Vintage in Chattanooga

We seem to end up in Chattanooga a few times a year and we always go to Sluggo's for lunch, then go by the Knitting Mill Antique Mall. There are some great booths in there (and some REALY terrible ones) but we always find something to bring home. 

 There is one booth FULL of amazing vintage Christmas but the prices are insane. I feel like the same stuff has been in her cases for years! Gimme some of those pine cone gnomes!

 Funny pink poodle made of some kind of fur.

 I kind of regret not buying one of these vintage barbie photos. I wonder if the person whose booth it is made them! Isn't that cute?

 The one of them in the surf!

 I love that big chalkware pig! And look at that gorgeous globe!

 I brought home that little gnome! He is actually a dream pet! 

 These are tiny 1960's swim trunks! I LOVE them! There were some cute pepsi ones with hot air balloons on them.

 I brought a few vintage photos home from this big box.

 Space mug! Very tempting.

 This embroidered quilt really broke my heart! Isn't it amazing! Look at the baby cutting the cat's hair! And that squirrel! It was well over 300 dollars though. Oh well. We brought home the gnome, some photos, and a neat roll of vintage labels that look great in Travis' medical collection cabinet.

 Like I was saying, we went to lunch at Sluggo's. It is one of our favorite places ever!

 We got a pot stickers appetizer. Mmmm it was so good. 

 And of course, the vegan club. We always get the same dang thing. It is just so good!

Also! When I was looking up Sluggo's address I saw there was a new vegan place in town called Cashew. The thing that really caught my eye in the listing was they had donuts! I haven't had a donut since going vegan and had been thinking about donuts lately and wishing there were vegan ones in town. These were yummy and really hit the spot! Especially the lemon one on top!
Thanks for the good time Chattanooga!

Digging for dishes at Deck's!

Back in September fellow Nashville blogger and all around good egg Eartha Kitsch posted about Deck's Glassware in Chattanooga. You can check out her posts here and here! And while you are there follow her and bug her to post some more! Her posts are some of my favorites!
Ever since I read those posts I have been talking about going. Travis has told me to go on my day off, we've talked about going together a million times, but it never worked out. I was off this past Saturday and we had no plans (this never happens. I work retail so usually I have to ask to be off on a weekend) so Travis mentioned Deck's again. I wasn't sure I wanted to make the two hour drive, but I'm so glad we did!

Deck's is a small warehouse nestled among apartment complexes and small neighborhoods in Chattanooga. It was opened in the 1960's and sold restaurant ware, which is the heavy china dishes that you find in restaurants. We have been talking about getting new china for everyday use (I have a set of Martha Stewart dishes and we have broken SO MANY) and what is better than deadstock restaurant china from the 60's and 70's? Nothing that's what!
When you first walk into Decks there are two rooms with neatly arranged dishes. I knew from Eartha's post that we needed to ask to see the china in the warehouse. The owner, Chester, is nice as can be and gave us gloves to dig around with. He opened the warehouse door and this is what we saw...

Piles and piles of china as far as the eye could see! This stuff has been sitting her for over 30 years! It was really dark, and dirty, and the plates were pretty precariously stacked, but we had a blast looking through them.

You would have to spend days there to see everything. There were at least three HUGE rooms and almost all the floor place looked like this....

I keep seeing things I wish I had looked at more closely when going through these pics...

Travis went out to get his flashlight so we could really get a look at what was in this corner. I lightened these photos a LOT. It was so dark in there! And not heated! Thankfully it wasn't  9 degrees that day like it has been lately. It warmed up to 55 and it was just a little chilly in the warehouse. I can't imagine how miserable it would be in the summer!

I tried to stick to dishes with blue on them, but some of the other patterns were too good! And we resisted bringing home mugs/tea cups because we have too many already.

We came home with that box full! I remember that we had 22 full sized plates. And a pile of small plates, a few bowls, and some little platters. And it was a great price! We spend less than 50 dollars on the whole haul!

Here are a few before pictures: 

If there were lots of the same pattern I tried to bring home the cleanest. That should tell you how DIRTY this stuff was! It's mostly just dirt/mud though. Travis complained a LOT about all the pigeon droppings. I tried to avoid bringing any of that home.

