Cruising in Style

....but what style is the question. #21 on my 30 before 30 list is "Own a vintage bicycle (and ride it)" but the more I look into it, the more another question presents itself.

Do I stay true to my original intent and buy vintage, or do I spend LESS and get a new bike with vintage style?

You know I like old things.  Old things have character, pizazz, a history.  But sometimes old things can be expensive.  I've been scouring Criagslist for vintage women's cycles (in addition to scouring it for a bench) and I'm noticing a trend.  The vintage bikes that don't look like a pile of rust and actually look ride-able are  $150 and up (and probably need a serious tune-up on top of that)

Huffy and Schwinn have caught on to the vintage-style trend and now have classic styled bikes for extremely reasonable prices!  What's a girl to do??

This bike, for example- a vintage 1930's womens cruiser listed on Craigslist for the paltry sum of $200 (rust included!).  It would be an awesome piece of history to own, but to get it fixed up and made into a comfortable ride, I'm sure it would cost easily another $100+.

Smart Schwinn.  Here's one of their current bikes, 80 years later.

The pin-striping modernizes it a bit, but the shape is very reminiscent of the older version.  And at $169 verses $200 and up, I think this one wins this round.

What I REALLY dig is the 1-speed cruisers.  I'm not 100% sure how much use I'd get, but where I intend to ride my bike (yoga, farmers market, etc) is a flat run.

This bike has since sold (pout) but was listed on Craigslist for a decently reasonable price (under $150 if I recall correctly), more than an hour away from me.  But isn't she pretty??  I love how the rims are the same blue as the body.

Oh Huffy.  When I think of Huffy, I think back to my purple and pink paint-splatter-designed bike that I wore out as a kid.  They've certainly upped their game.  Same lines, same delicious matching rims.  Brand spanking new for $149.99. Drool.

It could use a wicker basket, but that's a simple fix.  I'll admit, the new is taking the lead, but I really hate to say that!  Vintage cycles have more of a soul, but wow, good job styling the new cycles Schwinn and Huffy!

Choosing to go vintage or new on a bike is going to be a tough choice!!  What's your vote?

Patio Mission

I'll admit, I'm kind of at a loss about what to write today.  I have several project in progress, but no finished results to show yet.  The yard is being cleaned out and mulched, the porch will be getting paint in the very near future, chalkboard spray paint is being sprayed, and I've been spending a lot of time on Craiglist. I always pop onto Craigslist to look for cheap treasures, but currently, I'm on a mission.

Craigslist Mission- Find a bench for the pack patio.

Our back yard is all patio and gardens.  We have a table and chairs and a grill (which escaped the instagram shot below- its just outside the frame on the right).  We had old wicker chairs there previously, but they disintegrated this year after spending the winter outside.

Lately I've been thinking that with the English garden feel of the space, a nice bench in front of the giant hydrangea would look amazing.  So I've been scouring Craigslist and not quite finding what I want.

I love this one, but Hubby doesn't.  It also might be a bit too much.

I keep toying with the idea of buying a bench like this

or this

and painting it to protect it from the elements, but I just can't bring myself to put such a gorgeous piece of furniture outside.  Plus everything seems to be about an hour away.

What I really want is a teak(ish) bench made for outside that has some design interest too it.  How dare Craigslist not have exactly what I want when I want it! #firstwordproblems

It's been less than a week hunting on Craigslist, but I'm about to ragequit and drop just a little bit more money to get something new at HomeGoods.  I'm going to try and hold off on my impatience and give Craigslist another chance.

Have you had any Craigslist luck lately?

Playing in the Dirt

I've been in 'clean up and purge' mode lately.  On the rotten days this past week I've been working my way through the basement (and have the purge pile in the dining room to show for it, much to Hubby's dismay) and on nice days working my way through the yard.  Because our yard is so tiny, one overgrown bush makes you feel like you're in the jungle.  Several overgrown bushes and leaves collected in the flower beds make me feel like the yard is closing in.  Luckily, it was nice enough this weekend to attack almost the entire yard with my hedge trimmers, clippers, and rake.  The yard no longer makes me twitch!  Still have weeding to do on the veggie garden side and mulch EVERYTHING, but it's starting to look more like a yard/patio, and less like the great outdoors.  I also spent a lot of time planting in the last few days. Replanting annuals in the font garden that were in danger of being smothered by the monster Hostas, planting in the kitchen (in a 50 cent tag sale cup),

planting new perennials in my flower beds,

and LOVING the new flowers- clematis and purple pincushions.  They give such a wonderful English garden feel!  Once I get much and finishing touches in the yard, I'm planning a glamour shoot for it.

The porch didn't escape the panting frenzy either.  Since getting my rustic metal sphere at Brimfield, I've been planning to plant in it:

I had to rip apart the already established flowers to replant them, so they're still deciding if they like their new home

You don't see as much of the sphere as I was hoping, but I'm curious to see how the flowers will take and grow (hopefully!)

Did you get a chance to play in the dirt too over this beautiful weekend?