Farm Chicks Funky Junk Sneak Peeks

Hello?...Yes, it's true...

This is big, really big...the original Funky Junk Girls, Hollie & Jennifer are reuniting at the biggest show in the West!

Let me shine some light on the subject...

It's official, you're invited...

The Funky Junk booths will have every style imaginable; and a few surprises, too...

Some of this...

A whole lot of this...

It's almost here...Saturday & Sunday; June 4th & 5th

Spokane Fairgrounds

Come & visit me, Funky Junk Hollie in booths 151 & 152

and Funky Junk Jennifer in booths 81 & 82....oh yeah, you want to be there!

A Sweet Birthday Party

It all started with an invitation to my my middle sister's birthday party; what follows are pics of that beautiful event...that girl knows how to throw a party!

Heidi designed her incredible birthday party invites; I've learned to expect nothing short of the best from our Funky Junk graphic designer!

Pretty tissue paper flowers crafted by Heidi; she made all of her decorations.

Yummy, colorful jelly beans...

...in pretty vintage soda fountain glasses...

...and I wish I would have taken all of these home; these colors were my favs.

Cake pops. Need I say more?

Cool Pottery Barn metal wire chair; numbers from my booth...what a super cute pairing!

Heidi's prized gumball machine; a gift from our mom...I'm eyeing one in a neighbor's garage in a lovely shade of yellow=).

Lollipops in a vintage frog...the Yummy Earth pops are my boys favorite; they are also healthy, really! And Dum-Dums, can't go wrong.

One of my favorite new ideas I picked up from Heidi's house...I'm always inspired by the way she displays her finds!

A shelf of treasured cookbooks.

Love the Sugar in the Raw in her fantastic vintage syrup dispenser!

Pussy willows making their spring appearance in Heidi's vintage aluminum cup on her kitchen windowsill.

Treat bags to go; we filled them with jellybeans.

A mix of drinks for her guests; love the vintage brands still in production.

Fresh flowers for the birthday girl from my beautiful newly blooming perennial garden-so much fun to discover things about my new yard this spring! Can you believe that embossed wallpaper that is in her dining room?

Heidi's pretty pink vintage cake plates and vintage forks.

Awesome charm given to Heidi from our mom; and this wine Baker's Dozen "Jammy" was so yummy! I had bought her a bottle and she had bought one for the party, so she displayed this one and I (I mean we) drank the other!

Oh, the divine cake! The centerpiece of any birthday party~hers are always made by Alison, the incredible vegan desert baker at Mizuna restaurant in Spokane; and yes, it tasted as amazing as it looked!

Love the vintage numbers she set on her cake plate! What a cute idea!

Adorable straws Heidi ordered for her party, and cute banner sayings she printed up to pop on them. The pink polka dot Cath Kidson napkins were from me last year.

Pretty girl sipping champagne with her pretty birthday party straw!

Crazy sisters Hollie, Heidi and Angela posing with the cute props Heidi made for taking pics with her new Polaroid camera. We got to take our pics home with us, too!

Somehow I won the Polaroid "best pose" ribbon...probably because she knew I would love it most=).

Happy Birthday to you, sweet & talented birthday girl!!

Sweets for the sweets this year~

Love

Hollie

Happy Mother's Day~

I had two of the most beautiful, giving, loving Grandma's a girl was ever blessed to have. My dad's mom was Martha; my mom's mother was Juanita. That's Juanita holding me by the windmill on her farm. When I lost my grandma's, one to cancer and one to an accident, I lost not only a generation but prayer warriors, amazing bakers, encompassing huggers, and unconditional love like only a grandma can give.

My mom and I; sharing our love of junk & cupcakes...in so many ways, I am my mother's daughter. I love you, Mom.

These are three of the books I picked up today at a yard sale...happy finds for Mother's Day weekend, especially the colorful Betty Crocker Cookbook on the left; my Grandma Johnson had the exact same one and this is the first one I've ever found out junking.

When I was looking through some papers this week, I came across something I had written and made into a scrapbook for my mom. After my Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's accident a decade ago, I started, with my mom's help, to collect sayings of my grandma's. You know, those things that she said that made her her. Looking at the list it amazes me how many my sisters, mom and I still use, so I added comments in italics. What follows is that compilation...

Grandma Said

She lit up a room when she walked in, and lit up you when you walked in her room. the things she said stayed with you, and it wasn't just the saying that said, but the charming way she said it. Sometimes I can still see her smile curve and her voice laugh as she said...

Ruffle your feathers

Brown as a berry (a favorite summer saying)

I'm in the wrong pew

Bee in her bonnet

Knee high to a grasshopper

As the crow flies (I try to use this to explain my directional sense to my boys)

While the cats away the mice will play (I like to say this of the boys and Mark)

Lazy man's load (this gets said at my home aLOT; my oldest and I are fond of lazy man's loads)

Hurry up and wait

Meandering

Puttering around

When your nose itches you're going to kiss a fool

When your ears are burning, someones is thinking of you

How's My Girl?! (I get teary just reading this one! She always smiled and hugged us when she greeted us with these words.)

