Memorial Day Weekend

Took these photos about 6 a.m. Saturday, as we did the final prep for our Allegan set-up. What a lovely morning -- blue skies, mid-70s, couldn't ask for better. The show was well attended, although the temperatures started to creep up as the day went on, causing a little bit of crowd-wilt! Too hot at a show is almost as bad as too cold. But we sold steadily throughout the day and really across the board in terms of merchandise -- furniture, garden, industrial, smalls, collage, projects -- each category had its share of customers.


When it was all said and done, we made our "low-end" sales goal, but not the high one. Didn't see many of our store customers, which probably accounts for the difference.



But it was great to see many of our regulars, dealer friends and fellow bloggers. Many thanks to the Boyds, who came all the way from Chicago, just to help us set up (and do a little shopping themselves!)

I've already started on my list for Kane -- will get working again tomorrow! Until then, enjoy the holiday! xo

P.S. A personal note: Part of our Memorial Day trip to Allegan always includes a visit to the Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo, where my family is from. Since none of us lives there anymore, it has fallen to me to get the folks "dressed" for the season -- grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, cousins all get flowers. This never feels morbid to me -- it is a lovely place, very historic, and I can remember going many times with my grandparents and parents when I was growing up, to plant flowers, trim, weed and water. Shortly before my grandma died, she told me that she'd had a dream: she'd gone to the cemetery to water the plants, and the whole family was there, having a party. There was a place for her, but no teacup. She winked and told me that they must be almost ready for her, but not quite, since there was no teacup at her place. It became an excellent inside joke between us. So every year when I go, I take her a cup, just be sure she doesn't miss the party! Amazingly, it lasts there all season, usually only disappearing over the winter. So I look for a new one each time. Enjoy your Memorial Day, and be sure to take a few minutes to remember any of your favorite people who are now attending the party! xo

Allegan Forecast: Sunny, with a 100 Percent Chance of Getting Something Cute

Join us this weekend for the Allegan (MI) Antique Market -- the weather is going to be beautiful, and our storage area is packed with new stuff for the show! Click on the show sidebar for details. See you there. xo

Indy, Columbus, Springfield -- Round Trip!

We arrived at Indianapolis' Midland Gallery Saturday to discover a "pleasant" lack of surfaces -- great in that we'd sold a number of bigger pieces, challenging in that we brought lots of smalls that would need some place fabulous to sit and show themselves off. So we improvised a little, such as using this folk-art shelf to display all our film canisters, and putting this deconstructed Victorian settee on the ground, instead of on the wall, as we originally intended:

We actually finished restocking a little early, so we had time to do some quick shopping before heading to our next port of call, Columbus, Ohio, to deliver a load to Katie Palmer at SoBo Style. However, Katie's niece, Emily, was catering our dinner, so we didn't want to be late! The meal was amazing, from the wonderful smells that greeted us at the door, to the last crumb of dessert. Plus, Emily made this delicious strata for us to enjoy the next morning before we all headed over to the store:

Check out Emily's menu:

The food was fantastic!

In addition to the furniture, Katie asked for some project pieces and smalls. These store/jewelry displays were a new idea:

Finding these beautiful lamp bases gave us the starting point:

Following in the lamp-part theme, we used these finials to create some small photo holders:

As always, the store looked adorable, and Katie was busy right off the bat Sunday morning as soon as we were done unloading. We won't get to see her again 'til August, but are already looking forward to it.

On the way home, we stopped at Heart of Ohio to do some restocking. Our next show will be the Allegan (MI) Antique Market on Memorial Day Weekend. It's Allegan's biggest show of the year -- plan to join us and see what we found! Click on the show sidebar for details. xo

Midland Preview and Come-As-You-Are-Country Explained

Just a quick peek at some of our Extravaganza purchases, most of which are headed to Midland this weekend, after cleaning, of course. But I must warn you, the photos contain unaltered glimpses of our storage area and are for mature viewers only:

Lovely Victorian (?) portraits of Jesus and Mary -- great tone-on-tone;

A hoop-skirt to go with the bust I bought at Grayslake -- will be adding a stand and finial;

Fabulous Viennese playing cards -- amazing graphics;

Yummy yellow birdcage with stand -- original paint;

Crusty metal cabinet; we ordered new glass today for the doors; I think it will make a super showcase. See something you like? The Midland staff will be happy to assist. Merchandise will be in place by the end of the day Saturday.

