Happy Birthday To Me

I had a birthday last week. I think that's sufficient reason for celebration. My son and daughter in law took me out to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. They presented me with this "oh, so long awaited Springtime" bouquet. I had a delicious lunch of tomato bisque soup, chicken cutlet on a bed of arugula, and a latte with a plate of Italian cookies.

On the following day, I celebrated with my BFF. I met her at the Street of Shops, which is an antique mall, cum vintage shops, cum furniture refinishers Paradise, cum flea market........plus a small café. There's approximately 200 vendors, each with their own booth/space which they decorate to the "nines". Some with stenciled walls, faux wall treatments, curtains, rugs, room settings. To me, it's nirvana.

This is my favorite "room" - all white - vintage furniture painted white



New vendor - mostly white again - her name is on the banner - she "reimagines"

 

Revamped White "big girl" tutu in TamiLyn's shop 

I always come home with something. Here's what came home with me this time.


If you knew me you would know how appropriate this little plaque is


 

Sparkle Plenty Lace Baseball Cap

Twinkley star garland - I took it right off the white chest of drawers (above)
 

We capped off our day of delight with a stop at an Italian café/gelateria to have dessert.
https://www.facebook.com/orienscafe

I'm not finished celebrating my birthday yet. A friend is taking me to lunch this week and I have a coupon for free birthday gifts from Sephora which I need to pick up in my birthday month (March).
How do ya'll celebrate your birthday?????????

Summer's Grand Finale

Is it true that after Labor Day, it's not cool to wear white any more? Why not? Summer's over, back to school, fall clothes, apple pie, pumpkins. Before you know it it'll be Thanksgiving, then Black Friday, then Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day and New Year's. Wow, that flew by.

That's how it is with us, time racing, busy, busy, busy.

But, I took my good old time saying good bye to summer yesterday on Labor Day. My plan was to visit my sister at her lake house but on my way I planned to stop at an antique mall that I've been longing to visit for a long time.

I also planned to get an ice cream cone after the antique mall visit but that didn't happen because my sister texted me and wanted to know if I was still coming. I knew then that she was getting a little anxious for me to appear. So I skipped the ice cream. For a holiday weekend, the lake house was unusually quiet. There were just 7 people there, including me. Even that was fitting for our farewell to summer. The day before they hosted a clambake and there were probably three times that many people plus the hubbub that such a large crowd engenders. In addition to roaring boats, kids tubing. etc. to add to the excitement.

I'm so happy that yesterday was a beautiful and quiet, slow paced and peaceful kind of day. Perfectly fitting for kissing summer goodbye. I hate to see her go. I love her so much. I love Miss Fall too but winter, not too keen on him. He's so rough, cold, gray, snowy, slippery and looooong.

vintage frame & vintage lace remake jewelry organizer

https://www.etsy.com/listing/196386140/earring-organizer-vintage-lace-and-frame?ref=shop_home_active_5

On my visit to the antique mall, I was more or less looking for some vintage wares to use for a new product that I've added to my etsy shop. Jewelry organizers. Since my aesthetic is remaking vintage, I like to use vintage picture frames and vintage lace for these. Of course, I saw lots of things that I would've loved to purchase but didn't need at all. I did find one item that I can repurpose into a jewelry organizer.

this is called a tailer tot - bottom tray & handle removable - becomes a walker

 

 

these are some of the things I would buy if $$$ were no object
 

After a leisurely drive down the east side of Canandaigua Lake, I park at a boat launch and my family picks me up in a boat so I don't have to drive to the south end of the lake and up and over a mountain (Great Tor), driving down a treacherous one lane dirt road to get to the lake house by land. So much safer to arrive by boat.

mountain in background would have to be descended to reach lake houses by land

Another new-ish product in my etsy shop are these crocheted berets. Fortunately there was a little niece there to play the part of hat model.

I do hope that Miss Summer takes a long time to actually take her leave and that she leave us with the glorious burst of Indian Summer before she actually hides herself for a few months.

My Little Treat

On Friday last, April 25th, I treated myself to a little "R&R". You know I love all things vintage, Victoriana, lace, frills, ruffles..............

