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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wonderfully White Wednesday!


'Tis my privilege to add my contribution to our celebration
of all things white. Many thanks to the lovely Kathleen
of Faded Charm , our gracious hostess.

I find myself in a domestically white frame of mind this week....

My sugar server perched atop a vintage table...





On a whim I turned this finger vase on its side~
doesn't it now resemble a row of hungry fish?!




Milk glass all packed up and headed to its new home....




I finally found the perfect chippy white kitchen scale I'd long been seeking!





So much beauty to be found within, in the ordinary and utilitarian.

But let's never forget the beauty which lies just beyond the kitchen door....




Happy White Wednesday!

~ Anne


Monday, September 7, 2009

Pass the cigars, it's a GIRL!



Ain't she purty?
Her name's Fantine.

Me and my gotta-have-it-right-now, impatient self
has been seriously jonesing for a dress form for what seems like forever.
My junking budget has taken a serious hit this past month or so
as I try to stock up on merch and props and such for my upcoming booth.
So a real live, busty, beautiful broad in the form of a female dress form was gonna have to wait.

In the meantime, I stumbled upon Jules, who I introduced you to last week.



Meh. He'll still come in handy, but he wasn't what I was truly looking for. 
Yes, I admit it....I was just using him until something better came along. 
Lookin' for the Junk BBD, no shame in that, right? 
So why do I feel like such a hussy, then?  ;-)

After Mass on Sunday, I set off just down the road
for some window shopping in the fab little town of Fredericksburg. You know, home of Red and the legendary Homestead stores, yada, yada.
Oh, and to grab a bite at the yummy well-known eatery, Rather Sweet ....
OMG, if you haven't eaten there, you simply must!
This chick is one seriously talented chef,
and she's been mentioned in scads of national mags
and been on the Food Network. Just go. Get the berry tart bar. Prepare to swoon.

Anyhoo....just window shopping. Yep, that's all I  planned on doing, yessirree. 
Was doing great until we hit the city limits 
and I saw a flashing "Antiques" sign I had never noticed before. 
"STOP THE CAR"  I screamed at my junking buddy 
who was driving. Turns out it's a brand spanking new Antique Mall 
which just opened a little over a month ago. 
They seem to have terrific stuff and mostly great prices. 
And that's where I found her....



She was nestled away in a corner behind a bunch of
Pepto Bismol pink frou frou. Almost passed her by,
and would have had she not whispered to me in French
"C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer".

And with that, my resolve melted like a puddle of sorbet.

She isn't vintage, but that's aiight, I have plans to tea stain her soon.
And she comes on a really sturdy, solid rolling stand.
The best part? I was able to get her for a song,
and nope, it wasn't La Vie En Rose, either.

I picked up a few more treasures at my newfound junk source, 
as well as got my name on the waiting list for when a booth opens up. Score!

Here's another nifty little find which caught my eye the minute I walked in the front door:



It's an egg carrier-sorter thingamabob! A little too pricey for me,
but representative of some of the unusual things they have there.

Next installment, I'll give ya's a peek at the darling scales
I practically stole from them they were so cheap!

Have a fab Monday!
~ Anne


Sunday, September 6, 2009

What's a girl to do?


Installment #22 here of "Who, ME, a shop owner? Sheeyeah, right..."


If you're a new reader, kindly allow me to bring you up to speed.
This blog was created to document and share
the birth of a dream, namely, my dream of owning my own shop.
It surely won't be a full-blown affair from the get-go...rather,
I'm looking at renting a space in an antique mall to start out,
and I'm down to the final two contenders.
At this point, I'd like to defer to all of YOU who have actual experience at this sort of thing, because I'm a bit stymied right now.


Contender #1: 10 x 10 space in a large, multi-vendor, two-story shop. Rent is $89 month, must sign a three month lease, and 10% commission to the owner. I would not be required to work at all. I'd pretty much have complete autonomy to do what I want with my space, which is a big draw for me. I want to be able to express myself creatively and artistically within my booth, and this space will allow me to do just that. It gets a pretty good amount of foot traffic, too.


