Lilly P Warehouse Sale 2013

The Lilly P warehouse sale is always worth going to as you never know what you will find!
However, it's not worth getting in line on Monday (with your tent, chair and air mattress) for a sale that starts on Thursday!  People do that....can you believe it?

I ran over to the sale after a field trip to a stream - gross. I promise I didn't try anything on!  I spent the least amount of $ ever and bought a few things for friends, one or two for myself and nothing for Sweet Pea. It's a first - she is so tall and slender at 9.  Anything long enough was too big around the torso and anything that fit in the torso was an inappropriate length.  She was very understanding and a good sport - she really needs nothing anyway.

These tote bags were $29.....bought 2 for mom and 2 for a friend.

I kept finding squares in this fabric bundled together and decided to keep picking them up until I figured out what they were.  I am so glad I did because they are napkins!  Set of 4 napkins for $20.  I learned there were tablecloths on my way out the door.  I did a loop around and found a stray tablecloth in the 2nds department - I was so lucky!

 I love this blue eyelet tunic.  I bought it full price in February for a dear friend who needed a pick me up.  She discovered that her husband of 16 years, and the father of her 5 children, had been cheating on her for the past 12 years with multiple women and in long term relationships.  It's such a mess and I wish Lilly Pulitzer could make it all better.  It can't but an armful of shopping bags on her birthday can help her forget, even if just for a minute.

I love the shirt so much that I bought her and was thrilled to find it at the sale for a fraction of the price at $59.

Christmas stocking for Sweet Pea for $9.99

 The hottest items that had people jumping when I was around were the tablecloths and coolers. I was able to score one cooler bag and that was only because someone in line was second guessing their decision to buy the cooler and I was the first to offer to take it off her hands!  Lucky me!

There were lots of sorority bags, scarves and picture frames.  I always love the sale and had fun looking for treasures.  Thanks for recapping with me.

Lilly P Warehouse Sale

How on earth did the Lilly P warehouse sale sneak up on me this year?  The fact that it is sandwiched between and on Buddy and Hubby's birthdays AND all the end of year hoopla must have me terribly distracted.

In fact, the sale starts on my hubby's birthday....isn't my shopping at the warehouse sale a fabulous gift for him????

For years I used to plan my schedule around the warehouse sale. I hosted sleepovers of girls from Baltimore who came to town for the sale.  We slept a few hours and then left the house in the wee hours of the morn to get in line for the sale.  That was all before it started at 5 am!

There have also been years where I lined up the day before to get a number to  come back and shop the next morning.  In fact, I was even late getting back on the morning of the sale and was scoffed at by the employee at the door.  What was I thinking to hit the snooze button on the morning of the warehouse sale?

And here it is the day before the sale and none of that has crossed my mind until now.  I am losing sleep about taking the summer off of my job and leaving it in the very capable, and very young, hands of an intern.  How lucky am I?  A part time job that gives me the summer off to be with my children!

I will make an appearance at the sale and will of course fill you in on the details.  I'm just not sure when I will get there but rest assured it's not 5 am on my husband's birthday!

etc.

I am sorry to have that "Mean Mom" update on the blog for so long. My dear friend, I call her Ernie, reminded me today that I need to put something else up there. She is sick of seeing it and I don't blame her.  Thankfully things have calmed down now that "Mean Mom" has found someone else to pick on.  It's such a sad cycle.

There's lots going on here just not a minute to update. I seem to throw photos up on Instagram and never get over here. The promise of the quiet weeks of summer are within sight... 17 days until summer vacation starts around here! I hope they bring with them some time to blog :)


We have spent the last few months at many a rugby game watching our boys play.  Their team did make it to the u-15 rugby state championships which was a very exciting time for our family! They lost in the finals but have gained terrific friendships and a solid love for a sport that their father and Australian family have loved for years.

My partner in crime at the rugby pitch...

I went to a fabulous jewelry show at a tennis friend's house.  The jewelry was great but the kitchen was even greater. She said it was completely inspired by HOUZZ.  My photos are not great but I know you will fall in love with the wall of 1" x 1" marble tile as I did.

The island with tray of succulents running down the center was spectacular...

Just to keep things interesting I had a wisdom tooth removed....I was born with 1 wisdom tooth and it decided to grow in, sideways,  NOW.  I was definitely not happy about it's removal.  It's been ok but 10 days out and the cavern it left still bugs me.

