That was FUN!

Fun, indeed! I'm not sure if I am talking about the Open House at Primitiques or Thanksgiving with the Snakelover Family. What a flurry of fun!

We spent Wednesday evening and then all day Thanksgiving at The Bandera Saloon. Rocky, Snakelover's cousin, owns the joint. Needless to say, we were treated as family!

Here's Snakelover and his Girl Child. Isn't she just beautiful?

Snakelover and I don't mind mugging for the camera!
It's a tradition now. When we go to The Bandera Saloon, I leave a little graffiti behind on our dining table. The "forever" part was suggested by Snakelover's Mom. Reckon she likes me?

Here's Rocky and Grandma Vi. She was just barely willing to slow down for a picture to be taken!

Only in Texas do we gather around a Texas Longhorn named Oreo for a Thanksgiving family photo! That's Aunt Connie up in the saddle.

We made it back to our neck of the woods and the excitement built for the Open House at Primitiques.

Lots of folks came out and bargains were had! It was so nice to meet Trish, a reader of my blog, and Linda, who I had heard of for months. Debbie and Danny made it, as well as Liz and Fran. Oops! I should never have started naming names, huh? Mom, Aunt Nancy, LucyJane, folks I saw, but didn't meet.

And y'all...Snakelover can work a room! He was chasing folks down to pass out coupons. He manned the refreshment table. He was just a charming host. Who would expect less?

Check out this screen door saver. I felt clever when I came up with this. The hanging balls "Bring on the Festive", eh?

Vintage, bright pink balls. I was so happy when I found these on our roadtrip to Bandera for Thanksgiving. That is a Pink that Pops!

An old military picture.

The bedazzled and bejeweled Christmas tree.

I love this chicken waterer Christmas tree! Festive, isn't it?

Want to see more pictures? Here are mine and here are Snakelovers...I think we'll both have more up later, so check back. Whew! Tis the season for some fun and exciting times!

It's Here! Open House at Primitiques!

I'm baaaackkk!!! How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was groovy as gravy!

I bought a few nice things while on the road...Now for the dilemna...Keep 'em?...Or sell 'em? hmmmm

Snakelover and I will both take lots of pictures today at the Primitiques Open House, so check back later tonight to see what you can see. I look forward to meeting new peeps and rubbing elbows with my old buddies.

In fact, I need to get outta here! Happy Saturday, friends!
~Mindy

It's Beginning to Look...

By now, you ought to know that you are invited to the Open House at Primitiques. It's this Saturday, November 29, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Special pricing, door prizes, and lots of good stuff for sale. We're serving punch and cookies. Yum!

Before the decision was made to have a Christmas Open House at Primitiques, I do believe I was telling y'all about decorations at my very own home. The beginnings of Christmas decorations.

This year, I'm changing it all up. My wheels are turning. Cutesy and artsy craftsy are out the door.
Gotta keep the fun, though.

Look at her sweet face! Notice the stands?

And there you have it. I am out the door in the morning.

A Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Sneak Peak - Primitique's Open House

Ok...y'all are at a great advantage. I am going out of town Wednesday morning and won't return until about 1 hour before Primitique's Christmas Open House, Saturday. I can't be expected to sit quietly on all this exciting stuff, can I?
Check out this heavy, cast iron duck. The lady this belonged to said that it was in her family for years. They used it to tether their horses (see ring on top) and if it was dark, they would leave a candle inside on the candle holder area. Do you think she was weaving tales??? It is heavy. And there is a place for a candle. Hmmm....

Silver...

Silver is just grabbing me this season.

I love the look of dominoes. Black and white. Sweet.

Maybe I'll sneak ONE more sneak peak in before departure.

Who's coming??? And who wishes they were coming? I, personally, wish you were ALL coming!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, my blog friends.

~Mindy

A Stone's Throw Away

Quinlan Collective is run by the husband and wife team, Billy and Patty. Ya gotta love a family run business. They are located at 116 W. Main St in Quinlan, next door to yesterday's Pink Flamingo.

I have shopped with them for years and they are always so wonderful to work with.

From fine antiques to candles to homemade soaps, you sense "family" while you are visiting QC.

Since this is their full time business, you'll notice by those hours that they "work it". Always switching things up. Re-working floor plans and set ups.

Billy and Patty have a good eye for the good stuff and they buy and display it beautifully.

This black dresser with the gold candelabras is just beautiful!

Quinlan Collective is an easy drive (or a stone's throw) of about 15 minutes from Primitiques. When you go see them, tell 'em Mindy sent ya. They tend to appreciate referrals and return customers with a nice price reduction. Believe it or not, they give a 25% discount to all regular customers. Wow!
Yesterday, I inquired if you knew what these loopy things are on the tree. Pam of Frippery nailed it. They are old blind or shade pulls. As Mom explained it, the old roller, window shades would come with a hole in the bottom, center. Folks would loop the pull through the hole for an easy reach when the blinds were up. I have a lot of these and I see crafts or just bulk hangings in their future. You could glue a picture in the center. Wear it as a necklace and rest your eye glasses in them when not needed. Lots of promise! I am willing to ship these little things, so holler if you are interested. They are $2 each.

Look! Another sneak peak at Holidays at Primitiques!

A Hop and A Skip Away

I made the rounds in Quinlan yesterday, shopping and passing out fliers for my Open House next Saturday. While on the strip, I was able to shop a couple stores that I had never been in. And what a treat! These first pictures are of a shop called Chic & Tiques. Cute name! It is located at 110 W. Main St. Tonya runs this place and what a sweetheart! She didn't mind at all that I kept tearing up her displays to buy some base pieces.

Tonya has lots of cute little vignettes. And great stuff!