Contender #2: No clearly defined space, per se. I would bring my things in, be allowed to set them up, but they mentioned that they like to move things around to keep things fresh. No rent whatsoever, but owner gets 20% of sales. You are required to work one weekend a month, as you will rotate this out with the other vendors. Right now, there are three other vendors. Six month lease. Not as much traffic. The owners are the nicest people I think I've ever met, but I'm really not digging the fact that I wouldn't have a spot that's just mine. Yeah, I'm an only child, how'd ya guess?  ;-)


Me in all my spoiled rotten only child glory...



I'm also on a waiting list at a couple of other spots,
and there are a few other malls that have expressed interest in having me,
so I'm not limited to the two I've shared with you here.

At this point, it almost feels like a no brainer~go with Contender #1.
But am I missing something here???
Is there something just glaringly obvious, a red flag,
a Whoa Nelly, a Danger Will Robinson thang I'm just not seeing in either of these choices???

Can ya help a sista out here?


This post was edited to remove
any photos not taken by myself, Anne Lorys.


Friday, September 4, 2009

Introductions are in order....


I've never truly felt that I had a junking day
where the junk gods were smiling upon me. 
My junker GPS always seems to direct me towards
the overpriced or the not-quite-right.
Oh sure, I've had days where I've found remarkable treasures,
but never at such a steal that I was positively giddy with delight. Until today.

Meet Jules....


As I muster up courage to move forward with my plans
to get a store space/booth, priority number one has been
trying to build up my inventory. I've been in search of
vignette backgrounds and display objects,
but I absolutely refuse to pay upwards of $50 for
chippy old screen doors and windows.
I mean, I know that things like that are pretty much a staple in vintage shops, but still....

Today is proof positive that the very best finds
are often stumbled upon purely by accident.

Discouraged from finding nothing of interest at several thrift stores,
I took a turn off the beaten path and found
a store I never even knew existed...it was the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store,
and it promises to be a never ending source of junky goodness for the forseeable future!

Row after row of chippy doors, windows, shutters, plumbing. And all for next to nothing!



I spied this huge rustic window screen lounging against a far wall
and almost keeled over when I viewed the price tag:
THREE DOLLARS!!!!
I was pricing these just last week in the antique malls,
and it was impossible to find any for less than $30.
Score one for the virtue of patience, something I'm not commonly known for.

The next row over, I came across these chippy white window screens for $6. Double score!!




These babies will be the perfect backdrop 
for some killer vignettes I have in mind.

But back to Jules.

It's a male form, but I'm sorta thinking I'm gonna 
androgynize (is that a word?) him up a bit. 
Add some pearls, some vintage millinery. He'll look dashing.
True, I've primarily been searching for female dress forms, 
but hey, for $20, I'll take a fella home with me instead, no problem! 
Uhhh, wait, that didn't come out right....  ;-)


The staff at the store said that in all their years of operation,
this was the first time they had acquired dress forms.
Turns out a lady who runs an antique shop
about 30 miles up the road was clearing out her garage
and donated about 20 to the shop....on the very same day I stumbled upon
this trove of treasures...purely by accident.

Or was it? I'm thinking that maybe those benevolent junk gods
were actually trying to quell my fears and guided my path
to this newfound nirvana. You know, to assure me that my
junking radar is spot-on and to embolden me to press on with plans for my shop.

Welcome home, Jules!


The friend I've never met....


When I visit a blog, I have no set rules on what I hope to find there....
a little eye candy is nice, usually in the form of something vintage or whimsical or just slightly off-kilter.
Even more so, I truly appreciate someone who can turn a phrase well,
who can draw remarkably vivid word pictures with such clarity
that I feel as though I've known them for  ages.

   is just such a person.


I remember well the first time I came across her blog. 
I was hooked instantly, this gal had it all! 
Impeccable style, unerring grace, the uncanny ability to transform the ordinary
into something transcendant.
Yep, she had all of those attributes in spades.

But that wasn't what kept me glued to my monitor reading her posts 
for the better part of an afternoon. 
It was her willingness to get real, to risk vulnerability, to share her hopes, her dreams, her fears.
All the rest, the striking visuals and the lyrical prose, was just icing.


I will likely never meet Elizabeth Maxson in person, but ultimately, that matters little. 
To borrow and tweak her customary sig line, 
she has sent so much of herself to all of her readers,  from her house to ours.
That's the sort of blogger I want to be, too.

