Find a Vintage Market, find a piece of Heaven!!

Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to go to a vintage fair out in Highland, Illinois. Even thought I found it to be VERY strange that they named it the Saint Louis Vintage Market Days, but hey it is what it is. So I heard about this market from a family member who went out there Saturday afternoon. She had taken a picture of some vintage cameras. Recently I had been obsessed with getting my hands on a TLR camera and in her picture there were around 4 different options. 

Photo credit: Amy Hopper-Davis

I immediately zeroed in on the black one that was at the bottom. I figured it had to be a Yashica or even maybe a Rolliflex or Rollicord. So I decided Saturday night that I was going to go check out this market to see if maybe the camera was still available, for $50 it was a huge steal. Yet my biggest issue was waiting on AT&T to come out Sunday morning and fix a TV issue. Thankfully they came through and were done by 10:30am.

After mapping my route to get out to fair I realized that this was going to be a bit of a trek. Almost an hour to get to the Madison County Fairgrounds. So I made my way there and I couldn't believe how many corn fields are in the area. I eventually made it to my destination and ended up parking on a baseball field along with numerous other cars.

I start making my way over to the fair grounds and there didn't seem to be that much activity but when I eventually did make it to the main entrance to pay my $5 admission fee, holy crap.....this place was BUSY. I was absolutely amazed at all the people there and all the different items that were up for sale. I saw vintage clothes, furniture, accessories, jewelry, you name it was probably there. 



Yet the biggest surprise was seeing a former coworker also out there with her wares.  Kathleen Berhman owns Buddha, Body and Bath. She makes wonderful handmade soaps, candles, lotions, and lip balms.

 There was also 2 huge barns that had vendors in them as well as two warehouse buildings also with vendors. I walked around and took in the sites. I actually made more than one trip of the whole place just to make sure I saw everything. I did eventually buy a few things.

Soaps for my mom from Buddha Body and Bath

__________________________________________________________________

Wine Caddy from Reclaim Renew

_________________________________________________________________

Homemade leather bracelets with hammered brass designs from Barn Trash

________________________________________________________________

There were a few food trucks as well and I decided to try the pizza truck and I must say it was pretty good!

Slice of the Hill

I also made sure to take plenty of pictures so I could remember the event. I definitely plan on coming back again.  In regards to the camera I was originally interested in, I did find the seller and her booth. Unfortunately she had sold the camera (it was a Yashica) Saturday evening but I did get her business card so I might look her up in a few months to see if she was able to find any more TLR cameras. 

Villa Design

The Vintage Market will be back in Saint Louis during the Christmas Holidays.

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

Paint Nite - Joyias Tapas

Yesterday evening I enjoyed another Wine/Painting event (Paint Nite) down in Tower Groves at a restaurant called Joyia Tapas. I made sure to get down there at least 30 minutes before the event started to make sure I was able to get a good seat. The restaurant was very nice and I made sure before we started at 7pm to have a glass of moscato and a sprite on deck to enjoy.

Eventually 7pm comes around and our head painters along with, I think, was the owner of the restaurant introduce themselves and inform us that during this wine/painting party servers would be around to bring us drinks and food which was definitely a nice and welcomed difference from the other previous two wine/painting parties that I have attended.

After all of the introductions the head painter starts the class and we see an example of the painting that we will be doing for the evening.

Name of Painting: Reflection

 So we start our paintings with a blank canvas and start to do solid colors across and blending the colors as well.

Throughout the evening I'm making some small talk with some another lady at my table and after we paint up to this point, we take a small break to let our canvases dry before starting on part two of paintings, which is to painting bushes, and you can imagine the funny jokes that were had about that.....lolol

So I started off painting my bushes and tree trunk in the color black as the example painting but when I started to makes the leaves for the trees something in me decided to change it up and go in a different direction. So I decided to make my tree a deep dark green and follow it up with a slightly lighter green in the middle of the leaves.

 

 After I was done with my first tree, I flipped my canvas upside down and proceeded to make my reflective bushes (in green) and tree. Yet while we were painting, we were treated to a belly dance performance.

