♪♫ Season of the Witch - Lana Del Rey
I have had this blog in my drafts for a couple months now. I have just been so busy! Ugh! I wish I could keep up better with blogging. Anyways, since my last blog, I went on a trip to see my best friend. She lives near the border of Maine in the United States, on the Canadian side. I was feeling apprehensive about visiting Maine due to the issues going on politically, but we decided to go over the border a few times and we took an overnight trip to Bangor. It all ended up being fine. I actually had a few Americans apologize to me for what their president has been doing. Despite the nice Americans, I don't know if I will visit again on my next trip. It seems to be getting worse and worse...
I did lots of shopping in Maine, which is usually what I end up doing, haha. I am a big Stephen King fan, so of course we also had to stop by his house. This time we decided to go to a Stephen King themed bookstore that I have wanted to go to for a long time now (we just usually run out of time before we can get to it). The owner was super nice. He was actually one of the Americans who apologized to us, haha. I ended up buying a vintage hardcover copy of Nightmares & Dreamscapes. I wanted a vintage hardcover copy of IT, but the one he had was $350 USD!
I also went into Books-A-Million (my favourite store in the United States), Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, and a little local witchy store located right across the border. I went a little crazy with the shopping!
My absolute favourite thing I bought was the mushroom mug! A couple years ago I heard that Books-A-Million had retro inspired Merry Mushroom dupe mugs, and I have looked in that store every chance I got, with no luck... until now! I am an avid collector of vintage mushroom stuff, especially Merry Mushroom items, and although I have two sets of Merry Mushroom mugs (both the American & Canadian versions), I am unable to use them due to lead. Now I have a brand new one that I can use! Yay! I was excited when I saw it that I gasped. I just wish there wasn't only one left! I would have bought two if I had the chance.
I did some thrifting/vintage shopping in both Maine and Canada. I didn't find a whole lot honestly. We visited the biggest antique mall in Maine like we did last year, and this time it was dead! Almost no one was there... last year was packed! We also noticed that on both sides of the border, thrift/vintage shops just didn't seem to have much. I think its a sign of the struggling economies honestly. But I did manage to find some stuff on the Canadian side; a vintage brooch of a clown sitting on a moon, a Spring Blossom Pyrex bowl, a round retro orange mirror, and some Halloween candles.
I also got some stuff when I was home. Due to my disappointment over not getting a hardcover copy of IT in Bangor, I went on eBay and found one for a really good price, and with a custom plastic sleeve to protect it! The book isn't first edition, but is actually a book club edition. Technically they came out at the same time and look the same on the outside, but the insides have differences. I really only cared about two things; having a hardcover copy and having the original cover artwork. The book club edition fit that criteria. The description also said it had some signs of wear, which is why the price was low. Well... imagine my surprise when the book shows up looking perfect. I have never seen a vintage book in such pristine condition! There wasn't a flaw that I could find! The seller had a ton of other listings for books and they had special gloves on in every photo of them handling books, so I think they were just a perfectionist and felt compelled to make note of any minor defects.
Aside from my copy of IT, I also got some new plushies. Two of them are bag clips/key chains. I found the mushroom one at my local drug store for $8. I couldn't leave him behind! A mushroom... and he is orange? He was made for me, haha. The jack-o-lantern with the black cat was found at a thrift store for $3, and is perfect for my keys! The jack-o-lantern squishmallow was at Walmart for $10. I just couldn't resist his cuteness! Finally, I also stocked up my yearly Bath and Body Works fall products. They sadly didn't bring back Pumpkin Swirl Cake as a scent this year, but they did come out with Glazed Pumpkin, which I actually like a lot more. I bought body cream in full size and travel size, and a large shower gel. That will last me the whole year (I also get the same things for the Twisted Peppermint scent every year). Plus I got a couple other random items.
Some other items I have gotten since I got home; a vintage hardcover copy of Dolores Claibourne by Stephen King, a vintage paperback copy of Misery by Stephen King, a vintage hand towel, a Goosebumps bookmark (finally!), the new book about David Lynch by Tom Huddleston, the new House of 1000 Corpses book by Rob Zombie, a vintage floral luggage suitcase, a Kermit the Frog Christmas tree ornament, and a bunch of random little Halloween items!
Oh and a vintage Avon fiber optic jack-o-lantern light! My grandmother bought me one in 2002, and I used it every year for Halloween decor. Some years it was the only thing I displayed for Halloween! I was so upset when it broke a few years ago, but I found another one at the thrift store for $10. It has some signs of being well loved, but that is okay, because so did my old one! I do want to buy one in very good condition via eBay someday, but for now... I have this to keep me going!
All of that shopping may seem like a crazy amount, but this was over the span of a few months, a lot of it was purchased at thrift stores for very cheap, and there was a large portion of it purchased while I was on vacation (which I had money budgeted for). I'm a maximalist, but I am good at budgeting my money, haha. Speaking of trips, I have another one coming up in five days! This is a big one; three weeks in Europe! I'm going to Dublin, Edinburgh, Prague, London, Paris, and Tromsø. I have some very special things planned, and I am super excited! I will try to write the blog for that trip as soon as I return. It'll be a long one!
Aside from all of that, the only other things I have been doing lately is school work, work, and a couple other random things. One of those random things is pickling and canning jalepenos from my backyard garden. Its my first time doing it... pray that I don't get boutilism, haha. I think I did fine though!
Now I need to get back to doing my homework and assignments for school in advance of my trip. Plus I also have trip related stuff I need to get done. Ahh! Every time I think I'm almost done, I remember another task I need to do. I can't wait for three weeks of not worrying about my usual life stuff. I need a break.
