Recommendation for your next adventure ... if you're brave enough!

Imagine this blog post as part review, part scary, scary ghost story. I'll let you decide which. Come with me to Laredo, where there is a creepy old complex of buildings and patios that have fallen into disrepair. Even they admit it is an "overwhelming maze."

At one time, it was a bustling store, chock-full of treasures from Old Mexico: Mexican rustic furnishings, old doors, religious folk art, primitive antiques, trunks galore. Now, bustling is not a word you would use to describe it, but it is a scavenger's paradise.


First, you have to call ahead and someone will open it up for you. Kind of makes you feel special: who doesn't like to be "VIP"? But what are you walking into? A trap? So far, I've made it out alive. Once you're inside, you have to venture past the first room to find the good stuff ... if you're brave enough. You must wander from room to room, inside and out. But watch out! A lizard may scare you half to death. A random worker might pop out from behind a door. Where did he come from? Prepare to sweat.


I made it a point to watch for snakes. I mean who knows: It's Laredo. And hotter than hell, and dusty. Weeds were growing among the iron pieces. There was an old truck from the thirties or forties, like my Papa used to drive on the farm. The merchandise is stacked on top of each other, and hung from the ceiling, much like Rafael's in Nuevo Laredo used to be, back in the good old days. And, apparently, as in Mexico, the prices vary according to the mood of the proprietor and her assessment of the buyer. All that being said, aren't you intrigued? Would I even tell you about it if I didn't think it would make for an interesting adventure, where you just might find the absolute most perfect treasure you've been seeking for years?

For example, you never know when you might need a stuffed buffalo head.

I first discovered Oscar's Antiques about six or seven years ago. My brother had come upon it one day and called me from his cell phone to tell me I'd better get down to Laredo and check it out. So when my friend Kelly and I owned McQueeney Market, we went down there, and actually bought some things that we sold in our store, and other stuff that we bought for ourselves.

Flash forward six or seven years and a few kids later, my friend Wendy and I figured out how to get there on one of our trips down to Laredo looking for pieces for her nursing home remodel. It's still there, only now, given the ailing condition of Laredo because people are too scaredy-cat to venture that close to the border (big chickens!), you have to call a number (956.723.0765 or 956.723.7785) and the owner will come open the store for you. To get there, put 1002 Guadalupe St., Laredo, TX, 78040 in your GPS. I couldn't tell you how to get there because I've never gotten there the same way twice.

I thought these would make fantastic porch lights.

This piece of folk art was one of my favorites. Check it out: there's a guy on his deathbed, a couple of priests giving last rites, a crying wife, angels and devils. Pretty creepy. I really need that painting ... as a reminder, perhaps?

I loved the patina on these old doors. Wendy bought one of those oxen yoke things and it's hanging on the wall in Nesbit Living and Recovery Center, as art.

They have all kinds of angels and santos.


Tucked back in the corner ... do you see those wooden Our Lady of Guadalupe carvings? Look past the cliche Mexican rugs, next to those charming monks.

At Oscar's, you get the feeling that the primitive antiques might actually be antiques. At all the other Mexican rustic places, you know they're just made out of pine and then distressed. I always wonder where the stuff came from, whose house it was in, or whose house was torn down for the old doors and shutters ...

This set of old doors still includes the hardware and the door jamb. It's just sitting out there in the hot Laredo sun, being baked to death.

Loved these old rusty lights.

More doors. I like the ones with interesting color combinations like these with greeny blue and mustard yellow.

Outdoor statuary and pots.

This old cabinet would be great for extra storage.

I spied this table hanging from the ceiling. What a great island it would make in a kitchen.

See, I told you there were trunks galore. But what do you think is inside the trunks? Curious?

Seriously, the woman who runs Oscar's is very nice, and very accommodating. And I can almost promise that you'll be fine if you go there. I know you'll have a great time and you can't go without finding something you just must have.

In praise of progress ...

I can see the top of all of my desk. And for this I am very grateful. Now I can continue onward toward more interesting & profitable ventures, such as painting and completing creative proposals for eager clients.

But one recent development that I'm very excited about is a new retail outlet for pieces of my painted furniture. Finally! In the very near future, you'll be able to find my painted furniture, specifically vintage and antique pieces, at Back Alley Antiques, in Artisan's Alley in San Antonio. Stuff like this, some of which you've seen before:



A favorite piece, sold in an auction and now living out its sweet little life at my friend Marty's house. Lucky table.

This little chest couldn't make the trip to Back Alley. For one thing, it's not an antique, or even vintage.

It used to look like this:

But Wendy at Nesbit Living & Recovery Center had faith I could do something better with it. See, now it is very happy living between these two chairs, holding business cards and brochures. I get to go by and say hi whenever I go up there.

As far as antique stores go, Back Alley is great because the entire store is merchandised like a real store, rather than an overwhelming antique market maze with rows of vendor booths. Those tend to make me confused and annoyed. And God knows I don't need any more reasons to be confused and annoyed.

I painted a set of four ladderbacks with alternating black & camel-colored ostrich. Really fun.



