Lock and load, baby....

I'm thisssss close to being ready to stock my booth.

Today was like junking nirvana. Seriously.
The capricious junking gods, with whom I have a decidely love/hate relationship,
were smiling down upon me today.

I've been stressing about not having enough big pieces to stock my booth,
but today's finds put those fears to rest.

I have at least a weeks worth of posts AND pictures
just about todays extraordinary purchases alone,
but due to the fact that I'm pretty much toast right now,
I'm only gonna give you a quick peek and rundown.

We hit Trade Days in Fredericksburg,
which is sort of the local mini-version of First Mondays in Canton.
I met a terrific gal named Effie, who will be set up in Bar W Field at Warrenton.
We chatted for quite some time,
and I was totally jazzed to pick up
these two joined theatre seats from her for $20.

Aren't these just ridiculously cool?

Safe at home!

She has loads more, and not only that,
but she recently purchased the entire contents
of an old small town pharmacy building! How cool is that?
I think I'm staying friends with this chica! We exchanged info,
and she's going to show me the best spots to get rock-bottom deals
while in Warrenton next week.
Wow, did I just say next week???
Should we all just let out a big collective squeal?!

I picked up a gorgeous white dresser w/mirror
which will go over huge with the shabby chic crowd.
I also pretty much stole a vintage 1910 white wicker babies crib
which had been marked down to a ridiculously low price.
Pictures to follow when I go back and pick it up on Tuesday.
Add to that a few roadside finds (including a killer desk)
and about a dozen more Trade Days acquisitions,
and this Texas gal is ready to pack it in and call it a day.

Lots and lots of pictures to follow next week once I refuel and recharge.

Hope your weekend was blessed beyond belief!

Until next time,

Anne

Big Orange Betty

It's going to be tough to part with her
once I get a booth or shop off the ground and running.

Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced you
to my newest family member yet.....this is Big Orange Betty.....

She's a little self conscious about her height,
being 7 feet and all. A chunky hearty farm gal
from the plains of Minnesota, donchaknow.
How she made it to a flea market in the Texas Hill Country
is likely a tale to rival the very best of Lewis and Clark!
And don't ya dare even think about calling her Ugly Betty...
why she'd just as soon whomp you upside the head
with a rolling pin as put up with that sort of sass.

One of the local antique store Proprietoresses (is that a word?)
had her eye on Betty for a few weeks prior.
I know this because said Shop Owner is a friendly acquaintance,
and we've shared tales of our latest finds and acquisitions.

On the morning I picked Betty up from the market,
my trusty friend Junker Earl informed me that Shop Owner
had come by bright and early before I had arrived
to make doubly sure that I still wanted Betty and was
planning on picking her up. ]I know for a fact
that Betty wouldn't have left with her anyway....even though I got her for a steal at $85,
Shop Owner has a glorious shop full of beautiful but pricey treasures.
Betty, being a simple gal, instinctively felt more at home with me.

So, me and dutiful husband and dutiful friend loaded her up
and off we went. Got her home and began to play dress-up....

A little strip of burlap to temporarily cover the stains....

Enough lollygagging Betty, time to get to work!

Out with the unpacked wedding china,
into your watchful bosom, old girl.

She's going to be tough to say goodbye to on that fateful day,
but say goodbye I will. My shop will need a good-hearted,
big-boned sentry like Betty to keep an eye on things.....donchaknow?

"New and Improved"?

Originally posted August, 2009

I recently scored an absolutely amazing vintage china cabinet

at a local flea market...to say I got it for a steal
would be a gross understatement.

It was such a steal that I even felt a momentary twinge of guilt

as I loaded up my treasure, knowing full well
that what I got for a mere $85(!)

was going for upwards of $600 just a few blocks away
at the chi-chi antique stores in town.

Upon getting it home and placing it in the kitchen corner,

I began to fill my newfound gem
with wedding china and household wares

procured two years ago, but heretofore unpacked.

Hooray, I thought!

At last, a fitting showcase for my shiny, new Calphalon,

my glistening Corningware, my sparkling ivory Mikasa.

The new juxtaposed against the old,

the timeless contrasting sharply with the transient.

Would my designer label china have looked any more elegant

displayed in a modern, new Ethan Allen piece?

Some might say yes.

But like so many of you, the inherent beauty in what others

might perceive as junk is this:

my chippy, peeling, flea-market find has lived a life.

Not to anthropomorphize, but it has tales to tell.

Each chip, each dent, each coffee-stain ring
speaks to an existence

foreign to my own, yet strangely similar.

Utilitarian practicality is now sharing the stage
with stylistic functionality,

but to us junkers, the beauty has always been evident,

even if Farmer Jones and the Missus might not have fully

recognized it before relegating it to the storage shed.

Yes, my pristine Mikasa serving pieces

have a resplendence all their own,

but they have yet to live a life.

They still have much to learn
from the wisened old veteran

which provides them harborage.

I'm hoping they will confer,
as we would all be wise to do

in our own small corners of the world,
be they kitchen or otherwise.

*** this is a re-post from August 2009***

Fiona & Twig is born!

Greetings All!

Welcome to the misadventures of a budding shop owner.
My fully formed blog space will be awhile in coming, but just a little info....

Fiona and Twig were two pretty special calico cats in my life.
This blog as well as my shop are dedicated to them,
although you'd be hard pressed to find
any cutesy cat knick knacks among my wares.
Dont get me wrong, I adore my felines,
but my tastes run more to vintage, industrial, retro,
architectural salvage, French ephemera, etc.
I am a Respiratory Therapist by trade, a frustrated,
wannabe writer/vintage shop owner/erstwhile superhero by night.

Welcome to my humble corner of the web.

Pax....

Anne

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