The Holiday Weekend Alameda Flea Market Trek...

I got up very early for a Sunday morning, especially one after all the Fourth of July celebrating around here, and drove the 40 minutes across the San Francisco Bay to the Alameda Flea Market. So who needs the Paris fleas if you can just come here? I arrived very early, 6:15 am, and the skies were dark and brooding, the temperature hovering around 50 degrees and a lot of dealers still setting up their wares. Coffee in hand, I headed out to find my old friend Lauren, who was set up at spaces X-5 and X-6... for her colleagues at Patine. Later, I rounded up Therese Long from La Dolfina {her wonderful blog} and we had one wonderful time together!

look at Lauren's pillows, made from antique linens her colleagues find in Europe... 
are they not wonderful!

you can also buy yardage of gorgeous old European linens of every weave 
and suble color changes...

that's the always-chic Lauren showing customers a bowl... you can see how early in the morning it was... and those structures in the background are giant lifts for unloading giant cargo ships that come into the Oakland harbor...

Lauren, remember your good old friend before you sell this... I'll come running... LOVE this old French table and it would be perfect in my garden... should have grabbed it on the spot!

and the little green wooden folding chairs that used to
be seen all over France... I'll take four!

here is a good view of Lauren's French tubs... baby bathtubs on iron stands, a large adult sized zinc tub, a wonderful old rake and a great looking nice tall zinc wine bottle holder for all those empties!

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a few rows away (there are 800 separate vendors at this monthly flea market!!) I found the wonderful
green-ness of Elsie Green... {rumor has it she once did styling for Pottery Barn}...  what is it about
all that gorgeous blue green paint and jars that stops one in their tracks?

Elsie's chocolate jars from Paris, wire baskets from France, beautiful dahlias...

look at this wonderfully casually chic table setting... old tin cake molds
hold old glasses that hold a place setting of silverware.... rustic runner
on wooden table, more white dahlias in big chocolate jars, and look...
she clothespinned the napkins to each chair! could anything be
more charmingly summer-fresh?

and speaking of cool, what about these Paris park chairs, in varying shades of
mint and citrus greens.... love! someone snagged these eight...

from Elsie Green's charming website!

***

of course, I had to stop over at Trinidad's to see what the
latest container from France contained....you know his
shop, Atelier de Compagne... check out the number
of followers on his FB page!

Trinidad's collections before the sun came up (top) and after it
is beginning to blaze down on us marketeers... don't you love that
bust? and those mirrors,  fabulous!

be sure to check Atelier de Campagne's website...

***

no visit to the Alameda Flea would be complete without checking out Big Daddy's
latest offerings... and his merchandising is so much fun.... love them or not, these
old green chemistry jars with red wax seals have tons of panache... and his
version of the painted-board-strips-turned-art is quite sophisticated, non?

you know me... if there is a sunburst mirror within twenty miles, I will find it and I will photograph it.... Big Daddy has a huge one in gilt wood mounted on old rustic grey boards, the ultimate in chic!

this wonderful huge old Coca-Cola sign will make quite a statement in a large, airy loft
in San Francisco somewhere....

this is from Big Daddy's website... love the old yellow olive oil jugs and all that white & gray...

***

had to drop in on this shabby chic set up.... love the ticking bags she is selling... and all the painted furniture.. greys, whites, creams.... and of course all the silver.... and yes, that lady is wrapped in a small blanket, it was very chilly in the morning before the fog burned off....

I  still go weak in the knees for silver... always have loved it .... 
it's the Southern Girl in me.... 
and her display is quite charming....

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{ found }

Bonjour a tous! Hope your Monday morning is off to a lovely start! Here are some rustic chic little Provençal treasures I found at the brocante...for your enjoyment!

download the brochure here  

download registration forms here 

We still have a few spaces available for this spring... let me know right away 

if you want to join us for this incredible Chic Provence Tour! You need this, cherie!

questions? 

email me

skype me: kitgolson

call or text me:  650-302-6883

Marianne Sloan's Treasures

When I got the call three weeks ago that my mother had been taken by ambulance to hospital I didn't rush across the continent to home right away... after all, my aunt, cousins, nephew and niece were close to her and could keep me updated. But after just a few uneasy days I jumped on the quickest flight I could get and came to her.

She's elderly... 94. She had choked, and she is now in Rehab getting all kinds of therapy. I have entered that world where I am the parent and she is .. sort of... the child. Her future is really unknown.. she may stay in Rehab for 100 days, or she may be released in a week. She wants to go home. I am spending a lot of time at her home, trying to put together a plan that will keep her happy for her last years.

She is strong, alert, sturdy and stubborn! She is lovely, charming and utterly unique. She is quite smart and takes a dim view of those who try to patronize her!

