Since the kids weren’t hanging around with their friends after class I had an hour and a half to kill in Kilgore. Of course that means hitting the two thrift stores that are not far from campus. I found some pretty good things today.
I’m pretty sure this bird pitcher was not intended for watering plants, but it’s perfect for my propagated ones and the seed trays.
Makes topping these off so much easier.
I have been looking for a pottery mug for a while. I browsed the World Market website because I had seen some there before that I liked. Then I found this one. The lid was taped down so I couldn’t see the inside. It has a removable tea infuser.
And it’s from World Market.
I burn soy candles because they burn so much cleaner. I picked up three of these candles for a song. They are brand new and soy.
I think they came from the same place as the bird pitcher because they had the original handwritten price on them and the writing was the same.
My woobie (coffee tumbler that Donny named) was getting pretty worn out. The seal was on its last leg. It was over 10 years old so it has lasted. I found a brand new, exact one and couldn’t be happier.
I also picked up some jeans and a workout shirt. I have these same jeans in the cream color and I just love them.
I got more seeds started and finally found a place for my sun and moon.
I hope tomorrow is a pretty as today was. I need to get my watermelon seeds in the ground.
Donny and I had some time to kill in Kilgore. I had seen this cool antique shop on my Tiktok. I knew it was in Kilgore, but I didn’t know where. Well, as we were driving into town I saw the sign for it. I pass it every time I drive into Kilgore. Like it’s right there off the main road. We decided to stop in and see what it was all about.
It’s called Relictivity. It’s a huge warehouse that has so many fun things to browse through.
It’s not booths, the couple that own it curated everything in it.
The husband said that they just started collecting items until they had enough to fill up the store. We almost bought this wrought iron moon trellis. It was tucked into a corner. When I got it out to look at it I noticed that one part of the iron had come loose and that the legs of it were different sizes because I looked like one had rusted part of the way off. I still really like it, but it was $44.99 and I’d have to get the one part welded. I’m still thinking about it though.
We still had a little bit of time so we drove next door to Atwoods which is a general store/farm store. We picked up a new garden hose and a watering can. I have been using a plastic water jug and the water just comes out too fast.
I am bummed that I didn’t wait and get a metal can, but this one works well so I guess it’ll do.
We didn’t really have any afternoon plans so I found an estate sale that was going on it’s second day. Normally everything is almost gone by then, but we decided to go check it out anyway.
I did find a rubber mallet that I need for my rings. It’s a little crusty, but once I clean it off it will be perfect.
I saw this lantern that I thought was so cool. I had never seen one like this before. The bottom looked like a tin can. When I did a Google image search that’s exactly what it is.
It was a fun day to just mill around doing nothing. The weather was perfect.
Oh, and the kids and their friends went to Dallas for a concert so I took the opportunity to deep clean Jackson’s room. It was so dusty it was causing his allergies to flare up. I cleaned every nook and cranny out. I washed his curtains, bedding and shampooed his carpets.I filled up our trash can and had to load the back of my car to take the rest to the dumpster at Donny’s work.
I had some time to kill in Kilgore on Thursday. I love Hope’s Closet. It is one of my very favorite thrift stores. We have two of them in Longview, but they just aren’t as good as the one in Kilgore. I wasn’t planning on actually buying anything I just needed to fill some time and this was a fun place to do that. I had walked around the store with nothing really catching my eye. There were some ladies looking through some carts that were just sitting in the middle of the store. I happened to glance in one of the carts and that’s when I saw them. Now, I have been looking for these particular glasses for a very long time. I NEVER see them in the thrift stores and when I find them online they are way too expensive for me to justify buying them because we have some very nice hand blown glasses but they do not go with our vintage dishes.
The first one I picked up didn’t have a price sticker. I just knew they would be pricey because these vintage glasses are hot right now. Imagine my surprise when the next one I picked up had the 69 cent sticker. Y’all, I got all 7 for under 4 dollars!!! Like what????? Finding something that I have been wanting for so long and at that price was unbelievable.
They were made for each other.
These are our other glasses that I still love and still use.
A dear friend who has since passes away gave me a set of them. I love the bubbles and the imperfections in them.
Oh and I took this picture of what looks like a portal that was on my closet door. It was the sun reflecting off the inside of my lamp. Looks cool though.
I decided to take most of the day off. I don’t have an actual “job”, well at least I don’t get an actual paycheck, but I take care of everything around our home. Monday I had deep cleaned the house. Yesterday I did mountains of laundry.
