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.

Sneak a Peak....

Many of our regular customers have been asking when the big "reveal" of our Halloween merchandise will be. Well, we've set the date and have big plans for a "Ghouly Open House" on Tuesday, September 11th. So be sure to mark your calendars and be checking your e-mails for the official invitation to this special night. You are all in for special treats both for your tummy and your wallet! Here is a little tease of the piles of stuff we will be unpacking and setting out this year. Each box is full of haunting decorations. We have several new lines to introduce to you as well as some handmade goodies! We are very excited about this holiday season.

The Candle Debate

Those of you who have been with us as customers since the beginning know this candle line has been our staple. We've tried a couple other labels, but this has always been a line we carried. This past spring we found Nouvelle candles however. They are the ones in the most fabulous ceramic urn, their smells are most divine. This fall Nouvelle also offered to start putting our logo on the packaging. This opportunity for our own labeled candles at first tickled us pink! Second, it made us think twice about offering other candles in the store. So we put all the candles on sale, even sold the half burned testers and were done, so we thought. We've had SO many requests for Paddywax again that we thought we'd have a bit of fun with it this round. Listed below are some of the 24 scents they sell. If you would, leave a comment for your top two scents. At the end of about 10 days from now, we'll place an order for the top 5 scents. Here they are: eucalyptus, key lime, limoncello, plumeria, rosemary, lavendar, new mown hay, olive tree, chamomile, mango cilantro, blood orange, peony, mission fig, cassis and verbena.

My favorite is New Mown Hay, Valerie's is Olive Tree. We've never had the eucalyptus, but I bet it is a great one, especially on those months when the sniffles come around! It'd be my second choice. Thanks for commenting. I look forward to hearing from you!

Artfully Displayed

We are trying a new look for our windows. I took these during the day with a bit too much sunlight, so they don't show them as well as I'd like. You have to all promise to ride by at night to see the windows all lit up in the evening. Valerie's husband, Albert, came in Monday evening and said he had to take a second look to make sure he had the right store! These are pretty cool looking. I bit of art we think. Hopefully it'll make you want to come on in and feel right at home. The left window is a tribute to back to school, the right one is full of little nesting birds. We talk so much about nesting, we thought it would be appropriate to fill the window with little sparkly birds ready to nest.
As the season changes, I am sure the windows will too, but the heart of the store will always remain the same. From our house to yours, we welcome you. Come stay awhile and be inspired.

Nesting is Done!

Our newest treasures were delivered first thing Monday am while Valerie and I were already in the process of a big "nesting" stage. After two days, our bodies tell us its' time to rest, and the store is beaming with a new look. We can't thank our Julie enough for walking into the craziness and diving right in without hesitation today. She always sees our vision without question! Here is a sneak peak of the re-arranged store. Thanks to all of you who came on by during this period of, well, the best word to use right this moment is a MESS! But through this mess came together a fabulous new look. We hope you see something in a new light that has to make it's way to your home asap! This little area is a little slice of the Bahamas I think. The china cabinet is full of capiz shell plates and soap dishes as well as soap and more shells. The gauzy canopy over the chair gives you the feeling of a cozy night on the beach. Makes me want to curl up and read a great novel by Hemmingway!








This chair is from the 1940's. It has this fabulous men's suit hounds tooth fabric on it. It had a matching sofa, but Sylivia came in within an hour of it being in the store and just had to have it for her craft room!











These adorable dresses have been in for awhile. We think they'd make great fall wardrobe additions. Add a little shrug or sweater hoodie and you are set for chilly nights. The cool thing about these dresses is no one in the Coweta/Fayette area is selling them but us.

Do you see the round table behind the wooden theater seats? This little baby has a beautiful leather top and the bottom, it spins around!

Mart Inspirations

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the mart as promised. This is a past vendor we decided to try again. They have fabulous white pieces we intend to use in our Christmas theme this year. We also love the tiered tables, very Star Provisions. Ironically, the showroom loved Star's so much they had some made just like them! We are now on the hunt for some similar for our displays.

This was a showroom we wandered in just for their displays! This one is a bit hard to see, but the cans are pork-n-beans. The bowls have corn husk liners, dried black eyed peas and spam in the center. Look for us to re-use this idea come father's day!


This is a vendor we really like but have never ordered from. They have fabulous displays however and let us take a picture of this for all our Halloween spooks. Now to just find two matching bookcases! By the way, for those of you itching to know what Halloween jewels we have in store for you this year we are planning a sneak peak preview party for the second week of September. Be sure to get on our Flea Bite newsletter list for this exclusive invitation!

"You Talkin' To Me?....SOLD!

