As I said yesterday, we got up early on Saturday morning to drive the approximately 90 minutes from Austin to Waco in hopes of beating the major Saturday morning crowds so we could eat at Magnolia Table.

It was about 8:15 when we arrived and I immediately knew we didn’t leave early enough when I saw the packed parking lot. Tram and I hopped out of the car to get our names on the wait list while Marissa parked.

Our hopes were slightly dampened when we saw the Disneyland-like line winding around stanchions in true Disney form. We got in line and Marissa soon joined us.

We stood there for about 15 to 20 minutes until an employee came around to let everyone know what the deal was. We were standing in line to put our names on the waitlist. She couldn’t say how long it would take us to get to the front of the line, but once we put in our name, it would be another hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes until we got a table.

The three stood there for another 5 minutes or so and then Tram said that she didn’t “have” to eat here to be happy. I was so relieved! Marissa and I said that we didn’t either and we got out of line and went around the building to the “Take Away” part of the restaurant to shop.

One fun find in the shop was the packages of our hometown Hayden Flour Mills that we spotted on the shelves. The store carries the pizza flour, cornmeal mix, and stone ground oatmeal. Local pride right there in Waco!

I can’t begin to tell you how much I covet this CAFE sign in the Take-Away store. LOVE!  The girls each got a coffee-to-go and we were on our way to the Silos, about a 10-minute drive up the road.

As for our Miles to Magnolia, Tram and I traveled 1049 miles from Phoenix and Marissa traveled 102 miles from Austin.

Here is my advice is you go to Magnolia Market. Don’t go on a Saturday or this is what you will encounter. Don’t get me wrong, we still loved it, but I have to believe it is better during the week.

And there is much to love besides the store, the grounds are gorgeous too.

From the Seed-Supply garden store to the gardens themselves, the great lawn, and food trucks, you could easily make a day of it.

I love how Jo beatifies everything, even the rusty contraptions coming off the silos that probably moved the grain in and out – back in the day.

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I had such a great day shopping with Blogiversary winners, Shirley, Laura and Maggie!

From left to right –

Shirley: Shirley is a longtime student of mine. She attends all my series classes at Les Gourmettes Cooking School and is the most lovely woman! I adore her in classes and I adored spending the day with her too!

Laura: I have known Laura for more than 20 years. We met as members of the Phoenix Junior League – way back when. Laura joined my committee when I chaired the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Beach Ball in 1997. The Beach Ball is celebrating its 25 anniversary with the 2018 event on March 3rd. Although Laura and I have not seen each other in years, hers is the first Christmas card I receive each and every year, on the day after Thanksgiving!

Maggie: I met Maggie for the first time on Monday morning at the Trader Joe’s at Tatum and Shea where we met up to begin our day of shopping. Maggie found the blog while looking for a “knockoff recipe” for True Food Kitchen’s Mediterranean Chopped Salad and has come back ever since. Although Maggie is substantially younger than the rest of us (she has three young kids, including a 3-year-old!) she fit right in and was an absolute doll!

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I shall share with you my June Sweet Salvage finds, from what I think is the most charming all the way to my favorite!

A 1953 high school dance card. Look at the adorable little pencil that is still attached!

It reads, “North Phoenix High School, Girls’ League Blue, And Silver Ball, Saturday, November 14, 1953”

There is no indication of the name of the young lady who was holding this card, but it is obvious that Ronnie Spaulding was her beau. They danced together 8 of the 11 dances she danced. She was “too tired” to dance the sixth dance, titled the “Prize Waltz” so she sat that one out. And it looks as though she and Ronnie may have ducked out before the “extra” dances at the bottom of the card. Poor Jack Brown, Bill Carroll, and Barry Baker never had a chance!

A nifty faux bois (from the French for false wood) souvenir mug from Yellowstone Park.

Sweet embroidered tea towels.

I absolutely adore the applique “French maid cookbook” towel too!

Unique dinner and salad plates.  And now for my favorite and most unusual find…

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In my final post of 2012, I shared a New Year’s Eve tablescape and showed you some plates that I longed for.

Among them was this set of four Ralph Lauren clock face plates that were from a 2010 Lauren line.

I’ve now learned that the pattern of the plates is Pocketwatch.

On Wednesday of this week, I thought I spotted the plates in a photo I saw on the Sweet Salvage Facebook page for their upcoming sale.

Posted only a few images later there was a close-up shot. It’s them!

Yesterday as the sale began and as soon as Peggy, Sheila, and I got through the doors, we all headed for the booth with the orange scarf on the mannequin. Peggy got there first and was snagging up the plates for me! Thanks, girlfriend!

I was a little worried about what the price would be. I’d searched online the day before we arrived to shop – just so I’d have an idea of what price to expect.  I learned that the original retail price in 2010 was $27 each!

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I can now share with you some exciting news about another big party scheduled for my new back patio.

In January, I’ll be throwing a baby shower for my dear friend, Tram Mai. She and her husband, Stephen, are expecting twins in March!

Photo credit

Yep, petite Tram is carrying twins! Crazy Wonderful! She and Stephen shared the glorious news with Dave and me over the weekend. Then Tram announced it on her show, EVB Live, yesterday. You can watch her sweet surprise live-on-air announcement HERE. I could not be happier for her!

Since it is now quite obvious that I’m not posting a recipe today, how about I also share with you my fun finds from last week’s Sweet Salvage sale?

This is the porcelain enamel scale that I so badly wanted to get.

Maybe I can incorporate it into the baby shower decor.

Until then, it has found a new home in our breakfast room.

I promise you that I will not be incorporating these creepy freaky doll parts in the baby shower decorations…

They, along with the skull and flashcard, are for my Halloween mantel.

