Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Country Living 2010

Hey everyone!! Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the beginnings of our autumn season. We have just returned from the 5th Annual Country Living magazine fair. WOW...what a weekend!! It's one big Country Living party!! What would the fair be without a little drama? I'm sure you all remember 2008 and that little breeze named Hurricane Ike that blew through on Sunday. These photos are NOT from that year...this is how the fair started out THIS year.
One of Ike's cousins visited us on Wednesday. With tornado sirens blaring we (my parents, me, friend Kimberly, fellow dealer and collector friends Lisa and Scott and their young daughter, who were set up with me) tried to keep our tents from flying into the next county. It quickly became too dangerous to hang on to metal poles with a "kite" attached. I mean let's face it...all that great stuff we hunt down and treasure is really just stuff, and it's replaceable stuff. Everyone on the fairgrounds was soon running for cover and the sanctuary of the church basement is where we found ourselves. When the storm blew over this is what we found, three hours of tent set up down the drain.
But you know us country gals don't let much stop us from what we want to do! We draped everything with tarps and went home determined to start all over on Thursday. We crammed 2 days of set up into one and were almost ready Friday when the early bird fair goers poured in at 8:30 in the morning.
In the chaos of it all we had some minor crises arise; at separate times our register ran out of pennies and ones, the rain on Wednesday damaged our paper rolls for the register but we didn't know until we needed it. Thankfully my dear friend Kathi Bejma of KD Vintage helped me out.
Most of Friday and Saturday the line to pay was very long. While that's wonderful to see as a business owner I can't help but feel anxious when people have to wait that long. Everyone was absolutely wonderful and patient and I thank all of you! I'm thinking next year there will have to be 2 check out areas.

My friend Sherry made these gorgeous bouquets!! Sweet annie, golden rod, wheat stems, sunflowers, hydrangeas...simply a perfect autumn gathering.


These gorgeous pumpkins definitely stole the show. I started out with 57 of them and by 1pm Friday they were gone! More are on the way and should be in the shop next week.
Aren't they beautiful?
Sue Whitney, founder of JUNKMARKET Style stopped by several times. First was to shop for her demonstration 'Setting a Harvest Table' sponsored by Gorilla Glue. Half of what she had packed to be sent to the fair ended up getting shipped to Florida. So she was shopping for items. She snatched up industrial baskets, brown transferware plates, old keys and locks and more. I so wanted to head over to watch her in action but we were just way too busy (a good problem). She came back to show me the cutest napkin rings she made with burlap and the keys she bought from us. Hope to see some pictures on the internet soon!

Now the bad news...these are the only pictures I took. ARGH!! Had my 35mm with me the whole time but it was just too busy and the storm Wednesday put us way behind schedule. So can you help a girl out? Send me your pics from the fair. Would love to do a post with a collection of fair goers pictures.

20 comments:

A House and Home said...

Your booth looks so beautiful. I wish I was there.

Polly said...

It looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!!! You have outdone yourself once again with all the french architectural salvage farmhousy goodness! The velvet pumpkins are awesome....MUST HAVE ONE!!!

I am so sorry that you had to experience crazy weather during setup! That is a real stinker! But, you're right, a country girl doesn't let a little wind and rain get her down!! You go girl!!

Glad things went well!

xo

Polly

Sheila said...

HI Lisa,
I am so glad to hear that you are safe and sound...you know i love those words you said, this is just stuff and although we love r stuff, it can be replaced :)I would love to have some of those velvet pumkns...please tell me the cost :) i hope your week is full of rest my friend.

blessings,
Sheila

Unknown said...

Hi! OMG I had NO idea you had such aweful weather just before the start of the fair! I was there and your booth was BEAUTIFUL!! I do have some photos and I will email them to you tonight or tomorrow. I was SOOO busy taking it all in that I didn't take as many as I wish I had. I am happy the fair was a success for you! It was truely an amazing experience for me as it was my first time there!! It is now an annual event for me and my partener and I are considering doing a booth there next year!

Unknown said...

where is your store located?

Beth R said...

I'm so glad you didn't get blown away! I'm convinced Mother Nature has a grudge against the Country Living Fair.

I'm thrilled you were so busy and that it was a success. The pictures don't do it justice I'm sure.