Don't you love those little flower bowls? I brought home four with matching plates. I think total those set me back 6 bucks!

We followed Eartha's advice and soaked them all in a big tub of hot water first! We left them over night then Travis pulled them all out, gave them a scrub, and popped them into the dishwasher. They all came out looking as good as new!

I'll show you some close ups of what we brought home soon! Now I just have to rearrange my cabinets and ruthlessly go through my existing stuff. I have a weakness for vintage kitchenware so it is going to be hard! Wish me luck!

Currently

 

currently: 

reading: I just started a new series by Gail Carriger. It is YA and about a finishing school for girls who are going to be spies/assasins. I love it so far!

watching: We discovered the British series An Idiot Abroad and are OBSESSED! It is a travel documentary but the star, Karl Pilkington is not interested in travel and hates everything. Ricky Gervais sends him to the seven wonders of the world in the first series. It is so hilarious. Check it out of you have Netflix!

thinking about: Budgeting! We are really into that right now. Travis' car just died (again!) and we've decided to become a one car household (for a while at least.) So he got a bus pass and swears he likes it so far. We've been using the "Home Budget" app and I highly recommend it. It is like using the envelope system but you don't have to have cash and it syncs up between our phones. We've been using it for two months and have already been able to save a significant amount. 

anticipating: Hopefully going to see a college production of Dreamgirls at TSU tomorrow! And going to see our nephew Ellis in February. We don't have any solid big travel plans yet this year so I'm looking forward to making some!

listening too: Podcasts or the new Beyonce album. That is really it. I don't know how many more times I'll be able to make Travis list to "Partition." It is so good though!

working on: Purging stuff. I went through our living room bookcase yesterday and have a huge box of stuff to take to a used bookstore. I'm in that place where it feels really good to get rid of things I know I won't use. Hopefully it lasts a while!

loving: My new tattoo! I got it yesterday, and it is on the back of my right thigh. It was a very painful spot, but i love how it looks! Can you believe this is my first vintage related/kistchy tattoo? I posted a photo from my collection on instagram, and my friend Eli said he would love to tattoo one! I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before!
I'm also feeling pretty proud of myself for doing karaoke in public for the first time! My work holiday party was last night, and I got up and did "Time of My Life" (you know, the one from Dirty Dancing) with my good friend Ryan. I was really nervous to do it, but it ended up being so fun!

100 Books 2014: 1-8

I didn't make a resolution this year, but I thought it would be fun to give myself a goal. My goal for 2014 is to read 100 new to me books! And part of that goal is to get most of them from the library instead of spending tons of money on books. So here we go, here is MOST of what I read in January. I had already taken one book back, and since I took these photos I finished 1 more. So I'm up to 9/100. I might have made this goal a little too easy for myself!
Are any of you big readers? I would love some recommendations! I like to read pretty much anything. You can check out my goodreads page here. Are you a member? Let's be friends! I really enjoy that site.

