Super cool Chatbooks!

In this day of digital everything I've been wondering what would happen if it were all to just stop working. You know it is just virtual. Plus, what photos are our great grandchildren going to look at?

I have such good intentions to print my photos and then put them in albums but somehow I never get it done. 

...then came Chatbooks! Chatbooks are totally new to me but I'm in love!

Chatbook works with Instagram to save your memories to nice, organized little photo books. The app is super simple and it works by organizing 60 photos in order from Instagram and organizes them on neat little pages with the date taken and the caption from that photo. Then to make it even cooler they send you one book a month or as you build up 60 photos. Oh yea and the cost??? Only $6 per book with free shipping!!! It doesn't get any better than that. 

I love how the spine of the book is printed with whatever you want but by default it's printed with the dates of the beginning and ending photos. 

So this is a public announcement of a super cool new product. 

photos taken from Chatbook Blog. 

It happened!!! Finally!

CATO Fashions now ships! Do you know how long I have been waiting for this place to start selling online. I've even written e-mails, prayed hoped, and waited and finally...it happened!

This little piggy went to market

Every Thursday and Saturday morning we (ladies) are out tracting this one particular area ironically called, Texas and every time we're out we pass the flea market. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time you know that I love flea markets and we have some good ones here in Croatia. I finally managed to talk my partners into stopping the other day and take a look-see. I loved it but my friends weren't so enthusiastic.

I left empty handed except for a few photos...

BTW, I love this sorta stuff! Any I almost bought the runner in the photo below, the one in middle right side of the photo, it's turquoise and red!!! but she wanted 80 Kuna (15 smackeroos) for it, what was she thinking? She must have loved it more than me.

This is the little stall I found the runner in, I'm thinking about going back and haggling a little, of which I stink, btw.

So I did leave empty handed but I'm thinking about a return trip soon to see if my runner is still there. Think I'll take a look on YouTube to see if there are any how-to videos for haggling. :0)

Great Sale and Lands' End! Today Only!

Lands' End is having a great clearance sale today. Do you know why I love Lands' End? I love the little girls' Jersey dresses. Hannah lived in these and they are really hard to find and Lands' End is one of the only places you can find them.
Anyhoo, they're having a great clearance sale today only!!!

B&BW Update

Okay so you know how bummed I was for having to pay full price for the Bath and Body stuff a week before they went on sale for half off. Well I called my sweet sister-in-law today and she said that the order was never delivered. After calling customer service I was informed that my order was canceled because my IP address showed that I was ordering from Europe and my credit card showed otherwise. So I just reordered the items and half off and the sweet lady on the phone, who sounded all of 12 informed me that within 2 weeks of a sale you can get a refund on the difference you paid and the sale price. How cool is that?

Oh yea and I ordered the Coco Cabana classics and I can't wait for them. It is impossible to find anything with the same quality of smell here in Croatia so getting BBW stuff is a real thrill for me, can you tell?

Anyhow, I knew you were all really stressed with my sad news of presale blues, but it's okay, really it is. I'm all better!

Are you kidding me???

Look who's having a great sale!! Bath and Body Works is having a wonderful sale on almost everything. They are selling their great classics for $5, that's half off from $10.

the irony of this sale is that last week I ordered some of this stuff and paid full price! I'm not bitter, I'm not bitter!!!

Anyhow, here's your chance to get a good deal and it is.

Free Shipping at Old Navy

Look who's got free shipping for the next two days and also 10% off if you buy $75 or more!!

Old Navy has the best strait jean skirts for little girls. I was looking on e-bay and used jean skirts were selling for $18!! Are you kidding, no way I would pay that for a used skirt when I could buy a new one for the same price. Two months ago I got the skirts for $15 now they're $19, but still.

Anyhow, I just thought I would share!

A Day at the Market

Last Saturday Johnny and another man from church sat up at the local flea market passing out tracts and witnessing. I decided to join them although later in the morning, no reason getting up too early. Another lady from the church showed up and she and I went to rummage through the stuff. It was a great day and lots of people we're there with their junk.

I think we did pretty well and found some really fun stuff.



