Catch Me If You Can The Musical

We have a fun tradition of giving each other tickets to musicals for Christmas! Well, if you call coincidentally giving each other tickets two years in a row a "tradition." :) Last Christmas Andy gave me tickets to see Mary Poppins the musical and this year, I gave him tickets to see Catch Me If You Can.

We went Sunday and it was SO FUN. We both love the movie AND musicals and the 60s, so we both really enjoyed it. I think I had a smile on my face the whole time!

If you're not familiar with the story (It was a 2002 Dreamworks film with Leonardo DCaprio and Tom Hanks), it's a true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who ran away from home as a teenager and conned his way into 1.8 million dollars, a job at Pan-Am, a position overseeing a hospital ER, and even passed the bar exam in Louisiana without going to law school. Crazy, right?

The musical really addresses the motivations behind his decision to run away and become a con man. I didn't remember the family issues from the movie, so I think they did a really good job of explaining that.

The sets were simple but the band was onstage in the coolest way ever. They were set up at the back of the stage and dressed in formal wear the entire time. The music was all 60s influenced and they looked like they were having a blast.

The choreography was really fun and the ensemble cast was so great. There's a Belmont alum in the ensemble and when we went, he got to go on as Frank. The crowd went WILD when they announced that he would be going on...there must have been a lot of Belmont kids there hoping to see him!

They utilized a giant screen at the back of the stage to set the scenes and add depth. It was fun to see all the graphics and animation they designed.

I highly recommend checking it out if it comes to your town! See the tour dates here and watch a montage below!

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Favorite Finds 2012: Danavee's Dress!

Wellll, January is almost over so I probably shouldn't still be talking about 2012, but I asked my friend Danavee from This Vintage Grove to tell us about her favorite find of the year and I finally had a chance to post it!

If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you are missing out! Danavee (DV as I call her in my head) is an elementary school teacher with awesome style and a great sense of humor! She never takes herself too seriously, which is one of my absolute favorite qualities in a person! We've been blog friends for about a year and I'm so happy to know her- we chat about anything from our jobs to the Bachelor to how hard re-selling can be!

Danavee totally lucked out and found a gorgeous dress that looks so, so beautiful on her! She tells us about it below! 


Where did you find it?
I found it at a thrift store (which is right behind the antique mall my booth is at)!

What were your first thoughts when you saw it?
I saw a hint of polka dots crammed between tons of dresses. When I pulled it from the rack I couldn't decide if I should turn a cartwheel or dance or cry. I put in on over my clothes right there in the aisle.

So, have you worn it?? 
I haven't worn it yet as we haven't really had the right occasion for me to break it out. However, when I did put it on, it was like it was made for me. I couldn't believe I found a vintage dress in my size!

How does the dress make you feel?
It makes me happy. Right now, it hangs from a decorative hook on my door like a piece of art!

DV (she doesn't really know I call her that), that dress was made for you!! What a find! Read more about the dress on her blog right here!

If you'd like to participate in the Favorite Finds series (it doesn't have to be a 2012 find), just email me and we'll chat it up! Maybe even about the Bachelor! :)

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Owl Really Customers: Susan's Typewriter!

When I started my new job in September, I started working on an awesome team full of really great, talented people. One of those people is Susan!

Susan saw me me instagram a ton of booth photos a few weeks ago and she fell in love with the typewriter I was selling!


She bought the typewriter and took it home and it looks so great in its new place--check out that card catalog!!


Love it! I'm so happy Suz found the typewriter of her dreams and that I could be a part of that adventure! :)

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A Great Saturday For Estate Sales

It feels so awful to say, "I had such a great time at estate sales!" because you have to keep in mind that most often, someone passed away for us to find great things. I love to know, though, that their treasured possessions are living on and going to make someone else happy.

All that to say, I went to two estate sales this weekend and they were great. I drove an hour to Clarksville and was so scared it would be a bust like last weekend. It wasn't. At all. It was great! I found so many great items!

Also, I made new friends! That sounds cheesy, but it's true! At the first sale, I met Krystle of Pura Vida Vintage and it is just so obvious that it was meant to be! She recognized me from mine and my mom's blogs and said hello and we talked and she's opening a vintage store on music row - in a garage that was in the parking lot of my old office at my old job. Crazy! It was so fun talking with her and her amazing daughter. Can't wait to check out her shop once it opens!

