The Montage

Good coffee, compelling art, and vintage treasures all in one place? Yes, please do give me directions! When we were glamping, one of our hut neighbors turned out to be an actual neighbor. Small world, huh? Well, sort of anyway. She and her family live in the neighborhood next to ours called Forest Hill. She mentioned a new cafe called The Montage that happens to have a kids' play area in the back. I'm up for any cafe that has a play area for tots, which is, I've found, the key to having a somewhat peaceful cafe experience with children in tow. She also told me it's also part art galley and part vintage shop. So naturally I decided to check it out.

Paris Days with My Mom

I've been having a great time with my mom. So far we've done lots of walking, browsing shops, eating, and really just taking it all in. Above is a bit of Paris through our eyes. Macaroons, flower shop petals, petit dejeuner (breakfast the French way), window shopping in the 3rd, Stroher pastries to take home, La Droguerie craft shop, more deliciousness from La Grand Epicerie, and Au Petit Bonheur La Chance. 

More photos coming soon from La Droguerie and Au Petit Bonheur La Chance--two of my favorite Paris shops so far. 

Dollhouse Makeover

My mom's had this dollhouse in her garage, for I dunno, a few years maybe? Maybe just a year or so. She bought it for $10 at a yard sale. The previous tenants were mice. We know because it was filled with plenty of mice poop when she bought it (gross, I know!), but my mom can't resist a bargain and she could see its potential.

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.

Historic Roswell Antique Mall

Last weekend my mom and I went to Roswell, GA, which is the town I grew up in. I wanted to go back and see our old house and just see how things looked. Roswell is quite a ways north of where my mom currently lives, so we haven't been back in a long time. It was nice to see the old house but a little strange too. It wasn't the emotional experience I was expecting, which was a good thing because we had some fun things planned for afterwards like hitting the antique mall. The Historic Roswell Antique Mall is right around the corner from our old house, and it was just as fun to browse around as the old days.

Garage Shopping

I love digging through my mom's garage! She's a junkin' junkie and always has fun stuff in her garage. I always want to go shopping in there. Here are a few things that caught my eye today...

Trash to Treasure

When I saw these on the street, my heart went all a-flutter! I've been wanting some chairs for our back patio but hadn't come across any that I thought I could lug home. I've seen some great ones at the flea market, but without a car, it's not exactly a snap to swipe any set. I was thinking of just getting 4 mismatched random chairs so I could bring one home at a time (I always like the look of mismatched chairs), but when I saw these on the street right near our place, I knew they were the ones! And FREE!

They need some TLC, as you can tell from this second picture, but I think I can spruce them up. I like chippy painted things but these are way too worn--not just paint chipping but dirty looking too. I tried to scrub what looks like soot off, but it doesn't come off, so a coat of paint it is. I'm going to paint them a cream color, but I was having a hard time deciding on a fabric for seat cushions. I want them be colorful and look good with all the colors of the flowers in the garden, and look good with various tablecloths. So, what fabric to choose? I was thinking instead of choosing just one fabric that I'd make patchwork chair pads like Alicia's patchwork pillows I made a while back. So cute! I've started cutting the squares, but I'm no square cutting pro and I think this is going to take a while. I'm making strips and using a rotary cutter, but I wonder if maybe I'm missing some key to cutting lots of them quickly. If you have any patchwork cutting tips, let me know! After pics coming soon.
Update! I just changed my mind! I was looking over at some totes I made last week (I should show you those!) and I used ticking for the exterior fabric. I decided I'll do the same charcoal grey ticking for the chairs pads as well. Classic and it will go with all the colors of the flowers and my tablecloths. I'm afraid all the colors in the patches might be too busy. 

A Little Less Conversation

Unfortunately I don't have much to post these last few days.  We've mainly been focused on finding an apartment so I have no great, new secrets from the streets of London to reveal--not yet anyway.  Last weekend we did go to my very first car boot sale, which is like a big yard sale, only sellers gather in a field or parking lot and sell out of their car.  It was so fun!  I just took this one picture, but it's a good start to what I hope will be lots of car boot pictures to come.  Back to finding an apartment--a little less conversation, and a little more action is in order if we're gonna get our lives going here!

A Found Desk

Yesterday, I saw two girls lugging an old school desk home. I figure they probably found it on the street since they were walking the desk home. It looked like good San Francisco street junk. Both the desk and the situation were so cute. I wish I had had my camera with me. The girls were giggling and wobbling back forth and giggling some more while trying to get it to its new home. They stopped for a minute in the grassy median on Dolores Street to take pictures. One girl sat at the desk while the other took a picture, then they switched places and the other girl took the picture. After that, it was back on the road wobbling back and forth and giggling. Dang that desk was cute. It was like the one pictured here--a painting by Holly Farrel, whose artwork I love.