I found these who fun brown thinggys. I think the first one is a mug and the second, I dunno, maybe a bud vase? I don't know by I paid a quarter for them, not a bad deal!
The we found this lady who had lots of old sewing stuff. She had this ribbon which is typically European and it was only a dollar for about 100 years and maybe more. My friend and I halved it and this was my half.

She also had this great red ribbon, traditional style and also a huge amount for $1.

Around the next car we found this cute little pitcher and handleless mugs. I love them but....after I got them home I noticed a very earthy smell in all of them. A clay or dirt sort of smell, not nasty dirty but very earthy so I don't know how well they'll work for drinking purposes, but maybe some cute flowers. Hmmm....
I found this nice little plate ready to hang and you know what's cool. It was made in our city the year I was born, cool huh?
This little orange gem is my favorite. I love the twisty handle and the weight of the thing. It's great, don't know what to do with it but for a quarter, I couldn't pass it up.
Oh yea and some more stitching stiff, this is a roll of black bias tape, it's about 3" wide. Can you image how much there is on that roll? I don't know what I'm gonna do with it all but something. Oh yea and it was $1.

Lastly I say this carved wooden tray leaning against a cardboard box and asked how much. The older gentleman told me that if it was worth so much because it was hand carved. I said really, he said yea and then he said it was carved by a man in Ljepoglava, and town in Croatia. I said really, then my friend elbowed me and asked me if I knew about Ljepoglava. I looked at her and asked, what about it. " It's a prison town", so apparently is was carved by a prisoner in that town. So again I asked him how much, the carving was so nice, rustic but pretty intricate, he wanted 30 kuna for it, which is about 6 dollars. I thought about it and finally decided to get it. I don't usually pay $6 for anything that I'm not immediately going to use but I really liked this.

It's nice that it's been made into a tray, covered in glass it could be used for anything. I love it!


Here are a couple close-ups of the tray, did I say I loved it?

When we came to Croatia we sold or gave-away everything that we had in the states. I brought nothing in way of things other than clothing and so on that we had before. So everything we have in our home is very new, 8 years old or younger so I have been looking for older things to give the home a warmer, aged feeling. Now if I can just figure out how to put all these things together.

Look What I Found!

Can you believe it??? Do you realize the significance of this find? Can you even see it? Well I'm at the grocery store here in Croatia and I'm walking down the isle and look what I see. Okay that's Euro creme which is a hazelnut creme spread like Nutella and beside it is our normal peanut butter creme that they just started carrying a few years ago and above that?? See it with the blue lid...it's SKIPPY!!! Yep, Skippy peanut butter! Hey do you see the price below it. It's says 37 kuna which equal to almost $8. I'm not kidding. Anyhow, this is my great find for the week, pretty cool huh and I bet it even tastes like Skippy too. °Ü°

IKEA or Bust!

Guess what, IKEA is coming to Croatia!!! No, really, in 2011 Croatia will moving into a whole new socio-economic sphere. Okay so IKEA won't make that big of a difference for Croatia and her people but what a difference IKEA will make in my life!!

We headed to Austria and it was a lovely drive. Austria is a wonderfully crafty country anyways but to be there during the fall was wonderful. I didn't get lots of pictures since Johnny is a get there and get it done kinda guy but I did manage to get him to stop so I could take a picture of the pumpkins. Cool huh?

Once on the highway we were on our way and fast like too. After I saw this sign for Salzburg is was a true fight within me to either go to my beloved IKEA or drop in to Salzburg to visit Maria and the Captain from Sound of Music, and yes I know they aren't there anymore...

If you can't tell already, I'm an IKEA junkie! I love the place, actually many times while wandering it's long halls of impressive two-people dwellings I have imagined myself living within the massive store, and then the silence breaks and one of my offspring walk up with a plastic banana sticking out of one ear; I quickly tell them to leave the kitchen displays alone and I go back to dreaming.
Have you ever been to IKEA, NO! You're kidding, it's a trip of a life time in my humble openion. I love the place and there are so many reasonable things and ideas.

