A Saturday in old town Fredericksburg

Art First Gallery on Caroline St.

 I was sitting in the Art First Gallery on Saturday really wishing I could go for a walk about town. Old Town Fredericksburg is about 15 minutes from where I live and I end up here quite often.

The historic buildings and their charm had me hooked the first time I came here.

The boutiques, restaurants and antique stores lure me here enough but when I can't spare the time I love looking at the details of the old buildings.

Fredericksburg sits to the south of the Rappahannock river and many of these gorgeous homes sit on a small bluff overlooking the river. Kind of my dream house!

Kenmore

George Washington grew up across the river and his sister Betty, lived here at Kenmore plantation, which is really in the middle of downtown at this point.

I have yet to visit Kenmore or the other Washington homes here.

I have visited a few other Fredericksburg institutions like Goolrick's pharmacy. Its a total throwback with a lunch counter and soda fountain. I think they actually fill prescriptions too.

Everyone goes to Carl's ice cream in the summertime. Its a standard for first dates.

I love living here.

Do you live somewhere awesome too?

What I wore...

Last night was "First Friday" here in Fredericksburg. It is a night that all of the art galleries host an opening reception for their monthly shows. 

The painting above is one of the pieces I chose to show this month. Several people commented on my outfit's close resemblance to the colors in  my artwork.

This is what I wore.

I wore this Lilly Pulitzer Nina dress that I treated myself to for my birthday.

I carried my new Kate Spade Christy bag too.

It must be serendipity that there is the cutest boutique, Monkees, just across Caroline Street from the Art First Gallery where I am showing my work. I bought the dress and handbag there.

Could be a dangerous combination!

Monday must haves

I really want a modern (vintage or not) credenza/sideboard/dresser for my TV room.

I saw the perfect one for $175 on my local Craigslist and it was gone in hours. This one above is $595 and its been up for weeks.

I don't think that is a crazy price I just know I can get it for much less with patience.

Here are a few others I like.

This one is from the Conran collection now at JcPenney. Its on sale for $765.

I am still really mad at JCP for debuting the JA Happy Chic collection and having only a construction zone in my local store. It just reinforces my belief that  Fredericksburg is a dowdy, provincial place. My husband and I have a running argument about that. I am right but that is another post.

This credenza from the Jonathan Adler collection is on sale for $715 but the lone review is by a disgruntled customer that was not expecting "put it together" furniture. I don't blame her. The regular price is nearly $1200.

I have a feeling that my patience will be rewarded.

Do you patiently wait for deals?

Odds and ends

The crooked tie and lack of tassel say a lot about the chaos of this last week leading up to graduation. It was a doozy. I was a little sick and my mother was visiting on top of all of my normal busy-ness.

Today the girls are at school and one boy moved out and the other is away for the week. The silence is awesome.

I have had little time for painting and the two canvases that I was working on seem to be a lost cause. Lack of focus is my excuse.

I have been spending a bit more time and energy on having my art in galleries here in my small city. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

One project that has been some time in the making did happen.

Let me tell you about the bumps and a good frame source.

I have two prints from the lovely Jennifer, at The Pink Pagoda. She custom made two small size blue and white prints that I had been wanting for my pink and blue and white bath. I wanted bamboo style frames and ordered two from an eBay seller.

Besides taking forever to arrive they were put together in ridiculous fashion.

Really?

That involved the hassle of opening a case with eBay and the indignant seller telling me ," No frame shop in the world would match up these moldings perfectly."

Luckily, LeRoys Custom Frames on Etsy can, in fact, achieve this Herculean feat. They were inexpensive to boot.

LeRoys only had this frame in black but I knew five minutes with a can of spray paint was no big deal.

I am so thrilled to have found a good and affordable frame source.

One more little thing coming down the pipe that only design junkies will understand my excitement for...

A few weeks ago I showed you all this fabric and mentioned more pillows. Silly me. I don't want more pillows.

In a flash of genius, I devised a plan to alter the much hated pouf in my family room and incorporate the fabric.

