freshvintage

BlogHer Celebs & Swag

I saw a few celebs while I was in the Windy City for BlogHer.

Chicago's own Rick Bayless (you may have seen him on Top Chef Masters):

Here is Jennifer from Savor The Thyme - the only freshvintage reader (that I knew of) who was at BlogHer . We didn't want to stand in line to meet Tim Gunn, so we each took pictures "with" him. We were hoping that Tim would notice Jennifer's adorable fabric flower and pull her out of the crowd and rave about her style and want to go out to dinner with us because we are so cute and hip.

No such luck.

I listened to the beautiful and talented Brooke White (American Idol season #184) sing & play the piano at the Lucky Strike BowlHer party. I didn't meet her, though.

Here I am with the lovely Paula Deen, who was at BlogHer courtesy of Walmart. Their stores will soon be stocking a selection of packaged desserts based on her recipes. I sampled the Walmart version of Paula's Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake, which my mom has made using Paula's recipe on many occasions. I was shocked at how good it tasted. But that shock was probably just my arteries crying out for help, since I'm guessing there is a half-stick of butter in each piece of cake.

I only talked to her for about 10 seconds while someone took this fuzzy photo with my camera. (Bastard.) I told her that I loved her on the Kathy Griffin show. She told me that it was a blast, and we laughed about how fall-down, stinkin' drunk her assistant got during the filming of the show.

Here I am with Mrs. Potato Head. Mrs. P told me that she was still a little embarrassed by her behavior at the previous night's cocktail party. That purple-hatted hussie got down and dirty with the Sobe Lizard on the dance floor to "Baby Got Back" (sung by a BlogHer attendee during the Karaoke cocktail party).

In addition to the swag I mentioned in my BlogHer- Day 1 post, I received lots and lots of other stuff including a free pair of Gap jeans, Croc flip-flops, Mr. Potato Head, ELF makeup and a $50 gift card to ProFlowers.com.

Sponsors like to give stuff away so that people will talk about their brands. I explained to a few over-eager PR reps that I write about antiques - not consumer products. Unless they have a time machine and can manufacture original 1950's floral tablecloths or bakelite buttons, it is not likely that I will participate in their product reviews.

I'm not complaining, though. Who doesn't like free stuff?

Yes, I really did learn things at BlogHer. I'll get around to it - don't worry!

I brought home two suitcases that weighed 50 pounds each. (But that includes the vintage goodies that I didn't sell at the Swap Meet.)

The combination of these four items stood out the most. A Chambord shot glass, Colgate Wisps, a condom from Planned Parenthood and a Go Girl ("Female urination device" that helps women pee standing up).

 

Sounds like a fun night in the woods, doesn't it? Almost makes me want to bust out the camping gear.

BlogHer Recap - Swap Meet

Here's me behind my half-table at the BlogHer Swap Meet . Thanks to my new friend and fellow vendor, Lotta, for taking this picture. More on her later.

This was my oh-so-nice neighbor, Amy Turn Sharp, who didn't even scream as she witnessed what looked like a flea market barfing all over the other half of her table. Amy and her husband own Little Alouette and make baby teethers & rattles out of locally harvested wood in Ohio.

Amy is a blogging superstar, and was selected to read one of her posts at the Community Keynote. Yes, the same keynote for which my posts weren't selected. And after listening to the bloggers who were selected, I realize that I need about 157 more years to hone my writing skills before I would try again. One of my favorite humor pieces was one by Danielle from Knotty Yarn. Here's the video of her reading (it is not safe for work, which is my favorite kind of video).

I took your advice and packed a vintage suitcase stuffed with linens, tiny jars of buttons, vintage coloring books, goodie bags of vintage price tags and so much more. I attached a clothesline across the front of the table (which was already covered with a tablecloth and draped). It was pinned with those freaky flashcards and the horse show prize ribbons. 

I sold the flashcards individually ($2 each or 3 for $5). They were definitely a best seller, along with the sex books and medical journals.

I sold six out of the seven books that I brought. Thank god for all of the twisted and perverted bloggers who purchased books from me (especially that one who bought three books - you know who you are). Those books were too damn heavy to lug back to the airport.

