Those Frenchies Aren't Going to Know What Hit 'Em

In just about 36 hours, I'll be winging my way to Paris. I'm a very lucky gal, and I know it. Not sure how much I'll be posting while I'm gone, but I'll be coming back with lots of photos and many stories. How do I know this? Because I will be staying with my friend Julia for much of the time, and here is the message she posted on my facebook page earlier today:

"Get some sleep on the plane. You're going to hit the ground running. First: A refresher course on opening champagne with a sabre. Second and third: The plant and flower show at the chateau Courson PLUS a three-day junk sale along the Seine in the next town over!"

Au revoir, One Gal's Trashy Pals!

xox

Pam

Texas Junking - Chapter III - Frenchy Stuff and Body Parts

If I only had a truck.

I really wanted to buy this print. I love the fact that Napoleon and Josephine look so utterly bored with each other. Who knew?

My best guess is that this was a display piece from a store, including the gender specific heads. Deluxe Chubby Boy and Deluxe Chubby Girl. The question is: Display for what? Undergarments? Toys? Cupcakes? The hand was a mystery to me.

Legs. $5 each.

The Junking is Bigger in Texas

Okay, Trashy Pals...For the next few posts, you'll be along for the ride as I relive the best junking week of my life. The stuff, the displays, the deals, the peeps, the layers of sweat and dust and sunscreen. You'll see it all...right here!

Yeeeee Haw!

Can you say Spell Check?

Hats and a butt. The hats are French. The butt? I'm not sure.

Me, surrounded by my friends. They have trouble spelling, too.

I wanted to take a nap!

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

The Girly Stuff

More of the loot I found last week...

Rusty, filthy and fabulous vintage bread box and set of glasses destined to hold chocolate milkshakes. Whipped cream and Maraschino cherries, no extra charge!

2 Frenchy girls in round frames (I can never pass these up), miniature perfume bottles, a cigar box and a lantern. But it's not just a lantern, of course. It's a bottle and a music box. The tune it plays is "How Dry I Am". Not kidding.

And the pretty girl on the cigar box loves her smokes so much that she's engraving their initials onto an unsuspecting tree. I smoked a cigar once when I was 19, accompanied by a Bloody Mary and my boyfriend at the time, whose surname was Divine. Not kidding. Perhaps that's a story for another day.

L'Amour

Every girl should have French lovers on her mantel for Valentine's Day.

She is beautiful, he is dashing and they are madly in love.

They're planning an evening of champagne and dancing.

Just look at those lips...Smooch!

Those Wacky French People

I've had this picture for a very long time. I don't remember where I got it, but I do remember it set me back a whole 95 cents. The print is sort of haphazardly slapped on gold painted particle board, but I personally think that adds to its charm.

At first glance, it's a delightful little scene of French people dancing. But on closer inspection, it's clear that something else is happening...some sort of game involving blindfolds and a large wooden spoon. Can anyone out there tell me what the hell is going on?

P.S. One Gal's Trash is up for a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award given by Country Living. You can vote for me in the Reader's Choice Award here. If you tell 5 friends, and they tell 5 friends, and they tell 5 friends...I could win this thing. Go! Vote!

xoxo

Pam

I wonder why she didn't sell....

I found her a few years ago at a junky antique shop on the Oregon Coast. I fell in love from across the room...her face, her hair and the sunlight on the meadow behind her. For $8, she was mine. When I got her home, I realized the object in her hands was not a fluffy hat after all. It's a chicken. A dead chicken. I was sort of horrified, but I liked her enough to keep her on my bedroom wall for awhile. Recently, I decided that she should find a new home. Here she is, up for sale at the Plucky Maidens Junk Fest. I wrote on her price tag: "Frenchy Girl About to Pluck a Dead Chicken". Perhaps that is why she was still there at the end of the day.

Cocorico!

French Pre-school children learn that roosters greet the morning with "Cocorico!" Isn't that so much better than "Cock-a-doodle-do!"?
I found this gorgeous lamp at a recent sale. The first thing that popped into my head was..."Look! A lamp with 2 cocks on it!" Price? $10. Magnifique!

A Thursday Night Surprise

I was driving through the hood on Thursday evening when I saw the tell-tale signs of an estate sale. Cars parked all caddywompus along 15th Avenue, a bunch of malcontents blocking the sidewalk complaining about all the malcontents blocking the sidewalk. You know, the usual. Sure enough, it was indeed a sale...just a few minutes before it opened. I made a U-turn, brought Hazel the dog home and drove back, all in about 45 seconds. The sale was a little fancy pants for my taste, but I found a few goodies.

A couple of red oak farm chairs,

A fantastic olive green Smith Corona typewriter, a print of Lord Fauntleroy,

and 3 small French bowls. (You know how I love anything Frenchy.) The messages are: "Love transcends reason", "One is always 20 years old in some corner of the heart" and "Far from sight, close to my heart". Swoon.

A box from France

Julia is an old friend from when I lived in Paris a couple of decades ago. Someday I'll find and post a photo of us when we worked at the same pizza restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe. Anywho, after many years of no contact whatsoever, Julia recently got in touch. (J'amie Facebook.) She just sent me a box of Frenchy wonder....

A framed sprig of Lily of the Valley (my favorite flower) for good luck, and Eiffel Tower embellished nail clippers.

And a stack of wonderful vintage "Happy New Year" cards. En francais.

Oooo La La...Merci, Julia!

I ♥ Valentine's Day

All of these goodies will be up at the shop later today...stop by to shop for your sweetie pie!

A vintage record of Opera duets, a 1970's Hallmark honeycomb heart, a Valentine cupid, vases of love and vintage party napkins. Oh! And flash cards so you can learn how to speak French in 15 minutes. Because, after all, what could be more romantic than that?

I could eat that!

There is a new French bakery near us called Petite Provence. 

                                             

     Les patisseries!

              Les Gateaux! 

         Emma and Charlie especially loved these meringue puppies...

This place is so authentic, you can smell the baking butter and sugar from a block away.  The only thing missing is this. I may have to stop by this morning for a little je ne sais quoi!