I thought after all of that I needed a little break. I have been looking for a frame for Hannah’s Girl with a Pearl Earring adaptation that was one of her art projects. I had found several, but the frames ran vertically instead of horizontal. I could have changed the hanging mechanisms, but since the ones I liked were all professionally done I really didn’t want to mess with it and have it fall off of the wall. Today I hit the jackpot and found exactly what I have been looking for.
I just had to take the backing off and her picture fit perfectly.
It’s big and I have hardly any wall space left. I took down my jester picture and I think it looks mighty fine in its place.
I couldn’t not find a place for the jester so I moved some things around and now he’s in the dining nook.
I picked up a few more things from the thrift store while I was there.
I couldn’t pass up this wooden shelf. I needed one for above my nightstand and this one was perfect.
I also found some cute shirts in my Fall colors.
Both of these look grey for some reason but they are actually olive green.
I absolutely love this mustard yellow blouse.
Couldn’t pass up this candle. I have a couple of this brand. It’s made here and the smell is amazing.
Donny needed me to run to Office Max to pick up some desk calendars for his work. I needed a new planner. I’m so picky about my planners. Office Max had no cute ones and they ones they did have were SO expensive. I walked down to TJ Maxx and they had no good planners either. Books a Million is in the same strip mall so I checked there and I did find one I loved but it started in July 2025 and ran through December 2026. I cannot stand to start a planner in the middle so that was a no.
I decided I would go check in Ross and no matter what, I would have to just take what I could find there. Ross is where I got last years planner that I absolutely loved. I found the exact same brand!!!!!
This is 100% my favorite planner.
This is the brand and you can’t beat the price. All-in-all it was a good day to get out and get stuff done. It was also in the mid 70’s. I don’t think we’ll get to wear any of our winter clothes very much this season.
Oh, and my second daughter let me know last night that she thinks she was a ghost baby because there are no pictures of her when she was a baby. I sent her over 20 this morning and have so many more. This is one of my favorites.
It’s hard to believe that these little pumpkins have kids of their own now. Dang how time flies!
On Mondays and Wednesdays Jackson’s classes start at 8:30. Hannah’s only class that day starts at 1:00. Gavin will normally pick Hannah up on those days because he does some work in Kilgore. Yesterday he couldn’t so I decided to take Hannah later and do a little shopping while they were in class. Of course it was just some thrifting. I hit up Hope’s Closet first. There is one here in Longview and I can always find some good deals, but I really like the one in Kilgore. It’s smaller, cozier, still has good stuff and the staff is incredibly nice.
I went to Goodwill next. I’m not a huge fan of either the Goodwill in Kilgore or Longview, but I did find a few things.
I found these Dear John Giselle jeans in a color I don’t have. They fit perfectly.
I picked up two basic tees for myself and this Luckenbach shirt for Donny.
I also found Hannah and black crocheted poncho, pleated lined miniskirt and some Democracy dark plaid jeans. She loved everything.
I have been needing a trivet for the airfryer tray and I just love this one. It was only $.99.
I also found this 2015 Starbucks mug. I am not a fan of Starbucks, but I really loved this mug.
I washed it and had my coffee in it this morning. I also picked up this wooden tray for my candles because the plate I had just wasn’t large enough.
The tray was $4.99 and the mug was 99 cents.
I rushed to the school to pick up the kids and they were with their advisor registering for next semesters classes. I can’t believe it already that time. I had some time to kill so I went into the art building to see the new exhibit they have up.
This is my hair stylist. Her friend is the artist.
I love this little truck that I see all over campus.
It was so dreary yesterday and it looks like the same forecast for today.
Hannah and I always say that this particular spot is Fall.
Remember the tent bed I got for the cats that only Monkey slept in for ONE night only. Well, I put it outside and covered the extra entrance with a heavy curtain. Milo has claimed it now. He got out of it last night and O’malley climbed in.
As soon as O’malley got out Milo excitedly climbed back in. Cats are funny creatures.
Normally we have a relatively quiet Saturday. We keep errands to a minimum and just spend time at home. Today, however, that was not the case. I noticed that we were very low on coffee so that meant a trip to Walmart. I like the Great Value coffee. It taste just like Folgers and comes in a big cardboard canister that can be recycled. But before we went to Walmart we stopped off at Hope’s Closet. Hannah was with me and we had planned to go earlier in the week but never made it.
She found these cute boots that were brand new. They are so her style.
She also got these pants that will fit into her wardrobe perfectly.
I picked up this olive green sweater. Not shown is the Nautica sweater I picked up for Jackson that he actually liked.
