My 69th birthday was unlike any birthday I’ve had in maybe forever. I’ve never done an adventure like this on my actual birthday before, so it was extra special this year. We usually go out to dinner for birthdays and this year Mark is taking me to the Tate house with a group of friends tomorrow (I’ll share that also), so that will be another celebration, but when I found out Queen of Hearts was doing this shopping adventure with a bus ON my birthday, I decided to join in and go. My friend Betsy was going with her mom, so I tagged along with them. This is the first one they’ve done and I’m sure they will do more. We had a fun day, even though by the time it came to an end, I was really tired. If you’re local, you might want to check out the next one. You have to love shopping and being on a bus with a bunch of other (mostly) women and be ready to shop til you drop! Breakfast, lunch and snacks were included, with mimosas and wine along the way as well. It was a full day!
Betsy and I met up and drove over to the Marietta Queen of Hearts and Betsy was prepared with a Happy Birthday song for me and a hat and blower. What a way to celebrate! She’s the best! I didn’t get any pics of us together, but I’ve introduced you to her before.
Here we are at last month’s show house tour. Check out Betsy’s company, House Therapy.
The 2 big buses were parked out front and we were instructed which on to get on. After breakfast and shopping inside for an hour or so, we got on the bus and headed to the next stop, Alpharetta.
Here are a few pics from the Marietta store. If you haven’t been to Queen of Hearts before, it’s a huge antique mall with lots of vendors. Think grocery store size, it’s that big. You wind up and down each row with so much to look at.
You can find just about anything you could be looking for and it was especially decked out for Christmas. I wasn’t really looking for much, but kept my eyes peeled for vintage Shiny Brites, but I didn’t see any I was willing to pay a lot for. I like the deals!
This booth belongs to a blogger friend, Paige.
The whole store was full and ready for Christmas so it was a nice way to kick off the holiday season.
Second stop was Alpharetta and this is where we had lunch. We shopped awhile and then headed to get a catered lunch which was very nice.
There is plenty to see in this store too. So many vendors and so much to take in. Since I don’t need a lot, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular.
I don’t like to buy just to buy anymore, it really has to catch my eye. Since our house is full, I would have to get rid of something to bring more home.
Of course, vintage bamboo always catches my eye.
Lots of blue and white.
Vintage bamboo sewing basket priced at $250.
I love vintage brass deer too, but didn’t see any bargains.
I did pick up one thing at the Alpharetta store, this set of Christopher Radko ornaments, the new kind. We have these on our tree too and they are not inexpensive new, so I look for them used as well. This box had one missing, but was still worth it at $15. New boxes sell for about $40 on the website.
Soft pink and green.
These needlepoint pillows were pretty.
I’m not sure where the Alpharetta store stopped and the Buford store started in my pics, but I only took a few pics in Buford, our last stop.
By the end of the day, I was definitely tired, but it was a good tired. It was the longest day I had out since my last hip surgery, so I was feeling it, but I enjoyed spending the day with a friend and enjoyed a different kind of birthday. It felt like a fun celebration and the bus sang happy birthday to me and another lady who had a birthday that day too.
As I sat on the bus waiting on the last people to get on so we could go back to our cars and go home, the sunset was spectacular that evening. Thank you God for a beautiful display in the heavens, especially for my birthday! It was a birthday to remember!
My daughter & I went to the Tate house last year. Was very nice.Make sure you check out her teapot collection!
What a wonderful way to spend your birthday! Happy birthday, I wish we had antique stores like that where I live.
Sounds like a lot of fun, Rhoda, and a great way to spend your birthday. I had hoped to attend but instead took a trip to White Rabbit Cottage. I loved wandering through the rooms and picked up a few more ornaments for my tree as well as some pretty dessert plates that I did not need but fell in love with.
Wow, now that’s my idea of the perfect day! Happy Birthday!
That sounds like a perfect birthday! Happy Birthday Rhoda. May God grant you many more happy healthy years!
I live in a small country town with several antique stores, much like this one, only smaller. My 23 year old granddaughter and I spent several hours last Saturday walking through 3 of them, after having a brownie and Chia Tea at a local coffee shop. Didn’t buy much, as I too, have too much! But a day spent with my granddaughter, priceless!
What a spectacular happy birthday! Christmas decor has really gone off the rails. I wish there was a way to go back to the early 1960’s and take a snapshot of my maternal grandmother’s Christmas tree. Every year, she took some of us grands out into the woods close to her house and used a rusty hacksaw to procure a loblolly pine sapling. It was probably one step up from Charlie Brown’s tree. She would plant the little tree in a dirt filled pot (she was an avid outside gardener). Her Christmas lights were the standard string of 20 blue, red and green circa the 1950’s. She had two boxes (6 count) of Shiney Brite ‘bulbs’ as she called them. Miraculously, we managed to balance them on the spindly limbs and I don’t recall ever breaking one. Not sure, but I would bet she purchased the decorations from the local Western Auto family store owned and operated by her brother in law. That would be the extent of her Christmas decorating unless we colored and cut out a pic in Sunday School and insisted that she Scotch tape it to the door frame or if we were inspired to make a ‘long’ construction paper chain (about 2 feet long). I am pretty sure the only reason she made the effort was for us kids.
Hi, Becky, the good ole days of Christmas were the best! Simple decorations and all about the celebration of the season.