THANKS for a great Year!

We just want to thank all of you for helping make this year a huge success for us! We really enjoyed transforming the store with each season and the stints in between. We are already scheming for the coming year and frantically buying for the now. We have three big buying sprees coming up....a road trip to Kentucky....the Gift Show in Atlanta...and the big one for us the New York Gift Show! In the meantime, bare with us as we do our nesting, preparing the store for the winter months to come. Don't be surprised if we ask you to look for the hammer when you come in!

The store will be open the remainder of the week with Ashley at the helm. Valerie's Mother is coming for a visit, and I am hibernating for a few days with the kids (surviving is the word actually). Knowing us, we will also be busy making things for you to buy in the comforts of our homes. From our families to yours, have a Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you very soon!

A Sneak Peek at Jenni's House

Unfortunately I am having technical difficulties with my digital camera so I had to drag out the old 35mm. The bad in that is I had no idea what the pictures would turn out like, the "can I see Mommy" window comes in handy more than I thought! So here are just a few I was okay with sharing.

I am very drawn to a "natural Christmas" look to the outside of my home. Maybe it's the setting of our house, or the "Over the river and through the woods" image I nostalically love. Whatever the reason, I add just a little something different each year. What I wish I had pictures to show are my white vintage fence posts at the entrance to my sidewalk. They have nice natural sprigs on them with the trusty old red wagon beside full of a load of firewood ready to be wheeled in for those cooler nights upon us! I like the welcome it gives me when I walk up to the front door. This is a shot of some of my Byers' Carolers. Over the years my family and friends have given me these and they all have special meanings. I just LOVE these little guys. I have the entire Nutcracker series now, a mommy, an artist, a gas lighter (Billy used to work for Atlanta Gas Light), and of course a Mr. and Mrs. Claus in the collection now. Some say they are ugly, but I think they are so sweet!
In the kitchen I hung my Christmas decoration find of the year from the light fixture. In the original brown paper box I found 12 shiny bright tiffany blue balls. (notice the window awning....that's my new addition to the kitchen in my favorite Amy Butler Fabric). The other blue balls are resting on top of some amber bottles in the window over the sink.

Here's the mantel with the Mr and Mrs Carolers. The sled was Billy's Grandmother's, the phone came from my Daddy when he worked for Bell. The art on the mantel is by William a couple of years ago. I actually used it for our Christmas card becuase I loved it so much!

So that's it for now....more when the decorations come down!

The Last Trunk Show

Whew....what a whirlwind of a month and a half with new merchandise coming in every week! It has been so much fun to see our trunk show artists bring their wares into our store for one week to see how they would sell with our wonderful shoppers! We've had everything from jewelry, purses, art, and now Hall Manor. You all have to make a stop by to see their beautifully handcrafted wooden items like colonial houses, stools, rocking horses, bookcase, sofa table and more! They also brought the nicest stockings for those needing an extra or wanting to change out for this year's decorating. Also in their trunk were "Hooking" bags...not that kind....but for your RUG hooking projects. Pockets just the right size and place for all your tools. They also design rug hooking patterns and have those to sell. Last, but not least, we have a sofa full of their pillows...some Christmas, some for the special teeth our children loose. Come on by this week!

A Peek at Valerie's Christmas

We promised you all a peek at our personal homes and decided to start with a peek at Christmas. For two years now we've both wanted a flocked tree and this year Valerie did it! Isn't it to die for? Looks like real snow has fallen onto this perfectly shaped tree. She's placed it in her family room window which overlooks the lake ( Which has a most fabulous view), so their family isn't the only one to enjoy it's magical feel.

As you approach her home she has a fabulous walk up with faux columns, wooden stars, flocked wreath and real greenery. To me it looks like you are walking into a magical winter wonderland. Do any of you recognize the stars? They came from the store. The sled came from a weekend stop at Scott's. This is just such a nice entrance, wow girl! A true winter wonderland. I want to come in to see more! Valerie has a large collection of mercury glass from over the years. This year she decided to take it out of it's regular nesting spot to the mantel. The mantel is always a challenge for me for some reason. She has made it look effortless, doing a great job of mixing the real greenery with her collection, a few glittery items and two cool clocks, which don't work by the way. Instead, they have frozen in time the moment her two beautiful children were born. So sweet!