Walmart was PACKED!!!! It felt like we were playing Frogger ,or as Hannah described it as Crossy Roads, when we were trying to get from one aisle to another. I have been having menopausal symptoms that were not fun so I did a little research and decided to try this. I will make a doctor’s appointment if I feel like this isn’t working.
Hannah needed some candles and while we were looking for those I picked up some incense cones to use in the holder I bought by mistake.
I’ve never bought the Mainstays brand, but at least they are made in India.
We we got home from Walmart I got a text telling me that my Michael’s voucher expired today. I checked at it was a $10 one. The kids are always needing art supplies and I knew Jackson needed ink for one of his classes so off to Michael’s we all went. I think that everyone in Longview was also wanting to go to the same place. It doesn’t help that TJ Maxx is right next door. The line of cars turning in when we were leaving was crazy.
The one thing that I HAD to do today was grocery shopping at Aldi. I did not want to go. When we drove by it didn’t look very crowded so I took a deep breath and headed out. I was so wrong because there were SO many people shopping. I did however find some fake Poppi that I can’t wait to try.
And I had never seen these before. They are so good and gluten free.
I have to be so much more careful and read ingredients. This morning I woke up bloated with all my joints hurting. I could not figure out what in the world was causing this until I realized what mistake I had made. The past two evenings I had eaten lobster bisque soup for dinner. I actually know how bisque is made and it’s made with a flour base. I just wasn’t paying attention. Tomorrow I’m going to make a big detox salad and lentil and carrot soup to see if I can get rid of all the gunk.
After I settled in at home I started searching for shoes that I have been wanting to get for Fall. I had the exact shoes I was looking for in my head but couldn’t find them anywhere. I wanted a medium brown corduroy footbed clog. I found some that were the right color from Birkenstock but they were suede and if I was going to pay that kind of money I wanted what I wanted. I finally found them.
These are exactly what I had pictured in my head. I ordered them immediately and cannot wait until they arrive. I ordered them 1/2 size bigger than I normally would so I could wear them with socks when it gets cold. Do not judge me! LOL
And I will leave this post with the bad little kitten that climbs everything.
For the month of November the big thrift store near our home has a nickel book sale. They bring out bins and bins of books. I decided to go see what I could find. I had the kids with me so I couldn’t really sit and dig through everything. I did find two book.
I always buy chicken, but run out of ideas on how to cook it. Hopefully this will give me some ideas. The other cookbook is from 1974 and is so interesting. There are so many recipes that I want to try.
Hannah and I found this cool horse. I didn’t really have a place for it, but Hannah said that it would go perfectly in our house because it’s colorful and weird. Then she added but it’s weird in a good way.
I was debating if I should remove the base and hang it on the wall, but in the end, I decided to put it on our hanging shelves.
Yesterday was our 20th anniversary. We had been planning on going to Judd’s Downtown. I woke up with a killer headache which was the precursor to the virus Donny had. I knew on Monday that I wasn’t feeling well and by Tuesday morning it had hit me full force. I ended up staying in bed most of the day with the occasional dragging myself to the kitchen to take aspirin and get drinks.
This morning I woke up still feeling a little rough, but by the time I went to pick up the kids I was feeling better. We decided to hit Hope’s Closet to see if Hannah could find some pieces she needs for her Halloween costume. While they were looking around getting what they needed I found two cute sweaters.
This one is more brown than it came out in the picture. It’s thick, boxy and so comfortable. It’s going to be perfect when it stays colder.
This cardigan will be perfect for the mornings and evenings now. It’s still hot in the afternoon hours. I need to go through my winter clothes that are still boxed up. I have decided to pare my winter wardrobe down and get rid of the black and most of the grey that I have. I just don’t like wearing black. I think, on me, it’s too harsh. I’m not a fan of grey anything. I just think it’s a sad color and prefer the golds, oranges and greens.
I actually picked myself up a couple of items at Walmart. I needed some smaller claw clip since my hair isn’t ultra long anymore. I always prefer this brand because they stay put without slipping. I also found the ideal nail polish color. I love this brand because it dries so fast and I only paint my toenails because I use my hands too much for polish to stay on.
Now we just need to find the rest of Hannah’s costume, get the fire pit cleaned up and we’ll be semi ready for Halloween.
I do not like shopping. I find this ironic because I worked in retail for so many years. For many years I worked as a retail manager/buyer for a large company. I knew how much the actual cost of an item was and how much we actually sold it for. It would blow your mind to know what the actual margins are. I honestly could not wait to get out of that job. When we would get large orders, the off gassing of the dyes in the clothing would give me sinus issues and headaches. One time we got a shipment of specialty shirts and they smelled so bad, like dead fish. I called the company and they told us to just spray them with febreze and let them air out. Like what??? They sold after about a month of airing out, but I can’t help but think of what awful chemicals were uses to make these garments.
