Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hope your holidays are filled with family and good food! As for me, I am hoping for a healthier new year!

Spooky decor...old school style

Our time in the UK changed last night and we are feeling a bit out of sorts as a result. Our friends and family stateside have one more week to soak up what's left of the autumn sun but we are in full on blistery weather mode here.

With Halloween this upcoming weekend I was looking around for some Vintage Halloween decorating ideas. Better Homes and Gardens is one of my favorite magazines and they have a great online piece with some fab Vintage inspired spooky decor. http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/indoor-decorating/vintage-halloween-decorations/

I realize that some of larger and more elaborate halloween displays might eclipse both time and budget restraints for most, but most all of us could manage something along the lines of this festive tablescape.

Photo from www.bhg.com

Wouldn't that be a fun place to gather Halloween night with friends for a bowl of chilli and a beer!

The Road Home...

Hubs and I came back from the states on the 13th but I am just now getting back into the swing of our lives here in the UK. It's been a little bit harder this time and I think that is a direct result of this trip being the best one we have had home in a long time! We were able to really spend some quality time with family and friends, although as usual we didn't get to see everyone we would have liked to I feel like we saw a lot of people without spreading ourselves to thin. Highlights of the trip home included a great weekend at Rock Creek with family, hiking and seeing the gorgeous fall leaves, a trip to http://www.downhome.com/ to see Spring Creek with my mom and dad, a UT game for Ben and tons of Mexican food and bbq....perfection! I didn't get much...no make that absolutely no vintage shopping in...but it didn't matter that's not what this trip was about. It was about seeing those we love, spinning old yarns, making new memories, touching base with our roots...checking in so to speak. Its funny living overseas we've had the amazing opportunity to see a lot of beautiful places...but fall in the mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina holds its own against them all. I think I'll find a cool vintage frame for the last pic...a quick glance at it and I'm back on the road home.

On the road again.....

The hubs and I leave bright and early in the morning. We are heading stateside and I've been quietly or not so quietly singing this all day long as I debate the merits of only packing 4 pairs of shoes (merits....you can buy more there!) Ahhhh Willie...that ones for the hubs.

Besides packing and getting insanely excited about seeing family...oh and eating vats of mexican food... :) I wanted to post some pics of a quick project I threw together yesterday. I am one lucky girl, I have a dressing room...and I heart it sooooo big time! In any house we live in hereafter a dressing room for moi' will be a high priority...its good for the marriage. I have been looking for a small dressing table and yesterday while digging around I found some old scrap wood and table legs...well a few screws and a coat of french gray paint on the top later and viola' a dressing room table shabby chic and all re-used!

My tuffet that sits next to it I had classes up a couple of months ago. The hubs somewhat reluctantly had pulled that chair out of a dumpster in Germany for me last year ;) It's 1960's and was thrown out when Heidelberg University was remodeling....I remember wanting more...but appearantly carrying two dumpster chairs down the street in a foreign country is significantly more embarassing than one! I painted the back french gray as well and covered the seat with some batting and great English fabric I found at a Vintage show. I am loving how it turned out!

Sneak peak....shhhhhh

This week I've been fighting with my computer and getting ready for our trip back to the states and I've also been busy working with Kathy the incredibly talented mind behind Modern Polka Dot Designs! Check her out at http://www.themodernpolkadot.blogspot.com/

We are working on a new blog design and logo items for my "in the works" Etsy shop. She's posted the first draft of the blog design on her site...can you find it? :)

Here is a sneak at the logo...its looking good! Thanks Kathy!

Rectory Tables and Giant Apples oh my!....

We are heading home to the states for visit next week (so excited!!!) and in all the preparations that go along with that, things have been pretty crazy. However, yesterday I had the chance to sneak away for a couple of hours and hit up a riverside antique's show under the guise of helping our friend Mr. S pick out a birthday gift for Ms. S. As soon as we arrived I dropped Mr. S like a hot potato and made a b-line for this table...its a very old pine rectory table...which incidentally...I heart super big time! The table is put together with pegs and the base is painted a lovely aged french grey while the top is a gorgeous pine with the greatest patina. In short...I want this table...I feel like I am cheating on the bookcase I have been saving up for and that makes me feel a little guilty..but only a little. The show runs until Sunday and poor hubs has no idea that I am going to drag him there and ambush him.