After the Clarksville sale, I headed to the Family Tree Estate Sale in Ashland City. I love their sales and I love them! I walked in, said "HEY!" to Melissa, then saw Krystle right behind her! Then turned around and saw Rae! I was on such a high from the good finds and seeing friends!

I was shopping around and started chatting with another shopper who turned out to be Shawna of Sugar Millie. We chatted quite a bit and it was so great to connect with her! I love when dealers are nice and relatable and genuine! There are some older dealers who can be cranky and there are other dealers around my age who are a little cutthroat. I love meeting authentic and kind dealers and connecting with them!

When I was heading out, my friend Val was coming in. The sale was outside of town, but everyone came out to it! It was SUCH a great morning - just what I needed!

Here's a sneak peek of some of my finds... I have photographed them all but there are SO many that I need to find an easy way to share them!

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Valentines and Owls - New in the booth!

I have some booth updates!

I spent 6 hours attempting to thrift on Saturday. I wanted to go to an estate sale about 45 minutes away in Gallatin, so I googled thrift stores nearby and wrote down and mapped tons of addresses. Traffic was AWFUL on 65 - completely stopped - so it took me an hour to get to Rivergate which is only about 25 minutes away. The morning didn't get much better! Most of the places I googled no longer exist and I didn't find anything to buy at most of the places I stopped. It was frustrating! My booth needed new inventory and I was coming up empty.

Fortunately, I had been decluttering my little attic craft and storage space and had collected a bunch of things to take to the booth. Let's take a look!

 This owl bank is something I picked up on my day of thrifting - it's not my FAVORITE owl in the world, but I will rarely pass up an owl. :) Moving on to the next photo, I found the "big eye kids" in my stash of stuff upstairs and finally put them in the booth. The brown box in front of them was my auction freebie! I was bidding on a box of loot at an auction last Friday but lost the lot. I asked the winner if he wanted the owl box and he said nope, and gave it to me. Fun!

In the bottom photo, I have various Valentines and stationery. Come shop for V-day!


Just a few figurines including souvenirs and owls--plus a close up of the free owl box! I suppose it's actually a little wooden purse--it has a little chain inside that used to be screwed into the top.

I bought a box of buttons and spent some time separating them out into little bags. There are some super cute options! Under that, a brownie movie camera!

I was having a really hard time figuring out how to make the board games look interesting, so I decided to prop them up in my "afghan suitcase." They'd be pretty good for a low-key date night!


Below, I changed up a shelf to be really colorful! It's fun to move things around, place on different walls, and switch up all the color coordinating.

And then under that, I have my pretty cheesy Valentine's shelf. :) I grabbed anything that was pink, red, or looked like it could remotely be Valentiney. I recommend a fondue date night - pick up your vintage pot and skewers in my booth! Lots of great gift ideas like a wooden key ("key to my heart"), a vintage Coca-Cola ad with a cute couple, a red thermos, a few versions of Pride & Prejudice, and so much more!



Come shop if you're in town! Pick up a sweet gift for your sweetie. :)

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2013 Goal - Make a Quilt!

I've been saying that I want to make a quilt for forever - 2013 is the time to do it!

I received Denyse Schmidt's "Quilts" book for Christmas and bought The 7 Day Quilt at our local used bookstore. Between the two, I should be able to figure out what to do and tackle this project!

The major problem is that I feel overwhelmed when I think about making a quilt because I'm not a perfectionist - all my sewing projects tend to be slightly wonky. :)

When I bought the bag of quilt pieces in Gatlinburg, I vowed that I would make a quilt before we returned to Gatlinburg the next year...which means I have 10 months to tackle this! It's a great winter project - I should start NOW...but I'm scared!!

I do need some input on the quilt pieces - I went through them and separated out the ones I wanted to keep, the ones that were cut into shapes that made no sense to me, and the fabric that I didn't want to keep. As I was going through them though, they smelled...really bad. They are all pre-cut so I'm afraid if I wash them, they will fray to pieces...and I'm not sure Febreze will help. Any input??

If I don't use the pre-cut quilt pieces, then I will probably try this quilt-as-you-go strip quilt.

