We need to discuss my mother.

First, let me tell you that you would love my mom. All of my friends always have, and she is especially a hit with my friends up north, where her down-home charm and thick southern accent apparently makes her even more adorable.

She is also the most talented seamstress I know. She did all of the linens for my youngest niece’s nursery and, at the results,  my sister-in-law said to me, with a manic gleam in her eye, “Do you KNOW how talented your mother is?” She’s been sewing since before she was a teenager, when she would take scraps from the dresses my grandmother made for her and her sisters and make doll clothes.

So I have this love of fabric, which came from her, and a huge store of vintage fabrics, and when I opened the booth I got really excited about the possibility of partnering my supplies with her talent for a bunch of cool pillows and stuff made out of barkcloth and such. But that was before I knew she had ADD. She managed to cough out two pairs of pillows for February’s Vintage Bazaar, which sold, leading me to believe that that would be incentive for her to make more but, alas, none were forthcoming. So I figured my trip down this last time was a good time to crack the whip and force her to make some more. HA. As if it’s that easy. Dad flat out refused to let me put a lock on the sewing room door, something about it being “inhumane”, so I had to resort to constant nagging, which really didn’t do much good. Two of my favorite quotes from her were “Oh, I don’t much like to work after 5 pm” (after I tried to shoo her to the sewing room after a full day of chit-chatting with relatives) and “Whew! I haven’t had my shoes on for this long in a really long time!”

In the end, she produced five beautiful pillows:

She has finally become the pillow-making machine I always dreamed she could be. Let’s hope it lasts!

Look at what I purloined from my Mom while I was home in Arkansas.

So, the two oldest nieces got the results from their AP tests while I was home in Arkansas — Taylor got a 4 on her English Language, Alex got a 5 on her English Lit and a 4 on her Psychology. Would that my babies grow up to be as intelligent, lovely, and kind as those two. Meanwhile, the youngest continues on her quest to rule the world through sheer will power and cuteness. She got irritated at me this visit because I was teasing her and pretty much just cut her eyes at me every time I entered the room. I can’t help it, she’s so fun to tease because she’s so stubborn. Check out what happens when someone tries to put her shoes back on her at the park:

We made a last-minute decision to zip down to Fayetteville to see my oldest niece graduate. With highest honors.

I will try and post when we get back into town. Meanwhile…

So we drove down to Fayetteville on Friday, celebrated an 18th birthday and a wedding, then zipped back to Chicago on Sunday. Justin was so tired when we got home Sunday that he left his entire key ring in the mailbox lock. It’s just lucky we weren’t murdered by a serial killer that night.

Of course I have to post photos of my nieces. This was one of my favorites from the trip.

She got a new play set in her back yard and she adores it.

It was this beautiful young lady’s 18th birthday.

Little miss Taylor scored the winning soccer goal at her school’s semi-finals. Or, wait, the game before the semi-finals. It was dramatic enough that there was an entire newspaper story about her the next morning! Once again, she eluded my camera, so I don’t have any photos of her this visit. You will have to take my word for it: she is as beautiful as she is smart, charming, and talented at soccer.

I’ll post some booth news here in a day or two. It’s Advanced Placement testing season at my school, which means things are crazy for me at work — but I will try not to get behind on my posting!

One more, if you don’t mind…

I like this photo a lot.

Pardon the absence. I took a whistle-stop tour down to Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the most fabulous nieces, sister-in-law, and brother in the world; home of the Pretty. Quirky antique booth; and, for this last weekend, home to my wonderful parents.  We had a lovely two days when we were all  together in the sweet Arkansas spring weather. My brother and SIL demonstrated their otherworldly patience and generosity by letting us all come and stay with them the day they got back from their Spring Break at Breckenridge…can you imagine walking into your house after a 14-hour trip with two teenagers and a toddler and finding your relatives camped out in the living room? Why, it gives me the shivers to imagine it. But they only had smiles and sweetness on their faces when they came in.  Taylor, who had not slept in her own bed for a week, gave up two more nights to let me sleep there.

I don’t like to brag, you know I don’t, but I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD.

And, of course, photos must accompany that statement. You are not stupid. You need photographic proof of the above claim.

(She loves her mom, dad, and grandpa, too, but they’re more wily at avoiding my camera.)

Really, she loves everybody.

More posts soon to come with updates to the booths and recent thrift finds!

Before I begin: you’re going to see photos of two of the three of my nieces. I was only in town for one day, and sweet Taylor was so busy with school work and sport practice I didn’t have a chance to plague her with my camera. So she’s absent from this post but certainly, not from my heart.

First: Samantha. She LOVES the snow that Fayetteville got last week. Andy took her outside to tromp around in the little that was left. She LOVES stomping on the snow — the sound it makes and the fact that she can make it disappear by stepping on it. At one point, her dad started throwing these tiny little snow balls at her feet and she couldn’t stop laughing about it.

The main reason for my visit was to see Alex be presented on the court for Colors Day, an event at her High School. This was very exciting for everyone. She looked unbelievably beautiful and I was so proud of her. Brains, kindness, personality, AND beauty — what’s not to love? She humored me and let me take photos while she was getting her hair done.

Just thinking about CHANGE makes me squirrelly. Let’s talk about something else, shall we? Who’s coming to the Vintage Bazaar on February 27th? If you’ve been jonesing for estate sales, yard sales, and flea markets, this event is for YOU! Don’t miss it!

I don’t like to brag on my husband too terribly much for two reasons: one, you would not believe me if I told you even half of the wonderful things about him and two, he would get the big head and possibly stop doing all of the things that make him so wonderful, and that would be a real, real shame. Plus,  it is wrong to brag. My beloved grandmother’s quirky warning about this was “Self brag stinks.” SBS. And don’t you ever forget it.

However, sometimes I cannot contain myself. He gave me the most lovely Valentine’s Day present yesterday. Waaaay back in the fall, I coerced him into going into one of my very favorite antique stores in Evanston (Secret Treasures, 605 Dempster Street, it’s AWESOME). There was THE most beautiful McCoy matte white vase (my very favorite collection) in the shape of a heart. I had never seen anything like it. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it right up right then and there, but, for whatever reason, I didn’t…and when I came to my senses a few weeks later, it was gone. Well, guess what I opened yesterday?

Sigh. My Valentine rocks.

Hope your day was wonderful!

My sweet nieces came to check out my booth the day I left Fayetteville. They’re so adorable– they’ve shown so much interest and support during this whole booth process. Alex immediately spotted an awesome pair of 1940s spectator pumps I had just put out that day. “Oooooh,” she said. “I LOVE these shoes!” The irony was, I had picked them up at a yard sale with her in mind, and then second-guessed myself. What 17-year old wants an old, dusty pair of two-tone shoes from the 1940s? Sure, I think they’re cool, but I decided that she probably wouldn’t. So I priced them and put them in the booth.

I was beyond pleased when she was so delighted with them. “They’re yours!” I said, picking them up. “I’ll pay you for them,” she said, earnestly. My heart? Melted into a puddle. A single tear rolled down my face as I took her ten dollars.

JOKING! Of course I gave her a discount.

JOKING! She got them for free. OF COURSE.

Those girls are PERFECT, I’m telling you.

I wonder if my Dad was this thrilled when I showed a love for The Kingston Trio when I was sixteen?