When I got home yesterday afternoon I needed to pick some apples from the cooker tree for apple pies for a little bash we are having this afternoon. I am happy to announce that I almost certainly pretty sure just maybe might have grown the biggest apple in the UK this fall. This thing is ridiculous! I popped it on my pink kitchen scale and it weighs 2lbs! So I'm off to make my apple pie using 1 apple......1 big ass apple :)

Autumnal Equinox...

In honor of the Autumnal Equinox today I thought I post a little something fallish. I both love and hate this time of year. I love it for the snap in the air, the leaves changing color, hauling out the sweaters and boots, the one pot comfort food and the excuse to have a fire and a hotty toddy at night. I hate it for one reason....the shorter days, its not so bad right now but I know that here in the UK I am about 4 weeks away from it being dark at 4:30pm....4:00 on a bad day. So for the last few weeks its been as though I am preparing for whats to come, stocking up on essentials you know bottles of red wine and crockpot recipes. But no, I have found myself getting together supplies for lots of projects. Projects with no set date for completion, projects to be done on chilly fall nights next to the fire.

Last week I ran across a bag of 100 wooden discs and bought them with no idea of what they might become. Well over the weekend I made these little guys. Count down to Halloween Advent Magnets. I think they turned out pretty well. I painted the disks and number tags popped in a few nails to hang them from and threw some magnents on the back.

It's also cool enough here now to get pumpkins without the risk of them rotting and I decided to paint a couple of the ones I grew with some sassy green polka dots. Who else is has caught the fall bug and started filling the house with pumpkins?

side eyes....

{Poor "mistreated" Jack after a swim at Culzean Castle Scotland on his trip to the British Open 09'}

As my dog Jack stalks my every move in the house through the windows giving me some serious side eyes and the occasional disgruntled bark... (I mean really Jack you are a dog...it is actually nice outside...5 minutes alone is not torture), I thought I would pop on quickly to say...my computer is working! For the moment...after being rebuilt by both me and the hubs 5 times in the last week! I see a new computer in my future but I will live with this old thing for as long as I can because I also and perhaps more importantly see a kick-a$$ new pair of jeans for fall in my future...priorities people priorities....Back this afternoon with some actually relevant content :)

Murphy's Law...

....states roughly "anything that can go wrong will go wrong" and you see I had plans people, big plans for the blog this past week. I had already drafted into word 3 great posts, planned to get the Etsy shop up, running and linked up, had tons of great new pictures, had compiled a list of my favorite blogs and was even going to post a quiz...but guess what...MY COMPUTER HATES ME...and now sits doing nothing on the kitchen table until hubs takes another crack at getting that old piece working today. I am also apparently a terrible user because I don't have my stuff backed up...commence flogging.

So while hubs cuts a few more zzz's this morning I stole away with a big cup of coffee to his computer to post.

I love love love vintage/flea market style and I love love love magazines relating to such. I was so excited when I was reading one of my daily read blogs and ran across this http://fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com/ On this blog you can follow the 'makings of magazine' and just a quick glance on the team flea market section reveals that these really are some great makings. The men and women behind this new magazine are big names with really creative ideas. The blog is well written the posts are interesting the info helpful the pictures gorgeous and it is the perfect teaser, I can't wait for the real thing! Also if you have your own blog which covers a similar subject content check out the blogroll where you can become a marketeer (reminds me of a mouseketeer...loved that show!) and get your blog listed on the site....see my cute button on the side :) I've clicked on a number of the blogs listed and wow! there are some really talented people out their doing amazing things with all their cool vintage finds!

Well I hope everyone is enjoying this Sunday...and I hope the hubs can do magic and get the the old beast up and running.....because I've got lots to say and do! Until then perhaps I will sing this in his ear as he works....I'm sure that won't be annoying at all :)

Vintage eye candy....

Happy Labor Day! College football has started (thank you ESPN America!) and summer is officially over. I even picked some pumpkins from my garden yesterday. So while you are probably grilling it up and maybe enjoying a frosty beverage take a break and enjoy some vintage eye candy that I've snagged recently...oh and that fab blue shelved cabinet I am still lusting over.