Found a new consignment store in our town - love these $18 pillows....

I loved this mirror too but have no where for it....wish my mudroom had a spare wall.  $59 and wood....a great deal and I think it's gone.

I love the effortless look of this style....My outfits never seem so effortless nor do I look this good. Always good to have a goal.

We enjoyed a horse show over Memorial Day weekend....

As well as a new blouse and necklace from Anthro's sale corner that I wore out for dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday....

and a parade....we love a parade....

That's a bit of our latest.  Thanks for checking in on us....How are you?

Mean Mom Update

You all deserve an update.

I can say it in one sentence....

Mean Mom is still MEAN!

I took a brief hiatus from the blog because I had a "small" event to run.  It's called the Spring Fair and it's at Sweet Pea's elementary school. The same school that all of my children have attended.  My husband is my co-chair (I needed someone I could depend on), we work on it for months and it grosses over $30,000 in 3 hours - phew!  It has taken me a few days to recover.

So, while the Spring Fair is like a tornado in my life, add in an extra dose of Mean Mom and my brain got completely frazzled.

We met with the school after the initial complaint about Sweet Pea was filed and the school assured us that there was nothing to report.  Sweet Pea has never had any incident of any kind documented in her file in the 4 years she has been a student. They assured me that all was well and appeased the other mother accusing my daughter of being a bully by hearing her story and giving her assurance that all was well.

The next week brought another round of accusations.  Mean Mom recently complimented the teacher on a Lilly P sweater she was wearing and the teacher commented that the Bickies family had given her the sweater for Christmas.  Sure enough we did give the teacher a gorgeous cashmere sweater for Christmas and I was very clear in our gift that we paid $39 for it at the warehouse sale and nothing near the $300 retail.  Not for a second did we want to a) have any teacher think we were so extravagant or b) put on airs where none exist.

Mean Mom took that and started investigating the school district gifting policy because she was sure that we were "buying off" the teacher with expensive gifts in order to make her overlook Sweet Pea's "behavior".  A pure crock of molasses.

Last week was the last straw.  I received word from the rumor mill that Mean Mom was now circulating word that Sweet Pea's behavior was worsening and the teacher had promised her she would be calling us for a conference to address the worsening behavior.  I chose to head off the rumor and call the teacher to make ourselves available for a conference and assure her that we were fully invested.  The teacher responded immediately and assured me those words never left her mouth.  There was no behavior much less worsening behavior.  I spoke with she and the counselor and we have decided to play this out very carefully. 

I know that I can not discuss the issue with the Mean Mom directly because no matter which angle I come at it from, I will still continue to look like the bad guy.  The school is casually speaking to other parents to help put the rumors to rest. They are helping Sweet Pea rebuild her confidence and assuring me that all is well at school.

After the Spring Fair on Friday night we threw a Mexican Fiesta after party at our house for the chairs who have given so much in the past 4 months to make the Spring Fair happen. One of the moms was talking to Sweet Pea and she was talking about a special lunch she had with the teacher and guidance counselor.  Sweet Pea was sure to point out that she wasn't having lunch with them because she was in trouble.  It broke my heart to hear her have to explain herself.  I can only hope this experience, however frustrating has helped her understand the complexities of friendships and to know that, no matter what, her family will be right by her side loving her along the way.

As much as I adore Sweet Pea's 3rd grade teacher, I can't wait for this year to end!

Follow up to my letter to anyone who would listen

My letter last week was short and sweet to get your attention.  Forgive me for stating the obvious about complaining.  Today I hope to take a minute and explain myself a bit more.

Our society is being overtaken by righteous perfectionists who really think we care to listen to their complaints about anything and everything.  I am sure I have done my fair share of complaining but I vow to stop. I am going to find the good in most (I don't want to be a perfectionist and say "all").

As leaders, volunteer chairpeople, and PTO Presidents we need to shut the complainers down if they are just complaining to complain.  The complainers are driving the last wave of volunteers we have left to not want to volunteer any more because like me, they are thinking, why put myself out there to simply get grief.  I can stay home, put the time in to my paying job and my family, and be quite content.  Right?