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Today is my favorite day of the month! It is the third Thursday and that means one thing – it is opening day for the 4-day Sweet Salvage Sale!

The theme this month is “Hallowed Haven” and I’ve already had a sneak peek at all the wonderfulness!

Yep, last night, Peggy and I attended the Preview Party. We and 98 other guests scoped out all the fabulous finds and made long lists and strategic plans on what we wanted and just how we were going to get it!

Our personal strategy? Peggy goes one direction and has 6 treasures on her list (2 for her and 4 for me) while I go the opposite direction and snag 7 finds (4 for her and 3 for me). I hope our plan works, I shall keep you posted!

Remember how I was one of the lucky VIP 15-minute early entry recipients last month?  This month they had a really fun theme game going – it all centered around the board-game CLUE. You must go to their Facebook page and see how amazingly creative these women are. They blow my mind!

Here is your own personal sneak peek – the doors open at 10 AM, I hope to see you there. Look for me, I plan to be at the front of the line!

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After the July Sweet Salvage sale and in my subsequent “what I bought” post, I promised to show and tell you what I did with the tin molding piece I purchased.

The need for a valance arises from the fact that I can’t stand looking at the nasty metal Venetian blinds in our master bath for another minute.

The problem was – the tin piece was about 10-inches too short to cover the full width of the window. It took over a month, but I finally solved the length issue when I found two square tin ceiling tiles, one for each side of the long piece.

Since this window is in the shower/toilet/tub area of the bathroom, full coverage is needed in the morning and at night, but during the day, I like to pull up the blinds to bring in light and see out onto the backyard.

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If you’ve read this blog for more than a month or two, you already know that I adore Sweet Salvage and its occasional sale. I’ve written about my monthly obsession nearly two dozen times in the last two years. Sweet Salvage is only open on the 3rd Thursday of each month for four days. The rest of the month the über-talented “Sweet Gang” are out “picking” new merchandise and using it to create mindbogglingly beautiful vignettes – all centered around a fun monthly theme. I’m consistently blown away by the gorgeous scenes these ladies set with their well-priced vintage finds.

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This weekend, Sweet Salvage celebrates its 2-year birthday with the “Chapter Two” themed sale.

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Each month on the Sweet Salvage Facebook page, there are questions posted that followers may answer to then be entered into a contest. The names of a lucky five are drawn. Then the chosen few receive VIP 15-minute early entry into the sale on the highly anticipated opening day.

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Guess who was one of the lucky five to be drawn as a winner this month.  Yeah, ME!

I didn’t realize I’d won until I was sent an alert that blog follower, Betsy, had tagged me in a FB comment. Thank you Betsy for the heads up!

I invited Sheila as my BSB (best shopping buddy) and we had the best time during our 15 minutes of stress-free, first-pick shopping spree. Maybe too much fun in my case. Here is part of what I snagged this month at Sweet Salvage. Ooh, and they gave us a burlap shopping bag too. Sweet!

I’m going, to begin with my favorite find this month, instead of closing with it. That is how EXCITED I am to have found it.

It is a 12-inch round, 2-inch high metal plate with a list of recipe ingredients around the perimeter.

Can you figure out what these ingredients make?  (1  1/4 cups flour; pinch of salt; 3 eggs, beaten; 1  1/2 cups milk; 2 tbsp butter, melted)

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I know, I know – it would be nice if I’d post a recipe today since I missed posting so many days this month due to vacation. So sorry, but we ate the second foil packet for dinner last night, so I got nothing for you today … recipe-wise.

I have something WAY better!

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My vintage finds from this month’s sale at Sweet Salvage! I was pretty bummed when I realized that I was going to be out of town for the 3rd Thursday of the month. I’m usually there, standing in line with the other Sweet devotees when the doors open at 10:00.

Even though I’ve gone on Fridays, Saturdays, and even Sundays in the past, I feared that all the “good stuff” would be gone by the time I got there this past Sunday afternoon.

Not so! In fact, I couldn’t even buy all that I wanted. I had to really edit myself and use every ounce of my limited self-control to not spend four times more than I spent.

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For instance, I did not buy that fabulous vintage “Log Cabin Bread” display stand at the top of the page. Oh, I wanted that so bad! And I did not buy the wonderful cabinet pictured above, although I went back and forth on “where I would put it” – I just couldn’t justify spending the money, so it was left behind.

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I bought a ton at the May Sweet Salvage sale. Wanna see it all?
Yes?
YAY, I’m excited and happy to show you!

Let’s begin with some of the more fragile finds.

There were two lovely Ironstone brown transfer-ware covered dishes. I couldn’t decide between them – so I got them both.

I researched the markings on the bottom of each and found that they are from the late 1800’s.

I further found a match to the second one for sale at an auction site online. Trust me, I paid nothing close to $150 for my two dishes!

The three little Ironstone hotel creamers are adorable. Two of them have markings, I haven’t had a chance to look them up yet.

The creamer on the left is from the New Southern Hotel in Jackson, Tennessee – you can read about the hotel’s storied history HERE. The center creamer came from the Hotel St. Charles in Winnipeg, built in 1913. The one on the right is from The Belmont. There are many Belmont Hotels all over the world, I have no idea which one this creamer is from.

I actually purchased two of these little gems at the April sale, but since I didn’t post about it, I thought I’d share them with you now.

I especially love the Ironstone brown transfer-ware butter pat dish. Sheila picked up four of five of these cuties too. The adorable flower thing is about as big as my thumb. That is the marking on the bottom of it. I think it’s half of a salt and pepper shaker pair.

The small square dish is from the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, a 5-star hotel in Paris, France that is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Looking at the little hotel dish every day, makes me long to be back in Paris!

The rectangular dish has the image of THIS on it.

Ready for more?  This batch is mostly metal stuff.

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