Window Shopping: Marshalls

I learned a couple things this past weekend as I browsed around for this post.  Namely, I don't go shopping alone nearly enough!  Way back when babygirl was just a dream and the hubs was the boyfriend, I had a Saturday ritual.  I'd sleep in, have a late breakfast and then take off on a solo shopping excursion.  I'd hit up a few of my favorites and leisurely spend the day looking and dreaming.  Of course, it was easier to justify doing some buying too when I didn't have diapers in the budget!  I never felt guilty leaving the boyfriend at home because I knew he was happy with his TV and would hate being drug around shopping anyway.  It was a win-win for both of us!  Those Saturdays were like therapy for me: time alone, time to think and time to dream.  I could clear my head and just slow down a bit.  But those days are long gone!  Now when I venture out, it's usually with a little one in tow, so I always know time is not on my side.  I try to pack accordingly: graham crackers & a sippy cup will buy me a few minutes when babygirl starts wearing thin.  A toy or two to distract her will add a few more.  And if I'm really desperate for some time out, the pacifier, previously relegated to the crib for naps & bedtime only, will give me bonus minutes (at a price, of course!).  But I know that even if it's a bit of a pain, that little gal is gonna be my future shopping companion, so I've got to train her now!  (Kidding!  Sort of...)

But then Saturday's like this past one happen, and I realize alone time without the hubs & babygirl is SO important for my sanity!  I'm resolving to take more time just for me, and hopefully when I do, I won't feel like such a kid in a candy store, which is how I felt this trip to one of my favorites: Marshalls.  The trip was also a great reminder that, although I love my thrifts & antique stores, there are so many cool new things happening too.  So without further ado, here are some of the things that caught my eye (forewarning, there are a LOT of them!)...

It's not a home item, but I LOVE this purse!  The color combo is so on-trend right now: mint, light tan just a hint of red and chunky gold hardware.  You can't see very well, but the bag is patent leather with quilted stitching.  So beautiful.

Such a cute serving dish, and at $7.99 (I think) it was a steal.  Would be equally cute on a dressing table to display colorful jewelry or on a desk with fancy paperclips.

The pattern on this plate was gorgeous.  I'm always drawn to beautiful and graphic salad plates.  My dream is to have a collection that I display with my simple silver-banded china, and swap them out every now and then.  I'd add this to my collection in a heartbeat!

The other day I ran across a blog (really wish I could remember the link) with lovely pictures of the lunches the blogger packs for her daughters.  She used silicone baking cups (like those above) to hold individual items in the larger compartments of the bento box, which I thought was a brilliant idea!!  The little heart ones are especially sweet.

I am BEYOND a sucker for pretty papers and packaging, and these little muffin cups were the perfect combination of the two.  I instantly wanted to open a bakery and fill them with sweet (and healthy, of course!) treats.

How gorgeous are the rainbow colors of those microfiber cloths?  Do you think they would make cleaning more enjoyable?  If they would, I'd hop right on it, but I'm just not sure...

Which is the same reason why these colorful and happy brooms & mops & dustpans always tempt me!  The hubs would probably kill me for replacing our perfectly performing broom with a "girly" one anyway.

I'm totally not a crazy cat lady (don't own cats, never will), but I would rock this mug, and I'd rock it hard!  It's a hilarious sentiment, and the mug was HUGE.  Nothing I love more than a giant cup of steaming tea first thing in the morning (or anytime of day, really).

I can't stand how gorgeous these Ralph Lauren plates are.  The simple bands, especially the scalloped one, were lovely. I'm so wishy-washy when it comes to dishes & bedding, I just can't make up my mind, which is terrible and leads to having way too many sets of dishes (and bedding).  I was good this past year and got rid of all the extras (Except for the cheap white sets from Ikea I use for entertaining. And the good china.  And our everyday cream & black ones you caught a glimpse of yesterday.  And the Kate Spade ones I only have 4 place-settings of, but will drop the everyday ones for in a heartbeat as soon as I can buy more place-settings. [Okay, Kate Spade, not happy with you right now, a quick Google search revealed my pattern is discontinued except for the salad plate.  After 2 years?  WTF?])  Hmm, it doesn't really sound like I pared down, does it?  But I digress, I've come to the conclusion that mostly white is best on dinner plates, and these fit the bill perfectly.