My Moo business cards were a big hit, too. Throughout the conference, I had some bloggers ask to see all of the cards, and then pick the one that they liked best. It was a fun and easy way to let people know what I blog about, since there didn't seem to be any other antiques bloggers at BlogHer (at least none that I knew about).

I met some other vendors that were really sweet, including Velma who blogs anonymously at A Smeddling Kiss. I was fascinated by the fact that she doesn't use her real name on her blog and that her extended family doesn't know about it. The funniest was when she walked out of a session called "Blogging Identities and You", which was a panel discussion about blogging anonymously, and she randomly ran into someone that she went to high school with (and hadn't seen since). Of course, her first question was, "Why does your name tag say Velma? That's not your name."

I found a vintage soul mate in Lotta from Mom-o-matic, who makes jewelry out of vintage buttons. I traded some of my junk for two pairs of totally hip earrings and two hair pins. I love how she uses old photos as the backing for her earrings. And tiny flashcards for her hair pins. To top it off, Lotta packages her items in vintage-style peanut & popcorn bags. So freakin' cute. Lucky for you, she has an Etsy shop that she frequently updates with new stuff. I double love her because she bought my blue vintage suitcase to display her wares at craft shows and whatnot. One less thing that I had to bring home.

Make sure you click on the picture to see the adorable pink & white hair pin with the pair of jitter-bugging dancers. I wore it to the fifties-themed BowlHer party at the Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes on Saturday night.

Here I am with my new friends Gwen and Lotta on our way to the BowlHer party. That was the first time that I'd bowled in over 15 years. Bowling balls are a lot heavier than the Wii remote. Thankfully, all of that heavy lifting didn't keep me from doing the running man on the dance floor later that night.

We had so much fun at that party that I can't even share the photos without getting explicit written permission from them first. And I doubt that will happen.

But here is one of Lotta at a different party with a blow-up doll. Just my luck...the one party that I missed had blow-up dolls!

I'll have much more about BlogHer in my next post. Perhaps I will eventually get to the part where I learned stuff. Or maybe not.

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For your reading pleasure:

Lotta has her own crafting column at Try Handmade.

Read Gwen's About Me page - she grew up in the jungles of Indonesia. She only had electricity for three hours a night. And I thought I had it rough because my mom wouldn't let me watch The Newlywed Game or chew Bubbalicious.

BlogHer Recap - Day 1

Day one is done! Here's the view from my window at the Sheraton. Not bad, huh?

Today was a free day - the actual BlogHer Conference doesn't start until Friday morning. This is my first time in Chicago, so I walked around for a few hours before the pre-parties started. Here's the ferris wheel at the Navy Pier:

There's a beach in the middle of the city!

I walked along the Magnificent Mile. (Did you hear Oprah's voice while you were reading that? I know you did.)

While all of the fancy people were at Ferragamo and Armani, I visited the Lego store:

After my long walk and a personal-size deep dish pizza, I went back to the hotel to get ready for the first party. There was a knock at the door. "Delivery for you!". For moi? It was a vase of flowers courtesy of Colombia, Land of Flowers and a totebag from ivillage:

All of the BlogHer attendees staying in the hotel got them. Swag-mania has officially begun!

The SocialLuxe Lounge party was at the Hyatt down the street. I caught up with two great Philly mommy bloggers, Whitney from MommiesWithStyle.com and Colleen from ClassyMommy.com. There was one other famous person in the Hyatt, but we didn't get to a chance to chat:

Yes, he was in the building.

But back to the party. You could get your nails done there!

Upon arrival, I received one drink ticket and one raffle ticket. You know that my drink ticket was gone in the blink of an eye. And then the party hostesses started pulling tickets out of a hat and calling the numbers for the raffle tickets. While I was busy trying to figure out a way to steal another drink ticket, they announced my raffle ticket number! Yay! I won a prize from shopbop.com:  

I couldn't believe all the stuff in that bag. A shirt, a dress, three pieces of beautiful jewelry and a $100 gift certificate!

These are the three lovely ladies from shopbop.com - they were so friendly. Kelly (in the middle) was nice to me even after I told her that I had never heard of shopbop. They drove all the way from Madison, Wisconsin to come to ONE party and then had to drive all the way back. Too bad they couldn't stay and hang out. But, it worked out for me, since they didn't need their drink tickets. ; )  Thanks so much, ladies!

