Love This!!!

Abby over at The Blissful posted this and what! a! great! idea!!! This is a new nationwide movement to save independently, locally owned, brick and mortar stores. The Cottage opened in October 2008, not the best economic time in the history of our nation. Undeterred and hopeful, Marci and I keep pressing on. We love having the store and are dreaming of expansion one day. We appreciate your support!! We try very hard to keep things fresh and new for you. So, with that said, I totally support this 3/50 project with all my heart. I actually already support the local Mexican Food restaurant wholeheartedly, quite often. Feel free to pass this on!!

Whew!!!

Oh my, Marci mentioned I would be tired when we returned from La Bahia...I had no idea!! We had a blast, sold some things, bought some things and survived the 45 mph gust. Well, we survived, some of Marci's beautiful antique dishes did not. We will be learning the art of mosaic with our box of precious china pieces. Marci handled the crashing china hutch with such class....it was kind of a blank stare actually. She was stuck holding the gorgeous stained glass window from tumbling when the hutch tipped forward...no amount of sprinting was quick enough to catch everything. Anyway, the booth morphed every day as us cottage chicks could not leave well enough alone. One thing would sell and the re-arrange would begin. My creative juices were spent by the end of the week. I wanted to share a few pics of the booth.

This is Annette. Her booth was right next to the cottage booth. She has fabulous vintage 50's and 60's treasures. She also had this rams head....she was stunned that it did not sell....? She encouraged me to go experience the Junk Gypsy Prom....

Of course, this meant I needed to shop for vintage clothing. The whole outfit cost $15, mink stole included!!!! What is scary...I was not in the least bit out of place!! Annette let me borrow the vintage cowboy veil from her booth! We had to have our picture taken in the Junk Gypsy outhouse. You just never know what you will find on a Round Top trip!!!

Next thing on our list...Cottage and Friends Antiques on the Lawn Sale!!! It will be May 16 and 17 and we have some friends signed up to have a booth. Can't wait to see all the cool things they will be selling!!! Hope to see you there!!!

Blissful Exhaustion

I am back home from La Bahia (Round Top/Warrenton Antique Week) for a day. My youngest son turns 14 tomorrow and being the incredible OCD person I am I had to come home to look him in the eye and say Happy Birthday. Moms, we put so much pressure on ourselves...you know you would have come home too!!!
I thought while I was here I would post some pics of the booth. I am banking on total exhaustion and the week has just started. We arrived around 9:45 am on Friday, called set up day, only to find hundreds of shoppers staring at your trailer waiting for the tailgate to drop. I was a nervous wreck. Do you know how stressful it is to create, decorate, and fluff with people watching your every move and asking "how much"? Of course all the price tags were made and neatly bound in a zip lock. Next time......everything with it's price on it or it does not get packed. Finally, at 11 pm with no less than 30 mile an hour winds and a temp of somewhere around 40 degrees I trudged to the camper to have Marci tell me, "I think something is wrong with the heater, it just blows cold air". All you can do is smile at this point. Honestly, once my head hit the pillow, Ike II could have blown through and I would not have known. Actually, it felt a little like a hurricane with the winds blowing the camper around like an empty coke can.
Anyhoo...enough whining....the title describes my feelings. By this morning when the sun broke and people started shopping...It was BLISS! There is nothing like excited women, away for the day, Starbucks in hand, with a pocket full of cash.
Enjoy the pics...I will have more next week!!!

Marci and I know how lucky we are to have a couple of great guys (our husbands, we didn't pick them up when we got there) to help with our venture. They are the best!

Ready....Set....

We are diligently working to get ready for Antique Week in Warrenton/Round Top March 27 - April 4. There are several "shows" to shop. The Old Oak Cottage will be set up at La Bahia. You can find a map for that here. I am very excited about doing this....Marci has done this several times with her other antique store called The Antique Post, but this is my first rodeo!!!! Needless to say....I am a little nervous. I know it will be a ton of work and a week away from your family is kind of tough, but I am up for the challenge.

We are working on keeping the Cottage open the week we are gone. Our friend, Girly Stuff, will be working the first weekend we are gone. If you are not coming up for antique show be sure and stop by to see her. She hates to twiddle her thumbs and she could very well re-arrange the store if she is not kept busy!!!

I hope to post a few pics of some of the cute things we are taking with us!!!

THINK SPRING

I just love this swing....does it scream Spring/Summer. We had a little taste of Spring last week...Flip Flops every day with capris...Loved it. AND THEN some awful cold front blows through and it is 50 degrees and raining with wind blowing WHAT?

I know it won't last long and you northern folks think we are crazy here in South Texas but we really are sissy's when it comes to cold, rainy weather.

Anywho....I think the cottage could use one of these cutie's coming out of one of the beautiful trees here on the property. I will get right on that!

I took some pics of the things blooming right now at the cottage....soooo pretty, I will post that soon. Until then, I will stare at this swing and think SPRING!