These were fun & funky cactus looking sculptures.  Something about them appealed to me, maybe because I lived in the desert for 10 years, but they'd be fun on a mantel.

Oh can I tell you how this vision made my eyes glaze over?  In a good way!  I love organizing, and really love organizing with all manner of containers.  I just hopped on the Expedit train for our office re-do (will share soon!), and I need good-looking, and interesting, storage.  I also need to corral the toy chaos after a very generous Christmas.  I ended up bringing home just one of these beauties.  For now.

The hubs would never go for this Cynthia Rowley comforter set, even in the grey shade- it's just too feminine for him. But I adore the softness of the ruffles.  With two queen size beds in our guest room, I think they'd be way too busy & overpowering, but it sure is pretty.

More cool storage baskets.  I love the aged look of the wire and burlap.  And, they can work with a multitude of styles from country to industrial and many in between!

Two trends in one: ombre & chevron!  I'm not over either one yet, so I almost picked up a hand towel for our powder room but I wasn't sure about the color for that space.  Another colorway, and a few of those may have found their way home with me.

I love the coziness of sweater pillows and the color of this one was the perfect shade of orange.  My only beef was, it one of those pillows that's so soft it makes your hands feel rough.  I hate that.

Speaking of the perfect shade of orange, our guest bath recently got a paint job (details to come!) and now I'm on the hunt for an awesome shower curtain.  I can't get this idea out of my mind, and though I did end up buying this shower curtain because of the awesome pattern, it's going back.  I just know I won't be happy with it because our ceilings are high and the subway tile surround goes all the way up the wall, and I just want a nice tall shower curtain. Oh well.

Have you ever seen linen sheets?  Yeah, me either.  I feel like they'd be scratchy and wrinkly as hell, but I must be wrong about that, because at the price of $199 at Marshall's for SHEETS, those have got to be some dang good sheets. As soon as we win the lottery, I'm trying out linen sheets.

Two things that will never go out of style, in my opinion: barrel chairs & quilted leather.  In this case the leather was faux, but as an accent piece, and for the price ($179), I don't mind at all!

I'm not sure if I would have noticed this item if it weren't for the God-awful, overpowering stench emanating from the stack.  They're faux (and in this case HEAVY on the FAUX) leather storage ottomans that are collapsible.  Kind of cool idea, I just wonder how: 1) sturdy they would be (the package claims they're ideal for extra seating) and 2) how the heck long it would take to air them out.  Because they reek.  At $39.99, I suppose you don't have much to lose to figure those two things out.

Last up, this tufted linen (look) chair.  Not much I don't love about it.  Except the legs, I don't love the legs.  I'd like to see ebony stained stacked bun feet, but who am I to be picky??  I don't recall the price, but it's Marshall's, so you know it had to be reasonable!

Here's the loot I brought home.  The storage basket is awesome, especially the beautiful chestnut color leather handles. I've been searching for a basket to hold all our winter hats & scarves, and this one fits the bill perfectly.  Remind me to post a pic of it in its new home!  The wooden ampersand has been on my search list forever, so I was excited to find a nice chunky one.  I'll show ya where it ended up too.  The shower curtain & curtain rings are going back, for the reasons mentioned above.  The Dora cup, all I can say is if I find a STRAW cup that's INSULATED and GUARANTEED not to leak, I'll buy it every time.  I hope you can tell from all that capitalization how hard it is to find. And you better believe I saved the packaging, because if that bad boy leaks, I'm sending it straight back.  But so far, so good.  And that tiny little bottle- a lovely shade of midnight blue nail polish.  Just cuz.  So what would you have grabbed, and what would you have passed up?  Do tell!

Oh, and on the way home I was behind this:

Years, maybe decades, ago I read an interview with Martha Stewart where she mentioned she has an old pick-up truck she takes out on the weekends to antique shops and estate sales.  I have no idea if that's even true, but it left a deep impression on me, and I've wanted one of my own (for the same purpose) ever since.  I'd snap that beauty up in a heart beat, it was my perfect shade of orange.  Oh, a girl can dream...