A few weekends ago my mum and sister and I went to a stall antique store in Connecticut. The place is huge and I always, always find some little ol thing to take home. There was this sweet man with old crank up record players and he was selling records from the 20's/30's/40's ... I was pestering him about Paul Whiteman records as my mom and sister were wandering about. We joined up and looked around on the next floor and on our way out I made sure to stop by the woman's booth who has little Beatrix Potter books. I keep meaning to buy The Story of Two Bad Mice, but I totally got distracted when I saw this beautiful little black lambie, who has a little key at the bottom that when you turn it plays "hush little baby" so slowly
... I let out a little yelp and my sister laughed at me and said my mom did the same thing when she was looking at it. Needless to say, after only one "mommm can we get itttt?!?" she said yes and that little bebe was tucked under my arm for the rest of our time there!
....MUST be something in the blood!
PS Mom, if you're looking at this - don't fret, I'll bring her home soon!
I am a pack rat. There's no two ways about it, I just love being surrounded in a little rat's nest of junk. I decided I should start documenting things a little better - so here we have the start to a little series showcasing all my 'ol stuff!
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It's the raggly and scraggly humble old friends that people once formed their childhoods around and they steal my heart each and every time! I have them scattered about - sitting on suitcases and hiding in book shelves - I try to keep them spread out as it's best not to lump this collection all together - at 22 you might be mistaken for having pre-cat lady symptoms.
I did however get the the gang together for a family portrait of sorts. It should be the first and last - but there's no promising!
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I buy most of my stuffings at flea markets and antique stores. I rarely find the nice oldies in thrift stores. I've had the best luck at flea markets but sometimes people ask for outlandish amounts of money - I try not to pay anymore than $5 - but once in a while there are some you don't mind forkin' over a few extra doll hairs for ... I think these two pals were the priciest.. Each alone could be a new pretty dress - but we all have our vices.
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This little one eyed bandit was a gift - and I think he hails from Western MA and he just might have been the catalyst for the collection...
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This fancy cat was a gift from the always lovely Rhiannon He's so long and lanky and I really adore his blue bow-tie!
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Lion Dog was also a gift and comes from one of the most beautiful antique stores I've ever been to in my entire life. His two tone tail is my favorite part!
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The next few were all found in flea markets and are some of the very best!
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I bought this zebra at the Bizarre Bazaar - I really love zebras, because they're awesome and also because my last name starts with a Z. The lovely girl who makes them lives in Boston and has a wonderful etsy shop. You have no idea how much I want this and this!
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Sadly, I have more - a lot more - but I'll only share one last one! Alice bought this for me for Christmas. It's a little wind up lion and it's probably the most perfect thing I own. His little red tongue and exposed spring tail is really too perfect!! They're both very dear to my heart!
A few Saturdays ago I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and decided I hated the new room and needed to change it around. It's a very similar setup to my old room, but I just can't sleep well without being near a window. I've been slowly collecting pieces of lace for my windows and the fabric canopy above my bed, it's not finished yet, but it's coming along! I also need to find some antique inspired light bulbs for the ceiling fixture
Today it's been so hot and sticky I've been hiding in here with the air conditioner on and listening to old Duke Ellington songs. (This one is my favorite!)
.... My computer is off to the doctor's tomorrow. It's in need of a new logic board (eeek!) and for the past week I've been borrowing computers here and there. So - the blog quietness is starting to set in, even though I'm not even trying!!
That means for the next few days I have no excuses but to be spending my free time stitching and mending the enormous pile of clothing that's been haunting me all summer - and the other half of that time will be spent with my hands dipped in laundry bubbles or attached to an iron. Yep, it should be a fun week (and I'm only being sarcastic about the sewing part, I really do love laundry and stubborn stains and ironing! The sewing is awful because I only have tedious things to do like fixing hems and mending holes, nothing easy like loose buttons)
Oh, and if you're wondering- that little black top is from the 30's and one of the things that needs some handiwork this week, as well as the slip. And then there's the medical drawings! I just got these in the mail and I'm excited about them! They're a seventh grader's biology sketches from 1900!
