Flea Fly Flo

Ooooo, have I been busy. Camping. Star gazing. Making homemade mayo. Grilling salmon burgers. Fajitas. Cooking breakfast at 6:30 AM over a campfire. Sunnyside eggs cooked in bacon fat. Taking le petit to the hospital for stitches (6!). Dealing with poolside tantrums. Planning a Fourth of July celebration. Packaging up all sorts of fun packages. Smiling. Crying. And an assortment of other activities.

And, during all this, I have had very little time to plop down in front of my laptop and blog. My apologies. But summers are not really for blogging. They are for living (and shipping and camping and whatnot). I assure you when winter rolls around the blog posts will be a’ plenty!

I have camping pictures to share … soon. But first, I must share some exciting news! I will be writing a guest article for Vintage Indie! And, the even better news - it is about Bundt cakes (and the Bundt pan!).

Anywho … the camping pictures, stories, etc will have to wait until after the 4^th of July. Right now, it is time to make Bundt cakes and plan patriotic parties.

Be back soon!

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This weekend was busy. Yesterday was very busy …

All in one day:

Woke up (or, was woken up) by a crabby le petit monstre, who insisted I get up “NOW!”

Walked 2.5 miles to the farmers market. Let my crabby le petit binge on Fruit Loops while we walked. Bad mama.

Purchased (over-priced) but delicious cherry pie and strawberries. Wonderfully priced asparagus and green garlic.

Walked 2.5 miles home.

Made scrambled eggs and bacon. Served with cherry pie for breakfast. Yum.

Made this wonderful green garlic and spinach soup (for the 3^rd time).

Packed a picnic of pressed ham and cheese sandwiches. Pretzels. And Cupcakes. In this nifty little picnic ball.

Packed picnic, BF, le petit, myself, and beach bag into car. Headed to the pool.

On the way to pool, spotted a garage sale. Stopped and found a wonderful 1950’s book – “All in One Day.”

BF and le petit dragged me away from garage sale. Made it to the pool.

Swam. Soaked up the sun, and raced BF down the water slide (I’m pretty sure I won, but le petit (who stood on the sidelines with a family friend, says his daddy won …).

Came home. Showered.

Dressed. Blow-dried hair. Put on black tank top. Jeans. And cute shoes.

Went this fabulous (but slightly overpriced) little wine bar in the city, for best friend’s birthday.

Sipped on a wine flight. Had one too many beers here.

12:30 AM headed home.

1:07 AM arrived home. Ate chicken wings BF left in the fridge.

Regretted eating chicken wings. Went to bed.

Today, I am at work. Fighting off a hangover headache, and counting down the hours until I leave work and head over to BF’s parents house for a post-Father’s Day celebration. With lobster tail and grilled shrimp. Yum.

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Okay, okay … it looks like it has been over a week since I wrote.  But really, it hasn’t.  I wrote on Sunday, but the post is M.I.A.

Oh well, the most exciting thing that has happened over here is … a bird attacked me this weekend on the way home from the farmers market.  Attacked.  It wrapped its little black claws into my mess of curls.  I had to smack her off.  Hope I didn’t hurt the little birdie.  After the smack, le petit and I ran. For two blocks.

Oh wait, there is more exciting news - I have sold 4 items on etsy!!   I know, I know - 4 - it sounds like NoThiNg to all the big etsy sellers out there, but I am one happy girl, who happens to love the number 4.

Other news … there have been many a days spent poolside.  And at garage sales.  And on stormy days (and there have been 1 too many of those) there has been lots of cupcake making, ice cream eating, and thrift store shoppin’

Just yesterday, I picked up these little gems:

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Yesterday, after a long day at the pool, I came home (with an over-tiered le petit) to discover … I made my first etsy sale.  Another yippee!  I told my bf we should have a bottle of champagne to celebrate.  Beet and goat cheese salad. My favorite German chocolate cupcakes.   We settled on corn beef hash with poached eggs (one of bf’s favorites) and ice cream from a yummy little shop down the street.

Anywho … this little man is on his way to a new home.  I am sure he will be happy there.

