Caution: Girls' Weekend Ahead

Due in part to the premiere of Sex and the City, I am hosting an official girls' weekend. Mom and our friend Allyson are driving in this evening. Tomorrow, we are waking up early to tap Birmingham's flea markets, thrift stores and antique malls. Early bird gets the worm! I have completely mapped out this city so we may shop as efficiently and effectively as possible. Below is the official agenda I have made.

Thursday, May 29
-Mom and Allyson arrive late evening.

Friday, May 30
-Depart by 9:00 AM
-Alabama Farmers' Market & Flea Market, 344 Finley Avenue West
-Goodwill Headquarters!!!/Antiquing Holy Grail 2350 Greensprings Hwy
-Carriage Antique Village, 88 Greensprings Hwy
-Salvation Army, 76 Greensprings Hwy
-Birmingham Antique Mall, 2211 Magnolia Avenue South
-Avondale Flea Market, 4420 4th Avenue South
-Salvation Army, 6001 Crestwood Blvd
-Trussville Antique Mall, 147 North Chalkville Road
-Vintage Antique Mall & Flea Market, 1632 Center Point Parkway
-Dinner a la Cocina Superior
-Sex and the City!

Fingers crossed for lots o' fab finds. I just hope we can make it to each of these stops...

A New Addition

We have a new addition to our milk glass family! David's mom was so generous to bestow this lovely piece upon me! Never in all my years of thrifting or flea marketing have I ever seen any thing like this. This piece made me jump up and down, clapping my hands in sheer excitement. It is hobnail, first of all, with scallop edges and a pedestal. My three favorite things all wrapped into one beautiful package. Words simply cannot express my feelings about this piece.

When I was young, I would lie in bed at night for hours trying to fall asleep. Rather than count sheep, I would draw up my fire plan. I remember thinking, "Which purses would I leave behind? What Barbies are going to make it?" My fire plan now consists of getting this chip and dip platter out safely.

Now it sits nicely in our dining room glass cabinet. Front and center, obviously. It is the jewel of my collection.

Squeal of a Deal

Despite growing up on and around the lake, I had yet to fish the fruitful waters of Lake Martin. Until now. (Insert Andy Griffith Show theme song.) Call it beginner's luck, but I caught five squealers (catfish), one small brim and lots of pinestraw. Squealer is such an appropriate name. I squealed everytime I caught one. It was absolutely exhilarating. I totally understand how the sport of fishing could easily become addictive. Fishermen of America, you have my understanding. We stayed out fishin' well past 11:00 pm under the premise "just one more cast and then we'll go in."

This is the first fish of many to come! Now, I admit I didn't 100% fish, meaning I didn't bait or unhook anything from anything. I just casted the line and reeled 'em in. What are boys for anyway? David barely got me to hold this one long enough to snap a picture. Too bad we didn't get the fish's good side.

Eye Candy

How can one say no to pink and orange? This peppy color combo has always been a favorite. And who else should have items in these colors but yours truly, JCrew. Our preppy friend has some lovely pieces with these vibrant colors! The belt is even on sale right now.... I'm so weak to polka dots!

Wedding Season Barbie

We had a wedding this Saturday, where my brand spankin' new Lilly dress (a TJ Maxx find) made its debut. It's a strapless white eyelet with pink flowers and a pink ribbon around the waistline. Only difficult thing about Lilly dresses is accessorizing. As most of the designs include pinks, greens, yellows, blues, it can be quite difficult finding shoes to match. What a damsel in dis-dress!

But, just you wait! I found these and they matched perfectly. And let me tell you, finding the perfect shade of pink is a far cry from easy.


Don't they look like Barbie's pink high heels? One of my former co-workers had a pink patent leather pair of shoes that she donned her Barbie shoes. When I saw these, it was a wonderful deja vous moment. Barbie would have been so proud of my matching ensemble.

Milking My Dollar

After I returned home from Sandestin on Sunday and David returned from his deep sea-fishing trip in Orange Beach, we turned right back around and headed south to Jacksonville, Florida. Hence the lapse in posts.