Many of you wander into our store on a regular basis and always comment about the constant changes we make to the store layout. We do this for several reasons... for practical reasons we rearrange so you see something you may have missed last time around and most importantly we get restless and bored with the store staying the same all the time! We do buy new merchandise all the time. From where is always the fun of owning a business like ours. We dive into every antique mall, junk store and Goodwill we can find. We also buy from the mart in small quantities of products we'd love to have in our own homes. Keep in mind when you see these products, that if you fall in love with it, you should buy it then, because it might be a one-of-a-kind find and we don't reorder on mart items. All this to tell you the best part of owning a store lately has been the fun we've had at the auction house. This past Saturday night there was a local auction we were hesitant on attending for this and that reasons. So Mailey, Mom and I headed down to preview it to see if it was worth our attending. Five minutes into the preview I called Valerie (who was at a jewelry making class, can't wait for you guys to see her newest talent!) and said, hurry back, we gotta buy! This auction is run by a really fun family and last night was the brother/sister team all night on the podium. We've been at this auction before for up to 7 hours waiting for our last item to be placed up for bid. Last night there were some real treasures, and during the biding, he was cracking us up with this line "You talkin' to me?" to get bidders into the game. They appeared to be a bit short handed with spotters, and were packed with bidders, so this line came out of his mouth at least a million times. Valerie made a quick video for you to listen in case you've never attended an auction.

Click To Play

It is LOUD, fast paced, and really fun. We lost out on a bunch of stuff we really wanted, but knew our customer and jumped ship before prices got out of hand. Before we knew it though, we'd racked up about $1000 worth of treasures and our ears ringing from the auctioning team of the night. We headed home about 10PM talking the whole way home about where we'd place this and that. So, if you want first dibs on our newest truck load, it should be delivered tomorrow by early afternoon! My favorite personal buy was a piece of pottery, Valerie's were these cool prints of dogs in orange and black posted up top. Hope to see you in the store real soon!

Great Piece!

Valerie is the best treasure hunter I know. She spends countless hours on the computer searching for new products, traveling the highways from north Atlanta to Alabama for perfect finds (always with her sweet kids in tow mind you), or her new favorite stop, the auction house. She is always on the go, and usually quite successful in her quests. This is a great new piece in our kitchen area of the store she found. We set it up as a possible kitchen work island, but it would be great in a sewing room, craft room, kid's desk or other fun place. It is just the right right for stools. It is stainless steel all over so it's light, but sturdy. It'd be great to add casters to it! Priced at just $175.00 it is sure to not be in our store for long!

Nesting Time Again!

It's that time of year again. The children head off to school and you are left with days free to.. well, what do you do now? We say run on down to the Flea and check our new wares, or browse for some inspiration. I am sure there are several projects on your list of things to do that didn't get accomplished this summer. We sure do! What home is not complete without a beautiful nest. We have a fresh batch of quail eggs to go along with them too!


So come on down and nest with us. With our kids all in school now, (Brice and Mailey are both in Kindergarden now!) you are sure to see our creative juices flowing as we ready the store for fall inspirations!

The "Flea Bite"

We had our monthly LNO last night. It was a great group of ladies eager to craft their night away. We had a house full again which always makes it more exciting for Valerie and I (and challenging to come up with fabulous new projects!). This month we made fabric covered button bracelets and hair bobbles. Every one's turned out wonderful. Afterwards a group of us wandered down to Andre's off the Square for a dessert and drink. Come to find out the sweet bartender, Heather, has named a martini after we Flea Chicks called the "Flea Bite". How flattering! It has a yummy taste, with a bit of a bite of course. It is layered with vodka, something green and minty and then grenadine. The perfect combination! So next time you're downtown wanting a treat, we recommend the "flea bite" and this sinly dessert called chocolate melt cake.

Off to Market!

So Valerie and I are off at Market this week. We always get so giddy at Market. We get SOOOOOO inspired by all the new products out there and can't wait to share with our customers. (Don't be surprised if you see a new look in the store after these trips away!) We went yesterday and made some fabulous purchases to add to our everyday wares and of course a few additions to our Halloween brew and Christmas tinsels. We also met the owner of our Nouvelle candle line Brett. Valerie has the picture on her camera, so I'll post it soon. He was super nice. It is really neat to see the real people behind the product. It makes the BIG mart seem a bit more personal when the owner is in! Valerie took lots of good pictures for those of you who've never been to market, we will post a few for you to see the "magic/mystery" of this phenomenon. We head tomorrow for the temporaries. There is a floor called "High Design" we like to sip and see. We see only because the ticket makes us want to sip some more! We want to keep our customer happy with reasonable items, not scare you away! But, we have to admit the booths always inspire something. From a new Ladies Night Out idea, to an inspiration for a painting we are working on, it is worth it to stroll the floor.