I have to tell you, we were at the closest IKEA to Croatia in Graz, Austria (home of Arnold S.) and I was in awe in the fabric dept. I love the IKEA style. I am the IKEA style but just uncultivated. I love the modern shapes and colors, I like the clean looks, I just like it! Really they should be paying me for all the publicity, but anyhow. I'm in the fabric dept. and I have finally found the fabric I want so I ask my sweet Johnny to have it cut for me since I don't know a lick of German and that's what they speak at this particular IKEA, anyhow, we stand there and wait, and wait and still more waiting. Then this very handsome blond lady comes over to the table where we are waiting and she is obviously not an employee of IKEA and do you know what she did? Really, she grabbed those huge sheers and just began cutting her own material. I'm like...this woman is nuts, who does she think she is touching those sheers and all. Then another women proceeds to do the same, then it hits us, this is a self-service fabric dept. Now we're cooking so I reach over and take the great sheers and begin to cut my own fabric, how cool is this. After cutting it I weighed it and stuck the little price sticker on myself. Oh now I'm hooked!!! I loved it and it was so nice not having to ask for a meter or whatever. Super cool, just another reason why I ♥ IKEA!

I bought a small amount of a few fabrics I liked, I love this bright, fun fabric; don't have any idea what I'll do with it but it's nice.

And then this great red stuff, I LOVE it! I don't know why but I do, I love it.
I didn't know what I was going to use it for but I finally figured it out. I made a wondow valance for the office with it. I actually took a 1x2 and stapled it, drilled pilot holes and Johnny attached it for me. I like it, so clean and I can still see the outside, I like that.

BTW, that's my sweetie sitting at his computer, sure love ya Babe!
Anyhow, if you ever want to go to IKEA with me, you're welcome to fly on over and we'll head to IKEA in Austria together. fun fun fun!

Market Finds

For months I have heard about a large market in a near by town and have wanted to go see what they had. So Monday the family and I headed to Koprivnica to check out the market. The drive there was so slow, construction all the way made for a very slow hour. I did see some pretty houses with lovely flowers. Croatians love their flowers and 9 out of 10 homes are adorned with these beautiful window/balcony boxes.


The market itself wasn't overly impressive. It was basically just a huge amount or cars park here and there, really no order whatsoever. There were alot of venders with new Chinese stuff, who wants to look at that stuff anyhow? I was looking for the used, old stuff.
I did manage to find this transfer plate, I like the red and white. I actually seen this same plate here in our town but they wanted more for it and so I passed it up.
I was happy to find it in Koprivnica for 5 kuna less than I had seen it for. I think I paid $2 for it.
And then I spotted this cute little ceramic leaf. It's not super old but it's not new either. I like it, don't know what I'm going to do with it but I'm sure it'll find a place on a wall somewhere. Oh yea, after I clean off the sticky paper. :0)
We had a good time, drank some really yummy cappuccino in town and had a nice time.

Hodgepodge!

That's about what this post is, a hodgepodge of subjects. I know it's been a while since I posted, life is so hectic lately. Actually it's not so hectic but it seems like it is. Does that make any sense?

The first service of the new church is tomorrow. We have been there for the last several days getting things ready. Yesterday the church sign arrived, it's not huge but it'll do pretty well. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow and also of the pulpit and inside.

It's been a pretty nice summer lately, but today was a scorcher. The other night when it was nicer the kids took advantage of the nice weather and camped out in the yard. I snuke (is that a word) outside and tried to scare them, they were suppose to be asleep but they weren't. Up for a little late night reading.

Oh I have to share this, Joshua has really got into the open market around here. The other day he found this medal at the market and was overjoyed. It is a German medal for the first and second world wars. This one is the Hindenburg combatants medal. We looked it up and even found the maker. It's his new pride and joy.
Oh I forgot to share this with you the other day. Remember my last post about Joshua's birthday and the old car show in the center of town. I forgot about this picture. They had two American army jeeps and they were the most looked at at the show. I checked to see if they were the real thing and they were, the speed was in miles and not kilometers. I guess and American military jeep would be pretty interesting, these were.

