A Little More Nashville

As I was walking out the door this morning, I remembered I needed to take a picture of my Shea frame...then I silently congratulated myself for remember that and to grab my Lean Cuisines out of the freezer for lunch...remembering anything as I head out the door is a miracle. I picked up my camera pointed it at the frame and the batteries promptly went dead...hey its the thought that counts right??? I'll be replacing them ASAP mostly because the New Moon premiere is tomorrow and I will need to document the insanity...like the fact that I will be awake past 9:30. So I will get you that picture sooner or later.

I did manage to have a little forethought when I was downloading pictures on Monday to download the Double-Cola box I bought at the flea market. Remember the shaving mirror I bought? Well I left my $8 Double-Cola box with Jaimie and Todd and I picked it up this weekend. I was so excited with the result....I left these turquoise vases with them.

Maybe its just me who gets super excited over this stuff but I love it...I have been running my hands through the rosemary on a daily basis...Now i just have to keep it alive...

I also bought a Christmas gift for my Mother in Law from them....I'll have a picture of that once the Holidays are over. Other than a necklace and a pair of rain boots that's about all I game home with...excuse me while I go pat myself on the back...normally Christmas Village is a way bigger hit to our bank account.

I'll leave you with this...its the website of the artist that my sister bought her painting from at Christmas Village. I wanted to have her do a special order for me...but she was very pregnant and got a little sick in her booth when we went back to see her...we last saw her with the EMTs...so I thought I would just e-mail her about it at a later date. Happy New Moon Eve!

Back to the Land of the Living...

...or blogging in this case, and I am slowly getting there. I didn't have to go to Oklahoma City again this week which is a good thing...to use the words of Martha Stewart. However, I did go to Nashville this weekend for the annual sisters' trip to the Nashville Christmas Village. My sister and I used to get up at the crack of dawn when we were younger...and she had a driver's license...to hit the day after Christmas sales...now that we are older...and in different cities we have chosen this event as our shopping trip. This year, my sister's friend Gaby joined the mayhem.

and it was mayhem....thousands of women all lined up ready to shop...and a few line cutters thrown in and mayhem is the only word that describes it. Now, that we are on our 3rd year I would like to consider us as semi-professionals...not quite as professional as the woman behind us in line with her fanny pack with water bottle hostlers so she doesn't get dehydrated...but not as amateur as the people who get distracted by the booths set up as soon as you walk in the door so you get caught up in the mayhem. Our system involves walking briskly to the very last barn/building/shed to our favorite Shea Ingram...her frames are to die for...and should be considered an investment in art. I told myself I wouldn't buy another one this year but dang it that girl gets me every time...and dang it I forgot to take a picture of her booth...and the frame I bought...so picture coming soon.

We spent a whopping 6 hours among the crush of people...and my social anxiety was in high gear... I think I had to latch onto my sister's purse once or twice as I relived the days that my dad would wonder off in Wal-Mart when I was little and I would panic...its a deep seeded fear...and I realized it when my sister would have to look me in the face and say...I am just going to walk to the booth next door...like I was 5...and apparently I am...because it kept me from panicking...don't judge me unless you have ever been left searching for your dad in Wal-Mart.

This is actually an uncrowded area...I didn't get a lot of pictures because I was too consumed with trying to make my way from point A to point B...without having a complete meltdown...and then once I got to point B I was too consumed with all the great things that were for sale.

These are the only two pictures of things that were for sale that I took...and ironically it is of Christmas things...which A. is not an accurate representation of what Christmas Village offers and B. I don't think I have ever bought a Christmas decoration from Christmas Village.

I am now edging closer towards the Christmas spirit...maybe not to the point of listening to Christmas music...but enough to get serious about buying some Christmas presents...because I only ended up with two this weekend...and it will be here before I know it.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm Still Here

I'm still here...I had a major bout of blog block last week and then had to go out of town to Oklahoma City for work. So I've been traveling....procrastinating...and slaving away on other more fun things...but I left my camera cord at home so I have nothing to show for it....sorry I'll be back soon if I can get things together before Nashville this weekend and Oklahoma City again next week....wow...funny when you actually have things to blog about you have no time to blog.

Friday

It's finally Friday thank goodness. I am not sure how much more of this week I can take. It's just been one of those weeks...you know what I mean....my house looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years...even though I feel like all I do is pick up...my attempts at dinner this week fell short...every night...and I have just been in an overall mood. Maybe its that seasonal depression thing they keep talking about in all those commercials...or maybe I am just having an off week...lets hope so because I don't know if I can survive a whole winter of weeks like this one...so in an effort to cheer myself up...because it is Friday after all...I think I'll share some pictures I took last Sunday. It was a beautiful day I was airing out my quilt...thinking about how much I loved it...and watching the butterflies enjoy the few remaining flowers in the backyard...it was a good day...and little did I know it was going to be all down hill from there.

The pineapple sage is the sole survivor of my pots I planted...and man it has overtaken the pot it is in...and I am glad because I love it's pink flowers and you would swear that you had been holding a pineapple if you run your hands through it.

My butterfly bush...it is the sole survivor of anything planted in the backyard in the last two years...and it may not last long because the dogs have recently taken an interest in it...dang dogs...

