Shop Stop: The Augusta Emporium

Ty and I took a day trip to Augusta, MO to visit one of our favorite antique shops, the Augusta Emporium.  Tyler found this place while cruising down Hwy 94 to wine country, and the lady who owns it is from Colorado (Tyler's stompin' grounds), so they have fun chatting away about outdoorsy madness while I shop away.  The prices are great (sometimes I don't think she realizes that she has some awesome finds for indie-artsy folk) and carries unique treasures. 

I love how she decorates and displays her goodies.  These birds made me smile and now looking at them, I should have brought them home with me!

These yellow metal chairs are adorable!  I picture them at home in a garden full of bright, colorful flowers with eclectic, bohemian treasures. 

 

This owl reminded me of something from an Anthropologie catalog.  I took him home with me...

She also carries a large collection of vintage games.  I made this mixed media piece with some pieces of a game I bought there. 

But some of my favorite finds there are her collection of tin containers!  I lately have been experimenting with them to try make jewelry.  Here is one of my 'upcycled' necklaces I made from a candy tin with birds on it that I had bought there.  I made it by cutting the tin, hammering it into a form that I like, soldering the sides, and using resin and floating a piece of paper with 'love' for a shadow box effect.  It was a lot of effort, but I'm really happy with the results.  There are more pictures of it available on my Oddly Sentimental Designs page. 

hot diggity dog... with clams on the side...

A few weeks ago, I went on a much needed trip to Boston to visit my friends, Becky and Eric (... and company).  One of the things that was on my Boston To-Do List was to have a hot dog from Boston Hotdog Co. in Salem.  Unfortunately, paying taxes was not high on their list for this year and they were closed (the following is a picture of Eric embodying our frustration...excellent work). 

But not easily disheartened, we journeyed to the far lands of Rockport to feast of hot dogs at Top Dog, which is quite possibly America's favorite hot dog (according to their site and from personal experience).  I found their menu rather entertaining, using different dogs to represent what is on the hot dog, because that is exactly what I would do if I had a hot dog stand, so I felt an instant connection.  I, also, felt as if they knew exactly what I would want, because the day before I had mentioned that hot dogs and mac & cheese was a fabulous combination, and Top Dog just so happened to have the Golden Retriever, which is a hot dog with mac & cheese on it.  Genius!  Of all the years I have been eating hot dogs with mac & cheese, I have never thought about putting the mac & cheese on the hot dog.  It is so simple, yet so brilliant!  Bask in it's glory: 

But Top Dog is not just famous for their hot dogs.  They make amazing clams as well!  And they batter and fry them in front of you, making it fun for the kids... and myself...

So, if you are in Rockport, and you want so fabulous food that will give you heartburn later, check out Top Dog... and tell them 'Erin' sent you... they will have no idea what you are talking about...

Friday of Awesomeness...

My dear friend, Josh, called a few weeks ago and asked my if I wanted to go on my favorite radio talk show with him... I think my reply was something oh, so mature and classy (*code for screaming like a jr. high girl at a Justin Bieber concert...*) and I agreed to join him.  We were on a segment called 'Stump the Studio', where people call in with trivia questions about movies and music and try to 'stump' the hosts and whoever their guest were for the day (aka- us!).  Josh's specialty topic was M.A.S.H.  (which he totally rocked!) and mine was Will Ferrell movies (in which I got 2 out of 3, 'A' for effort!).  It was a freakin' blast!  I was so nervous!  All of my cleverness and sarcasm was gone!  And I totally knew the answer to the question I missed, but my mind went blank!  But it was so much fun!!!  Though Dave wasn't there (sniff, sniff), I got to meet Tom, Max, and Klose and they were such cool guys!  I wanted to give Tom a hug, but I refrained, instead I bought them all donuts for National Donut Day.    Max, in an email to Josh, said that I was 'beautiful and charming'... awww!  Thanks, Max!  If you want to check it out, follow these instructions (very complex :) :

1.  Go to the Dave Glover's website
2.  Click on 'Podcasts' on the right
3.  Click on the podcast '6-4-10 DGS Hour 2'
4.  If you don't want to listen to the whole hour, you can skip to 08:40, and that's when Josh and I join in for the rest of the hour.

Enjoy!!!