Fossil sells vintage???

Am I coming late to the party....or was this a secret to all of you, too??

I was cruising around the web last night, and popped over to Fossil.com to check out the new watches and handbags they have out for Spring. On the sidebar I notice a category called Fossil Finds, clicked on it and was SHOCKED to find loads of vintage goodies waiting to be added to my little shopping cart! 

I had no idea they sold cool old stuff!!

They have old signs...

chippy paint bird cages...

antique glove molds...

and a nice selection of old cameras, too...

Quite a few things have been sold already, like this super-cute aqua camera...so apparently someone out there knows this is going on in the world of Fossil! 

You know I love my vintage, so this is going to be a site I check regularly now for the must-have one of a kind item...so I thought you should know, too! 

Pop over and take a peek, they have some fun things!

On a 'work' note...I am back to my warehouse for another 12 hour painting marathon today! I sure hope my Chicago peeps are looking for painted furniture this weekend. Every last inch of my trucks are going to be packed and it is going to be a gorgeous weekend at the flea!!! Hope to see you there!

more Southern shop love...Time Worn Interiors

Yes, I am STILL talking about the shops I visited durning my trip to Nashville back in March. Hey, what can I say, I shop A LOT and some shops are so fabulous I have to tell you about them just in case you are in the area. It is my duty as a dedicated vintage shopper to keep my peeps informed about the ones that are sooooo worth the time to stop. 

Ok, today we are talking about Theresa's shop in Glendale, KY. (Theresa has the fabulous blog Time Worn Interiors, so do pay her a visit and tell her Hello!) It was right on my path home from Nashville, to Illinois so I knew I HAD to see it. It was a Sunday, so she was closed that day but was sweet enough to come over and open the shop for me. Isn't it just so cute?? I love the chippy painted brick an black double doors. This is how I would want my shop to look if I ever have one. 

I knew as soon as I peeked in the front window this was going to be a good one. You know how you get that little rush of excitement and then panic all at the same time when you just KNOW you are going to want to spend every last penny you have? Yep, I had that. 

But then I get inside and I panic because I love it all so much...and I get overwhelmed and don't know what to buy so I freeze and don't notice things I REALLY should have bought until I get home and look at the pictures and want to scream. Yep, I had that happen, too. 

Just look at this old hardware cabinet!!!! Could I possibly put enough exclamation points to express how much I love it? 

{sigh...}

And then there was this open beadboard cabinet. I was soooo close to getting this one. But, I knew it would not fit in the SUV we drove on this trip. (slap in the face reminder as to why you ALWAYS see me driving a truck. You just never know when you are going to need to haul something!) 

But I did get that big, beautiful mirror hanging next to it. Yay!

Theresa has this cute little room tucked in the back of the shop. She had my bed all made up and ready...how did she know I was going to want to move into her shop? Haha! I am totally kidding, but this is such a cozy little space...I would love to be her live-in shopkeep!

This cute little cabinet with chippy old paint was at the foot of that bed. Now this one I knew I could fit in that silly SUV we were driving so it came home with me. I looooove it! A perfect mix of chippy pale gray and white paint. 

This is a shutter from an old barn. Isn't it gorgeous?? You can just tell how grand that old barn must have been to have such a beautiful and HUGE shutter. 

The way she did the display inside of this big birdcage was genius!

And just because I am obsessed with old houses, I just had to show you this cute one that is right next door to Theresa's shop. Isn't it just so stinkin' cute?? The whole town of Glendale was cute! 

In your travels, if you are anywhere near Glendale, KY this town is soooo worth a visit. Give yourself some time, though. For a little town it has an AMAZING number of antique shops to see. We were in a hurry so only had time to stop at one other shop where Theresa had a booth. I wish I could have seen more, but I know I will be back soon! 

Do pop over and check out her blog. She just came back from doing the Marburger Farms show in Texas but will be doing more shows this year, so even if you can't make it to Kentucky, she may be bringing Kentucky to you!

I {heart} City Farmhouse

I am back today with another of my favorite places in Tennessee!

City Farmhouse. (even the name is cool, no?)

My hubs now refers to this shop as 'where the Urban Farmgirl would live'. Get it?

City. Farmhouse. Oh, he thinks he is sooo funny. But I love it so much, I would move in if I could!

