Friday Blog Hops

Okay, okay...I'm a bit late with the Friday Blog Hop links. Actually it is about 8pm on Friday so I am super late. Another four hours and I would have missed Friday altogether. Ha!

My husband & I returned to our jobs as assistant managers of a retirement community today. The retirement community is a three story building that truly looks like an upsale hotel. We offer senior citizens a choice of apartments: Studio, 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom - all with private bathrooms. We are independent but we do have three meals a day, transportation and a ton of fun activities.

The seniors are between the ages of 65 - about 99. Yes, we have people in their late ninties who are still independent. Seniors crack me up with their stories and funny little sayings. On the average day, we have to unlock atleast two or three doors because the resident forgot their key. Since we live on-site, we are here 24/7 for a straight week. (And then of course we have off a week so I am totally not complaining).

We wake up at 5am-5:30am when the alarm system needs turned off and then stay in the office atleast until 7:30pm and lock the front doors at 9pm every night. This makes for long days. It is even longer when you are getting over a cold and have not worked for three weeks (vacation).

But I am truly thankful for my job. And I am even more thankful to work with my husband. We work side by side all day, every day. You never know what the day holds.

So without further ado, here are the links. Thank you all for following me & reading my blog.


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And for those who may not know, I have a giveaway going on that ends Monday.

http://mellissa-rose.blogspot.com/2011/09/giveawayscrapbooking-lot.html

Ebay Sales & an Awesome Husband

This past week has been tough for me. As most of you know I was in the hospital just a few weeks ago. The day after I was discharged we left for a beach vacation. I was sore & hurting for several days into the vacation. Thankfully I felt fine the latter part of the vacation and we had a great time.

We have been home for a week and had off of work for the last week since we came home early from our vacation. Unfortunately I caught a rather bad cold and I was sick in bed for the last three days. I had projects I wanted to do and things I wanted to accomplish with the week off. I had pants that needed hemming. But of course the cold didn't care. Even as I am typing this I am coughing and sneezing.

I realize a cold is a simple infection. So simple most people call it the "common" cold. And yet it feels awful. How can something so common make someone feel so gross?

Anyway...my husband of 9 years took care of everything. He finished the laundry room we were working on and even went so far to scrub the floor on his hands and knees when he was done. He gave me cold medicine, took care of me and let me stay in bed all day for several days in a row. How blessed am I?!?

Here is where I laid while he was working:

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I had an awesome week on ebay and a lot of items went higher than I thought. Of course not everything sold. The items that didn't sell will be relisted in the beginning of October. (ebay gives all sellers 50 free listings each month)

Here are the items that sold:

J. Crew dress. This I bought for just $4.99 and it sold for $84.99.


This beaded dress by Lawrence Kazar in a size 1X. I picked this dress up and then put it down, picked it up and put it down. I couldn't decide if I wanted to purchase it for $4.99. Beaded items don't do so well on ebay and Lawrence Kazar doesn't have a following on ebay. I'm glad I did as it sold for $78.99.


This antique plate set which I picked up for $24.99. It sold for $84.99.


Garnet Hill sweater which didn't sell the last time I listed it for $19.99. This time it went for $47.50!


Littonware does well on ebay and another ebay seller tipped me off to this brand. Mine sold for $32.00.


Missoni for Target is huge. When the brand came out for Target, it sold out almost immediately. The Target website crashed for a day. Anyway, I found one at the thrift that had a hole in the knit. It still sold for $53.75. This is crazy as the dress had a hole. But Missoni for Target has quite the following already.


I also sold several sweaters for $24.99 and several dresses for $34.99. The sweaters were purchased for $3.99 and the dresses for $4.99. I have more items ending today. I did this on purchase so I didn't have to bring all my inventory back to our tiny work apartment. This way I will bring back only the sold inventory.

We go back to work today and start again tomorrow. Hopefully the hacking cough I have will go away by then.

Easy Craft Project: Sparkly Hair Pins

Last night my hubby took me to see The Help at a local second run theater. It is one of my favorite places on earth since they deliver a meal to a table that is in front of the movie chairs. The Help was awesome and I would highly recommend it. It is rated PG-13 and has some cursing. It is worth seeing if you can deal with the cursing.