I have had this blog in my drafts for a couple months now. I have just been so busy! Ugh! I wish I could keep up better with blogging. Anyways, since my last blog, I went on a trip to see my best friend. She lives near the border of Maine in the United States, on the Canadian side. I was feeling apprehensive about visiting Maine due to the issues going on politically, but we decided to go over the border a few times and we took an overnight trip to Bangor. It all ended up being fine. I actually had a few Americans apologize to me for what their president has been doing. Despite the nice Americans, I don't know if I will visit again on my next trip. It seems to be getting worse and worse...
I did lots of shopping in Maine, which is usually what I end up doing, haha. I am a big Stephen King fan, so of course we also had to stop by his house. This time we decided to go to a Stephen King themed bookstore that I have wanted to go to for a long time now (we just usually run out of time before we can get to it). The owner was super nice. He was actually one of the Americans who apologized to us, haha. I ended up buying a vintage hardcover copy of Nightmares & Dreamscapes. I wanted a vintage hardcover copy of IT, but the one he had was $350 USD!
I also went into Books-A-Million (my favourite store in the United States), Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, and a little local witchy store located right across the border. I went a little crazy with the shopping!
My absolute favourite thing I bought was the mushroom mug! A couple years ago I heard that Books-A-Million had retro inspired Merry Mushroom dupe mugs, and I have looked in that store every chance I got, with no luck... until now! I am an avid collector of vintage mushroom stuff, especially Merry Mushroom items, and although I have two sets of Merry Mushroom mugs (both the American & Canadian versions), I am unable to use them due to lead. Now I have a brand new one that I can use! Yay! I was excited when I saw it that I gasped. I just wish there wasn't only one left! I would have bought two if I had the chance.
I did some thrifting/vintage shopping in both Maine and Canada. I didn't find a whole lot honestly. We visited the biggest antique mall in Maine like we did last year, and this time it was dead! Almost no one was there... last year was packed! We also noticed that on both sides of the border, thrift/vintage shops just didn't seem to have much. I think its a sign of the struggling economies honestly. But I did manage to find some stuff on the Canadian side; a vintage brooch of a clown sitting on a moon, a Spring Blossom Pyrex bowl, a round retro orange mirror, and some Halloween candles.
I also got some stuff when I was home. Due to my disappointment over not getting a hardcover copy of IT in Bangor, I went on eBay and found one for a really good price, and with a custom plastic sleeve to protect it! The book isn't first edition, but is actually a book club edition. Technically they came out at the same time and look the same on the outside, but the insides have differences. I really only cared about two things; having a hardcover copy and having the original cover artwork. The book club edition fit that criteria. The description also said it had some signs of wear, which is why the price was low. Well... imagine my surprise when the book shows up looking perfect. I have never seen a vintage book in such pristine condition! There wasn't a flaw that I could find! The seller had a ton of other listings for books and they had special gloves on in every photo of them handling books, so I think they were just a perfectionist and felt compelled to make note of any minor defects.
Aside from my copy of IT, I also got some new plushies. Two of them are bag clips/key chains. I found the mushroom one at my local drug store for $8. I couldn't leave him behind! A mushroom... and he is orange? He was made for me, haha. The jack-o-lantern with the black cat was found at a thrift store for $3, and is perfect for my keys! The jack-o-lantern squishmallow was at Walmart for $10. I just couldn't resist his cuteness! Finally, I also stocked up my yearly Bath and Body Works fall products. They sadly didn't bring back Pumpkin Swirl Cake as a scent this year, but they did come out with Glazed Pumpkin, which I actually like a lot more. I bought body cream in full size and travel size, and a large shower gel. That will last me the whole year (I also get the same things for the Twisted Peppermint scent every year). Plus I got a couple other random items.
Some other items I have gotten since I got home; a vintage hardcover copy of Dolores Claibourne by Stephen King, a vintage paperback copy of Misery by Stephen King, a vintage hand towel, a Goosebumps bookmark (finally!), the new book about David Lynch by Tom Huddleston, the new House of 1000 Corpses book by Rob Zombie, a vintage floral luggage suitcase, a Kermit the Frog Christmas tree ornament, and a bunch of random little Halloween items!
Oh and a vintage Avon fiber optic jack-o-lantern light! My grandmother bought me one in 2002, and I used it every year for Halloween decor. Some years it was the only thing I displayed for Halloween! I was so upset when it broke a few years ago, but I found another one at the thrift store for $10. It has some signs of being well loved, but that is okay, because so did my old one! I do want to buy one in very good condition via eBay someday, but for now... I have this to keep me going!
All of that shopping may seem like a crazy amount, but this was over the span of a few months, a lot of it was purchased at thrift stores for very cheap, and there was a large portion of it purchased while I was on vacation (which I had money budgeted for). I'm a maximalist, but I am good at budgeting my money, haha. Speaking of trips, I have another one coming up in five days! This is a big one; three weeks in Europe! I'm going to Dublin, Edinburgh, Prague, London, Paris, and Tromsø. I have some very special things planned, and I am super excited! I will try to write the blog for that trip as soon as I return. It'll be a long one!
Aside from all of that, the only other things I have been doing lately is school work, work, and a couple other random things. One of those random things is pickling and canning jalepenos from my backyard garden. Its my first time doing it... pray that I don't get boutilism, haha. I think I did fine though!
Now I need to get back to doing my homework and assignments for school in advance of my trip. Plus I also have trip related stuff I need to get done. Ahh! Every time I think I'm almost done, I remember another task I need to do. I can't wait for three weeks of not worrying about my usual life stuff. I need a break.
I'm familiar with he Merry Mushroom stuff! We had a bunch of those in the house growing up. I think my mom gave what she had to my sister. She collects from it when she happens to find some. That mug looks so identical to it, you probably can't even tell it isn't even from it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a nice trip!