So while the belly dancer was giving some wonderful entertainment, I was bobbing my head to the middle eastern music and started to make my reflective tree and again decided to make it different and painted the trunk brown and gave it the leaves a fire orange and red tint. The bushes were green and to finish the look I made the stars on one side white with a white moon and on the other side yellow stars a blood red moon. I was very proud of my masterpiece;)

After I was done, I took some pictures to remember the moment but unfortunately they didn't have any metallic sharpies so I didn't sign my name yet to my masterpiece. That shall be rectified soon;)

 Overall I had a great night, I can honestly say this has been my best wine/painting party to date. Probably because of the location, atmosphere and the positive ambiance of the place and staff. If you ever get a chance to experience +PaintNite , enjoy yourself. You won't regret it;) and if you are able to experience it at Joyia Tapas, definitely prepare to have a good time! I plan on coming back to try out the food!

Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz

My Birthday Weekend in Recap: Feb 16th

So on Sunday I was very excited because I had signed up for another Wine/Painting event but this one was being held in Kirkwood at place called Art on the Vines. I held off signing up because I wasn't sure if enough people had signed up so they wouldn't cancel. So I contacted the owner and they emailed me back stating that they had the minimum people signed up and that I could still be a part of the class. So I went on their website earlier this week and registered for a spot. 

Before making it to my destination I went by Dierbergs in Brentwood and picked up some "essential items", by that I mean a bottle of wine, fruit, fruit dip, and some crackers. I must also make note that while debating on a bottle of wine to bring I saw an interesting bottle that I will have to make sure to buy in the future.

The only reason I didn't buy was the top was a cork and not a screw on top.

So after making my purchase I make my way to the Kirkwood shopping district. I park and with twenty minutes to spare I setup at my table and wait for the other participants to arrive.

So after setting up I made sure to take a few pictures of the place.

I also took some pictures of our instructor of the class while she was prepping our painting canvases. She just started working at the Art on the Vines just a few days ago but she informed me that she came from the previous location where I was for my first Wine/Painting event back in January. I found interesting that at this location they actually trace out the picture so all you have to worry about is just painting the picture. Very cool indeed.

Our instructor, Elizabeth doing some prep work.

Right around 2pm the other 4 people show up for the class. They were actually 2 couples, the boyfriends surprised their girlfriends with the event. I told the guys they did a good job.

So shortly afterwards we are settled in our seats and we proceed to Paint....and drink...occasionally. I also happen to nibble on some fruits and crackers as well. The picture below is the main painting that our class was being based on that day.

So here was my progress.....

Wasn't too thrilled with the strong white line I had going down my vase.

So mad I messed up my guitar! I was drawing the strings on it and accidentally smudged some black paint onto the guitar I had to use the white paint to cover it up and then had to paint over it.....

Finished product

So afterwards we took some pictures as a group then I took a picture with our instructor.

So after we finished our paintings we chatted around for a little while and I will say the two couples were awesome. They had me laughing pretty much the whole time. They really enjoyed themselves and I told them, once you have done one of these events, you are hooked:) After we left I was contemplating dinner so I decided on Texas Roadhouse which was just 5 minutes down the street (by car).

The place was packed so I decided to eat at the bar. I had the BEST bartender/waiter and he helped me decide on a Kansas City Steak. It was hands down one of the best steaks I have had in my LIFE!! The flavor, the cut, I could just go on and on....everything was great. Was super-duper pleased..Also was watching a rerun of the USA vs RUSSIA hockey game which was awesome to beat them by shootout:)

Raspberry Lemonade

Believe it or not, there is a steak underneath those sauteed mushrooms and onions.

I still love my Applesauce with Cinnamon

Afterwards I went home and dealt with the issue of no Uverse service. Had to call AT&T for a service call which they wouldn't be able to deal with until Monday. Sooooo it was a long night just staring at my ceiling...but overall had a great day.


Until the next episode....

 All That MsJazz