HERE'S WHAT'S NEW AT IKEA!!!

We took a road trip down to IKEA this week and got to see all the new

Kitchen displays and new items......but we really went for the

Meatballs!!

I'm always amazed how great IKEA makes their displays look.....

They had just finished re-doing their kitchen area

and they look great....

I loved these stainless steel work tables...

Pantry fixens!

They have that huge farmhouse sink for a mere $189.00
it comes in single bowl or double....
How can you beat that price..
it is porcelain....

This looks straight out of the 1960's.....
Too white for my taste...

misplaced in the photo placement....

ooops.....

but a great solid wood display cabinet for only $149.95

between the stainless and those lights...you walk into this kitchen in

the morning and you'll go blind!!

but I loved the dark wood cabinets with the grey back tile....

They do great small kitchens for cheap....

Loving the orange back splash...

Another tiny space done in beadboard and blue...

The other side of the room....

I think the cabinets for these two spaces were around $1800.00

Now this white kitchen I like....the wood floor looks nice against all the white...

I would have gone with different pendant lights.....

But they didn't ask my opinion....

Touches of red....

You know this was a favorite...

How cute is this.....

A cute country table.....pretty cream and blue linens...

So....we were wandering through the store..................

and I turned around and I had lost the Boss....
Most people loss their wives while shopping....I lose the husband....

I was three departments over when I had to turn around and walk back to find him

Here.....

We were in the store about 10 minutes by now and he already had

Seven items written down on his little pad using his miniature golf pencil....

All things he just had to have....
He's worse then a women...

Around the bend to the bedding area....

This is so beachy looking...

I have those red end tables and I just love them....

These throw pillows aren't new but aren't they great with the monogram.....

At $24.99 they are really pretty in person....

It's a shame they only come in two

different letters...

You wonder who's monogram it is???

The cranberry duvet cover and 2 pillow cases....

A steal at only $24.99

A Huge Favorite of mine...

IKEA's embroidered throw pillows....

This is a new design.....

$24.99

Very Colonial looking.

Tempted to purchase but I already have last years model....

I thought this closet accessory was really cool for shoe storage....

each row cost $19.99

This was unusual....

A large wall cabinet in a great new color....

Very European in design...

the color was somewhere between a gray and a brown....

So I guess that would be taupe...

it looks green in this picture but it was a beautiful gray/brown...

it looks different in this piece but this matches the wall cabinet....

I Love this Linen Cabinet...

At only $249.00

the inside is covered in yellow and white striped wallpaper....

Again Solid wood...not veneer

Their pieces are very easy to assemble....

That's how they keep the prices so low...

We were through wandering around furniture so that meant it had to be time for......

MEATBALLS!!!!!!!!

Now to tell you the worst part....

It was "99 cent. meatball dinner day"....

Yes people....that plate of food complete with Ligonberry sauce....

99 Cents!!

We still managed to spend over $10. by the time we bought drinks and a bunch of

side dishes....

I would have gotten a piece of their almond cake which is delicious

But I didn't want to be frivolous....
After we stuffed ourselves...

we decided to walk off the calories by going down stairs to the MarketPlace....

Very neat looking thermos bottles....

New baking supplies....

and baking pans...

The ever popular cheap dish towel....

I buy these in bulk and use them as napkins....

They are great to embelish using fabric paint and stamp designs around the edges....

But do you think they have enough??

New Dots!

Bright Solids and Wide Stripes.

Almost at the end....

Every kind of storage you can think of...

Heading towards the check out....

Outdoor Stuff...

Hammocks....umbrellas....patio and deck things that you can't live without....

I lost "Tiny" one more time and had to go back looking down all the aisles

Until I found him here....

List in hand....

I helped whittle the items down from seven to three......

He bought a butcher block wood cart with wheels and two shelves..

intended for his use....

We saw how it would look in the kitchen when we got it home...

and it now sits where my old butcher block used to be....