I was feeling really good about the new room, and then I fell asleep and woke up feeling like I was in some other girl's house. I think this is because all of the walls are bare (except for the little area above the suitcases) and it just feels strange. The old bedroom was the product of two years of compiling and collecting and stuffing, so this minimalism thing is a foreign concept to me.
This is an old picture, taken by Jeff, my very best friend and twin brother (wink!)
I had just moved to Boston when these pictures were taken (two years ago) and now looking back at them - I think I look so young! Almost like a different girl... I guess this must be what city livin' does!
Anyway - I've been thinking about my accordion a lot lately and wishing I could remember more than a few notes of only one song. My teacher up and left for Buffalo, NY so I'm left with a bad memory and stumbling fingers! I've been practicing little by little so maybe I'll get better again. Not that I was ever good - but more than five notes would be nice!
The big black accordion in the picture is my fathers, from when he played in a garage band in the 60's. It's much too big for me so I purchased this little beauty from an antique store in NH a few Christmases ago.
When I look at it I want to run away with a gypsy circus and live only out of a big trunk. One that holds things like pretty glass perfume bottles and old crepe dresses. (I think this is my favorite daydream)
Sometimes I buy dresses for the store and then once I put them on I can't let them go. This is one of them!
Speaking of the store... and dresses- I have a whole lot to do right now for this etsy update I'm trying to do today...it's been gray and wet all day and instead of working on taking photos for the update I fixed that coy fish romper and rode bicycles to the South End for lunch, then to the farmer's market in Copley Square to visit Alice. I brought home strawberry rhubarb jam, two bouquets of flowers and some strawberries. All very nice things to procrastinate with.
I bought this dress a few months ago at Café Society. I think it was luck that day because I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it hanging there! 1920’s butter yellow lace perfection = DREAM DRESS! And it did not wipe out my checking account either! For the past few years I’ve made it a tradition to buy a special dress for my birthday. This one is definitely, definitely 2008’s dress!
And more bits and pieces of my room – it’s still a mess, I decided to get soul food last Friday instead of cleaning, but this weekend is the weekend! I’ll probably try and list some treasures from my room on etsy this weekend too. I’m trying so hard to cutback on clutter!
The silly bowling pin was my purchase from the Lamp Shop last weekend. (This is its temporary home though) And the bag I bought from Bobby’s a few weekends ago, I haven’t worn it yet, but I love looking at it!
There are two stores in two adorable towns that have stolen my heart... This particular one is The Lamp Shop in Burlington, VT I've been in love with this store for the past five years and finally mustered up the courage to ask one of the shop girls if I could take photographs!!
The Lamp Shop repairs and sells vintage lights. They also sell all sorts of flea market and estate sale finds you only wish you could have stumbled upon first! And it's on Pine Street, which is the best street in Burlington - so that's wonderful too! (If you end up on Pine Street make sure to check out Recycle North, Great Harvest, and Battery Street Jeans !
Sorry for the sleepy blog lately - I blame it on technology. My powerbook that I've spent the last four years with has finally bite the dust.... It was a long time coming, so I'm not completely devastated - but, that means that I have to start working extra hard to get the etsy shop up and going. This weekend was really promising, we made some great purchases, really great ones! And my new digital camera came this weekend, so taking photos will be so much easier. I don't have a tripod, so it's just finding the time with friends to take photos... The computer thing is a really great motivation though!
(everything you see here will be on etsy in the upcoming days!)
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It's much too late for me right now - but I want to share some photos from our flea market adventure this weekend...
This is the little AM radio of my dreams. It's a vintage tube amp and it takes a minute or so to warm up before it starts playing. Boston has an amazing station that plays really charming old songs, 740 - The Memory Station, and I'm currently listening to one of my favorite polka tune. I'm so happy we found this today because it's been in my daydreams for far too long! I don't want to leave this room....
I found this elephant alongside a sad panda bear - the elephant I gave to Alice because she loves them and once a psychic told her she had a past life experience with them! As for the panda, I'm practicing some control and I'll eventually put him up for sale.
