A Peek at Kempton Park

Kempton Park, or Sunbury Antiques as it's also known, is one of my favorite antique markets. It's not especially close to our neighborhood, though, so I don't get there often (it takes me about 1.5 hrs to get there by bus and train). It's twice a month, on Tuesdays from 6:30AM to about 1PM. Monday night before a market day I tell myself I will try to go (if I don't already have other plans) but unless I've arranged a sitter for the little one, time usually gets away from me in the morning and then I often feel it's too late to go. And the idea of going with a one year old is a bit daunting. She's at the squirmy age and she has no interest in looking at old junk, other than trying to put any bits and bobs in her mouth. And I'm not about to bring the buggy there with me due to lots of stairs at the train station and crowded isles at the market. But last week I got up early enough and so did little miss, so I strapped her on and we headed out and had a great time.

Decorative Living Fair

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of going to the Decorative Living Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall, hosted by Caroline Zoob. It was like going to a wonderful antique mall with the best selection of vendors. Normally held in Kent, this year's event was in London, so I made arrangements to go, (which means I hired a babysitter so I could go solo!) and had a few happy hours browsing beautiful vintage housewares and some really great handmade items as well. I met so many nice people and bought a few trinkets. Here are some snapshots from the fair. I liked so many stalls, but it was quite busy when I was there, and it was hard to squeeze into many of them to get photos. But here are a few! Photos above, in clockwise from top left, are from Blue Linen Cupboard, Old Rectory Sales, Lois Kirsten, Gazehound Vintage, Old Rectory Sales again, and Sam Lindsay.

Gypsy Honeymoon

Whew, we're back from our US holiday--San Francisco, and then Atlanta to visit with both sides of our family for Thanksgiving. We had a great time but it's taken a few days to adjust and get back into our routine. One last San Francisco stop before moving on... I popped into Gypsy Honeymoon, one of my favorite SF shops, to see the new location. The location is new since we moved anyway, which has been 2 years! Time does fly. A post on a previous visit in the old location is here. The space and the merchandise may be different, but it's still the same Gypsy, filled with beautiful antiques, vintage clothes, jewelry, trinkets, and treasures. I didn't bring our nice Canon with us on the trip, but here are a few snaps in the new location, at 1266 Valencia Street, with my iPhone.

Georgia Junkin'

One thing I wanted to do on my trip back home was go junkin' with my mom in the sticks. We thought about driving to Opelika, AL since my mom knows of some junk stops along the way and some in Opelika, but she had also heard that Monroe, GA was a great place for junkin'. A quick Google search led to Sassytrash, a cute blog where we saw some pictures of the great antique malls in Monroe. Monroe isn't exactly the sticks, but the photos were all we needed to see to make a decision. And off to Monroe we went! Our first stop was The Cotton Depot.

Boxwoods

More London updates and adventures coming soon, but we're back in Atlanta for this post. Whenever we go home to Atlanta, there are so many places I want to visit and tell you about. Usually we're so busy with family, though, that I don't get around to showing you some of the great things Atlanta has to offer. Great shops is one thing Atlanta is not lacking, and Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts is a long-time, top favorite shop of mine. I like it so much I even went twice this trip--it's hard to take it all in at once!

You know I always love a good mix of the old and new, and Boxwoods combines the two seamlessly and beautifully, which is only complimented by their amazing garden section.  They have so many unique vintage and antique pieces, scoured from the best antique markets in Europe (mostly from France, oh la la!). Those treasures are accented with the most current and modern home accessories and gifts for everyone on your list. A number of the pieces they have are architectural and used and displayed in most interesting ways, like a pair of metal French drains that adorn an entry way, and great lamps made from industrial and architectural salvaged materials. (Remember my friend Paula?  Well, those lamps are her creation!)  Here's a peek from Boxwoods! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts

100 East Andrews Drive

Atlanta, GA 30305

PH: 404-233-3400

Mon-Sat 10-6

The Pickled Hutch is Back!!

