can i have your life, please?

Cari Cucksey is my hero. i've become obsessed with her show (cash & cari) on HGTV.

"Inheriting her mother’s passion for antiques and collectibles, Cari Cucksey, host of HGTV’s Cash & Cari, began buying, selling and trading when she was only 12 years old. Today, with more than 10 years of experience as a professional estate liquidator, she is still on the lookout for hidden treasure as she travels far and wide in search of anything she can flip and restore.

 

Based near Detroit, Cari owns and operates RePurpose Estate Services, one of the most prominent businesses of its kind in Michigan. Along with her professional team, Cari sets up estate sales right on her clients’ premises and, unearthing everything of value, is committed to making as much money for them as possible."

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i would love to have my own business doing this someday...she is so inspiring! Check her out!

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one of her unique finds at an old farmhouse....

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cari's tips

Cleaning*

"When you acquire a new item, research it thoroughly before attempting to clean it up. Some furniture is best left untreated by chemical cleaners, whereas others will thrive with a little beeswax and a lot of elbow grease."

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Staging*

"Setting up sales means more than putting all your items on a table and hoping someone will spot them. Group similar colors or pieces together to entice the buyers – and make sure everything is spotless!"

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I couldn't agree with her more: "You never know what you’re going to find," Cari says. "Whether it’s memorabilia, collectibles, hidden treasure or just junk — everything was once worth something to somebody, and it can be again."

-Cari Cucksey

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grammy happies

1) that florence welch got her groove on to some aretha! (LOVE her)

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2) that jennifer hudson showed off her hot bod

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3) that mumford and sons & avett brothers jammed with bob dylan

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4) that katy perry had images of her and russell's wedding playing in the backdrop

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5) that mick jagger is timeless....thank you for that performance

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6) that gywnth paltrow is fabulous and danced on cee lo's piano in hot pink feather earrings

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7) that bruno mars oozes coolness, and his grenade remix was classic black&white

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7) that lady antebellum received deserved recognition.... hillary is so stinkin cute

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8) enough said (dan, i love your hair)

 

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and finally....

CONGRATS TO ARCADE FIRE for ALBUM OF THE YEAR! it's about time alternative genre grabs some of the spotlight. well deserved.

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Okay so maybe not Julie and Julia style.....

Yes, yes I know I said in my first blog I wanted to be uber proactive and post things daily... Yep-not living in a movie! Well the movie is actually a true story, so I must say I'm impressed with Julie's dedication to post every day for a year...bravo! (Step onto soapbox) That movie really teased with my senses. Made me extremely hungry and bothered simultaneously. Sinfully delicious food on one hand, causing my mouth to water, and exceedingly annoying shreaks on the other (sorry ears) thanks to Julia Child's infamous tone of voice. "Hiiiiiiii I'm Juuuuuuuuulia Chiiiiiiiilds." Ahh please stop whining out your vowels! Although, as irritated as I was, it didn't ruin the fact that Meryl Streep is still one of my heroes. (Step off soapbox) Hmm, come to think of it, I guess your entire blog is like a soapbox...but woh--that goes too deep for me.

My problem is that I have found that designing my blog (adding the fun buttons, signatures, fonts, etc) is actually more entertaining than posting or blogging itself! I came home from work yesterday and rather than going to spin class, I crawled in my bed with my MacBook and read tutorial after tutorial about coding and photobooking. Can someone say NERD? I actually feel more "tech-savvy" if at all possible. I was bragging about this to my boyfriend last night. He is a computer science guru so I carried on exclaiming "look at me, look at me! I can HTML code!" And for some reason that gives me a sense of coolness (sad day).

*Side note: If you are a beginner blogger like me, visit http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/. Amanda has so many easy tutorials on how to code..it's great!

So back to my so-called excuses for procrastination 1) Football season just started 2) I attended a birthday celebration last weekend (which led to daytime recovery) 3) TV PREMIRE WEEK! Number 3 is the kicker. I've been long awaiting the preimere of the buzzed about HBO series "Boardwalk Empire," along with my CWTV high school show indulgences 90210, Gossip Girl, & One Tree Hill. Woo hoo, not ashamed! And not to mention new Modern Family, Cougar Town, Grey's, Private Practice...and the most anticipated of them all....GLEE!

Glee is my guilty pleasure. Period. When Rachel sang "Telephone" with the new girl in the bathroom I was beltin' it.....

Now that I have officially gone in a completely different direction than the original focus of this blog, I suppose I should slowly reeeeeel myself back in. As mini-first projects I painted a few frames (pictured below). I got on Craiglist, bought a $10 box of paints, $20 box of old frames, and numerous other new arty things. I even got myself an awesome antqiue shelf for my supplies (pictured below-sorry for blur) from my all time favorite store in Fayetteville, The Flying Dog. Become a fan....http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Fayetteville-AR/Flying-Dog-Vintage-Mall/101119758554 because it is awesome. Anyway! These two frames started out as old, plain brown wood. But I brought them back to life! I painted the first one a glossy, lime green. The second was painted blue at first, but I felt it needed more...so I gave it a distressed look. That adorable cat in the frame is Miss Snug! Enjoy--and please leave comments if you feel so inclined :)