Last week I got a Scout Mob for Atlanta Vintage Books. I had never heard of this shop before and that is why I love things like Scout Mob! They introduce me to fantastic local places that I wouldn't otherwise know of. When I saw the words "vintage" and "books" I e-mailed my school teacher Mother-in-Law asap to see if she wanted to go with me. She is an avid children's book collector herself, so she was game!

Luckily, it is located not very far from us! Score! So I can definitely see myself visiting there often. I contacted the owners before I went to get permission to take photos for my blog, to spread the word about their store. They were totally okay with it and were the sweetest folks! They are so warm and welcoming and you can tell they very, very much love books. 

It is quite something seeing all of these old books together in one place. There's definitely a sense of history when you walk around. And the shop has a lived-in feel to it, much like the feeling of walking around someone's attic or when you're looking for treasures at estate sales - you sense there's a story that comes with every book. If you are used to thrift store, flea market and estate sale adventures, you're used to that dusty, sometimes moldy experience when looking through old books. It is no different in this place. But I find that charming.

Fair warning though: as an allergy sufferer, I need to point out that along with some dust, there are also cats. Lots of cats hanging about this place! Yet another charming aspect. I'm pretty allergic, but my sinuses weren't bothered while I was there. Needless to say, I didn't sit down on any furniture that could be covered in cat hair, so that helped. As long as I don't touch those cute furry guys and gals, I'm okay. But if you are highly allergic, I might steer clear (my husband actually gets very asthmatic just being in the same room with a cat. His throat closes up, not even touching them. Scary stuff!)

I of course made a beeline to the children's section. According to their website, they have one of the largest collections of rare and out-of-print Children's books in the Southeast. I was especially drawn to the mystery series collections they had from the 60's, including the Nancy Drew series. Would you believe I've never read one Nancy Drew book? What a scandal, right? I loved the cover illustrations so much on the editions they had.

I don't really read a lot mostly due to lack of time. Since I'm a crafter at heart, I normally save my free time for making things, and of course blogging. ; ) But sometimes I feel like I'm really missing out not reading more. I always read the big ones like Twilight and Harry Potter (ha) and I'm even listening to the Hunger Games on audio. But truly, I need to read more. And honestly? After going to this bookstore, I'm really itching to read the Nancy Drew series.

Here's one of those charming kitties here... I think he was actually posing for me.

These were some of my favorite finds. I've seen books with these same kitschy puppet scenes. They are super cool. The covers had 3D holograms on them.

And this was the find of the day, a 1st edition printing of A Confederacy of Dunces, Ethan's favorite book ever. I have yet to read it, but people say it's a riot. A must-read.

As far as pricing goes at this store, it really depends on how rare the book is, what edition it is, etc. These aren't your thrift store prices folks. But they are deserving. These people know their books. The books that are priced really well, deserve to be priced that way, you know? So, no unfair mark-ups I don't think. I walked away with a cute little book for $5 that has some really cool illustrations by a Dutch artist, if I'm not mistaken. Will show photos soon.

What are you reading lately? Do you collect vintage books?

Be sure to follow Atlanta Vintage Books on Twitter, Facebook and they also have an online shop!

While in Tampa last weekend, we drove across Tampa Bay to St. Petersburg, this cute little artsy city with lots of great antique malls, vintage shops and boutiques. Most of the vintage shops are fun to look through, but kind of pricey. The last antique mall we went to before we drove back to Atlanta was Gas Plant Antiques, home of Furnish Me Vintage (which I found while researching Tampa online).

Gas Plant is HUGE. I browsed around the first two floors first and there were a few things here and there that I liked. It's kind of set up like your typical antique mall with a hodge podge of furniture and decor items from many decades. There's really no focus. But once I got to the third floor, my jaw was to the floor! I knew that Furnish Me Vintage had mostly Mid-Century Modern Stuff, but I didn't realize that they take up the entire third floor, all 7,000 square feet!

 The displays are gorgeous and the pieces are just incredible. I've never seen a collection this large of pristine Mid-Century pieces all in one place. I was pleased to see that the mark-up on price was not unreasonable. Especially if you are in driving distance. We came home with a small hutch for a great price, not much more than what you'd pay on Craigslist. Of course, the super unique and pristine pieces are a bit more, but still totally reasonable. I saw Mid-Century styles that I've never ever seen out and about. It was pretty cool to see these designs in person. Drool-worthy! 