Here's a close-up of that dreamy tree and her glass ornaments. Santa looks as though he's saying hey ya'll readers!
Here's the mantel from afar (I really should have tried to get these pictures organized better, sorry folks!) I love the glittery urns, they are really silhouettes I think she glittered herself.
Stepping back a bit further in her family room you will find her collection of wooden angel dolls. See in the background the way cool doors on a track? The arch on the brick fireplace? Her home is full of neat details like that!
These are the side entrance decorations. Love the idea of putting a tree outside with sparkly pinecones, real greenery, salvage angel on the door and more! She perfectly mixes the old with the new for a look that is so unique. They say that back door friends are the best, entering her home this way you definately feel welcomed.

So this is just a little peek, she has sooooo much more to see. You'll just have to wait and see after the Christmas decorations come down. My house is next.....

Oh for a Winter Day to Wear this Hat!

This week's Trunk Show is Lollie Belle. Valerie tells you a bit of their history on the website, so I'll just tell you the nitty gritty. You've gotta come in and at least try one on. It's so much fun, like being a little girl playing dress-up! The colors, the trims, the fabric combinations....oo..la...la.... Actually you've got to come by and try them ALL on. I have already got my eye on a black velvet one. It's funny, I tried on several, and this one just said you are so Jenni! Even if you think you aren't a hat person, I am sure you will find one of these that suits your personality. Can't wait to see you in it!

Trunk Show Double Trouble

Morr-is-Better Embroidery has on display at the Flea this week the most clever shoes ever. The sole of the shoe is super comfy with these little snap on straps which you can have custom embroidered! Is that smart or what? The shoe bases come in black, brown and my favorite, cork. They automatically come with a black strap with a monogram. If you check out the Lexees website you will find they retail for about $60, but at the Flea, Amy lists them for only $42 with additional straps for $20. What a deal! Here is their website: http://www.morr-is-betterembroidery.com/. Check them out for all your monogramming needs!

We also have Annie and her most adorable stationery. If you haven't picked up your Christmas cards, then come on by because her designs are sure to put a smile on your recipients face. Annie also has single cards, everyday card sets and her whimsical originals all for sale this week. In just two days her stationery has proven a hit with our customers. So, come on down and check it out for yourself! She also has a website: http://www.hodgepodgestationery.com/.

What's Your Style?

Valerie and I are constantly looking for new inspirations for our homes and the store. We LOVE magazines and books. In fact, if you look in just about any crook or corner in either of our homes you'd find a pile of magazines with corners turned down for future reference or if we really like it, we tear it out and bring it in to share! I was recently looking back through a book entitled, Found Style by Mark and Amy Bulter. You might recognize that name, because at the Flea, we covet Amy's fabric designs and patterns. Anyways, I actually read my design book's text and was reading this one's when I got an idea. In this introduction it talks about finding your style. He says that true "style" should come from years of assembling your home with the things you love. The latest color trends, bedding and furniture can come and go, but if you truly want a home to feel warm and comfortable, you have to be patient and you have to be selective about your purchases. He says it is definitely easier to hire a decorator or to go into a new furniture showroom and buy an entire set, no doubt. But, where is the true fun in that? Valerie and I love to scavenger everywhere from the Goodwill to an Antique Mall. While we say we are looking for the store, we are also keeping hawk eyes out for our own homes. You just never know when that perfect chair, needlepoint or sofa (my weakness) is going to be there. So why am I carrying on at this point you ask? Because I was telling Valerie about this whole story the other night and we both agreed that the Flea was a nice combination of her style and mine. Which brought about an interesting idea. We are often asked by customers, "Is your house just filled with all this same stuff?" The answer to that questions is no. Some of it for sure, but usually it all sells out before we get it! We each have our own individual style that creates a great look for the Flea, and hopefully inspires you to make your home tell its' own story. I can describe my home as a mix of eclectic, modern country. Valerie I would describe as a bit more formal french country (just drool over her exterior and you know there is some french inspiration!), but she also has a flair for finding the most fabulous unique items. My favorite in her house is a metal sign hanging in her kitchen that says ____ number of days without injury from some sort of factory. How cool! Back to my point, we have decided to let you into our homes via a series of blogs. Don't plan on it coming out tomorrow, but soon. We hope you enjoy taking a peek into our little lives at home and what inspires us as we continually "assemble" our homes for our families.