Before leaving the SocialLuxe party, I received a stuffed-to-the-gills oilcloth swag bag to take home:

Here's one thing that was in it:

Okay. I think I could get used to this. It is the Kodak Zi6 HD video camera in Red Rouge.

For some reason, I was equally excited to get this pack of girly office supplies from Office Max:

What a loser I am.

It's time for me to get ready for a full day of learning and schmoozing. The swap meet is at lunchtime today - I will let you know how it goes!  I might be tweeting occasionally, so be sure to follow me on twitter. Twitter is free to join, and you don't have to interact with people if you don't want to - you can just "follow" people and read what they have to say.

And if you want even more inside scoop, do a search for blogher on twitter. There are 1000+ women tweeting about it all day and all night!

On My Way to Chicago!

Wow! Thank you for all of the great display ideas for the BlogHer Swap Meet. I knew I could count on you. There's one update, though: I now only have half of a table on which to sell my vintage finds. This is definitely a stress-reducer (and a baggage reducer) for me.  But I am still going to use some of your fabulous ideas, including the vintage suitcase.

I packed nearly everything that I am going to sell into this navy blue and white suitcase:

It is a small suitcase, but it weighs a TON. I plan to carry it on and put it on the overhead compartment. It is so heavy that I had to practice lifting it in the air, to make sure that I won't drop it on anyone's heads.

I will surely take some pictures once I have everything set up at the Swap Meet.

Hey - who's peeking out from under that tablecloth? It is my little fancy beer-opener man.

His gal-pal is shoved in there somewhere between the the ob/gyn medical journals and the illustrated sex manual. I would expect nothing less for someone who is always screwing. What a slut.

I will try my very best to write a couple of posts while I am in Chicago. On Thursday afternoon, I am planning to attend the SocialLuxe Awards ceremony for which I was nominated for the Funniest Blog. I didn't even remotely make it to the finals, so I have no chance of winning. I am totally getting trashed and storming the stage when they announce the winner. I'll be sure to take pictures of security carrying me out!

Moo Business Cards & The BlogHer Swap Meet

I am a sucker for business cards. I already have 200 cards that I designed and printed at overnightprints.com last year. But I'd heard so many great things about the totally cool Moo cards. With the BlogHer Conference quickly approaching, I decided to check them out.

The Moo cards are unique because you can have a different photo on the back of each card. I used the photos in my Flickr account to create my 200 double-sided business cards, but you can upload photos directly from your computer, or from Etsy or Facebook. The Moo cards are also available in the original skinny version (MiniCards), but I prefer the full-size card to show off the photos of my vintage finds.

It was just like Christmas when I received the package! (Christmas for paper-obsessed nerds.)

There's a photo on one side, and my contact info on the other side. There are several configurations for laying out your info.

I included some photos of my home:

As well as some of my creepier displays. I might not want to give these away at BlogHer. Definitely won't make many friends handing out a card with a pink dollhouse zombie standing next to a toilet.

Here are a few of the other cards:

Another reason why I wanted to get new cards is that I will be selling at the BlogHer Swap Meet. During one of the breaks between workshops, attendees can sell their books, t-shirts, handmade goods or whatever else they please. I signed up for one of the ten 6' x 3' tables available. I'm not sure what the hell I was thinking, because I am nervous enough about going. Now I have to figure out which wonderful vintage finds I should stuff into my extra suitcase. Damn USAirways charges $25 for the second checked bag EACH WAY (and $15 for the first). So I am essentially paying $50 to sell at BlogHer for about an hour. Sounds a little crazy, but I think it will be a great way to get the freshvintage name out there, and to meet some other vintage-loving bloggers.

Any ideas on what products to bring? I am thinking about selling some of ephemera and linens, since they are light and easy to pack. Maybe a few of the child-themed vintage items, like blocks and books. And what better place to sell my 1920s Obstetrics & Gynecology Journals than at a blogging conference for women?

Can you lend a hand with some display ideas? You know how obsessive I can be about displaying my stuff. I don't want to lay it all out on the table - I'd like to add some height to the display. And I don't have my cute wooden boxes and enamel bowls to display things in (too heavy), so I have to think about other lighter containers. And, I will probably only have a very short time to set up & take down. I might have to enlist retail display guru Debi Ward Kennedy for this one!

