A Ninja & A Crocheted Scarf Save The Day

Yesterday the hubby did his first landscaping of the new year. The yard wasn’t too bad since around these parts the lawn dies off in dormant months but considering March really did come in like a lion, there was some patchy growth and it just seemed messy looking.

His burst of energy wore me out so I ran off to the tanning bed. (Yes, tanning beds are from the devil but they do more than give me the color my paler-than-Edward-Cullen-skin needs, it brightens my mood. Like light therapy. It’s my story, I’ll tell it how I want to.) Whilst waiting for my turn to toast, I eavesdropped on a conversation about the insanely cheap prices on patio furniture at the close-out store.

Three guesses where I went next...the close-out store, naturally!

It’s a place called Ollie’s and it's housed in an old Toys R’ Us building, so it’s a pretty colorful place what with all the Geoffries & the old-school Toys R's Us color-scheme going on. They buy pallets of close-outs from all kinds of other stores –think giant garage sale meets Big Lots. This was only my third excursion into the store, and the first in a few years, so it was practically a brand new experience all over again. And truth be told, kind of exhilarating. 


There were stacks of area rugs in one corner, a mini-book store section in another corner, and miles of isles of stuff you never knew you needed but suddenly have to have. Like hugenormous garden planters and kitchenware and even yarn. Somehow I managed to actually stick to my plan of getting only patio furniture (ok and one planter). Ohhh let me just tell you I scored FOUR (1,2,3,4!) patio chairs for $20 a’piece!! We are talkin' the very same chairs sold last season (and probably this season too) at Target for $49 a’piece. So totally less than half price and completely brand new. Thank’s Crazy Ollie, you’re my new BFF!

I was so excited that I didn’t stop to think about how I would cart them home until I was standing in the parking lot glancing back & forth between my stack of chairs and my trunk. A little Japanese lady had just pulled up beside me and she started glancing back & forth between my stack of chairs, my trunk, and me.

I’m a little ashamed to tell you that my first thought was if I didn’t look at her, she would wander on into the store. I was trying to focus on my task at hand and small talk doesn’t come easy for me when I’m on a mission. And even though she was very grandmotherly, I figured she really just wanted to make sure I didn’t thwack her car. As it turns out, she just wanted to help – and help she did! It took about 20 minutes, but she never left my side until we got those 4 chairs wedged in to the car & tied my trunk practically closed with an abandoned crocheted scarf that had been in there for months. That little Japanese lady? Totally a ninja. 

I drove the 12 miles home going down the main drag at about 25 miles per hour. It was pretty obvious to everyone that I was hauling loot so no one got all road rage on me.

So then I’m sitting on my front porch and thinking it looks pretty drab. We had taken down the windchimes & flower baskets before winter (lest they blow away) and nothing seemed appropriate to put back up. I mean, it’s practically springtime, it was the first day of Daylight Savings Time (don’t get my husband started on that), there is fresh growth starting to appear on lawns & in trees – it just seemed wrong to put up the same old stuff, ya know?

But I had just spent 80 bucks on chairs. Close-out prices or not, 80 bucks is 80 bucks am I right? What’s a mama to do when she has this insane urge to nest? That’s easy: Dollar Tree!

At the Dollar Tree I scooped up 12 bunches of hot pink lilles and a cute little windchime (that may or may not last the breeze of a really fast bicycler going by, but whatever, it’s cute). Last month I bought a really pretty new “Welcome” flag with hot pink & orange lillies on a black background so I almost squealed out loud (ok I DID squeal outloud) when I realized what a perfect compliment they would be. Even the cashier was all "oooooh gurrl,   these are puh-rettay!" She asked me if I was going to make a wreath and I told her no, some hanging baskets, but now I've got this weird underlying desire to make a flippin' wreath. The power of suggestion is a beast. 

Back at home I set up "flower shop" on my front porch. I cleaned out my wire hanging baskets, padded them with new moss, and made two "Spring-y" arrangements. I love them. And the best part: I can’t kill them!

I can’t wait to sit on our front porch this evening and fondly remember the crochet scarf that gave it's life so that 4 chairs could safely travel to their new home.