Mary Kay Andrews

Brimfield goodies

For those of you who asked (and those of you who didn’t) here’s a photo of Maisy’s Daisy at Seaside Sisters, decked out with all the Brimfield treasures I carted all the way from Massachusetts. If you look carefully you can see the reverse painted mirror with flamingos on the back wall, the large yellow McCoy flower pot, the amazing plant stand with original turquoise art pottery flowerpots on the far left, and the sweet painting of roses on the far right. My daughter Katie and friend Susan Kelleher (she’s the Seaside Sisters madam) helped load it all in and make it look artistic. So now, it’s all ready for you junkers to take home. Have a happy, safe, Memorial Day weekend. I myself have some more junking to do in the morning. And over the long weekend, I plan to do mostly nothing, except cook some ribs on Sunday, for family and friends. And after Monday? I SWEAR BY ALL THAT’S HOLY THAT I WILL RETURN TO WRITING THE FIXER UPPER. Really.

Six Flags Over Brimfield

I have a new happy place–and it’s called Brimfield. Last week my friend Beth and I set out upon the great American junking journey, driving from Raleigh, NC, all the way to Brimfield, Mass. in a rented white cargo van, which we quickly nicknamed Chester, for reasons that are too politically incorrect to go into. On the New York portion of the trip, Brunhilda, Beth’s GPS unit, routed us through the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, which was unbelievably scary. But we made it–with Beth driving the whole way. Monday night we checked into our motel room in Auburn, Mass, and Tuesday, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn–4:30 a.m. to drive the 20 minutes to Brimfield, where we were delighted to survey a full five miles of farm fields full of antiques. The Brimfield Antiques Market is the largest outdoor market in the U.S. We started Tuesday at the daylight opening fields–Crystal Brook, Shelton’s, Quaker Acres. Beth’s first score was the most charming oil portrait of a little blonde girl in a pink dress. We named her Clarissa, and she was really a head-turner. I can’t even remember now what my first purchase was, but I quickly purchased a collapsible rolling cart to hold all my treasures as I trolled the fields for goodies for me–and for Maisie’s Daisy, my antique booth down at Seaside Sisters on Tybee Island. The Brimfield publicists claim that 5,000 dealers sell at this market, and I can believe it–along with about 10,000 shoppers who come from all over the world. We saw great antiques from New England, the Southwest, Europe, everywhere really, and lots of stuff we don’t normally see on our junking forays around the South. As I told a friend, Brimfield is my Disneyworld, my Six Flags, my Coney Island. My favorite purchase was the hot pink screen door that I hope to someday use for my virtual beach house. I also bought five pairs of shutters with great blue-green paint and crescent moon cut-outs also destined for my someday beach house. I bought two great blue chenille bedspreads, a wonderful yellow grandmother’s flower patch quilt in a sunny yellow, a sweet little pine dresser with mirror, a forties mirror that has a reverse-painted flamingo, a pair of blue-green lamps, a folk-art children’s toy Noah’s ark with hand-painted animals, an Ohio Art child’s tin litho sand shovel (I collect these tin litho sandpails and watering cans), a yellow McCoy flowerpot, a cool barkcloth dust-ruffle that’s destined to become cushions for a rattan armchair, a sweet child’s chair in beachy turquoise, and yes, to Beth’s chagrin, a six-foot wooden folk-art Uncle Sam whose moveable arms once held an American flag at the entrance to a Maine hunting camp. We slowed down our assault only for potty breaks–yes, I actually used a porta-potty–and lunch. Brimfield has a wonderful food court, which is situated in the courtyard of a 50s-era motel, called, fittingly, New England Motel.