I wanted to look special and so I decided to make something fun for my hair. I had clipped buttons off of a top that I purchased at a thrift store. I couldn't decide to sell the top and make the $15-$20 it might bring or keep the gorgeous buttons for myself. It was a struggle but I kept the buttons and re-donated the top to the thrift.

The buttons had loops on the back and are called "shank buttons". Shank buttons are super easy to put on hair pins or bobby pins with a bit of wire. I simply put the wire through the loop at the button and then wrap it around the bobby pin. Wah-la!

You could easily use any shank button or find rhinestone ones on ebay.

I did the same with a tulle flower that I got off of Webster's Pages. You could easily make this "flower" from cutting circles from tulle and satin ribbons and then using a fake pearl or other center babble. Use a needle & thread to put it together and then use the wire for the bobby pin. Obviously I didn't do such a great time with the wire and it should be wrapped more cleanly.

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I found this on someone else's blog and thought it was a fun thing to fill out:

A. Age: 31
B. Bed size: King at our house, Double at our apartment
C. Chore that you hate: Washing dishes. We don't have a dishwasher and I hate to hand wash.
D. Dogs: Nope. We are allergic to almost all animals.
E. Essential start to your day: Washing my face with soap. I have oily skin and the soap helps dry it out.
F. Favorite color: Gray currently. It changes often.
G. Gold or Silver: Either, depending on the outfit
H. Height: 5'8"
I. Instruments you play: Ha! None.
J. Job title: Assistant Resident Manager
K. Kids: None.
L. Live: Pennsylvania
M. Mother’s name: Karen
N. Nicknames: My grandmother use to call me "Miss-a-belle"
O. Overnight hospital stays: Two in the last four years unfortunately. Both with "woman" problems.
P. Pet peeves:
Q. Quote from a movie: "I think I would miss you even if we never met." (from The Wedding Date)
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: A younger sister and a younger brother.
T. Time you wake up: At work around 5:30, at home around 6:30am.
U. Underwear: Yup. I wear it.
V. Vegetable you hate: Almost all vegetables.
W. What makes you run late: Not too much. I am fairly awake and organized in the morning.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Too many to count.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Sugar cookies.
Z. Zoo animal: I prefer aquariums.

The $7.99 purse, my perfect oufit and ebay finds of the last week

I visited TJ Maxx in search of the perfect light gray purse. Since I go thrift shopping so much and buy some of it for me, I don't often have to look for one item. It is hard!

My TJ Maxx has about 6 rows of purses and they are thankfully organized by color. I got to the gray & silver section and started picking up the bags. I fell in love with a Kate Spade silver purse that was totally unpractical and was around $150. Yeah, that was not my perfect bag. I continued down the row and found something that might work. I was hesitant about looking at the purse but when I saw it my jaw dropped. It was just $7.99! It wasn't on clearance and obviously it was not real leather but it was great for what I needed.

When I took it up to the register the cashier said "No way!" in disbelief of the price as well. And then she looked at me funny. Like I would have switched the tag? I said "I know" and paid for the purse. Here is a photo:

This purse was the piece that now completes my favorite outfit.

This top I purchased on ebay for $12.50 with free shipping. It is from Banana Republic and has the grays and purples I love for autumn.

And just this past week at the thrift I found this Talbots purple sweater jacket for $3.99. It was brand new and fits me like it was made for me. The inside is lined with flowers.

I already had two pairs of shoes that would work with these pieces. A gray pair that I found at a thrift for $7.99 and a pair of purple loafers from Coach but purchased at TJ Maxx on clearance for $29 last season.

I wore the Banana Republic top, the Talbots jacket, the purple Coach shoes and a pair of jeans to church yesterday with the following nail polish:

Love it!

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On the ebay front, I spent three days this past week shopping at the local thrift stores. I found some great things which included:

-St. John (not St. John's Bay) Collection gray pants. These are called a "Santana knit" and St. John is famous for their Santana yarn. I priced these at $99 and hopefully they will sell for that!



-St John Collection black skirt. I am thinking the same person donated both the pants and skirt since they were the same size. I looked & looked for more St. John pieces but these were the only two I came up with. I priced it at $65.



-My FIRST Eskandar sweater. Never heard of this name? You are not alone. Eskandar is a higher end boutique type name that has comfortable and oversized pieces that retail for $500-$1500. I priced this for $149 and I already have 7 watchers. Here is the sweater:



-A replica Bella Swan Twilight dress that Bella wore for her birthday in one of the movies. I was pretty surprised when I found this since the dress is fairly collectible and the young girls love these dresses. And they are hard to find. Some have sold for around $80-$120.