Thank you Boss!!

And ofcourse I couldn't leave
without my customary 50 cent hot dog...

What?....it's all Beef....

A New Esty Shop....a women named Charlotte and a Winner!!

It all started last week when I did a quick stop at our local thrift store....

I frequent this particular shop because they have a huge blown up

Statue of Liberty on it's roof and you all know how I feel about the Lady in the Harbor...

As soon as I walked in a saw a table filled with old china...

"Quick....go get a cart and start filling it"...was my first thought!!

Horribly overpriced considering it's a thrift shop I picked the prettiest pieces....

A covered butter dish....a gravy boat and tray....a sugar bowl and creamer...

I winced as the cashier gave me the total....

As soon as I got to the car I thought to myself.....Why did you just buy all this stuff that you have no use for because fancy china does not go with Moose and Deer Heads.... So what to do??

Well....at lunch last week with the ladies Linda was telling us that she was opening an

Etsy Shop to sell vintage items....

Or as I like to call it..."Other People's Crap"....

How hard could it be.....although not being computer savvy....I always found it a hassle to list on

E-Bay....

Not wanting to bother the Boss with lots of questions I consulted with daughter since she also has an Etsy Shop...

Convincing me how easy it was to set up a shop I gave it a try.....

So I am now a budding entrepreneur of

Charlotte Kirk Vintage

Or as I formally bill myself

"Purveyor of Vintage China....Souvenirs and Mementos"....

Isn't this covered butter dish beautiful....

It's by Edwin Knowles and after some research it's Art Deco from the 20's....

Love the gravy boat.....all the pieces are in beautiful condition....
So who in the world is my new alter ego Charlotte Kirk???
Well....Charlotte was the Truant Officer for the school system in Newark N.J. back in the
20's...30's and 40's.....
Part of the Irish Kirk clan there was also brother George and sister Maude...
They were teachers in the Newark schools....They never married..
They befriended my father when he was in Boy's Town....the orphanage in Kearney N.J.
they would take out the children from the orphanage for weekend trips and
they remained life long family friends....
It was their vacation home at the Jersey Shore that we would go to every summer
and Charlotte and Maude had the most magnificent china collection.

Housed in a big old oak china cabinet I still remember the pieces to this day...
When I bought my treasures I thought of Charlotte...
where Maude was the quiet reserved sister
Charlotte was a pistol....
Even in her 70's and 80's she was feisty...
So that is how I came upon my new persona....




And now for my giveaway winner.....
Being technically challenged...... after all it took me two years to figure out how to do a link...
I had to pick a winner the old fashion way...
I called in the help of the Boss.....

All the names went inside the teapot!!


He claims he didn't want human hands to interfere with picking a name so.....

He showed up in the kitchen with his favorite gadget....

And he picked a winner!

Man Hands......

and the winner is....

Peg from Bloomfield Farm!!!

Peg....give me a holler with your address at the farm and I'll get your tea pots and some other

goodies sent right out to you....

And thank you all for playing along....

The Boss has too much time on his hands....

And what is this???......

It would be a gift from my good friend Flour Power Joyce
We were leaving for IKEA yesterday when the mailman delivered it....

It's the cutest apron I have ever seen....

And where did Joyce get it?

IKEA ofcourse!!

I looked high and low.....in every nook and cranny of the store and I couldn't find

any more....I was very sad....I wanted to get one for daughter

and Nunze in Jersey.....

Thank you Joyce....I love it and thank you for always thinking of me!

and stay tuned for my next post....

What's New at IKEA....

GROWING UP IN BLACK & WHITE......And a Blogaversary Giveaway!!

I have been officially blogging now for two years.....You can read my very first post here

And to celebrate this milestone I thought I would bore you with none other then

pictures of ME!!

Oh yes.....and if you can suffer all the way to the end there will be a giveaway! You see I was probably even photographed inside the womb....