Littlebutter Beans

Coleen Verner has brought into our store a venture we've never tried before, that of "girly" little things. From carefully hand-tied hair bows, to adorable felt pins that look yummy enough to eat, she has a little something for every little girl. Great for stocking stufffers, or just because, there's a wonderful selection for you to choose. We sold several bows to happy Mommies today infact! She also has some fun hand painted items, bowl fillers and package ties to complete your Christmas decorations.
The wall of bows she has is sure to make you smile! Boy, I sure wish Mailey would wear one, just one!
She also invented this handy dandy little gadget to go around doorknobs to protect those dainty little fingers we love to kiss!

Jennifer Rollins Trunk Show

Jennifer came into our store several months ago with one of her lovely creations on her shoulder. Needless to say Valerie and I jumped at the opportunity to tell her about our trunk show series and hoped that she could make a batch of her homeade goodness for the store! She's worked herself crazy and has provided us with the most amazing selection of purses! The details are amazing...vintage buttons...Amy Butler fabric...oooo....which one do I select for my winter wardobe? She also makes the most amazing aprons for Mommy and Me and is trying out kids clothes. We hope to have her featured more often after Christmas with all her lines. Come see what we have now, because it will only be in the trunk until Saturday.

Lyamarie Trunk Show

This week's feature is full of beautiful jewelry by local artistsan Lyamarie. If you frequent the Market Day on the Newnan Square then you just might remember her. She always sets up on the corner across from the Bank of Coweta. She has a wonderful selection of bracelets, neclaces and earrings for your fall and winter wardobe, even a lava rock neclace! Talk about hot... So come on down and support this week's trunk show artist!

Trunk Show- Georgia Jewels

Dawn Sullivan with Georgia Jewels is our first featured trunk show artist. Already today we sold several pieces of her jewelry! It's no wonder either, with her prices you are sure to find a gift for a teacher, friend, co-worker or yourself! She also has an adorable line of children's jewelry. So please come by and check it out! She'll be featured only through this Saturday, November 10th.

Flea Christmas Part 3

This blue piece was a Valerie find...isn't it fabulous! It really shows off our white glitter houses, bottles with vintage ornaments and capiz shell plates well.
We have a nice collection of mercury glass candlesticks and decorative mercury balls this year. We also have a fun collection of glitter shell ornaments, sand dollar santas, starfish santas, and shell ball ornaments for those wanting a "coastal tree" this year.
Here's a view of our vintage inspired glass ornaments in a wonderful color palette of cool blue, pink, turquoise and silver!
A vintage Christmas would not be complete without a bowl full of vintage glass ornaments. Come sort through our selection for those special additions to your holiday decor.

Flea Christmas Part 2

Here are those beautifully crafted Belsnickle Santas. We have ornaments in these too! These cuties are bendable santas. They are hanging out in the mail bins that are full of letters to Santa that Olivia and Brice made. They'd be great hanging out in your tree, wreath, cabinets, around a doorknob, on a bookshelf....you might actually need more than one!
Here is a sampling of this year's Cody Foster "Backyard Friends" collectable snowmen. They are nestled in with our variety of bottlebrush trees. We've got green with colored balls, white on white, and really pretty green with frost. Priced at $12 and under, you can have a nice assortment to add to your mantel.

