infinite potential around the corner
an empty room has so much power
four walls can be absolutely anything
of course good bones don’t hurt! images above via pinterest:
morning guys and happy saturday! thank you all so much for your beautiful comments and good wishes over the last couple days. i’ll treasure them forever! there was no way i could hone in on just a couple winners for the giveaway so at a point i just cut it off and noted that everyone above that comment would get a book. i have to wait till they come out but will get a couple cases and send them over to you. that’s going to be a bit of a project so we have a little time to collect your addys and info. in the meantime i thought i’d share a bit of what we’ve been doing over here.
it’s been month waiting for the shipment from france and it prompted me to rent a space at a local antique mall for when it did come in. i chose the sugar chest. it’s open and full of great vendors and now our own empty space is filled with the pieces that finally arrived from paris over the past couple days.
the beds are stacked 4 deep and the armoire is full of linens, we did have a couple incidents with breakage but overall i think it will be alright and this is a good place to store it and shoot it for our next sale.
while we were waiting for our ship to come in, we couldn’t help tap into the gems that line the streets right here in the usa. we started putting collections together and had some fun with the freedom of not having to ship, do customs, have a broker, pay duties, taxes, fees, bills of lading, power of attorney and uncrating it all. it’s amazing what’s in our own backyards. how we skim over great pieces or think we have to travel far and wide to find and bring them back. it’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but we are jam packed with stuff right here, even at the sugar chest! this little collection was based on the etching above, an early coquette.
we started making her a glamorous boudoir of course! it’s been fun having everything around till it goes up on OKL (in fact i think some already is). my own apartment is kind of an empty space that keeps changing with what’s coming in and out. i love getting to enjoy them awhile!
i keep saying ‘we’ meaning candy and me so i thought you’d like to see who our mystery muse is! these chairs were her investment to the sale! well i better jet, i’ve got an impromptu trip coming up on monday i’ll tell you about later tonight if i can get back here. till then have a fantastic and memorable day and if you’re out antiquing locally, enjoy the freedom of it!!
no place like home
hi guys, happy sunday! we’re bracing for a storm and i’m hoping the east coast will be spared without too much damage. there’s a definite calm which may be cliché but truly is the case. i’ve sequestered myself in this weekend to write and it seems like i’m doing everything but! i’ve been playing around at home with my camera and now that i have my place back and it’s no longer a warehouse.
before i left i’d been working on shooting the stuff for the okl sale. i hung it haphazardly just to get it on the wall and protected. what i didn’t realize is how much i’d love being around it all.
so many of the images speak to me and i wonder who they were
and imagine the way someone spent their day creating a little masterpiece
above is a watercolor of a leisurely afternoon in a chateau garden
these engravings made me think a little more about what probably caused the revolution
and the one below just calms me down
i guess there really is no rhyme or reason with art and what we gravitate toward. the only problem i have is the attachments i’m making to it all. some pieces you can look at forever cause you’re always finding something new. i didn’t know i’d fall so hard for these little chef d’oeuvres that so quickly have become part of my daily inspiration.
in any event, i’ll be a big girl and give them up when the time comes but for now i’ll enjoy my moment with them. in the meantime i actually can part with something! i came home to an adorable book that was sent for review and a giveaway.
it’s a charming look at an american girl’s stay with a french family and all the things she learned about their perspective on life.
it’s a great gift so if you’d like to win a copy, just leave a comment and we’ll do the drawing this week.
and now, the sun has set. that means my deadline is that much closer and procrastination is no longer an option. (especially if i’m going to catch my housewives :)
so bon nuit, i’m sending prayers to everyone with hope of a mild hurricane!
who’s that girl?
Bonjour mes chères amies and happy labor day. i hope you’re having what’s left of a great weekend. here in france the day is coming to a close but i wanted to stop by and share ours before a new day dawns and the weekend fades away.
claudia and i decided to take roadtrip to one of the biggest flea marktets in france. sadly no, this is not our car, but trucks like this are de rigueur for vendors who descended on the little ville de lille this weekend.
we’ve talked about going for years but there was always something else to do. so we finally hit the road for what was a legendary experience.
it’s known as a braderie, and it’s been going on since the 12th century on the first weekend of september. ten thousand people gather for what can be described as no less than a fleamarket and mussel fest. it’s a gentle takeover of every single street, nook and cranny and is lined with vendors whose treasures continue to astound and amaze me.
we got there a day early since we heard that setup started early and the crowds weren’t there yet.
but it didn’t take long and by sunrise it was on overdrive.
the sheer magnitude was almost incomprehensible. hard to believe it could be so organized in hundreds of tiny streets and parks. but then if you’re doing it for a few hundred years it’s probably child’s play!
of course there was something for everyone and i had to keep focused for what to shop for.
i’m a sucker for all things boudoir so bikes and sleighs were out unfortunately. but sometimes it’s just as much fun to have the pics as the real thing since, as my guy says, you can’t buy it all!
we had rolling carts and bubble and when they were full, we were way done. we think we walked 10 hours both days!
it was worth it, cause tonight we’re going through our stash and it’s a little like christmas.
as i started putting up pics tonight i realized that for me the fleas really tell a story. and they tell a different one to each of us. it was crazy what some people were carrying out! for me it’s about that girl. the one who lived a life i romanticize for it’s beauty and detail. i love to imagine the things she had and did, from an era that seems like a mysterious and glamorous dream.
i wonder about what she wore (or didn’t)!
her friends
the pretty powder boxes that every chic femme fatale had.
her dressing table and what the bottles held. was her life so different from ours?
her compacts
her attitude
the way she traveled
and where she went
how she decorated
and what she read
whose call she waited for
the letters she wrote
and who she loved
and what made her happy?
and how did she end up in my hand?
well that’s enough dreaming for tonight. it’s such a gift that the people of france preserve so much living history. i’ll never get over the markets and every single time i go it’s both fresh and old. can’t wait to do it again tomorrow, we’re shopping the dealer day at clignancourt. et alors, ic’est midnuit. have a bon nuit and sweet dreams!
