Jenny's Sale

I'll be signing autographs, as I was one of the lucky ones to be able to attend Little Green Notebook Jenny's flea market sale in Arlington, VA on Saturday morning. The sale started at 7:00 am, and by the time I arrived at 7:45, 90% of the loot was gone (much to my dismay).

Even so, it was super fun to meet Jenny. LGN has to be one of my top three favorite blogs so meeting the wealth of creativity that is Jenny was such a treat. She was very sweet and we had a quick chat while she was busy attending to her customers (and fans!).

I know we were ALL wondering who would walk away with that a-m-a-z-i-n-g Chiang Mai Dragon settee....drum roll please...

Heather sitting proudly atop her loot

Miss Heather was the lucky purchaser! And she obliged with a picture to document her new loot. Heather said she was redoing her living room and the settee went right along with her new plans. Lucky lady!

Although I didn't get to see the sale in "prime time", I did not walk away empty-handed. I found a terrific pair of ceramic lamps in the most beautiful shade of deep green. They just need a lamp kit and some new shades and they will be drop-dead gorgeous (Jenny lamented seeing these go! But I promised a good home):

And, I also found this wonderful Diego Rivera print in a very, very pretty frame. Do you remember my post on his work? This print is just beautiful...and will work great in several of our rooms.

Did any other locals score some of Jenny's loot? 

Jenny held her mass sale as she, her husband, and their three girls are making a move to NYC very shortly...good luck with the move Jenny!

p.s. It was also great to meet a couple of AO readers - thanks to those of you who introduced yourself! :)

Lucketts Loot

Saturday morning, I convinced Carter to take a "quick" detour from our original weekend plans to go with me to the Lucketts Spring Market....and I'm so glad we went! The outdoor market (a special extension of the usual store), located about one hour from us, had a plethora of goodies to pick from. I had the best time walking among the vendors and scoping out their loot...and I of course came away with a couple of gems myself.

Some items that caught my eye:

This pair of striped nightstands were killer. They would actually be perfect in our bedroom, but I'm happy with what we have, so here they stayed. But I looooved them.

Carter and I have nearly this exact piece in one of our guest bedrooms...we bought ours off of Craigslist. This version had gorgeous fretwork in the glass doors and a top decorative piece that ours doesn't have, but all other details were exactly the same. There were LOTS of shabby chic and burlap/french country-type vendors there...this was one of them.

I adored this little stool - this vendor had lots and lots of them.

Ok, this rug is the one that got away. I L-O-V-E-D it and was mesmerized by its color palette and Chinoiserie motif....was contemplating where I could use it....wondering how much they were selling it for...and BOOM, this lady walks up, is like "Oh my gosh, I love this. I'll take it." NOOOOOOO. Dang it.

I love you old, beat-up Chinoiserie rug.

Now on to the finds that came home with me!

This awesome fretwork table/shelf came home to be used in our upstairs bathroom...although I'm currently very in love with it and am trying to think of another, more proper use (and somewhere to show off the fret). Although I love the color, I think for our use it will be painted black.

The fret shot.

And now for the money find:

YES! You are seeing that correctly...I finally found a bamboo chandelier to call my own. I was standing in line at the Lucketts store, buying a beautiful little set of dessert plates, and this was hanging right above my head with a price tage of $65...ummm, yes please. Oh happy day! I didn't shut up about it for a while to Carter (who, at that point, had given up following me around and stationed himself on a little grassy spot with his blackberry and the fretwork table).  The chandy is PERFECT for the design scheme I have going for one of our guest bedrooms...I can't wait to use it.

Of course, as soon as I got my hands on the chandy my thoughts went to the Chinoiserie rug and how beautifully they would coordinate! But alas, I can't win them all. As I was walking out to meet Carter, I walked past the lady who bought the rug and she remarked that she loved my chandelier and lamented that she didn't get it herself...and I smiled. There is enough good loot to go around for everyone.

Design Adventures in NYC

Carter and I jetted off to The Big Apple this weekend...because we are jetters like that.