A couple of people asked about our comment on the last post regarding "Come-as-You-Are-Country." Joe and I made the term up this weekend to describe the look that seemed to really be working for several key dealers. Picture this: the booth looks as though the dealers just happened upon a great farm sale or country auction on the way to the show. They stuffed their trailer, but didn't have time to work on anything. They display in vignettes, but none of it looks overly curated. Hip and sophisticated. Think Anthropologie. Very authentic.

And I just realized that I said our neighbor's name was Pam; it's Kim. Sorry about that! xo

Ode to the Springfield Extravaganza

Oh, Springfield Extravaganza, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Thou art a great place to sell garden furniture, nary a piece was left behind;

Primitives, too, did thou lovest, but not so much the industrial this year. Sigh.

Thou showed thyself fickle with painted furniture, but lo, by week's end, but one piece was left; we will return again in September (possibly taking two spaces), so feelest thou not bereft.

Seriously, we had a great time. This was helped immeasurably by having wonderful neighbors. We got a chance to reconnect with our regular neighbors, Cal and Patty, but were pleased to see that three of our favorite vendors from Burlington, Vicki, Terry and Pam, were joining us on the right. We also have great neighbors at Burlington, Judy and Bill. Although we only see these folks once a month, after nine years, they become family. We laughed all weekend.

Next in the things-to-love department was seeing customers old and new, getting a chance to catch up on news both business and personal. We were also really touched by the number of people who came by specifically to talk about the blog -- that feedback is so helpful. And of course, we were thrilled with the opportunity to barbecue with Katie and friends on a beautiful Friday evening, and hang out with Heather (and new friend Kristen) both Friday and Sunday. Last on the love list was the buying -- we've been so desperate for smalls of late that we were like hungry people who've finally made it to the banquet table, especially at Burlington.

One trend note: Come-As-You-Are-Country seemed to do really well this weekend. Joe and I were intrigued by this and are toying with trying something a little different when we return in the fall...

Can't wait to show everyone what we bought! We'll be headed to Midland and back to SoBo this weekend. Stay tuned. And, as always, thanks to everyone who came out to support the show. xo

Springfield Extravaganza

Twice a year, the mild-mannered Springfield (OH) Antique Show morphs into the SPRINGFIELD EXTRAVAGANZA -- three days, 2200 dealers, customers from across the United States and as far away as Japan. The count down starts today -- we leave Thursday.

Come join us! Our trailer opens at 7 a.m. Friday morning; we are Outside Space 31. We'll be there until 5 p.m. Saturday, we'll be there from 8 to 2; then we'll pack and head out again for the Burlington (KY) Antique Market, just outside of Cincinnati. We'll be ready for business Sunday in Outside Space 25A. Click on the show sidebar for details on both events and do come see us!

(Love the graphics on this funny map from 1965!) Thanks to everyone who came out for the Grayslake Antique Market this weekend (and to our roadie Lynda for her set-up help). Forgive us this week if we don't respond to comments or e-mails -- we'll get back on track next week. xo

Mother's Day at Grayslake

Grab your favorite Mom* and join us this weekend for the Grayslake (IL) Antique Market.

We've got a great selection of furniture, lots of stuff for the garden, new graphics, projects, smalls and more. Don't miss it. Click on the show sidebar for details. See you there! xo

*Yep, that's me and my favorite Mom, back in 1963. She's always been a source of inspiration and confidence for me -- and now volunteers at least once a week down at the studio! I'm fortunate to also have a talented and creative mother-in-law, Sue Garrison, and have enjoyed getting to know Joe's mom, Jean Kenz, an accomplished actress. Happy Mother's Day, one and all!