My Daughter has gone thru her stuff and pictured is some of the things she doesn't want any more. Some of it will be in the store when I get home. Boy am I going to have a great yellow section in the shop. Know any one who loves yellow? There's some wonderful Christmas gifts here.

I'll be back by Thanksgiving so come in and see what's new. Remember the Parade of Lights is the Friday night after Thanksgiving and all the stores in Niles will be open for the day and most after the parade. We're also open Sat. and Sun. Skip the crowded malls. SHOP NILES!

As seen on a blog about buttons I was exploring. Hmmmm......maybe I'll start carrying a tiny pair of scissors. LOL.

This picture goes with post below. Taken at The Great Pumpkin Farm......Yep that's us. King and Queen!

Today we went to the Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur IL. What a place! Martha Stewart has been there and the guys who started the place have been on her show. Last year they were in Washington DC at the white house.

There are pumpkins, gourds, and squash everywhere. We had lots of fun.

Look what my daughter made her Dad today. Hmmmmmmmmm Apple Pie.

See the top? She saw on a blog to use a cookie cutter to cut top and decorate with.

Pretty cute.

If you want to see some really cute goblins, princess's, pirates, etc., get to town Monday to see all the kids (400 plus!) from Niles Elementary school parade and trick or treat downtown niles. You don't have to have a child in the parade to appreciate how cute they all are. It's just plain FUN to watch! It will make you feel like a kid again. My Friends and I will be open as ususal on Monday and passing out lots of candy to all those little trick or treaters.

A little side note about the parade. I used to take my now 22 year old Grandson to join the parade before he was in school. I wish I could go back to that little guy one more time. They grow up soooooooooo fast.

I found this funny picture on the web. Cool ideal for old sheets.

Well we just got to IL. today. We got out of CO. in the nick of time. It snowed on Wed. We left on Tues. I have done a lot of shopping and will take some pictures and post them tomorrow. If you read my last posts you know that I left my charger at home. My son-in-law thinks there is an extra one where he works. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that.

Just a little interesting thing my daughter told me today about a grocery store here in IL called Aldi. It's kind of like Trader Joe's, but here's the interesting part. All their grocery carts are locked up and you have to put a quarter in to get one. (like at the airports) Then when you take it back in you get your quarter back. They never have carts in the parking lot cause if someone doesn't return it themselves, there's always someone who grabs it and gets the quarter. Also if you don't bring your own bags they charge you for the bag that they put your groceries in. Wonder if it would work in CA.?

Hope to add some pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Yesterday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo here in Colorado Springs. It's a wonderful, beautiful zoo right at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. We have always enjoyed it, but this time was the best. Weather was perfect and the trees and plants were a blaze in color. Beautiful.

Looking out over the City of Colorado Springs from Zoo. The view was spectacular.

Today was swap meet day two here in Colorado Springs. Wow was it fun! Look at the back of my daughters little Ford in the second picture. The picture below is some of the goodies that

were in that mess.

Yep that's a vintage Alumumin Christmas Tree you see. I bought it without checking to see if all the parts are there. When I get home and if it's all there I plan on putting it in the store window. Guess then I'll know won't I?

I'm in Colorado and I'm having a blast. We did a lot of shopping today and I'm loading it up and getting it ready to come back to CA. and to MY FRIENDS AND I. I'm working on getting a charger for my laptop and will put pictures on as soon as I get one. In the mean time here's one I took of the shop before I left.
Later............

Well we're on the road and so far it's just been a boring ride. NV. WY and most of Utah is pretty open and not much to see. Hopefully we can start shopping from Cheyenne on to Colorado Springs. I just realized that I left my computer charger at home and don't have much battery power left on this thing, so will put a few pictures, etc on my daughters computer in a few days.

We did check out Park City Utah today and the fall color was wonderful. We have been this way many times, but have never gone to the town of Park City. Very quaint and very touristy. No Antique Stores to speak of and that is really our interest, so we just had lunch and moved on.

I promise to post while at my daughters houses. Hope they have a spare charger they can lend me while traveling.

DON'T GIVE UP ON ME!

Well the open house is over and it was a real success. THANKS TO ALL WHO ATTENED. If you weren't able to make it, no worry, the store is still packed with lots of cute stuff.

Now that it's over I'm headed across county for a much needed Grandkid fix. I will be going to Co. Il. Ark. and every where in between. Follow me here on the blog for reports and pictures of my adventures.

Yes we're tired! Yes we were feeling silly.....................but we are almost ready for Friday night.
Look at those head bands. So...............cute. Hope to see you this weekend for our Open House.

After 2 full days of opening boxes and putting stuff out it's finally starting to "look alot like Christmas" at MY FRIENDS AND I. It's hard to stay busy in our own spaces cause everyone wants to see what everyone else is putting out. CUTE STUFF!

Here's a little sneak peek of a snowman angel that has a hook on bottom for stockings, wreath, etc. She can hardly wait for everyone to see her at the Open House. (see post below for info) Next to her is the poster that will be on our covered up windows after we close on Sunday. The excitement for us is building........is the supense getting to you yet? I'm going to try and put little teaser pictures on the blog daily, so keep checking back.

It's Christmas Open House time again!

Here's the dates.

Oct. 14 6pm - 9pm

Oct. 15 and 16 10am - 6pm

To get ready we will be closed Oct 10 till Oct 14 6 pm.

We are excited and anxious to get started decorating the shop with all the cute new merchandise we've been getting in daily. If you've been to one of our Open Houses before you know you won't be disappointed. If this is your first one, then get ready to be WOWED!

With that said............I again want to THANK you, our loyal customers for supporting MY FRIENDS AND I these last 29 years. We wouldn't be in business all these years without you. Your the best!

Carol