I took a few minutes today while the rains fell outside and with my iPhone, took pictures of all the things that are so precious to her in her living room, the same one she has inhabited for the last fifty years. When I look at her collections, her colors, her artlessly chic way of arranging her things; her love of silver, of sculptural things from nature, of found objects that appeal to her.. I suddenly see myself!

my mother... by the way, her name is Marianne Sloan... loves silver, and especially loves

sea shell motif in silver...as you can see!

my father brought this silver figure of an Asian
peasant with a detachable walking stick home to
my mother after the Korean War

my mother had a thing for gargoyles after

living in Paris as a child; this is one of her favorites;

in the back are two jugs from Constantinople where they lived

when her father was a director

for the Near East Relief effort; an old

glass hurricane to the right

in her secretary I found this piece of driftwood sharing space

with two old tiles she loved, and my grandmother's

silver napkin ring from her girlhood in Savannah

on top of the long bookcase are my mother's mantel clock and her Minton soup tureen

the triangle is the flag that draped my oldest brother's coffin when he
died as a young man; the large framed baby quilt
dates from 1834 and was handmade
by my mother's great, great-grandmother

the abalone shell interior looks beautiful with

Mom's japanese parasol, blue glass jug

and silver framed portrait of my

beautiful grandmother Amie

my mother put these silver balls in this

old hanging lantern several decades

ago; they have been here ever since!

her collection of shells and old bricks smoothed by the sea that have washed

ashore greets you when you come in

my mother's passion for driftwood in fantastic shapes along

with her love of simple windows.. never one for anything more

elaborate than osnaburg curtains... are actually quite

contemporary in feel!

my mother's grandparents along with a

little German angel and a small

Venus de Milo are tucked together

in a corner of her secretary

the rain splashing on her front walk,

and the same welcome mat that

has been there for decades!

***

thanks so much for visiting!... Kit

A Brunch For {Ma Belle Soeur}

Growing up, I was the only girl with four brothers for company! So I know when I am lucky enough to find amazing sisters-in-spirit (you know who you are!). Recently one of my very favorites, Michele, came to visit me from the East Coast. She and I are planning out the details of our upcoming shopping, design, antiquing and flea marketing trips in France. Michele grew up in France and is a professional traveler, and we are both quite passionate about all things francaise, so ours is a partnership made in heaven. I am very lucky to have a sister-in-law like her!

So it seemed only fitting while she was here to use some of my most cheerful little flea market finds for our outdoor working brunches. This is the table before the coffee, croissants and confiture.

Please come and join us! Smell that coffee!

these are delft plates I found at a market in Amsterdam;

I especially love the one celebrating peace after WWI

this is a collection of blue and yellow flea market finds set out

for a lovely brunch to inspire us to work on our tours of France

the teapot looks a little like Belleek, it's not, but I love it; the silver

is Tiffany, spoons Mikimoto and an English tea tin;

nectarines nestle in a chicken wire "bowl" just for fun

this lovely Moustiers vase is one of a pair found at a flea market

in Provence several years ago; flowers are all

from my garden and feature the bloom of an artichoke we

let go too long...they are so beautiful when you forget to pick them!

our little spread includes wonderful china cups and a very cool

silver star plate found at a local garage sale and the yellow birdcage

from a flea market says "Provence" quite loudly!

***

If you are so inclined (we weren't) you can make your own glorious croissants. It's a project (I made them once myself in France!), but you will knock the socks off your family and friends when you present these delectable morsels fresh from your own oven!

Visit La Cerise for wonderful reading about croissants and well-thought-out recipes! And be sure to let us know how they turn out!! Bon appetit!

***

Midsummer in the Forest

She had always wanted a home of her own, a sweet sanctuary she could furnish with lovingly chosen things that didn't cost the earth. She wanted to create a small visual feast just for herself and to have things exactly how she wanted. So she found an old hunting cabin deep in the forest and transformed it into her little haven:

once a neglected old hunting hut, now

transformed with Victoriana and white paint

she made every square inch count, from the

bookshelves under the eaves to the

wire-front cupboards

a downy sleeping loft under the rafters

the simplest of arrangements: foliage from the

forest tucked into clear glass containers of all kinds

those raspberry colored mud boots could not be

more charming on the little front porch

see the enchanting story of how she used salvaged, found

things to create her tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskills on

a shoestring..it's a fascinating story!

The New York Times

perhaps a midsummer's celebration

in the forest? what shall we

choose for dessert?

apricot ice cream with

nut crust?

violette cassis ice cream?

petits choux?

berry meringue tarts with mint?

rhubarb sables with strawberries

and orange?

recipes here at Marie Claire Maison

(in French, you'll have to get

Bardot in Blue to translate them, she just finished school

in Paris last month!!)