-I also found two Talbots dresses, a Cabi jacket, Nike Zoom authentic Lebron James sneakers, Under Armour top, two Ann Taylor suits, a Victoria Secret's suit, two bathing suits - one by Carol Wior that was new with tags, a J. Crew cardigan, a Talbots shell & jacket set -both new with tags and a bunch of other stuff.

-I have started to list my winter items as well. Last year I found a vintage Wrangler Wrange jacket which I listed and should sell for $40-$50. I also had saved a Hollister jacket and a few other heavier items for the cooler weather. Now that it is autumn, I am listing those items.

Giveaway...Scrapbooking Lot - CLOSED

This is my first blog giveaway! Everyone is welcome to enter - friends and family alike. The winner will be pulled on Monday, Oct. 3, 2011.

Here are the "rules":

1. One entry for being a follower
2. One entry for reading and commenting on ANY post
3. Two entries for putting a link about this giveaway on your blog (link is below)
4. One entry for tweeting about this giveaway

This is a total of 5 entries.

Here is the list of what you receive if you are the winner. All items are from Webster's Pages.

-10 pages of designer reversible papers, 12" x 12"
-3 pages of designer image & phrase stickers
-30 pages of designer reversible papers, 6" x 6"
-Chipboard buttons & twine: 10 buttons and six 12" colors of twine
-1 floral bouquet
-1 berry bouquet
-6 petite roses: velvet roses in one bouquet
-6 peach colored glue-ons with rhinestone centers
-4 transparencies that can be layered or used alone, 4" x 6"
-Days of the week journaling cards and calender tags

Total value is $40-$50







Here is the link to put in your blog. If anyone wants to help me figure out how to link up my blog website to the photo below so people can copy & paste it, that would be awesome. Thanks!

http://mellissa-rose.blogspot.com/

Friday Follows/Blog Hops

Here are a few Friday Follows & Blog Hops for you.

Last official day of summer

Tomorrow is autumn! Maybe you didn't hear me... TOMORROW IS AUTUMN!!!

How exciting is that?!? Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love autumn clothing (sweaters, jeans and boots) and I love when the trees change colors. It has already started to happen here in PA and I will post photos in two weeks when they are at their peak. We have such a gorgeous view at my house and I am blessed to be able to lay in the hammock and enjoy it. Here was last year's foliage, taken from my front porch.



I didn't do anything great on the last day of summer. I woke up early and listed on ebay which is exactly what I did yesterday. I currently have EVERYTHING listed that I purchased which is an amazing task. This doesn't happen too often with ebay sellers. Currently I have 132 items listed and only five of them have bids. I am not discouraged though. Most of them still have between 5-7 days.

And then I went for a walk up the block and jogged back. This is the second time I have jogged and I am guessing it is around 1/2 mile. It leaves me feeling very proud of my body and myself. It is mostly downhill so it isn't that great of an accomplishment but for someone like me (who does virtually no exercise), it is pretty darn good.

We are home until next Thursday and have off. I don't have much to do at home. Just a bit of painting and perhaps a bit of crafting. I should atleast hem the two pairs of pants for my father-in-law that have been sitting in my closet for atleast a month or two.

What is your favorite time of year?

New eBay Finds

On the way home from our trip to new states, we stopped at one of my favorite thrift stores. We were about 1/2 hour from it and made a trip there. It was well worth it!

I found an Ann Taylor cardigan in yellow & gray for me and a few things for our home.

In addition, I found a few things for ebay. Most of them new with tags which means I don't have to wash them! Yeah!

Here is a sampling of some items I purchased today.

1. J. Crew polka dot dress, new with tags. This dress is a rare one from a 2007 line. J. Crew marks all their items on the label with the year so this makes it easy to find a particular item. It is a size 8 and it should do well. A few have sold for about $50 but I plan on marking mine higher. It is new with the original tag and it is a good size. Plus it has long sleeves which is great for the upcoming autumn season.

2. Odille skirt. Odille is an Anthropologie house brand which means you can only find it at Anthropologie. This skirt is one of my favorites. I couldn't find another like it on ebay. It is a flared skirt with lots of floral applique and embroidery. If it was a size smaller, I may have kept it. It is good it isn't my size since I truly don't need another skirt!

