Iwanna Wednesday - I Need a New Chapeau!

Hey all...another Iwanna Wednesday post! Wow! I'm amazing even myself. I thought I was all done with wanting things but I'm backkkkk! 

So a little update on what an Iwanna Wednesday is. To make a long story short, I want everything I see, whether it's in a store or on someone else or in someones front yard or on TV. My mom and my sister Lisa started noticing that the second I walked into a store I would see something I wanted and I would say, "Oh wow, look! I always wanted one of these!" So they nick-named me Iwanna because I wanna everything!

My Iwanna cravings got so strong that they started involving others. My daughter April bought me many of the things I would post. My sister was constantly looking for things for me to post. Even my cousin Stella, all the way over in San Diego got in on the act and on one of her road trips she found this!

She told me that when she saw it she knew it was meant for me. She mailed it to me letting me know she wasn't sending it to me for the bracelet attached, but for the little cardboard sign which is perfect for me.

So perfect in fact that it's going to be my Iwanna Icon/Banner for my Iwanna Wednesday's! Cute right?

So for a long time I did a post every Wednesday of things that struck my fancy and that I wanted. I did a bazillion (94 to be exact) Iwanna Wednesday posts. I had kind of strayed away from Iwanna Wednesday for a while because of a bunch of things but lately I've been noticing I'm getting that Iwanna bug back.

This weekend I took a little road trip with my sister Lisa and her friend Lupe to the Morro Bay Avocado and Margarita Festival! Doesn't that sound like fun? It was!

Here's a picture of my sister and Lupe and me of course. See anything missing in this photo? No? C'mon...look harder. All right, let me just tell you. If you look, my sister and Lupe are both wearing Chapeaus! Hats! Lids! Headgear! Millinery! Toppers! But not me...nope, no hat for me, which is why I'm sunburned today!

So I was telling my sister that I really want to get a hat for our next trip and she told me big, floppy hats are in! But...um...I don't see her wearing a big floppy hat. Nope, I see her in a cute cowboy-ish kinda hat. So I went shopping online to see if I can find a cool hat!.

I knew kinda what I wanted, which is what I call a Mennonite Straw Hat. We live in a small town that has a pretty big Mennonite community and they all wear these hats, especially when they are out gardening!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

Here's another one that caught my eye. I really like this one but I would want to be able to change out the hatband to something more colorful when it suited me.

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

But I'm thinking Iwanna one like the one my sister and Lupe are wearing, kind of a cowboy-ish kind of hat. So I found this one which I love! 

I love the way it's rolled up like the one my sister had. I love the color of the headband and the ribbon that hangs off the back. Really, really loving this one, but at close to $85...I don't know!

Courtesy of Shoebuy.com

So maybe it's best to look for a floppy hat, since my sister says they are coming back into style. I found a site that had some really cute ones at a reasonable price. This one is $7.90 American Dollars!

Courtesy of AliExpress.com 

So I am seriously going to be searching for a hat. I've never considered myself a hat person but everyone seems to be wearing them! And Iwanna be just like all the cool kids.

Do you wear hats? What kind? What would you recommend?

Hoping all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Wait...wait...wait...hold the presses! I think I have found the perfect hat! My favorite color, green, it's cowboy-ish and Iwanna this one with my whole little pea-picking heart. *sigh* Isn't it dreamy? Sad thing is it's out of stock but I'm entering my email so they can let me know when it's back in stock!

Courtesy Overstock.com 

 

Martinis anyone? Iwanna Wednesday!

The other day while out on a little shopping excursion I found these pillows and had to take them home with me! And I knew once I did that a friend of mine would love them as well. He's a big lover of the Martini. We will call him The Martini Man or TMM for short. The pillows had some smudges, but the cover is removable and I knew they would come clean in the wash.

I posted them on Facebook and I was right, TMM loved them and wanted to know wherever did I find them? I told TTM that I found them at TJ Maxx but they had been clearance priced at $12.99 each and I didn't know if he would be able to find them at his local TJ Maxx (I don't even know if they have TJ Maxx in Arizona where he lives).