Luckily, the shop sells about 80% of these pieces in their online shop! They have been shipping pieces all over the country. You can request a shipping quote and one of the owners told me they try to find the most economical way to ship depending on your location and purchased item.

Be sure to follow them on Twitter and Facebook and if you're ever in the Tampa area, Furnish Me Vintage is a must see. And if you tell them you found them through my blog, they'll give you 10% off! Very cool!

Ethan's Aunt Ginger, who we visited this past weekend in Tampa, has a handful of chickens she keeps in her backyard. I was so excited to meet them as I've had the pleasure of eating many, many of their eggs! Ginger usually brings us cartons of eggs when she visits Atlanta and they are hands-down the best eggs I've ever had. I'm a big-egg lover. Gimme breakfast for every meal of the day and I'd be happy. They just don't get much more fresh than right from your backyard.

So many people are keeping chickens these days and I have to say, they are the sweetest things. They're pretty quiet unless they're laying eggs from what Ginger told me. We got to see their coop, and when it got dark, we saw them all snuggled up together on their perch! I had no idea chickens slept that way. It was the sweetest thing ever. I'm baffled at how they don't fall over!

Here's Ginger.. she's such an animal lover. She's owned all kinds of animals.

There's Nina the Chihuahua in the background above!

Here's the coop...

I couldn't help but go searching for some vintage chicken inspiration...

source 1, 2

purse

by the river (ok, just realized those are ducks, let's ignore that, mmkay?)

clock

cute

purse

Do you keep chickens? Do you love it?

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be spoiled rotten for my Birthday. (p.s. THANK-YOU for your kind words on my last post! You are too kind and you all totally made my weekend. You are all so sweet.) I'm lucky because my birthday usually lands on the MLK holiday weekend, so we usually end up going somewhere and my in-laws keep the boys. Very, very lucky. (Thanks Nana & Papa!) This year was no different. We usually end up going to Asheville, NC, or Savannah, GA. We love both places and they are only a few hours drive. But I really wanted to go somewhere new!

The problem is: There's just really not a lot of really cool places near Atlanta. We considered Nashville, TN (which is a VERY cool place, we'll save that for my next birthday maybe) and driving to the beach always seems like, well, just going to the beach. I like to save that for the summer. I love going places where I can shop.

YesterDaze

Enter Tampa, Florida. I have never, ever considered Tampa as a place I'd want to visit. It always seemed like it would be too far away to drive! But whatya know! It's only about a 7 hour drive. Totally doable for a weekend trip! And what makes it even better? Ethan's awesome Aunt Ginger and her boyfriend Juan live there. We love them. Ethan visited there by himself a few months ago and really loved it and knew I would, too.

I told Ethan my dream trip would be to hit every flea market and antique mall on the drive down there, and we did! He's a keeper. He would sit in the car and read his Kindle. 

I was totally blown away by how much VINTAGE is to be seen in Tampa! Ybor City, sort of the equivalent to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, LA, was really cool. Some great food and also great vintage! We went to a cool shop called La France there. I didn't get any pics but it is an a-ma-zing source of vintage clothing and accessories.

The first shop we visited though was YesterDaze and it really set the bar high, let me tell you. 

YesterDaze

Sherry, the owner, was nice enough to let me take photos of her place! She's a gem! You should run, not walk to YesterDaze if you're ever in the Tampa area.

I was eying that German dollhouse up there. She took it down for me and let me see all of the meticulously handpainted furniture and dolls inside. I decided to pass but it is a treasure. I ended up leaving with only one small group of items that I'll photograph soon.

You can tell Sherry has an incredible eye for vintage from many decades and has curated such a fabulous collection. And I of course love that she doesn't leave out the kitsch!

YesterDaze

And the good news? If you don't live near Tampa, she has an online Etsy shop! I even noticed blogger Casey at Elegant Musings is modeling in some of the clothing listings. It's a small bloggy world. ; )

Be sure to follow YesterDaze on Facebook, Twitter and of course their Etsy shop.

I'll be back with more pics from another incredible store filled with more Mid-Century Modern furniture than I've ever seen in one place located in the very cool Saint Petersburg, right near Tampa.