Welcome to The Flea Christmas Part 1

Here are those cookie ornaments that look straight from Martha Stewart's kitchen...yummy!
This is our new "kid's" christmas section. Complete with adorable felt animal ornaments and huge glitter dot and striped ball ornaments-best part, they are made of plastic not glass! We also have a line of kids clothing, aprons for Mommy and Me and some super cool jewelry and belt buckles in this section.
Here's a view of the primitive Christmas section. We have plenty of belsnickle Santas, flicker candles and vintage inspired clip ornaments back here.
Here is a mommy apron...don't all husbands wish we'd cook in this fabulous tule dress, strapless no less, and apron. "Honey, the roast duck is ready...."

Getting Ready for the Holidays

The ghosts hadn't even walked the streets when we at the Flea starting making the seasonal changes. With Art Walk early this year, we decided to take advantage of the captive audience and reveal our winter wonderland prior to Main Street's Open House (which is Sunday, November 11th from 12-5PM). Making changes for us is way more than unpacking, pricing and placing. There are vinettes to design and cozy little nooks to create. We want to inspire you throughout our entire store, which we really feel we captured this year! From vintage inspired ornaments, to the cookie ornaments that look fresh from Martha Stewart's kitchen we have a little something for everyone. So come on by soon, because this year our rule was to order a wide range of Christmas merchandise, but only order the minimums. So all we have is on the floor!

These pictures are of the unpacking and pricing process, which by the way took close to 5 full days, all employees working extra hours, and Valerie and I ......well more hours than we want to admit...dreams don't come without a price, but it is so very worth it now as we step into the vision come to life!

Junkin' Days Are Here Again!

So today we had the cool weather in the seat of our pants and an itchin' to replace a few empty spots in the store after Julie's HUGE sale on Tuesday. So we met at the store around 10am, headed to the Redneck for hotpoker biscuits and we were off. I should mention that my van was full of items for the art sale and Albert took Valerie's suburban, so we went junkin' in a little blue BMW convertible. And although we were two hot flea chicks in that car, it really was not the best for the buying we did. Of course, had I confiscated the truck from Billy, we'd have found nothing, Murphy's Law. We really should have taken a picture of the way home with the back seat packed with trunks for the trunk show series, a wooden stand for our door displays and my lap full of wire egg baskets and other fun finds for displays. My lap was so full that Valerie actually had to open the door and remove the pile for me. If we'd happen to hit a speed bump the wrong way, Valerie's knees would have gone through the windshield and my belly would have an egg basket permanent branding! Anyways, be looking for our fabulous new finds amongst the new merchandise we'll be pulling down early next week. Be prepared for a winter holiday escape to arrive at the Flea in the near future!

Shout Out!

We wanted to give a huge shout out to those of you who submitted your hand-made goods for our trunk show series. We had a great response and had a hard time narrowing it down to one featured artist a week! So be on the look-out for more information on this series come November 5th and running up until the week before Christmas. You just might find that something special for that hard to buy for friend or family member. We have everything from jewelry, furniture, children's wares, and stationery coming into the store. We have some seriously talented flea friends!

Handmade at the Flea

We are always looking for new fun things we can make here at the Flea. Valerie found this idea and we got our fingers working! She took about 50 -100% wool sweaters, felted them, and then we cut, sewed and voila! Perfectly picked little flowers for your fall wardrobe! We have about 2 dozen made so far in colors ranging from browns to blues. So be sure to check them out next time you are in the store. They look great on your fall blazers and scarves. Actually they'd also be great little additions to the pillows on your couch or for window drapery tie backs.....the ideas are endless for these pretty little things. The hardest part is finding your favorite! Hey there... this is Valerie and I wanted to add my 2 cents in about the felting process. While washing a load of sweaters (on very high heat), I did a little garage selling in my neighborhood. When I got back, the detergent had fallen onto the floor, knocked down from the super spin cycle, and liquid soap was all over the floor.... 5 gallons to be exact. No problem, since I just started to wash the sweaters... I soaked up the soap with the 20+ sweaters lying on the floor. When the washer was free, I stuck about 5 in there to be washed. Oh heavens FOAM!! My machine looked like a rabid dog with foam oozing out all over the place. It was a sight to see. It took 2 complete days to wash the sweaters (1 at a time with a load of dirty laundry). My apologies to the State of Georgia as I am sure to have contributed to our current water shortage.

