Antique Mall Announcement

I started my blog in June of 2011 to document my booth at the Tennessee Antique Mall. Over the past 2.5 years, I have had my ups and downs with the booth, but the experience has been mostly positive. Unfortunately, I find myself having no time to dedicate to the booth - I don't have time to shop for it and I don't have time to swing by and keep it looking good.

Today I called and told them that November will be my last month. My priorities have shifted and keeping up a whole booth is no longer at the top of my list. Andy is impressed that one of my "phases" lasted 2.5 years. :) I am known for being obsessive and flitting from hobby to hobby. I'm a dabbler! This was a hobby that stuck for quite awhile, but honestly it's not very fun anymore - it's mostly stressful...and since it is a hobby, it should be fun!

I will still have my shelves at 8th & Argyle but when my 6 month contract is up, I will move out of there as well. 

A huge chapter of my life is wrapping up and it feels so weird. I'm really excited to simplify, though - and PURGE. I feel completely overwhelmed by STUFF and I can't wait to clearance items out and move them along to their new homes. 

I still want to swing by estate sales and thrift stores, but I don't feel the need to set my alarm extra early to be FIRST IN LINE. (I actually haven't done THAT in a year, probably.) I still want to buy vintage for our home, but I won't feel the need to scoop up every cool piece I see even if it's not totally my style.

I'm also looking forward to getting rid of the tons of items I've held onto to fix "someday" - that's just not going to happen! I know myself. :)

I will do one more craft fair - Making Merry in Berry Hill on Nov 9. I will take my vintage Christmas items and when the festival is over, I will stock the TN Antique Mall with those items - CHEAP!

I'm so glad I had my booth and maybe someday I'll have another one. It was a great way to stay busy, it was fun, and I got to meet a lot of great people because of it. I got to start this blog and make blog friends and be involved in this community. I will still blog - probably not as often as I used to (as you can tell by my poor posting schedule lately) - and I will still buy vintage, of course. I'll just get to do all that with less pressure and stress. It will be a leisurely hobby, not a stressful one. I'm really looking forward to that!

New-To-Me Mary Poppins Books

I now have the reputation among all my friends (and Facebook friends!) for being a Mary Poppins fanatic...which is fine by me! I have wonderful friends who indulge my obsession by giving me Mary Poppins books!

My friend Rachel found this book in a used bookstore and picked it up for me.


I love seeing inscriptions in books!


Very fun illustration inside:


A few weeks later, my friend Nathalie brought me this book that is a mixture of drawings, cartoons, and photos from the film. It's wonderful!





I am slowly building quite a nice Mary Poppins collection! I love it so much!

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Owl Really Christmas Pop-Up Sale This Sunday

This Sunday, October 27 from 2-5pm I will have a special holiday sneak peek of amazing vintage Christmas items! Come out and shop the Pop-Up Sale and grab some fun vintage Christmas decorations, ornaments, and more! 8th & Argyle is located at 1800 8th Avenue South in Nashville.

Join the Facebook event so you don't forget!

For a taste of my vintage Christmas aesthetic, this is what my booth looked like last Christmas at the TN Antique Mall!


If you've been wanting your very own ceramic Christmas tree, be sure to come on out and snag one!

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Will you be at Allume?

 
Will you be at Allume?

I'm heading to my first ever blog conference - not as an attendee, but as a sponsor! I will be there representing the DVD series What's In The Bible? (Remember VeggieTales? The creator, Phil Vischer, has a new studio and WITB is his new project and we're releasing 13 DVDs that cover the entire Bible for families. I do email marketing, e-commerce, and blog strategy for the series. It's a blast!)

If you're there, come see me at the WITB table! I'm going to try to pop into some of the sessions so I can learn, too. I'm excited to check out my very first blogging conference and to tell people about What's In The Bible?!

Curious about the series? See the series trailer below!

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New Additions to my Booth at the TN Antique Mall

I switched up a few things at my booth one day last week when I was on vacation. I organized like-items and switched up the two main walls of my booth.

Some kooky kids' things:


And some Autumn items along with some mid-mod goodies:


Why, oh, why is no one buying that fondue pot, that little danish condiment holder, or those wooden or glass candlesticks? OR the mantle clock?!

I don't get it.

Anyhoo -  new to the booth - a Cosco stool!


And a really cool, pretty large fan!


And I'm currently running 25% off in the booth, so come check out the booth this weekend as you're out enjoying great Fall weather!

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8th & Argyle Grand Opening Tonight!

Come join us as we celebrate the grand opening of 8th & Argyle tonight at 6pm!

8th & Argyle is cooperative retail shop featuring the work of many fabulous local artists and crafters, as well as hand-picked vintage clothing and accessories, stunning antiques, and a full-service sewing studio.