Beth opted for lobster rolls the first two days, and a full 2-lb. lobster on our last day. I sampled sausage and peppers, and a fantastic sandwich called a Pilgrim Roll–fresh roasted turkey breast with cranberry sauce on a yeast roll. We also tried out the apple crisp with ice cream and hand-cut french fries. Excellent junking food. At the end of our first full day we were just barely able to drag ourselves back to the motel, hit a chain restaurant for dinner, shower, and then to bed by 9 pm. Wednesday we were back in line for the 6 am opening of the New England Motel field, followed by Heart-of-The-Mart at 9am, and Hertan’s at noon. I think New England Motel was my favorite field, but really, I think I found treasures in each field I shopped. One of the best things about Brimfield is the people. The dealers were unfailingly nice, willing to bargain, and just plain cool. We chatted with strangers over lunch and in lines, and everybody was really lovely. The weather was unbelievable most of the time, morning temps were in the low ’50s, so we bundled up in jackets and shawls, but by the afternoon, it had gotten sunny and warm–in the low ’80s. We did have a little rain on our last morning, Thursday, but that lasted for only about 20 minutes. My final tally of purchases numbered around 46, and I spent just about what I’d budgeted for the visit. On Thursday, after a final lunch at New England Motel, we reluctantly headed Chester South for the trip home. and yes, we’re already planning our next Brimfield excursion. Shows are also held in July, but we’ve decided that will be too hot. Maybe September, if I finish my new book on time.

May means Mothers Day and Grads

It was a very special weekend for our family. Thursday, I flew to Phoenix with Mr. Mary Kay and the Boomerang Boy to attend our daughter Katie’s graduation from Arizona State University. We were met here by my son-in-law Mark’s family, who were also here for this great occasion. This is an event that has been eight years in the making. Katie started school at the University of Missouri, which is where she met Mark, who is a Missouri boy. She dropped out of Mizzou in the middle of her junior year, eventually moved back to Atlanta, where she worked at various jobs before returning to school at a local community college. After the kids got married and moved to Phoenix, Katie attended a community college here before moving on to Arizona State. Thursday night we had a big family dinner out, and the kids gave Jane and I our mother’s day gifts–a spa day! Friday we lolled around the Lamar Day Spa here in Phoenix, where we were treated to facials, massages, pedicures, and for me, a haircut and color. What a relaxing experience. This morning, we loaded up the rental car and motored over to Wells Fargo Arena, where we were thrilled to cheer for our girl. Katie graduated with a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies, with concentrations in communications and journalism. Next stop–Atlanta–where Mark has accepted a job, and where Katie is job hunting. Now, if anybody reading this would like to buy an ADORABLE home in Chandler, AZ. you should definitely email me care of this blog. Did I mention the house is ADORABLE? And that, said buyer would be entitled, by buying said house, not only to an ADORABLE house, but also, a lifetime of free Mary Kay Andrews books? I mention this because, until said house is sold, Katie and Mark, and their dog Tybee, will be residing at Chez Mary Kay, in the room recently vacated by Boomerang Boy, who has decamped to a rental house nearby. This would bring the dog population at Chez Mary Kay up to THREE, which may or may not be in violation of county ordinances. In the meantime, tomorrow, I start the great American junk roadtrip with my friend Beth. We are motoring up to the Brimfield Antique Market in Mass., where I hope to score lots of primo junk, and where I also hope to send back dispatches and photos. Happy Mom’s Day to All!