This time we are in Franklin, which is right outside Nashville.  If you want to visit the town where you are most likely to be eating lunch at  a table next to Kelli Pickler or Faith Hill...this is it! Most of the country stars live in and around Franklin. It is a charming, quaint and has some SERIOUSLY good shopping! Antiques, boutiques and fabulous restaurants are everywhere!

Before my visit, I had found City Farmhouse on Facebook and through their blog. Kim, the owner sent me a message and told me to be sure to stop by and I am soooo glad I did! Kim and her husband David are two of my very favorite people on this Earth! We talked and talked forever...another blogger-meeting with a happy ending. I just love meeting the people behind the blog! They made me feel so welcome, I can't wait to go back and visit them again!

There store was amazing, so I thought I would take you on a little tour!

I {LOVE} the tractor grill hung on the wall with a light in it! That would be sooo awesome in our media room! David makes those, by the way. 

They carry some of the best painted furniture...but it doesn't stick around long, so if you see a piece you want you have to get it when you see it!

I about died over this door...and yes, it did cross my mind to ask if I could take it off the hinges and take it home with me. I really should start carrying a screwdriver in my purse for such occasions! 

{smile...}

Let's have a closer look, shall we??

{sigh...}

I stared at this old window for a loooong time. Isn't it fantastic? It is so big, and the beveled glass was almost too much. It was ah-ma-zing!

Don't even get me started on this antique table wrapped in old zinc. I want one soooo bad, but it needs to be larger. My hubs would just think I was the coolest wife ever if I brought home one of these for his poker table. 

Love, love, LOVE this chandi! 

And my favorite piece of the whole visit..this old farm table. If I had a way to haul this baby home, I would have. It is really long, maybe 8-10 feet. It would have made an incredible dining table out on my porch. 

City Farmhouse has a ton of architectural salvage, too! Doors, window...all with chippy paint in a rainbow of colors! 

And the lockers?? Well, I have a little 'thing' for lockers, I admit. There were such a cute petite size, perfect for a kids room!

I heard from so many of you after yesterday's post. You either live near Nashville or are planning a trip there, soon. You really MUST take a day to visit Franklin! I will do a longer post tomorrow about their Main Street area where all the boutiques and restaurants are. 

But one of the best things was seeing City Farmhouse, so be sure to stop in...and give Kim a big hug from me!

hunt & gather...and a contest winner!

A few weeks ago, I headed North to Minnesota for a quick girl's weekend.

We made the trip with 2 goals...shopping and a concert. Both proved to me AMAZING!!

There were so many Midwestern girls that emailed, asking me where my favorite stops were...I decided I will post about a few of my must-see places when I head up through Wisconsin to Minnesota.

I am going to jump to the first place I visited when I arrived in Minneapolis...a shop called

Hunt & Gather

Hunt & Gather is the store that has the cabinet I am still dreaming about...

The outside says it all. It is a wacky, eclectic mix of funky, retro, pretty and antique...


 

When I see a store with stuff piled up outisde...I cannot get my car parked fast enough. Seriously, am I the only one who has their heart race a little bit over a good pile of old junk??

To say this place is "sensory overload" is a complete understatement! I have seen a lot of shops, in a lot of towns, in a lot of states. But this one takes that prize for the most ecclectic array of merchandise and volume of treasures. It was beyond amazing!!

You literally can get lost in this store for hours. It is a maze of rooms that spreads over 2 floors, each stuffed to the ceiling with amazing finds.

The lockers I fell in love with were in a room that was full of 1000s of vintage paper items. It was an altered artists dream room, I tell you!

It is as if they knew I was coming! I walked downstairs and there was a sign...beckoning me home. How in the heck did they know I had driven there from Rockford! I should have bought it just for the memories.

They had 100s of signs. Street signs, old restaurant signs, framed tailgates from old trucks that said Chevrolet or Ford...farm signs, ice cream shop advertisements. I could go on forever. You get the idea. Signs. Lots of them.

If only my husband's name was Steve...this baby would have gone home with me!

It seems every trip I go on there is the one item that is the "kick myself for not bringing it home" item.

Well, this was the one for this trip. I was looking through photos when I got home and could not believe I didn't get this cool old school map for my sunroom. Ugh.



This photo was only part of an area that had frames. Every shape. Every color. All old and beautiful!

