soooo...what am I looking for?

Good Tuesday to ya Sweet Hearts...

Time is flying by as I prepare for my cross country voyage. {at least it seems that way to me, lol} I might as well be taking a steamer to Antarctica, this is quite the adventure for this small town girl!

How do you like my new brochure I made for my shop, Lambs & Ivy Boutique? My sweet friend Lynn from Blue Skies blog fame took most of the photo's on her 1st visit & they are all still some of my very favorites.

Soooo, many of you have been wondering what amazing & priceless vintage & junky booty I will be looking for on my incredible journey.

I have an addiction to baby cabinet cards, so pure & sweet.

Actually, I have an addiction to ALL cabinet cards especially if they have a tiny touch of color in them.

Tin Types & what I might do with them are always on my mind...but I just can't make myself deface these little works of art.

I must have skeleton keys to make into jewelry & anything with chippy paint will be considered!

And how can you ever have enough vintage sewing cabinet drawers? I could have 100 & still think of more things I'd like to store in them!

I just can't seem to get enough vintage religious icons lately, I LOVE everything about them. Rosaries, metals, bibles, craved wooden angels. Someone at my shop asked me recently "if I'd found the Lord"? I said "I never knew he was lost, but I do adore all things religious". Now that I think of it, I've been a California Mission junky for ions.

Of course, I plan to bring home as many old tin ceiling tiles that I can carry!

And if I find anything that even resembles this 'it's mine'!

Architectural detail is a must...

as is anything rusty, chippy, broken, half there, weather worn or faded!

So, I guess you could say just about everything there will be fair game. OMG...I hope I'm not 1 of those ladies who knocks people over trying to get too my "must haves'! Oh well, hopefully I won't know them if I do & all is fair in war & junky love, right!

Oh yeah...I'm also looking for one of these to help me get my booty all home in one piece, or several pieces if required. LOL

Sunday is Mission Texas blastoff, stay tuned!!!

XOXO

on the road again!

Ladies {echo...ladies} & Gentlemen {gentlemen}...

By Unanimous Decision {decision}...

vintagesusie {vintagesusie} will be DRIVING {driving}

to TEXAS {Texas}!

Loud roar of applause, hats flying in the air, pats on the back and a few "atta boy's" thrown in for good measure. That's right friends, you heard it here 1st...I will be dusting off the old jalopy & headin east lookin for JUNK!!!

I want to THANK YOU all for your fabulous advice! You are all the bestest bloggy friends anyone could ever have!! Yes, it would be better if I had a pal to come along...but it looks like it will just be me & Willie 'On the Road Again'!

So, as long as I don't run into this...

or run out of this...

I should be one of the lucky ones who get to go to this!!! That's right, the line of Junker's on their way to...Warrenton, Round Top, Marburger, The Junk Gypsy's Prom, Garden Antiques Blog Party & all pastures, haylofts, barns & fields in between.

I've got my maps ready, my bags packed {well, not really} & I'm beyond eager to leave. {is leavin 10 days before check-in tooo early?}
I must tell y'all, the words that really made my mind up were...
Drive Baby, Drive!!!

XOXO

help friends...drive or fly???

Greeting Friends from sunny California!

Many of you already know & for those of you who don't..I'm headed to TEXAS for the Antique Festivals in Round Top, come Hell or High Water!!

Why, you may ask. Cuz I just WANT too!

{I feel like I'm 10}

I want to meet many of my bloggy buddies in person...

I wanna see a whole lot sh*t kickers like these, & frilly petticoats & cowgirl hats.

And I wanna go to this years Junk-O-Rama Prom & hang out with the Junk Gypsy's!

I hope to find Magnolia Pearl sitting in a booth...

spilling pearls of wisdom to all her Magnolia Groupies.
I wanna shop for antiques & find the most amazing finds on the face of the earth for only $10.
I already paid for my room in Weimar, Texas for the 24th ~ 29th & I'm just sooooo DAMN excited! {excuse my french} But my brain HURTS!!! {ouchhhh...}

Do I drive from So Cal to Texas alone, as I'm plum outta pals to ask to go with me?

Or do I fly into San Antonio & rent a car to take to the festival?

Car...
I can see the open road & bring back lots of antiques big & small.
I kinda hate to drive, I like to passenger, but I can if I need to.
It'll take a lot longer, but the haul could be incredible!

Plane...
Fast, less time away, safer.
I have to rent a car which I've never done before...a little scarey.
I can only bring back small items, enough to fill an empty suitcase.
Maybe ship a few others if I can.

Sooooo, advice is soooooo welcome! I know I'm being a bit of a wimp, but I just can't decide on my own, I can see good & bad things about both choices.
Helppppppppp Me decide friends... I just can't do it on my own!

Big Hugs,

XOXO

a wild west extravaganza & a Winner!

Howdy Y'all!!!!

Since all things in my life right now are pointing towards TEXAS & Round Top & meeting my bloggie buddies & shopping like a fool & going to a prom & driving like a CRAZY person, alone, from California...

I thought this Give-Away should have a western theme!

So Round-Up your little doggies or whatever it is they round up in Texas, get out your pistols, put on a petticoat, hold on to your hat & let's get this party started!!!

In honor of this special occasion I've asked my friend & fellow Wild Child, Annie Oakley, to say a few words. Now, I don't know if any of you were in LOVE with the HBO series 'Deadwood', but I was & if that's really how Annie talks...I think we'll keep this PG & just wonder at her amazing 'Peerless Lady Wing-Shot'.

As she goes through some of her sharp shooting techniques the audience is enthralled, though silently praying she doesn't have to sneeze.