I gotta be honest though...this process terrifies me!!

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New Look For Owl Really: Stained Shelves!

Hang on, guys - something really exciting happened over the weekend!


I stained the "shelves" in my booth!

WOOO HOOO, exciting huh? :)

When I first moved into my booth, I didn't have shelves so I made some with wood from Home Depot and pegs... and a year and a half later, they were still there and looking pretty blah. Inspired by Mad Maine painting her booth last weekend, I decided to stain my wood shelves. 

In the photo below, you can see a stained shelf on top and an unstained one on the bottom.


I like them so much better stained! After this photo was taken, I switched out the bottom shelf for a stained one.

I worked on my booth both Friday and Monday afternoons... I think Friday's work really helped. When I checked on Friday, I had only sold enough to cover half my rent. When I checked today, I had far surpassed my rent thanks to selling the black fan! I knew breaking out one of the big guns would help!

 More to come this week about the booth and new items!

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Owl Really Customers: Ryan and Haley

I was working in my booth earlier this month and met a shopper who said he had bought a few items from my booth in the past. I asked him if he would share them on the blog and he agreed. I love meeting customers and I love seeing items they've bought from my booth in their homes!

Ryan and Haley sent over these photos of their awesome gallery wall:

Looks good, doesn't it? There are actually TWO Owl Really items on this one wall!

This cool clock!

And this great art! I may be wrong, but I think I discovered the art behind a piece of crewel I had bought. I loved it and thought about keeping it, but I added it to my booth and it found a great home!

Thanks so much to Ryan and Haley for sending over these photos and shopping Owl Really!

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Favorite Finds: Michelle's Foot Stools

Last year, I tried to do a "Favorite Finds" post every Wednesday but I ran out of contributors (and steam!). I'd love to continue doing them, so if you have a submission, please email me at jamie@owlreally.com!

This week, we have a Favorite Find from Michelle at Buttered Toast Rocks! Check out her awesome foot stools below (and her adorable pup!).


What is your favorite find and where did you find it?
I found these orange foot stools at a Boy Scouts rummage sale, held in the parking lot of a local Lutheran church. It was a sunny Saturday morning, and my husband and I had a list of garage and estate sales to visit.  I wasn't holding out hope for finding vintage at this sale, but we couldn't do a drive by without driving into the parking lot.  Once we turned in, I saw one lovely orange footstool.

What was your first thought when you spotted it?
Before I even got out of the car I was thinking I was going to have a hard time convincing my husband that we should buy it.  He's not a fan of those wonderful colors of burnt orange, avocado green and harvest gold like I am!  I prepared him as we walked across the lot, that I was pretty sure I was buying it regardless of the color or his opinion.  He grimaced at the color, but he really liked the look of the wooden legs.


Did you know right away it was coming home with you?
When I saw the price tag of $1, I knew it was coming with me!  But I was still thinking I would take it down to my booth instead of keeping it. As my husband picked it up to carry it for me, one of the ladies running the sale said if I liked it, I might like this other one, and she stood up to show the matching foot stool.  Two for $2?  I had to have them.




Did you have to do any repair/restoration/updates to them? 
I didn't have to do any repairs.  The legs are solidly screwed onto the base and the end caps are perfect for sliding across our hardwood floors without scratching.&nbsp

Where do they live now?
If I'd never tested them out in our house, they'd be down at my shop.  But I did put my feet up on one, and my husband put his feet up on the other, and it was like we'd been waiting for these stools to make our living room even better.  With a house full of teenagers and dogs, they have stood up to heavy use and still look as great as when I brought them home.


Why do you love buying vintage/secondhand?
I've always liked shopping garage sales.  My hope chest was filled with vintage treasures by the time I was 17.  I try to keep it to certain collections as I've gotten older and the house seems to get smaller.

For myself, I can't pass up a ceramic dog or anything Christmas.  My daughter has been the voice of reason when we shopped, reminding me that if I didn't have a place for it, I shouldn't buy it.  That all changed when I rented a space at our local antique mall.  Now I shop with a purpose and the whole family approves.  For my husband and I, our Saturday excursions are kid free dates and we look forward to getting up early (yes, on a Saturday!) and treasure hunting. For my kids, they have discovered they have first pick of things I bring home!  Sometimes it's just a book that catches their eye, other times it's a set of juice glasses that fit in their hands perfectly.  