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After a weekend of thunderstorms, “tornadic activity (says weatherman),” a lengthy power (and internet) outage, a summer-reading-club crisis at work, and a number of postal scale mishaps, I didn’t think Flea Fly Flo would ever get on it’s feet … but it has.  Blasted off.  Yippie!

Visit me on etsy.

I’ll be updating the shop with more vintage goodies over the next few days, so stay tuned.

I am so happy to (finally) have something to call my own.  Sigh.  So happy.

I think I will celebrate with a bowl of ice cream and a chocolate chip cookie.

And, some sleep.  Much needed sleep.

Do come by and visit me at Flea Fly Flo.  It’s just so much darn vintage fun.

Goodnight.

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one more thing.  quick sneak peek.  of etsy-store-to-be.

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Molly of Orangette eloquently described Seattle as playing its usual game of hide and seek with summer in a guest post at this picture-perfect blog. But, I don’t think Seattle is the only city playing. For the past two weeks, summer has been hiding and Chicago has been seeking. Today Chicago found lovely 88-degree weather, but it also found a rash of thunderstorms and dense lazy fog.

The cold and (or) rainy days have kept us inside, and as lazy as fog, most days. Leaving only to take (quick) walks (with umbrella in tow) to the store. So, we have spent the days (when I am not working on Flea Fly Flo) doing silly things. Teaching le petit how to use the camera. Teaching him how to make silly faces for the camera. Coloring in and applying fake tattoos. Attempting to make sugar cookies in the shape of an axe (part of a collection of vintage cookie cutters). You know, the usual …

Speaking of vintage …

Postal scale is working. And Flea Fly Flo is ready to make its etsy debut. Friday. 7:00 PM Central time.

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I have been procrastinating lately (I blame warmer weather).  Reading (and looking at) blogs -Orangette, Arthur’s Circus, and Scrumdillydilly.  Spending an afternoon at the beach chasing pigeons (well, le petit chased the pigeons and I chased le petit).  Participating in this super fun swap (which has turned me into a collector of cocktail stir-sticks, at .10 a pop I don’t think there could be a better thing to collect in the summer!), this super cute swap, and hosting this (what I hope will turn out to be a) super hip swap.  While I procrastinated, I gave Nick, my web programmer a little break.  No phone calls asking (for the humptenth) time when my site would really be up and running.  No asking him to edit my text.  No complaining.   But, then my (wonderful) swap partner over at swap-bot informed me that she had been faithfully waiting for Flea Fly Flo to open, and I realized it was TIME.

Nick does not deal well with pressure, especially when he is working pro bono, so I have come up with a temporary solution (I blame lack of sleep for not thinking of this sooner) … etsy.

I love etsy.  It is easy to use, looks nice (enough), and I can actually have an up-and-running-store by Friday (as long as I get my postal scale working).

So … until I have my very own website, you can find me (starting on Friday) on etsy.

Hip-hip-hooray (says le petit, as he jumps from the window ledge onto the couch).

I agree, but I think I’ll refrain from the window-couch-jump.

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May is a busy month for me.  Full of birthdays, Memorial Day weekend, le petit monster asking repeatedly when the pools will be open, the start of the library’s summer reading program.  May is definitely a busy month.

I handled this May okay.  I baked cupcakes, spent Memorial Day with family frying chicken, and made it to a few garage sales.

The garage sales were okay, but my grandma’s house was so much better.  The (occasionally) warm May weather gave me a chance to rummage through boxes and chests in my grannies garage and attic.   I discovered vintage Winnie the Pooh, Nancy Drew books from the 1940’s, and a family cookbook (full of Jell-O salads -recipes will be shared soon)!

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Okay, Okay … so Flea Fly Flo is not up and running just yet. I didn’t realize how long all the programming, and whatnot, would take (and when a friend is designing your website for free things always seem to move a little bit slower ).

But, I do have good news -Jenny, of Frecklewonder, is back in business! After giving birth to a sweet little girlie (Dorothy Bird), Jenny has updated her web store with lots of vintage goodies. And, (since Flea Fly Flo has yet to go live) I suggest you head over there, and scoop of some vintage fun.

I did. Isn’t this apron wonderful (photo via Jenny @ frecklewonder.com) ??

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