Trip To Atlanta Chapter 2

After our Lenox trip and the chocolate fix, we headed for higher sights in the buckheadish area. We stopped at an area we'd both been wanting for awhile, but never had time. Today is the day we've got time! I did forget to mention in chapter 1 that by now we'd called the store and there was no answer at 10:30. Funny, it's Julie day, right? Well, the light then hit my head that this week was her wedding she'd be planning with a lovely bride for almost a year and she'd asked off for the day. No problem I probably said, Valerie and I are here on Tuesdays anyways. Oopsy! Called Ashley, got her to fill in for a few hours. Otherwise, note on the door, "Flea Chick's gone junkin". Sorry if any of you came by!

Anyways, back to the story. We window shopped the first strip of overpriced stores while gulping down McDonald's (no time for real sit-down food!). Walking to Pieces (fab looking shop we spotted in Domino Magazine) we spot a dainty tattered chair in wilted velvet. It wooed us over to a most unusal spot behind two buildings. Downstairs was locked but you could see into some amazing antiques and two sweet black kitties. The hand-written sign on the door said to go upstairs. It was a wrod-iron staircase and a bit spooky to be honest. Valerie even said, "Let's don't go up there". But up we went and boy are we glad. A couple hours later we'd managed to fill the suburban to the brim with treasures you will now find on our store floor, including 2 beautiful blue velvet chairs. Great finds, we'll be back for more!

Field Trip To Atlanta/ Chapter 1

We constantly feel a need to go out and explore what's out there for inspiration, store display ideas and new product ideas. After the 3 day Halloween set-up we had to mentally take a week off and then recharge our batteries with a field trip to Atlanta. Valerie has all sorts of fun places she likes to go, so we set this past Tuesday as our day becuase we have our Julie in the store. Valerie arrives promptly at 9am and we are off! First stop, and the most inspiring part of our day, was to Lenox mall's Anthropolgie. We anxiously stand outside the driftwood doors waiting for the 10am bell to strike all the while taking in their beautiful window displays. Cool thing today, they were atually putting the final touches on the window complete with open paint can on the floor, painters clothes, ladder, the works. Yes, we always wondered when and HOW they do all they do to their stores, because quite honestly they are amazing! And they do it just like us. Cool.

So in we go heading straight for the new ceder wall shaped like a birdhouse with a HUGE rolling track door. Man, are they getting in our heads or what because we'd just talked about wanting one in our store! Of course all the displays are amazingly put together. Just the right amount of this and that/ old and new...inspiring.

So what's up with the picture above you ask? Imagine this in your head for a moment. Valerie and I are determined to get some pics for our idea book, so camera in purse this is how she does it. She has a nice size purse over her left shoulder, arms crossed over her chest and camera tucked nicely between the arm and the purse so no one sees it. She snaps away as she walks. We are giggling...acting as casually as we can. By the way I should mention that we are the only guests in the store with like 10 workers who came up to us no less than 5 times in our 30 minute stay, are they customer friendly or what! So we exit ready to come home and make some new displays taking a look in her viewer to see how we did. We about peed ourselves when we saw the lovely selection of "Valerie's Arm in Anthroplogie Collection" we now have. You think they'd get some hits on Flicker? Anyways, can you tell what she was snapping? If you can, tell us and maybe they'll be a prize!

After that we just had to get a cookie at the cookie stand and off we went to our next stop...........

