Early Halloween At T.J. Maxx 2013

Wandered through T.J.Maxx yesterday and

found Halloween creeping onto the shelves!

mercury glass pumpkins

 

There was a switch on the bottom of this 

and LEDs in the skull's eyes, but no batteries

not sure what it does.

Can't wait till it's all on display!

Thanks for stopping by.

Early Halloween at HomeGoods 2013

Just browsing HomeGoods today and was happy to 

wander into their Halloween section!

A lot of cool stuff!

Let's take a look!

Some nice fall offerings!

But I like the real Halloween stuff.

Lots of terracotta jack-o-lanterns.

Beware the witches!

snow globes and glitter everywhere.

and owls too!

Lots of plug in pumpkins!

I think that giant skull had light up eyes.

I liked a lot of the this year's selection but didn't

buy anything....yet!

Thanks for stopping by & happy hunting!

WHO JUST GOT A NEW CAR?

THIS GUY
(Thumbs pointing inward)

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I'm the proud new owner of a 2013 Scion xB
The "B" stands for
BAM!
(not really)
It just makes me want to sing....

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I'm a model, you know what I mean,

And I do my little turn on the catwalk,

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Yeah on the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah,
I do my little turn on the catwalk....

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I'm not as sexy as my car, not as sexy as my car,

not as sexy by far....

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Okay I'll stop now.

Scion is the young hip branch of Toyota.

Funny thing is,

the xB was designed for the young crowd,

but a recent survey showed

the average xB driver is age 46!

New to the line this year is the color

"Absolutely Red"

 And these cool new LED accent lights

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next to the lower front grill on the bumper

they turn on with the headlights.

(Sam says it looks like a little space ship) 

Sadly After 22 years of loyal service

my 1991 VW Vanagon blew a hole in its engine

on my way home from work.

Thus knocking us to a one vehicle family.

The time had come for a new car.

I needed a vehicle with room enough

to haul big items if ever that need arises.

I considered a Toyota Tacoma truck

So Sam and I headed over to Findlay Toyota

to check them out. 

While I was out on a test drive

with the salesman,

Sam investigated the

cabin capacity of a Scion xB.

She showed me how there was plenty of room.

And my attention quickly shifted to the xB.

Scion has a no haggle policy so the price is

what you see plus tax and fees.

It wasn't long before I was driving this baby home!

Here it is in front of Home Depot

I think it's a good looking car,

some people call it a toaster

for its square shape.

No different then my Vanagon being a breadbox

I was happy that the xB gets along nicely

with our VW Jetta.

Scion's Absolutely Red is almost a match

to Volkswagen's Tornado Red.

How cool it that?

It's good to have matching cars right?

All I know is I have one sexy car by far,

It's too sexy for Milan
Too sexy for Milan
New York and Japan.....

Alright I'll Stop.

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Tiki Mug

I just got a new tiki mug!

call 877-560-6477 to get yours.

Let me introduce you to

the goddess of the East wind,

Tangaroa-Ru.

She is one of the tiki statues that stand

in the tiki garden at Disneyland's
Enchanted Tiki Room.

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 Designed by Rolly Crump in 1962,

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after Walt asked him to come up with 
some pre-show tikis to be placed in the garden 
"to set the mood"
for the singing bird attraction.

Now to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of The Enchanted Tiki Room,
Jody Daily and Kevin Kidney 

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have sculpted some wonderful tiki mugs,
based on Rolly's designs,

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for the 50th event that happened on
Saturday, June 29th.

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Tangaroa-Ru and Pele

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As well as the Rongo Bowl

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I couldn't make it to the anniversary event, 

so I called the Disneyland Merchandise 

Guest Services at 877-560-6477 to get mine.

If you want the Tangaroa-Ru tiki mug

for some reason it's called the "Rongo Mug"

not to be confused with the Rongo Bowl.

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Don't worry about supply, they are an open edition

so they should be available for some time.

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Here's Jody signing about 3000 items for the

Merchandise release.

Here's my Tangaroa-Ru

I think she looks right at home in my

growing Disney tiki mug collection.

Thanks for stopping by

and

Happy Hunting!

A Painting, A House, and The Pitchfork Pie Stand

I think we are all familiar with the painting
"American Gothic"
You know the one with the dour farmer
and his spinster daughter
standing in front of their farm house
with the Gothic window?

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 It was painted in 1930 by the self proclaimed

"farmer-painter" Grant Wood (1891-1942).

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He used his sister Nan and the family's dentist

Dr. Byron McKeeby as the models.

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Wood's sister insisted she was the farmer's

daughter and not wife, because she did

not think of herself as old enough to be

his wife in the painting.

 

Wood used one other model in his composition,

The one that actually inspired the painting.

The 1881 cottage, designed in the Gothic Revival style

with an upper window in the shape of a
medieval pointed arch, provided the background.

It really exists!

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Known as the Dibble House, Wood

found it in Eldon, Iowa while visiting

a local artist friend, John Sharp. 

Wood was amused by the window 

and remarked at how "pretentious"

it was on such a small house.

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(The windows on each end of the house are

believed to have been mail ordered out of a

Sears Roebuck & Co catalogue.
Why they chose Gothic church windows

is any one's guess.)

 

 Wood decided right then to paint a portrait of who

he imagined would live in a house like that.

As for the painting, the rest is history.      

                                                                                                            

As for the house,

it's a rental property...

with a visitors center.

Find out more about the Dibble house HERE

But don't try renting it now, there's

already someone living there.

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Iowa pie lady, Beth Howard.

Find out more about Beth Howard after the jump