Every time I turned around the folks took a picture and when other people inherit

a Trust Fund when they reach 18....

All I got was a shoebox filled with old black and white pictures of myself....

And surprisingly my personal favorite post has been this one

25 people left comments and most of you continued to come back for more...

Even though you could clearly see from the post that I basically am a

Loon!

With this blog reaching another year it will eventually be turned into another

hard bound book just like daughter got me last year...

And along with my witty repartee'

I wanted to include some old family pictures in the book...
So if your all ready.....

This is me....in Black and White.

Grandma "Grammy" Restaino...January 4th. 1951

She looked this way.....old and gray....my entire life...

Very confusing.......

She looked the same in 1950 as she did in 1970..

She lived to be 89...

The folks....Millie and Siggy...

The post that was the favorite among my followers was hands down the one

featuring M & S on their Anniversary here.....

Miss "B" gets her love of hats from me!!
1952

The fam at the Bronx Zoo....with brother Bruce..

July 7th. 1952

Learning early how to cheat at miniature golf....

Something I am an expert at to this day...

Another Zoo shot....what in the world did my mother have on her head??

sitting and watching Dad build a new garage.....

and getting some motherly advise...

So the brothers were big with model airplane building....

I consider this "sibling" abuse....

.....on the back porch of the beach house

Long Beach Island

1952

How cute is this picture.....

Ricky Fleming was born 4 days after me on October 12, 1950...

His Mom died in childbirth and my mother helped to

raise him until his father re-married in 1953...

We were really raised like brother and sister...

On the porch of the LBI house....

No recollection of this dog???

Here.....Have a Snowball!!

I thought this was a Halloween picture....

No....this was taken on May 17th.1953

I guess I just liked to wear costumes...

Another trait that Miss B. has picked up.....

And I was one mean "CowGirl"....

notice the gun.

Can you tell that we loved the beach...

Being Modest...

I always had something in my mouth that I shouldn't have....

here I am eating string while Siggy is out like a light.

The infamous squint-smile...
Sophie has learned to do this as soon as a camera is pointed in her direction...

Every year my birthday party was Halloween themed....

This was October 1955...

See the smiling blond on the right....That would be Suzanne Page...

Her brother and my brother were in the same grade school class....she was born a few weeks before me and Bruce asked that if he had a new sister could she be called

Suzanne too....

So now you know that I am a Suzanne.....not a Susan....

the Boss calls me Suey....and my best friends call me Suz.....

but you all know me as Sue........no middle name.

Loved the costumes.

My mother made all my costumes...
October 31....1954

See the mantel....Milk glass collecting started on that mantel

Halloween 1955...

First day of kindergarten....

Roosevelt School 1954....

Mona Garber.....Ricky....and me!

In my high school year book Ricky wrote....

"I don't know what to say because we will probably see each other the rest of our lives...

Love, Your Brother"....

Shortly after we moved to Florida in 1977 I got a call that he had been

killed in an auto accident in Texas when his Jeep flipped over...

A very Sad day indeed.......

Another favorite activity for the family was every year going down to

Atlanta City and getting wacky pictures taken on the

Boardwalk...

And then they bought me my very own German Shepard

Guard Dog....

He lasted only until he got bigger then me then Millie took him right back

where he came from....

She was very afraid of dogs...

Something that I out grew after realizing that all dogs don't bite.......

A drum roll please.....and a sigh of relief from the people....

My very first bicycle....

a "Pink Lady"......Christmas...1956.

Okay.....so if you have been so kind to sit and suffer through my early years and you would

like to leave a comment...even if you tell me to never ever do this again..

I will be sending one lucky winner

A Pair of teapots..

In honor of the art of black and White Photography..

One white.....One black!!

And some extra Tea Goodies thrown in for good measure....

Tell your friends to stop by too....

I will have the Boss pick a winner next Friday.....

And thank you all for 2 wonderful years!!