J.R. Watkins -- an unplanned nostalgic gift

A few Saturdays ago, Rob and I were at our local grocery store (the larger, all-inclusive, sells clothes and housewares too kind of place) looking for some ideas for Mother's Day gifts for his mom and grandmother who we would be seeing at dinner the next day. (Yes, Angie, I just confessed that we waited until the last minute to find a gift for you. As if it weren't abundantly obvious already!) -- We were in the soaps and lotions aisle when I saw some hand soaps and lotions that I liked the look of. They had an attractive vintage label, and even seemed legitimately authentic by using the word "apothecary" and the tag "since 1868". Then there was the clincher; the word "NATURAL". I didn't know much about this brand, but I was sold. The buy-one-get-one-half-off coupons attached to the shelves were just a bonus at that point. SO we picked up two each of the lavender hand soap and body cream, wrapped them in cute gift bags when we got home, and that was that.

Rob's mom and grandma both seemed to enjoy the gifts, and both said how much they love the lavender scent (which is why we chose that one). Success.

I didn't think anything more of the gifts we had given them until we received the thank-you note from Rob's grandma who is always so consistent about sending detailed, heartfelt thank you's. This note was no different, and started out much like the others we've received in the past, but when she started talking about the lotion and soap we gave her, a smile came to my face and I was suddenly surprised by what I was reading.

It says:

"What a nostalgic ride the J.R. Watkins products are. I can actually remember the Watkins man coming to see if we needed any of his products. I think my mother used to buy from him. But especially my grandparents on a farm in Mesa depended on him for so many things--regularly. I'll use the soap and lotion with delight and nostalgia."

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Rob's great grandmother and great-great-grandparents both used, and even relied on these products. What a fun thought to think of The Watkins Man going door to door, even farm to farm, seeing which products his customers needed more of. Knowing that the J.R. Watkins brand truly has been around, used, and loved "since 1868" made me like the products even more.

Intrigued by Rob's grandmother's note, I looked up J.R. Watkins online and found they make much more than just soaps and lotions. In addition to all kinds of natural personal care items, they also sell natural cleaners, dish soaps and laundry detergents; natural remedies for pain relief, cough & cold, sun care, and dietary supplements; and even natural gourmet flavor extracts, seasonings, sauces and oils.

Something about it makes me want to buy every product they sell! What can I say, I'm a sucker for authentic natural products, and when you throw in the nostalgia aspect of this particular brand, there's no turning back. J.R. must be doing something right, because right along side Rob's mother's mother's mother's mother, I am now a believer. 

just kidding

Ok, so after all that hullabaloo about finding a yellow rug for Sara's room, I ended up getting one with only the tiniest bit of yellow in it. Silly me. You see, I realized that a mostly yellow rug wouldn't really work, because I was adding a yellow dresser to Sara's room, so a yellow rug and yellow dresser would be too much yellow. After that realization, I branched out to other rug colors and finally decided on this one.

I got it in the 5x8 after realizing that an 8x10 would be way too big for the room, and the smaller rug size came with a smaller price tag also, so that was a plus.

The rug is in her room new room now and I absolutely love it! The colors are perfect and I like that it is not too "little girl" feeling -- in fact, I got it from Pottery Barn Teen, so it is meant for someone much older than Sara. Hopefully we will still love the rug as much as we do now by the time she hits her teens and it can stay in her room longterm. Time will tell.

Oh, and by the way, did I mention that we moved? 'tis true. My aunt and uncle moved into my grandma's house in September, and they were kind enough to let us continue to stay there as long as we needed. We were able to take our time to find a great place, and now we're living in it! Our new place is a side-by-side duplex in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake, and we love it! There are some crazy quirks about the place, like really squeaky floor boards in the hallway, light switches in weird places, and tiny closets in the bedrooms, but overall it is really great. In addition to the two bedrooms upstairs, we have a full basement with a playroom for Sara, an office for Rob, a laundry room, and a storage room! Plus there is a decent sized backyard that will be really nice when the weather warms up. And we are within walking distance to parks, restaurants, and other shopping. It's a great location!  -- a big thanks to everyone who helped us move, especially to my uncle who let us use his truck and trailer, helped us load it, and then drove it to our new place to help unload it, and also to my mom who flew out here for a week to help with the move. Thank you!!

{p.s. - photos of Sara's room are forthcoming}

your challenge, should you choose to accept it...

...is to find me a rug for Sara's room that looks similar to this:

 or this:

but has a price tag that doesn't make me die of shock, as in less than $400 vs. the outrageously over priced rugs pictured above. These rugs, while beautiful and everything I want, are just way too expensive. We're talking thousands of dollars, people! For one little rug! Ok, so a big rug. I forgot to mention the main criteria: I want it to be about 8x10.

I did find this rug that I like quite a bit, and its price tag fits nicely under the $400 limit...

...but, as you can see, it's not yellow, and I was kinda hoping for yellow.

Here's a few others I found that are pretty much just what I'm looking for, except that they aren't. These are lacking in one or more criteria (8x10, yellow floral, cheap) but I like the overall look of them.


This one meets two of the three criteria, but isn't yellow as you can see.

another one, I like the flowers, but it's not yellow, and it's too pricey.

This one almost fits under budget, but is the wrong color. Maybe black and white would look okay?

Here's one with cute flowers, but wrong color and not quite the right price.

This one is really elegant, but again, not the right color.

So to sum up, the first person to find me a large area rug with yellow flowers and a non shock-inducing price tag wins. Ready........GO!