3. Robert Graham shirt, new with tags. Robert Graham does funky tops for men and women. This one is more plain but it should bring around $25-$30 since it is new. I love the sleeve cuffs that show a different material.

4. Two different Ann Taylor dresses, both of which are kind of appropriate for summer or autumn depending on the accessories. Each should do fairly well - around $30 or so.

I cannot decide if I want to shop again tomorrow or if I'd rather relax at home. Thankfully the house is clean and all the vacation clothing has already been washed and put away.

The hubby and I will be watching a movie from Netflix tonight and I will make pork for dinner. Nothing fancy but something simple on the grill.

I will continue to post my ebay finds as I shop this week and next.

Photos from our drive home

As I type this I am sitting at a hotel in Kentucky. We are only about 5 hours from home. But we stopped for the night to rest and have some pizza (yum!).

We were at a condo in Alabama for just over a week. We had traded our home in PA for their beach condo in Alabama. We had another week or so left on our trade but the weather was turning a bit cooler than we would have liked at the beach.

So we decided to take the long route home and see a few more states. As of today I can say I have seen 39 states - yeah! We drove from Alabama through Mississippi and then through Louisiana. After Louisiana we drove through the border of Texas, Arkansas and then hit Oklahoma. Then we stayed in Texarkana for the night. Today we drove through Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. Tomorrow we will head north and then east through Ohio and finally Pennsylvania.

This next week at home will allow me to shop for more ebay inventory and list, list, list on ebay. I will be posting my "finds" as I go.

Here are a few photos from our trip:

Goal: Visit all 50 states

A goal of mine is to visit all fifty (nifty) United States. I sang the song as a child in school and have always loved to travel. Here is the song for those who would like to sing along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhEGiA5k5I

Growing up we went to Vermont every year and crossed through the same states. I adored going to VT but as an adult, my husband and I prefer to travel south. We have been to Florida every summer for a few years and love the hot temperatures.

So far I have seen 33 states. These are the states closest to where we live and a few out west. The states get larger as you head west and these have been the hardest to "collect" in my quest. For every state I also purchase or am gifted by my hubby a charm for my charm bracelet.

Currently my husband and I are in Alabama on a three week vacation. We have almost two weeks left but the temperature is getting cooler. Today was 82 degrees and this is just too cold for us to swim in the Gulf of Mexico (we are weaklings when it comes to swimming in cold water).

So instead of staying here in Alabama, we had a great idea. Let's knock out a few more states! We are only 6 hours east of Texas and I have never been to TX. On the way home from TX, we can easily drive through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. This will add SIX states to my list and we will only have 11 left!

My husband is so good to drive the extra hours so we can see a few more states. This will also get us back to our home with over a week left on our vacation instead of going right back to work.

So tomorrow I will be in Texas! Texas is the only state to have a city named Melissa. It will be WAY out of the way to visit Melissa, TX but it is nice that there is a city named after me, isn't it (ha!).

Here are the 11 states we will have left: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South and North Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. I am planning on using the home exchange website to secure a place on the border of Wyoming and Montana with hopes we drive to South & North Dakota while we are there. Perhaps next year?

So goodbye beach...we will miss you, your clear water and the many dolphins we see each time we visit!

What I'm in love with right now...

I adore this custom made ironing board cover and didn't even realize that people sold custom ironing board covers! And the bloomers...I am in love with this etsy store. Completely in love with it! This is the type of clothing I would purchase if I lived at the beach.

I believe I can make the ribbon loop topiary and will probably start saving 40% off coupons to Michaels and JoAnn's Fabric when I get back from vacation. This would be adorable in any color.

Jonathan Adler. Another love of mine. I don't have any pieces from his collection but how gorgeous is this bed?!?





Ironing Board Cover: http://www.etsy.com/listing/81741706/ironing-board-cover-made-with-joel?ref=sr_list_8&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=gray+yellow&ga_view_type=list&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Ribbon Topiary: http://www.etsy.com/listing/78980255/gray-and-yellow-ribbon-topiary?ref=sr_list_13&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=gray+yellow&ga_view_type=list&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=3&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Bedspread: Made by Jonathan Adler. You can find like items on ebay.

Bloomers/Pants: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64978634/petal-bloomers

And of course a few Friday Follow links: