Monday, October 25, 2010

the country living fair & friends

this weekend the country living fair came to my neighborhood
 just around the corner
in my little town
and
it was wonderful!

within the first hour
i had passed sue whitney
(we made eye contact. she smiled. )
( my favorite artist)
had a reader introduce herself
(that was very cool)
spent half my money
& met up with two awesome friends
that had flown in from vermont & west virginia

i could hardly stand it
it was completely overwhelming

some of the artisans i have followed for years,
seen in magazines,
 and communicated with in the blogosphere.

to see them in real life
was beyond exciting for me

as soon as i walked in i made my way over to the
and spent an hour
maybe more
trying to decide which jennifer lanne original i would purchase

there she is....
cute, talented & funky


debbee thibault and her gorgeous line






 jennifer's paintings are spectacular.
my personal favorites are her acrylics on linen



i felt completely underdressed at this point.
after i took my stalkeresque photo
i did actually introduce myself.
jen is incredible!






meet carolyn,
a sweet reader that introduced herself & made my day


met another reader, beautiful danielle
who i hope to see again soon at lakewood anitque market :)

 








next booth was french laundry home

while i was making my first ( of three) purchases
the owner looked up & realized we knew each other

debbie & i owned neighboring shops years ago.
hers , antiques
mine a gift shop

she has since relocated to highpoint n.c. and has begun this gorgeous line.
she is featured in this month's country living magazine

from the looks of things
 i think
her booth sold out within the first two hours of the three day event!


then the big thrill~
i met up with ashley & jerri!!
ashley , jerri & i have been blog friends for the last year or two.
we have been chatting for the last several weeks about meeting up.

they are awesome
even cuter in person
talented, fun, silly and gorgeous.
oh, before i forget...check out this link for images
of ash's wedding.....wow.

(insert here...my daughter told me that non-bloggers
assume that when you say "blog friends"
it means you met in a chat room
& have a sketchy relationship!
cracks me up!)



by that point
we basically chatted our way through the rest of the fair.
as i said, i blew the budget within the first two booths!


 would love to bring home one of these fab chairs!








 ashley & jerri being the cutest mother daughter team.
love them.







the score of the day
was this chalkboard!

exactly what i was looking for

jerri & i lugged that bad boy for what seemed like a mile
only to have me drop it  two feet from my car.
& it broke
fantastic.
but being the rockstars they are, jerri & ashley helped me put it back together
& get it hung.
love it!


we ended up spending the entire day together
& even cruised target.
who says i don't know how to show guests around atlanta?


the next night
 we headed to one of my fave pizza joints in buckhead


 savannah's bestie, bailey, even joined the girls plus dan night of fun


 let me just say
i feel totally blessed to have precious new friends
who are so awesome, they actually feel like old friends
(ps, all my girls loved them too!)

 ok, back to the scores

when i wrote 'the menu' on said fantastic chalkboard
this is what i got~ 
dan said....hmmm....where are we going to eat that?
emily said.....what are apricot glazed pork chops?
madison said....no way are you making a red velvet cake.

aren't they funny?


you can't appreciate it's ginormousness from my pathetic images
but it's totally a who's your daddy piece



finally
i own jennifer lanne paintings.
oh happy day.

i have written a few times that while taking art lessons
i often times used jennifer's paintings as my inspiration
& learned to use color by painting her work
in my rookie manner

these are gorgeous!!
i bought the freckles painting which is an acrylic on linen with velvet trim
sigh
&
 the little miniature too





couldn't resist another out of sequence shot of the chalkboard
i love her so much i feel i should name her
& give her an identity

 the jewelry was incredible.
seriously.


bought this little 5x5 canvas
with my favorite lewis carroll quote

 some lovelies from the french laundry home line
shoot...just realized i forgot to photograph the pillow i bought




my sweet friends have flown back home
my wallet is empty
but my heart is full
 think i need to start saving for next year's event. right now.

now it's time for me to whip up some apricot glazed pork chops
and
a red velvet cake

31 comments:

  1. totally jealous that you got to hang with two of my favorite girls.
    xo

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  2. Oh my gosh -- what a fun time!! You know the coolest people and how to have the best time, don't you!! You are one lucky girl!! :)

    Have a great week!! I'll take a piece of that red velvet cake, please!

    Janet

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  3. You know I was anxiously awaiting your post on the fair!...I so badly wanted to be there but for sure next year!! I love the J.Lanne paintings you got-she's so talented! ( but so are you- love your paintings as well!)
    Looks like it was a super weekend with your friends glad you had a great time!
    and yes that chalkboard is awesome!!
    Tammy :-)

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  4. I absolutely love the chalk board. I think it deserves a name.

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  5. Oh girlie I'm just drooling over all your goodies and meeting your blog friends. What an amazing experience. Now I'm off to look at Jennifer Lanne's site. I think I'm in love! Lucky you meeting her and buying TWO of her pieces. WOW!

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  6. oh this is just too wonderful! i was loving that orange colored coat!
    love
    love
    and yes, name that chalkboard, she's fam now. : )
    xo

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  7. Paige, I don't
    even know where
    to start ~ The
    JL horse painting
    has my heart beating
    faster....LOVE the
    chalkboard....And
    yes, isn't it crazy
    how we "know" our
    blog friends before
    we see them in person??
    And when a connection
    is born, it's the BEST.
    Great finds and looks
    like an even greater
    weekend!!
    xx Suzanne

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  8. Oh man...how come we don't have anything fun like that around here?
    It's probably good that we don't or all my money would be gone and that pink coat would have been my first purchase.

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  9. those coats..ohh ahhh i woulda had to snap one of them up!!
    so chic and funky!!
    love the new chalkboard..and yes she needs a name..a good southern one...:)
    the paintings..linens...hmmm i have been following the links so..i am all over the page here!
    loved ashley's wedding so much that i bookmarked it!
    so happy for you that you got to meet bloggy friends.
    my family thinks i am a crazy blog lady but they are also the first ones to say..hey did you blog about this or that and wow you should post that photo on your blog so in some way they get it.
    have a blessed week!

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  10. Sounds like a great time and I love the Chalk board!

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  11. What a great weekend and I love all of your new goodies. That chalkboard is gorgeous!!!

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  12. perfection.
    the friends flying in.
    the country living fair.
    the things you bought.

    love all of it.

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  13. Oh Paige, I am over here sighing and salivating all at once,:)))

    So happy to know you had a wonderful weekend!

    Blessings!
    Melanie

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  14. Paige,

    Looks like so much fun. Love everything you bought - that chalkboar is the best! Question for you...who does the quote canvases? Love them!
    xo~Jill

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  15. Oh sweet Paige! You were def the hostest with the mostest! Love you and your sweet family! Hope we get to meet up again sometime in this life!! Thanks for sharing everything...your time, dinner(s), your family, etc. It was so fun!
    ~hugs~

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  16. so that was an incredible weekend for sure! what fun to hang with those girls! and you met your favorite painter and now own a piece of her art! very special indeed!

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  17. Oh man...I should have gone! That looks like sooo much fun!!!
    Tamara

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  18. Paige loved meeting you !and so glad to read your post...we love when folks visit us in the tent since we don't get out there to walk around ...I feel liek I just saw the best of all the fairm xxoo and hope to see you again xxoxox Jen

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  19. How fun! You got some great things. I just love that chalkboard. I always get comments from my husband and daughter when I write our weekly menu out. I am starting to think it's not the best thing for my ego. :) I would certainly eat some of your red velvet cake!

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  20. Oh darlin' we had SOOOOO much fun. Love you and your fam. Seriously ya'll are sweet! Really I totally felt like we were just visitin out of town family. We shall meet again! <3

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  21. wow,wow, oh wow how i wished i lived near by for that outing! Everything looked amazing and your chalkboard is completely fantastic!!! Drool worthy!!!
    xo,
    LuLu

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  22. that looks like an amazing event. and it was in your town. very nice. i think the closest one to me was in ohio. i LOVE the chalkboard, it is gorgeous.

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  23. Love the chalkboard, and she needs a name!

    Kelly

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  24. How could you NOT have a great time??!!! I loved looking at all your photos and seeing all your fabulous finds!!!

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  25. Soooo glad you have a full heart and I can see why an empty wallet...it looks gorgeous...and I love how much you showed us...looks beautiful Paige...everything I loved...and I love that you make me laugh with the who's your daddy chalkboard
    xo

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  26. Wow, all of the booths and images from the fair looks awesome. Love your purchases - looks like you had a FAB-U-LOUS time! (Love Savannah's dress with boots too)

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  27. It sounds like the perfect time and I love, love, love your treasures!

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  28. Love your post! Amazing items - the little paintings are beautiful!

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  29. I came across your blog from Pinterest. I am IN LOVE with those different colored fabric chairs that you posted in your blog post. They are exactly what I'm looking for and I was wondering if you could tell me how to find them on the Internet. My email is Hellodarla@aol.com. Thanks! oh, and I love your style.

    Dolly Seckman

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  30. Same with me. I came across your blog on Pinterest too. I am also interested in finding one of the beautiful chairs with the amazing fabrics that you found at that fair. If you have any idea how I can get one...please let me know. My email is dlnilsen@gmail.com. Love your blog!

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  31. Yes, Please tell us where we can find the chairs :)) Thanks for sharing!!

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