Lamp Day
I am going to be working backwards this week! It is late Sunday afternoon, I usually try to write the blog on Sunday mornings but Mother and I went on a little road trip to a mid-century modern warehouse sale. It was in Phoenix but must have been as far northwest as can be while still staying in town. We are in south Scottsdale right on the Phoenix border. This little warehouse was jam-packed with cool items. I am normally a fast decision-maker but all the good stuff was overwhelming, even for me. As an example, the lamps - since I liked a bunch of them I just took them all. We are in serious need of lighting in the house. The only overhead light fixture is in the dining room area and it is very weak. During the day the sunlight pours in but at night it is very dark. Due to the structure of the home it will be a big deal to install overhead lighting, they would literally have to drill through the roof. I think we will mostly be relying on lamps and the suggestion of wall sconces was made which are not quite as invasive. I have a place for four of these lamps for sure, if we need to we will take the others home. The pop-up sale definitely needs lighting so I am not worried!
Something I have always wanted to do was to take an old Philco TV and have the guts modernized so I could watch cable TV on it. Back in the day there were some folks in Milwaukee who specialized in this but I am not sure if they are still around. I have never even seen a Philco in person and this warehouse had them in spades! Two standalone models, three tabletop versions and several portables. I wish I would have taken more photos but here is one of the standalone models, a Philco Predicta. One leg is cut off because there were other items in front of it. The owner of the sale was such a nice man, he said he could send this to some pros he knows to see if it could be modernized. It would be pricey but perfect for my room here because there is no place to put a flat screen TV on the wall. Mother is not a fan, she said she lived through this era and does not care to live through it again but I love the idea and see the potential. I now know where to go locally when I am ready!
Something I have always wanted to do was to take an old Philco TV and have the guts modernized so I could watch cable TV on it. Back in the day there were some folks in Milwaukee who specialized in this but I am not sure if they are still around. I have never even seen a Philco in person and this warehouse had them in spades! Two standalone models, three tabletop versions and several portables. I wish I would have taken more photos but here is one of the standalone models, a Philco Predicta. One leg is cut off because there were other items in front of it. The owner of the sale was such a nice man, he said he could send this to some pros he knows to see if it could be modernized. It would be pricey but perfect for my room here because there is no place to put a flat screen TV on the wall. Mother is not a fan, she said she lived through this era and does not care to live through it again but I love the idea and see the potential. I now know where to go locally when I am ready!
There were other pieces there too but I got out before I spent any more money. After that we went to a nearby Mexican store which is a larger version of the one in Old Town Scottsdale. It is four times larger and had lots of furniture and mirrors in addition to the colorful pottery. Mother was able to pick up four planters that she plans to take back to Arlington Heights. I saw what looked like a 3-foot tall tin Christmas tree but I think even that one is too large for me! We then went around the corner to a furniture consignment store. It was a nice place but there was very little vintage and the prices were up there so no luck. Finally we took a 20-minute drive to a bead store and it was very basic. There were not really any sterling silver findings to speak of but we did pick up a bunch of seed beads which Mother will use to put between beads we already have to give the jewelry more interest and make them more flexible (with more drape) as opposed to being stiff and uncomfortable around the neck or wrist. I have not ordered findings for many years but if we want to make use of our bead inventory I will need to.
On Friday I went for my second hair appointment since we have been in Arizona, back to the Aveda salon I visited the first time six weeks ago. I have been growing my hair since January 2020 and it is really making progress. I had it chin-length for a long time and now it is past my shoulders. I am going to see how it goes, I may go four more inches so I can easily style it different ways. I would really like to be able to put it half up / half down, in a loose ponytail or even pigtails so the earrings I wear will show. The color last time was very pretty but was leaning towards brown and I wanted it to be brighter. This time it is dark with bright magenta, the color shows most when I am in the sun. I am hoping to keep the color bright as long as possible. The idea here is not to have to bleach it which does damage the hair in the long run. Luckily I have only had it bleached three times in the past. I really like the stylist, she has dark medium-length curly hair so she can definitely relate but the cost is three times what I pay at the Aveda salon in Mount Prospect due to the chi-chi location. It is not any fancier than the salon in Mount Prospect but the location is right in the heart of a wealthy area. I do have an appointment to go in another six weeks and then sometime after that we will be heading for home. This will give me time to attend the Gem Show, finish my taxes and close up the house for the summer.
On Thursday I sent another box of jewelry to sell back to home base, it was more than 11 pounds! The box is totally loaded with sterling jewelry - many Southwest Style pieces including Desert Rose Trading by Jay King, beautiful Native American turquoise pendants and earrings which I purchased directly from the artist and more unique sterling silver pieces including two more bags of rings. Mike is coming over on Monday so we will do our best to get many of these new items incorporated into the jewelry caravan for our Burr Ridge and West Chicago sales. We also have two boxes which were newly prepared for the Arlington Heights sale this past weekend but we ended up not having room for them.