We had yet to visit his sister and brother-in-law and most importantly, new baby boy. With each trip, I see opportunity for untapped flea markets and thrift stores. Riding with a boy, however, this was not as easy to pull off. But, I'm so glad I was able to get one stop out of 'em. Else I would not be the proud new owner of this milk glass creamer and sugar set. David's only question was, now that you have all of this, are you going to let up on buying milk glass for a while? Silly, silly man.



P.S. Does anyone have a need for some fresh basil? It's growing faster than I can use it. And we only use it occassionally. Or, does anyone have a recipe for mass quantities of basil? Either would help.

Straight from the Beach

Mom and I had a fabulous weekend filled with shopping, shopping, good food and shopping. Amidst our shopping frenzy, we also found time to visit Seaside. Okay, I admit, to ultimately do more shopping! For those of you who haven't visited Seaside, let me explain. Seaside = beach and pretty home heaven. Technically, Seaside is a subdivision, I suppose, though to call it that is almost an insult. Located in Grayton Beach, Florida, Seaside is more of a way of life. All of the homes are painted in wonderful pastels with my favorite, white woodwork and tin roofs. And get this, each home has a name! It's like Wisteria Lane meets the beach. I chose a few of my faves to share...and it ended up being seven. Like choosing a favorite child!

One house, two house, red house, blue house.

Such detail work!

Wouldn't I love to walk under a trellis to my front door!

So inviting, hard to resist, just walking in.

Not enough words to describe.

All over Seaside, you can see these cute rooftops and widows' walks peeking out above the palms.

Much more picturesque sans Ford F150s and trailer, but picturesque nonetheless.

Antique store in Seaside

How sweet is this church? Even down to the three tiered topiaries flanking the front doors.

Along Ruskin Street, people open up the first floor as a store front and live above on the second and third. This was one of the many.

Now, back to reality, Elizabeth. At the thrift stores and flea markets, Mom and I found some wonderful bargains. I came home with all of this milk glass!!!! I'm a sucker for anything with a pedestal, what can I say. And I had to buy two of anything I could because my Mom said so, of course!

Gorgheous, dahling, gorgheous.

JCrew outlet finds

Cannot wait for next year. A huge believer in being proactive, I collected business cards from each thrift store/flea market we visited.

Sneak Preview

We made it to Sandestin quite safely, shopping our way down. There is not a thrift store or flea market we didn't hit. Here's a sneak preview of what we saw.

Really jones-ing for this white grandfather clock at the Waterfront Mission Rescue Center thrift store. Bargain is an understatement. It was priced at $100 and there were two of them. Double bargain. If only there were a way to fit it into Mom's stationwagon. Can we strap this to the top of the car?

Really really cute piece at the same thrift store. We both loved the circular knobs, two for each drawer. Cute idea...

More to come later tonight! I will say that I only spent $5 yesterday on home decor and have two items to show for it. Two really cute items!!!!!

Sandestin Bound

Tomorrow Mom and I are driving south to Sandestin, Florida. We haven't been on a vacation together in who knows how long. And Mother's Day Weekend will be perfect for a mother-daughter rendez-vous!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and don't forgot to tell your mom you love her! What would we do without our mothers?!

Floral Update

Alright, so I admit it's a slow news day around here. An amateur gardener in the works, I am so proud of my flowers and such. Feel like a proud mom. Next thing you know I'll be carrying around one of those pocket size photo albums in my purse showing random strangers pictures of my mandevilla a la grandmothers around the world. But, for now, I'll just subject you to these few!

These are our little lemons! What a day that was when David spotted our tree at Home Depot.

And of course, you remember its first appearance. What a long way it has come!

One of our most recent additions. Painted the pot this weekend. Love the way it makes the pink pop!

Weekend in Review

What a fabulous weekend! So many tidbits to share, where shall I begin! With that said, please pardon the lack of segues.

Our visitors arrived Friday evening as planned. I must tell you about our dining experience at The Fish Market that evening. Quite an odd little set-up they have. The food was tasty, but quite a disorienting experience. We walked in and immediately became part of a queue. We remained in line and happened to notice some menus in a basket. I grabbed a book size menu for each and we continued to stand in line. All of a sudden, a lady with a receipt book begins taking our order. Then, we paid and got a buzzer in the shape of a lobster. Cute, huh? Kitschy, but definitely cute. When the lobster turned red, a waiter grabbed it up and retrieved our food. Perhaps, it doesn't sound odd in my description, but as first-timers, we had no idea what we were supposed to do. Signage, people! Either way, we had a great time- my Dad, Heather, Hadley, David and me. Love when we all get to spend time together.