Home again, home again

So. Five days on the Georgia coast. Not bad work, if you can get it. Last Friday I loaded up Mr. Mary Kay’s biiiggg car, and headed down to Savannah and Tybee Island. But first, I stopped at a couple estate sales. Excellent finds there. The first sale of the day was an estate sale in Brookhaven, run by Vicki Taratoot. Vicki’s sales are mostly in the Buckhead area, and this one was a goodie. I bought a small wicker coffee table (which I later painted sky blue), a big wicker lidded basket which is going to replace the ugly white plastic trashcan in my kitchen, a great quilt that looks like it’s never been used, two blue and white quilt tops, and a white matelasse bedspread. I thought I’d put the quilts in my booth, but I can’t quite part with them…so far. Stay tuned for pix of my current house project, which is summerizing my living, dining and sunrooms. The next sale was only a few miles away in Brookhaven, run by some gals who have a shopping problem that seems to rival mine. I bought a pair of great antique Jenny Lind twin beds, which I then painted a soft jadeite green, to put in the booth at SEASIDE SISTERS. Also a pair of lovely lamp bases, which are glass, decoupaged with vintage prints of seashells. They are also a part of the summerization scheme. I’ve already topped them with the lamp shades from my red lamps–which have been sent down to the basement annex for the summer. I finally got on the road by noon last Friday. Friday night I checked into my adorable cottage, which was the former mess hall at the old Ft. Screven at Tybee. As always, this Mermaid Cottage was the perfect place to bunk for the weekend. Saturday I went to an art in the yard party with Diane Kaufman of Mermaid Cottages, and two other friends. The sale was at the home of artist Pam Martin, who paints fun, kitschy folk art. Of course, we were forced to junk on the way down there, and I bought four great retro rattan swivel barstools and a vintage tin breadbox, which was lined with a 1960s-era copy of The Savannah Morning News, which was the first newspaper I worked at after college. Sunday, I hung out at our tent sale at SEASIDE SISTERS. Didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped, altho it was fun hanging out with my friend Polly. Monday, I cruised on down to St. Simon’s Island. I met friends Keith and Chrys for lunch at Christy’s, a fairly new restaurant in downtown Brunswick. I was a bad, bad girl, and ordered mac and cheese with ham and artichokes. Lawwwwd. It was some kind of good. Chrys and I then proceeded to junk our way around Brunswick, which has four excellent antique malls. I picked up a cute Lloyd Loom wicker endtable for my booth, and a great vintage cadet blue shower curtain with chenille anchor detailing. Spent Monday night with old friends, the Johnsons, who have a wonderful house in the village at St. Simon’s, near the village. On Monday, I finally got around to the real reason for my coastal visit, which was a talk and booksigning at The Sea Island Golf Club. What a gorgeous setting! I could get used to living like that. Later in the day, I had another signing at GJ Ford Booksellers, where owner Mary Jane Reed always makes me feel like a rockstar. Dinner last night was with friends Jimmy and Miriam, and Pam and Charles. Pam was my roommate at UGA, so you know we go waaaaaay back. The setting, at the Cloister, was beyond beautiful. And speaking of rockstars, when you check into the Cloister, that is how you are treated. I’ve spent time at lots of lovely hotels over the years (courtesy of HarperCollins), but now I know I was only slumming. I spit on the Ritz-Carlton. Ptttooey! I had my own BUTLER at The Cloister. I lolled in a bath of luxurious seasalt and watched television. I had personalized stationary waiting on my desk in my riverfront suite. I was totally out of my league. I kept waiting for somebody to tap me discreetly on the shoulder and quietly escort me off the premises. Fortunately, I made it out of there before they discovered my trashy background. And now…back to reality.

Last Train to Clarkesville–GA.

Here we are–the junk posse, including daughter Katie (lower left), and great junker/dealer fans Kathy Singer (second from left in pink shirt), Corinne and Barbara (I think). Kathy emailed me a couple weeks ago to let me know that she and her friends, who also include Glenda and Faye, had put together a junk market to be held this weekend in the old mill in Clarkesville, Ga. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for a posse field trip, especially since Katie would be in town, and the husbands had a golf day planned. What a beautiful spring Sunday we had. When we got to the old Clarkesville Mill we found 30 dealers with a choice array of antiques–at reasonable prices. We’re pictured above with some of our treasures. Katie is holding a box of vintage Scottie notecards, which she presented to Susie, bottom right, who collects Scotties because she is an Agnes Scott alum. Susie’s holding the silverplated flask she bought for her college-bound son, who I’m sure will fill it with healthful milk and juice. Jinxie, who drove, is at bottom center, holding the neat faux bamboo shelf she bought. That’s my sister-in-law Jeanne, top left, holding her iron squirrel nutcracker. I’m in the center top, holding the turquoise McCoy vase I bought. Susie also scored a divine swine family of painted concrete, including a polka-dotted mama and her four little piggies, which have already found a home in her vegetable garden. Jinx also bought a metal garden bench. My finds included a summery white quilt with blue and green patches, a set of six ’50s juice glasses in a beachy turquoise and white design, and a cool painted child’s wheelbarrow. I also found a framed Gould bird print for my friend Diane, of Mermaid Cottages on Tybee. Diane has a great collection of Gould prints on the walls of her cottage. Some, but not all of my finds (I’m keeping the quilt!) will be headed down to Tybee next weekend, where I’ll be re-stocking Maisy’s Daisy for our weekend Gypsy Junk Extravaganza at Seaside Sisters. After we tore ourselves away from the antique market, we drove down the street to the Clarkesville square, where we had a lovely lunch at The Attic. A perfect spring day–family, friends, junk, lunch!

Carolina on My Mind

It wasn’t all writing last week–on Sunday I joined a gorgeously attired group of fans for a Book-Lovers Tea put on at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library. A good time was had by all!

