
Thrift or miss! That’s the weekend mantra. I just hit some no-name junk joints in central Virginia and went color mad. Soft neutrals–what a yawn after several seasons. I crave chaos.
Color is creeping back into Ballard Design catalogs. For a while, soft neutrals overran the pages. In contrast, my house looks like a carnival sideshow. Is that because my mind works like a circus . . . or because I like junk?
Miss Sunshine jumped off a cinder-block wall and into my arms. “Sunday Morning” anchor Charles Osgood may covet this lady, but she will radiate on my wall.
This 1970s vintage Violacci poster turned my head. Nothing could stop my pursuit of these loud pink ladies moving fashion forward on the concrete catwalk. Bella Daughter does some major legwork, but Stout Mamma Mia steals the show–in spurs!

If you love a style walk-back, you may find funky Violacci footwear on Etsy.
Then I hit kitchen kitsch. Bright 1920s enamelware is collector fun on the cheap.

This fruitful find–a 16-inch diameter bowl–will live large wherever I put it.
I’m in the early autumn of life. Color me brilliant!
Light up my life!
In the early 1920s, American architecture reached aesthetic heights in the Windy City. Chicago artist Frederick Cooper–known for his sculpture and watercolor paintings–took a fancy to lamp design, as innovative as the city’s period architecture.

I snapped up this bountiful lamp base, which pressed up against a dusty, dismal “Early American” hutch (1960s shudder).
American Pickers? Nowhere in sight. Evidently, their van jounced off the wrong beaten path.
I super love thrift shops and vintage clothing shops. I’ve had to scale back my purchases… I got carried away sometimes.
Hi Karen. It is fun. I still must watch the wallet. But I always go for the barter! Hope your writing is going well.
🙂 Great writing…
Thanks, Jim! You perked up my am.