Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright.... And My Secret Collection

Look at this amazing piece of art!  It is a pin/brooch featured in the book Read My Pins: Stories From a Diplomat's Jewel Box by Madeleine Albright.

This book contains beautiful full color photos of Albright's pins, and the occasions on which she wore them.

I'll tell you a secret:  I am a serious jewelry junkie so I loved seeing all those sparkly little (and not so little!) baubles!  My love specifically is for pins and brooches, so this was like nirvana.

Albright also gives a little background of the piece and why she chose to wear specific pieces when she did.  If you like jewelry at all - and, of course who doesn't like a little eye candy once in awhile - you should try to take a look at this book.  I requested it from my library, and after reading it, I might just have to pick it up to put on my shelf along with my other "jewelry 101" reference books.  Yes, I really do have jewelry reference books!

I have a pin / brooch collection that I work on expanding every spring and summer when yard sale season rolls around.  I love going to flea markets and rummage sales to make a great "find"!  Among my favorites are figurals, which are usually animals and things like that.  The "brands" I look for include: JJ, Sarah Coventry, Avon, and Danecraft, among others.  But I don't limit myself to those - if I like it, I get it.  IF the price is right!  I wouldn't call myself a serious collector, because I don't pay a lot of money for my pins.  I just like having them.  So if something catches my eye, and it's 2 or 3 dollars, I'll consider it.  My collection isn't worth a million bucks, but I do like looking at them every now and then.  Some pieces I have are: leprechauns, bunnies, cats (lots of cats), dogs, birds, Christmas pins, flowers, etc.

Do you like to go to yard sales and the like?  If so, what do you go looking for (besides books - we all look for those! ;)

Do you have a collection that you look to add to from thrift shops and church sales?  AND - what was your best find?

Friday Book Blog Hop... and Other Friday Happenings

It's Friday..... and you know what that means!  Time for the weekly Book-Blog Hop!  So head on over to Crazy For Books and check out some new blogs that you might not have heard about before today!  Every week I find more and more fabulous book blogs to follow!

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In other news, my son is home for the second day in a row with a pulled back muscle (we think).  We saw the doctor yesterday because he is really in a lot of pain - I thought it possible that maybe he has a kidney stone.  But the urinalysis came back negative for blood, so the doctor thinks it is muscular.  We've been putting Ben-Gay on it and alternating with hot microwaved washcloths.  We also got a prescription for an anti-inflammatory, so hopefully he'll be back on his feet soon.

My husband is off this weekend (woohoo!), and we plan on taking our 10 year-old to go see the new Shrek movie, then out for pizza.  Our 15 year-old said he doesn't want to see it anyway, so we should go without him, BUT - make sure to bring some pizza home for him!  (typical teenage boy!)

I have a whole lotta reading to do, which will be on Saturday's agenda.  Sunday is our town's Memorial Day parade!  We all go out and sit on the big front porch and cheer on our Veterans, Boy Scouts and other town officials who are marching.  Then, our nextdoor neighbors have an annual barbecue party with hotdogs and hamburgers and all the fixin's!

So, it looks like we're shaping up for a pretty good weekend here in New York!  Relaxation and some fun in the sun sound good!

How 'bout you?  Any plans - big or small - for the next couple of days?

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and as always...

Happy Reading!