Christie's Enchanted Cottage...Warrenton, Part 3

I'm continuing my posts on Antique Week in Warrenton

with a return visit to one of my absolute favorite ladies

of the entire show...

the beautiful, talented, generous, wonderful

Christie of Sommerfeld Place.

She's located just within earshot of both
Renck and Zapp Hall, and without fail...
year in, year out...she has some of the best displays
and merchandise to be found anywhere.

I absolutely love her as a person, and as a fellow dealer,
I have the utmost respect for Christie and her amazing skills.

So whattaya think?
Shall we enter Christie's little white cottage of wonder?

And the beautiful lady responsible for all this ethereal loveliness?

There she is!

Last year at the Spring shows...I was there selling as a dealer...
I tried to make a daily run to Christie's amazing cottage.
I shopped and gabbed and just admired her stunning handiwork.
And even though I tried my best, I didn't convince her to start a blog.
Shoot!
Double shoot!

Anyway, once I returned home, I did a feature post on Christie,
and you can find it right here.

When I entered Christie's space a couple of weeks ago,
I was immediately drawn to this gorgeous Madonna on the left...

But I was mindful that we were there to see old friends and snap pics, for the most part.
Money is a wee bit tighter these days, what with the new house and all.

So I resigned myself to only admire The Blessed Mother from afar.

{sigh}

But now I have to brag just a bit...(hope you don't mind, Christie!)

Before I left her cottage, Christie told me to close my eyes
and hold out my hands, and what do you think she did???

She GAVE  her to me!
I was speechless and practically in tears.

There's Mr Twig holding her right there...

And here she sits at our new home...

Thank you Christie, you surely blessed this Catholic girl's socks off!

If you find yourself anywhere near Warrenton or Round Top
for the Spring 2011 shows,
please make it a point to visit my friend, Christie.
And tell her I said hello, by all means!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Linking with Kathleen at  

Faded Charm for White Wednesday.

A dilemma

I am at a crossroads right now

and I'm seeking your input.

I absolutely love having an antique mall booth,

but lately....

Well, lately it's been neglected.

Sadly, badly neglected.

My heart right now is elsewhere...

Here, to be exact.
Big surprise to uhhh, no one, right?

And I don't know if you know this about me,
but if I can't give something my all, if I can't give it 110%, then I'd rather not do it.

I've had to face a sad, harsh truth the past couple of months,
as I've juggled
a full-time job,
a household,
getting one house ready to sell,
getting another house ready to move into,
finding time to blog,
and having an antique mall booth...

My new truth?

I'm not Wonder Woman.
Although  I do  look fetching in the bracelets, I ain't her.  ;-)

And something's gotta give.

Because my heart?

It's here.

I've been debating giving up my booth for some time now,
but I really think it might be time.

And in many ways, it feels like a failure, but I know that it shouldn't.

I've consistently done well in my space,
but as my other responsibilities have increased exponentially,
I haven't devoted the time to keep my booth well stocked or fresh,
and believe me, it shows!
Everything fabulous that I buy these days
goes straight to the new house.
Heck, I've even been stealing cool stuff
from my own booth to fix up the new house with!

Like I said, if I can't do it right....well, you know the rest.

And the hard part is that I really do love my mall owners.
They are wonderful people, and I feel like I'll be letting them down, too.

But here's where the silver lining shows up.  :-)

If I do let go of my booth,
once we finally get moved in, get our current home sold,
and things settle down a bit,
I have big plans to re-enter the antique dealer business with a vengeance!

I will re-open my Etsy shop.

I may get another booth in my current mall, if one is available
( and if they would have me back ).

I may investigate getting a booth in Fredericksburg,
the new town we will be living in.
My current booth is in another town,
and this has sometimes presented challenges.

I may set up at Fredericksburg Trade Days, a monthly mini-Canton.

I may have occasional sales at the new homestead in one of our barns.

Or....
I may just do NOTHING for awhile!
THAT actually sounds like the most appealing option of all.
Oh, except to shop, and post all my fabulous finds right here, of course!

I also have some top secret plans brewing to take my photography,
my absolute passion right now, to another level.

Stay tuned for breaking news, just around the corner...

So that's where I sit this fine Sunday, October 3, 2010.

I haven't made any definitive decisions yet,
but I do know which way I'm leaning.

I'd love to hear your  thoughts, of course!

Back to work, and wishing each of you a very Happy Sunday!

P.S.

More Warrenton posts coming next week!

Needful Things, Indeed

I was inspired to title this post after a comment I received from
Debbie on one of my recent posts...

I was showing and telling about my recent finds, and  

a fellow blogger wisely pointed out that these were

not wants, but rather needful things.

Not sure if Mr. Twig would agree,

but here I am, back with more to share!

My first find...
A vintage siphon / seltzer bottle!