Flemonaide! and other Fun Stuff

Here we are on Market Day this past Saturday. Pictured on the far left are: Mailey (5), Brice (5), William (7) and Olivia (8). The right picture is Me (styling a new do for those that haven't seen me lately), Mailey and Olivia in our matching Funktion aprons. The flea babies set up a lemonade/homemade chocolate chip cookie/homemade ice cream stand for Market Day. They did a fabulous job of selling their wares. The Mommy fleas have rubbed off on them! We thank each of you who bought goodies from our children. Olivia is saving for a new bike, William for a set of gold clubs. The babies, well, they just want quarters for the next prize machine! If you missed this past Saturday, then be sure to mark the next first Saturday on your calendar. The square was HOPPING! It was so much fun to walk around the courthouse and see all the local crafters, farmers and goody makers selling. What a fabulous outlet for them. We didn't do too shabby in the Flea either!

Trip To France

Today was our first art trip here at the Flea. I've always held art camps in the summer, but this year decided to try one day a week instead of week-long adventures. Well, this was soooo much fun! I had 19 artists and one fabulous helper. You'd have never known there were that many budding artists in the studio though because they were so busy working on sunflower paintings, watercolor landscapes, clay kitties, and a mixed media Eiffel Tower project. It was truly a fun trip to France in 4.5 hours! Can't beat that. I hope to see more young artists on the Thursdays to come. Be sure to call and sign-up though, already we are filling up! Pictured above is the class with their sunflower fields and Clara and Grace sporting their French mustaches!

Summer Fun

Summer Fun to me means lazy mornings, afternoons at the pool and late nights in the backyard swinging. School has been out only a few days and already we've gotten into this new swing of things. So don't be surprised to see us all a bit sun kissed around the flea.

Don't forget to add to your summer fun list art classes offered here at the Flea. Every Thursday from 9:30-2PM I'll be introducing art from a different country. We'll be looking at artists who influenced their area and the techniques they used. We'll be getting our hands dirty with paint, scratch art, markers, model magic, oil pastels and more! Space is limited and some are already full, so don't forget to call ahead for reservations!

Workshop Fun and Movie Stars

So Valerie and I headed to Atlanta for a four day workshop on Encaustic Painting this past weekend. Valerie has been using this wonderful technique for about 2 years now, I am sure you've seen her beautiful work hanging in our store. When an R&F Paints workshop became available for our area she asked if I wanted to come along and I said heck yea! The four days were a great experience for me because I am always up for a new art medium to explore. The first day there I walked in a bit late because it was the last day of school and my little William had his awards ceremony. So I walked in as we were doing introductions. The gentleman between Valerie and Gina (our fabulous instructor) is Linden Ashby, one of our classmates. After he said his name and that he'd recently moved here we moved on to the next person, Ann Berry from NEWNAN, then Lauren from Tyrone one of our regular customers. Small world, isn't it? So back to Linden, I knew I knew him. I even asked if he was from Newnan, or perhaps went to Auburn. Then Valerie chimed in with the "You just moved from LA, right?" "Are you an actor?" Well, yes he is. So giddy as girls at a Rick Springfield concert, I was able to get this photo of our nice classmate with Valerie and Gina. In the other picture is Jena a retired art educator and Layton Chavis. Layton is the nicest man who is about to move to North Carolina to go back to school for a masters in art! Man, I gotta give him a thumbs up for this. Valerie and I made a bunch of new art we can't wait to share. So be looking on the walls soon!