So I let my fingers do the walking and figured I would combine TMM's love of Martinis' and my new pillows and created an Iwanna Wednesday post because the amount of Martini pillows and other paraphernalia out there is astonishing!

This pillow was my favorite! Something about it just speaks to me...lol. I think I love the simplicity. It's price is not simple though, this one was $63.95! You can find it at zazzle.com.

This next one is so cute, but I doubt TMM would like it as he's a guy...but maybe he would like to display it so female friends that come over can gush over it. I know I would! This is another zazzle.com pillow and it can be yours for a mere $105.00!!! Yikes!

Alright! I think I found the perfect one for TMM and even I would like this one! Goes with everything! I gotta be honest with you though, I think I would be 1 Martini, 2 Martini...floor! I wouldn't even need the 3rd one. This one comes from Pillow Buy and is definitely affordable at $12.99!

Here's another one that I love! Just adore the little penguins in the background. Another inexpensive one also from Cafe Press for $19.99.

And once you find the perfect pillows to put on your couch and you are ready to invite your friends over for cocktails you need the perfect Martini Glass right? And TMM would probably love any of these that follow, I know I would. They are fabulous!!

Aren't they fabulous? The third one down is my favorite. It's called "Hookers Delight"...hahaha! There's a gold fishing hook that you hook your olive on. Now that one is truly unique! Oh...and the 5th one is not a real Martini Glass, it's a $50 dollar bill folded into the shape of a Martini Glass and it's only $85. Yep, buy a $50 bill for $85...this guy is a genius!

So that's it. I think that gives TMM much info on where to find the perfect pillow, although honestly I'm thinking I should send him mine as house warming gifts. We'll see if I feel as generous tomorrow.

So happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna Wishes come true!


 

Iwanna Wednesday

Bet you thought I would never do an Iwanna Wednesday post ever again right? I have to admit I kind of got away from wanting everything in the world. The last one I did was November of 2012, seriously...I checked! It was an Iwanna post about wanting Pilgrims for Thanksgiving. I still don't have any!

A little background on what Iwanna Wednesday is in case you forgot. Ok...so I want everything I see. I mean it! I can walk into a drugstore and see something and say, "I want one of those." I can walk into a hardware store and say, "I want one of those." I can even drive by someone's house and say, "I want some decorative rocks like those!" My mom and sister finally started teasing me and saying, "Oh yeah Iwanna...you want everything!" That is how Iwanna Wednesday was born...a day when I can Iwanna anything my little heart desires. 

Well today I was running around on the net and saw something Iwanna...this!

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

So do you know what this is? Care to take a guess? Have no clue? Well if you guessed bathtub...you are correct. This is a bathtub! Seriously! See...

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

I love it and would love to have something like this someday! I think I would be a little scared that the thing would stay on the wall filled with water and me!! But just love it, love the clean lines and the way it sits off the floor, no plumbing. This is how you drain it...cool right?

Photo Credit - Stupid Dope

Well that's it for this Wednesday, here's wishing all your Iwanna Wishes come true!




 

Iwanna Wednesday - Looking for a few good Pilgrims!

This weekend I put away my Halloween decor and started putting out Thanksgiving stuff, but alas...I didn't have much. I have three ceramic turkeys and one little horn of plenty or Cornucopia.

I've been looking around for a while now trying to find Pilgrims, last year they were everywhere! Lurking around every corner, at HomeGoods, Goodwill, The Dollar Store and Walmart, this year they all went AWOL!

So what Iwanna for this Iwanna Wednesday is to show you some that I found online. Some wonderful and beautiful, some crazy funny and some that are just crazy! Follow me...let's see!

This one falls in the wonderful and beautiful category! I just love it, the cute little iron arms and the little basket and lantern and the base they put it on, looks like little, tiny, baby tiles! There is nothing about this one I don't love! Oh...well maybe I don't love the price too much, $34.50 for just one Pilgrim?  That's a bit too steep for me, but if you can't live without this little gem, you can find her at Jim Shore Heartwood Creek Collectibles at Main Attractions.

