Market Fresh!

Today found me with some time on my hands and a beautiful day so I decided to take a jaunt up to NH and check out the Sage Farm Antique Mart. This lovely venue is open just one weekend a month, stocked by multiple vendors with quality merchandise and a fresh concept - each month's show has a theme, and after the weekend what hasn't sold must be removed so the place can be completely reinvented for the next month's show.



The trip took a little longer than I expected, as it was almost 90 miles from Halifax up to Exit 2 in NH, and I forgot to factor in my Wicked Ridiculous Fear of Driving Over Bridges; driving white-knuckled at 2 miles an hour over the Leonard Zakim bridge definitely slowed me down. But when I pulled up to the Farm and was greeted by all the wonderful junktiques on the porch, I hopped merrily out of the Jeep ready to do some shopping.





Thursday is the Dealer Preview day which I thought lasted from 10 to 1 so you can imagine my chagrin when I checked in at 11:50 and the woman looked at her watch and said "I'm not sure how strictly it's being enforced but you might want to shop fast, we close in 10 minutes." (Insert Psycho knife-stabbing sound effects here along with my horrified expression) Luckily my friend Audrey who peddles her wares at this Market was there working and assured me I could take my time looking around. Oh - and don't let the "Dealer Preview" scare you off, the Market is restocked all weekend long!



The May Market was called "Green and Simple" and was just chock-full of awesome chippy furniture and garden elements, all at amazingly affordable prices. Audrey graciously showed me the layout and there was just so much to take in I forgot all about taking pictures, trying not to rip the tickets off of everything I saw for fear I would fill my Jeep too quickly and find 'even better' stuff around the next corner. It was only when we hit a large room towards the back where Audrey introduced me to the owner Sharyl and her merchandise, saying "This is where the REAL Antiques are", that I remembered Claudia was going to kill me if I didn't come home with photographic evidence of the place.
Check out this phenomenal potting bench comprised of vintage salvage, complete with sink ready to be plumbed and start flowing!!





I felt like somewhat of a celebrity as Audrey was introducing me to all the vendors, many of whom seemed to be excited to meet "Salvage Chick" in person, as they had either heard of my shop or visited the website and had many kind things to say about Salvage Chic. I'm embarrassed to say I was not retaining names & faces because I was too busy scanning the merchandise so if I run into these folks again, I hope they will understand when I stare at them blankly!!

Here's a glimpse of my Pile of Booty right before I loaded up the Jeep for the return trip home and YES, this stuff will all be for sale at Salvage Chic this weekend! All in all it was a Great Day... despite being in the wrong lane on the way home and accidentally taking Route 1 South instead of staying on 95. Which eventually led me to Boston - via the Most Dastardly of All Bridges to Drive Over: The TOBIN! Yikes. Neither Rain, Snow, Sleet nor Fear of Bridges will keep Salvage Chick from garnering cool merchandise!!



Check Out www.sagefarmantiques.com for more info about the Monthly Marketplace, and mark your calendars for the 1st weekend of every month: ROAD TRIP! Oh, and be sure to tell 'em Salvage Chick sent you!

Dog-Tired.

When they're not sniffing out cool junk for me to sell and hounding the South Shore to let them do cleanouts, Izzy & Duff are busy hunting wabbits... What can I say, that old adage "A Tired Dog is a GOOD Dog" is certainly true! I wish I knew that when Duff was going through his Couch-Eating Phase. Happy Spring, everyone!

Woodsy Goes A.W.O.L.

Late yesterday our new friend Maddie came in with her Aunt and was dismayed to discover one of the Owl Salt & Pepper shakers she was coveting last week was MISSING! I couldn't really hear what was going on because I was way on the other side of the shop but I heard Claudia exclaim "I just NOTICED there was only one sitting there!"



A couple minutes later I joined them; "One of the owl salt shakers is missing? What do you think happened?" Claudia solemnly nodded her head and said she bet someone got interrupted in the middle of nipping them and only got away with one. I felt awful. To my knowledge, nothing's ever been stolen from the shop, except that one time I thought this guy stole my LP with Barry Manilow and his Beagle on the cover until I found it hiding behind something 2 weeks later. It must be all those Menacing Signs that Yard Sale Buddy gifted me with.



Anyway back to the owl, all I could think was "Who would steal an owl dressed like ELTON JOHN?!?" when a little glitter caught my eye and way down at the bottom of the shelving, there was the other owl perched in an old toy race car, like he was making a getaway!! Looks like Woodsy the Owl doesn't give a hoot after all.

Happy Easter, Bunny!

I was talking to my Mom the other night when she casually mentioned she was making Easter Dinner and she didn't suppose I'd be coming. It's kind of weird having a work schedule that's the opposite of pretty much everyone I know; so I assumed the dinner was going to be in the middle of the day, as Holiday dinners tend to be, and politely declined. Well, maybe not so politely, I may have said something like "I have to WORK, the whole world does not celebrate EASTER." One of the things that distinguishes Salvage Chic from places like Never Open Antiques is that we have regular days & hours we are open, and don't just close on a whim because it's raining or snowing or the day ends in Y. Folks do come from all over to visit - especially on the weekends. I'd hate to have someone drive down from East Overshoe and find us closed on a Sunday. But then my Mom reminded me I'd be missing out on a Serious Family Tradition... my Dad has this 79-year-old Aunt Bunny. Her real name is Beatrice, but forever she's been Bunny, she's a total hoot and a lady of that era can just get away with being called that. Anyway, we all think it's a scream that once a year we get to exclaim "Happy Easter, Bunny!" Kenny and I decided we just cannot pass up the opportunity. Have no fear, Salvage Chic will still be open Sunday from 11-5; then we'll scoot up to my Parents' House in Boston for dinner; I hope there's enough ham to go around, as my Mom has not yet been forewarned. And for those of you not named BUNNY - Happy Easter to you too!!

Jack of All Trades

So if you haven't figured it out by now, Mack of Never Open Antiques across the street recently defected to the Salvage Chic team. And since I hopefully no longer have to worry about him suing me for defamation of character, I can write about him using his real name - Jack. Poor Jack. He had a really hard time transitioning from the Land of Unsold Mahogany to the idea that Painted Furniture Sells. Chippy and Distressed are a plus, but Jack proceeded cautiously at first; he painted his items within an inch of their lives. Coat after coat of pristine paint that I'll admit looked wonderful, but all I could think was one ding on each piece was going to ruin its appeal. I mean, we sling a lot of furniture around and sometimes it's tough to navigate a piece out the door without knocking into something. So last Sunday Jack showed up announcing that he had a few new pieces to sell. I followed him out to his truck, inwardly cringing and half-tuned in to his "blahblahblah I was going to paint it... but then I thought I'd try just sanding it a little." Huh? He threw open the truck cap and I peered hesitantly in. Oh My God! I inhaled with delight. "Oh Jack! You are all grown up now, you are Distressing Furniture!!" Seriously I wanted to hug him. Then I accidentally blurted out that I was going to throw up if he had brought another piece in what I was starting to refer to as Jack Yellow. (Just ask Claudia, she's seen me 'accidentally' scuff his stuff while muttering "#!@*! Jack Yellow." Sorry Jack. You know we love having you aboard... and not just because your wife sends us cookies. Keep up the good work!!

Scoot on in to Salvage Chic this week and grab this masterpiece from The-Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Mack... I don't think it will be here long!!