Check out what's in these glass jars! This is a great way for you to decorate your home with somethings you may already have. Grab those glass apothecary jars you bought from us in the spring and add: candy corn and a few chocolates disguised as eyeballs in one, mini pumpkins and bouncy eyeballs in another and last but not least, a couple of doll heads atop of old fashioned Mary Jane candies! We've got some extra doll heads laying around if you need them!












This great primitive cabinet is full of old amber bottles we found on a junkin' run. Along with our owl collection and a few light up Haunted Houses, it makes a spooky fun display! The skeleton is ready for a party with his fabulous party hat and scarf!

Sneak Peak at Halloween

We worked ourselves crazy for three days straight to create this magical Halloween experience just for you! We hope you will wander in soon and see all the really great products we found for decorating this year. We've got black light-up jack-o-lanterns, a new line of figurines, great flicker candles, pillows, dolls, silhouettes, spooky jewelry, bowl fillers and more! Here are a few pics to get you excited about your visit!



This is a view from the left.....silhouettes fill this area and create a wonderful table scape. The flocked witch in the moon and bats are a mantel must have! The glitter bats and spiders hanging from our ceiling, priced at just $5.00 each can fill your ceiling, front entrance or your porch for a fun trick-or-treater greeting! On the wall behind the table is our new find at the mart. These fun figurines are made of paper clay. Witches, pumpkins, cats, Frankensteins, ghosts and more all have adorable faces and some even bobble too and fro! These are guaranteed to be a fun collection to start.


Here's a view from the right.....Notice the fabulous blue velvet couch (A Valerie find) full of great Halloween inspired pillows. We also have a nice selection of banners for your front door, mantel decorations and some way cool tricks and treats!

"Spirits Tell Us...."

We bought this Ouija Board on our adventure to Nashville, TN months ago. Those of you who've read all our past blogs may remember seeing it in the pile of treasures from that trip! Of course there was always a plan for it to land in our Halloween display!

So board, do you foresee us having a fabulous holiday season? If this week is any indicator, the board is tried and true! Thanks to all of you who stopped by Tuesday night. We had spirits, food and fun for all. The front of the store is definitely a spooky filled grand display!

My Vent

Hey all.. well Jenni writes these things all the time but she wasn't with me on this adventure and I just had to share. So off to Atlanta I go with my Olivia (8) and Brice (5) in tow to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park. What a disappointment. Is it my imagination or was everything from a craft bazaar? I didn't see anything original or inspiring. But no matter- the real reason why we were in Atlanta was to pick up this cool couch that I found on Craigslist. We are putting out our Halloween merchandise next week and I thought this would be great in a display. So off we go to Canton.

When we get to the house....nobody was home. Now let me back up by saying the only communication I had with the seller was that we wanted to purchase the sofa and would pick it up after 5pm on Saturday. She said that would be fine and that she would be home. After about 5 minutes of ringing the doorbell, I left her a note saying that I would take my kids to dinner down the street and for her to call me when she got home. 1 hour later I get a call saying that she sold the couch 4 hours ago at 3pm!!!! A real honest women that one was...

It wouldn't have been so bad if on our way back home both Southbound lanes of Interstate 75 and 85 were shut down due to a bad traffic accident. All of us were rerouted to Interstate 285. 4 hours later the kids and I arrive home. I went up for a sofa but came back with this precious cargo instead.

He won't be for sale in our Halloween display though. :-)

HOLY COW! Grandma, where's that chair of yours?

"The infamous aluminum tube web chairs that society has taken for granted for so long are restored to accentuate their covertly true modern form. A stitched leather silhouette of the once web, new hardwood armrests, and mirror polished frame not only redefines the chair’s physical presence, but also its identity." So it's late, and I'm surfing the web, and just had to share this find. Those underlined words are directly from the website in vivid description of the "lawn chair" above! We had these way cute girls come in to the store today and through conversation, found out one's sister has a website with Lotta's stuff on it. (Lotta is featured in Blueprint magazine this month, you gotta check out her stuff. Love it!) The web shop is called www.greenergrassdesign.com. They offer way fabulous products and ideas for our store. Products and ideas for us to "springboard" off basically. And then I nearly fell to the floor laughing when I saw my Grandmother Adkins' favorite aluminum chair on their site under furniture listed for, are you sitting down? $2500.00!!!!! No lie! They have taken these chairs, used leather for the webbing instead of the scratchy plastic webbing, refinished the arms, and slapped a price of $2500.00 on it, plus shipping of course. So, if your Grandmother still has hers on the back porch, I'd sneak it off if I were you and bring it to Valerie and I, we'll fix it up real nice for you!

