New Year = New Goals

Wow, it feels like I have been gone forever!  This is the longest break I have taken since I started Salvage Life 4 years ago and I needed it.  2010 was a whirlwind which brought many blessings to me and my family.  With Taylor Swift buying from our shop, the People Magazine feature, and the Today Show, I really feel encouraged that Salvage Life is on the right track.  I have some exciting ideas fro 2011 and I can't wait to get started.  Here's a few photos from our holiday festivities:

2010 was a fantastic year and I am hoping that 2011 will be even better.  It's hard to limit myself on Goals, so I have along list, but I'll spare you because I prefer that you keep reading my blog. :)

My top 4 Goals for 2011 (read these as if I am giving myself a pep talk in the mirror)

1. Get Salvage Life the heck out of my house ~ get a studio!
2. Suck it up and get pregnant with baby #2, it's not going to get easier if you wait another year
3. Be sure to make my hubby a priority, he is my number one supporter and he deserves it!
4. Don't be a hermit, seek out friendships with other moms and business owners

Best of luck to you in all your endeavors this year, please check back soon as we will have new merchandise, blog posts and events in the weeks to come. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to All My Friends and Readers!

I finally finished decorating the house for Christmas yesterday with only a week left to enjoy, but I don't really care because the point is that I did it and I think it looks pretty.  :)  I am in complete vacation mode now and it feels good!  I will still ship orders and answer emails for the next two weeks, but don't expect too many blog posts or new items in the shop.  Merry Christmas to you!  I hope that you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

 

What I am Thankful for...

Yesterday I stopped by a vintage store on a very busy street.  While attempting to park quickly, I swiped the side of a parked car.  I was sooo bummed.  After asking around inside the store, I found the owner.  He came outside and looked at the car, after mulling over it for a minute he said "you know what, don't worry about it, Happy Holidays" and gave me a hug.  And I was able to wipe of the mark on my car with the sleeve of my sweater.  That brings me to the first thing that I am thankful for: good things that happen when you don't expect them and kind people in the world.

Other things I'm thankful for:

1. My handsome husband and beautiful daughter, without whom my life would be incomplete.

2. My friends and extended family who keep me sane and let me ramble on about things.

3. Salvage Life-my experiment, my dream, my creative outlet, my baby.

4. The people I've met through Salvage Life, through this blog, on Twitter. The internet allows you to connect with the neatest that I would never have had the opportunity to meet if I had lived during the time the clothes I sell were made. 

I could probably go on and on because I am so blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I made a little Thanksgiving Day collage below from some of my favorite items in the SHOP.

Be sure to tune in for the Taylor Swift Special on NBC tonight at 8/7c, she'll be wearing some Salvage Life jewelry!

Salvaged Halloween Get-Up

Things have been so crazy around here!  As I'm sure you have noticed, we have this lovely new website and blog,  THANK YOU Rachel, of Ironwood Design Studio, for doing a fantastic job and meeting my every little request to my exact specifications.   We are also transitioning to a white background for photos, still working out the kinks on that,  Our clothing and jewelry was featured last week in People Magazine and Taylor Swift has been seen around town in our necklaces.  We've got something bigger coming at the end of the week, hopefully I can tell you soon!

In the midst of all of this, Halloween happened, and somehow I was able to pull off a last minute costume for Ruby and I.  That's the beauty of having a vintage shop and way too many things collected over the years.  Ruby wore my vintage sailor dress from when I was her age and I wore a nautical 40's inspired dress from the 80's, which will soon be available in the shop.  I found some red shoe clips that I added to some pin-up style shoes I had.  Ruby's hat was thrifted and mine was given to me by a sailor many years ago. :) Here are some of my inspirations and photos of us. 

Inspiration photos from here and here.

Being a mom is nothing like I thought...

but wonderful nonetheless!  This last year has been a challenging one.  I find myself constantly trying to figure out what the heck I was thinking when I thought "I'll have a baby and stay home while trying to run my business, it will be perfect!"  Well, it's not perfect, but it's my life and I love it in all of it craziness!  As much I wish I had more time to pursue MY goals, I am so thankful that I have a little partner in my duties.  Yes, she makes things harder and take longer, but I feel like we are a team.  When I say "ok, we have to take some pictures of the clothes," Ruby quickly crawls over and points at my camera case.  When I make jewelry, she always want to try it on and carry it around.  It was a lot more lonely working by myself than it is now.  I love being Ruby's mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even more time.