A whole week (nearly) of writing–and as Martha Stewart would say, “it’s a very good thing.”
Last Monday I joined members of my writing group, The Scribblers, for a week-long writing retreat at a borrowed house at Holden Beach, N.C. We missed fellow scribblers Katy Munger and Alex Sokoloff, but the other five, myself, Margaret Maron, Bren Witchger, Sarah Shaber and Diane Chamberlain persevered. The weather was chilly (to me) but sunny. I set up my laptop on a card table facing the ocean and got to work. I didn’t quite make my 60 page goal, but I got close, and the result is that I’m almost at the halfway point of THE FIXER UPPER. We followed our usual schedule–meeting for breakfast and talking about writing goals for the day, then splitting up to wrassle with words. We met again for lunch, then back to work until dinnertime. Everybody pitched in with food–homemade soup, spaghetti, chicken casserole, ect.
After dinner we brain-stormed. Sarah was working on revisions for her manuscript, Diane was starting plotting work for a new book, Bren was working out a knotty plotting problem, and Margaret was plotting murder–literary-wise, I mean. After the day’s work was done, the fun began. What do writers do for fun? They play word games. Margaret loves Balderdash, I happen to like Scattergories. Friday night was movie night. I’d never seen WONDERBOYS, with Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr and Tobey Maguire. Loved, loved, loved it. If you haven’t seen this movie about a college English professor (Douglas) wrestling with a departing wife, a pregnant girlfriend, a never-ending 2,000-plus page manuscript, a stoner editor, a gifted but troubled student and a dead dog,you simply must rent it. We howled with delight, and I’m still thinking about the funnier lines in this black comedy. On Sunday, I packed up and headed over to Charlotte, for the book-lovers tea which was held at the Levine Museum of the New South. We had more than 100 book-lovers, and lots of fun. That night I had dinner with old friends Mary and Dallas, and then Monday I headed for home. Of course, I had to stop at the Gaffney Outlet Mall in South Carolina. The Pottery Barn outlet was screaming my name. I scored a new white on white quilt for my bed and some other goodies. And then yesterday, I triumphed–actually got our income taxes filed–without an extension–for the first time in more than 20 years. More than 50 pages, income taxes filed, I’m feeling pretty damned smug today.

Mad About Madison

Madison, Ga. is one of my favorite places ever. It’s one of those modern rarities–a small town with a soul, a thriving downtown business district, gorgeous historic homes, and a thriving arts community. It has a hometown-owned paper, The Morgan County Citizen which is run by friends Patrick and Dianne Yost, an old-timey hardware store with wooden floors, a real live feed and seed store, a drugstore with a soda fountain–Madison Drug, and yes, thank Gawd, an independent bookstore–Dog-Ear Books. Yesterday I had a great signing for DEEP DISH at Dog-Ear. Of course, I showed up early, to shop at the Madison Antique Market, where the store is located. I bought a wonderful Depression-era quilt, softly faded, it’s patches made from old feed sacks, and a great iron plant stand for my porch. The Madison Antique Market is one of my all-time faves–high quality stuff at reasonable prices, with dealers who go to great pains to put together enticing displays in their booths. I just hate walking into an antique booth where everything’s all dusty and dumped out any old way. Also had lunch at a great restaurant, which has been added onto the back of the antique market since my last visit. I also bought several pots of herbs, which I’ve already arrayed on said plant stand. A wonderful crowd was waiting for me when I arrived–with my purchases tucked under my arms. Several of the Savannah Breezers from Milledgeville, Ga. showed up–including our runner-up Miss Savannah Breeze, who came decked out in her feather boa, toting her trophy for all to admire. What a fun bunch of fans we had–mamas and grandmamas, daughters-in-laws, sisters, best friends. Even a couple of stout-hearted husbands joined the mix. Amanda, who recently bought Dog-Ear Books with her brother, knows how to throw a party–wine, cheese, even slices of the now-famous tomato soup chocolate cake–which her brother actually baked. I signed tons of copies of DEEP DISH and HISSY FIT, which, of course, is set in Madison. Have I mentioned that the folks who put together our Savannah Breeze Weekend at Tybee are also putting together a Hissy Fit Weekend in Madison, the weekend of July 18? Stay tuned to my website for upcoming info on that.
After the signing, my friend Dianne Yost wanted to show off Madison’s newest business, the stunning James Madison Inn and Conference Center. It truly is elegant, and the owners, who live in Madison, have done a great job. All the art is by Madison-area artists, showing local landmarks and people. The bath toiletries are made by a local company–even the fancy hand-made chocolates are made in Madison. As usual, I wished I’d gotten to town earlier, and been able to stay later. As it is, the posse and I are definitely going to go back for a chick field trip later this spring. But in the meantime–it’s back to work again. Tomorrow I’m headed up to Holden Beach, NC, for a writer’s retreat with our Scribbler’s group. Sixty pages or bust! I’ll resurface for air in Charlotte next Sunday at 3pm, when I’ll be at a tea sponsored by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library. Y’all come!