Super Sponges and things like that

As most of you know, Valerie and I are Jack , or rather Jill's, of many trades. We dabble in painting, sewing, jewelry making, decoupage, collage, this and that and then some. One of our favorite little jewels to make are the fused glass pendants. This past Friday Valerie decided on her day off to come in while Brice was at school, and together we would make some for us to sell. You see, we say this kind of thing often. We hired Julie for Tuesday's so we could "make things to sell" and Mary for Thursday's so we could "make things to sell". Well, "making things to sell" doesn't happen too often because we get started rearranging, or Valerie gets in her hidey hole on the computer and press, or I have to do art studio recovery, or things just happen and the next thing you know it's time for us to leave. But this Friday was set, I cleaned the glass studio Thursday, got Lily and myself to the store about 9:15ish and then the routine started. Here's me, "Hey Valerie, Lily and I are going to walk to Espresso Lane because I had no cream or sugar for my coffee this morning and it is WAY past coffee time, wanna come?" and Valerie says, "Sure". So we three strut on down to Espresso Lane and I pick up my tummy warming and brain starting coffee and..... well I can't remember what Valerie got actually. Then Valerie says, "The Half Shell has great cookies that would be really yummy with these beverages". And I say, "Let's go." So the three of us set out again on a beautiful day around our quaint square. Cookies, coffee, Lily, Valerie and I then finally make our way back to TVF for a morning of creating. But first, I have to get junk outside, not real junk, but items to entice you, our customers, to come in through the doors of our amazing store. Oh, and Valerie wants to pull up a website for inspiration, but the computer is soooooooooooo slow (We need a new one but opt for more merchandise instead). Oh, and did you make a deposit? and what about e-mails?, you checked for any messages? man I need to check the belt buckles from last night upstairs...... Don't let Lily out! etc....etc....etc.... So I imagine around 10:30ish we finally get into the glass mode of thinking. That's when we decided to get out the glass grinder that had been sitting under a table in the back for 8 months or so to use for our morning of "making things to sell". Okay, I am right brained, Valerie is right-brained, and Lily, well she walks on her hands! As I think back I am giggling a bit at us putting this *@X@?X thing together. The pics I've attached up top are of the "SUPER SPONGE", man would Spongbob be proud! This thing cracked me up, I just had to have a before and after photo with it. After much ado, we finally got the glass grinder thing together and started our creative process when Fused Friday friends came in. We love these girls, so Valerie did a demo and got them started because in the meantime, my Mother had appeared for a portrait drawing 101 lesson to do with her kids at Heritage for a t-shirt design for a program yaddy, yaddy, yadda. Next thing I know Valerie is running out the door saying, "Gotta get Brice" Already 11:30? 10 minutes later she comes in saying gotta go, not a good day to bring little man in to the store. I take a deep breath and do a bit of a pout because our morning of "making things to sell" has once again been a futile attempt. Good news is though, I got amazingly busy and didn't have time to pout long! Man I love my job!

Tour du Georgia?

Okay, so today was a big day for Newnan. The Tour du Georgia bike race came riding through town right in front of our store. Yep. And they did it while Valerie and I were in the store so we missed it. We'd given up on their impending arrival and had just gone back in to....well.....work of course! We had some fun waiting with these GIANT hands though. This is Julie, me and Valerie out front waving and Valerie and I giving some serious high-fives. You betcha these will be re purposed in our store somewhere. And I am sure if you ask Valerie, she'd sell it to you. I am thinking about borrowing one for tonight first though. tisk...tisk....

Growing Fleas

Lily is growing like crazy, especially in the belly!Man I wish I could lay around like she does some days, especially on these long spring afternoons! As your spring fever hits and you go ninety to nothing like Valerie and I do getting your house clean, the flowers planted and the pollen off the cars, be sure to stop in to say hello and check out our new finds. We just had a truck delivered from an auction so we have tons of new furniture for sale!

OOOO... I almost forgot to mention our spring cleaning sale in the art studio this Thursday through Saturday. If you missed out on this one in the fall, you'll not want to miss now! Up to 75% off Easter, Christmas, Halloween, store fixtures, and just junk!

THE SCREAM!

As I was being rolled down the driveway to get the van positioned better for being jumped off, Valerie took this picture and said this has got to go on the blog, you look like Edvard Munch's Scream! There are a few similarities, don't you agree? The situation definitely suited a scream!

Beach Babies

I just have to show off a few of our favorite pictures of our baby fleas. Aren't they the cutest kids ever? On the left is William (7), Brice (5) and Olivia (8). The girls above are Mailey (5) and Olivia again. Mailey and William are my fleas, Brice and Olivia Valerie's.

I have to say this really was a great week for all of us. The weather was fabulous, great for shell searching and football throwing! The pools were heated which made for a nice afternoon activity. We also filled our time with games, movies and naps! Our favorite night activity had to be the Seaside Artwalk. There we meet some great shop owners, found some inspirational ideas, and the kids danced under the moonlight on the promenade. I imagine we will do this again next year!

Jinxed!

Hey Ya'll! Yep, you guessed it. We are the traveling flea road circus! If you've read my old blogs, you would know that road trouble seems to love us. So here's the latest story. I'd have let you known earlier in the week this silly saga, but we had no internet access. Talking about feeling like the dark ages!

Let me preface this story with the real beginning of the road trouble. We headed out of town Monday morning with the kids and cars loaded for a week of sun and fun. We both packed and decided to meet at the store for the journey to begin. Sunday night while packing my husband had COPS on. They of course had a lovely woman pulled over for speeding who just happened to have a warrant out for her arrest. That is when it hit me that I had a pile of parking tickets from downtown Newnan (where the meter maid is relentless!) in my glove compartment. Guess what, if you don't pay those $25 pain in the -----s they put out a warrant for your arrest. So needless to say, we made a little trip to the police station on the way out of town to pay my 5. I had high hopes that this would ward off any pending road trouble later in the trip. Boy was I wrong!