This is a re-purposed find ... half of a table to be exact. I think it will make a great quirky side table or entry table piece. I still have this one and think I may add a little more glitz before it hits the market.

This is a great antique china cabinet I painted a while back for a client. I may not get this crazy at Back Alley, but you never know. This job called for some outlandish thinking outside the box.

I want to paint using some lighter colors, more beiges, maybe some blue or gray, ala Wisteria ... so I'm eager to get into my studio and see what I can whip up. And use the StucoLux product from Faux Effects. I know that's going on a table top asap. StucoLux is the next thing I'm going to become obsessed with ... but you'll have to wait for that because I can't find a photo ...

I'm still looking for another location somewhere around the state ... maybe Houston's Urban Market, so if anyone has a suggestion ... I want to hear from you!

5 Things I Love Today

Ok I know today is Sunday, but this is a list of what really blows my skirt up:

1. Being organized, getting organized. Neatness. That's why I have been such a crazed maniac for the past week. There has been no neatness. I live with four other people who apparently are not interested in the same things as me. And my favorite person on earth just went her own way to find another job. sniff, sniff. Pass me a tissue.

2. Getting stuff done ... GSD. Nothing makes me happier than a lightbulb being put in the light in the pantry.

3. When my honey-do list becomes a priority. This is just plain sexy.

4. The disappearance of clutter. Over accessorization has begun to make me nuts. It is just so unnecessary if it doesn't mean anything to you. If it's something important from an interesting trip or makes your soul happy when you walk by it, great! If not, if it's just filling the space above your cabinets, it's going to make me insane.

5. The thought that tomorrow, Monday, August 24th, will find ALL my children locked safely away in school for the rest of the year. And while they're gone, I can continue to GSD ...

I don't have time to blog. I love it, but let's face it, I can't tell you something fascinating every day, unless you all pitch in and provide me with a salary and benefits. Since that's highly unlikely at this point, I've changed my racing mind.

Since I cannot WOW and inspire you every day, and make a living too, and since I tend to ramble anyway, I'm going to just go with it. My new plan: show you what I'm working on, tell you about the my intriguing world where art meets construction, and mix it all together with my Obsession of the Day. The best part: It won't take me so long!!!

At this point I bet you're wondering about that fabulous graphic at the top of this blog post. Well .... I was cruising around on http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/, looking for some cool stencil letters for a client. And there it was. This totally awesome new stencil I had never seen. It's an allover stencil, which means you put it "allover" the wall. It's called Indian Floral, and I'm in love with it.

You'll be seeing this again. I can just see it with the little flower troweled on with some sort of texture like Venetian plaster .... ok. Back to work looking for stencil letters.

A death grip on my basket

I said when MY kids started kindergarten I wouldn't freak out. Weepy mothers are so cliche'. I dropped my basket when they turned one, but only because I realized I had been a zombie for an entire year. It was all about me, not related to the fact that they were getting older and growing up too fast. Since then, they keep getting older, and I've only had a few scattered times when I was creeping toward a basket-dropping wipeout. Luckily, I've been able to recognize it and head it off at the pass by spending some reflective time alone, out of the fray that is our normal, everyday world.

We went to West Texas. We know the way, and we can enjoy mostly free accommodations. It was the natural choice. And, there's always more to see.

Last week, I took some time with one of my bestest friends ever, the one who gave me the verbage "dropped my basket" in the first place, and my other favorite person in the world, my oldest daughter. (Hint: everybody is my favorite. If I'm talking to you, you're my favorite. Each one of my daughters is the most beautiful girl in the world, depending on who's in my lap). Anyway, we took the plunge to take some time away, at the most inopportune time, and with not a lot of funds to fund the time. The intention was to take some time away, spend some time together, see something new, and restore our creative energy. I have therefore not dropped my basket ... yet.

My oldest daughter, who is 14, actually had a good time with a couple of old broads who can be pretty silly and who really like to share their wisdom, according to us, such that it is. She did not jump out of the car, she saw some new things, she did not complain, and she actually started reading a book. Mission accomplished!

My daughter is the master of self-portraits. Notice: she's smiling!

I realized that the funny thing about time is: you have to take it. Steal it. Be really really greedy with it. You'll never get it back. It will never be a better time.

We went to two baseball games. Go Big Bend Cowboys!

Then, it was back to the real world. A world in which my husband works in the mortgage indusry and my painted groove is dependent upon construction and remodeling and extravagant purchases. These are challenging times. But seriously all you can do is get up everyday and go do what it is that you do really well and be fair to people. So far that been a very effective policy. The days go by and all is basically well. It also could be so much worse.

So the moral of the story is, despite all of this, I have a whacky sense of peace. All the trials and tribulations make my sweet little babies going to school (and our nanny who I love like one of my own going her own way, too), seem manageable. A stressful distraction. Diversion? I have faith it's all good. Apparently, this is what faith is all about. It's easy to have faith when life is gravy.

You won't find any gravy around here, but we have lots of love and faith. Oh my gosh, but there's so much freedom in that -- if you can get past the fact that current circumstances are kind of scary and not real luxurious. So I'm smiling, teeth-gritted, with a death grip on my basket.