Round Top Ain't For Sissies

On Friday I had the pleasure of going to the place where people of all ages

(okay, middle aged-women and gay men primarily)

go to find priceless artifacts

 (in reality quasi-desirable junk of all shapes and sizes)

for low prices:

(not low enough) 

 

ROUND TOP.

 

If you are unfamiliar with what it is, it's basically a bi-annual antique/junk extravaganza held in various barns and fields along a country road in and around a tiny, barely on a map town named Round Top. Vendors come from all states to hock their goods, and I use that term loosely. We saw everything from velvet paintings, to old saddles, to salvaged industrial lighting to row boats to stuffed armadillos (I only saw one this year, so make that singular).

 

This time, I was joined by my lovely and talented interior designer pal Kate Duckworth of Maison Market. We left the babies with those deemed responsible (husbands) and headed out into the wild blue yonder (wait- is that the sky?) in her big ol' Texas truck. After making a pit-stop for donuts of course.

 

It was a lot of fun until we ran out of money, and that happened too quick.  I didn't take "artsy" pictures because I didn't want to haul around my ginormous camera, but here are a couple shots with the iPhone. If you like anything -no seriously- ANYTHING, then you should go to Round Top this spring. Because I guarantee that you will find it.

With sequins.

And rust.

Sitting next to a statue of the Virgin Mary made out of bottle caps.

 

 

 

In the end, here's how I did.

Bought:

Eames era fiberglass shell chair $20

white metal stool $20

vintage oil painting of two dudes in the wilderness: $40 (ouch)

two red buckets $10

delicious chopped BBQ beef sammy $7.00

Almost Bought and Didn't and Kind Of Regretting:

Catalina Island and Long Beach pennants

additional Eames chair in white

ten inch industrial wooden spools

metal marquee letters

Glad I Didn't Buy:

stuffed armadillo

stuffed crocodile

Injuries:

three fire ant bites

blisters from stiff unworn low top Converse

Day Trip to Aggieland

My friend Sally lives about an hour and fifteen minutes away in College Station, which is home to Texas A&M. You can always spot an Aggie (that's what they call themselves) because graduates wear huge gold rings that look like cage fighting rings. And then you see a 115 lb. woman wearing one and you realize that it must be an Aggie ring because surely she could not win in the octagon.

Side note with relevant past and present info: Sally's mom (Christy) was/is BFF's with my mom (Kathy) from way back when they were growing up in Southern California. Sally and I happened to move to Texas at the same time, but she's only here temporarily until her smartypants husband finishes his PhD from A&M, which is likely to occur soon. Then they are high-tailing it back to Southern California because they're normal humans and who wouldn't want to return to the coast? (me)

Okay, back to the present day. The drive to Sally's is "rural" for my standards and since Wes was asleep in the backseat I had to be quiet (read: no celly conversations) and this gave me time to observe things as I drove. So allow me to present a list of things I learned along the way.

1. Morrissey's Greatest Hits is only fun to listen to for about half an hour, then it's just sad noise.
2. When armadillos get hit by a car, they bust open and leak a watery substance. (Don't worry, I didn't hit one. I just observed like, 10 of them dead on the shoulder.)
3. The gas station on 149 and 105 offers the following: check cashing, tacos, minnows and worms. (see photo) 
4. If a big truck comes up behind you to tailgate, and in your rear-view mirror you can see that he has a large decal across his windshield that says "COUNTRY BOY" and he is also sporting a rather large CB radio antenna, slow down and let him pass. Because Bubba will ride your butt until you do.
5. You can buy a big round bail of hay for $48.00.
6. If you're about to drive for over an hour, and you know your child is going to be sleeping in the car, therefore preventing you from being able to stop and pee, DON'T drink 3 pints of sweet tea before you leave.
7. If you don't follow lesson #6, and you must pee via bush squat, wear something that blends with nature, because no amount of foliage can camouflage an atomic red blouse.
8. It's legal to drive a truck with say, 10 day laborers in the bed of the truck. (see photo)
9. If you want to pretend you're Anne of Green Gables, go to Old Town Montgomery with other kindred spirits. (Look at the houses below. Is that Marilla looking out the window?!?!)

Spending time with Sally, her son Dean (Almost one! Big dude!) and her visiting momma Christy was refreshing, and worth the drive, as usual.

Walk Through The 'Burbs

Today at Bible study there was a bit of an "open mic" for women to express any praises they had from the week. If I hadn't been totally intimidated by some women's tales of God's amazing answer to prayer, then I would have gotten up and praised Him for sending some cooler weather our way. And y'all, this is Houston, so cooler weather just means under 90° and NOT crazy humid. (And Lord, while you're at it could you destroy every living mosquito? M-kay, thanks!) Seriously, I totally understand why people in the Pacific Northwest get all depressed, because even though we get more than our fair share of sunshine, it's so miserably hot that we can't go outside much, and half of my girlfriends have vitamin D deficiency. (okay, I know of one)

Moving on. I harnessed up the dogs and took my brood of dependents on a long walk in the neighborhood. It was so good for my soul! Even George was happy to pee on every vertical surface over 4 inches high. Hey, he had months of leg-hiking saved up!

But y'all... How great is fall? I'm totally going to enjoy it when it arrives in three more months.

I Know I'm in Texas Part I

I went to Hobby Lobby today to look for some fabric, and on the door there was a sign that said...

Business Hours

Monday-Saturday 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Sundays we are closed so that our employees may attend worship

and spend time with their families