Another great friend of mine here to CELEBRATE, is Darlin' Dinah. She's a hard workin woman who works 2 jobs to keep herself in bullets. By day she's a daring gunslinger, but when that sun sinks slowly in the west, she's off to the 'Red Lamp District' where she sinks into a feather bed & rests her weary feet. {ps: her jewelry was designed by the junk gypsy's, sooo coooool}

I've done heard it said, that a man's best friend is his dog? Well, as you can see, a women's best friend is obviously her gun & her horse!

These gals came by especially to find out who the 'WINNER' is of my 300 Friends 'Wild West Show Extravaganza' & sadly to say...they meant business!
The gal on the right is wearin, my lamb from 'Lambs & Ivy Boutique' & the one on the left told me I'd better give her the prize cuz "she was Joni on Happy Days"!
Geez...the things a person has to go through to give away a prize. Those fools, don't they know I only do these things Fair & Square?
Enough Ladies...let's get to the GOOD STUFF!!
Drum roll please.
The much anticipated winner of my
300 Friends
Wild West Show
Extravaganza is...

Carol Anne of Carol Anne's Boutique, Congratulations Friend!!!!
As the crowd starts hootin' & hollerin' & shootin' off rounds into the air, some swearin' can be heard in the background from the gals who DIDN'T win vintagesusie's big prize. Joni's pissed! Since vintagesusie knows how to handle disgruntled women, she yells out into the crowd "whiskey shots on me"!
Enthusiastically the women all run over to the local bar to get drunk & brawl. Susie on the other hand, quietly climbs onto her appaloosa 'Mirage' & rides slowly in the opposite direction towards the setting sun & Round Top!
{oh yeah, that's a pic of my hubby tryin to lasso me back home, fearful of what kind of trouble this ole, crazy gal might get herself into in Texas without a man...sorry honey, I love ya...but a bloggy girl's gotta do, what a bloggy girl's got to do!}

Happy Trails Gals...

XOXO

Give-Away in 3 days???

OK, can somebody tell me where time goes when it fly's???

Cuz I can't believe we're already 3 days away from my 300th Friend Give-away & I didn't even have a chance to have my Sneak Peek or remind everyone who hasn't had a chance to enter, to Enter, or go on & on about all the bloggie buddy love that's going to be in the winners box when it arrives! What's a CRAZED BLOGGER to do?

So why am I a little more CRAZY then usual you may ask? {or maybe you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway}

My Grandson Kai has started kindergarten this week & it's been CRAZY around here. Last minute shopping trips to Target & Payless for the usual Back to School supplies, kindergarten orientation, {orientation??? when I was in kindergarten they just threw you out of the station wagon & said "be good & listen to your teacher..I'm pretty sure that was the extent of my "orientation"} And today is his 1st day of after-school care at a portable at his school run by the Parks & Rec. Will he make it there OK??? Will he know he's suppose to go with that teacher?? Will he sit alone waiting for Mommy or Monga to pick him up & we won't be there? Will something horrible happen? OMG, I watch WAYYYYY to much Nancy Grace!

Enough of that silliness! I just want you to know that I am so excited about this Give-away & can't wait for 1 of my friends to win something wonderful, hand-made with love & heartfelt from me to you, because as far as I'm concerned...you are all just

Sooooo Awesome!

Thanks for being my friend!

XOXO

long lost friends...found!

Can 36 years go by in the blink of an eye?

Growing up in Huntington Beach, CA was something of an idyllic childhood. We had a modest home in a lovely little neighborhood where all the kids that lived there, played together, joined Scouts together, played softball together & went to elementary, junior high & high school together. One of my bestest little friends was Susan Jacques.

My family took very few photographs, so this is one of my prized possessions...an old black & white photo of my 11th birthday party. My face is covered by a reflection, but on the right you can see Susan sitting on the floor next to me. {my little sister Kristen, who has the llama's in CO, is standing on the left}

I was in the sixth grade then & Susan & I did everything together!
Things I remember about Susan...
Her parents were French & had accents & sometimes I had a hard time understanding them.
She lived just a few house away from our elementary school Schroeder, so it was always fun to go to her house right after school.
We went to Girl Scouts together & our leader had a wandering eye & I could never tell when she was talking to me...so I got in trouble a lot cuz I wouldn't stop doing whatever she was telling me to stop doing. I thought she was talking to someone else. lol
I sold her sister my entire collection of Barbie's for $5 when I was in HS so I could go to a movie. I still kick myself for that.
And she was my bestest friend.

After HS, the gypsy in my soul took me to far off lands like San Francisco, Durango, Co & Salt Lake City & sadly, I lost track of so many of my childhood friends.
Fast Forward.
Through the super powers of facebook, Susan & I have just found each other after being separated for 36 years....how Crazy & Wonderful!
This is her sweet hubby Phil standing in front of the sign of my local lake, the lake I see everyday.

As serendipity would have it, they have been coming to Crestline for years. They have friends with a cabin here where they often come to relax & get away. They have eaten at the Cafe directly across the street from my shop. We have been feet away from each other all this time & never even knew it.

They came up this past weekend & we got to see each other face to face & it seemed as if time had stood still & we were still those 2 little girls who loved to talk & play.

She loves to make handmade jewelry...just like me.
She has her house decorated in lovely little vignettes...just like my shop.
She loves antiques...just like I do.
There was a reason we were such good friends when we were young.
We are so very similar.

So Sweet Hearts...today, if I could wish you anything, I would wish for you the pure joy of standing next to, talking & laughing with & being able to give a hug to,
a long, lost friend, found.
It's Magic!

Click here to view this photo book larger

{a photo book from Shutterfly I made a few years back with some of my childhood pictures}