And this one also is wonderful and beautiful. It's the Pilgrim couple and an Indian couple. I love the little saying on the apron of each of the women too. Iwanna this set and they are on amazon.com but unfortunately they are currently unavailable *sigh*! What a surprise!

Here's a crazy funny one. These little guys are just so cute! I love their big feet and they are very patriotic with their little flag. This is Pete and Prudence Pilgrim and these are not too bad at $5.95 each...very affordable. These are from Designed to Be Sweet.

I don't know if these are crazy... crazy funny... or wonderful and beautiful. I can't quite make up my mind. I think the beaks give them that crazy vibe but the fact that they are squash make them crazy funny and the fact that they are such perfection and so unique makes them wonderful and beautiful in my eyes! And the way the little one is gazing up at the big one, can you say ahhhhh! This one is from distinctivedecor.com and it runs $14.50, another affordable one but out of my budget for trinkets. If it's not from The Dollar Store or Goodwill I won't usually buy it.



This next one is what I would just call crazy, what say you? I found these on ebay at $50.99!!! These are troll dolls, remember these? These were huge in the 1970's you could find them everywhere! But to make them Pilgrims??? Crazy, crazy, crazy...but cute. To a collector I'm sure $50 for them would be nothing. I'll have to keep an eye out for these guys at Goodwill!

And do you love Nesting Dolls? Who doesn't right? Well I love these Pilgrim Nesting Dolls, so cute and so easy to store. These I found on Etsy for a mere $65.00! You can actually customize these anyway you want.

And this last one is my absolute favorite, Iwanna this one cause it's so darned cute! I know it may be a little bit macabre, the Pilgrim lovingly kissing the sweet little turkey on the head when behind his back he has the hatchet ready and waiting and you know he's getting ready to swing it. But times were tough in Pilgrim days and you had to be brave enough to kill your own turkey. I'm really glad that now we can find them easily in the refrigerated aisles of our local grocery stores (sorry to any vegetarians). This little guy was also on ebay for $13.79 and "bonus" he's a salt and pepper shaker!

But I will keep searching in the after Thanksgiving sales and throughout the year and hopefully next year I will have a whole little Pilgrim Kingdom!

Happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

 

Iwanna Wednesday - All Things Bright and Beautiful!

I am obsessed lately with anything India. It all started with a bedspread my daughter April gave me that's silky and has bright colors, orange, pink, green, blue and yellow, mainly orange though, that's the dominant color. When I see it, it makes me happy. So even though I think that I should have an adult bedroom with bedding that's brownish, beigish, tan-ish, greenish...Iwanna bedroom with bright beautiful colors.

My bedspread alas has seen better days, and even though I love, love, love it...it's time to start shopping for another one. And is it just me or a bedspreads, comforters and sheets outrageously priced! Yikes!

Today for Iwanna Wednesday Iwanna pick out some things for my bedroom. Now some of them I may end up with and most of them I probably won't, but that's what Iwanna Wednesday is for, a day I can Iwanna anything I want, but that doesn't mean that I will be buying them.

To start with, I love ottomans, but the one I have is a drab olive green and even though I mean to re-do it someday, wouldn't it be nice to just have something new? Something bright and beautiful? Something like this...

This is exactly what I mean when I speak about being obsessed with the colors of India! Isn't this gorgeous? Not only do I love the colors, but I love the style, the way the ends curve and the see-throughness of the legs! This little beauty came from India By Design and is made out of recycled materials.

Also from that same website is this beautiful lamp made using a wire hanger and Indian Bangle Bracelets. I have tons of Indian Bangle Bracelets and I love them. The lamp might not provide a lot of light, but it's beautiful just as a display of art, don't you think?

