Last week my sweetheart and I took a road trip from Los Angeles to Dallas/Fort Worth, then back again up through Oklahoma and along Route 66. Along the way, we stayed at a lovely old craftsman house in Lancaster, Texas (above) and some adorable motels in New Mexico and Arizona.

These lovely tin ceilings adorned the upper floor.

these lovely glass-front bookshelves were built in on either side of the fireplace.

There was also the Supai motel sign in Seligman, Arizona:

And the fabulous El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico:

Called the hotel of the stars, the upper balcony of the lobby is graced with headshots of actors who have stayed in the hotel over the years.

It was fun, but now I’m interested in not being in a car for a long, long time.

A few months back I was having a chat with a local vintage shop owner about how wonderful it would be to have a truck and drive to small towns across the country and pick up cheap vintage goodies and sell them in LA. He posited that all the good things were basically gone, snatched up by others with the same idea long ago, and there were no more treasures left to be had in middle America. Well, sir, I submit as my Exhibit A the St. Vincent Thrift Store in downtown Roscommon, Michigan. Every time we go here there is something that makes me cry because I can’t take it with me. The sofa above actually had a matching armchair that was completely insane (you can see the back behind the sofa) because it had this crazy blue and green 60’s flower pattern on the front. I don’t remember prices exactly, but they fell in the general area of $40-$50 for the sofas, and less than that for tables and lamps. Sick. Some other treasures included:

They had so many amazing lamps with original shades. There were also vintage sewing patterns, although most of them dated from the 80’s with a few from the 70’s and a couple from the 60’s. I made a robe circa 1970, but sadly, couldn’t fit any furniture in my checked baggage. In the above photo you can also see the front of the aforementioned crazy chair. No treasures left, eh? I rest my case.

It’s that time of year again: summer vacation time! To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am first going to get very sick with a cold and sore throat (done) and then I’m going to hopefully recover by tomorrow morning to make the magical, fun-filled journey to enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area and then to spend a week at this lovely internet-free cabin in Michigan. Have a good weekend, week, and then weekend again!

Springtime is coming, and I’m getting the itch to travel back to the fertile land of black soil, green cornfields, blue sky, and red meat. Why are plane tickets to the midwest like a thousand dollars? I can’t wait to see my grandmother and her house again. The house should be declared a historic landmark. If anyone ever so much as replaces one room’s original grasscloth wallpaper, I will kick them in the shin as hard as I can (I’m looking at you, Mom).

Speaking of family, have you sent your thank you cards yet? Better late than never, I say, so yesterday I marched down to Urbanic and picked up a couple Egg Press cards with which to send my thanks.

Egg Press things are so lovely. They design what I would if I designed letterpress cards.

Plus, their stitch kits are adorable:

Now if I only had some stamps …

I can’t think of anyone I know who deserved or needed a vacation less than me, but here I am, back from an incredible journey leisurely touring the cities and countryside of Japan. Here are some things you may not have known about Japan:

• The Japanese love “waffles.” By “waffles” I mean cake-like rounds in the shape of real waffles, often topped with icing like a doughnut, which they also resemble in consistency. The name of the most popular “waffle” chain in Japan rhymes with the title of a film starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall, and its logo is a large, cherub-like boy holding his little wiener in his left hand.
• Speaking of wieners, these are also very popular in Japan and are pronounced “wee-nah” like the character in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. They may be found in fine bakeries, stored in shelves at room temperature with some kind of roll wrapped around them, up to 14 inches in length.
• If you read, even in more than one confirmed source, about a flea market or antique mall in Japan, and you try to find it, you should probably have a backup plan regarding what to do with your day.

Now, there are many more things you probably don’t know about Japan unless you’ve been there, but these are the three I thought of first. It’s weird coming back from a vacation, especially one more than a week; driving a car, walking the dogs, using a computer. Speaking of computers, I’ve picked a sort of random 80 or so pictures out of nearly 2000 to post on Flickr, and here they are.