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Thrift Store Treasures: How to Find the Best Deals
I have been a thrift store addict all my life, as well as a consummate estate saler and flea marketer. There is nothing like the search for a bargain to set my heart racing. Whenever I travel, I always look for thrift stores! Why? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I also love that I am preventing more debris from going into our landfills. Plus, getting something at a fraction of what it cost new can feel pretty good. Pre-loved items are definitely a win-win. Here is my guide to what to buy and how to get the best deals.
Source @pinterest.com Clothing. Name brand apparel that was originally ridiculously priced can be found for a fraction of that at the thrift store. Jeans are one item that you can find for far less than you would pay retail. I highly recommend trying clothing on before you purchase it as many stores have a no refund policy.
Source @pinterest.com Shoes & Handbags. While it is highly unlikely that you will find a Chanel bag like this at a thrift store, never say never. Sometimes things turn up that you would have never thought possible. It is not uncommon to occasionally find high end shoes and handbags.
Books. Tired of paying top dollar for books? I have found so many good books at the thrift store, including recently released best sellers, usually for two to three dollars. It would seem that many people read a book once and then donate it? Lucky me! There are also cookbooks, textbooks, and children’s books galore.
I discovered this vintage handmade tatted lace handbag at a thrift store in Carmel-by-the-Sea for $2.00! 
Shabby Chic table I found in Monterey for $20.00. Vintage/Antique Items. I have found lovely furniture, beautiful vintage china and all kinds of treasures at thrift stores. There are also always vintage pyrex dishes, candle holders, wine goblets and more, all very modestly priced.
Artwork and Frames. We have all heard stories of someone purchasing a painting at a thrift store that turned out to be worth a fortune. Clearly, this is rare, however, you can often find beautiful artwork and lovely frames at extremely reasonable prices. It’s always fun to find something beautiful for far less than it would cost new!
Source: @pinterest.com Children’s Toys and Games. As an occupational therapist working with children, I am always looking for things to improve fine motor, motor planning, and visual perceptual skills. Thrift stores never fail me.
Seasonal Decor. Looking for holiday decor at an affordable price? Thrift stores will never disappoint. There are always amazing deals for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and more.
Monterey Farmgirl’s Tips for Finding the Best Bargains:
- Shop frequently. The more you visit the greater your chances of hitting the jackpot.
- Nearly every store has sale days. Sometimes this can mean up to 50% off or more. Check with stores to learn about their specials.
- The early bird gets the worm. Go early in the morning to get first pick, and find out when the store restocks merchandise.
- Don’t forget to ask about senior citizen or military discounts.
- No time to go shopping in person? Check out these fabulous online thrift stores: thredUP, Worn Wear, and Swap.com.
Three super cute tops I found at Goodwill a few days ago, all for $20.00! Here are some of my favorite thrift stores in the Monterey area: Branches Resale Shoppe, Yellow Brick Road Benefit Shop, Central Coast Goodwill, and St. Vincent de Paul. Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you found some helpful information. You may also enjoy Best Guest Dresses for a Beach Wedding and Scrumptious Strawberries: Fanciful Finds You’ll Love! Wishing you peace, love, joy, and happy thrifting!
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Cottage Love in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Originally settled by a band of bohemian artists and writers, Carmel-by-the-Sea is one of the prettiest cities you will ever see. Visitors feel as though they have stepped into something from Grimm’s Fairytales, and perhaps they have. Part of the allure of this seaside town arises from the storybook homes populating it. Romantic cottages are waiting to be discovered around every corner. There’s just something about these cozy abodes that tugs at your heartstrings and makes you fall in love with them. Here are some sappy but sweet cottage quotes about these lovelies. Enjoy!
I am excessively fond of a cottage; there is always so much comfort, so much elegance about them. I advise everybody who is going to build, to build a cottage. ~ Jane Austen. Anything ever written by Jane Austen is solid advice, in my humble opinion.
Every antique farm-house and moss-grown cottage is a picture. ~ Washington Irving. This is true, hence my obsession for photographing them excessively.
A cottage will hold as much happiness as would stock a palace. ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie. I have never lived in a palace, so cannot draw such a comparison. And even though I believe happiness comes from within, living in a Hugh Comstock dwelling like this would certainly amp up the happiness factor.
Everyone can identify with a fragrant garden, with beauty of sunset, with the quiet of nature, with a warm and cozy cottage. ~ Thomas Kinkade. Mr. Kinkade, of all people, understands the veracity of this statement.
Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn. ~ Oliver Goldsmith. These are actually clematis flowers and they do appear to be peeping over the gate. Petal peepers!
I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curl’d above the green elms, that a cottage was near. I said, “If there’s peace to be found in the world, a heart that was humble might hope for it here”. ~Thomas Moore. Agreed, I would love to find peace in this cottage!
Give me the sea and a little cottage just to be. ~unknown. Definitely!