So if I had that beautiful bench above, I would want to place it at the end of my bed and wouldn't it just look perfect if I were to get this bedding? What do you think? Too much? Hmmm, I don't know, I'm kinda loving it myself! This beautiful bedding is believe it or not from walmart.com

Now what Iwanna is some curtains. In my bedroom I have a beautiful bay window and a huge sliding glass door so curtains really make the room since most of the room will be curtains. And in keeping with the India theme, how about curtains made from Saris? I swooned when I saw these! They would bring out the blue in the bedding don't you think? These are from Indian Selections.com.

And I was thinking since I now have a beautiful place to sit at the end of a beautiful, colorful bed with gorgeous windows and the glow of the light through those colorful bangle bracelets what else could Iwanna except for a beautiful Sari to wrap myself in, but then I watched this video of how to wrap the Sari and while it's mesmerizing to watch how they wrap it, I just don't think that I can do it.

 

 

 



So maybe just a nice kaftan instead? Something colorful and comfortable like this?

And lest you think that Alicia has finally gone off her rocker or is losing it in her old age (since my last post was about all my gray hair), I think it's just that I've gotten to that point in life like the little old lady that shall wear purple.

When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

by Jenny Joseph

 

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired

and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

and run my stick along the public railings

and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

and pick the flowers in other people's gardens

and learn to spit.

 

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

and eat three pounds of sausages at a go

or only bread and pickles for a week

and hoard pens and pencils and bear nuts and things in boxes.

 

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street

and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

when suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

 

 

So that's what I'm doing, I'm just practicing just a little bit now, before I grow old...so I don't shock anyone. What about you? What's your dream bedroom like and has it changed as you've gotten older?



 

 

Iwanna Wednesday - Iwanna live where I can wear these...

It seems like Fall is almost here. Well not here, it's everywhere else except where I live! Blogland, Pinterest, Google are all filled with fall decorating ideas, warm and hearty soups, fall colors in clothes, purses and makeup.

*sigh* It really makes me wish that I lived somewhere where the leaves actually change color and the mornings are chilly and sharp. Somewhere like this...

So today for Iwanna Wednesday, Iwanna pretend that I live somewhere where it gets cold enough to get all bundled up in beautiful, gorgeous, warm winter coats! Coats that I will never own because it just doesn't get cold enough in Kern County to wear coats like this. So I will share them here and I will drool and lust over them, but alas...I will never own them.



I know this one doesn't look very fall-like, but I do love PINK and this one is so cute and feminine!

The major drawback to this one though is the horrible chest cold one would get with one's chest completely exposed like that right? Not very practical, but then again....a great reason to go shopping for pretty scarves and you know how I love me some pretty scarves!

This next one would truly please my mother as she is a lover of all things RED!

For some reason this one reminds me of Michael Jackson. I googled him to see if I could see him wearing something similar but I didn't find anything other than the outfit he wore when he filmed thriller and a military type of short jacket which was red with gold epaulets. I just love the way this coat ties at the neck with the big red bow...no chest colds or sore throats with this one!




So that would be my mom's fav coat, but my favorite color is green and I've always loved the one that Anne Hathaway wore in The Devil Wears Prada. Oh...by the way, if you haven't seen this movie you really must, even if just for the fashion! I loved it and I love this dreamy green coat with the beautiful leopard trim around the neck and sleeves.

Doesn't Anne look gorgeous in the coat, with the white gloves! I'm just loving this coat, hope it snows this year!

Even though I am not partial to yellow I am really loving this yellow pea coat. I've always loved pea coats and I love the pleated detailing on this one.

I love the buttons too!

And just because a girl can never have too much pink...how about this pink coat with the beautiful ruffly neckline?

I'm loving it and I'm also loving the wire coat form underneath. Even if I never had opportunity to wear this one I could at least display it somewhere in my gorgeous walk-in closet!

Oh wait...that's right, I don't have a walk-in closet. Ok, maybe that will be next week's Iwanna!

And because she is the Queen of Fashion, even though she is only a Princess and because I love her and her style, I couldn't leave out this coat that I've seen Kate wearing. What I love best about it is the ruffle at the bottom. You can't find that same coat anywhere...well at least I couldn't.