This past week I had to go out shopping for Donny’s father’s day gifts. We don’t really do anything big for each other on these days, but I did want to get him something. I knew he needed tshirts because his were looking a bit scruffy so I headed to TJMaxx. When I walked in it was SO crowded and the place was a mess. I turned around and walked out. Burlington is in the same strip mall so I walked down there to see if I could find anything. It was surprisingly clean and I did find a Tshirt and some snacks. That was enough for one day. I was exhausted just from going into 2 stores. Jackson and I did finish his gift buying in Walmart which wasn’t too bad.
He ended up with 2 tshirts, a ceramic coffee mug and some snacks.
Now here’s the funny part. I can go to thrift stores and estate sales all day long. Doesn’t matter if they are crowded or a little messy. I’m 100% up for it. I’d say that 95% of my clothes are thrifted. I just feel better knowing that I’m recycling and these garments aren’t ending up in some land fill. Jackson and I are working on a little project and needed some 4X6 frames. I headed to the big thrift store around the corner and picked up two for 3 dollars total.
I never look through the clothes at this one, but I had a little extra time and decided to see what they had. I found these super cute Kancan boyfriend jeans for 4 bucks.
I’m still looking for some denim shorts. I saw some cut off shorts at Walmart for $24.98. People, please!!!!! Buy thrifted jeans and cut them off yourself. That’s over 20 dollars you’ve saved.
I also found this cute vintage vest that I can wear over a tank top. I will always and forever buy my tshirts and thrift stores and estate sales. This one says “for everything there is a season” and It’s in excellent condition.
If you want to pay full price, that’s your choice. I saw a quote that really spoke to me. It said, take a look at everything in your house. That was once money.
If you read here you know how much I love our backyard, especially the tree line that acts as a natural privacy fence. It is lush and the trees curl over making a great hiding place/chill out place for our chickens. It’s like you are in a little forest.
We had to disconnect part of the lights because of the chickens heat lamp that is in their coop.
Yesterday I was at the kitchen window and looked out. I thought our yard looked different, then my brain registered what I was seeing. The tree line was disappearing.
I immediately called our landlord. She doesn’t own the house directly behind us, but owns the white house next to it. We are friendly with the neighbor who lives there. Our landlord had no idea what was going on. I told her that I had seen a dumpster in their driveway so maybe they had moved. She didn’t think so, but something was going on. I walked over to the house and knocked, but no one was there. I opened the door to the dumpster and there was a lot of household things in it. As I was walked over to the white house to find out if that neighbor knew anything Trent, the neighbor saw me and came out. I asked him if he knew what was going on and he told me that the neighbor had died and that the daughter now owned the house. He gave me her cell number.
I took pictures for Donny because when they were cutting everything down they were just leaving it in our yard.
Today it got worse. The lawn crew was out there bright and early this morning and Donny went to tell them to get all of the branches out of our yard. They did but not before cutting every single bush, plant and tree down. It’s awful. Our whole backyard is now exposed. Before it was so nice to not have to look at the neighbors behind us. Now the whole fence is naked. When I went out to feed the chickens her two young girls were leaning over the back fence just staring into our yard. Not only is their no privacy now, but we are going to have to put up more chicken wire along the back fence so the chickens won’t jump over.
While I was out there I noticed my string lights that I had attached to our tree were down.
They had cut right through the wires. I did call the owner and tell her what had happened. I also asked her why she had everything cut down. She just said, Oh, it had gotten overgrown. No shit, It’s a natural privacy fence. Donny assures me it will grow back some and we are planning on planting a new fence in the spring, but until then we’ll just have to grin and bear it.
Jackson asked if we could go to the thrift store today so I figured some second hand retail therapy might help. We went to Goodwill first. Ours is not that great, but I did find these plant stands for $1.99 each that I’m going to use out on the patio when it warms up and we can plant again.
We also went to the big thrift store where I found one of the two cookbooks that have been forever on my wish list. Yes, I know I could buy it new, but finding it secondhand is so much better. Plus it was only 50 cents.
I also found this 1979 bread cookbook that I am going to love cooking out of. The Julia Child book is the one I was the most excited about though. Now if I could only find the Jacques Pepin’s Le Technique. One day.
I also picked up this vintage whisk. I use a whisk everyday and I just loved this little guy.
The Funky Frugalista 