route 30.

I am a complete sucker for documentaries done by Rick Sebak. He is my hero! He just goes on these cool little nostalgic, kitschy adventures that I want to go on too.

Have I ever told you of my weird obsession of buildings that look like everyday objects and not buildings?? Very Pop Art before it's time! Oh roadside Americana kitsch how I love thee. You can find your own quirky roadside attractions in your own state at one of my favorite sites...Roadside America! So many cool places, so little time!

Cool Suits...

I received my two play suits in the mail today from Goodwill and all I can say is WOW much nicer then I was expecting!! Oh and they fit perfect! Quick, somebody invite me to a pool party!

If you want some cute vintage suits of your own take a look over at Glamour Surf. Or go checkout the Esther Williams swim suit site for a cute repro!

Pinball Queen Deluxe

So I know you are all just DYING to find out what happened at my BIG heywake auction I went to this weekend!! I have to sadly inform all of you that the evil heywood wakefield dealer was there and this little lady just couldn't hang with the big boys! The only piece I was drooling over, the record cabinet, went for....$550! OUCH...that's a mortgage payment for me folks!! Oh why, oh why do I have to be so responsible. I did however have the opportunity to run into and meet a Deluxeville reader while at the auction! Hi Glen...*thanks for bringing me all your good luck!* Glen also enjoys Heywood Wakefield and we were both shocked by the insane prices! Now before you start feeling sorry for me, I did walk away with something that was more in my price range. I wasn't planning on buying it but Glen said I should buy it for my game room. Now I don't have a game room and I know Glen was just joking but it was really cool and it goes ding, ding!!! So, I bought a late 1930's pinball game for $32! It was really all Glen's fault because he totally dared me to do it just by telling me to buy it. But look at those pinup girls....how can you not love that!

A big thank you to Glen for helping me load it into my car! It's sadly sitting in my garage at the moment without it's legs until I decide were to put it next. I guess I better get started on my game room!

Read more about vintage pinball games here 1930s.com see vintage pinball games here in the gallery. One of my biggest problems is that after I buy something I like to discover the history behind it. I guess that's not really a problem...or maybe it is???

Shop Goodwill

Some of you might already know that Goodwill also has an online auction site. I've been winning things off of there for years...I use to get the best deals on stuff but it seems like everyone and their sister's cousins know about this site now! I've even began to notice that some of their items are going at higher prices then on Ebay?? CRAZY! The site can often be hit or miss in terms of items but if you are patient and have a good eye you can still find diamonds in the rough. Plus all your money goes to a good cause! Today I won these two vintage swim suits....One went higher then I wanted it to go but I think it's comparable to vintage swim suits on Ebay!

Cole of California Vintage Suit



Vintage Kahala Play Suit

I will be going on vacation to North Carolina this summer and need some cute suits to lounge by the pool in!

Pinup wanna be???

I'm not a pinup nor would I ever wanna be...it's lots of hard work, but boy was it fun for the day! Here are two of my favorites so far from my day spent at Atomic Cheesecake Studio!

17 pieces of yummy Heywood Wakefield

There's a big auction on Sunday that will be having 17 pieces of Heywood Wakefield furniture in it! There is absolutely no doubt that this is an auction that I will have to go check out! I am totally drooling over this little piece.......

M395 Record Cabinet

See more pictures here!

My only fear is the evil Heywood Wakefield dealer.... Ohhhh you all know how I loath him. Of course I'm sure he will be there but the good thing is they will be selling the pieces one at a time...which means I have a better chance at actually buying something.

The world's biggest kitty....

Happy Easter!

Cool site to check out

Some of you may wonder where does MaryDeluxe find all her cool things??? Well, there are many place I find my things but one of my most favorite sites to check out is... AuctionZip !!! Go there and type in your zip code and you will be able to see all the cool auctions/estate sales happening in your area. Some of the auctions even list pictures so you can do a little previewing before you go. If you are looking for specific items you can do a search of auctions that have that specific item listed. It's fun and trust me, I can spend hours on there. That site will turn anyone into an auction nut just like me!

I also enjoy....dumpsters, trash night, second hand shops, antique malls, and yard sales!!!