We arrive Monday afternoon with no trouble, and quite a pleasant ride too I might add. Valerie had the boys, I the girls. It took about 7 hours with several junkin' stops, several potty stops and several junk food stops, but we made it safe and sound into the dreamy beach village of Carillon. We unloaded, dressed for the pool and swam until way past bedtime. As we settled in for the night, there was prediction of rain, so I ran out and rolled up the windows to my van parked in front of Valerie's Suburban. We spent the next day at the beach and pool all day. I guess it was late that afternoon that Mailey was looking for the mermaid Barbie I thought might be in the van. That's when I discovered it locked, and moments later discovered that the keys were yes, in the ignition. Not worried because we had the suburban, I walked up to the guard house and asked if the police could be called for a jimmy. Informed very politely that they do not do this, I was given Dana's locksmith #. After a call in to her I decided that calling Billy to mail the spare would be cheaper. Only problem, no key for the mailbox. UPS! So, he located the extra key and placed it in the hands of our dear brown service. I received the keys on Thursday morning and placed them in my purse. Happy that the $6.00 was very well spent and we could get home. That afternoon we were headed to Seaside and all hopped into the van only to find that yes, you guessed it, it was dead. So, I won't bore you with many details, because the pictures tell it all above. We had to get the cuttey pattootees from two doors down to help roll the van down the drive and then jump it off. I parked it carefully front facing this time and sent the boys on back to Atlanta! We ended up having to leave it connected to the suburban for a long bit Saturday morning prior to our long trip home. Luckily, it made the whole trip home without a hitch!

Much Needed Vacation

The Flea Chicks and their baby fleas are headed to the beach for some much needed R&R. We are taking 2 cars full of stuff (everything but the kitchen sink as they say!), tons of sunscreen, no husbands (or a babysitter) and our fingers crossed for happy weather! I am sure I will have more adventures of car tragedies once I return. That's why we are taking two cars, so we have a back-up if one doesn't make it! We hope for a hidden junkin' treasure mart along the way too. Our kids are turning into flea market junkies by default, and hopes that they too will find a treasure! We hope you and your family have a fabulous Spring Break. See you soon!

New Kid on the Block

There's a new kid-o or two on Greenville Street this week! This is our buddy Michele with her baby pug, Ally. She works down at Boulignini. Lily was a bit jealous because Michele usually comes to get her and love on her! She kept trying to get Michele to put down Ally to hold her! She's not so sure of her new neighbor. Look how HUGE she looks compared!

Donna with Interior Repeats is keeping her grand-puppy this week. She is the cutest little Toto dog. Come to find out Martha Ann with Panopoly often brings her large puppy to work and Beard and Company has "Bear" their large lab puppy laying around their store too!

By the way, Lily made a bee-line for the great outdoors on my dear friend Lisa yesterday when she came for a shopping visit, so I am not sure the status of her position as cute store dog right now. She may have to hang with the four cats at home more often!

Hop on Over

Hop on over for a fun selection of Easter decorations. These cutie-patooties are made of papier mache. I think they're cute enough to sit out all Spring! We also have chocolate bunnies, mini-ornaments, mini feather trees, vintage inspired foil eggs and baskets and more!

Georgia Bound!

It's Saturday and we are headed home! So far we have to make one stop on the way back for pick-ups and miscellaneous stops for more exploring. This is one of the happy places we actually passed, drove down an exit and came back to. This spot may be our new little secret! Pictured here is one of the sheds on the property. It was extremely windy this day and over my head you can see what I think are boat anchors dangling from the ceiling. Every time the wind would blow these daggers Valerie and I would squeal and run into a bay! I am holding Mary for protection! Some prizes from here were two old hand trucks, a bucket of white dishes and The Portrait of Mary. In another bay I found some killer red cowboy boots ($5.00), a cart for art supplies ($15.00) a tripod for a future lamp ($15.00) and a few old pulleys for my growing collection. Like I said, this may be the new spot! We were a site for sore eyes on the way home in the truck. The truck bed was full, extended cab full, my floorboard and between our seats overflowing! We almost left our suitcases so we could get more stuff! If you look around the store you will see all the cool finds. Can't wait to share them with you!

