This morning, the weather wasn't too cold so we went for a little walk to explore our new neighborhood before the winter gets here. Olivia (wearing her "pokey-dot riding hood" as she calls it) found a dandelion in the front yard and made a wish.



We walked one block and down the street to the adorable Frenchtown Country Market. The market carries vintage jewelry and antiques as well as local produce, wine, coffee, fresh baked goods and basic grocery staples.They have a very sweet pup who greets customers outside and looks at children as if to say "Now, you had better behave yourself when you go inside."


The shop owner has been collecting vintage jewelry for years and stocks some very beautiful, reasonably priced pieces. I will certainly have to pop in frequently to check out her new arrivals.

locally grown gourds, Osage oranges, jam, coffee and other lovely muchables

 The Frenchtown Country Market was lovely and I am extra happy because they carry milk! My kids go through milk and produce like crazy so this place will be a blessing, being so close. If you're in my neighborhood (Near historic St Charles, MO) stop in to the Frenchtown Country market at 1106 N 2nd Street, St Charles.


 Olivia is the best little 3 year old antique shopper! She's been antiquing since she was in the womb and she is always so good to ask before touching and to not run wild. She especially loved these antiques because they are loaded with tiny pumpkins.

That's me scolding, "Lilo! Don't do -that-!" as she tries to toss a pile of wet leaves on her brother.

 So on to the outfit- I have had this vintage sweater for about 2 years and have never worn it. Not even once around the house. After today, I am loving it. These little basic sweaters are so cute with a little skirt and are quite practical when the weather gets chilly. I wasn't sure how I'd like the acrylic but it's actually so cozy and soft that I didn't want to take it off when I got home from work tonight.  I think I may have to keep an eye out for more colors! Also, the skirt is actually part of a suit that I've had for over a year and haven't been able to wear until now. Horray, weight loss!

 Good morning and happy Friday. I'm so excited, we finally have internet service at the new place!! Aside from the limited capabilities of  my phone, I haven't been online in over a week. I have my new blogging headquarters set up in the living room so I can enjoy the morning sun and sounds of the neighborhood waking up while I write.


 Since my livingroom is all mid-century, I thought I would have trouble finding a suitable, affordable computer desk. Last weekend, while popping into Goodwill for a small tv, I spotted this reto sewing desk for $15! It's the perfect size for the monitor, mouse, clock radio and keyboard. I love a desk that's too small to accumulate excess junk. More pics of the living room, once I get my pretty things on the walls.

I'll be reupholstering my dinette chairs this spring and since I have one too many for my kitchen, one will be aqua or green to match the living room.

Yep, I said aqua and green

                                                                 via uglyhousephotos.com

                                                               via urbanoutfitters.com

                                                                         via caroselloblog


Anyway, back to unpacking and cleaning house today. Yesterday, I washed laundry by hand and dried it on the clothesline, which is something I have never done before. I mean, I wash my little vintage dresses and hang to dry but until you've hand washed bath towels, husband's jeans and a million yucky toddler tee shirts and blankets, you've never really lived.


My grandma says that you've never really lived until you've dried towels on a clothesline in the dead of winter. She says that you hang them and they basically freeze instantly. When they finally start flapping in the wind, they're ready to come in. I promised her, I will do that at least once this winter.

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Well, chickadees, I'm getting the rest of my moving done this weekend and since I don't have to work till Tuesday, I'm unpacking, hanging my clothes, getting situated in the new place. I just started hanging my clothes (which are currently in trash bags for easy moving) and I think if I did it non-stop with no sleep, it would take me a week to complete! I'm really excited about my new, sturdy closets and new storage/display possibilities for everything. My sister is coming tomorrow to help unpack and hang clothes and I am so thankful for her help!!

In other news, do you think it's too early for garden planning? With the amount of produce that my children consume in a week, I think growing our own really is the only way to do it. I started a Pinterest board today with some really awesome garden ideas. Victory Garden, anyone?


While I'm away, I thought I'd leave you with a few recently found blog reads that I have been enjoying a lot lately.

Atomic Redhead
Lady Audley's Secrets
Evie's Tea Room
My Vintage Visions
Sew a Little Love
Just Peachy, Darling

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

I hope that everyone is having a lovely week so far! We've been moving all week, taking a few loads over every day. It's kind of nice to spread it out and unpack as we go. This Sunday, we'll get our beds and fridge over there and then the real fun begins!

I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to display my vintage hat collection. In my old  apartment, I had them in the foyer and trailing up the stairs on the walls. The walls in my new living room are plaster so anything that I hang will have to be with those sticky hook thingys so I don't screw up the walls....and 76 hats makes for a ridiculous amount of sticky hooks. Perhaps they will decorate my drywall bedroom walls this time around?

Anyway, check out my new salt and pepper shaker collection! The original owner collected them for years and passed them on to her daughter, who gave them to me! This first one will have to go on my new mantle, don't you think? He's way too cool for the kitchen!

I hope you gals love vintage home decor because I'm going to be doing a LOT of posts on the subject in the future. Thank you, everyone for your congratulations on the new house. Yes, I've lost a ton of weight these past few months. I've been on the very successful "stress diet". While it's not the healthiest way to get slim, it's quite effective! We moved a few car loads of things over yesterday and I already unpacked my 50's kitchen canisters and silverware and found a place to hang a little metal owl that belonged to my great grandma

From your comments, I read that some of you have vintage homes too! Rosina Lee from A New Vintage posted some incredible vintage decor  this morning and she inspired me to share some of my Pinterest finds too! Here's some home decor inspiration for all of us from my Pinterest board, Little Vintage Dream House

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Well, I have very exciting news to share today....we signed a lease on an adorable house in the historic district and we got the keys last night! We dropped by this morning so I could take a ridiculous amount of pictures. We have a beautiful rose bush, a cute little bird house, metal awnings on all of the windows and a funny little bread/root vegetable box in the kitchen drawer.
 

 The house was built in 1930, in Frenchtown- a historic neighborhood of St Charles, Missouri. Frenchtown is a neat little place. It was almost completely under water during the great flood of 1993 and has since become pretty run down and sad. In the past few years, new businesses and home owners have been doing their best to fix up the town and restore it to its former beauty. Destroyed buildings are being torn down, old ones are being painted and cleaned up and new parks are being built. There are a lot of cute new gift shops opening up and houses ready for new owners.There's a load of amazing history behind my new neighborhood but I"ll share that later...

 Our little house is quite small and cozy. It only has two bedrooms but there's a huge basement, dining room, vintage kitchen, small fenced in yard and all sorts of beautiful vintage details. I cannot wait to get it all decorated with my retro furniture and decor but I'm too excited to wait to show it off.

old, pink tiles in the bathroom...and it has a pink and white swirled sink!

 My fabulous vintage kitchen...yellow counters and tiles will look awesome with my retro aqua kitchen theme

Another room? No- this is my second wardrobe! It's a closet off the dining room with three sturdy metal bars for hanging my clothes plus shelving up top for shoes and other fashion shenanigans.

from my back yard- my little house with cellar doors leading to the epically huge basement and that little side porch goes right into my kitchen- a favorite feature in this house

the dining room, which will be super cute one I make some vintage kitchen curtains and get my retro dinette set in here. The wooden panels are hideous but hey, it's vintage! haha!

image via Vintage Purls

 Yesterday, I started knitting the 1940's Bobble Jumper.  I actually started it last week, while working the overnight shift. However, at 2 am with American Horror Story to distract and freak me out, I really couldn't pay attention to knitting.

image via vintage purls

 I got a few inches of it done yesterday and the lace pattern is actually working out pretty well! I am always worried when I start a new pattern with stitches that I don't know how to do- will it turn out? Thank goodness for You Tube and all of the wonderful knitting websites out there, teaching me to knit as I go along. My sweater is a fluffy white and I think I will add the colored knots in green...maybe blue....maybe red....I don't know!



 Speaking of knits, check out the drool-worthy knit pics that Lisa from Snoodlebug posted this morning.

Alright ladies, here's the start of a vast new collection of amazing dresses and jackets from the 40's-60's, all are newly added to the shop this afternoon! I can't wait to get to listing the rest.