After seeing the blue mason jars at the flea market I figured I should make good use of mine so I shoved what I could find into one with a little rafia and set it on the table on our back porch...I thought it was pretty cheery for October...almost November.

Max hung out with me too...and had to make sure his 5 o' clock shadow wasn't too noticeable... that shaving mirror is really coming in handy...Ok thats about all the cheer I can muster this morning so TGIF!

Before & Afters

So as we have established...my camera stinks...or maybe its the operator...but still...sometimes my photos need a little help. I've been playing around with paint.net because its free and as far as I can tell, it does some of the same things as Photoshop at least on a very basic level...and that is where I am...on a very basic level.

I took this picture while we were in Nashville...it was a beautiful little brook that we walked across on our way to the flea market {there was a bridge}...

It was ok but I thought it would be way more interesting with a little PW Action help...ok I confess...I had to hijack Brooke's computer with actual Photoshop to do this part...it would have taken ages to figure out how to get the effects in paint.net and I cheated with a few clicks of a button...a little boost...a little sunshine...and a little seventies and I got this...I'm sorry I am a total fraud I know...

and I loved it...my only wish was that the fall colors that are everywhere right now had been on the trees...but then I discovered something. I wanted to play around with adding texture to my picture...I LOVE texture in paintings, in fabrics, and now photographs...it just adds a little something...so while experimenting with a texture {of rust} on paint.net...I realized that I couldn't really see the texture but it did add that fall color I wanted...

Now I went a little...a lot...overboard on the rust color here but you get the idea. The tree is now more yellow and red than green...huh...who would have thunk...but still I wanted some more texture...and I have about 35 photos that I could show you on how that went...but with a good google search I was able to come up with a texture I liked and it turned out ok I think...but I'm not a professional so that's not really a valid opinion

It needs some fine tuning I think...but I have strong tendencies towards ADD so this will have to do for now...and like I said I am not a professional and have no idea what I am doing...

Before:

After:

Flea Market Finds

My co-worker/friend Leigh Anne and I headed for Nashville after work on Friday for "the big one" aka the October flea market. Apparently, October is when the vendors come from all around to be a part of it. I did a horrible job of taking photos...and most of the photos are horrible...have I mentioned I need a new one? Its been showing an error message lately about the focus which I really didn't pay attention to...well apparently it is an issue...cause a lot of them are blurry...have I mentioned I need a new camera? I'll try to share the few I was able to salvage...but be aware...none of them really show the vastness or greatness of what you can find...

This is the flea market....well part of it...there are many barns, stalls, tents, trailers, and we even saw a van...but not probably the type you would want too close to. The pictures of Elvis and the armchair set up inside kinda freaked me out a little...ok a lot..anyway...this is just part of it...the part where you can find anything...and I do mean anything

Now while this may be completely normal fare for a flea market, I am not flea market savvy...but I do know that I am pretty certain I would like to know where my products came from and where they have been sitting for months on end.

I did find some great stuff...and only bought a few things since I will be back in Nashville for Christmas Village in a couple weeks...Here's what I didn't buy....

I didn't buy these only because I have some from my grandparents' house...but boy do I love a blue mason jar

Loved this piece but A. don't have a place to put it and B. I could foresee children picking the paint off and eating it because let's be honest....me refinish this thing?? Even though it would have been perfect with my Robin's egg blue teacups....DANG IT...why didn't I buy it...I didn't realize how close it was to the one I wanted until I just looked up that link....UGH...buyer's remorse??...reverse buyer's remorse??...there is nothing like it.

How cool is this?? I would love it for a kitchen island...

I don't know what the bottoms were made from but the tops were made form bowling lanes...and they had a beautiful finish...there were also some made to be kitchen tables...and they were all beautiful...

Enough of that...even though it doesn't scratch the surface of the great things we saw...I just don't have any more pictures...so I guess I will have to go back because I take it as my full responsibility and duty to report back to you...and I didn't do a very good job this time..so here is what I did buy...

A quilt...and the more I look at it the more I love it....

The colors are so vibrant and the patterns are so pretty...it is everything I wanted in a quilt...If I had known I was going to buy a quilt...its not in pristine condition but it is older and well loved...another reason why I love it...

I also bought this...

Now I know that not everyone is as excited about this as me...but I'm sorry I can't help it. We came across a vendor, Rusticana Gardens, {their website is under contrusction} that plants sustainable {read...I won't kill...hopefully} plants in found/antique/really cool containers

Now, I personally, think this is one of the coolest ideas ever...but I have never been accused of being cool...so whatever...it was really neat to look at all the interesting things they used as planters...there was an ADORABLE silver cream & sugar that I may have to purchase when I see them at Christmas Village...yep I have already confirmed they will be there...very cool...very original...and if you live in Nashville they deliver so you can send this as a gift instead of boring ole flowers...and they won't die in a week...well they shouldn't anyway...I've never been accused of having a green thumb either.

I bought a few other things to but they are surprises...and I don't have a picture...see I told you I did well....but I can't promise the same in a few weeks at Christmas Village...that's the place self control goes to die...