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!

I'm baaaack!

Did you miss me??

Please just say YES so I feel better, ok?

Whew...its been quite a week, let me tell ya! Ok, ok...so its actually been almost 2 weeks since I have posted, but I have a good excuse. I have my first "show" at the end of the month. You know the ones I talk about, at the flea market outside Chicago where I sell my painted furniture. Well, I have been BURIED under a pile of furniture for a couple of weeks, and have finally painted my way out. One would think I was  painting all winter, so I don't have to cram like I do EVERY spring, but apparently that is just not my style. I work well under pressure...thank goodness! I devoted my winter to Etsy selling, so there was just no time left for furniture. Or at least that is my excuse. (wink...wink...)

Not only have I been painting, but I'm in the middle of moving into more space at my warehouse. I officially have 4,000 square feet that is organized and ready for my painting pleasure.

*sigh*

Gone are the days where a new pair of shoes or jewelry make me happy. Now all it takes to make this girl smiles is wide open space in a big old building. What has happened to me??

For years I have had just under 2,000 square feet, which I know sounds like a lot...but once you pile in 412 beds, 673 dressers, 212 nightstands and truckloads of other furniture...it gets a little...well...cluttered. The numbers there are totally exaggerated, but if you saw my space these last few months, you would think I had that many. It was a mess. I was totally overwhelmed, and I desperately needed more space to organize everything so I could work more efficently.

I get a lot of emails asking me to post photos of my warehouse where I do my painting, and I am a little torn on that idea. On one hand, I could show you what it takes for me to store, prep, paint and finish all the furniture I sell....but on the other hand, it would be just plain ugly in photos. But we will see...maybe I can show you snippets of my space.

Once I start moving in today, I can breathe a sigh of relief and hope that my husband will finally take the Sanford and Son ring tone he has so {lovingly} assigned to me...off his phone. You read that right. SANFORD AND SON. Remember that show from the early 80s?? Ugh. If you do, than you totally get it. Fred Sanford had a junkyard. Sure...I pick a couple of good things out of a neighbors trash, and I get labeled for life. Geesh! But I have to admit, doing what I do, you accumulate a lot of "stuff". But, I could just die when I think about what people must think when I call him. Oh, he thinks he is soooo funny!

I will be back tomorrow with another little post about my Minnesota trip. So many of you asked me to name names and tell what little towns and shops I like to stop in along my route from IL to MN, so I will do just that...and let you know who won the little contest I had before I left. 

Just a note to my local peeps that are looking for specific pieces of painted furniture...emails are already starting to roll in asking what I am bringing to the the April 30th - May 1st show at the Kane County Flea Market. I will try to do a photo preview before I load my trucks for that weekend, so keep watching. But, if there is a specific piece you need, do send me an email. I will do my best to respond with photos to you directly before the show.

(photos in this post were taken at my shows last year, everything shown in the photos has already been sold)

The hubs is making breakfast for me this morning....and it smells soooo good, so I am signing off!

Happy Sunday, girls!

minnesota roadtrip finds...

Whew! What a weekend it was!

I had 2 whirlwind days of driving...junking...singing...and I loved every single minute of it!

To me, there is something soothing to the soul to get in the car and take a roadtrip. I stopped off in some great little towns to see what goodies I could find for Etsy...and of course found a few things for me, too.

From my last post, we all know by now the highlight of my trip was getting to spend the evening with Mr. Kenny Chesney...he rocked our socks off! It was some serious fun, and I can't wait to see him again in May! I was hoping to meet up with Jill at the concert, but my running late because of traffic combined with Kenny deciding to play an hour and a half longer than planned...well...it just didn't work out. That made me sad, because too soon she will be off to Portland.

*sigh*...there is just never enough time...

I had some great finds this weekend. I will be loading the Etsy store throughout the week, but I wanted to show you some "big" things that caught my fancy, too! I used my old point-and-shoot camera this weekend, so my apologies for my pics not being the best. But still, there was some gorgeous eye candy along the road and I just had to show you!