Next, meet Terry at Pink Flamingo Resale Shop. She is located at 112 W. Main St.

Terry also has lots of wonderful vignettes. Fun merchandise. New and old.

She has color focused areas. Look at that pink prom dress. Ruffles everywhere!

I love these reds. Terry has a gift for placement. And she has great stuff!

Oops! I took this picture after I removed my purchases from the top of the chest of drawers. It might have been nice if I'd shared, huh? Oops!

Now, the following pictures each have a colored Christmas Tree. And y'all. This isn't even all of them. I just couldn't stay there all day taking pictures! Enjoy.

Love the tutu tree skirt!

Fun colors!

Pink and black. Fun!

Check out the ballerina tree. How sweet is this?

This area with purple was very pleasing to my eye. And I don't use purple anywhere in my home or store. Maybe being different is what appealed to me.

While, I was running around Quinlan, Kathie was at Primitiques tearing it up. By the time LucyJane and I joined her, she had demolished almost every existing vignette. Seven hours later, we were next door at Jumpin' Jack's Country Kitchen eating chili and trying to catch our breath. Whew!

For you local folks, we are excited about you coming out and seeing our new stuff and what we've done with it. When you come to Primitiques, you should swing by Chic & Tiques and the Pink Flamingo, too. They are about 15 minutes away. Just a hop and a skip!

Tomorrow, I will feature another shop in Quinlan. And be sure to come back Tuesday. I'll give you a sneak peak of Primitiques in Holiday mode.

You know I couldn't stand to not share something from Primitiques! Have any idea what this is on the tree?

Love and Thanksgiving

The FringeGirl is my inspiration today. I will use her as my guide, if you will.

First, she wrote about procrastination and preparation. Her blog was in reference to getting ready for Thanksgiving. Now is the time that I tell you of my family tradition.

With the exception of picking out an outfit and making reservations, there are no preparations for Thanksgiving in my family. For, oh, a couple decades now, my mother, sister and I have had a tradition of going out to eat for Thanksgiving. Dad, for years, made a point of going hunting over Thanksgiving. LucyJane's hubby (ex now), made a habit of going windsurfing over Thanksgiving. So, we girls had the very distinct pleasure of enjoying each other's company without fussing over stoves, ovens, pots or pans.

We started out going to little joints. Luby's, I think. Then we visited a family run joint in a local, small town. Eventually, our tastes graduated to eating at some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the Dallas area. I don't like turkey much. So, the girls humored me and we landed on our feet in front of some great buffets. Did you know that most of these places have omelets-to-die-for in their Thanksgiving buffet? Bacon, people. In eggs. Out of eggs. Bacon. Does life get better?

Fringegirl's next blog was an introduction to FringeMan. If she is FringeGirl, shouldn't he be FringeBoy? I digress. A sweet little story of him and them. So, I will use her as my muse and tell you about me and Snakelover.

Here's the scoop: On the 17th of September, 2007, Snakelover read my profile on match.com and he was attracted to my writing skills. How cool is that? I had apparently used spell check. I had included information about the catfish in my pond and the fact that I like God. That I think that frogs and crickets singing in the night are the most wonderful thing. That I sing out loud in the shower. So, that day he said "hi". I looked at his profile and I liked his pictures. He's hot! And, sure. I'm sure he wrote something good. I know he used spell check. I said "hi" back. On September 21, 2007, we met, face to face. And well, here we are 14 months later.

So, back to Thanksgiving. This year, I am breaking tradition. The man that I have grown to love, with more of my heart than I knew that I had, has invited me to The Snakelover Family Thanksgiving Celebration. Indeed, I am going to miss out on my family tradition. It would seem that the making of new memories and traditions is on the horizon.

Wednesday, Snakelover and I are travelling to Bandera. Snakelover's cousin, Rocky, owns The Bandera Saloon. This fine establishment is closed for business Thanksgiving Day, so, Thursday, we, the entire Snakelover family, are invading the kitchen at the saloon and we are making Thanksgiving (not reservations). Rocky is a chef. Do you think maybe he'll make some bacon for me?

When it was decided that Primitiques would have an Open House this coming Saturday, November 29, I had to call Snakelover and ask "do you think we could leave Bandera Saturday at 7am to be back by noon, so that I can be at Primitiques for an Open House at 1?" (You are aware that we live in Texas and it takes 5 hours to get anywhere, aren't you?) The man that I love said, "Listen, if we rush back, people better show up, and they better buy a lot". Ok...no, he didn't. I embellished that to get you to come out.

So, there you have it. That is my Thanksgiving Love Story.

This is way too long without another picture, isn't it? Ok...here's one. This, I etched into the table at The Bandera Saloon, when we visited in October.

This is a love that I intend to cherish for many years to come. How lucky am I?

By the way, Dad joins the girls for the Thanksgiving Buffet these days. I think my peeps will miss me, but they will live without me. After all. It's about time I found this kind of love, isn't it?

Unique Unique Talent

There was a glow in Argyle Tuesday night. A warmth. Talents and admirers coming together. There was perfect placement. A marriage of uniqueness. A closed door was opened at 6:30pm. Excitement and admiration were unbounded. Tags of intent were affixed. Money was exchanged. Items were lovingly packed and transported to new homes.

Yes. I am talking about the Unique Unique Design Home Show with Mayron and Marcie.

Mayron...

Marcie...

Snakelover was invited in to the show 45 minutes before any buyers, to capture the beauty before the frenzy. With his eye and his lens, he caught the glow and the warmth of the home in his photos. Enjoy.

Without argument, we were surrounded with beauty and talent Tuesday night. It was truly magical.

To view the full album taken by Snakelover, click here. I would recommend you view the slideshow. And if you have the option to view on black, take it. Amazing.