We also found the HUGE balls of yarn we have on display in the store now here. We saw balls of yarn at Heart of Country for up to $200.00. I am embarrassed to tell you what we paid here! Who knows, maybe we'll take a field trip up here soon and take you guys with us! We definitely plan on returning. I dropped Valerie off around 6PM and headed home to make a quick change, grab my hubby and head to a cocktail attire casino night with the Junior League. Valerie was in buying mode and headed to the auction in Hogansville. I think Sunday we both crashed after meeting to unload the truck. It was quite an adventure in Tennessee! So where to next? We are taking all the kids to the beach for Spring Break. I think we'll take the suburban and the truck, just in case!

Main Street Franklin

After viewing the Tailgate show, we decided to spend our afternoon in Franklin,TN. I had visited there once a few years back to visit Amy Hill and remembered it being a quaint little historic area alot like Newnan. Well, just like Newnan has expanded in the past 5 years, so has Franklin! We pull into the downtown area and are immediately drawn to the entire look of their historic area. The sidewalks, street posts, landscaping and lights look alot like Newnan's. The main difference was the how the streets radiated off a round-about, not a courthouse. The round-about appeared to have more of the non-retail businesses and the long streets had the retail stores. We were excited at the number of adorable retail stores they had! The other detail we immediately noticed was the parking signs (See picture above). Those of you who have visited us and received a ticket know why we put this here. We walked in and out of a wide variety of stores. Our favorite had to be The Iron Gate. After a yummy lunch and some more shopping we headed to another antique area. By the way, 3-hours was enough time to shop and eat! A few cool finds and hours later, we were lead to The Factory. Man, if Newnan had one of these, we'd be drawing people to our community from all over. This place had retail, banquet halls, dance studios, karate studio, artists working studios, antique mall, restaurants and more! It was awesome! We headed back to our hotel with a notebook full of ideas and inspirations!

Tailgating without the Beer

On Friday morning we woke early with anticipation of the day's adventure. We were off to a great start at breakfast having been given a free pass by an older couple to attend the days' tailgate. In the south, tailgating usually encompassed a buffet of food, a chair and a cooler full of beer prior to an SEC football game on a fall Saturday. Having attended Auburn University, I attended a few as a student and too many to count as a devoted alumni. We had been told stories of the tailgate show and had in our minds what this adventure would entail. This tailgate included with the price of admission a yummy doughnut and a warm cup of coffee. It also promised hours off looking and dealing with some great people from across the USA! Above is the picture of it so you get a better idea. Basically vendors from all over the world rent these hotel rooms on the first and second floors. They completely convert the rooms into mini stores. They also use the parking lot, railings, patios, you name it, they cover it. The tailgate lasted from Wednesday to Sunday I believe. We piled up with Dad in his truck and arrived with much anticipation. From the looks of it, we thought we'd died and gone to a huge Lakewood heaven! We started walking around and found the prices much too high for our customer back home. The vendors had some fabulous finds, but like I said, for you guys we want to find great deals, and there where none here to be found. After a couple hours of looking, gasping and finding a few favorites, we decided to go a different route for the rest of our day. After catching up with the rest of our gang, who had more mature pocket books, we mentioned heading to Historic Franklin for the afternoon. They mentioned some great malls along the way and other spots to hit and we were off!

Star Struck in Nashville

Valerie and I enjoy a road trip. Sometimes we've been known to take a road trip so far, we've actually flown to get there. (New York, Portland,...next...) It's what gives us that recharging we need to make our store fresh and new. When we can't go for a long trip, we head to Anthropology for inspirations. We all have our muses, and we flea chicks know that a good road trip is the ultimate muse of all. So off we went in the truck with stars in our eyes for Nashville.

Heading to Nashville seemed a bit out of character for us both. Neither of us are country music fans, or particularly interested in the Grand Ole Opry. I'll admit when I saw the billboard size Gibson guitar all lit up like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I got a bit giddy. So why Nashville? Well, this where the Heart of Country antique show is held every year in the most fabulous hotel, The Opryland Hotel. My Dad and his wife were attending and wanted us to come up to the premier show with them to check it out. Dad had warned me early that it was pricey, but a great experience and well worth the trip.

So, we get all dolled up me in a black silk shirt and boots, Valerie in her prarie skirt, mustard blazer and boots (both pairs of boots were Lakewood finds by the way!) and head over to this gorgeous hotel for the premier night of the show. It was as Dad had mentioned, pricey, but well worth the hours spent walking and touring the beautifully displayed booths of mostly Americana antiques. We saw some fabulous ideas, which we of course wrote in our handy dandy notebooks to bring back and reuse in our store. The food, music and drinks were a delight and added to the evening's ambiance.