Saturday, we attended a wedding reception at Turn Brooke Manor in Columbiana, also known as my new dream house. Someone at Mattel should design a Barbie Dream House modeled after this. It could be labeled Cottage Barbie Dream House complete with vintage decor and shabby chic furniture. I just loved the spindle woodwork, wraparound porch and overall shape of this house.

I love going to weddings/receptions and especially seeing the details. So, I thought I'd share pics.

Above is the wedding cake- isn't this so whimsical and fun! Below is the chocolately groom's cake! For our Yankee readership, yes there are typically two cakes at southern receptions. Wedding cake is usually a white cake/vanilla/buttercream/etc. Groom's is almost always chocolate or something of the groom's liking.

We all had such a great time at the reception, especially this little one. Don't you wish we could still dance like we're children when we're adults? No inhibitions just moving with the music!

Today, I joined the guys for a trip to the driving range. First question I asked David, "Do you mind if I bring my camera?" David: This is all for you're blog, isn't it? He knows me so well. So these pics are for you! This was my second time holding a golf club and I'm quite proud of my performance! I got the ball into the air at least 7 times, not bad not bad. Please don't judge my stance or positioning. I had to use David's club and he's 6'1". Me 4'9.5".

Sorry this picture is not better. These guys were such good sports, but I didn't want to push my luck by asking them to pose for a group shot or making them all swing simultaneously as I had envisioned.

Last tidbit I learned this weekend. Apparently, there is such a thing as up-dating. Not as in updating your profile or updating your house. Updating as in dating out of your league.

(photo courtesy of Amazon.com)

Who knew, right? I am secretly a lover of self-help books, what can I say? But this, wow. I'm not sure whether to laugh or read it? Leil Lowndes is also the author of "How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You." I'm not sure if that helps or hurts this pseudo sequel. But definitely intrigued as what could possibly be in this book. It's undoubtedly aimed at men. Women rarely if ever refer to any man as out of their league. Or at least, I've never heard it. So girls, be forewarned. Don't fall victim!

Visitors!

We have visitors coming today! My sister Heather and niece Hadley are coming for a weekend stay and I am beside myself. Last time they came, we went to the Birmingham Zoo and baked cookies together. It's always so fun seeing things through children's eyes. This is Hadley in the picture above licking the cookie dough off her hands after we had finished. She is just the apple of my eye!

Painting Polka

Purchased these wooden bowls years ago at a flea market with the intention of painting them. Fast forward 5+ years. I enjoy painting, I really do. But every time, I am reminded why handpainted items cost so much! Painting is so labor intensive and my experience just involved polka dots.

Overall, I'm pleased with these little bowls. Wish I had taken a "before" picture to show the difference. Now the question is, what do I do with them...

Merci beaucoup

Just a quick thank you for all of your kind comments and emails. They mean so much!

Collection de Needlepoint

Just in case you haven't heard it enough, I L-O-V-E needlepoint. Mom passed it on to me. Not doing needlepoint, just buying! As crafty as I like to be, I have never been into sewing related crafts. I suppose she passed that on to me as well. But I am always willing to learn something new. I am gardening, right?

Anyway, my mini-needlepoint collection is coming along quite well. It doesn't consist of much, yet. But I sure enjoy it! Finding vintage, or even new, needlepoint is literally like finding a needle in a haystack. Correction: finding needlepoint in non-grandma like colors. It's such a rush! Hi, my name is Elizabeth and I'm addicted to needlepoint.

Mom made a huge sacrifice in giving me this one when I moved to Birmingham. This is how it all began....

"The cow jumped over the moon." This pillow has to be my favorite for its whimsical nature and colors, bien sur. Found this at an antique mall in Auburn, AL for under $20. Definitely a great find.

Mom gave me this one as well. The colors weren't quite right for her style, so I graciously accepted!