I know I say this about everything  {grin} but I really HAVE

been looking for one of these forever.

Scored at a local resale shop for waaaaay less
than what they're asking anywhere else.

And nabbed from a church rummage sale...

My third (and I think best) vintage typewriter.
Love it!

This darling little pitcher set me back a buck at a local resale shop.

And this one?

Fifty cents!

Wanna see what another dollar will get ya?

A mini Ironstone type pitcher, and this one even has crazing!

Loving this sweet little wire basket I scored for fifty cents at a garage sale.

And finally, I just had to share this find with you...

I discovered these seat cushions at Tuesday Morning last week, and I'm thinking
that the ticking side will look just marvy here...

The beauty part of all of this is that NOTHING was found in Warrenton during Antique Week,

but rather all at local thrift shops, resale stores or rummage sales!

And all at rock bottom prices, too.

So ya see? If you can't make it to any of the big mega antique shows,

there are still ample treasures to be found locally, you just have to be persistent.

Thanks for looking, and before I sign off and wish you a happy weekend,
I just want to thank you all for your prayers for my friends earlier today.
They read my blog fairly regularly, so I know they will be touched
by the outpouring of love.

Have a great weekend!

Linking with My Romantic Home

Please Pray...

The owners of my antique mall,

really lovely people who I consider to be friends,

have had a family tragedy hit this week, 

and I would be grateful if you could keep them in your prayers.

Life can be shockingly, alarmingly short...

Please don't take it for granted.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May their soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Stuff a Girl Needs

Well, maybe not all  girls.

But this  girl definitely  needed all the stuff in the photos below.

So, without further ado,
here are just a few of my recent purchases and acquisitions!

My Paris Bamboo Hotel Mat.

Purchased from The Curious Sofa,
so perfect in my blue and white kitchen.

Another vintage street sign, I'm acquiring quite the collection of these.
Right now, it's living in the entry hallway.

And a charming vintage inspired French sign.
This one will probably go in my powder room.

And then this...

I've been looking for one of these FOR-ever!

A vintage French enamelware lavabo!

Lavabo: n., pl., -boes.

1. often Lavabo. The ceremonial washing of the hands and recitation from the Psalms by the celebrant before the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
2. A washbowl that is attached to a wall and filled from a water tank fastened above.

Oh my, I am in love with this piece!

I'll likely hang it up in the kitchen
and place fresh peaches from our peach tree in it.

Later on, I'll fill it with other seasonal fruit, or flowers,
or vintage kitchen towels...so many options!
It's quite large, it's bigger than it looks in the pics.
It is  sitting in a chair in the pics, so that gives you
a sense of its size.

Just a quickie post today,

but I have LOTS more Warrenton photos to share, so head back soon!

Happy Thursday!

Warrenton, Part Two

Hola, and hope you're having a great week thus far!

Me?

Well, because I have a big girl job that has kept me occupied for over 12 hours a day
since I got back from Antique Week in Warrenton on Saturday,
I haven't had time to even catch my breath, much less edit close to 300 photos.

Still,  because I love y'all, I have a few edited pics to toss your direction
until I get down to the serious business of photo editing this week.

The good news is, I'm off work for the next four days,
so you should be getting more pics and posts from me in short order.

Until then, there's this.

Enjoy!

(click all pics twice to super size)

{ Garden Antqs Vintage }

 {unknown}

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 { The Primitique }

{ Country Garden Antiques }

{ The Sweet Pea Collection }

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{The Seed Box Antiques}

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And talk about a line-up of blogging superstars (not including myself, of course!)...

~L to R~
Lisa McIlvain
Me
Karla Nathan of Karla's Cottage
Jodie LeJeune of Everything Vintage
Beth Leintz of Gathering Dust
and
Theresa Cano of Garden Antqs Vintage

I was so honored to be included in this amazing line-up of women.

And taking that last pic was this guy,
who made a HUGELY favorable impression with all the ladies
for being the designated cart watcher and picture taker,
and doing it all with a smile...

My lovely husband!
Whatta guy. :-)

That should do it for this installment, please be sure to check back soon,
as I have LOTS more Warrenton to share!

Linking with darling Debra at
Common Ground
for
Vintage Inspiration Friday

XO,

Warrenton Antique Week Sneak Peek

Just a quick peek at a few of the several hundred images I snapped at 

The Greatest Antiques Show on Earth

yesterday...

{click twice to super size}

{clockwise from the top: Sweet Pea Collection, Carolyn Westbrook Home,
Garden Antqs Vintage, Country Garden Antiques
and The Seed Box Antiques in the center}

Many more pics to come in the days ahead,
including pics of some of your favorite
blogging superstars I was lucky enough
to hang with this past weekend!

Check back soon, and Happy Sunday!