My Fascination with Wild Mushrooms

I am fascinated with mushrooms that grow out in the wild.  Okay, seeing mushrooms growing wild in downtown Princeton, NJ isn't like seeming mushrooms on a hiking trail in the wilderness, but it comes really, really close to awesomeness.  I think that the pictures will show you what I mean when I say that I am truly "hung up" on wild mushrooms.

One day just running in the woods at Mountain Lakes Preserve http://mikestrailhead.com/PrincetonMountainLakes.html, I came upon this mushroom:

This was really incredible!  If I hadn't looked down, I would have missed this sweet find!  What kind of mushroom it is, who knows...but it sure is unusual.  

Out on another run, I came across this mushroom right in front of someone's house on Library Place.  This one was huge, over 2 feet in diameter.  All intact, really amazing! 

Growing Vertically

Green, Orange and Brown on the bark of the tree

Here are a few more mushrooms found in Mountain Lakes Preserve in Princeton, NJ: 

looks like what you find at the grocery store, but I wouldn't eat this one!

Mushroom Pillows...Who would of that that there is so much "fungus" among us? 

under view of the Pink mushroom

Last, but not least in anyway, two beautiful wonderful mushrooms from Acadia National Park in Maine. So pretty! 

Pink top view

Shelf mushroom upside down!

All of these mushrooms are different, unique, unusual and I love taking pictures of them.  What a joy to be able to find mushrooms in the wild! 

Shopping for a Handbag, A Soul Searching Experience...

The title of this article just spoke to me, "The nerve-wracking, soul-searching; exhilarating process of Shopping for a Handbag," by Rachel Dodes in the Wall Street Journal. Here is the link to read the article; Shopping for a Handbag. I get to the second paragraph and I am taken back by my laughter and surreal experience of totally understanding the line, "I appear to be suffering from an increasingly common condition.  Call it Handbag Decision Paralysis (HDP), a type of commitment phobia in the accessories milieu."  My mind jumps to a few years ago, when I am standing in T.J. Maxx staring at the most gorgeous handbag I have seen, it is purple (my favorite color) and a dark green too with purple leather and the most exquisite Nubuck suede patchwork pieces.  Then I check the price, "Yikes, its $160!"  I CAN'T  spend that much on a handbag that is going to be thrown on the floor many times, going to get dirty and I know that I will put it on the public bathroom floor sometime in the life of this handbag.  But I love it!  I WANT it, I HAVE  to have it!  Immediately I go into Handbag Decision Paralysis (HDP), should I buy it, its too expensive, what will my husband say, it costs so much, I love it, I want it, I deserve it, I am working so hard, I should have it, I can't, it costs too much and on and on....  I must have stood there handling that handbag forever till I walked away to another store and came back a short time later.  I was GOING TO BUY THE HANDBAG!  My inner dialogue was racing, can't shouldn't, cost, too expensive, it was a major battle in my head.  I was driving myself crazy!  Finally, with heavy feet, I decided to buy it.  I paid for it, went home, showed my husband with lots of explanation of why it was necessary to have this handbag.  I think I did the explaining more to wrestle with my guilty demons that had been wrecking havoc in my mind.  Well, that handbag was wonderful, I don't have it anymore, got worn from being thrown everywhere and I passed it on to someone else in a bag of give-aways.  Now one would think that I got over this fear of buying handbag, guess what, NO, I still wrestle with my Handbag Decision Paralysis (HDP) every time I have to get a new one.  Its awful, I look forever, not the right size, not the right brand, everything I like is so expensive, and on and on.  Its like a disease hanging over my head when TIME TO BUY A NEW HANDBAG happens.  My last purse I bought, I circled the Coach store demanding to myself that I was not going to leave until I bought something.  It was over $100, and of course I felt guilty for buying it.

I may never get over my Handbag Decision Paralysis (HDP) but at least I am not alone after having read this article and that makes me feel better and IT'S NOT TIME TO BUY A NEW HANDBAG YET!

Some Handbags I own, sold and love below:

My Orange Vintage Handbag I bought for $1, no problem!

This was a bargain at a consignment store, Jill didn't like it, so I sold it on eBay, got my money back!  

This is the current purse I am using, I do love the Pink Color!  I did pay over $100, that hurt.  Like my Coach Smiley Face, $5 at a garage sale, Bargain!

This is cowhide, gorgeous and I bought it at a garage sale for $20.  I know it cost more than that retail!

This purse is all Leather, Vintage Coach!  I got it for $3.00.

I love Pink/Fuschia, this one is all Metallic sequins.  It was around $50 at a Coach outlet, I believed it retailed for over $300.  Only problem, the two buttons in the front fell off, now I need to get it fixed.  Not ready to be retired yet!  It is loud like me!

Vintage Beaded Dress Clutches, another garage sale find!

I wish I could show you the Gucci, Fendi, Prada and other designer bags I had in the past, but many years ago, when I wanted to cleanse myself of things I did not need, all the handbags were either given away or sold off at a consignment store.  I only wish I still had the Metallic Green Prada bag!  It was so, so beautiful and unique.  It would be 27 years old now, and it would probably worth some money.  

Who knows where it is?