Ok, this has taken quite a while to put together, so grab a cup of whatever warms your soul and reminisce with me as I recant this Crazy in Texas experience . . .
After cutting it a tad close returning my rental car in NOLA, a quick 1 hour
flight to Houston and what seemed like an eternity on the Super Shuttle, my "wet
rag" self made it to Katy, Texas where my girls Charlene, and Karen were wait'in to pick me up (Susie hung back at the hotel). They had 2 days of 90 degree temps in the fields of Round Top without me and I was rar'in to go! We got up the next
morning to temps in the 50's and some"spitt'in" (Texas term for mist). So, we
layered ourselves up as we had been told and the 4 of us headed out on our 45
min drive to the fields. You see, there's not much in the actual town of Round
Top, population 77! Most of the people who come out for this amazing two weeks
of vintage indulgence are repeats and they book sometimes a year in advance,
leaving the rest of us with what’s left in the outskirts.
Back row: me, Charlene, Susie, Karen and Joy
Front row: Rita, Cindy, Riki and Diane
This is our Crazy group, minus Karen DeCapite, she wasn’t feeling well and stayed back at the hotel on the verge of a major spell. Later that night she ended up in the ER from a prescription reaction. But no worries, she toughed it out and made it to the fields the very next day – you go girl!
I think vintage indulgence is just about the best way to describe the wonder of Round Top. It’s actually split up into 3 events; the fields open first and there is everything from yard sale items to architectural salvage beyond belief. All of us newbies walked around in awe the entire time. Most of the vendors in fields have temporary tables and tents set up although there are a few stationery buildings used only twice a year. We timed it so that we would be able to shop the fields for a few days and catch the next event opening, Marburger. Here there are several huge tents set up with all the vendors inside and the $25 entry fee is good for it’s duration of 5 days. The final event is The Big Red Barn where serious antiques & dealers can be found. You can easily run amuck shopp’in, but I was only going to spend the cash I brought and actually did quiet well. Most everyone is willing to bargain and a lot of the vendors prefer cash. The vignettes alone were worth the trip. So much talent, eye candy and inspiration everywhere you look.
And this is one of my most favorite vignettes; freak’in FabUlous!
Of course, there were a quite a few boo boo faces for items that were absolutely FabUlous, but so not in my budget.
Vintage grain sack $250 / Skip to My Lou one-of-a-kind jewelry $200+
My first day in the fields was Sunday and we spent a good bit of time weeding through a bin of doilies that were only $1 each! OMG Of course, Sunday night was the blog party hosted by Teresa Campo, of Garden Vintage Antiques. It was so great to get to meet so many people whose’ blog you follow. It was a casual pot luck and everyone was so welcoming. Teresa also hosted a name badge contest. I had made these little bags for our group and entered & I won second place! The girl who won first place made the most amazing German doll necklace and so deserved first place. I don’t have her name, but I know Teresa will post about it when her computer with all her pics gets repaired. As winners, we got to choose a hand-made apron for our prize. They’re made by a guy named Tommy Sew Fast! How cool is that!
The uber talented Diane Cook was the guest of honor at the blog party. Here she is in her custom-made booth just for the party with her daughter, Melanie. How cute are they!
At the party we were also treated to goodie bags by the Junk Gypsies; these girls are so cute and so cool! And those goodie bags are really sturdy (more about that in a minute).
Day 2 in fields was full of more incredible eye candy. But for some reason, I started to not feel too good and I can say that I truly bonded with the girls in the car that afternoon when that pretty pink Junk Gypsy bag came in really handy! I quickly got it out of my system and Cindy coined the term “puke and rally” and that’s just what I did. As soon as my spell was over I was ready to hit the fields again. I have to say that Susie was so sweet to escort me quickly to the car and then we laughed about it on the plane ride home. She said she was wait’in for my head to start spinn’in and then it was over and as Cindy had said, I rallied. REALLY?? I had shopp’in and eat’in to do! HA
That night we were fortunate enough to have a dinner reservation at Royer’s which is a Round Top institution and tradition. They have 2 seatings in a tiny but so Texas cool restaurant and the food was absolutely FabUlous!
Marbuger is where the Magnolia Pearl phenomenon takes place. It’s a look, a culture and a lifestyle. But most of all, an amazing experience. This year’s theme was birds and boy was it amazing. There were iron dress sculptures with skirts made into bird cages with live birds inside, birds hanging from the tent ceiling made from old books, huge paper & burlap flowers, and silk, linen & doilied fabrics stacked a mile high. Pure FabUlousness everywhere you looked!
Here I am with Robin, the owner and creator of Magnolia Pearl.
Here’s my suitcase full of Round Top purchases which included this chartreuse-lined baby!
And my stash of goodies from our group including my apron prize. Joy gave us each a survival kit (many items came in handy; just say’in!), Suzie made us each a spoon necklace and my bag.
This was truly an amazing group of talented Crazy girls in Texas. Thanks for a jaw-dropping time and most of all thanks to our wrangler, the FabUlous, Miss Charlene.
I’m ready to do it all again next year and you can bet I’ll be there!