Don't you love the buttons and the ruffle. And don't you love the way Kate looks in it?

And last but not least, my very favorite coats. The lovely black and white with the ruffled petticoat that reminds me of the dresses that Miss Kitty wore in Gunsmoke! You all remember the show Gunsmoke right? With Marshall Dillon and Festus and Miss Kitty?  That show and the Big Valley and Bonanza were some of my favorites growing up.

It looks to me as though the ruffle is part of the coat, but maybe she's wearing a ruffled dress underneath?

Either way I love this one!






So there you have it, my Iwanna wishes for this Wednesday are that Iwanna have weather cold enought to allow for coats and Iwanna all the coats above and Iwanna the figure to pull off wearing that much bulk!

So happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Iwanna Wednesday - A Sitting Place

Ha! Bet you thought I forgot about Iwanna Wednesday right? No...actually I had this post all done but for some reason when I hit publish post on my work PC it kept giving me an error message and wouldn't let me post or save. So anyway...here you go!

It's Iwanna Wednesday again...see, I told you guys I was gonna get back to posting about things Iwanna. I still haven't found the perfect finials I want, as I posted about last Wednesday. I also haven't tried making the fabric-covered tennis ball finials, but I did show them to my mom, the craft queen, and she said they would be easy peasy to make. If you want to see how to do them please visit Dianne at In My Own Style.

So anyway....I'm going to be doing a bedroom makeover in the near future and there is one thing I have always wanted...a bed bench. I always thought it was called a Settee, but a Settee is something totally different.

This is your Basic Bed Bench...

This is a Settee...

Courtesy of Anthropologie 

As far as I can tell a Settee has arms and a back and a bed bench doesn't. I've always wanted a Bed Bench at the foot of my bed that I could sit on and put my shoes on in the morning. I've never really had a bedroom big enough to allow for it, but now my new bedroom is going to be huge and I'll have plenty of room so Iwanna one!

I've been reading lots of DIY blogs and seeing that a lot of people find really nice ones on CraigsList or Goodwill and then just re-do them. So I've been haunting CraigsList in hopes of finding one. But Iwanna share with you all the one's I've been seeing online that I love!

I love this one! It's a Bob Mackie Classics Bed Bench and you can have one for a mere $1,207! It's a little steep for my budget but I just love the legs on it, like a big square turtle! And I am so jealous of whoever owns this house because if you look to the upper right of the Bed Bench, this person also has a Settee!!!

I am so in lust with this next one. Look at the drawers for storage! You could put quilts or comforters, extra pillows...even your shoes once you take them off, or socks even! Plus the fabric and the detail on the drawers!! *sigh* Iwanna this one so much! This one you can see at Coleman Furniture, and the pricing is a little bit better at $435.00.

This one reminds me so much of Santa's Sleigh! Just read the description on this one, "adorned with ornate hand applied decorations covered with the beautiful glazed bisque color. With diamond inlay stone veneer tops on dresser and night stand and dark bronze color metal hardware, the "South Coast" bedroom collection captures the true elegance of traditional styled furniture." This is a piece of furniture that you would hand down to generations to come. I love it...and at $489.00 for a family heirloom? I think that's a bargain...although still quite a bit out of my price range, c'mon people...I'm looking on CraigsList and Goodwill!

So here's another one that I love even though I'm not a huge fan of blue (my sister Lisa would love this, she loves all things blue). I guess I love it because I love neutral colors, white, off white, ecru, beige, tan, brown, chocolate brown and this splash of blue would really make a room...don't you think? This one though is custom made and I'm sure it costs a pretty penny...my pennies are only cute.

But I think this is the perfect one. If I can find this one on CraigsList or at Goodwill then baby...it's coming home with me! As long as it's not over $100. I believe this place also custom makes them! Iwanna this one for sure!

So when I find one I'll be sure to let you all know. So Happy Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!