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Today I received a code for free shipping for new Moo customers (that means you can't have ever ordered their free sample pack). You have to spend at least $15 and order by August 31st. You can buy any of their products, including the MiniCards, which are great to use as price tags or gift tags. Here is the code: Q63N9W.

Sparkles for a Steal

So much fabulousness, I don't even know where to start...

Here's a pair of Lemaire Fabt Paris opera binoculars with leather casing. If these didn't say "Paris" on them, I probably wouldn't have bought them.

Three Horse Show Ribbons from 1949 in cream, pink and olive green. As soon as I saw them, I thought of this post on Andrea's Everyday Beauty blog. I scooped these up on the last day of a three-day estate sale in Delaware, when everything was 20% off. How could these have slipped through the cracks? They would look so cute hanging in a little girl's room.

A silver baby cup:

It is engraved with the name Jackie.

Jewels, jewels and more jewels. These were all from one yard sale in Oxford, PA. The woman had two long tables filled with jewelry. I picked up one brooch and asked how much it cost. When she said "a quarter", I grabbed the first container I could find and maniacally started filling it up with anything sparkly. There were a few other people digging through the jewelry, too, but I enlisted Finn and Maeve to stand on either side of me and form a barrier to prevent anyone else from swiping the goods.

When I presented the homeowner with this green Made-in-Poland colander filled with rhinestone jewelry, she got out her pencil & paper and began to add everything up.

Most of the necklaces and brooches are missing a jewel or clasp here and there. There are only a couple of pieces that are in perfect condition, like the sterling silver double-strand beaded necklace on the left, and the Weiss rhinestone and milkglass necklace in the middle.  

Do you see that long necklace towards the right side? Someone hastily sewed three strands of rhinestones onto a navy blue grosgrain ribbon.

The woman carefully picked up each piece and wrote down the price for each one. She noticed that many weren't in great shape, so she priced them at ten cents. The "nice ones" were a quarter. All told, I paid five dollars for the vintage enamel colander, the silver baby cup and twenty-two pieces of jewelry.

She even threw in a free "diamond" ring for Maeve:

It joins her growing collection of costume jewelry. These are clip-on earrings that we found a few weeks ago:

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I have an update on the BlogHer Community Keynote: my blog posts were not selected. Boo-hoo. The thought of speaking in front of 1000 people freaked me out anyway. It would have been so embarrassing to poop my pants in the presence of all of those nice blogging ladies. So, instead, I will enjoy listening to all of the other speakers, without any worries on my mind (or in my pants).

I've mentioned it before, but if any of you will be at BlogHer, please drop me a line. I would love to meet up at one of the many parties.

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Here are a few blogs that I have been enjoying lately:

This Young House - Get a glass of sweet tea vodka & lemonade and read through all of their archives. They documented the extensive (and inexpensive) renovation that they did on their little house. And make sure you check out their on-a-shoestring backyard wedding. Wow.

Moggit - Two funny ladies snark on ridiculous design ideas. I love how they call bullshit on major interior design mags and websites. A few examples.

Patina Green - A mother/daughter team of talented interior designers and antique dealers. Kaci & Luann have quite a knack for displaying their vintage finds in the two shops where they sell their goods. And, lucky for us, they share lots of photos of their displays.

On the Dot Creations - Julie has lots of great Etsy advice. Her free e-book is a must-have for Etsy sellers, or anyone thinking about selling on Etsy. Like me.

The Kitchn - I keep revisiting the same page over and over again, as if it is going to change. I need to make these or else I will surely die.

Crazy Keywords, eBay Interview & Vote for Me

I finally wrote a new post on my freshblogtips.com blog about the advice I gave my mom when she decided to start a blog. I thought I'd celebrate by sharing some of my favorite keywords that have brought readers to freshvintage in the past few months (unexpectedly, I am sure). I've done this before, and they keep getting better.

I'm still not sure how some of these phrases brought people to my blog. Especially the first one:

• am i offending blacks with my clothing
• big tits wool clothes
• vintage clothing for traditional catholics
• you're dumb
• where do the crack whores hang out in charlotte nc
• wearing a maxi pad
• crack torch martha stewart
• what does a good stool sample look like
• beet stool samples
• woke up in pee mortified
• why feces smells like copper
• kathy lee sweet melting  
• indian son who likes his mother's tits & ass & also to see while she does pee-pee [wtf?]

