WHERE TO START.

Let’s just say that it’s a little harder doing a flea market when you’re five months pregnant with twins than when you aren’t. However, thanks to my husband and my AMAZING friend Shannon, we managed to pull this off. It started Saturday evening, when we loaded the 10-foot rental truck at 6 pm; we FILLED the truck and the back of my car. I really, really need to learn what to bring and what to leave behind. (More on that later.) We got up at 4:45 and were at the Congress Theater doors by 6 am.

I have never been to the Congress Theater. When we first walked in, I was a bit concerned: there had been a music fest there the night before and the massive concrete floor was littered with beer cans and trash; puddles of stale beer dotted the space. The topper was when Justin found a condom wrapper in the area taped off as our booth. Now I’m not a prude, but what the hell goes on at the Congress Theater during a concert? Sheesh. Kids these days. By 7 am, the floor was swept and the beauty of the space was more obvious — though the main floor has been stripped to concrete, the walls and ceiling of the space retain the loveliness of majestic theater it once was.

By 7 we had everything inside, and I was in the throes of the beginning of my mental breakdown. The good news was we were right by the stage, with no booth in front of us, so we could spread out while we tried to get the booth set up. The bad news was we brought so much stuff it seemed impossible to imagine that we would ever get it set up. I had a moment where I thought, “I’ll play the pregnancy card, claim I’m sick, and go home.” That’s how desperate I was! Justin suggested we just start taking boxes and tubs, unopened, back to the truck, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t go through everything to get what I thought were sure sellers. Slowly but surely, with Shannon and Justin’s help, we got everything unpacked and displayed in the booth — but I was putting the last touches on it at 12:10, when the flood gates opened. That’s ridiculous, ya’ll. I really need to get better at this. We ended up bringing a lot of stuff that I saw, as soon as it was in the space, was not going to sell. I guess experience is the only thing that can eventually help me figure that out.

I didn’t even get a chance to make a round to see the other booths, though I did pop over to see Roxana’s booth, which was AMAZING, just as I predicted. Here are some shots of her awesome wares:

Highlights of the show included the AWESOME pie from Hoosier Mama Pie Company — Justin and I headed down to their storefront on Monday afternoon because we were craving another slice only to find that they’re closed on Mondays. I’m going to try and get down there tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and introduced themselves — it’s so nice to meet people who share the same love of vintage that I have. I’ve gotten some e-mails asking where else I sell, and I will keep you posted on that. We’re contemplating selling things directly from the website while I ‘m waiting to find an antique booth to move into in the area. Now that the Fayetteville booth is closed and the Vintage Bazaar is over, I can’t stand the thought of not having a retail outlet in the near future!

I spent today trying to put the house back in order and will start on the nursery tomorrow. I work half days on Thursday and Friday and then go back full time on Wednesday, so the clock is ticking on getting as much finished as possible in the next week.

I can’t stop buying. I just can’t. It’s ridiculous, really, considering I don’t have the booth anymore and there’s a finite amount of stuff I can sell at the Bazaar. I think this happened last summer, though — I just find myself with so much free time on my hands, there’s nothing else to do other than thrift shop! And when you hit thrift stores regularly, you can’t help but find great stuff. And that just feeds the obsession. If summertime is the only time I’m this ridiculous, it’s okay, right?

Here’s a few of my most recent finds.

My nursery will be SO well stocked with diaper rash cream, cotton balls, and q-tips. Why? Because I’ve got SO MANY awesome containers to put them in.

We should find out the genders next week, by the way, so that will make picking out vintage nursery planters even more exciting.

I visited Roxana’s Vintage Bazaar stash in her garage and you guys WILL NOT believe what she’s going to have goin’ on in her booth. My mouth was literally hanging open. I came back to my stuff, all piled in the living room, suddenly looking drab and dreary…I have vendor envy, big time. Plus, I can’t decide whether I have enough stuff, whether it’s good enough stuff, and whether the stuff is priced correctly. There’s a lot of stuff worrying going on over here.

So, of course, the solution is to keep on buying.

I mean, there’s a finite number of shopping days between now and the 22nd, so it has to end sometime, right?

I bounce back and forth between thinking I have nothing of worth for the Vintage Bazaar and thinking I have way too much. I have a bad feeling I’m not going to be able to fit half the things I bring into my booth. I wonder how long it takes before you know instinctively how much merchandise to bring for a 10X12 space? I believe my space at the last Bazaar was 8X10, so the fact that I”m dealing with significantly more space is making me nervous.

ANYWAY. This is all to say that I cannot stop buying things lately.

I was wandering around a yard sale on Friday when I saw a mini-coat rack — and I thought to myself, I wanted one of those. What did I want one of those for? It seemed like it had something to do with the Vintage Bazaar but I just couldn’t remember what. Since it was only $2, I went ahead and bought it in the hopes that I would eventually remember.

This is about a fourth of the purses I have to sell at the Vintage Bazaar, by the way. It’s out of control.

I am getting so many things crossed off of my list this week. You wouldn’t know it by looking at my apartment, though, which is ever more dwarfed by two growing piles — one earmarked for the Newgard neighborhood sale and one for the Vintage Bazaar. In addition to going through all the nooks and crannies of my apartment, looking for things to get rid of, I’m also slowly but surely working through my list of projects. So, without further ado, take a gander at my repurposed lampshades.

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!

…or is this the CUTEST PURSE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD?

As soon as I can get off the couch without feeling like I need to vomit (sorry, TMI) I’m going to start pricing the mountain of merchandise I have targeted for the Vintage Bazaar. As I’m digging stuff out, some items make me wonder what the hell I was thinking when I made the purchase. Or is this the morning sickness talking?

Hopefully, I’ve got more good stuff than bad stuff, though. My booth is bigger this time around and I’m determined to be a bit smarter about the efficiency of the space. The shopping time is longer, too — seven hours! — so I’m really excited about the potential.