Makover

You may have noticed my blog has gotten a little bit of a makeover. Thanks to Rachel at Ironwood Design Studios for sprucing it up! I've tried in the past to give it a bit of a re-do, but I usually just make it look all wonky, so I decided to call in a professional. What do you think? I wanted it a bit wider, with the ability to post larger photos, and have the categories cleaned up a bit. I've been in a blog funk for a while now, but I'm ready to refocus and get to posting more often with more regular features. I'll still be writing about shops I like, places I visit, crafts I make, flea markets I visit, along with inspiring interiors and our home sweet home (which is always a work in progress), but I'm aiming for more structure in my posts. I'm still touching up a few things, so be patient with me, please. I'm re-labeling a ton of posts so the appropriate posts will turn up in the individual categories' lists, which will take a while. But do let me know if you like the new look!

Flea Market Pick-Me-Up

We're back in San Francisco now and getting back into our usual routine. I've been a little down the last few days because I miss home and would rather be in Atlanta with my family. San Francisco is great, and we love our friends here, but home is where my mom and sister are, and I think it will always be that way for me. I'm sure I sound like a broken record. Alas, I know I say this every time we get back. I perked up a little this morning, though, when I went to the flea market. It was very chilly out and my hands and feet were close to numb when I left, but there were still plenty of vendors and great treasures to be found. Most of what I bought I plan to sell in my etsy shop, but a few things are keepers, like the flower frog and the Gulliver's Travels book above with the great ship motif on the cover. I've been on the hunt for more interesting pen holders and thought some flower frogs would be perfect.

I spied this lady portrait and thought of buying her. At $35, I thought she was a pretty good deal. I called Lisa and told her about it. She came over to peruse with me. We both decided against this lady portrait, but I did really like her. Our apartment is pretty small, and I think Andrew is surrounded by enough ladies. She'd have to be a real knockout for me to bring another gal home.

Today was an especially great book day. One vendor had tons and tons of books. Boxes and boxes of them. I could have spent all day just looking through these boxes. I had the impression that these books didn't belong to the vendor and soon found out from him that they came from a storage auction. I've heard of this lately on the news--storage units that are auctioned off after people stop paying their bill. I hesitated to buy the books. It was a really impressive, diverse collection, but I figured there was no turning back. These books would never make it back to their original owner anyway. And they did, after all, put them in storage for whatever reason. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully, though, they will find new owners who will love them. Here are a few of the books I bought:

Cooking On Wheels. A fun book of trailer, camping, and general on the road recipes.

Bambi. Who doesn't like a good classic?

A few Cub Scout books. I was hoping to find some more Campfire Girls books, but these are really fun too.

Nursery Rhymes and Wouldn't You Like To Run Away? are keepers for Lois. I already put one of her bookplates in the Wouldn't You Like To Run Away? book. Once, when I was in 4th grade, I got mad at my mom for some reason and packed my little hobo hankie with a few of my favorite things, tied it on a stick and "ran away" (I went in the woods for a few hours). It reminds me of when I ran away. The book cover is so cute and the story is even better. Everyone wants to run away sometimes.

Flea Market Fun

On Sunday I made my usual trip to the Alemany flea market, which is one of my favorite times of the week. Andrew has daddy time with Lois while I have alone time to wander among all the flea market treasures, and I love it! I always bring a limited amount of cash, usually a very limited amount, and I don't bring our checkbook because some vendors will say they'll take a check and that could get me into trouble. This week I spent all my money before I made it down even 1/5 of one isle. I had only visited 3 tables before I was out of cash! I try to look around first then go back to certain vendors, but I usually just get caught up in whatever I'm interested in at the moment and end up barely looking around first. And sometimes I end up buying some things just because they're so darn cheap (not the best way to shop). After I spent all my cash, I did see a great quilt top. I love quilt tops and have found a few here before.

I've been wanting to make some pillows like the one I made for my mom out of cut up quilt top pieces, but I can't bring the scissors to a perfectly good quilt top, so I've been hoping to find one with holes or stains that I wouldn't feel bad about cutting up, and Sunday was the day! But like I said, I was already out of cash, so I told the vendor I'd be back. Sometimes you just know when you have to go back. I had to pretty much find my way back to him through squinty eyes so I wouldn't accidentally notice anything else I had to have. With eyes practically closed, I ran and got the quilt top and left.