So, in the spirit of "getting real", I have to admit that I've been 
wrestling with a lot of fears and insecurities 
regarding the direction I hope to take with this blog. 
Nothing specific or insurmountable, just a mish-mash of irrational neuroses 
forming an interior perfect storm. 
I have absolutely no intention of letting these pestering doubts derail me, 
but it's been a bit of a struggle of late to keep the faith. 
I'll share more on this as the days progress, 
but suffice it to say that today and tonight have been a low point.

No pretty pictures in this entry, save for the one of lovely Elizabeth. 
Just a little peek into my noggin with the hope that the cobwebs and tumbleweeds 
in there haven't scared you off!

Blah, blah, blah, wrap it up, Annie.  ;-)

Goodnight, sweet friends.

~ Anne

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

White Wednesday


I am pleased and honored to be contributing
to White Wednesday for the very first time.
Getting this one in a wee bit early as it's an early day tomorrow.

Many thanks to Kathleen at Faded Charm!

       

 My creamy white vase 
with such lovely feminine curves....



St. Francis among the ivy....


A solemn Madonna encircled
by my mother-of-pearl rosary.....

                                         

 My fairy tale wedding dress....


Happy White Wednesday...
~Anne

Requiem for a Garden....


My beloved husband is many things....
handsome, intelligent, strong, a good provider.

But alas, a gardener he is not. At least not yet.
This entry serves as an ode to what might have been~
to tomatoes not yet tasted, to onions which will never make me weep.

This, my friends, is a requiem to my husbands dearly departed Summer garden.


Sad, is it not?
Oh, the countless hours he spent working
the unforgiving Texas Hill Country soil...and in 100 degree weather, no less.
I never knew how adept my science teacher hubby was
at swinging a pick-axe as he pulverized rock after limestone rock
just inches beneath the surface. Now mind you, we're not talking
about pebbles here~many of these rocks are more accurately described as mini-boulders!

And so he began.
After weeks of tilling the stubborn Texas soil, he was ready to plant.
Hooray!
Visions of succulent salads brimming with home-grown onions
and tomatoes and squash began filling my head.

Pertinent information: My husband is not a Hill Country native,
nor is he a native Texan. I try not to hold this against him.
But he sure is cute, dontcha think?


Me and Handsome Hubby on wedding day, July 2007

But I digress.

We have a 4 foot perimeter fence around our 4 acre property,
and I think he genuinely believed that this would be sufficient
to keep the deer out. Shhhh, I can hear you native Texans chuckling already.  ;-)

I warned him that the perimeter fence would not suffice,
that he would also likely need at least an 8 foot fence
to keep the hungry critters out. No, he said, let me just try this
and this and this first. I bit my tongue hard and swore
that in the very near future, I would mightily resist the overpowering urge
to utter those four little words known and loved by husbands worldwide....

I told you so.

And so he began. All was well for a while,
but he wasn't prepared at all for THIS. (cue ominous music)



Meet the ever-hungry Texas whitetail deer.
I personally find them beautiful and a joy to watch. My husband, not so much.

After all they did do this to his labor of love...


That would be trampled upon chicken wire.
Perhaps it's better suited to keep chickens out than deer.
Hey, what do I know, I'm a city gal....
Handsome Hubby and I are like Green Acres personified.

He believed that our two beautiful Siberian Huskies
would act as steadfast sentries, ably and efficiently shoo-ing away our white-tailed trespassers.


Uhhh, yeah, right.
This is what they can be found doing any given Texas afternoon, 
deer or no deer. Oh, and kindly ignore the half-painted deck. 
Dutiful Husband is in the process of finishing it, 
but his darn day job as a physics teacher keeps getting in the way.

Feeling wistful over salads we shall never share,
I went on a mission of mercy yesterday afternoon and managed to unearth one lone survivor.....


Not much to look at, but a survivor nonetheless!

Handsome Husband has now wisely seen the error of his ways,
and has wisely has chosen to wait and re-plant next Spring
after erecting an 8 foot fence. Smart man, that husband of mine, I do think I'll keep him!


Here's hoping that your gardens bloom and grow in your little corner of the world!

~Anne


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