{click to enlarge. photos from top left: 1930's tin mirror; 1950's glass and silver sugar sifter; 1950's shabby chic shelf brackets; 1890's glass front book shelf/cabinet; 1950's glass cakestand; 1970's china tea set; 1960's wood and thatch stool; 1930's concave mirror; 1920's bar cart}

Girlfriends

I woke up thinking about my best friend R today...and while waiting until its a reasonable hour to give her a ring...not sure she would appreciate a 7 am EST wakeup call with a baby in the house...I ran across this...

"What I expect from my male friends is that they are polite and clean. What I expect from my female friends is unconditional love, the ability to finish my sentences for me when I am sobbing, a complete and total willingness to pour their hearts out to me, and the ability to tell me why the meat thermometer isn't supposed to touch the bone"

Anna Quindlen, Livin Out Loud

I bet that quote rings true with most of you out there. One thing that is hard about living so far away is that time passes, events happen and the visits are too fast and too far apart. Last year R and I and our husbands got to meet up for a weekend in Rome. It was really neat to go on such a grownup trip with someone who has known you inside and out since you were 10 and we had a blast! We acted like we were 16 again and I loved every minute of it!

I hope everyone gets to do something fun and fabulous with their best girlfriend this long weekend. I am missing mine and for today a phone call will have to do.

Putting Up

I've spent a good bit of time the last week "putting up" apple butter and veggies from my garden. Putting up is southern grandma slang for canning or freezing fruit and veggies from your garden. I am lucky enough to have two apple trees, a cherry tree, a pear tree whose seedling was brought back from France after World War I and four raised gardens at our home here in the UK. We are so fortunate to live in this great home it dates back to the 1600's and used to be the gamekeeper's cottage of the Lilford Estate. The old meat hook still hangs over the front door. Sometimes when I am missing friends, family and things uniquely American I need to remind myself how fortunate Hubs and I are to have this experience. Here are a few pics I snapped recently of our life and surroundings here.

{Pictures clockwise from top left: Amps Fine Wines in town; Our pond waterfall; Lillies on the pond; Our home Keeper's Cottage; Reflection; J the Dog; Daisies and Roses in Front of the House; Apple butter and some putting up veg; Pumpkin in the Garden}

I heart oyster plates...

Last week I hopped in the Dolorean and gunned it to 88'.....well no actually it was the Volvo and the only place we gunned it was to Stamford but you gotta love a good Back to the Future reference...Any who, it had been two weeks since I had gone treasure hunting and I was getting restless. I had been wanting to visit this one particular shop St. Martins Antique Centre http://www.st-martins-antiques.co.uk/ and I was not disappointed. I was under a time crunch so I had to make quick work and I definitely left some great finds behind...tear. I especially have my eye on a great 19th century cabinet. It's a nice walnut and still has the original leaded glass doors and the inside had been painted a really lovely and very hip robin egg/almost turquoisey blue. It would be sooo happy in my house filled with all white dishes. Don't worry cabinet I felt what you felt...I'll make it happen.

Two of my favorite finds from that day were a pair of great 19th century English oyster plates and a pitcher that dates sometime around 1920's. I am still trying to dig up some information on the pitcher because it is very heavy, beautiful and in perfect condition but I just can make out the mark on the bottom. The oyster plates are one of my favorite finds ever. They bear an early mark of Mintons which from my research date these back to around the 1820's when this English company first started producing bone china.

I loved them even more because I had just run across this photo from Country Living of a dining room with walls covered in them.

{Bright Dining Room - The owners have spent 14 years amassing the oyster plates that line the walls of their Pennsylvania dining room. The table was built from old barn floorboards to fit the room's narrow proportions. The sofa cushions flaunt a funky, flea market fabric. Photo and Text Credit: Owners Gridley + Graves, Country Living}

14 years collecting oyster plates! Will I end up being that crazy? Who knows but I do love the finished look. I also like the flea market fabric on the sofa pillows and I myself have been picking up some great vintage fabric to do something with. I'm learning that collecting vintage is a very subjective hobby, so what catches your eye? What sort of collections are you always looking for pieces to add?

Home Grown Maters

(Photo from Real Simple)

Hubs and I are all about some home grown tomatoes. Growing up in the south summertime tomato growing and eating is kind of a religion. Fresh off the vine with some salt and pepper...delish! When we were married the hubs introduced me to the Blue Dogs and when we lived in Charleston we tried to go and see them whenever we could. And while Mozart they are not they are always fun and one of my favorite songs that they sing is "Home Grown Tomatoes".

