Oops!

I apologize in the last post about Boston. I was trying to post the link to website for each of the places we visited, but I'm new to Blogsy and obviously didn't do it correctly. I promise I'll get it right yet.

Here is the corrected link to these lovely places:

Mike's pastry. www.mikespastry.com

Cantina Italiana. www.cantinaitaliana.com

SoWa open Market. www.sowaopenmarket.com

Smiles,

Carol

Boston, make no beans about it...

If you love to mix rich history and architecture with edgy shopping hot spots, Boston has it all. It's a melting pot of diverse villages nestled next to the beautiful ocean shore.
Our first stop had to be Mike's Pastry. It was Mother's Day, so there were so many families out for the day celebrating. There was a long line waiting outside just to get into Mike's. Once you got in, it was wall-to-wall people - no organized line, just loads of people shoulder-to-shoulder, happy to wait for their turn to get to the counter to place their orders. We found out quickly that you should order one of everything. Well...maybe two of the lobster tails. No, it's not seafood! It's simply the most delicious, flaky crust made to resemble a real lobster tail, and filled with a heavenly cream filling. It's absolutely to die for. We ordered lots of goodies to take back (in white cardboard packages tied up with string) as souvenirs and late night munchies for upcoming days.
Next we had a real Italian Mother's Day lunch at Cantina Italiana. Look for these awesome Little Italy neighborhood favorites on Hanover Street.

We spent Sunday morning at the SoWa Market located on Harrison Street in downtown Boston. It boasts a farmers market offering fresh flowers and homegrown fruits and veggies. There is also an artist market, as well as a vintage market, run by a wonderful lady and her boyfriend. In between these markets is a beautifully restored building housing shops for the edgy dresser or the shopper looking for some French designed home goods. We found cool shirts and bought yummy goodies. Oh yes, and our first vintage treasures of the week.

Wow, all of this just on the first Sunday. There's so much more to share.

Stay tuned...up next, we visit Salem.

Smiles,

Carol

Brimfield, Brimfield, Brimfield

What happens when you take four South Texas southern girls to the heart of yankee country? You get days on end of shopping literally from dawn to dusk and loads and loads of fun. We left San Antonio and Austin on a Saturday morning and arrived to gray skies but a sunny disposition. We landed in Boston and couldn't wait to see what Massachusetts had to offer. We planned our trip around the famous Brimfield Flea Market. We discovered there was so much more to see and do. We visited Salem in search of some northeast magic, Boston, to see how a city with so much history can meld together the old with the new, and a day ferried across the ocean to the quaint cottage town of Oak Bluffs in Cape Cod. We packed so much into nine days that I think it's going to take a few posts. We took loads and loads of photos. I can't wait to share it all with you. I hope you stay tuned.

Smiles,

Carol

Oh so dreamy

You've got to make your way over to Jennifer's blog, The Old Painted Cottage. She's is introducing us to Kimberley Fraser of Three Fine Grains newest creations. And Kimberley has so sweetly offered to share one of her bags with one lucky reader on Jennifer's blog. You've only got until Nov 6th., but don't wait, the photos are fabulous.

P.S. I've never done a blog post with a link so I'm not certain how to Link them. Please forgive me.


Smiles,

Carol

To Marburger, to Marburger, to Find a New Friend

I've been going to the Big Show in Texas now for 20 years. I know this because the first time I went my baby girl wasn' t even a year old. She'll be 21 this May. My husband and I took our three little girls along with a red wagon and traveled the junking trail as it was back then. Huge then, or so we thought, nothing compared to the size it is today. Now my daughters are all grown and scattered across Texas, but we meet both weekends to have girl time. We don't always do it up and stay in a hotel... No, we're hard core junkers who sleep in our cars and trucks after partying at Junk Prom so that we can rise early to start shopping again on Friday morning.

I can remember when the Marburger show was just starting out. It was free admission with one tent filled with gravel and talking to the owners about their big plans to expand. It's really amazing what it has become and the diversity of the merchandise available.

I have a story about the queen of lace and grace, Magnolia Pearl. Two years ago, I bought one of her needle point bags at an auction here in San Antonio. It was different from the bags you see her making today. It had a beautiful needlepoint piece sewn on the front. My baby girl was so in love with this bag when I got it home. I took it with me to Warrenton that fall, because I was so proud to finally have a Magnolia Pearl bag. While shopping with my other two daughters at Marburger, Pearl's prince charming, John saw me walking down the aisle, and stopped me. He insisted that Pearl would want to see the bag. I'm thinking that it was kind of silly, because she sees her bags everyday., what made this one any different. I was excited to tell him the story of how I got it at an auction, when he said, oh, they already knew the story. We followed him to their lovely booth and when Pearl saw the bag, she immediately began to cry. We were puzzled. It seems that the estate that I bought the needlepoint bag from was Pearl's aunt's estate and she had made the bag especially for her aunt using a family needlepoint piece. It wasn't supposed to be included in the estate sale at all. They had been searching for the buyer since the auction, hoping the new owner would put it up for sale, but I wasn't selling it, I had wanted a Magnolia Pearl bag for so long, but I knew I really couldn't afford one. Well it was obvious that the bag should be returned to Pearl. I called my daughter who had really loved it and told her the story and we agreed that Pearl should have her bag without question. We made a trade that day for another needlepoint bag that I truly love. I don't always get to the Marburger show, and I hadn't intended to venture into the Magnolia Pearl booth that day, but it was meant to be, that John see the bag and it be returned to it's real home. Sadly, we didn't have the bag long enough to even a get a photo of it before we returned it. We weren't meant to be the owner, merely it's keeper until it was returned to it's true owner. Isn't it funny how things come back to you?

The best part was getting to meet Robin and John and their friends in such a special way.

Thanks Pearl and John for your kindness.

My daughters and I will be in Warrenton and Round Top this Spring and we're counting the days, until then. When you get to Marburger, be sure to stop into the magical Magnolia Pearl space and feel the love that grows there.

Sweet-Tea

Sweet Mira of Belle Blanc shared her charming favorite tea cup with us and has asked us to share our favorite with her. I don't drink out of my favorite little cup. I simply wear it. I started collecting small toy size tea cups some years ago, and one day I decided to put one on a length of ribbon so that I could enjoy it more often. Over the years I have added quite a few more, but I'm partial to the plain little white ironstone style. Enjoy.

Smiles,

Carol

Silver Sunday

It took a mere four years and seven days, but I'm ready to try my hand at blogging again. Princess daughter number three, Shelbi helped me today to save a photo of my Christmas mantel to my computer, (I'm such a computer dummy) so that I could perhaps participate in Silver Sunday. Since it's 2010, I'm ready to hit the ground running and hopefully share my junking adventures right here.
Smiles,

Carol