Actually, Carter's siblings live in NYC, so we planned a week or two ago to head up to spend some quality time with them...and since this was to be a family QT weekend, I was not to camp out at fabric stores and spend hours hitting up the home decor hot spots in NYC (keep in mind, I have no idea where said hot spots are, but I imagine I would sniff them out).

Saturday morning, we awoke to a beautiful day in the city - a balmy 50 degrees with the sun shining - and my dear bro-in-law Jason had planned a lovely brunch for us. So we hopped a cab (the boys know me very well) and as we stepped out at the corner of 39th and 9th, something immediately caught my eye...a white sign that said "Hell's Kitchen Flea Market." Ummm...wait, what? HKFM!? It was my lucky day! I wasn't even looking for a design adventure...and one found me!

Our restaurant was appropriately called "HK" and its windows faced into the flea market...so as I sipped my bellini, I gazed upon the wares that I would soon be perusing for myself. Luckily, we had about an hour to kill after brunch and the boys were amenable to taking a little walk through the market...

My first look at the market...I felt so hip since I often read other bloggers talking about their HKFM finds (did you read Alicia B.'s recent post?) 

The first stand that we saw ended up being the best one of the bunch (in my opinion) - lots of goodies with Asian appeal...

 

That's my b-i-l Jason checking out a bookcase...he's looking for a bar for his (super-cute) apartment and we ended up falling in love with the piece. Alas, we didn't quite have the time to jet the bookcase back to his place, but he vows to return to see if it is there in a couple of weekends.

This was one of the best pieces I saw...not quite sure what it is, but it would look dynamite hanging in my dining room...

 

And below it were some fabulous mirrors...Jason also considered one of these for his place...

 

This box of Chinese calligraphy pens was my absolute favorite find...they were GORGEOUS...I was overwhelmed by the choices, and I of course wanted about ten of them, so I walked away without one. But they were so beautiful...

 

Check out this faux bois one! Pretty cool, isn't it?

 

The old phonograph intrigued all of us...if I had the right place to put it, it might have come home with me...

 

I have no use for a cane stand, but isn't it lovely?? And I loved the canes too...also a perfect piece for umbrellas...

 

I'm a sucker for silver...

 

This console table was so charming...I really liked the shape...much prettier in person.

 

The market was really fun to stroll and although I left empty-handed, the experience was well worth it...the perfect way to spend a very pretty afternoon in the city!

So you would think hitting up the flea market would have been enough of a design adventure...but wait, there's more!

We had a bit of time to kill on Sunday morning before heading back so Carter and I ducked into a cafe to grab a bagel and some coffee. As we sat there, my mind started to wander thinking about fabric...and how the city was chock full of amazing fabric shops...and how Jason had mentioned that the garment district was near Penn Station...and how we happened to be a couple of blocks from Penn Station...hmmm...

So I pulled out my trusty phone (which took all the flea market pictures, btw...pretty good in a pinch) and I googled "NYC fabric district"...and lo and behold, several stores popped up in the 38th/39th and 7th/8th area...about two blocks from where I was sitting. I looked at my watch and I had 45 minutes before we had to go - I wasn't sure how many stores would be open on a Sunday, but I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass me by...so I grabbed my purse, kissed Carter on the cheek, promised to be back on time, and headed out to see what I could find....

 

And find I did...rolls upon rolls upon rolls of fabric...I had died and gone to heaven.

 

I didn't get enough time to do any shopping, but just witnessing the volume of fabric available was enough for me...

 

And I even hit up some notions and trims stores...I was positively light-headed looking at all the trim...

 

In contrast to Saturday, Sunday was cold and cloudy. As I put on my coat to head to the fabric shops, I grabbed my umbrella...Carter (whose back was to the windows) asked why I needed my umbrella...and I explained that it had started raining...

Carter: You're going out in the rain?

Me: Yes

Carter: Wow, you must be dedicated.

Dedicated indeed.