Salvaged Goods and Christmas Eve Sleepover

I found a fantastic little thrift store near my house but its proprietor talks to much (did I post this before? no matter...). It’s a funky little house (not in odor but in style) with “junk”, or as I like to call it “abandoned treasure” in the front yard and neat old and/or unusual stuff in doors. I was so excited when I walked inside, ready to patiently sift through all the goodies, when out walks this pretty, older, Afro-Brazilian lady and her mouth. I don’t know how she thought I was supposed to hold a lengthy conversation with her and shop while not being rude. I wanted to be left alone to peruse and spend my money on something I may later regret and can’t return. But no, she talked to me about every thing under the blazing sun and then some. And then she blatantly talked herself out of a sale when she mentioned how another customer had thought the price she was selling a picnic basket for was way too high. Before hearing that, I was about to buy said picnic basket. After hearing that, I questioned whether or not the price was too high and put the basket back down. Eventually, I got tired of her following me around with her gibberish. I needed to think, weigh the pros and cons before handing over my hard earned cash. Things like “do I need this?” “Do I want this?” “Where will I put this?” “Is this worth the asking price?” “Would someone want this as a gift?” “Can I find this elsewhere?” “Will I regret this purchase in a day or so?” all needed to be thought out and answered in my head. But I was distracted by her jibber-jabber, so I left. I wonder how she ever makes a sale with that mouth of hers. Too bad, she has some great finds in there.

I plan to go thrifting in San Francisco when I get there next month. Haight Street is full of second-hand stores and I wont have nearly enough time to peruse them all but I hope to find some good stuff. My style is a cross between vintage shabby modern chic. I don’t like stuff just because it’s old, like some people. But I will buy new stuff that looks old, lol. For instance, my chandelier that I love so much which cost me 80 some odd bucks but I can’t even hang it in my bedroom like I want to because my house is vintage and the light is on the wall, rather than on the ceiling, is actually new but it was made to look old. It’s sort of a rusted gold color and has plenty of jewels on it (some of which have broken off since it’s been sitting in the box waiting to be hung L ). I think I’m going to go ahead and bite the bullet and have someone come out to reroute my wires so that I can hang that sucker from the ceiling before it gets too broken up and I’m crying over my 80 some odd dollars even more. I have a lot of little unique stuff in my house, and that’s what I prefer – nothing cookie-cutter, nothing “in style”, everything “my style”, old and new but with lots of character.

Christmas Eve Sleepover

So it looks like I will be having a small Christmas gathering at my house on the 24th. Here’s how it came about: My mother has this uncanny ability to stress me the hell out over nonsense and before I realize its nonsense, I’ve done something I regret and my day/night/mood is ruined. Last night she called me in a panic, quivery voice and all, saying that my 18 year old nephew had walked to her house in the pouring rain after his wretched witch of a mother who hates him, walked into his bedroom and socked him as hard as she could in the chest. Mom claims his ribs are broken and he has no way to get to the hospital. Of course, I am flooded with panic. She’s putting all this responsibility on me to help him because she can’t. And I’m thinking, how the hell am I going to make it all the way down to L.A. in this torrential rain with the tires on my car on a Sunday at 8pm?? The stress creeps up on me and before I know it, I’m calling up my nephews’ loony-bin mom, asking her if she’s going to take him to the hospital and she says she has to go to work. Incredulous, I ask her if she’s okay with him dying while she’s at work and has she lost her mind, socking him over a cellphone charger, and she calls me out of my name and hangs up the phone. I call back, livid, and she doesn’t answer so I leave a very nasty message that would make your ears bleed. And that’s when it occurs to me that I may have been duped, yet again, by mother dearest. I call my mom back and that’s when she discloses that he feels fine BUT they were about to hop on the bus and go to the hospital, except my nephew said it wasn’t that big of a deal. I no longer want to talk to my mother but I’m not sure how to explain this given how angry I am at her. Don’t want to say the wrong thing ANYMORE, you know? I just boiled over, instead. So now, in addition to my mom and step father, my nephew is also coming over to my house for a sleep over on Christmas Eve. Should be festive.