CAMPING at Little Bear and Hawley Lake

I LOVE to camp. I don't know why. Well, yes I do, many reasons why, actually. I love the smell of the air away from people and cities. I love how blue the sky looks and how you can actually see the dome of the earth. I love a campfire, collecting the wood, chopping the wood. Food tastes better when you are camping. I love the quiet and alternately the sounds of the trees, wind and although at times scary, the critters doing whatever creepy things they're doing in the woods. I have been so lucky this summer to go on a few very wonderful little camping excursions. Recently we went to a place called Little Bear Lake also called Shush Be Zahze. It was a nice site, well spread out and campfire pits straight out of the Flinstones. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

The drive out towards Sho Lo was BEAUTIFUL! We got to see the Arizona desert in all of its beauty and strangeness plus a bonus sunset. By the time we got to the camp site it was dark but I have lovely parents who had gone out earlier and assembled our tent for us.

Our campfire that night

Driving into the woods in pitch black was a little scary but it was well worth the surprise in the morning when we emerged from our tents, rubbing the campfire smoke from our eyes, to a beautiful pine forest, lakes, creeks and cows! 

Beautiful Lichen

Our dogs Ryla and Tater.

Hawley Lake

The icing on the cake for the weekend was a glimpse of a herd of wild Mustangs and their foal on the Apache reservation near Hawley Lake.  

Go to 

www.camparizona.com

for campsite information! Go camp!

San Fran and The Alameda Point Antiques Faire

This has been a pretty great summer. We've been camping, creating, working, eating and just enjoying life. I have also had the opportunity to do some traveling, including a trip to San Francisco, thanks to my incredible employer, Carol owner and operator extraordinaire of  The Cottage Garden.

San Fran is a beautiful city, every building seems to be a different color and full of lovely details, from filigree fire escapes, to dragon draped light posts in China town.

Being a business trip, (of course!) Carol had taken myself and coworker Monica to experience the Gift Show and we spent the first couple days doing reorders and finding new and exciting product. But really and more importantly our trip was about The Alameda Point Antiques Faire. GOOD GRIEF. It was like an antique market on steroids. Over 35 rows, 3 blocks deep, of 800 plus vendors all touting incredible finds 20 years old or older! Held on the 1st Sunday of every month, the Alameda Point Antiques Faire is THE largest antiques show in Northern California. It is completely overwhelming. Lines to get in, lines to get out, but oh! Once you are in! Heaven. 

These lovely ceiling tiles now have a happy home at The Cottage Garden I

 

http://alamedapointantiquesfaire.com/

If you have the time, money and a big ol' truck and someone to drive it, this is the ULTIMATE antiques show! Even without those things I was able to pick up a few goodies for myself. What a great time and what an excellent experience. Thanks Carol. 

One last picture for good measure.

SAN FRAN OR BUST!!

Off we go! My wonderful boss Carol of The Cottage Garden II, is taking Monica and I on a whirlwind buying trip to San Francisco! I am so excited! I have never been to San Fran and from what I have heard I am in for a treat...oh no, I'm gonna do it... a San Francisco treat???!...eek. Anywho, I will be taking lots of pictures so stay tuned for a super San Fran inspired blog! Oh, the best part...it's going to be in the 60's while we're there. A lovely respite from the 100 degree plus humidity we've been enjoying here in the inferno. Ok! See you on the flip side.

CHRYSANTHEMUM COMPANY PURSES ARE HERE!

I love fabrics, a lot. I have this horrible habit of buying fabric that I just can't leave behind and then I store it away, never to be seen again. A few months ago I started collecting old sheets from thrift stores. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but they were so beautiful, with prints and patterns so unique to store bought fabrics, I found myself coming home with piles of orphaned pillow cases, top sheets and an occasional fitted sheet. Then one day my friend Rika took me to SAS, an amazing discount fabric store. If you live in Phoenix, and you love fabric you MUST go. It is mind boggling. There are containers full of buttons, refrigerator boxes full of lace, tables and tables full of awful sequins covered stretchy fabrics that would make a figure skaters heart sing, and the most wonderful wall of discontinued trim from who knows when, unlike anything you would find at your corporately owned fabric shop. Three hours later I was strutting to the car with one giant bag full of the most beautiful old trims and fabrics. Feeling triumphant after my amazing score, my mood fell in an instant as Rika asked me what I was going to do with all this stuff. Here I was with another sack of stuff that would end up in a box and I just blurted out, "I'm gonna make bags". Finally, after months of waffling and my mom on my back and by my side, I have bags. These are the first of many, we've already sold one! This is what I've been up to for the last month. I hope you love them as much as I do.