On Tuesday I took Mother to an appointment with a new doctor who hopefully will be able to help her with her knee pain. We received his name from Melinda who received it from a friend of a friend. She had a wonderful experience with the doctor and when I took a look at his reviews they were glowing. One person said wait for him, no matter how long you need to wait! Mother saw the physician's assistant who took an X-ray and determined that the bones are rubbing together on the front of the one knee, causing the pain. Tomorrow I am taking her back for a gel shot. Hopefully this will provide some relief and buy some time before surgery is needed. The assistant also gave her names to help her with her back and hands. I think she is realizing that it is good to take care of these issues while we are here together.
This next week I will be focusing on estate sale paperwork as our big weekend with five sales will be due. I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with polishing and pricing the rest of the sterling jewelry and will soon be able to move on to another project. This week the dress form I ordered came in. Rachel suggested it - it has a muslin head and body and wooden poseable arms and fingers. I got the base with casters so it would be easier to move around. The natural color arms were out of stock so I ordered the black arms. I will keep an eye out for the natural arms, it would be nice to have both. The first task will be to stage her with clothing and shoot photos with my best jewelry pieces so people will be able to see how they look on a model. We will work on some sort of headdresses or decorated headbands for her which will vary in style depending upon the type of jewelry we are shooting. I will need to get a skirt to put on the bottom because pants are too difficult to get on and off. I think the effort will be worth it because we should end up with some cute photos for the online store, Facebook and Instagram. I definitely want to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get these photos shot here. The landscaping project is supposed to be starting soon and that will provide a wonderful desert backdrop for the photos. In Mount Prospect, it is too difficult to find a perfect weather day and the shooting has to take place the last two hours before sunset to get the best results.
Well I should get back to paperwork, until next time!
On Friday I went for my second hair appointment since we have been in Arizona, back to the Aveda salon I visited the first time six weeks ago. I have been growing my hair since January 2020 and it is really making progress. I had it chin-length for a long time and now it is past my shoulders. I am going to see how it goes, I may go four more inches so I can easily style it different ways. I would really like to be able to put it half up / half down, in a loose ponytail or even pigtails so the earrings I wear will show. The color last time was very pretty but was leaning towards brown and I wanted it to be brighter. This time it is dark with bright magenta, the color shows most when I am in the sun. I am hoping to keep the color bright as long as possible. The idea here is not to have to bleach it which does damage the hair in the long run. Luckily I have only had it bleached three times in the past. I really like the stylist, she has dark medium-length curly hair so she can definitely relate but the cost is three times what I pay at the Aveda salon in Mount Prospect due to the chi-chi location. It is not any fancier than the salon in Mount Prospect but the location is right in the heart of a wealthy area. I do have an appointment to go in another six weeks and then sometime after that we will be heading for home. This will give me time to attend the Gem Show, finish my taxes and close up the house for the summer.
On Thursday I sent another box of jewelry to sell back to home base, it was more than 11 pounds! The box is totally loaded with sterling jewelry - many Southwest Style pieces including Desert Rose Trading by Jay King, beautiful Native American turquoise pendants and earrings which I purchased directly from the artist and more unique sterling silver pieces including two more bags of rings. Mike is coming over on Monday so we will do our best to get many of these new items incorporated into the jewelry caravan for our Burr Ridge and West Chicago sales. We also have two boxes which were newly prepared for the Arlington Heights sale this past weekend but we ended up not having room for them.
On Tuesday I took Mother to an appointment with a new doctor who hopefully will be able to help her with her knee pain. We received his name from Melinda who received it from a friend of a friend. She had a wonderful experience with the doctor and when I took a look at his reviews they were glowing. One person said wait for him, no matter how long you need to wait! Mother saw the physician's assistant who took an X-ray and determined that the bones are rubbing together on the front of the one knee, causing the pain. Tomorrow I am taking her back for a gel shot. Hopefully this will provide some relief and buy some time before surgery is needed. The assistant also gave her names to help her with her back and hands. I think she is realizing that it is good to take care of these issues while we are here together.
This next week I will be focusing on estate sale paperwork as our big weekend with five sales will be due. I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with polishing and pricing the rest of the sterling jewelry and will soon be able to move on to another project. This week the dress form I ordered came in. Rachel suggested it - it has a muslin head and body and wooden poseable arms and fingers. I got the base with casters so it would be easier to move around. The natural color arms were out of stock so I ordered the black arms. I will keep an eye out for the natural arms, it would be nice to have both. The first task will be to stage her with clothing and shoot photos with my best jewelry pieces so people will be able to see how they look on a model. We will work on some sort of headdresses or decorated headbands for her which will vary in style depending upon the type of jewelry we are shooting. I will need to get a skirt to put on the bottom because pants are too difficult to get on and off. I think the effort will be worth it because we should end up with some cute photos for the online store, Facebook and Instagram. I definitely want to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get these photos shot here. The landscaping project is supposed to be starting soon and that will provide a wonderful desert backdrop for the photos. In Mount Prospect, it is too difficult to find a perfect weather day and the shooting has to take place the last two hours before sunset to get the best results.
Well I should get back to paperwork, until next time!