First up, an antique European armoire that I fell in *LOVE* with. The price was unbelievable! I am seriously thinking about going back up and buying this old girl for my dining room.

I have always had a love for old, raw pine wood. It reminds me of driftwood.

This is another piece that made me freak out a little...look at all those drawers!! It was a seed cabinet back in the day. I saw one recently at an antique mall for $3500. This beauty was just $400...kicking myself already for not buying it for my studio space.

 * sigh *

I am seriously considering this old factory table for my kitchen island. I am crazy about the galvanized legs..and the top is solid wood butcher block. I am not sure if old wood is a good choice for a kitchen top. I am going to do a little research and see if I can clean and seal it somehow, yet retain the natural look.

I just thought this chandi was so cute! I would lose the shades, but I love the simplicity and the touch of aqua.

I went to a architectural salvage store and as ususal got lost in the "door room" for quite a while. I have a thing for old doors...and this one caught my eye. Wouldn't it be fabulous on a barn door track??

No words needed here...all those baskets will speak for me.

And lastly...another cabinet just calling my name.

I came home and the first thing I told me husband was...

"We are moving. I need a bigger house."



And in a style all his own, my big, strapping hunk of husband simply said...

"Ok."

Love that man.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I am off to work on my guest room a little today. It has been a long time coming, but I hope to be able to share some exciting news on what has been going on with the Urban Plains Project! I am about to bust with excitement!

Happy Monday!

minnesota or bust!...and a little contest, too!



As I sit and type this, I am 9.5 hours away from my Minnesota roadtrip!

I just want to get on the road...I can't wait!

I was born with wanderlust running through my veins. I totally blame and thank my parents for this affliction. Growing up, Mom and Dad would pile all 8 kids (plus my Dad's "little brother" from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, he was like the 9th child in our family) and head out to places unknown. I have such vivid memories of going down backroads in our huge Ford van...in search of history, nature, adventure...any and all of those...no agenda or plans...just to see where life would take us.

I still take trips like that, and I love every minute of it.

But this time, I do have an agenda.

I have a date.

With a man.

And don't worry, the hubs knows all about it. He lets me have a date with this man about 4 times a year.

Before this gets sounding too weird, here is a hint...

Anyone recognize him??

If you can look at that photo and know who I am talking about simply

by the jeans and rippling back muscles we are destined to be best friends, so call me ok?

I know the photo, is a little dark...I took it when we had our "date" last year. my hubs just rolls his eyes when I come home from these outings with photos like this as the screensaver on my phone. Hee...hee!

He has a voice that makes me all swoony.

And those jeans aren't so bad either....

*sigh*

Tomorrow night he is going to put those tight jeans on and sing to me. Yes, me. Ok, ok, so there are going to be 27,999 other people in the room. Details...details...I won't even notice, and I am sure he won't either. Or at least that is what I am telling myself. 

 Tomorrow night is my moment to be totally shallow. And silly. And school-girl like. 

I work hard the other 364 days of the year. I deserve a little silliness now and then, don't you think??

Oh, and if you happen to be one of those 27,999 people that are crashing my "private concert" and are maybe looking for me afterwards...I will be in the back lot trying to sneak onto a tour bus in hopes of living the rest of my life on an island in the Caribbean.

But, should I get caught...and booted off said bus, Saturday you can find me flitting all around the Minneapolis/St. Paul area shopping and packing my car with vintage goodness.

And maybe stuffing myself with a few of those cupcakes I mentioned the other day.

Anyone want to follow along on my little roadtrip adventure??

There are a few secret places along the way in Wisconsin I ALWAYS stop at because I know they hide the best "junk" in those little towns! Follow along and I will give you a little preview and show you some of my favorite places to shop as I head North! I can't wait to see what I can come home with.

Unfortunately, I doubt it will be the man in the tight jeans I referred to in photo #1.

By now, you've gotta know who I am talking about...but just to make it fun...take a guess and leave me a comment telling me who.

. When I get back, I will pick a winner from the correct guesses and you will win a little somethin' somethin' I picked up on my trip!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend, girls!

I know I will!

* wink...wink... *