I'm so sad I missed it this year but I had the death plague and there was no way I could have made it. Those pumpkins are amazing, I think I'll be seeing you soon!

Rachel Noelle Pallas said...

~*sounds like you had quite an adventure! Luckily it turned out good after the storm~ I LOVE those pumpkins!! ;) Hugs,Rachel~*

Janet- OPEN MARKET STYLE said...

SO GLAD YOU ALL ARE SAFE AND SOUND !
YOUR SPACE LOOKED WONDERFUL AND CROWED FULL OF BUYERS , YEAH !!!
I HOPE THERE IS SOME REST FOR YOU THIS WEEK AS I KNOW THAT SHOW WEARS YOU OUT !!
BEST BLESSING TO YOU LISA SO GLAD THE SHOW WAS ANOTHER GREAT ONE :)
GOOD THOUGHTS YOUR WAY !
WARMLY
JANET

Angela said...

I took a few pics, I can send them to you, if you like. There are also some on my blog, www.unexpectedelegance.com. I was a little intimidated by all the people, so I was trying to snap quickly, they're not the best, but they show off your AMAZING things.
Great job, by the way! You were so busy I didn't get a chance to introduce myself, maybe next year!
~Angela

bess said...

My mother and I were there, your booth was one of our favorites! I'll send you some of my pictures, I'll have them posted on my blog too. The velvet pumpkins are great, we must not have made it to your booth by 1! I did buy something from you, I can't remember what though! We had a terrific weekend with all of you, Thanks so much! Bess

Heaven's Walk said...

Gosh, I'm so glad that everyone made it through that storm okay! Holy cow! What an awesome booth!!!! Awesome! I would'ave stood in line - rain or shine - for those treasures! Those little pumpkins are adorable, too! :)

xoxo laurie

Vicki said...

Your booth is beautiful. So glad you recovered from the morning mishap. I am crazy for those velvet pumpkins.

Tammy said...

Wow! You pulled that booth together great after the storm! Good thing you all had a safe place to go until it blew over!
I love your booth...all of it...but those velvet pumpkins...WOW!!!
Any chance you'll be @ the Country Living Fair in Atlanta in October?

Tammy :-)
Now a follower...

Cabin 19 Supply Company said...

Thank you EVERYONE for your compliments!! So sweet! So happy you enjoy your visit either in person or virtually. I know its a little crazy at the fair but we really want your experience at urban farmhouse to be a special treat, a relaxing getaway, retail therapy if you will. So its so nice to know enjoy it. To answer 2 questions, my store is located in Thornville, Ohio, about 30 min east of Columbus. No, we are not setting up in Atlanta this year...but we might go just for fun to shop! :-)

Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas said...

Oh how gorgeous!! It is just beautiful! I would have LOVED to have been there!! And you just persevered in spite of the hurricane force winds and tornados!

I just found your blog (where have I been?) and LOVE it!!!

I am a follower and most definitely will be back!

Have a great day!

Lou Cinda :)

Paige Thomas King said...

nice recovery! your booth was fabulous--no surprise. i'll keep my eyes out for sue's burlap napkin rings (i love burlap and keys!). and those pumpkins!!! those pumpkins!
thanks for sharing. more pictures would have only made me more upset that i couldn't be there.

Anonymous said...

i have pics on my blog if you are interested..
www.juNxtaposition.blogspot.com

we didnt realize how lucky we were that we came on thursday, not wednesday..sorry you had such a rough start...but..i'm sure you recovered....cl is still the best fair ever ! are you doing atlanta?

corynne said...

What a beautiful booth!! I wish I could have everything in there!

VINTAGE HOME lifestyle said...

How I can relate to the twisted tent. I use one in my back yard for storage...one late evening a freak wind blew in and my 10'x 20' tent ended up side down on my not so friendly neighbors house...oops!
You pulled it together amazingly!
Cathleen

Gretchen said...

What a wonderful booth space you had...I can see why the wait would be so long. Great job with all of the beautiful displays and such.
Too funny...I loved the napkin ring holders Sue had at the AA/JMS event a week or so ago, and kept going back looking at them, and now realize the Junk goods came from your fabulous space shown here. lol They are awesome, and she did do a post about them on her Junk Market Style blog in case you didn't catch it.
Gretchen