Last week I went into the city with my dear friend Donna and her intern Nicki. Now, you may be asking what city? Being that I live in NJ both cities are readily accessible, but to me there is only one that I refer to as "the city" and that is New York. It truly is magnificent.
We spent our day in the garment district. Where fashion comes to life :) 
I had a fantastic time and bought tons of goodies to use in my creations. 
We started at a fabric shop and then worked our way through lots of shops with trims galore... This fabric shop rocks
because they will swatch most fabrics for you, and trust me there is alot to chose from! I bought a couple of yards of fabric and got a few swatches 
that I thought would be fun to do some needle-felting with, but I was saving up my money for Tinsel.... I almost bought some of this thermal fabric,
but I stopped myself...lol..look at the price per yard! 
The next shop was feathers...all kinds of feathers...I *love* them :) Had alot of fun in this store!
Bought lots of different colors and I cannot wait to use them!
I should have bought one of these boas too..maybe next time :) Our main stop was Tinsel Trading 
which Donna has been telling me about for along time. It is filled with vintage trims, ribbons, millinery flowers, etc.. 
It is a dream for a girl like me. 
Trust me I had a great time, and spent most of my budget here. 
The staff was *so* helpful. Mostly I bought vintage ribbon. 
It was all so beautiful and kept so well. Tinsel has a huge collection of vintage and when the vintage sells they produce replicants. But friends, this girl bought only the original. This lovely cabinet was filled with original vintage ribbons, still on the spools, wrapped in paper. *sigh* all so beautiful. 
They also have such fun little trinkets to place 
around the house, all handmade. Too much fun for one store if you ask me!
And for a girl with a camera, 
I was not at a loss for pictures! 
The last stop was at another trim shop 
that had walls and walls of ribbons, tassels and trims!
Just a few more goodies that I bought at Tinsel Trading, this FAB all vintage thread, that will be beautiful with some needle felted flowers, can't wait to play with it!
This gorgeous black ribbon is vintage military, the nice saleswoman ran down into the basement(what I wouldn't give to see that stockroom!) and came back up with it :)
Some of the vintage ribbons from that glass cabinet, they are all vintage, still on the original paper, and oh so worth the price I paid per yard!
Had a lovely visit with my highschool girlfriends last night, we went out for drinks at a shore Bar that has been there forever.
I stayed at my mom's house and decided to stop in Manasquan on my way home. I lived and worked in the "squan" for many years after moving out of my parents home. It is one of my favorite little towns! My original destination was the VNA thrift store. It was closed because of the holiday, but I noticed a cute little shop right next to it.
And boy did I find some awesome items! I am glad I stopped in, the shop is called Squan Dry Goods. The owner has a lovely collection of vintage, consignment, and new items (alot of eco-friendly stuff). What a great idea for a shop! There are 2 floors, and although the vintage clothing is sparse, I thought the 
consignment was priced right and perfect!! So I wanted to share some of my finds. The best was a stunning vintage dress
that actually fit me perfectly, let me tell you, that never happens, so for me it was worth the trip right there. I also found a perfectly pale pink marc jacobs jacket
for, ok, $18.00. YUP. Friends, I have been shopping consignment since I was in highschool. I did it then because I had no money, I do it now because, well, it's a beautiful thing. I love the idea of how enviromentally friendly it is, not to mention, jeez, I hate paying ooodles of money for designer clothes, I have a retirement beach cottage to save for!!!! 
I also had a great trip to Colombus market on thursday with my neighbor Donna. 
Found lots of pretty things. And the find of the day was a super cute little wood table.
Solid. Old. Perfect. It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday,
shopping the market! Also, if you have a chance, Donna is such a talented artist, she has finally opened her Etsy shop, Lovely Things studio she has some 
beautiful picture frames.
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes! I go back this tuesday for a biopsy, I am nervous about the procedure, but optimistic that it will be ok. So this morning I woke up super early and went to the Lambertville market
with 2 of my lovely girlfriends, Michele and Michele :) 
I have been going to the market every other weekend for most of the winter. I just discovered it last summer, so I have been hooked.
This morning it was AWESOME! Packed with people and treasures! I am looking forward to an awesome summer of shopping!
I have a theory that there are certain "days" as I call them, some are "button" days, "lace" days, etc... today, was a bit of both.
Within the first 5 minutes I found a lovely bowl of all white buttons, alot of shell. 
Then it just got better from there. The best part of the day was spending time with my friends,
not thinking about the biopsy and just enjoying living in the moment.
I wanted to share some of these fun finds with you,
there's even a bag of vintage fabric scraps that Michele spotted! 
Can't wait to spend more Sunday mornings out shopping with you ladies! Even Bella, got a new apron!xoxo
Thursdays are the big day at one of the local markets. I always work a long day, so when an opportunity presents itself to get a Thursday off...I leap at the chance! 
This sterling pendant was the buy of the day! The seller had it marked super cheap and it is a fabulous piece! The same seller had these beauties! The amber one is a button that Donna spotted! And the other I thought would be pretty with a shawl.
Fabulous day at the market with my lovely friend Donna . It was chilly but we had a blast, and met some great characters~ part of the fun at the market is the people you meet!
Some great vintage fabric, now that I am sewing I keep an eye out for it! This great vintage toast holder that is now a home for all my loose desk papers.
Just wanted to share some of the fab finds. 
and the Paris flea market, I am sure ribbon like this is aplenty. But for now, I am thrilled to have found this and there was about 1.5 yards of it left,
so the saleswoman just gave me the spool! Hope you enjoyed all my finds! I cannot wait to start creating with them!