Emerging Artist

I think most of our readers know that I (being Jenni) write the blogs, while Valerie writes the website and our "Flea Bite" e-newsletters. That being said, I can take some liberty with my bragging rights when it comes to my best buddy Valerie in this blog entry. Below is a picture of Valerie's art as it now appears in Pearl Arts and Crafts Center on Roswell Road. Yep, our little artist has spread her wings outside the four walls of the Flea with her art! Doesn't it look amazing all together! Makes me so happy to see it there for others to see.


Many of you have admired her art as it has hung in our store for several years now. She has sold several paintings to regular customers as well. Valerie has been painting with encaustic wax, perfecting her technique now for about 3 years. The most inspiring part of her body of work is that she really is a self-taught artist. And although she claims to not call herself an artist, I believe she has amazing talent and a gift when it comes to this art medium! This first venture outside the Flea walls is a stepping stone to more showings for her. I look to the future and see her art donning the walls of many more art enthusiasts in the coming months! I'm so proud of you Valerie!
***Thank you Jenni.. I couldn't have done this without your guidance. My art website is now up and running so please go to www.artbyvaleriedumas.com and tell me what you all think!!

MARTA 101 and other cool tips

If ever there was a Kodak moment for Valerie and I, it was yesterday. So here's the story, no pics I'm so sorry! We set out for a fun day with the children (minus Mailey because, well those who know her probably know why) for a fun day in Atlanta at the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. I'd found a write up for it in Lifestyles and thought, heck let's go! So, here's how it went. It's long and extremely detailed, but I just could not resist. It's a good story, so follow along......

Valerie, Brice and Olivia got the truck from my house sometime while we were Sunday schooling and picked up her finds from the auction Saturday night in Hogansville. She then came to Cornerstone Church to pick up William and I at 12:15. (I've gotta set the tone and TIME for you at this point). We were hungry enough, so we ran through ZAXBY'S to get some good ole' fried chicken and fries(and sauce). We head back to my house to drop the now full truck and get her suburban to take on up to MARTA, because I remember saying, "Let's don't waste time going and unloading it now." Let me preface this next scenario with the fact that Valerie thought that it would be an "adventure" to all ride MARTA to this Grant Park art festival together and not have to worry about finding a place to park. I of course agreed to the adventure and went along for the ride! Timeline check: 12:30 leave Jenni's house; get gas in suburban: 12:35; head to MARTA: 12:45; get to College Park MARTA: 1PM. We are a happy 5 some: 1:05pm. In our heads we'll be there by 2PM ready to join the festivities. This is Valerie, Brice, Olivia, Me and William that is. We get our Breeze tickets and wander down to the depths below to catch the MARTA train. And we wait.......and we wait. It's okay though, we are up for an adventure!