The evening will give us a chance to display our wares as patrons enjoy festive food, drink and music, as well as learn more about the artists and their work.

Hope to see you there!

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Creative Things Lately

Basically, I'm just dumping my iPhoto to my blog. :) I have been so behind on sharing things and so I'm just attempting to post the "minimum viable product" (Lean Startup anyone?).

First up: this doesn't have anything to do with anything I've done, but I was so inspired and so in love with these plants I saw when I was on a retreat:


I want to live in them!

I got super sew-y and made some bibs for friends who are having babies! It was so fun to mix and match the prints. If you want the tutorial, you can find it from another Jamie Young here!


Then I sewed some fabric envelopes for a friend. You can find the tutorial for these here!


And I started learning calligraphy! I'm just learning from books right now...maybe I'll find a local class some time but for now, I'm just obsessively practicing in a little notebook and learning from an old book I bought used. I ordered Molly Suber Thorpe's book and have browsed it but haven't had time to sit down and read it yet!



Ampersands are really fun! It took me awhile to get the hang of them - as you can see above!

What creative things have YOU been up to lately???

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Things I've Been Doing Other Than Blogging

I've been terrible about blogging! I just haven't been motivated and there's been a lot going on!

I just got back from 6 days off work - Andy and I went with his family on our annual Gatlinburg trip, which was really nice. When we got back, we headed out on different trips -- he had been planning a guys' trip to Florida for awhile and I figured I'd take the opportunity to go visit family and friends myself!

I drove up to Louisville and dropped Lucy off with my mom then headed to Indiana to see my friend Mandi and her family and then up even further north to visit my friend Dayna. I never realized South Bend was so far north and that we were basically on the Michigan border. We drove up and saw Lake Michigan and it was GORGEOUS. I love Michigan and I love water!


Our annual tradition is to visit Fannie Farkle's, an arcade on the Gatlinburg strip. A corn dog, a coke, and video games!

We're addicted to those games where you drop a quarter or token in and try to get it to push the other coins over the ledge to earn tickets.  Fannie Farkle's had an amazing, more digitized version that gave us soooo many tickets. We managed to earn almost 4,000 tickets and couldn't find a single thing to purchase with them, so we gave them to a little boy. I hope he picked out something awesome!


We all played Hillbilly Golf as a family and Ollie had fun putting, too. :) It's so fun to see him grow up! Isn't he adorable??

When I was outside of Indianapolis, Mandi took me to an apple orchard that had a petting zoo. Her adorable daughter Makenna had fun with all the animals!


I love goats so much!


And alpacas!


Then, I drove to South Bend and Dayna and I drove to St. Joseph, Michigan to see Lake Michigan and the beach!

It was crazy warm for October!


It was really strange to see a tree with fall leaves...planted in sand!


On the beach!


It was such a great trip! So good to see family and friends. It was hectic to drive all over the place (Nashville to Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg to Nashville. Nashville to Louisville. Louisville to Greenwood. Greenwood to South Bend. South Bend to Louisville. Louisville to Nashville!) but so worth it to see everyone!

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Humans of New York

If you love This American Life, 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, or humanity in general, you will love following Humans of New York on Facebook. A photographer named Brandon Stanton wanders New York every day introducing himself to strangers on the street, taking their photo, and learning their story. It's a beautiful glimpse into real life - pain, joy, love, hopes, dreams, fears...all that and more.

ABC just did a special story on Brandon and HONY - watch it here!

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You got a problem with Poppins?

I love Mary Poppins all the time, but the past week has been a Poppins-fest in my life. Last week, my friend Nathalie gave me the most amazing Mary Poppins book with photos from the film mixed in with drawings and illustrations - so incredible! Then the Disney blog posted an amazing illustration they designed for Julie Andrews this week - check it out here!

So last night, when we were watching Modern Family, I was DELIGHTED to hear a Mary Poppins reference! Jay took his stepson Manny (who is wise beyond his years) to see the Sound of Music at a movie theater. Manny was lecturing Jay about acting on his angry impulses, when this happened...see the clip from Hulu below!


Can't see the clip? Here's the gist - a loud guy behind Jay and Manny starts talking on his cellphone saying that his family dragged him to see the movie and it featured the "chick from that crapfest Mary Poppins." Manny (the 6th grader) loses his cool and tears the cell phone away from the kid and destroys it. Cut to a documentary-style scene in which Manny addresses the camera and says that all the long nights his mom worked, the only thing that kept him company was Mary Poppins. "You got a problem with Poppins? Then you got a problem with ME!"

And now I have my new life motto. :)

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