Summertime is here! About 10 days ago my oldest had his last day of Kindergarten and then the long, hot days of Texas summer officially arrived. We spent one weekend at home and then hopped into our van to head on our first family trip of the summer to Tennessee. I grew up in Memphis and my family is all still there. So off to the home of Elvis, Blues, and BBQ we went.
We did lots of fun things while there, including a visit to the Memphis Zoo. Despite it being REALLY hot, we enjoyed our time, especially getting to see a few animals that they don’t have at our Dallas Zoo.
My oldest, had an amazing encounter with a sea lion. He was standing at the underwater glass viewing area, holding his blue silly straw water cup, and the sea lion became fixated on him! Wherever he went, the sea lion went, and we finally figured out it was the blue cup! If you look closely in the picture below, you can see the sea lion intently focused on that cup.
My son started moving the cup around and the sea lion would twist and jump up in the air . . . it was quite an exciting sight for a 6 year old little boy! It was so exciting in fact that he decided to forego his dream of growing up to be a ninja and become an animal trainer instead.
Probably the highlight of the trip for me though was the good southern pickin’ I was able to do. I had scouted out a few estate sales and was hopeful to find some great deals. Sometimes the area around me here in Texas can get a little stale, I was excited to see what kind of treasures old East Memphis had to offer.
Well, I wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure! The first sale we went to was advertised as a real digging junk sale, so dig we did. They had a shed out back, a storage POD in the driveway, and a house crammed full of boxes and shelves. I started making a big pile outside the shed and added to it about 30 different things, ranging from large mirrors to small oil cans. I was getting a little concerned about the size of my pile and how much I may be spending, so I stopped and asked the gentleman who was on duty outside. With all the stuff I had I was thinking around the $60-75 range, and he said “How about $12” I was floored. “Sold!” I told him in response.
We had a similar experience at our second sale, and found some more great treasures and great prices. I had to make myself stop, because I knew we still had to fit my 3 kids and all our stuff in our van for our trip back to TX! I think I may make a buying trip by myself sometime. Something about the old south, there are just some great treasures there.
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While we were gone, things kept moving along here at my space. I sold both of my Duck Egg Dressers, which was great, but meant I had a big whole to fill back up at my booth. So once we got back into town and I was able to clean up and price everything, I headed up to ACM to do a complete makeover of my space.
I’m featuring a great black iron bed I found recently and a patriotic red,white, and blue theme for the upcoming holiday.
I also redesigned my large shelves with a gold, yellow, and green theme. Several of the vintage mirrors I found in Memphis are displayed there now.
Lastly, I had to find a great spot for this beautiful ironstone soup tureen I found at one of the Memphis sales.
It was hard work, but I’m happy with the finished look of my space and I think my customers will enjoy a fresh shopping experience.
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My last thing to share . . . after redesigning my booth I started working on my next furniture piece. Right now, the stripper and I aren’t getting along–furniture stripper, that is! Here is a teaser, more on its transformation to come.
