Shopping First Monday!

This past weekend I went shopping with several of my LCMOM (Lake Cities Moms of Multiples) board members. I wish more of the board could have joined us, but I understand how hard it is to get away when you have a house full of young kids.

I love shopping with friends. My best friend in Florida (Renae) and I used to go on all day shopping trips twice a year. I miss those shopping trips and bonding time! It was nice to do a shopping trip with my Texas friends this weekend.

Teresa, Me, Kathryn, and Nikki

We went shopping at Canton’s First Monday. Such an odd name, but it makes sense. It is a shopping experience and tradition that has been going on more than 150 years, so I guess they can’t change the name now! It is called first Monday because it is a market that is open only on the weekend prior to the first Monday of the month. Which happened to be this weekend! There are over 7,500 vendors at First Monday! You can’t possibly visit every booth and shop in one day. I don’t think we saw even half of everything while we were there. It is a famous shopping venue. Here is what one website has to say about it: “First Monday Canton Trade Days has been featured in Country Living, National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, and even a live telecast on Good Morning America. The A & E Channel has filmed 20 shows here and Southern Living Magazine featured us as well! We’re glad you are coming to Canton’s First Monday Trade Days, the Grand Daddy of all Flea Markets.” (http://shopfirstmondaycanton.com/)

It is hard to explain what you can buy there. New, old, just about every style of furnishings, furniture, clothing, unfinished wood items, jewelry, iron works, animal hides, and lots of food vendors too. If you are into shabby chic you can decorate your entire home by shopping here for a weekend. That seems to be the most popular style at First Monday.

We shopped for hours and found some great buys. We found a fabulous boutique selling girls’ outfits that were adorable. I bought six outfits for Brielle there. Here is one of the outfits for Brielle. She will wear it to preschool tomorrow:

I also got some great furniture pieces. Thank you ladies for helping me load and haul these items home! It was not an easy task! Thank you to my husband for putting our car topper on the SUV, as it was used! He also did a great job with our three kids all day on Saturday as well. They had a nice day with Daddy.

I found an Asian end table for my formal living room. Now I am on the hunt for an Asian or Chinoiserie coffee table. I love how it looks in the living room! Especially with the other Asian pieces and Chinoiserie vases.

I also purchased a large original painting. It is an impressionist painting that is a Parisian scene with the Eiffle tower in the background. The signature says Marco or Marca, but I can’t seem to find anything about this artist. It is a nice work of art in a quality frame. It appears to be vintage from the age of the canvas, but it is in pristine shape. I was afraid it wouldn’t fit in my SUV because it was so big, but we ladies were resourceful and made it fit! Thank goodness for the cargo net from my vehicle. It came in handy securing the painting for the drive, as it had to fit sideways or on an angle.

I love the new artwork! It is hanging in our guest room. The use of light in the artwork is what makes an impressionist painting quality art. I love how this artist made the lights in shops glow and reflect on the sidewalks as well.

I also purchased 7 yards of upholstery from one of the nicest sellers at First Monday. They had high end bedding items, custom pillows, custom bedding, and curtains as well. They had rolls of fabric you could purchase by the yard. I plan to recover my kitchen chairs. Even with a double coating of Scotch Guard I can’t keep up with cleaning my  white kitchen chairs. Three small children create lots of mess while eating!

Green damask on a burgundy stripe background. It will look great on my kitchen chairs!

Did I mention I only paid $7 a yard for this high quality upholstery fabric? I can’t wait to use it! It was also handy to have for padding the end table for transporting it home.

I really like going to First Monday. I also like “the hunt”. Of course there are about 5 items I regret not buying. Maybe I will go back next month with the family, as Justin likes going as well. It is an adventure that everyone should experience at least once!

Thank you Justin for spending time with the kids so I could go shopping with friends, thank you ladies for going with me to First Monday, and thank you Jesus for the great finds and bargains!

P.S. Do you ever wonder how I blog with three small kids? I multitask! I am bathing the kids right now. They love time in the bathtub! I just told Charile to stop throwing the bath toys out of the tub. Life is real here folks.