Inciting Inspiration

So the year is almost up... but I've been reminded that although I've abstained from "new" things... I have found quite a few "old" things... maybe a few too many. But I think the thrift store has incited inspiration. 

I fell in love with that table I sanded down and eventually just sealed. It's beautiful and it made me really appreciate good craftsmanship and old pieces that just need a little love to bring them back to life. 

I have a friend who is expecting a baby. Ok, I have a few friends expecting babies, so I've been on high alert for cute baby things. Of course, buying "old" things for babies isn't typically "welcomed". Germs, and stuff I guess :) So I've stayed clear, for the most part of the baby section at thrift stores, but what about furniture? I saw this absolutely, ridiculously cute, high chair and got downright giddy at the thought of busting out that sander again, working some TLC into it and and gifting this cute chair to a very deserving, yet-to-be-born little person. 

But maybe not everyone loves "old" things like I do...

I walked away... only to find this...

If only it had been a few months earlier... Joey McIntyre could have really felt my dedication...

And if that wasn't enough...

If my puzzle hobby gets old... and I take up golfing... These sparkly little gems would definitely go well with my striped socks...

Just kidding! 

I know all you serious golfers are dying a quiet death imagining me showing up to play a few holes in that outfit... don't worry - I'd stay on the chipping green :)

But you can see my dilemma! When the thrift stores offer you so many possibilities - it's hard to walk away. Especially when you realize that for just $10 that high chair could end up amazing or an utter disaster... but I'm only out 10 bucks! I mean that's less than one woodworking lesson - 

ok

that's an assumption - i'm not sure how much woodworking lessons cost.

But... I should tell you about a new friend I met. I was in Costco a few weeks ago and saw a woman who looked very familiar. My first guess was that she was from Iowa. She looked at me funny and assured me she was not from Iowa. I couldn't place her, but I knew her. Finally she said she was on a home improvement type show. 

When I moved to Canada in 2002 I only got a few channels in my dorm room, and it was winter. I watched marathons of a home improvement show that was on one of the 4 channels I got. It really inspired me to take more risks, be more creative (big picture stuff) and instantly I placed her. 

She was Amy Wynn from TRADING SPACES

It's like it was meant to be. That table was all sanded down just waiting for my next move, and who walks into my life...  It's amazing how when you just "let go and let life happen" how it can work out better than  you planned. 

Anyway. I managed to walk away from all three of those fantastic finds... but it's amazing how much more inspiration I can conjure up at a thrift store than I can flipping through a catalogue... why is that?

Because out of desperation comes inspiration!

the radio=free memories

Yes I have an iPod, and and iPhone but I can honestly say... I prefer the free radio. 

You never know what you're going to get! I'm a sucker for surprises and the radio never lets me down. Talk about forgotten favorites... 

I'll admit - the other day I did buy "Step by Step". But that was for work... Just go with it :) 

And I know the top 40 stations just play the new stuff over and over, but when that's what I'm in the mood for... I gotta  tell you I'm pretty happy with their redundancy. Just last night I was rocking out to my favorite song right now - 

Turn me on - David Guetta and Nicki Minaj 

and when it was over I clicked over to the other top 40 station... and guess what was on! ha.

Does anyone else wish their lives could have a soundtrack? 

I have an awful memory but when I hear a song (or smell a smell) it's quite ridiculous how much I can recall. 

Step by Step... obviously my first crush (see New Kids on the Block post)

I snuck into my brothers high school prom as a kid and will never forget the song that was playing as I watched him slow dance in their "starry night" prom themed gym - so midwest classy :) 

"Save the Best for Last" - Vanessa Williams...

Every spring break totally overplayed some inappropriate song... which was usually accompanied by their MTV Spring Break countdown shenanigans in some exotic location...thanks for rubbing that in... 

Remember... "TheThong Song"??? - Sysco... never heard from him since.

When I was first learning to ski - I was terrible... and so I was just cursing under my breath most of the time... But when I finally gave in and started leaning down the hill like my Norwegian instructor had advised and stopped trying to "fight the mountain" you know what popped into my head... the little ditty from the vonage commercials.

Well the other day I heard Foster the People - "Pumped up Kicks" and immediately my thoughts went to the beach at Lake Sammamish State Park outside Seattle. We were setting up the beach for the swim portion of our TriRock Seattle triathlon. We were all singing it all weekend! 

Then a few months later I saw this at TEDMED...

Marquese Scott - Pumped up Kicks Dubstep

I just love how turning on the radio is like rolling the dice - you never know what memory you're going to get :) and it's free...

New Kids on The Block

This could be one of the most exciting and unexpected "not new" joys. 

Rumor was spreading like wildflower at the Rock N Roll Pasadena expo that Joey McIntyre had been spotted... with a bag - indicating he was running our race. 

Soon after it was confirmed and women all over Pasadena felt tinges of childhood love surging through their bodies. I'm surprised I didn't sprint to the bathroom and hairspray my bangs into the waterfall I so desperately tried to master to win his love as a kid...

I'll admit... He was that poster above my bed. 

It was those faces I stared at during sleepovers on the other girls'  sleeping bags. 

I'm pretty sure I even convinced myself that my parents were holding out on letting me go to their concert... because they had hired them to play at my birthday party. 

I was certainly not taking this obsession "step by step"... because those boys, Joey in particular had "the right stuff" in my book.

Thankfully I was hit with a reality check birthday after birthday... and I learned to move on. 

Soon after, I wanted Devon Sawa to "keep me" after his Ghost Casper turned into a boy. 

I didn't even know how to play soccer and yet Jonathan Brandis and his Ladybug team sucked me right in.

Don't get me started with JTT...

I could go on... but the point is.... he was my first. 

He set the bar for which all other boys were to be judged.

The crew made a come back as NKOTB but I was all grown up by then. Reality is even harsher and so sometimes you give up before you've even tried. 

Sunday morning 4:45am. I receive word that Joey McIntyre is indeed registered to run. The conversation immediately turns to song as the crew sings step by step. I of course download it on my iPhone and am VERY tempted to play it when we see him. But when the time comes and they alert me that he's in corral 3... it's like the little girl who danced and screamed with the other little girls at slumber parties took over. Frantically I tried to shush that crazy crush girl and sound smart over the microphone... I'm not entirely sure what I said, but I know I made a fool of myself and offered him some advice that probably made me look even more dumb... "Hey Joey... just take it step by step"

Are you kidding me... that's the best I could come up with? 

Either way... here's a taste of what our childhood dreams produced 20 some years later...

See... sometimes the "old" does the same trick as the "new" ha!