You may have noticed it's been a while since I posted about The Pickled Hutch. You might remember that Lisa closed up shop to start a new venture for a while, but Lisa has re-opened The Pickled Hutch! And she even re-opened in her old Pacifica location. The shop has a whole new look, though.  Everything is airy and bright and filled with the colors of the sea and sunset--perfect for its beachside location--cool shades of blue, whites, yellows, reds, pinks. You can practically feel the sun on your face and the breeze in your hair when you're in there. And of course, everything is time-worn and loved, just like we like them, right? Here's a peek of the NEW Pickled Hutch. Lisa, I'm so excited for you!! Click here to see a lot more pictures of The Pickled Hutch in its previous location.

PS. That's not my big news, by the way, though it is big news.  Mine is coming soon! Maybe the day it happens--eek!

The Big Flea

Today's the big Alameda flea market. As I type this I'm sure the hardcore market-goers are scoring some great treasures by flashlight. I'd love to go, but we need to get a lot of other things done, and I know if I go, I won't get any of those other things done. Going to the big flea wipes me out, in part because it's so good and so big and in part because it always takes forever to get home across the bridge. But it's a great flea market and totally worth the traffic hassle. I wasn't surprised to see it in an article on the best flea markets in the world in the last issue of Budget Travel. Next month I'll be there. I want to find some vintage Christmas wrapping paper and ornaments for our Christmas tree to be. Here are a few pictures from a few months back.

Our Last Weekend

We had our last weekend here in London. Initially we thought we might go away for the weekend to some place like Marseilles, but we decided to stay in town. We went to Greenwich, which has a beautiful park that includes the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum. We also went to Islington, a great neighborhood and home of the Camden Passage market, and walked along Regent's Canal. And we headed back to Shoreditch to buy some last minute things and to walk around Brick Lane. We had a great weekend. Here's are some random bits.

We ate a lot of yummy food. One of my favorites was coffee and croissants from Patisserie Deux Amis, pictured above. A really cute, cozy French cafe. I think Andrew's favorite would be St. John Bread and Wine. We didn't bring the camera to St. John, but it's a nose to tail sort of place that has great food (they have things other than nose to tail type stuff). I'm not sure why I have such reservations about eating those "other parts" since I eat meat, but I do. Eating pig's cheek just sounds a little weird and gross to me, which makes no sense when eating a pork chop sounds perfectly normal, but I tried a tiny bite of it, and it was really good. It tasted sort of like fatty bacon with less bacony flavor. My favorite thing there was dessert--armagnac and prune ice cream with madelines, yum. The servers were so nice to Lois. They even have high chairs for the tiny tots.

In Greenwich we went to Greenwich Park. The parks in London are outstanding. I can't believe how many parks there are or how beautiful they all are. Of all the parks we went to Regent's Park was the most impressive I think, but Greenwich Park was beautiful too. And the parks here have so many nice playgrounds for kids. Greenwich Park even has a children's paddle boat pond.

In the park we got to see fall showing all its beautiful color. And did I mention the weather? It was outstanding! The last few days have been some of the most amazing days ever.

In Islington we walked along Regent's Canal, which was a fun surprise for us. We decided to just wander around, off the main roads, and saw a path leading to what looked like a park. We followed it down and saw this! It pays sometimes to leave the map in your pocket and just see where the road takes you.


The canal was filled with these long, skinny boats. It looked like many people lived in them.

We saw a number of gardens on the boats. Garden anywhere? Sure!

See that one itty bitty tomato there on the right? Last of the season, I imagine.

And we ran into a fun little craft market. Cupcakes get your attention every time don't they? The cupcakes are from Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery and those crafty wares from Isabel Vince, who's pictured on the Left. I love her key and patchwork cushions.

A weekend around London wouldn't be complete without some fun junk hunting!

We saw so many great junk, antique, and vintage shops over the weekend. Ah, London is a old stuff heaven!





And more junk and vintage heaven on Brick Lane.



And we were lucky enough to see another red balloon! I could hardly believe it. A very nice last weekend, don't you think?

See you again in a few days when we're back in San Francisco!