The circular, mirroe image on the fabric works perfectly with this nearly destroyed pouf. When I excitedly announced my idea to my husband, he looked afraid and said, "You need to get a life."

Fredericksburg Virginia--Big Flea

I love blue and white but I left this baby behind

Well, that was really annoying.

I had other titles in mind for this post but they all involved swear words.

I wonder if some dealers are mean to Eddie Ross?

So here is what happened. I was a little excited and began snapping pictures of things like this.

Some of the booths had such pretty things. 

Then, over my shoulder the witch from The Wizard of Oz croaked, "Whyyyyyy are you taking pictures?" Oops. I should have asked first.

I explained that I write a design blog and that it often includes art and antiques. I went on to say that I intended to go home and write a post hopefully steering people to the Big Flea.

She rolled her eyes and said  I made her nervous.

Do I look like a thug? Are you nervous when you read my blog?

Onward I went trying to remember to ask permission.

One sweet elderly lady let me take photos of her Quimper that was shockingly expensive.

Next I found a booth with a wide array of porcelain.

The owner grudgingly gave me permission to photograph.

Whatever.

 There were tons of jewelry dealers.

 There was the old book and new cheese dealer. Weird.

One dealer would not let me take any pictures. She had a few nice chinoiserie pieces and some mid-century glass that I wanted to photograph.

Its a freakin' plate, lady!

Is it Amish or something?!!!

WTF?

I bet this doesn't happen to Eddie Ross.

A very big scary man gave me the third degree when I asked if I could take pictures.

Basically it just pissed me off and made me not want to buy anything.

As I was leaving I heard a dealer saying what a great day it has been for him and that he had a booth at Chantilly (DC Big Flea) every year.

So I asked him what was up with the camera hostility.

He said it was nuts. He couldn't understand that mentality. He said some people fear that you will sell their items on eBay. Number 1, its free advertising and and number 2, you would still have to pay said dealer for an item if you tried to sell it online. 

This is the father and son team, Kevin and Dick Timme.

We shared a laugh when Dad told me on the QT that most people in the antiques business just got out of prison. He was hilarious.

They were the exception to the rule at the Fredericksburg Big Flea--super friendly.

They are based out of Killingsworth, CT and their booth was fairly priced and emptying quickly.

Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and scout out bargains.

If you go, leave your camera at home.

Have you seen this?

Casasugar.com posted this cutie from the NYIGF.

It is a Chick-a-Dee smoke alarm.

Interesting.

Read more HERE including a link to purchase one for $79

Let me know what you think.

I am off to the Big Flea in Fredericksburg today (I hope. A sick little girl might keep me home)

Pics as soon as I get them.

Thrifty Thursday

That window was open and we sat inches from it.

The weather was so warm and wonderful, at 70 degrees here yesterday, that I insisted my husband accompany me to downtown Fredericksburg.

We ate lunch at the Capital Ale House and people watched. It was lovely and I got a few peeks in some of the never ending antique shops.

Oddly, our stop at the Salvation Army store on the way, just inside the city limits, was most fruitful.

I was taking my own advice and searching for more lovely containers. My little girl has a collection of kid sized paint brushes that she loves to look at when not painting. It is in it's original packaging (ugly) and often dumped out everywhere. So container searching I went.

I found the tiny ginger jar first for $2.

There was also a collection of blue and white vases. Tempting, but they did not come home with me.

Next I found this, to die for, vase. 

It looks and feels like vintage McCoy but no mark and at $3, I just love it.

My husband loves thrifting, rarely buys anything, yet takes forever to rifle through everything. I must always remind myself that at least he is a willing partner in crime. Even if he is a slow and thorough one.

Yesterday it paid off...

I found this portable French style easel while he was examining something else.

Please excuse the clutter and sleeping child, I was excited

It was, apparently, never used. 

New, they are between $90 and $ 200.

This was $ 15.

So for twenty bucks I got some great stuff,  although no paintbrush container.

I also had a fun lunch with my family and a walk around one of my favorite towns.

Frederickburg, Virginia April 2010