Not the vacation I'd hoped for

Instagram says I'm at the airport in Boston. Here I am waiting to depart to the destination in which I am currently located. Guess what city I am currently in...

You get it, right? Here's a cool video anyway.

 

In recent blog posts I wrote about my dad's illness. He spend several weeks in Boston's Brigham and Women's hospital which is one of the best. I shudder to think of what could have happened had my dad been without insurance and a good salary. He was sent home on a continuous IV of antibiotics in hopes of stopping the infection. Replacing the faulty heart valve would be too risky.
That brings us here. His cardiologist consulted the Cleveland Clinic, which is ranked as one of the best hospitals in the U.S. for another opinion and they wanted to see him. Before I could wrap my head around this, my family was bound for Ohio.

 That's me and my dad in a quick selfie from the airport. He is currently over at the hospital enduring all sorts of testing crap right now. He's so brave. He's so positive and hopeful. While we sat around in his room an hour ago, he was smiling. He was his usual self.
That's why it's absolutely unthinkable that my dad could possibly not survive this. It just can't happen.
In the depths of my mind, I rant about the injustice this is. It's not freakin' fair that he should suffer like this and have a shorter lifespan. You see, Dad is someone who did everything right. Worked hard in school, went to college, married Mom, bought a house with Mom, and then raised two daughters. Dad is annoyingly healthy with his habits. Never smoked and drinks only wine and cocktails on the occasion. He wakes up early and then exercises in his basement gym set-up every damn morning before work. And he likes to eat healthy stuff like fresh fruit all the time.

But as luck would kick you in the ass as it tends to do, Dad was born with some defective heart valves. And that is his lot in life and he carries it with fucking grace.

Taken from a family friend's FB because I'm typing this from a hotel.

To be continued.

The Thrifts

It's been a while since I've shared any recent acquisitions and since I want to refer to myself as a blogger, here are some things.
On a recent trip to the Goodwill Outlet store (you know..."the bins") I made a nice little haul, and found some good shit. Colorful stuff like this:

It wasn't until some of the last bin searches that I found that kick-awesome patchwork quilt. Already sold it. I love handmade vintage, because it's often one of a kind and usually quite well made. Also this tiny one was with it.

As you may be aware of; I've got baggage.

That little blue one. Wait--I don't remember if I actually dragged that out of the bins on this trip. Actually, I think I've just been blowing it off since I brought it home from the trip before this one. Glad we cleared that up.

That gray tweed one is great, it looks very old time-y. The interior was discolored, so check out what I did:

Mod Podged with wrapping paper. Easy fix, let's see if someone wants it.

That's a picture of the plaid piece of luggage when I brought it it. It was filthy. So, I cleaned it and soon realized the straps were breaking off. It's in that vintage merchandise purgatory now, where I can't decide what to do with it.
And finally, I also took a picture of the incredible red boots that were worn AF. (Do we capitalize AF? I'm not so hip to what the kids are saying.) I cannot find this picture. I say that a lot, but I swear I snapped a pic before I gently washed the dirt off. Fine, it's dark but I took a new "before" pic because I'm really psyched about these sweet kicks.

Bad picture of some roughed up boots. Don't worry though, the red shoe polish I ordered on Amazon just came in, I'm gonna try and make these work.
Other finds include the following:

Cute, little crewel embroideries that were each marked $1; half off. That's $0.50 each, braniacs. Like the above mentioned quilt, these sold soon after I listed them.
I've got furniture.

Mid century metal stand/rack/shelf/side table! I live for these things. Also...

It's a little foot rest! Looks a little small to be called an ottoman. The green vinyl seat thing swivels, which seems a bit unnecessary.
I'm done for the night. Here's a preview of a refashion I finished about a week back.

The British are coming!

It's a refashion. The refashion resembles a military-esque, red garment. A Redcoat? Get it? The red coats worn by the British during the Revolutionary War? Thanks, Paul Revere.
I may appear to be in good spirits, but I assure you that I am scared, sad, and weak. Were I last left off, I was awaiting cardiac surgery for my father. The team opted not to do surgery as it is just too risky. He is now home with a steady stream of antibiotics coursing through his bloodstream. Now, there's a man in good spirits. Last Sunday, he gave us a dire warning which included the words "it may not be a very long life." Those words have been circling my mind, filling me with dread since I heard it.
Let's break from the story here for the "before" picture.

 So, it's some kind of long, red vest? It appealed to me as soon as I saw it, and after much deciding, I bought it from the Goodwill at full price.

 Look what's happening up in that shoulder area.

See? The arm holes were not sewed in place properly and excess material just flopped out. Also, I'll admit to having wide hips, but this dress seems to accentuate them up to 11.
I return to my regular scheduled program:
There comes a time for a child to grow up and for the roles of caregiver to switch so that the child can take care of the parent. My mom told us that my sister and I needed to be strong for her. I sobbed and said that I'm never strong and that I still need my dad.
 Luckily for me, there he was. I sat next to him on the couch and he held me in his arms, kissing the top of my head. Instead of being brave I was weak, and the dad that I should be tough for was once again being tough for me. He reassured us that he had hope, that his doctors had hope and that we should too. I just wanted him to hold me forever and never leave my side.
So, that's pretty sad. Let's see some steps to my little outfit, ok?

I lowered the neckline a bit. 

Then I did that "taking up the shoulders" trick that I use because I'm short. Sometimes, it actually works. What I did to this garment is very reminiscent of what I did with this costume (click the link, it's fabulous). 

So, a couple steps seem to be missing from my pics. I used one of those clip dealies that take in the back of a dress to nip the waist a bit. Then, I used a black fabric marker to color in the fake pocket areas. The after:

It's like a sleeveless coat thing. Layered over tight black clothes.

What occasion is this even for? Can I wear it to work? I mean should I?