Thank you for visiting my blog. You may also enjoy The Garden Gate Story: Inspiration from Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Magical and Enchanting Gardens of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and beautiful vistas.
If only this were true! Source: Pinterest. ,
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Best Guest Dresses for a Beach Wedding
Beach weddings have long been popular here in Monterey County, especially in romantic Carmel-by-the-Sea and beautiful Big Sur. Following all those postponed nuptials last year, beaches are once again becoming popular destinations for those looking to get hitched. So you’ve been invited to a beach wedding. How exciting! Looking for the perfect dress? Here are some of my favorites!
How pretty would this linen dress from Reformation look against a dreamy background of blue water and golden sand? It features a fitted bodice, open back (love!) and a relaxed fitting skirt.
This satin faux wrap midi dress from Express is so pretty. I want to call it a mermaid dress. You will certainly feel like one wearing this. It also comes in petite sizes.
This simple yet elegant v-neck flounce sheath dress, from Ann Taylor, comes in the the aptly named “windswept”.
This butterfly dress in blush, also from Reformation is so romantic. It features off the shoulder flutter sleeves and a ruffled hem. This would be so lovely fluttering in the sea breeze.
This embroidered lace dress is from Anthropologie. Created by Paris-born designer Pascal Magali, it is perfect for a beach wedding.
It’s always nice to look forward to weddings, and beach weddings are the best! I hope you found some dress inspiration! You may also enjoy Ten Most Romantic Picnic Spots in Monterey County and Lovers Point: Legendary Park in Pacific Grove. Thank you for visiting my blog. Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and beautiful vistas.
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Scrumptious Strawberries: Fanciful Finds You’ll Love!
Strawberry season is upon us! Did you know that California supplies 80 percent of America’s strawberries? Here in Monterey County there are strawberry fields everywhere. The climate here is perfect for growing these ruby beauties. I love strawberries, not just because they are so delicious and healthy to eat, but also because they are so pretty! Here are some sweet strawberry finds you will love, no matter where you live.
This Kate Spade pink wallet embellished with strawberries is jam-packed with cuteness, at eBay.
This linen blend ruffle sleeve strawberry dress from Ann Taylor is sure to please. Simply scrumptious!
I like that you can add not just one initial, but two to this cute strawberry keychain, on Etsy.
Affordable? Yes! Strawberry T-Shirt plus solid 2-Pack at Old Navy.
Bath & Body Works Strawberry Pound Cake Shower Gel will have you feeling like you have just emerged from a field of fresh strawberries!
Stawberry Candy Marshmallow Macarons from Laduree are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth!
This super cute sign is available on Etsy. Perfect farmhouse decor!
This sweet strawberry cake is actually a candle! You can have your cake and smell it too. Available at Etsy.
Thank you for visiting my blog. You may also like Nine Best Fresh Herbs To Use In Your Kitchen and Add Charm to your Garden with Beautiful Birdhouses! Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and beautiful vistas!
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Flowers & Other Stories: Spring Gardens I Love
The garden at the Lincoln Green Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea is an all-time favorite! Flowers make me happy, how about you? In the spring, Monterey County bedazzles with a bevy of blossoms. Gardens here become a riot of color and texture, as flowers tell their stories. I love seeing the blossoms magically appear, and like turning the pages in a book, discovering all the colors and textures as each garden comes alive. Here are some of my favorite local gardens in the spring.
I love the foxgloves growing outside this stone cottage in Carmel in the spring. Cottage gardens have always pulled at my heartstrings, how about you?
The spring flowers in the gardens at the Cooper Molera Adobe in Old Monterey are breathtaking. Sweet peas make me swoon; their scent is amazing!
Fairytale gardens are like stories I want to read again and again. These flowers in Carmel-by-the-Sea are simply magical.
In the spring, the gardens at Casa del Oro and the Pacific House in Monterey are enchanting.
The Church of the Wayfarer in Carmel-by-the-Sea has a lovely flowers year round, but in the spring it simply sparkles.
The Maple Park area in Salinas has many quaint vintage homes with magnificent gardens. I love the roses lining the old stone wall at this one.
Even the smallest homes with the tiniest yards can have the loveliest gardens. This one is located in Pacific Grove.
Larkin House in Monterey has a beautiful secret garden that just exudes peacefulness. There are benches everywhere to sit and relax. I love the rose covered pergola. There is even a very old stone well in the garden!
Another beauty from Carmel-by-the-Sea. Do you love the house or the flowers more?
My dog Sasha with some of my favorite spring flowers–primroses! I hope you enjoyed flowers and other stories. You may also like What the Color of Your Flowers Says About You and Enchanting Gardens of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Wishing you peace, love, happiness & beautiful vistas!