A MaryDeluxe DIY Headboard

I have gone for a long time without a headboard for my bed because I have been waiting to find a nice Heywood Wakefield bedroom set at a reasonable price. I've had no such luck in finding one. So, today I just decided that my bed really needed a headboard and I'll just make one myself..... how hard could it be for a handy gal like me??? Actually it wasn't hard at all and I wish I had done it sooner! The most expensive thing I bought was the the foam. In all I spent about $60 bucks. The hardest thing for me was probably having to cover the buttons with fabric and lifting the 61" x 48" plywood board. My back is gonna be hurting tomorrow! My neighbor Harley was more then kind enough to yell across the street at me to see if I needed any help....of course by this time I had already taken the big piece of plywood off of the roof rack on my car and into my house! hahahaha I'm sure the neighbors are running up and down the street asking each other what the hell do ya think she might be doing now!!!

Here is the big piece of plywood on the saw horses in my living room. I don't know how I got it up there but I did!! Have I mentioned that my back is gonna hurt tomorrow???

First I measured where I was going to place my buttons and drilled the holes! Smart gals know how to measure and use a drill!

I then glued down the foam with some spray adhesive. Next came the batting and the fabric. I grabbed my staple gun and stapled everything tightly to the back.

Then I had to make buttons and pull them through the pre-drilled holes. Here's the finished result! Not bad for 60 bucks... I think I like it! I know, I know, this makes you want to see the rest of the room doesn't it!

My Dad also helped me fix my plumbing problem but I am left with a hole in my ceiling! I was planning on redoing the drywall on the ceiling this summer anyway so no big deal, I'll just live with a hole for awhile!

Waterfall

What does any independent, single, home owner gal do when she has something unplanned go wrong with her house??? That's right she calls her Daddy to come save her! It's not like I don't enjoy the sound of waterfalls but I just don't want them inside my house. I particularly don't want them when they fall down from my living room ceiling onto my sofa. DAMN you stupid plumbing thingamajig that went wrong.

Now the hole wasn't that big....I punched a hole in the dry wall to see just what the hell was going on... I have mad skills like that and I have determined that yes, I indeed have a leak! I am brilliant!!!

Dirt Farmer

Grass, grass, grass, grass, FLOWERS, grass, grass, grass.......guess which front yard is mine! Yup, I'm the one on the block always rebelling against the norm. Lets just say I caused a little bit of talk when I ripped up my little grass patch known as a front lawn a few years ago. What are you doing??? was the biggest question I got all summer! hehehehe I would catch the little old ladies walking by my house jaws dropped just staring at the dirt spot where the grass use to be! hahahaha It was awesome! I mean really, these people love to talk about me..... did you see what she was wearing today (they call me the 40's /50's girl/that vintage girl), who was that man she was with, why isn't she married, oh look she went to another auction wonder what crap she got now..... so why not give em something to talk about! Small towns are wonderful!

The man who lives across the street from me is my favorite neighbor on the block. When I first moved in years ago, I brought the my Mom aka "the Blonde Bombshell" over to see my place. As we are standing on the front porch, "TBB" sees my neighbor looking out his front door and freaks out! She's yelling at me to open the door, open the door!!! When we get inside I ask her what the deal is and she said the neighbor guy was scary looking. I look out the window and of course he's gone. Later that summer I'm out on the front porch ripping down the wooden frame around it and got to met the "scary" neighbor. At this point I have to point out that as a 20 something, I have brought home boyfriends to met my Mom that were way scarier so I wasn't sure what the hell she was talking about??? My neighbor who'll I'll call "Harley" is a little out of the ordinary, (yes, they talk about him too! lol) He's in his 70's, wears a bandana do rag, has a full beard, and tattoos on his arms, legs, and neck ( a butterfly on his neck!!!! hehehe really scary!!!) But, he's my kinda guy as he will see me working outside and bring me tools to use, he also takes me for rides on his motorcycle... this past December when I hurt my back so bad he gave me a call the day after it happened. Apparently he noticed me not being able to get out of my car the day before and when the mailman delivered my mail that day he noticed my keys were still hanging in my front door!! So the mailman went to "Harley's" house to tell him what was up with my keys in my door. I can't get away with anything in this neighborhood! Sometimes it's a good thing that everybody's always up in everyone elses's business.

Quorn

Thank you UK for sending me Quorn products! One of the best veggie, soy free products out there and I can find it at my local supermarket too! I just never looked before but it's been there all along! Their website is great too and includes a section with recipes! Oh Quorn you have made me such a happy woman!