Off the List

Okay, so DEEP DISH fell off the New York Times list for the coming week. I’m a big girl. I can take it. We were on for four weeks, so it was a nice ride. And I accomplished my goal–making the printed list at #13.

And while we’re on the subject of goals, I basically reached my stated page quota for the day–only it was nine pages instead of ten. But it was a chapter, and I finished it, and now, I’m back in the saddle again with THE FIXER UPPER. Yippee-Cay-Yi-Yay. Of course, the whole motivation for reaching my page quota is so that the posse can go junking on Friday. See, there are these two rockin’ estate sales tomorrow…

Back to Work

It was fun while it lasted, this book tour thing, but mostly it’s over. Oh sure, I still have a few more scattered book signings for DEEP DISH–including one this Saturday at Dog-Ear Books in Madison, GA., but as far as my editor is concerned, there are no more EXCUSED ABSENCES. She wants pages, and she wants ’em now. So yesterday, I whined and procrastinated. I looked up the last chapter I’d written of THE FIXER-UPPER, which is my book-in-progress. I was horrified to learn that the last time I’d tinkered with it was waaay back in February. Now I’ve got to get re-acquainted with Dempsey Killebrew, the protagonist of TFU. It’s hard, picking up your knitting after having dropped it for six weeks. Last night, it seemed absolutely crucial to world peace that I watch both American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Finally, right at bed-time, while I was watching LAW AND ORDER, an errant plot-related thought crossed my mind. I ran for a pen and yellow legal pad. Therefore, my written output for yesterday–in fact, for yesterday and all of March was…..one lousy paragraph. So. Here’s my pledge. I will meet you back here tomorrow, by say, noon, and I will be able to report that I’ve written at least ten pages. Stay tuned.

Savannah Bound

I made a quick run down to Savannah this week to re-stock my antique booth at Seaside Sisters on Tybee Island. The week before I managed to score some major junk. Jinxie and I went to a rare mid-week estate sale–and lucked into a moving sale across the street from the main sale. I just love it when life works out that way. I bought a beat up round side table from the ’20s, and a couple of other things. I took the table home, cleaned it up, primed it and painted it a color Lowes calls Key Lime. Then, on Saturday, I went junking again, and as I was heading up Briarcliff Road I spotted a couple of cool retro rattan chairs in a weed-strewn yard. I flipped a U-ey, and hit the sale. So my car was already near full when I set out for Tybee on Tuesday morning. Just as an after-thought, I decided to stop at the Salvation Army near my house. Score again! This time I found another pair of retro-riffic rattan tub chairs, plus three rattan foot-stool looking things. The cushions are tufted and hot orange, they’d be divine in a beach house. Once I got down to Seaside Sisters, Susan, the shop madam and I, worked like dogs getting my booth re-worked. I re-covered the seat cushions of the Briarcliff Road chairs with some bright blue barkcloth fabric from my fabric stash, and hung another panel of the fabric from the wall of the booth. After five hours, it looked terrific. And of course, a customer came in and wanted the Key Lime table. So we had to un-do everything, and re-build. But we’re all set now. I bought a wonderful shabby chic white painted full-sized pineapple poster bed, and added a couple new pieces of wicker too. So come on down to Savannah. I’ll be signing DEEP DISH on the deck at Seaside Sisters, on Highway 80 on Tybee, from noon-3 p.m. Saturday. Then I’ll scoot into Savannah and sign from 3:30-5 at Shaver’s Books. You can check the website for exact shop addresses.