Marché aux Puces

I hope you had a wonderful, heart-warming and stomach-satiating Thanksgiving!  Although I loved traveling, I'm thankful today to be home sweet home. Within the past year, Hubby and I have developed a habit when we travel- we try to find some neat vintage treasures to help commemorate our trips.  So much more fun than coming home with plastic, mass-produced souvenirs.  We (attempt to) seek out vintage stores, antique stores, and flea markets and it turns into an adventure not only finding the stores, but finding items too.  Granted before this trip, our scavenger hunt only extended to travels in New York City and Montreal, but now we can add Europe to the list.

I can't say that we had time to go treasure-hunting in Germany (poo), but France was a different story. With the help of our river boat's friendly concierge, Dora, we found a few places to poke around in Strasbourg. A couple were closed, one was a bit too 'crafty,' one was way beyond our price range, but as per usual, the flea market- or marché aux puces (as Google translate informs me) was just my style.

We located the flea market after a guided tour of the area and we. were. cold.  After turning a few corners and getting away from the touristy areas, we found a cute (almost a bit too hipstery) coffee shop where we were able to warm up for a few.  I'd love to tell you their name, but I don't speak any French, and their sign was just a bunch of hipstery symbols, so....

Beyond the rockabilly music that was just a bit too loud, the hot chocolate was delicious, Hubby says the coffee was tasty, and the vibe was great.  Why am I talking about a coffee shop when I should be talking about a flea market??  Do you notice the vintage TV on the counter?  They had the place decorated with a fun collection of vintage goodies, so I had to ask them- any good vintage stores around?  Sadly, (as the girl at the counter told us) Strasbourg is lacking vintage stores, but the flea market is where you can find some good stuff.  OK.

Finally warmed up and on a mission, back to the flea market we went.  They had a huge variety, but the tough part always come in making a decision.

If I didn't already have a vintage camera, this would have been very tempting-  look at the options!

Can I interest you in creepy taxidermy seemingly attacking an even creepier wooden mask?

At this booth, I definitely had to remind myself that our luggage wasn't big enough.  That chair? the side table? and how about those rugs?  I loved the pattern on the folded red one, I just wish it had some slightly different colors.

Naturally, I couldn't leave a French flea market empty-handed.  I ended up with 2 small treasures that were easily transported home.  The old lock is about 5" tall for reference.  The carved edelweiss on the top of the box puts a smile on my face.

I hope ever country has flea markets.  I want to go to them all.  Every single one.  That's totally attainable, right?

Spontaneous Adventuring

So..... this week is a last minute change-of plans.... but in a very good way.  By the end of this week, I'll be able to check off 2 of my 30 before 30 list. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before, Hubs is a travel agent for a river cruise company.  (Can you see where this is headed??)

We've been trying to get his promised discount on a trip for months, but when everything sells out, they don't send employees (bummer).  Well, just over a week ago, Hubby realized there was still openings on their Rhine River cruise over thanksgiving..... so with literally a weeks notice (SO unlike us!), we hopped on a plane to Europe (!!!).  Some of you may have noticed that my instagrams have veered a little away from the usual flipping mess or cat pictures.

This is my first time crossing an ocean.  Super exciting!  Although it took me a bit to get excited- I was a little nervous.  My previous passport stamps only included Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada... By the end of this week, my list will have expanded to include The Netherlands, Germany, France, & Switzerland!  (!!!!!)

We've already visited the Netherlands, and are currently cruising down the river with amazing views of Germany.

I can already check one item off of my 30 before 30: #15- Visit another Continent.  YAY!  In a few days, I'll be able to check off #2- Visit 5 places I’ve never been.

We've been doing a lot of walking around and exploring, and shocking practically NO shopping so far!  We plan to turn that right around soon and hope to hunt down an antique store or two.  Vintage European treasures?  yes please!

Wednesday I hope to be able to show you some fun finds, so keep your fingers crossed!

Frankie: Week 3

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out other posts about Frankie the Fliphouse HERE. An alternate title for this week's post is "Gone Baby Gone"

Although not a drastic difference from last week, I'm certainly relieved to have reached this point!

Kitchen?  Gone

Bathroom? Gone

Basement? Gone (mostly).  Buhbye sailboat wallpaper!

The only thing that got marginally prettier in this house and not messier this week was the outside.  With a few sunny, not freezing days, I decided to tackle some curb appeal before winter arrives in full force.  Since we plan to be selling in the colder months, I want to make it look as nice from the outside now as possible.  I painted the door, started painting the awning & railings, mulched, and trimmed bushes. Not done, but it's a giant step in the right direction.

I've also decided to start a new trend- a kitchen in your living room!  Think it'll catch on?

With my head 100% focused on completing demo this week so we could get the dumpster out of there, I surprisingly don't have my usual list of other accomplishments (unless you count breaking a water pipe- go me).  This week, what you see is what you get, for better or worse.

I made the mistake of looking back at where I was with Clark (the last flip house) at week 3 and the rebuilding had already begun.  There was less demo there, and I made the mistake of not doing all the demo at once, so I can't allow myself feel behind with this flip.  I'm really trying to approach this one more systematically and strategically.  Here's hoping that tactic works...

Next week'll be a bit of a hiatus from flip posts, but I have a fun alternative up my sleeve :) so stay tuned!