Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Always Amazing - Allegan in August

 The last Sunday of every month, April through September, the fabulous Allegan Antique Market takes place at the fairgrounds in Allegan.  Vendors and buyers come from far and near to enjoy the show, find new treasures and be inspired by what they see.

A couple of booths caught my attention this time around...
Heaven's Walk was a new booth this August.  The booth featured great items from Heaven's Walk, Lakehouse and Seashells & Lavender.  Three friends joining together to have fun and share their creativity with others.







Another fun booth is Butter Beans Antiques, a regular vendor.  I'm always drawn into their booth when I'm there.  The displays are just a breath of fresh air after visually taking in so much as you happily meander through the whole show.






If I had the farmhouse that my husband and I had put an offer in on this past spring, this might have been the table set that would have graced the dining room.  We still might get the house, but I'm sure that the table is gone.  Allegan is a great place to go when it comes to furnishing and decorating homes.


I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about a couple other fabulous booths.  Truth is, by the time I reached them, my arms were full, I was in desperate need of a coffee and some food, and I didn't want to take the time to pull out the camera.  Lame, I know, but I also knew that I had contact information and a photo of this cute camper from before the time my great friend Karla bought it.  Karla's Place is a great fun store in Holland that my friend owns.  If you look for this camper at Allegan, you will find Karla's friends from Rebel Reclaimed set up with all of their fun finds and creations.


Another great booth:  When I first met the couple who own Rivich Antiques, they had an adorable sweet little camper that they were selling at Allegan.  I knew it would go, and within a couple of hours of the show opening, the camper had a new owner.  Aside from the camper, they always have an amazing fun display.  Though they drive in from Chicago, IL, if you miss them at Allegan, you can probably find some of their treasures in Holland, MI at Karla's Place!

There are so many quality vendors who are a part of the Allegan Market.  Several of them will be participating in the upcoming Country Living Fair in Columbus, OH which takes place Sept. 16-18, 2011.  I'm bummed that I can't attend this year - I promised a great bride Forrester Farm wedding flowers for that weekend :)!

If you enjoyed this post on Allegan, you might also enjoy a former post featuring photos from our sweet French intern who lived with us last summer:  Allegan Antique Market, Sept. 2010.

Enjoy your day!  I'm off to move a son into his college dorm - though I cared about having his bedding, towels and accessories color coordinated - he could care less :)!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A "Stop and Smell the Flowers" kind of day.....

I don't know if it is true for you, but our summer has flown by fast!  For the one week that I wasn't working on wedding flowers or was out of town, we hosted family from out of state and threw a graduation & birthday party for my son.  It has been one busy summer - and this week, I'm catching up.  Reclaiming the jungle of a yard, organizing bedrooms, shopping for school clothes and college dorm supplies and.... remembering to stop to smell the flowers :)!  Today, we'll even relax and take in a fabulous floral scene while enjoying music at the local botanical gardens:  Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park

A wonderful perk to all the summer weddings I've worked on - 
the "left-over" flowers that call for a vase in my home.




Enjoy your day and remember to stop and smell the flowers!
(Maybe even up close!)



Thursday, August 18, 2011

Our (egg) basket overfloweth.....

...with chicken, duck and Easter eggs. Spring of 2010 was our first attempt at owning chickens. It has been an interesting and foundational learning experience. I'm not sure why chickens are so fascinating to watch. One in particular likes to join me in the garden and eat found bugs and slugs off my trowel.

This spring, inspired by my daughters' "30 things to do before we are 30" list, we added "owning ducks" to the mix. Cute, messy and altogether a different experience, we have enjoyed their company on our little flower farm. Last week, one of the ducks starting laying eggs. Yesterday, one of our Araucana chickens left a surprise for us.

Baby Ducks, Spring 2011



Baby Chicks, Spring 2011



Gathered from the coop, Aug.17, 2011


An Abundant Harvest - even after having a neighbor gather eggs for a week while we were out of town