Complaining is insidious.  Don't you love that word....I sure do!  Insidious means to proceed in a gradual, subtle way but with harmful effect.  If someone wants to complain then sign them up for the next volunteer opening and let them lead the way....for better or worse.  I truly believe most will find their appreciation for the services of others, even though different than how they might lead, and ultimately will complain less.

Thoughts?

Mudroom - before

I had a request to show photos of my mudroom before it was a mudroom.   I searched back about 7 years and found a few photos of before, during and after.

Our current family room was once a garage.  One of the previous owners turned the garage in to a family room and added a separate garage that was attached to the house by an open air breezeway.
Below are two separate views of the breezeway from Sweet Pea's 3rd birthday party....

 Looking towards the driveway....

Standing on the driveway side and looking through the breezeway to the deck beyond....

Starting to close it in.....looking towards the new driveway side....

Same view through the breezeway to the deck beyond again....

The new wall of custom cubbies....cabinets above, shelves, beadboard backing, and drawer below.  We purchased them in paint grade wood and painted them ourselves a deep army green.  They are always a mess but I can't imagine what we would do with our "stuff" without them!

Nearly 7 years later I added additional built ins to better use the space....this is the beginnings of a bar....

Standing in the family room and looking out to the mudroom - this is my desk built at bar height to allow for a view out the window.  The door to the right of the desk leads to the garage.  Shelves were built around the window....

Closer view...

Getting closer...

You get the idea of the bar....we still had to install the wine fridge....

Any questions about our mudroom?

Had to include a few cute pics I discovered from her 3rd birthday...

Who's Medusa in the background.... good thing the cuties are in the foreground....

On a lighter note....construction always makes me happy!

I love when these guys come to visit....my Amish friends are back to fix the overhang at my back door.  It was originally built 5 years ago when we closed in a breezeway to create the mudroom but before the major construction.  It was built without a gutter so every time it rained the water spilled right down on to the person walking in the door - not ideal.

I originally wanted to add a peaked portico supported by brackets but the lights and the combined width of the door and window made it seem too monstrous.  It was going to be much bigger than my drive-by inspiration photos...

  

This was my first choice....I really love this back entry...but soon I realized it just wasn't going to work because the brackets would not fit between the window/door trim and the lights.

So we took what we had and made it wider and a tad deeper.  As of this morning it now has a gutter that runs across the front and soon it will have brackets at the ends.  We are very happy with our Amish....they just talk it through and it's done!

They also fix flashing and caulking on your roof since they are up already up there....love that!

My letter to the school community and anyone who will listen

Dear School Community and anyone who will listen....

STOP COMPLAINING!

Have a super day...
Love,
Bickies

God's Grace Rain Down on Me....

I pray for God's grace to rain down on me.  I pray for His grace to pour over me.

Because....the mother of my daughter's classmate, the same woman who presented me with this list last year about this time, is spreading lies and rumors accusing my daughter of being a "vicious bully".

Only a very few of you know my daughter, but suffice it to say she can get her back up if she is forced but, she is not a bully.

A dear friend, who recently learned of her husband's infidelities, reminded me to act with dignity and grace.   She is right.

I went back to the post about "the list" and read the comments. I so appreciated your comments then and appreciate them again now.  I do think their family must be hurting and lost in a very complicated existence of lies and manipulations.  Today we are their target.  I hated that she took her hurt out on me.  And I really hate that they are taking their hurt out on my daughter.

I went back to January 2009 and read this post that I wrote after our first playdate with her twin daughters.  I remember the one looking me square in the eye and saying, "We want to play with Sweet Pea's toys but not Sweet Pea"  I was afraid to tell the mom about the craziness....I think that was a sign.

I just know in my heart that the girl who swims 100 laps over several hours for children with cancer....

And has a drive to collect party supplies to create 9 "birthday in a bags" to donate to a local charity...

And plays and loves orphans from Africa....

And spends MLK day cleaning the trash and debris off the streets of an inner city neighborhood with the children who live there....

just can't be a bully.  I also know it because they are accusing her of throwing her lunchbox on the table to save seats next to her friend of choice and she buys lunch 90% of the time.  Take that!

Ok....now back to dignity and grace.  I will be surprising my daughter at lunch tomorrow. I promise to remember "dignity and grace".

God Bless You

ps....I want to move to the South or Cincinnati