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I was interviewed for an article on Entrepreneur.com about The Evolution of eBay. You'll find Gary from The Auction Rebel quoted in the article as well. So exciting!

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My sister nominated me for the BlogLuxe Funniest Blog Award. If you have some time to kill, go over and vote for me. Once a day. Every day until July 6th. You don't have to register or anything crazy like that. Oh - and you'll have to scroll through all of the unfunny blogs to find mine. ; )

The rumors are true.

My mother started a blog: BoggleMama.com.

It sounded like a good idea when I first suggested it to her. I even helped her come up with a name for it.

But I fear that I have unleashed a blogging beast. She has the potential to share an ungodly number of stories that could be very embarrassing to my siblings and me. In fact, I would say I am on the top of their collective shit lists right now.

If you love cringe-worthy childhood photos, tales of medical mishaps, brushes with famous people, and life stories of a former prostitute who braved it all to eventually become a loving mother of five children, then you will love my mom's blog. Okay - totally lying about that last thing. My mother was never a hooker. The only service she ever performed in exchange for money was Color Analysis.  I'm a "Spring".

No matter how embarrassing the stories may be to my family, they are sure to put a smile on your face. My mom is a crack-up and an engaging story-teller. And she is obsessed with reading all of the comments that people leave on my blog. So you can imagine how much she will love hearing from all of you on her very own blog. Please visit BoggleMama.com and give her a warm welcome!

The Results Are In

You voted, and the funniest blog post is the one about my mom playing Boggle on the toilet. Yay for mom! Most normal, dignified people would be horrified at sharing their bathroom habits. Not my mama. She loves it. She is revelling in this right now.

So, I submitted the Boggle post to the BlogHer Community Keynote committee. Even though the hooker story was a distant second, I submitted that one as well. Call me crazy, but I think it is funnier than the Boggle story. I guess I am just immune to 20+ years of constant Boggle shaking. It's like when people ask the children of movie stars, "What was it like growing up around famous people"? And they say "It was no big deal - it was all I knew". I have the same sentiment. When people ask me, "What was it like to grow up in a house that had a Boggle game, notepad and egg timer next to the toilet?", I just tell them "I didn't know any different. But I could never figure out why my friends' moms didn't like to play word games while they pooped".

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It's Friday and I hope you are enjoying happy hour as much as we are right now...

 

Yes, we have a bar built into our deck. The Amish builder thought we were a little strange, but I didn't give a damn. It overlooks our neighbor's barn and the kids' swing set.

That's Chris drinking Sweet Tea Vodka & Lemonade. In a fancy girly glass.

Have you tried one yet?

Help! Which freshvintage post is the funniest?

As I've mentioned a few times, I will be attending the BlogHer Conference in Chicago this summer. My husband thinks I am insane because I do not know anyone who is going. Not a soul. I'm going because I want to meet other bloggers and learn new ways to improve my blogs. I also hear that there are great swag bags and fun parties.

I've read that one of the highlights of the 2008 conference was the Community Keynote. Bloggers submitted their favorite posts, and a committee selected the 20 best posts in five different categories. The bloggers who were selected read their posts in front 1000+ attendees. 

BlogHer is asking for submissions for the 2009 keynote right now and I foolishly want to submit one of my posts in the Humor category. The thought of reading a post in front of a crowd makes me want to poop my pants, so I kind of hope that I don't get picked. But, on the other hand, I hope I get picked because I want to feel like a rock star (but without all the coke and sluts and music). So I'm doing it.

Which blog post should I submit? I've selected a few posts that might be keynote-worthy:

Allison Family Heirlooms (peter heater)
Mind-boggling Vintage Finds (mom plays boggle on toilet)
Vintage Hookers and follow-up post (throwing pennies at hookers)
Bedspread Scuffle & Scandalous Toothpicks (raccoon penis)
Yard Sale Memories, Part I (my mom's yard sale)
I will slap you (smart-ass kid at yard sale & installing a pendant lamp)

I can submit more than one post, but it could potentially split the vote and reduce my chances of being selected. Also, I'll be able to display pictures on the screen, so people will know what I am talking about when I read the post.

THE SURVEY IS CLOSED! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

Thanks!

Colleen