Now Valerie and I were creatures of habit at Lakewood. We'd check our favorite vendors, hit the donuts, tour some more booths, then hit the margaritas at the Firehouse. So, it seemed only natural that we would choose this route, only in finer clothes and fancier booths having a margarita in our hand. While stopping to sip our beverages and nibble on some treats, Valerie exclaimed, "That's Mary Emmerling over there at the Country Home booth. She's signing her new book, Crosses." "What, nooooooo. Really.....Oh should we go......." I exclaim. Sure enough, we walked over and this way cool dressed blond was Mary, Creative Director of Country Home magazine AND author of only about 20 books on decorating and such. So like two teenage girls in Hollywood we asked if we could get a picture with her please. She was dear, so approachable and nice. We told her a bit about ourselves and she immediately grabbed her friend from Roswell and introduced us. We gave the friend our card and said please come see us. Somehow, in our conversation we also mentioned having had a margarita. Mary was like, "What, they have those here?" See, we asked because they had a full bar and we didn't want wine or champagne, and like I said the ritual thing... We said our goodbyes and hugs and walked away grinning so big you could have used our toothy smiles as piano keys! As we walked away on cloud nine at our encounter with fame, we looked at each other and as though reading each other's minds said, let's buy Mary a margarita and give her our card. So we did, and she was thrilled. She even put our card in her, well let's just say a safe place! We left the show full of great ideas and stars in our eyes.

Nashville surprised us, and it will forever be the place we met..............Mary Emmerling. She's not Shania, or that American Idol girl that beat that other country girl at the CMA Awards, or Dolly, but to us, she is a star amongst stars in the Nashville sky!

Trucker Fleas

I am a planner, list maker, and pretty organized person. As a mother, wife and business owner, I have to have these skills to survive my daily routines. So in my planning for our trip to Nashville I of course printed the directions from Newnan to our hotel using Mapquest. I glanced them over and then laid them on the computer table. I did this Tuesday night by the way, and we didn't leave until Thursday. I of course had a vision of these directions still by the computer as we hit I-75 and was asking Valerie where to next. The Mapquest was not in the bag of car supplies. Man, never fails I forget something!

Being an Alabama girl, my glove compartment is full of maps from this lovely state, all from the early 90's, but hey, how much has actually changed since then? So we pull off at an exit to a HUGE truck stop. I mean it was like walking into the ultimate male mall. Cracked me up all the stuff they had for sale. We picked out our map ($6.00!!) and some gum. The rain wasn't upon us yet, but it sure was windy. We hop back in the truck and set our sites out for an antique mall surely within miles now. We are itching to find the junkers heaven, the new spot for our favorite finds. Valerie reaches down in the bag for the map and says to me, "Did you put smokes on the counter for us? Menthol at that?" Now, we both love a freebie, but the smokes put us in stitches for a good bit of our journey north! Look around our store, you might find how we have re- purposed this little green box into a riser, but just in case you were wondering, it's not for sale.

We came upon our first mall stop about 1 1/2 hours north of Newnan. We dropped a small penny in there, waited out the rain as long as we could and mushed on. Our favorite find there was a white Hoosier cabinet which now holds our Paddywax line and an authentic OUIJA board game! Look for this find in our Halloween display! By this time the weather was really bad. Enterprise, AL we heard had been ripped by the tornadoes. So Valerie took over the wheel and moved us northward. Our stomachs were telling us it was lunchtime, so at the next antique mall exit we stopped at another HUGE truck stop. The truck stop made us some super grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, which I have totally got Valerie hooked on.

The next mall had an assortment of junk to sift through, but not nearly as nice as the last. We did manage to find some beautiful butterflies in glass shadow boxes and some other little treasures. We were getting anxious on time and my Dad, who was in Nashville waiting for us was getting worried about the pending weather, so we headed straight into Nashville after this stop. Our ultimate goal was to get to the famous Heart of Country Antique Show. Well, we did just that.......

Oh, and in case you were wondering if any of the stops were the new mecca, the new Lakewood for us junkin' fleas, well you will just have to wait and see!

And We're Off Again!

So here come some journals on our trip to Nashville last weekend. I wish I had more pics of the road trip, because the time in the truck is usually the most special, treasured adventures you'd ever read about. In fact, I should preface this entire trip with a recap our our road trip escapades since first establishing our friendship and business. These memories will forever be in our book as "the best of times, the worst of times". Unfortunately they all happened before the blogging journals, and I never had my camera on me! So I'll be brief in my synopsis of them. I should also mention that during some of the most scary of these vehicular adventures we should have acted like women in distress, but being women of independent minds, spirit, and determined not to miss out on a shopping venture, overcame our mishaps and usually came out with side stitches from the laughs!

