I’ve never been much of a collector. Aside from the teddy bears that I collected till I was 12 or so (and no longer have), I’ve never been one. My mom collects heart shaped boxes, salt and pepper shakers, and used to have a pretty amazing Raggedy Anne and elephant collection. That never passed on to me. I never collected.

However…I’m kind of obsessed with Pyrex right now. The old school, vintage, patterned stuff. I not only love the functionality of it…but I love the way it displays. I love the colors, and the patterns, and just how homey it makes a space look. Even though I don’t have the room, I want to grow my collection, and we are working on getting temporary housing for it in our living room, as our kitchen is too small currently. (I’ll be sure to share the display after I get it going). This site PyrexLove sure doesn’t help matters…

Until now, I’ve been bidding on pieces that I can afford on eBay. Its kind of insane what people are paying for this stuff…so until I go thrift store shopping for more, eBay had to be my fix. I had price limits, and lost a lot of auctions due to collectors willing to spend more. My wins are below. A few of them are also gifts from Mick, as he saw my new need to collect. I have started a Flickr set too in order to document what I acquire.

Now here comes the best part. This past weekend we were visiting my in-laws and family in New York, and I mentioned my new love for pyrex. My mother-in-law stated, “I have some if you want it.” OF COURSE I DO!! So I took it. Shipped it home…and it should be arriving any day. I took photos of it in NY…and it’s below. I just cant wait to get it, put it on display, and share.

Not too shabby for a start of a collection eh? Anyway, I only can hope to have something that looks like this.

Or this…

photo by SeaHoney

Or could you even imagine…THIS

DROOOOOL.

It’s the year of the Rabbit…and I found this article on Yahoo about what this means for someone like me…I’m a Snake. I actually found it quite accurate. I have made some notes corresponding to the places that kind of freaked me out. I’m not much to believe horoscopes…but maybe the Chinese ones are different. All sounds pretty positive, so lets hope my year goes as described.

• If last year was a bit wild for you, things might calm down a bit in the Year of the Metal Rabbit. Your sign’s element is Fire, which has a harmful influence on the Metal year element — make sure you plot your course carefully. Even though your favorability for the year is only 65%, almost all your months will be favorable. Your determination and perseverance might need a tune-up. Are there ways you can boost your motivation? Give yourself a daily dose of self-confidence with words of affirmation. There’s room for you to accomplish great things. (NOTE: In the month of January I participated (sort of) in a program my friend Jamie designed called Immaculatize, which is ALL about bettering yourself.)

(more…)

Its been a while hasn’t it? I got bored. I started living my married life and not feeling the need to document it (no more wedding to plan)…and I guess on occasion I may be back. Hopefully. Today I had a minor meltdown because I couldnt even figure out how to get to my dashboard to post! Its been ages (well at least long enough for my short term memory to fail me).

I wanted to share briefly that I  have started the South Beach diet. I know its not a big deal, but I gained all the weight I had lost for the wedding back, and I just wanted to lose that 10 pesky pounds again. So as of today, its been a week without carbs like bread, fruit, sugar, and booze. I feel awesome. For whatever reason, I’ve really been able to stick with it this time. Sure, its only been a week, but in that time, I went to my company holiday party WITH karaoke (sipped on soda water), had a game night at a friends house (again, soda water), and yesterday met an old friend for happy hour (soda water…check.)

I’m proud of myself, don’t feel weighed down, and as of now, have lost 4 lbs. Sure, once I start eating carbs again, I’m sure I’ll level off a bit, but I have this new found need to eat and be healthy. My snack at night has been a sugar free fudgesicle, and my cravings haven’t really been bad for sweet treats like cookies or cupcakes. I’m sure im not out of the woods yet…im only on week 2!! But I don’t know. This one feels right. No counting points, nothing delivered, no weird shakes…just a list of approved foods that I have to abide by. Starting this weekend, I’ll have a glass of wine here and again, but complete sobriety isn’t half bad so far…its definitely less calories in, and I can feel the difference in my bloat.

Weird post to come back to…but I wanted to document my progress somewhere..and if its in writing, I feel more accountable for it. anyway…Im kind of back, so hopefully it wont be a full 3 months till I post again.

What diets work for you?