Tapioca Dance

Going to flea markets and estate sales is one of those things I often daydream about. In my dream, I find this great piece of furniture, or a mirror, a piece of pottery, a lamp, and it’s a treasure tucked away behind old magazines and beat up coffee tables.

This rarely ever happens, because first, I have no money, and second, I rarely ever go to the flea markets. But on a whim the other day, Dan and I stopped in to a new market on the north side of town, and oh. my. gosh.

For $22 I got this chair. It’s fine the way it is, but I was thinking of reupholstering it with a royal blue velvet, and painting the wood white. That might get a bit pricey, and like I mentioned earlier, I don’t quite have the luxury of getting furniture redone right now. But for the time being, I’m pretty pleased with my find! I also purchased a rococo-style gilt mirror made of wood for only $15.  I’ll post a photo of it later.

I’ve officially got the bug. Every tip and every dollar will now be saved for my next flea market visit.

I get quite the kick these days in bringing my own bags to the grocery store. At Dillons, like I’ve mentioned before, you get 5 cents off your groceries for EACH bag you bring in! I typically only save about 10 cents per trip, but hey, that’s 10 cents! In 10 grocery trips, that’s a WHOLE dollar!

This Saturday I’m having brunch for the theater staff, and unfortunately I don’t have the money to buy groceries for 14 people at Dillons. So I went to the store that shall not be named (ok, fine, I went to WAL MART. I did it. I needed to save some money. Shoot me.).

I brought all my bags with me of course, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Wal Mart sells their own reusable grocery bags at the check out line.

What wasn’t such a pleasant surprise was when I told the lady at the counter that I had my own bags. “Hmmm. I’ve never dealt with that before. What do you think would be the easiest way to bag these groceries?,” she asked.

I just stared at her blankly. It kind of makes me sad - here’s all these trendy re-usable bags at the store, but no one has ever taken advantage of them? Boo. If Wal Mart wants to be on the forefront of green living like they often propose, they should start charging for plastic bags, or do like Dillons and give you money back for bringing in your own.

Maybe I’ll write a letter.

I’ve been in a reading funk (among other things) where absolutely nothing appeals to me. My bookshelf has a good 60 books waiting to be read, but I just can’t muster the energy to pull one off the shelf and give it a go. For the past month I’ve been trying to finish ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE by Barbara Kingsolver, which is an amazing book, but it’s taking me forever.

After talking with a friend/neighbor/bookstoreowner about this funk, she suggested the most ingenious idea ever: read some young adult fiction. It’s quick and different, and just might do the trick to get me interested in reading again.

So today I read THE CHOCOLATE WAR. Why had I never picked this one up in junior high? I really liked it, and it wasn’t at all what I expected. The story is about high school, rebellion, secret societies, and pranks gone wrong. It had an unexpected and uncompromising ending. Perfect for an afternoon of reading!

Next on the list: THE OUTSIDERS. Again, why I have I never read this before? So now I’m excited - I have a whole new genre awaiting me this year. What on earth should I put on the list?

For my birthday I received a food processor. Bwha? I consider myself a domestic goddes, and I don’t even have a food processor?

My Mom got me a mega machine, too:

The Kitchen Aid 12-cup professional mixer. I christened it by making hummus. Quite tasty, but oh so garlicky:

1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 lemon, squeezed until there’s absolutely nothing left
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/3 cup water
Put it all in the processor, and pulse that sucker a few times. Serve with pita chips (or triscuits if you run out).

Make sure you have some breath mints after eating, though.
There are so many recipes out there that I’ve never even attempted because I lacked a good way to finely grind or puree food. Now, the food world is my oyster. What shall I make next!?

Probably something from the two cookbooks my Dad got me (How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson, and Apples for Jam). Way to go Mom & Dad!

Meet my niece, Sophia!

Here are a few things I’m keeping in mind while designing the new theater:

More to come, I’m sure!

I’m wanting to use deep jewel tones with a blend of contemporary and vintage. We have two Danish-modern chandeliers already procured, but everything else up for grabs!

If anyone knows of any great estate sales, vintage couches, velvet curtains, etc., that I can get for cheap, please let me know! We’re on a tight budget, and I have champagne tastes.

Here’s why:

1. I get to visit my Mom,
2. Eat DEEP FRIED ARTICHOKE HEARTS,
3. shop at Lush!
4. and watch HGTV and The Food Network as long as I want to!

Chipotle, that’s who. I just won 20 free burritos! But I only ordered 12…

…which I shared with my staff. Geesh!

I never win anything, so I was pretty pumped. The last time I was this excited over a free gift was when Stephanie won CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG through some AOL contest back in 1994.

The Scissor Scouts walked in the annual Springfield St. Patty’s Day parade this past weekend, thanks to the perseverance of Whitney. She came up with the idea of all the Scouts wearing handmade green tulle tutus (all the rage this year, and quite slimming, I might add), and created a larger-than-life St. Patrick. Her awesome craftiness won us THIRD PLACE!

The pictures may look like we’re the only ones in the parade, so you’re thinking, Third Place? You girls suck. But don’t worry - there were actually way more people involved. They were all slowcoaches, though.

Enjoy the pictures (that Whitney took)!

I’m not sure how many of you out there in blogland also read The Moxie Blog, so this news may be old. If you only come to me for the latest in what’s going on in my life (aww, shucks), then listen up!

We’re moving our business! It’s always been a goal of ours since opening that we would one day expand to two or more screens, plus a lobby. That day is September 1, 2008. Which is a lot sooner than we ever anticipated!

The Moxie will stay downtown - we wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a bittersweet decision because we put so much work into our current location, it has a lot of personality, and our neighbors are awesome. But since we’re staying downtown, we’ll still have wonderful neighbors, and our building will have just as much personality. This time we’re hiring people to paint, though. I still have callouses from when we did it over two years ago! Our new space will have two theaters (a big one and a small one), up to 6 toilet stalls (we currently have two), expanded menu items (beer on tap, fountain sodas), and places to sit, plus two unique chandeliers from a former downtown bar.
We’re really excited, but these next few months are going to be crazy hectic. I’ll most likely fall behind on all extra-curricular activities, like reading, writing, crafting, saving the Universe, etc.

In the meantime, if you have any spectacular design ideas, or know of anyone who’s really good at building a concession stand (we are going to do that ourselves), let me know!

And thanks for letting me share - I’ve been dying to do so for months now!