Yesterday we had a nice Mother's day at our home.  I prepared some simple "girlie" treats and we enjoyed a lot of laughter.  It was very special to share Mother's Day with my Mom because I look up to her so much and I love that we can relate in this new way.  I thought a lot about my mom's mom yesterday, she is no longer with us, but I feel like we were able to honor her.  We used her china for the appetizers and I made my mom a necklace out of a little medal her mom had received in the 60's for being the Auxilary Club President.  She really liked it.  My hubby cooked dinner and it was delicious.  I made some vanilla cupcakes with blackberry whipped cream frosting and served sorbet for dessert.  It was a wonderful day!

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

We had a wonderful Christmas and I just wanted to share a few pictures and memories. It was R's first Christmas and she enjoyed every bit. I put some of the decorations in her room and she liked to go around to each one and wave after waking up from a nap. She would even kiss the reindeer and baby Jesus if you asked her to. She loved listening to Bing Crosby on the record player and I'm pretty sure she is the only person to head bang to The First Noel.

On Christmas morning we opened our stockings and she was more interested in the packs of gum Jeff and I got than the toys in her stocking. She played with them for at least an hour. Later that day I dressed her in a vintage dress and bonnet that belonged to my mom when she was a baby, she was precious.

I hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season and I wish you a Happy New Year! If all goes as planned, there will be some exciting things happening with Salvage Life in 2010.

Seeing beauty in the small things.

Today I went to Trader Joe's and as I was lugging my groceries to the car I noticed this unexpected scene. The owner's of this house that backs up to the TJ's parking lot have put a wreath on their ally door. It is so sweet that no one has taken it or destroyed it...a little pinch of beauty this holiday season.

Christmas Decorating Ideas

Here are more Christmas decorating ideas that I have clipped.

You don't have to have a huge tree to make an impact.

 

I think this a project I will do with my boys during Winter break.

source

I love the candy canes.

source

Some Of My Favorite Christmas Decorating Ideas

Over the next few days I'm going to try and post some of the Christmas decorating ideas that I have clipped over the years. I will start with the photos that I don't have source information for. If anybody knows where these photos came from leave the information in the comment section so I can post it.

 

 

Thanksgiving Menu

Here is my menu for Thanksgiving, along with all the links to the recipes. I'm still on a quest for the perfect Thanksgiving menu. I grew up in a house where the food was rather bland and unimaginative, and I am really working on changing that. I will try to post pictures while I am cooking.

Spice-Rubbed Roast Turkey (I hope following Martha Stewart's recipe can help me along the path to a turkey that isn't raw at the bone.)
Cornbread Stuffing (From a box. That's the way it's always been made at my house. The kids love the crap. And the wee tyrant will eat tons of it. And I will do anything to get extra calories into him.)
Tamales (Made by a neighbor. She has quite the thriving business going.)
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Orange Caramel Glaze
Green Beans with Lemon and Oil (Will somebody please explain green bean casserole to me. I just do get the onion bits. Or even worse, I saw a recipe on television where they used corn flakes. Yuck!)

Collard Green Pie (This goes along with the tamales. I like to remind the family that we are ethnic.)
Sweet Potato Pie (Another great southern dish. My grandmother has spent the last two days baking them.)
Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (Either mini cakes or cupcakes. Update: I added a pinch of saffron to the oil.)
Oven Baked Toffee Apples
Pear Crostata (I don't have a recipe. I will try to post directions with pictures. I think I will be using Asian pears.)

Holiday Cards By Letterpress Light

Letterpress Light has some lovely holiday cards in their Etsy shop. And they don't have just Christmas cards, they designed some pretty Hanukkah cards. The cards are priced $9.50 for 6.

Snowflake

Dreidel

Menorah

Disney's Prep & Landing

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to watch television. I saw the following commercial for Disney's Prep& Landing. It's a modern take on what the elves do to prep for Santa's trip. They are there guiding Santa onto roofs, taking care of horrid dogs, and checking the weather. It's very modern, but reminds me of the Christmas specials I watched as a child. I'm really excited to watch it with the wee tyrant. It airs on ABC, 8 December at  8:30pm.

Letter From Santa

The US Postal Service will postmark letters from Santa. You are responsible for writing the letter. Put the letter in a stamped envelope, and then put that inside another stamped envelope and mail it to: North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9998. The deadline is usually 15 December. My youngest loves it.

Pumpkin Carving Ideas From Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart always has the most creative ideas for carving pumpkins. A team of art directors helps, but sometimes the ideas are simple enough for those of us without the crafting gene.

Pumpkin Owls

Mouse Motel

Glittered Pumpkins

I love the owls most of all. Click here to see more ideas.

VINTAGE Halloween DECOR

It's Halloween again, yay! I actually debated whether or not to even put up my decorations since it's already halfway through the month, but what the heck, this is my life so I am going with it. Here is a picture of my favorite collection and some vintage Halloween ads I saved a long time ago and I don't remember where I found them...oops! For more Halloween inspiration, see these posts: here, here and here.