1. The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption by Kathryn Joice: I don't read much non fiction but this was a really interesting look at international adoption. I read a blurb about it somewhere online and found the topic really fascinating. It gets a little repetitive but I learned quite a bit.
2. The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan: This one was a Christmas present from Travis because he knows I love Amy Tan. I have read most of her books multiple times. This one is just ok, which was a disappointment. I found myself wanting to skip ahead a few times. It is a story about mothers and daughters, China and America, her usual themes, but it isn't quite as engaging and it didn't make me want to stay up all night reading.
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: This book was all over the place last year, and I've had it on my to read list forever! I wish I hadn't waited so long! It is amazing! Thrilling and surprising and not like anything else I've read in a long time. The story starts with a man coming home to find his wife gone and the house in disarray. I don't want to give anything away, because the story really did shock me multiple times! I would definitely recommend it!
4. The Whole Golden World by Kristina Riggle: This was recommended by a fellow blogger and for the life of me I can't figure out who! I thought it was Jen, a fellow Nashvillian, but now I can't find it on her blog. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. This is the story of a teacher/student affair told from both points of view. A good quick read, and I really liked the way the author wrote the characters.
5. Redshirts by John Scalzi: Another gift from Travis. This is a science fiction book I guess, based around the idea of anyone in a red shirt with a small backstory on Star Trek is destined to die! I loved this one! A blurb on the back said "pee your pants funny!" and while I don't think that is accurate, the story was fun and I loved all the little Star Trek references. I think any science fiction fan would like it, even if you aren't a trekker.
6. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunnant: This one has been sitting on the pile of books next to my bed for a few years! The cover makes it look like a historic fiction romance but it isn't really. It is by the same author of The Birth of Venus, which I loved! This is the story of a famous, successful courtesan who has to flee Rome and re-establish herself in Renaissance Italy. It is told from the point of view of her faithful servant/friend a dwarf. It is more a story about loyalty, friendship, and betrayal than sex like you would expect. I was actually sad when it was over, I wanted to stay in that world a little longer.
7. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: I LOVE Kurt Vonnegut and there are  a few of his books on our shelves that I haven't read yet. This one was good, if a little fatalistic and dark. I love his sense of humor and wit and I can't wait to make it through all of his books! I think I'll read Sirens of Titan next.
8. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill: The best book of the month is this one! I would NEVER have picked it up just seeing it or reading the blurb, but I read a great description of it on a book critics personal top ten of last year. This book is almost 700 pages and I read it in three days, I couldn't put it down! The story is so CREEPY at one point I was walking around my house at night and had to RUN back to bed because I was scared. That hasn't happened in a long time! Joe Hill is a wonderful writer and I'll probably try to read all of his novels this year.

January Flea Finds

Here is what we picked up at the flea market over the weekend. Not a lot, but all the usual suspects. Books and photos and something with a face.

This book is falling apart a bit, but it really appealed to me.

Especially the illustrations! "Mammy! Mammy!"

I picked up the "Our Animal Friends" because of the colorized photos. The stories are so weird.

Here are the shakers I ended up with! I realized after I posted the photo that you can barely see these guys in it! I wanted the kangaroos too, and the little tiny birds, and there were some wolves too!

The animal boat ride book is adorable, look at the end papers! There were actually two copies for sale and I thought about buying both so I could pull the end papers out and frame them. Look at that raccoon!

And as always, I picked up some photos for my collection. Some dog ones, some vacation ones, and one I just liked.

I love the lady putting sun screen on the man's back! I think I'm going to steal her kerchief look when we go to the beach this summer.

I just like this photo of the couple in the snow. I'd love to have her jacket, and its hard to see here, but his jacket is fringed! And look at this tie and striped pants!

And these stylist ladies with a sweet tiny puppy. Right up my alley!

Nashville Flea: January

It was about 19 degrees when we ventured out to the flea market this past weekend. It got a little warmer throughout the day but geeze! There was even a little snow on the ground! Nothing can keep us from junking though!

Nashville friends, look at how deserted it is! It almost wasn't worth it. But we had fun. And yes, Travis is wearing shorts. I had to force him to wear pants the day the windchill was negative 9. He is ridiculous.

That coat kills me. He got it from a friend years ago and it had a burn hole in the side. He stitched a little bird over it to cover the hole! How freaking cute is that? Sometimes he really surprises me. That little bird makes me smile every time I see it.

Loved that gingerbread boy!

And this cool pop corn machine! I hope whoever bought it is going to display it in their rec room or something!

And check out this couch! It is hard to tell in my photo but it is made of barrels! and you can turn it and make it an L shape if you want. It was already sold too. Something else perfect for your knotty pine basement!

Table of salt and pepper shakers! I bought a set here, can you guess which ones? I wanted those seals! But I have a pair SOMEWHERE in my house that I bought a long time ago, before I was really collecting. Me set still has the whiskers too. I need to find it!

I REALLY wanted this lamp. But Travis convinced me not to get it, since we didn't have a place for it. Wouldn't it be a cool night light?

We made it about an hour and a half at the flea, then headed downtown to the Frist to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit. It was fantastic! If you are in town I really suggest going to see it!