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Cottagecore 101: An Introduction for Monterey Farmgirl
Recently, a friend of mine asked if she and her photographer could scope out my farm for a photo shoot for her business based in Carmel-by-the-Sea. “Sure thing!” I replied, although adding that the wildflowers here are a bit deflated this year due to lack of rain. “It’s going to be a cottagecore theme!” she said. At this point I admit I was a bit befuddled. What the heck is cottagecore?, I thought. I completely forgot about this word until she and the photographer arrived at my farm. The photographer and my friend starting discussing that word again–cottagecore. It still sounded very ambiguous to me. I went online to see if any of the local libraries carried books on cottagecore. Nope. It was time to get down to business. I had to know.
Mrs. Frizzle and our colorful eggs on the farm. According to Good Housekeeping, it is a “dreamy aesthetic taking over the internet”. Okay, still ambiguous. The article goes on to say that cottagecore “embraces the charm of the English countryside, creating an idealized representation of farm life – no matter where in the world you may live.” Hmmmm. Examples of this include tending a garden, sipping tea, and foraging for mushrooms to recreate a “pastoral fantasy”. At this point, I am thinking, “My God, I am cottagecore!” But am I? Am I unwittingly part of a trend? The answer is no. I am just living my own ding dang life with my animals on the farm, I love nature, and that is authentically who I am. No trendy Wendy here.
The Mushroom Forager’s Festival I attended in Big Sur. Blogger Sara McDaniel calls cottagecore “Narnia combined with Little House on the Prairie…a charmed, fantastical, dreamy way of life absent of modern stresses and combined with sustainable living”.
Wild lupines growing on my farm in 2020. Cottagecore is also referred to as farmcore and countrycore. Huffington Post states that it is returning to “our roots”, which they define as staying home, going green, wearing flowery dresses, writing letters, baking bread, embroidering, and everything DIY. It also stipulates that to be cottagecore, you should look and live “like you’re in some sort of pastoral painting”. But I do! I do!
My dancing goat, Yoda. I discovered that someone has indeed written a book on this topic. The Little Book of Cottagecore, by Emily Kent, has yet to be found anywhere locally. I am certain that since it is an internet sensation it is readily available online, should someone want to delve further into this. And it’s not just any old book, but a little book which sounds much cozier, does it not?
Monterey Farmgirl wearing a flowery dress in a pastoral setting on her farm in 2020. In the meantime, I am going to return to my granny square crocheting and think about making hand-dipped soy candles while the aroma of homemade banana bread wafts from my oven. Damn it, I am cottagecore.
Thank you for visiting my blog. You may also enjoy reading Prettiest Wildflowers in Monterey County, From A-Z and Greatest Inspirational Goat Quotes Ever! Wishing you peace, love, happiness, and beautiful vistas!
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The Amazing Art of the Topiary
Topiary is the art of clipping shrubs, trees, and vines into shapes. Topiaries have been around since Roman times, when they became popular during the reign of Julius Caesar. These living sculptures took the shape of animals, obelisks, hedges and more. It wasn’t until the 1600s that topiaries became popular once again. Formal gardens with shrubs clipped in geometric formations and mazes were fashionable. While interest in topiaries ebbed and waned over the years, they became popular again during the Victorian era, when the rage for formal gardens returned. Today, topiaries can add curb appeal to your home, and provide an artistic accent to your home and garden.
A topiary accentuates the front entry of a home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It’s easy to create a topiary. The first thing you need to do is decide what shape you would like. Typical shapes are a cone, spiral, single, double, or triple ball, and animal shapes. It’s best to start with a simple shape if you are new to topiary design.
Spanish lavender topiaries add a casual vibe and smell wonderful! There are many plants that work great for topiaries. The best have small leaves, grow quickly, have dense foliage, and are easy to prune. Large topiary plants include yew, boxwood, holly, laurel, and privet. Small topiary plants include lavender, germander, rosemary, thyme, creeping fig, angel vine, and English ivy.
To grow vines such as ivy, angel vine, or creeping fig, it is best to have a form that it can pinned or wired to. It’s easy to create simple wire forms using single light gauge wire or even chicken wire. Simply cut the and bend the wire into the shape you want, then place into a container. You can also purchase pre-made topiary forms online. Wind the stems of the plant around the forms or attach them with pieces of florist’s wire.
You can also use foam, garden sculptures, and even stuffed animals! Cut enough chicken wire to fit over the object. Use florist’s wire to finish off the seams, but leave a hole so you can remove the object. Leave the bottom open, then place over the plant you have chosen. You can also fill the form with sphagnum moss to give your topiary a bit of shape while your plant grows and fills in the gaps.
My ivy kitty topiary needs a trim! 
After you create your topiary, you will need to clip it regularly to keep it in shape. The more complex the design, the more frequently you will need to trim it. It is good to have a pair of topiary shears for optimal shaping work on smaller or more complex topiaries.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Topiaries are so much fun! I smile every time I see my cat topiary. And that’s what topiaries should be all about. You may also enjoy Flowers & Other Stories: Spring Gardens I Love and Have a Seat: Garden Bench Inspiration. Wishing you peace, love, happiness, & beautiful vistas!
