Happy B-Day Clover and More Trip pics

It's official, as of 9:30 this morning, my lucky little 4-limbed Clover is one year old! Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! Mama loves you :)

I took this photo of Lucas and Clover on the first evening of our trip. We arrived in Pismo Beach just in time to get the Duck set up then hike out to the beach to catch our first sunset. I love how it shows what a chip-off-the-old-block she is... those two steal my heart with their cute lil' smiles and matching baby blues!

After spending our first night in Pismo, we packed up to head down to Santa Barbara and happened upon this wacky place, where we ate breakfast on our way out of town. The Rock and Roll diner was inside two long train cars attached to form a restaurant.

It was decorated all 50's style with little juke boxes at each booth. The place was totally bizarre, mostly because we were the ONLY ones in there. With Johnny Cash playing in the background and the long row of empty tables, it all felt a bit surreal.


We met up with Lucas' sister Zoe and family on their way back up from a trip to Disneyland. It was great fun camping with them for the rest of the trip. However, their cute lil' teardrop trailer made the poor Duck look quite big and wonky in comparison.

This is my 10-year-old niece Vida, who Clover ADORES. She literally flips out whenever she sees her, it's really cute to watch.



Some interior shots of the Duck before we trashed it. If you're bored (I know how boring looking at pictures of other people's travels can be ;) you can play "Find the Finds" as there are several thrift finds pictured that have previously been posted about.

Oh the irony, Clover is for the most part NOT a fan of "the cage" but you know, sometimes mama just needs a break.

She was indeed a fan of our nice grassy area under the shade tree at San Simeon Creek Campground outside the town of Cambria. As was I, following our El Capitan campsite where the ground was all dirt. She crawled around like Pig Pen for days in a little cloud of dust, dirt-trolling for things like old cigarette butts and bottle caps to put in her mouth, never a dull moment with this one ;)


The town of Cambria was described in one of Zoe's guidebooks as "terminally cute." It really was quite the quaint little town.


Home of the olallieberry, two thirds blackberry, one third European red raspberry, 100% delightful in the form of pie!




As well as the world's cutest thrift shop! The Love Me 2 Times Thrift Shop was in an adorable little bungalow and all the rooms were set up in themes like the rooms of a house. Above are the kitchen and closet rooms.

Surprisingly, I didn't actually find anything to take home here. Partly because I was rushing a bit as Clover was ready to head back to camp and partly because I had already picked up several things in Santa Barbara and wasn't trying all that hard. I was mostly just enjoying the terminal cuteness of it all.

This was the beautiful cliff-side cafe with the breathtaking view I mentioned in the previous post. We stopped here on our drive back home along the coast through Big Sur, one of the most majestic places on earth. It was a lovely way to take it all in and finish off our trip :)

Alright, that's it for the trip pics, thanks for indulging me. The next post will be back to business and all about the finds! Also, I'll pick up with my weekly picks posts next week :)

Lytton Springs

There is a five-building compound about 20 minutes north of my town on the 101 that is nestled among old growth oak trees and rolling hills. It is the most pastorally located Salvation Army (or thrift store of any kind for that matter) that I have ever witnessed. We call it Lytton Springs because that is the name of the Road and freeway exit that lead there.

I don’t make it out very often, mostly because of the drive and my laziness but it also can be a bit hit or miss as far as the merchandise goes. Even when I come home empty handed though, it’s always a fun thrifting adventure. Who wouldn’t love perusing old farm houses full of thrifty treasures in such a lovely setting? Last week I took a friend who had never been to check it out and snapped a few shots while we were there:

Here Clover and I are browsing through “Sallie’s Attic”, the little house on the right in the second pic.

Unfortunately, both the dreamcatcher and the vintage Ferragamos were priced way above what I was prepared to spend... so lovely none-the-less.

The majority of our time was spent in Sallie’s Clothing Barn, the largest of the buildings. I had pretty much scoured the place and come to the conclusion that this visit was going to be a “miss” when I found the most incredible hand-made vintage 60’s minidress tucked away in the middle of the girl’s clothing rack. The dress is a dream and for $2.50, soooo worth the drive! I’m planning to wear it tomorrow but until then I will leave you with a sneak peek: )

Sacks

Took some pics of the current Sacks window displays the other day. This time it's Beach Chic with a 60's Tiki vibe. I love all the old swim caps and the cute little straw bags.

Totally diggin' this bathing suit. It's such a cool print and I love both the shape and the colors. When I took these shots I was carrying Clover on me in a sling, and if you look closely in the reflection, it looks like she's in the mannequin's bag :) hehe.

And there I am in the skirt!

I finally asked someone and got some info about the window displays too. It turns out the guy who does them used to dress windows for I. Magnin in San Francisco and now does freelance work. Sacks hires him to do their windows every 5 to 6 weeks. He works with what they have on hand from donations and makes the accompanying props himself. Sounds like such a fun job!

Sacks

The new window displays are up at Sacks. Fantastic as usual. The theme of the first window is Vintage and the second is Art. I know they are a bit difficult to see with all the reflection, but the close up shots below turned out better, and for fun you can play "find Missa" in the reflections : ) hint: I'm wearing a white knit hat w/ two stripes and a pom pom.

The Vintage window is my favorite. Lots of neat old stuff and that sewing machine is pretty incredible. The pics can be enlarged for a better view.

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and the teeny floral painting would be a perfect addition to my budding collection of small paintings. I'll have to go back and see if anyone has reserved it yet.

You've just gotta love Vintage House Wife in her heels and pearls, vacuum in one hand... empty martini glass in the other... ahh, simpler times...

...and I do believe that IS the buffalo stance being thrown down by Chic Parisian Girl... aww yeah.

Random Coolness

St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store Mural

Originally uploaded by Kevin D. Hendricks

Found this awesome Minneapolis thrift store mural on flickr, for additional photos click on the link to Kevin D. Hendricks photostream, also here.

Sacks

I stopped by my favorite thriftstore over the weekend. They always have amazing window displays, often in the theme of whatever the nearest holiday is. I guess Saint Patrick's day got skipped this year for Easter. Most things on display are for sale as well. I'm adoring the huge easter basket hats... not very practicle, but tres chic!