Cold hands, warm heart (my sister Heidi likes this one alot)

That hits the spot (my grandma had a fondness for a cold Coke on a hot day)

Few and far between (I say this one alot too)

Method to my madness (One of my favorites, to explain just about anything)

My get up and go just got up and went

Six in one, half dozen in another

Don't upset the apple cart

Feeling ambitious (quite love this one; I use it when explaining that I actually got something done!)

Lollygagging around (and enjoyable phrase my sisters and I throw around)

A penny for your thoughts

That cost a pretty penny

Well heeled

They look like they stepped out of a bandbox

Fussbudget

To each his own (I couldn't have said it better myself!)

An axe to grind

There is a fly in the ointment

So we shall see (Ah yes, this is one my mom says frequently, so then do I)

Fiddledede (from Gone With The Wind, a favorite movie we both loved)

It is raining, but I guess that's what makes the flowers grow

Little pitchers have big ears (We have to use this one alot with the aunties and uncles around the boys)

A pinch to grow on

Thanks for the buggy ride (Grandma said this every time we dropped her off after a day "in town" shopping and lunching)

It's a great life if you don't weaken

~2011 Hollie Eastman

So Happy, Happy Mother's Day to all of you, to those who are mothers (and grandmothers) already and sacrifice, love deeply and pray day and night for those in your charge; to those hopeful who dream and pray with all their heart to be a mother someday soon; to those courageous women who have loved and known and lost little ones, mothers, and others; and to those who lovingly mother and grandmother those who are in your life, whether related or not...blessings on all of you and those you love~

Hollie

Bloomsday, May Day

Happy May Day, and Happy Bloomsday in Spokane, WA!! Sometimes it is really cool to be part of something big, something bigger than the everyday, something that shows you what you are made of. This spring my 8 year old has been participating in Bloomsday training at school and I told him I would do Bloomsday with him. That said, I was highly apprehensive, for both of us. I wasn't sure how we would do, if we could make it. But we showed up at our starting group Lilac (second from the end) for the 35th annual 12K (7.46 mile) race.

It could not have been a more perfect weather day for the race. After all of the snow, hail, sleet, rain, and storms of the past month, this May Day was gorgeous! And the trees even showed off.

Haden at the Bloomsday tradeshow where you pick up your numbers and can get free things. Haden's big prize was this pop. And his Franz donuts hat, which he said he would like to never stop wearing, even for sleeping.

Haden at the famous Bloomsday Runners sculptures in Riverfront Park, after his field trip two days before race day.

Here we are waiting to start!

Nothing but blue skies smiling at us...not a cloud in the sky for miles and miles!

Our "D" tags-so cool that our time can be tracked literally from start to finish; can't wait to see our time!

Ah...the trees in "bloom" in Downtown Spokane on May Day.

We enjoyed seeing the Union Jack and someone later on the course carrying the Stars and Stripes along with a Marines flag the whole way.

People leave their unneeded jackets in the trees and on the sides of the road for the Bloomsday crews to pick up later and donate. I like it! At the watering stations, they also used cups that we could throw on the ground, and the crews will pick them up and compost them! Impressive problem solving!

The thrilling start line!!

On our way to the start line! I was so impressed with the way Bloomsday has improved since the last time I participated. Everything is so organized, and groups are spread out, so it was a pleasure to run and walk, not crazy crowded. I think the last time I was in Bloomsday, was, ahem, over 20 years ago. Yikes!

Haden's Bloomsday Training after school program really paid off. He was in great shape for the race and really set the pace for us the whole time. I, not in the best shape after this rough winter, could not have made it in such good time without Haden's leading! Or made it at all.

Love the Free Hugs people. Thanks to all who encouraged along the way!

One of my most memorable, proud moments of the race: Haden said he'd rather run up Doomsday Hill. Incredulous, and mostly not believing we could, I agreed. And we did it. He kept us jogging from the bottom of the hill to the Vulture at the top! This sign reads "Doomsday Hill Ahead. No Detours."

We ran from when we found out we had already passed the 7 mile marker (thanks kind stranger!) to the Finish Line. Such a great reminder of what a glimpse of glory can do!

We finished!!! After crossing the finish line; tired and proud. We finished, and finished well.

The prize: a 2011 shirt. It says to everyone, I finished! Spokane will be a sea of yellow tomorrow. The iconic Clock Tower in the background.

Haden playing on the 'dinosaur bone' in a children's play area in Riverfront Park. The sculpture is set to be removed from the park after having been a fixture since Expo time. I love that Haden ran to the play area after only a brief moments rest on a bench. I limped there.

Overlooking the Spokane Falls with Expo relics in the background at Riverfront Park. Haden's dad and I were both at Expo '74 independently; he was 4 and I was 2. We're sure we crossed paths somehow.
A beautiful day with my beautiful boy. Next year, it's daddy's turn.
~Hollie