..................................................................


p.s. I was kind of hoping to do a pink and yellow color scheme in Sara's room, hence wanting to get a yellow rug. But am I limiting myself too much by only looking for yellow? Do I really need an 8x10 or would a 5x7 suffice? Do you think one of these options is good enough? If so, which one? It's pretty obvious that I could really use your help here.

27 items

The great thing about online shopping is you can put anything you want into your shopping cart, even if the price tag is way out of your budget, and then just walk away without feeling guilty that some poor unsuspecting employee is going to have to put all of your "I'm not really going to buy that" wish-list items back on the shelves where they belong. Does anyone else ever do that? I must admit, I do it all the time! It's definitely on my top 5 list of ultimate time wasters. Well today I spent some good quality (wasted) time browsing at UrbanOutfitters.com, and let me tell you, I put a whole apartment into my shopping cart! Then I got the brilliant idea to waste even more time by creating a fun little mood board to show you all the things that caught my eye. What do you think?

  {click to enlarge}

Doesn't this make you want to start from scratch and totally redecorate? I know I would love to!

Here's a breakdown of the individual items in the room, in case you're interested.

1. Vintage Floor Lamp - available in yellow too!  
2. Madeline Chair - I have a thing for turquoise
3. 5x7 Zigzag Printed Rug - only $69.00! I think I might actually have to get this one.
4. Hairpin Coffee Table
5. Gregor Convertible Sofa - folds down for a guest bed, and the seat lifts up for extra storage!
6. Waterfall Ruffle Pillow - a great size at 18" square
7. Romantic Floral Scarf Pillow
8. Mosaic Wall Mirror
9. Step Back Into Fun Art Print - only $35.00 for a large 28x20 print!
10. Industrial Stencil Letters - $8.00 each, so spell a short word
11. Vintage Wood Locker Wall Shelf 
12. Illuminated Orion Globe
13. Desktop Globe
14. GiGi Nightstand in yellow
15. CoCo Cabana Chair - love the shape of the metal frame
16. Impressionist Flowers Curtains 

Now if only I had 1,992 extra dollars in cash lying around so I could make this room a reality! *SIGH* if only.

Where do you like to kill time shopping online? And if you could buy one thing from my shopping cart, what would it be?

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p.s. wondering why the title is 27 items when my mood board only has 16? That's because there is a lot of other fun stuff in my virtual shopping cart that didn't make it into my "if only I had a bunch of money to redecorate" inspiration room. See those items here:

• Bird Toothbrush Holder 
• Summer Stripe Jewelry Box 
• Conceal Single Book Shelf 
• Printed Umbrella 
• World Map Poster
• Storage Bench - Robin's Egg Tweed
• Pacifica Roll-On Perfume
• World's Smallest Walkie Talkie - Set of 2
• Crocheted Square Pillow
• Apprentice Stool
• Staring at Stars Wavy Stitch Tunic - brown

p.p.s. Urban Outfitters didn't pay me to write this, but perhaps they should. :)

I bought a new shirt and have worn it everyday for the past three days.

Is that wrong?

Look for the red tape

I learned something new today, and it's something that will save you money, so I'm passing it along!

When shopping for bananas, look for the ones with red tape around them. Today when I was buying bananas, the produce man was restocking them and also putting red tape around certain bunches. I asked him what the tape was for, and he said, people will sometimes break off a banana from a bunch because they want 6 instead of 7, so the grocers gather all the lonely single bananas and group them into bunches with red tape. There is nothing wrong with the bananas. They are not old or bruised. They are just the ones that people pulled off their bunches. BUT the red tape tells the cashier to give you a discount! So not only are you saving those poor little lonely bananas from rotting all by themselves on the shelf, you're saving money too! That's a win-win if I ever saw one.

(p.s. - I'm not sure if all grocery stores do this, but mine does. Hooray!)

You know what I hate?

Rob and I went to Old Navy tonight. We got there at about 8:30; a solid half-hour before closing time. While I was in the dressing room, the lights dimmed and the music stopped playing. Thinking we had somehow stayed until closing, I looked at my phone to check the time . . . but it was only 8:45!! Hey Old Navy, I've still got fifteen minutes of good shopping time left. Turn those lights and music back on right this instant! -- ARRGH, I just HATE when stores close early. The sign on the door says you close at 9:00, so don't turn off the lights and music until then! What they don't realize is I just might have purchased that cute little fall jacket I was trying on if I hadn't felt so pressured and uncomfortable and rushed. Seriously, it made me feel like my patronage meant nothing to them. All they cared about was locking the doors behind them promptly at 9:00. Store Hours until nine does not mean you get to go home at nine, it means I get to shop until nine! Show some courtesy to your customers and give them every second of shopping time your little "Store Hours" sign says they have. GRRR! Anyway, let's just say a strongly worded complaint has been sent to Old Navy headquarters. Let's hope the big bosses feel the same way I do.

In a much better display of customer service, before our Old Navy excursion we also stopped at World Market (love that store) and got a free tote bag! No purchase necessary!! -- although we did end up buying some dark chocolate almond cookies and a bottle of pink grapefruit soda. -- See Old Navy, make me feel valued and special, and I'll walk out of the store with a receipt in my hand.

And to end the evening, I walked out of Target pushing a stroller with a screaming baby inside with several onlookers sending looks of disapproval my way. Always a pleasure. Next time we'll have to do our shopping during the day to avoid all such catastrophes, although the screaming baby one can unfortunately happen any time of day without warning! But I had it coming walking into the store at 9:15 (they close at Ten, mind you). Don't try to squeeze in one more shopping rendezvous when you're already out past baby's bedtime! Lesson learned.