One of my favorite places to indulge this habit is my beloved antique mall, THE SHOPS ON WEST RIDGE  www.theshopsonwestridge.com  I visit there on my "special days" like my birthday, Mother's Day, and any other day that I need to be pampered. My dearest vendor there is a huge shop called Maison Fleur de Lis. Practically everything in the shop is some shade of white. The shopkeepers of Maison Fleur de Lis repurpose, reimagine, reinvent, and remake vintage furniture. Loooong buffets, carved and embellished dining room tables, elegant dining room chairs, lounge chairs, sofas, plant stands, tea tables, desks, vanities and so much more. They recover, restore, and of course, paint. I believe they use "chalk paint" (more on that in a future post). They carry a charming supply of shabby chic tchotchkes too, like cupcake servers, birdcages, recipe holders, cloches, etc.

Entering their space is like Alice walking through the looking glass. Everything is heavenly, ethereal, restful, elegant. I practically swoon.

These charming shopkeepers had a special sale last Friday and Saturday. They staged it in an old landmark theater. All time-worn, dark wood, vaulted ceilings huge windows, double door entry. Wonderful building. I visited on Friday. I wasn't looking for anything in particular. Just wanted to be inspired. And my desires were abundantly fulfilled. Tables set for lunch and others for tea, restored wicker setees with lush floral cushions, garden furniture, garden accessories, wall art. It was a feast for my eyes.

The shopkeepers, themselves, were wearing vintage inspired attire. Maxi dresses, lots of lace and florals. And, best of all ! high heels. What devotion to their aesthetic. Some even wore fancy white aprons.

This single sized bed was painted with the white chalk paint and covered with the most elegant white linen vintage bedspread I've ever seen and folded, at the foot of the bed a stunning hand crocheted vintage counterpane. I can just envision this in a little girl's bedroom.

I took some pictures with permission and they have wonderful pictures on their facebook page, too.
https://www.facebook.com/MaisonFleurDeLis

 Luncheon is served ~ I have a hunch that the chairback fabric has handpainted roses

Above is a very old, rusted stove, lovingly transformed into a sofa table by the addition of a glass top.

                                           Musical dress form



As I was meandering through the displays, on a small, white (of course) occasional table were three, 3 piece place settings of a child's tea set in the blue willow pattern. It was priced very reasonably as one dish was cracked. I snapped it up as if it were the last one on earth. I have two dollies who are desperate for a cup of tea and in dire need of a tea set and since there are just two of them, it didn't matter one bit to me that one of the dishes was cracked. I wrapped up the entire third place setting and packed it away. Here are a couple pictures of the dollies enjoying afternoon tea with their new tea set. They are delighted with it.

MOTHERS DAY

Is Mothers Day really a day that Moms get to do what they like to do? If so, I had the promise fulfilled bigtime.  Very leisurely, I awoke on Mothers Day and got myself ready for a field trip. I ate breakfast first, at home in my kitchen while reading  the Sunday paper. 

I got myself all gussied up. Took out one of my little coin purses to put only the “necessaries” into. Carried that in my slacks pocket. I wanted my hands free. I didn’t want to carry my big old satchel around on my field trip and run the risk of knocking things over with it while it independently swings back and forth on my shoulder.

So, now I’m ready for my “safari”. Necessaries in my pocket along with my car keys. Phone in the pocket on the other side. I’m ready to hunt.

Off I go to THE SHOPS ON WEST RIDGE. Two stories of vendors booths (200 in all), set in vignettes, filled with vintage treasures and shabby chic style decorator objects. Almost  heaven. I slowly and carefully examine every booth, setting out in an orderly fashion, walking around the room edges first, then up and down the aisles in the middle. I wanted to be absolutely sure that I didn’t miss anything. I would make a mental note of a shop that I wanted to revisit or which had something I would consider buying.

Every once in a while, over the P.A. system  an announcement was made that at noon free pizza and cold drinks will be served in their café. By that time, my legs were yelling for a rest. The pizza was tasty and the drink refreshing. A lovely break. Now, back to the hunt.

I saw so many delightful things, if I had unlimited funds, I would need a moving van to get back home. This beautiful white vignette enchanted me. Firstly because the chest on chest is like the one my father kept his socks in. Now it is in my son’s bedroom with his socks in it. Here is its twin – painted white.

After being absolutely sure that I had seen everything, I made my decision about what I would buy, but do you think I could remember where I saw the item. Instead of mental notes, I should have jotted an actual note on an actual note pad. I had to go to the check-out and ask the personnel to help me find my “find”. I described it. Myself and an employee searched the building looking for it. The employee found it!!

Here’s a picture of it. It is a garden table, painted turquoise, with a solid wood top surface and wicker apron and legs. I wasn’t really sure how I would use it but I knew it was coming home with me. I tried to talk myself out of it but I just couldn’t leave without it.