Michelle, thank you SO much for sharing! I'm so happy you found the perfect foot stools for your home!

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New In The Booth: January 2013

Last weekend when I went to my booth, I had only sold $9...yikes! I knew I had to bring out the big guns, so I grabbed a fan and a typewriter that I had in storage and took them up to the booth. Hopefully the big ticket items will help raise my sales... When I checked on Saturday, I was up to $42 - hopefully I'll make my rent and not owe this month!

(If you're not familiar with how an antique mall works, typically the vendors pay a monthly rental fee and commission on top of that. I need to sell about $175 in order to make any kind of profit... I have a long way to go!)

Lots of bad iPhone photos coming up! :)

I found the entire Childcraft series from 1976 on Saturday! I was so excited - they are so fun! I also have 3 little horses right now, some fun crafty books and some really cool gold tights and blue tights. In the bottom photo, you can see all my little figurines - lots of owls! And then, the beautiful fan.



Two beautiful paint by numbers, some children's things, a crazy yellow manhead... and the typewriter I mentioned before... plus some afghans!



Lots of random things... I keep some papers and maps in this mustardy planter, and pile clutches into a green cosmetic case. In the bottom photo, lots of green things. :)

If you're in Nashville, come shop! The mall is at 654 Wedgewood Avenue and they're open Mon-Sat 10-5:30 and Sunday 1:30-5:30.

PS - Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Staci!!!

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Friday Fun: Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby, bless his heart, was on Jimmy Fallon last week and it was... bizarre! Funny, but bizarre. He tried to start a fight with The Roots! :)

You can watch his appearance below:


They also booked Tempestt Bledsoe on the same show and it was cool to see them together. Watch those segments now:


So fun! Love them!

Great news - the Cosby show is now available on Hulu!

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Eartha Kitsch's Favorite Find of 2012

I'm still reminiscing about 2012! I asked some of my friends to tell us about their absolute favorite finds of the year. Eartha Kitsch (of Ranch Dressing with Eartha Kitsch) tells us about her very fun favorite finds below!


It's a hard call but I think that my favorite find of 2012 was a bunch of Sears catalogs from the 1950's and 1950's that I found in an estate sale basement. I'd been looking for catalogs from that timeframe for decades and POOF! there they were! There were dozens and dozens of them but since they are so heavy, I could only carry ten out of the basement. I went back later but only a few torn copies were left - of course, I got those too! I wasn't going to pass up any opportunity to go dream shopping back in the day!

Honest to goodness, when I sit down with those catalogs and begin to flip through the pages, I completely lose all track of time or decade. I've actually caught myself thinking, "I'm going to order that!" before reality sets in and I realize that I am several decades too late!   : )

See more amazing photos from the catalogs here!

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Rustic Wedding Signs by MyRepurposedLife

Calling all brides to be, wedding planners, and photographers! My mom makes amazing signs for weddings - totally customizable and so, so cute. Plus, they're VERY affordable!

Check out her etsy shop here!

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One of my favorite finds of 2012

I know it's a little late to be posting about 2012 still, but I'm a little behind. :)

Our dining room table is one of my most favorite finds of 2012. I found it on Craigslist last January and we've been happily using it ever since! I did change the orientation of it - I rotated it around and I think it fits better in the space. I love it!

Read more about it here. 

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Andy's Favorite Kind Of Heirloom

My Granny recently downsized and gave us loads of records and 45s.  Andy has been going through all the various 45s he has and found this awesome one he got from her:

It's a first pressing of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two! Complete with an address label from my uncle Roscoe (Granny's husband - remember, she's actually my great-aunt) :).

It's so sweet to me for Andy to have this because he never got to meet Uncle Roscoe/grandpa. I wish they could have met because I think they would have had fun talking about all these old songs. I'm thankful that we have his old 45s and can think of him when we spin them.
 

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Featured on Flamingo Toes

My DIY No Sew Single Bloom Bouquet was the number 6 most clicked feature on Flamingo Toes in 2012! I am so excited that the bouquet has inspired people -- I'm dying to know if anyone has made one!

Click here to see the other great projects!

Thanks to Beverly for featuring my project!

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