Vintage Valentine

Last year I stumbled upon these adorable Valentine’s and I have been dying to show them to you ever since.

We were browsing a local flea market, and no, not the wonderful gonna-find-lots-of-treasures type of flea market, it was actually pretty crummy. I’m talking old car radios, tables of socks, illegally recorded DVD’s and even chickens. Yes, it was pretty much a disaster. But, we were there so we figured we might as well look around.

I stopped at this one booth and from under a stack of trashy romance novels from the 80’s I saw the scalloped edge of a heart. Hmph, what could this be?

Only the cutest vintage Valentine’s cards! I had to play off my excitement though. If there is one thing my Dad has taught me about junkin’ it’s to never let them see your excitement. Always down play your interest, pretend you could totally live without it and you just might be surprised at what deals you might walk away with.

This is not easy for me to do, however. When I spot something, it’s usually accompanied by a, “oh neat!” or, “oh wow!” or the quintessential Southern, “awwww”.

You guys would be proud of me. As I pushed aside the worn stacks of sultry Fabio lookalikes, I took one look at these adorable cards and merely muttered, “How much fer yer cards?”

They are absolutely precious in every way. I especially like this one…

Talk about making my skirt fly up! You can even see the faint remnants of a sweet Valentine’s message. “To” and “From”, it doesn’t get any sweeter than that.

Photos by: KHJ

Posted 1/21/11, Topic: Blog

A Whale of a Find

Some things just speak to you and take your breath away.

I can’t explain what about this precious illustration made me click the “purchase” button immediately. Maybe it was the adorable colors or the fact that they are watering flowers from the spout of a whale balloon. Genius.

“Notice what you care about. Assume many others share your dream.” This print is the featured poster for January on 1200 Posters. The concept is simple –

one poster

once a month

features up and coming artists

only 100 copies made of each print

Glad I clicked fast, they’re all gone. Big thanks to Design*Sponge for featuring this awesome site.

Posted 1/20/11, Topic: Blog

Big Green Egg

Mr. BEY and I slipped off to the “country” to visit our friends and their newest baby. She’s not like most babies, no, this one’s a bit different. She’s big and round with the cutest little dimples. She’s real quiet and barely makes a peep. Oh, and did I mention she was green?

Yep, they’re the proud parents of a Big Green Egg and they’ve been cooking up a storm ever since. We wanted to visit, but knew it wouldn’t be polite to show up without a gift for the new baby, so we brought her these…

{Warning: If you are a tender-hearted vegetarian overt your eyes, but if you are a meat lovin’ fool grab your napkin, I can almost guarantee some drool.}

I am pretty sure these are the thickest steaks I have ever bought. Two porterhouse and two ribeyes, each over an inch thick! Gosh, I’m salivating just typing those words. What is it about a good steak that just makes my pigtails perk? Once those babies were in the Egg, you could just taste the air. Delish!

From lighting the Big Green Baby, um I mean Egg, to putting the steaks on the table – just 25 minutes. You can’t beat that with a stick.

Photos by: KHJ

A delicious meal with the best friends, does it get any better than that?

Posted 1/18/11, Topic: Eats

Oh My Darling Clementine

Do you ever run across something and know it’s just meant to be?

The other day, while peeling a clementine at my desk, the beauty of the fruit struck me. It’s the perfect round size and they’re so easy to peel. As I pulled back the skin, you could see a fine spray of mist escape. The smell completely filled my office, so intoxicating, so refreshing.

Looking at the clementine, so perfectly created, each part of it designed for a specific purpose, I knew I wanted to take some time to try to capture its beauty.

Coincidently, while browsing one of my favorite antique stores, something caught my eye. At first I was struck by its beautiful green cover, then I picked up the book and read the spine – Clementine in the Kitchen.

The perfect photo prop for the perfect fruit. Love it!

Flipping through the book I found many darling illustrations of Clementine and her kitchen adventures. I believe she must have some French inspirations for many of the recipes and stories in the book use French words and terminology.