the animal fair

More gift-hunting for myself, this time with a theme. Really, I couldn’t make it any easier for my loved ones.

Freaking adorable. I don’t use toothpicks but I’ll make an exception for the pickurpine.

These look like an easy DIY.

All of Zuny’s leather weighted bookends are awesome, but I will always have a place in my heart for pandas. And finally, a classic. I’ve wanted Alessi’s Dozi magnetic paperclip holder for a long time. It’s just so fun.

these

If anyone’s looking for birthday ideas for me, I’ve been on the hunt for some decent (read: matching) mugs. I’m a coffee/tea addict, and my motley assortment of holiday gift mugs are all pretty badly stained. These Ink mugs are pretty perfect. Especially since Joe would never let me get a real tattoo.

of house guests and hoarding

We had our first official, non-related houseguests yesterday!

An old friend of mine from high school and her husband were in town, and they stopped by. They have a large, lovely home in Colorado, so I issued my standard warning about how our place isn’t exactly finished yet. My friend told me not to worry, because they were staying at her folk’s place, which she describes as a perfect candidate for A&E’s Hoarders.

I still spent the morning furiously cleaning—I even broke my strict no-toilets rule. The downside is, now that the house is clean, our lack of furniture is all too apparent. We’re anti-Hoarders. In 10 years, we’ve only purchased a few pieces outside of the bed, desk, and dining room table and chairs I demanded before signing a lease with Joe (I had to demand it; the man suggested we manufacture furnishings out of orange crates).

Our trip last weekend to the Golden Nugget, an unfortunately named flea market in New Jersey, was pretty disappointing. It’s not exactly flea season yet. No dice on Craigslist either. (Do people ever really find stuff there?)

The hardest part, given our dearth of worldly possessions, is going to be deciding what to buy first. I may have to collect opinions … more on that later.

eBay obsessed

I seriously doubted the day would ever come, but Joe finally sold some crap on eBay. It took him an entire weekend just to set up an account and post two items, but he did it. And now he’s officially obsessed.

He checks the account night and day. He frets about user reviews. I’m so, so glad to unload some of our unused junk, but he’s starting to drive me nuts with it. And knowing I could get rid of it all with one quick trip to the Salvation Army, well, my patience began to wear thin.

Then he showed me that the current bid for an old Sega Saturn video game he owns is over $300. Joe has every system ever made, and hundreds of games. A lot of them are still in their original packaging because he never got time to play them. I feel like we hit a geekier version of the Antiques Roadshow jackpot.

Not that he’s selling all of them. I wouldn’t dream of pushing him to. It’s just nice to know they’re there, in case I ever need a major operation. Or kitchen remodel.