Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
My kids have been:
A cowboy
A frog
An elephant
A clown
Two cheerleaders
Anakin Skywalker
Daniel Boone
Men in Black
Hula girl
Fisherman
Jengo Fett
and this year?
Mario and his Gangster Friend

Who I Am

I come from a long line of volunteers.

My mom was the room mother my entire academic career.

(To this day she can't believe college freshmen don't need room mothers!)

She was the PTA president for years.

(Her photo is in my high school yearbook more than mine!)

My father coached little league baseball and football for over 20 years.

My mother never met a committee she didn't chair.

So, it's not in my blood to be anything different.

I volunteer.

I've been my youngest son's room mother his entire academic career.

I've never been involved in an organization I haven't ended up a board member of.

It's just who I am.

It's a family philosophy I believe in:

"You take your turn, you give back to the community."

But lately, I feel a shift in my thinking.

Things have happened where instead of feeling good about volunteering I'm starting to feel resentful.

Taken advantage of.

Maybe it's because my life is fuller now and I don't have as much free time as I used to.

Maybe now I'm just more protective of my spare time.

All I know is that I don't like feeling this way and I don't know what to do.

What I do know is that quitting is not in my blood.

Drive Time

My drive to Chartreuse and Co., takes an hour and 15 minutes and I usually go about once a week.

I look forward to the drive.

Because I am Alone.

Which is not a state I'm in very often.

But I love it when I am.

It's comfortable.

And usually quiet, unless I'm belting out my favorite song.

No other voices, or thoughts to contemplate but my own.

Some days the drive feels too short.

I long for more time on the road because once I stop the car everything starts again!

Today was no exception.

Just a few more miles would have been perfect.......

A Little Work and Then Some Fun

Today, I'm heading up to Charteuse and Co.
to meet Molly to get our space ready for this weekend's sale.


And while Molly's holding down the fort this month, I'm leaving in the morning for this beach in Maine.

I'm going to my friend's family cottage on the ocean for our annual girls weekend.
Wine.
Peeps.
Beach.

Just what I need!

Heartbroken

My heart has been broken.

Again..

It happened just as I predicted here.

My latest love is leaving me.

I'm happy for it.

Really I am.

Who wouldn't want to live in an old, beautiful, renovated farmhouse?

Why couldn't it be with me, and my farm house?

I have to stop falling in love........

with the pieces I buy to sell at the barn!

It's just hard to part with some things.

Like the apothecary chest.

It was the first thing that sold at last weekend's barn sale.

And it's going to a good home.

With someone who loved it at first sight.

Like I did.....

SOME PICTURES FROM THE BARN SHOW

We had alot of great pieces made out of architectural salvage materials, like this birdhouse.

Charming vignettes.

And best of all lots of customers, including my old friend Michelle (on the right) that I had not seen in 15 years! (Her visit made my day!

More to come!

The Barn Show - Day 1

Here's a synopsis of today's barn show:

FABULOUS!

More tomorrow (day two). I am not kidding when I tell you we ran out of parking spots! I was directing traffic out on the road, which brought back memories of my time spent working here when I was in college.

It was amazing!

WELCOME TO THE BARN SHOW!

The Barn Show opens tomorrow morning for our fifth annual fall sale!

The barn is loaded with antiques, architectural salvage pieces, awesome chalkboards, accessories, jewelry and vintage finds. Everything is in its place and we are ready to slide open the barn doors and show everyone what we've been up to!

A few sneak peeks:

Doesn't the apothecary chest I told you about a couple of posts ago look absolutely fabulous in the barn?! I have a feeling my heart is going to be broken over this one!

I hope to see you at the barn!
(Located in Gambrills, Maryland)

KEEPING CALM!

Okay, so it's three days until the Fall Barn Show and I'm feeling a little stressed! Not so much about the show, because the other barn girls and I have been kicking it into high gear to get everything ready. And we're in pretty good shape.

It's all of the other stuff that needs to get done. The normal every day life stuff.
Laundry, helping my kids with homework, providing balanced meals.
(The food pyramid is so over rated!)
It doesn't help that my husband left yesterday on a three week military deployment to the other side of the world!

So, my motto this week?


Need your own Keep Calm and Carry On Sign?

Stop by the show this weekend and pick one up; we'll have a few to choose from!

Just curious though, does cereal for dinner count as a nutritional meal?

I'm in Love

Every now and then I fall in love at first sight.

Madly, deeply, passionately!

I can't help myself,

I'm a hopeless romantic.

But, sadly, it never lasts.

My heart's desire always leaves me

And finds its way to another.

But, until then, I savor the time we have together.

Dreaming of how we'd live forever

In a pretty little house with shutters by the sea.

But, knowing, forever never comes.

And I have to let go.

It's always hard to say goodbye.............

Meet the new love of my life:

I spotted it in an Ohio field.

And my heart leapt!

Who could blame me for falling in love?

Have you ever seen a more amazing apothecary chest?