One of the rooms down in the basement was a french-lovers dream. Everything was girly. Antique. Ornate. French. And lovely. I love the idea of using an old footboard for artwork!

And the garden area...it was nothing short of incredible! You could even buy live plants!

And look who I ran into while I was there! Jeanine from Chippy Shabby and her sweet husband. Aren't they just the cutest couple?? So funny we both traveled to Minneapolis that weekend, then run into each other while we are there!

Jeanine sells the most beautiful things...if you ever have a chance to visit one of the shows where she is a vendor, you will not be disappointed! She has the best vintage garden decor and always lots of things with chippy paint!

Whew! That was alot of photos...hope I didn't lose anyone. I just had to show you the awesomeness of Hunt & Gather. And let me tell you, that was only a fraction of the store. I have about 100 more photos I could have posted! If you ever get to Minneapolis, you have to take the time to stop in!

In a blog post before I left...I showed a photo of a cute little tush as a hint to what concert I was going to. I knew a true fan of this person would know who it was just by seeing it. You girls proved me right...I couldn't help but laugh at how many of you knew the man just by the jeans. All of you that guessed Kenny Chesney were right!! The concret was 5 hours of bliss, I wish you could have been there singing along with us!

I chose one of you from the comments and Chelsy from Sweet Pea Kisses is the winner! Email me Chelsy, you will get a little surprise package full of vintage goodness I picked up on my trip!

Happy Tuesday, girls!

I am off to paint my never-ending pile of furniture!

the christmas barn....



As promised...more of the 2,413 photos I took Sunday at Northwind Perinnial Farm.

This is my last post on this.

I swear.

~ wink ~

I just love this place, so I have to share it with you. I would feel bad keeping all this beauty to myself!

I have a serious 'thing' for barn doors. They are so beautiful...and the craftsmanship that goes into each one is unreal. I would so love to sneak this one off its hinges and bring it home with me!

Northwind closes down around the first part of October to prepare for the Holiday displays. They reopen the weekend before Thanksgiving...I really should have gone earlier. So much was already sold...it is amazing how many people come for a visit when they set up for Christmas...but it is still so gorgeous!

I love the industrial lighting and chippy, old paint furniture they use in their displays...

I am slightly obsessed with the farm table and the 3 galvanized buckets...

The grand piano inside the barn is pure genius...I love how it is a focal point...even from the outside. If you missed that in yesterdays post, have a look. Sliding the barn doors open so you can see the piano from outside was a fantastic idea!

I love the feeling of a huge old barn...the soaring ceilings and loft that you can see just a peek of here remind me of the barn at our farm growing up. I would say that wreath was about 6 feet in diameter...stunning!

I love this room.

The white beams, the industrial lighting, the chippy cabinets and natural tree.

* sigh *

so pretty.

Just for the record, I am on the hunt for a piece of fretwork like the one in this photo to the left of the green cabinet.

I must have one for my fireplace wall!

Here we go with that barn door obsession again.

That would look stunning at the end of my hallway.

Just in case someone sees one similar.

Remember me, ok??

Oh my, the stalls.

The stalls were my favorite part of the barn.

Truly.

Until you have seen them in person, you just can't appreciate them.

So dreamy with their worn wood and yet even more industrial lighting inside.

There is my little kitty friend again I talked about in yesterdays post.

Oh, and each stall was done in a different vignette.

They were soooo gorgeous, I cannot even tell you.

I did take some photos, but since I have no idea how you use this new camera, the industrial lights and my lack of skills did not get along very well.

But take my word for it.

They were...stunning!

My very favorite part of the day...

Kinda hard to make sense out of what this photo is, because it was a very tight space I was in.

But I know there is a farmgirl in the crowd out there that will get right away what this is!

.........they put their Christmas tree in the silo.

Genius!

      There was a big, beautiful real tree, surrounded by 4 chippy metal retro-motel style patio chairs.

I wish the space wasn't so tight...it was awesome!!

I have received so many emails from my Midwest peeps that want to go for a visit and soak in the beauty for themselves. Thank you for sharing the love! 

Here is the website for Northwind Perennial Farm. Their hours and directions are listed, but do call before you go, even through it says they are open through Decemeber 12th. I believe the owner told me they didn't have enough stock left to stay open through next weekend. I would hate for you to make the trip only to find out they are closed!

If you want to see the outside of the barn and photos for the gounds..check out my post from yesterday here.