Oh I took this picture just because, I loved the flowers, how pretty!
I found this great tutorial over at painted fish studio for a necklace rack. My necklaces were the biggest mess in my jewelry box so I thought this would be fun. With the necklaces and braclets on it it almost looks artistic, I like it!
Oh I have to tell you this: The national pastor has a Chrysler minivan and the back brakes are out so he was looking into fixing them. Since it's a Chrysler (American) the parts cost a little more than other makes. Anyhow, here the back brake shoes cost $315 yea that's three hundred fifteen dollars, and Johnny called AutoZone in Texas and guess how much the same brakes were, ok are you ready for this....$11.95!!! That's like a difference of $303!!! Can you believe that? With shipping it was still a savings of about $270. Anyhow, I thought that was really interesting so you needed to know it.

Well that's just a little something from life lately. Like I said, life seems a little crowded lately, sorry for being gone so much lately.

Have a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!!!

Just some stuff!

I never know what to call these multi-subject posts, hence the name, Just some stuff!

My birthday was in March and my best friend sent me a subscription to Light and Tasty (Taste of Home). Well it took a while to receive it and when it finally came it wasn't Light and Tasty (which has been changed to Healthy Cooking) like it should have been but it was Simple and Delicious. Well I really needed Light and Tasty (Healthy Cooking) but I'm pretty happy with Simple and Delicious. Wheww, that was a mouthful.

Here's a great little recipe we found in the magazine, and fun too. The perfect thing to make with the kids on a slow morning and how happy they'll be!


Homemade Fudge Pops
30 minutes + Freezing
Lyssa Prasek c/o Simple and Delicious Magazine

1/4 C butter cubed
1/2 C all purpose flour
4 C milk
1-1/3 packed brown sugar
1/3 C baking cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
20 Popsicle molds or disposable plastic cups (3 oz each) and Popsicle sticks

►In a large saucepan, melt butter over a medium heat. Stir in floud until smooth; gradually add milk. Stir in brown sugar, cocoa and salt. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened.

►Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool for 20 minutes stirring several times.

►Pour 1/4 cupfulls into popscicle molds or plastic cups; top molds with holders or insert popscicle sticks into cups. Freeze until firm

Yields 20 servings.

There are lots of great recipes to be found in the Simple and Delicious magazine, check it out!
ENJOY!



Oh guess what?? While our friends were here we went to Austria to shop and let them see it a little, guess what we found?? Okay so the picture gives it away a bit but look at those things!! Do you see the Dr.Pepper? I mean really do you have any idea what a miracle that is? When we were in the store and Johnny found them I almost screamed, not so much because I love Dr. Pepper (which I do) but just the sheer shock. Bro. Rasbeary bought all 12 that the store had, how nice of him and he gave them all to us. Awww!! Thanks Bro. James!

Anyhow, also I found Miracle Whip which is a miracle in itself and last but not least, PECANS! I couldn't believe it. Do you know that Croats don't even know what Pecans are. I was so pleased to find these, actyally pleased isn't the word, ecstatic is more like it. So next time you eat a tuna sandwhich with pecans and Miracle whip in it, (which btw is delish if you havn't tried it) and pour that bottle of Dr. Pepper over that ice; think of us poor missionaries who struggle to make it without the needed essentials! HA! Anyhow, God's so good to care about the little things!Hey look what I have... I feel like a school girl showing off her new toy. Clover bias tape makers!!
If you remember this post, I was showing off some new material I wanted to use for an apron. Well I never did it, never started the apron because I had coordinating material and I wanted to use it for the bias tape but it's next to impossible to make bias tape with out a bias tape maker so, I'm all set. I'll be posting about that really soon!

Oh I had to share this with you, isn't she sweet. That's KD, she's our Golden (white) Retriever. She brings me her toy (which used to be a good round rope thinggy with a tennis ball attached until she decided to redesign it) when she wants to play, she's so special!

Anyhoo y'all, I'll leave you today with this pretty little shot I took in Varazdin, I would love to have about 6 of these little pots sitting around my yard. Love the painted tin can!

Special thanks to all you gals who went by to look at my new Windows Around Europe blog. I know it's weird but honestly so am I!

Have a great weekend y'all!!