36 drawers!

And those numbers!!


It came from an old country store in Indiana.

It came home to Maryland with me.

And it will be stealing more hearts

at my next barn show on

October 2nd, 3rd and 4th

in Gambrills, Maryland.

But, until then, this love is mine!

I'M "HOME"

I drove to northeastern Ohio today to meet up with my mom and sister to go to the Country Living Fair. We'll drive to Columbus in the morning.

But tonight, I'm "home".

My mom has lived in this house for 47 years.
I'm in the room I slept in for 20 years of my life.
So much has changed since then.

It's hard to believe six of us lived in this house.
Now it's just my mom.
Sometimes it makes me sad to be here because it feels too quiet.
So different from when I was a child.
But tonight, it feels good.
Safe, comforting, and familiar.

I live 325 miles from here.

I don't see my family as much as I would like because life just gets in the way.

My mom and I sat in her living room looking at old photos of my babies, of happy times and relatives that were still with us, vibrant and alive.

And I'm keenly aware of the passage of time.

Again.

It seems to be a constant on my mind these day.

I think about that and wonder why.

Alot.

I don't know if it's melancholy or worry.

My dad passed away six years ago. My mom is getting older.

My kids are pulling away from me as preteen and teenagers tend to do.

My life has become so busy lately.

That's why I'm so happy to be home.

To reconnect with my family.

To strengthen that bond.

To create new memories.

To remind myself of who I am.

Where I came from.

And how I got to be the person I am today.

I feel so happy!

To be home.

OFF TO THE COUNTRY LIVING FAIR

My suitcase is packed.

I'm leaving Maryland.

I'm leaving my kids.

I'm leaving my husband.

I'm off to Ohio (which also happens to be the "MOTHERLAND" for this native Buckeye) to go to the Country Living Fair in Columbus.

The rest of my family still lives in Ohio so I'm picking up my mother and sister and we're driving to Columbus for the show!

I can't wait!

Don't worry, I plan to take lots of pictures and will post them when I get back!

(You didn't think I was leaving forever did you?)

I'm so excited!

Fall is in the Air (at least the barn)!

Chartreuse and Co.,'s monthly barn sale is this weekend and Molly and I decked out our space in fall style. The funny thing is before the barn was a fabulous venue for monthly tag sales, it was a working dairy farm. So, the second floor of the barn was loaded with hay for over 40 years! It took a ton of work to clear the hay and get the 2nd story ready for us and the other dealers to move in.

So, what did we do? We loaded our space up with hay for this month's sale!

It's a barn!

Fall is definitely in the air and hay is all over the floors to prove it!

So, if you live in the Maryland/D.C./Virginia area you definitely need to check out this sale!

It's Just Not Me

Yesterday morning, I set out all by myself, excited to go to an annual antiques market in the rolling, country side of northern Virginia. I had never been to the show before and was excited to shop a new venue because I'm gearing up for both of my barn sales this month and need some pieces to fill in what I already have. So I set out looking for things that appeal to me.

I didn't have a plan for what I was looking for - I never do. I guess it's the auction girl in me; you just never know what you'll find so you can't go intent on finding something in particular.

Well the antique market was down a gravel road, in a beautiful field, and surrounded by mature oak trees. As soon as I drove in, and took in the scene, my heart started racing because I was so excited to embark on the hunt. Once the gates opened, I ran in and beelined it to a tent that looked promising. And that's when the disappointment set in. The prices were outrageous! Sky-high, ridiculous! But that didn't deter me, I just moved on to the next row of tents, but quickly discovered the prices were the same.

I'm not kidding when I tell you a small painted step stool was $125. A gilded mirror was $6,000. A feedsack covered chair was $1,250!!! A gilded birdcage was $7,500!! Don't get me wrong, there were absolutely beautiful things there. Fine, heirloom quality antiques. The kind of pieces you see in museums and homes like the DuPont mansion.

It's just not me. Maybe I like my "antiques" like I like my friends. A little less pedigreed, chippy, time-worn, but still full of life, well loved and with a deep soul that speaks to me. Nothing spoke to me yesterday. It was all spit and polished. Beautiful condition. Gleaming like they've never seen the inside of a real home. Because the stuff inside "real" homes, at least in my world, gets used, loved and treasured.

What I saw yesterday was only what you look at. Not to be touched. How can you love something like that?

Take me to a junk sale, flea market or country auction. That's where I feel at home.

CRAZY BUSY!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, it's just I've been crazy busy since then!

I discovered vacationing at the beach is exhausting! The sun, sand and surf can really wipe you out, so I needed a week to recover from that!

But alas, the kids went back to school (Boo, hiss!) and I've been busy getting back into the swing of things with that.

Not to mention the fact I had my monthly barn sale at Chartreuse and Co. and I'm now preparing for my other barn show's sale which is the first weekend in October.

But the best news is that I'm getting a new blog design! I just started the process and I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

The Kramer Angle.

New and Improved.

I can't wait!