Watch The Blue Dogs singing Home Grown Tomatoes in Live Events & Specia | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

To me that song just oozes summer and sadly...I think that on the 31st of August summer here in the UK is officially over! Its time to break out the rain gear, wellingtons and fleeces :( but before I completely pack it in we are enjoying the last of the summer produce and have been eating as many tomatoes as we can get our hands on. I actually "grew" tomatoes here...well tried as almost all are still green we enjoyed some fried green tomatoes this week. I also made a really tasty and simple Panzanella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzanella with some heirloom maters from the farmers market.

Panzanella

Salad

3 tbl Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Good Leftover French Bread (or whatever you have)

Quality tomatoes (4, 5 cherry? anything goes)

Cucumber

Red bell pepper

Red onion

Basil, Cilantro or Parsley(whatever you have on hand)

Vinaigrette

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. Dijon Mustard

3 tbl. champagne vinegar or white wine

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper

The key to the salad is you want all the ingredients to be the roughly the same size and in the same quantities so chop it how you like it. I go for everything about an inch big. Take the bread cubes and toss with olive oil salt and pepper to taste then toast up in a hot skillet until they are lightly browned. From there its just tossing all the ingredients together and adding the vinaigrette until just everything is lightly coated even the bread eat it pretty soon. You want the bread to soak up some dressing but waiting to long makes it too soggy.

When I'm cooking I tend not to follow recipes exactly or list exact measurements. That's because I like to use what I have and taste as I go. This has become my go to summer salad when I can get my hands on good tomatoes although I don't think its a big helper for the waistline since you basically substitute hunks of toasted bread for salad leaves.... oh well! C'est la vie and bon appe'tit!

London Bound!

We are heading down to London in a few for my sister's last two nights in town. Picked up a few great things in Stamford yesterday! Can't wait to post pics....Viva La London!

Mirror Mirror....

My sister is here visiting (yay Sissy!) and perhaps I should have waited to launch the blog until after she left because we have been having so much fun its left little time for posting. Today we are heading out to Stamford to do a little vintage scouting and see the sights and while everyone else is getting ready I figured I could sneak away for a moment or two.

Since we've been in the UK one thing that always catches my attention when I am digging up vintage finds is a great etched mirror. My friend S (she dreams of a fab wall completely covered in them...sigh...tres chic') introduced me to these beauties last year at a huge antiques fair and I've been snatching up everyone I've seen since...if I can beat S to it! These mirrors range in size and shape but most seem to be about 2-2.5 feet by 1-1.5 feet. They have this great beveled etching around the edges and sometimes a bit of the silver is peeking through which I think adds to the charm. They are heavy! and hang from a linked chain and scream out to be re-used in dressing rooms, bathrooms, in large groupings on the wall...well anywhere! From what I can find I think these were probably most popular in the 1930's to the 1960's. Below is my most favorite....so far! Side note....it is hard to photograph mirrors!

I think these are just glam and so classy!

I love design magazines so much in fact I realized about a month ago that I needed to do something with all the ripped out pages of ideas I had shoved into one sad hot pink folder. Now I have a neatly labeled and organized binder which makes my type A heart smile with joy...but I digress. I was flipping through it yesterday and low and behold an October 2008 photo from Country Living had these little lovelies hanging above his/her vanities in a newly remodeled master bath. I LOVE the use of one or two vintage elements when making over a new space. It gives the space an immediate sense of history and helps to avoid that matchy matchy look.

Why Fried Okra?

Yay! Your here and so am I! The makings of this blog have been keeping me up at night...in a good way..like a great book or hot sex (wink wink hubs). I am over the moon to have a platform in which to share my eclectic vintage finds, good food, daily musings and who knows what else with you.

So the obvious question is "why Fried Okra?". Yes, it's a delicious "vegetable" coveted by any proper Southerner and I use the term vegetable very loosely here! But its also one of those words that makes me feel home and connects me to my southern roots and feeling home is important when your so far away! My vision for this blog is that it evolves to encompass a totally relaxed vintage chic lifestyle with a southern twist...ya'll.

So bear with me while I get into the groove. Laugh at my neurotic ramblings. Drool over the hip and totally fabulous vintage pieces I dig up and send me a "well bless her heart" when I am totally off base!

Xx-Fried Okra