Finally the train arrives and we hop on! We giggle and watch the scenery. William asks why so many buildings have art on them, I say it's "graffiti baby" and don't even think about trying it I think to myself! Olivia and Brice are just as wide-eyed and excited for the day's agenda. We get off at Midtown, the junction for the east/west train and get over quickly for the east train. While waiting, we view a map and decide we should get off at Decatur to get a bus to Grant Park. You see, we sort of thought we knew how to get there. I asked Billy and he said he thought we should get off at King Memorial, Valerie looked and it said bus 31, the map said J7. I'm telling you, we were lost. Finally (20 min+) the east train came and we hopped on. We went to Decatur only to find out from a nice gentleman that we'd actually gone too far and we should have gotten off at King Memorial (like Billy said) and taken the #32 bus to Grant Park. Well *@#%^$%^, we get off, and head back towards a west train. Off course at this time we ALL had to pee (except Valerie because she's a camel, but that's another story). So we ask a MARTA cop for help and a key to the potty. She let us into the potty only to find out that once we went out where the potty was, you had to pay to get back in again (of course this was after we'd crossed the line). But since it was our first offense she said she'd let us back in. By the way did I mention that the next train was running west in 20 min? So pottied, and back in, we found our way back to the westbound train with time to spare. We got back on, got off at King Memorial and then....well did what any white woman in downtown Atlanta with 3 children under the age of 8 would do, asked a gay black man! He said to take, get this, the short bus #32 and it would go straight to Grant Park and it was probably down there right now! So we all ran down three flights of stairs to the street only to find several regular bus riders watching and laughing under their breath at us white women and kids. Not seeing the short bus, Valerie ran back to the nice man who gave us initial instructions and he bee bopped right over, introduced us to the nicest woman in the coolest shades and said, she'll show you what to do. Get on this #32 and it'll take you to the back side of Grant Park. So we waited.......waited.......then it arrived! We hopped on that air conditioned #32 MARTA full of people going who knows where and rode until we were kindly told, this is your stop. The bus driver told us exactly where to be to get picked back up and that it ran every 50min. Have a I mentioned a time...well it's like 3:15PM. But there it is....Grant Park.

First thing we do...get Margaritas! Kids get fabulous Italian Ice Cream and we are off! The atmosphere is fabulous here...live music, white little tents as far as the eye can see... we are set. We putt-putt at the 92.9 tent, view some way cool art, get some great ideas and then.....then we hear the thunder......and then we head for summer shade trees......and then the bottom falls out. We stay under the tree for a bit and then I mean the bottom really falls out! So we all run under an artist's tent and wait until the rain dies down. (5ish) Meanwhile we are all soaked, and giggling because what else is there to do, really. The kids have been so great, never once complained. Finally the rain dies to a sprinkle and we mush on. We find several great art inspirations, especially for our jewelry displays, a great found object artist and then head for the kids art making area. We eat, walk some more and decide with the impending rain beginning to fall more rapidly, perhaps we should head for our bus route. Dippin dots, lovely local brew and another fruity delight in hand we stand at our bus stop for fear of the bus riding right past and not stopping. Did I mention it's RAINING? And we are the only fools at the stop period on a Sunday in the rain without umbrellas? Well, the bus was running nice and on time (of course we had to wait about 20 min), we hopped on, tried to pay...think we did it right and got off at our King Memorial. We bought more MARTA Breeze tickets and waited again...this time playing 20 questions to pass the time. We even gained a few players while waiting. Hopped on the west train, then waited for the south train....then got off at College Park. Down to the suburban where there was no ticket this time on the dashboard and headed for home around 6PMish. Ahhhh good old 85 south. Orange barrels, here we come!

So warning for the MARTA wise.........Sunday they run a single track. What does that mean? That means it takes a heck of a lot longer than it ever should to get somewhere! Grant Park Summer Shade Festival was a real winner and a definite return venue for the Flea Chicks! Next time thought, we'll drive a flea chick truck up there! Wanna come?

PS MARTA ended up costing about $30, so driving would have been cheaper, but no where near the adventure for us and the kids! So no regrets for us!

New to the Flea Decor

Just in time for your fall decorating, we have a new line of "tuscan" inspired landscape paintings, rooster and chicken ceramic figures and dainty topiaries. These items would be a great addition to your kitchen or dining atmosphere. And priced the "flea" way, they won't break your budget either! Valerie also made a series of 6" and 4" marble trivets with roosters you can use as hot trivets, decoration on easels, house warming gifts or for that special hostess. As always, we order in small quantities and don't re-order, so hurry by to pick up one of these great finds.



Got the time? We do! Just check out this wall of clocks. These are light-weight and ready to hang in just about any spot in your home.