I love Lilacs! We had several lilac bushes on our property when I was growing up. This time of year the house would always have vases of them in several rooms and the smell...just heavenly. 
It is my plan to get one for our yard. It will be a very special lilac bush, because I will give my Bootsie girl back to the earth with this bush. I have had a little shrine set up for her with her ashes for 3 years. I still have my breath taken away sometimes when I think about her loss. She was and always will be my pal. The next generation is enjoying all of the work that she put in to changing Mr. Happiknits into a cat person! So I thought it fitting to plant something that I have wanted here since we moved in almost 8 years ago! 
I also wanted to share some of these lovely lilac items that I found. Most are from beautiful Etsy sellers, 
and some are from Le Creuset. Yes. I *love* to cook, and what better to cook in that purple cookware
I ask you, could it get any better????? Enjoy these sweet items, 
I see several that are going to wind up on my birthday list, ok they can all go on my birthday list!!
I was, for the longest time, not a gardener. I left that to both of my sisters who have lots of talent in that area. I was always too bug paranoid to be playing in the dirt.
Then, the first year in our house I found myself outside, headphones on, a bit of tunes flowing and I spent 3 hours straight pruning my Rhododendrons. I found it to be so meditative, relaxing. 
I guess you could say, I was hooked. Mr. Happiknits calls my garden the "willy nilly" garden, because I plant whatever I want in it :) Unfortunately the deer eat most of it, but year after year I try new things. 
Most of the space is now taken up with Butterfly bushes. I will get some photos of them when they bloom. .JPG)
I also have a forest of Lily of the valleys, which as you can see are very happy with their home! 
I find alot of inspiration for my designs from nature, so this is a very creative time of year for me. 
The mannequins are full with designs in the making. 
This place is humongous!!! It is conceivable to spend a whole afternoon browsing through, but I limited my mom to 1.5 hours(otherwise we would not have been able to have a yummy Indian food lunch in Princeton). You just never know what you are going to find. 
I have, recently, changed what I am looking for when shopping. I now don't necessarily look at all items as wearable
(although I will tell you I have found some nice wardrobe pieces for spring!). Rather I look at them as fabric, buttons, materials for 
My favorite new thing! I am trying to be more 
To take apart a bunch of stuff and sew it back together to make something completely funky, hip and 
I wanted to share with you this plethora of vintage fabric that was all on one piece if clothing.
I saw it and went 
Total fun fabrics, very bright, very retro, very 
Not my typical finds, but fun and exciting none the less! I think one of the best parts about shopping at the market is the people that are selling. For the most part they are an interesting group of characters. Each with their own story.
This is why I am in love with vintage shopping.
The pieces themselves have stories. A lace collar that is over 100 years old. Who wore that collar? Did she save up to buy it? Did she make it? 
Did her love present it to her as a gift of his affection. Did he admire her and how beautiful she looked in it? 
Ok, I am getting a little carried away, but how can you not fall in love with vintage? 
These are people's history. It's sad enough that it ends up at a vintage market, it should at the least be treated with respect. I think she got through to him. He seemed touched, she was visibly disturbed by this and ready to buy the whole tub of photos just to organize them...She is the best I tell you!!!! So the same guy was selling these gorgeous print blocks from India. Donna spotted them , I would have just breezed by them, they looked like lumps of black coal..lol...ok so I tend to tune out the stuff
I am not on a mission for, I need to be more open minded. They are stunning! So this started me on asking him where he was from in India, and I told him where my hubby was from. He then told me, I fell in love with an American girl. 
Oh at that statement my heart melted. Just the tone of his voice when he said it. Too sweet. And sure enough on his business card, his wife's name is Pam. What a love story that must be :)