In the past two years we have blown a tire in the suburban on I-85 on our way to Lakewood with neither phone charged and time a ticking before picking up the babies. We've locked the keys in the suburban at the Americasmart parking garage. The best story ever is when we left our car in a lot outside the Americasmart, paid the gentleman taking money and came back HOURS later to find the van stolen. Not really, but it sounds better than towed to a parking lot in gettoville Atlanta because we were scammed. Next time you see us, ask about the whole story. I don't want to go there right now! We've taken the scenic route far to many times to mention (aka got lost). I know the suburban ran out of gas with us and the four kids in it, probably ran out in the truck too. With Valerie's 2 kids and her best bud Helen along we had major key ignition issues with the truck in the parking lot of My Favorite Place on Peachtree Ind (another not so nice area). I think it was about 5 hours later and a mechanic off duty that saved us then! Oh, I should also mention that while purchasing a new part for my truck we ran out of gas in the mechanic's suburban we had borrowed, really. I am sure I am forgetting one or two, but you get the idea. Pictured above is Valerie in the driver's seat of my truck. It was raining like crazy the day we left, and I hate driving in the rain. But not to miss out on a thing from Newnan to Nashville Valerie gladly drove us onward!

Sally's Here

Most of you who frequent our store knew we headed for a fabulous art making trip in October. We headed as far east as we could to still be a part of the good old USA in Portland, Oregon. There we took workshops from several artists,Sally Jean being our favorite! We learned to create fun collages that you place between little pieces of glass and then soulder to make perfect little gems for you to wear. We returned from our trip ready to go. We were going to make, make, make. And we tried, tried, tried, and just can't seem to get the souldering thing down like she can. So, come on by the store and check out our faaaabulous new line of Sally Jean charms, made by the queen of Pretty Little Things. We've got a fairy for everyone, from the Real Estate Fairy to the Pop Tart Fairy, I am sure there is one just for you!

You Silly Girls!

So this time, we tried out the "play" part at my son William's 7th birthday. We had a Spy themed party complete with fake mustaches and these way cool glasses! Okay, so we maybe don't have such a hard time with the play part of our day! We Flea Chicks work very hard, but we also know how to have a fun time with family and friends. If you stop by the store to find both of us there we are usually pretty silly and easy going. We have the best life, we love our job, are best buddies and have families that still love us despite our hours of work!

All Work and No Play....

You all know the cliche, "All work and no play makes for a very boring day". Or at least something like that. Well, here we are at Valerie's daughter Olivia's 8th birthday having a bit of play! I was a jumping fool at Pump It Up! that night. Valerie said one parent came in and asked, "Who is that adult in the jumping ring?" If you haven't tried it yet, next time your child has a party at one of these big blow up slide and jump houses, TRY IT! Kick off your shoes and jump right in. Be the cool Mom and have a little fun. We sure did! Needless to say I slept very well that Friday night!

PS Watch out for bum burn on the slide, I'd use a mat!

Ultimate Shell Collage

If you've been by the store lately you will notice a front window full of the most gorgeous shells the ocean can produce. Valerie decided about a year ago that this would be a cool thing for us to sell. I have my own shell collection from diving and beach combing over the years, so the thought of buying a shell seemed a bit silly and not as meaningful. Well, low and behold shells are now the decorating item in all the magazines. I can't flip though a magazine now without seeing some sort of starfish or shell featured! So the shells are a permanent fixture of our fun store now. Not to mention they really make a nice display. I might actually buy my first one, a 23 legged starfish.

The photo you see here was taken in Orlando at this dive of a shell shack cleverly called "Shell World". The artist who glued every shell onto this Volkswagon bug also attacked a golf cart and golf clubs. I thought it was so cool looking! Look for some big shots of these when you come into the flea. I don't think this will be a Ladies Night out project anytime soon, but those of you with a glue gun and too much time on your hands go for it!

Holiday Traditons

If you haven't been by the Flea lately, then you probably don't know how into the Spirit of Christmas we are! From Cody Foster collectable vintage inspired glitter houses, Wendy Addison's glittery star collection, chenille snowmen and santas, and of course a Christmas scent or two, we have anything you could imagine to help inspire your holiday decorating! If you've read my previous Blog, then you know how we like to nest at the Flea. Getting ready for this holiday season has been a huge nesting extravaganza for us! Nothing is where it was. Have you seen the hammer by the way..................... ??

With each year that passes I always wish for the season to slow down so I can enjoy it more. I love this time of year with the crisp air, the warm hearts and the hustle of customers in the store. Please don't forget to come by and share our Christmas nest. MERRY CHRISTMAS!