Long Overdue

Broken lawnmowers, nails in tires, art appointments, industrial air purifiers, doctor's appointments, and dead computers, want to know what all of these things have in common...well they're all associated with moi!

The last few weeks have been a blur.  You know the kind, where even in your dreams you are behind the eight ball or atop the highest point in the universe with no visible way down...yeah that was last night's fun dream!  The kind of pace where the bullet train goes whizzing past you in a blur, but you're on one of those hand crank railway seesaw car thingies like they always had in the cartoons, pumping your heart out to try and catch up.  Phew, I need a vacation and there's none on the horizon, so the crazy train will have to keep chugging a few more months.

Yesterday, it dawned on me that I never showed you my friend Melissa's beautiful shop photos that I told you I would show you last month.  I made a promise to myself that today would be the day I would get the post done, and then like magic I saw Melissa at Panera last night...you gotta love how the universe works sometimes don't you?!  Like it was saying to me..."remember, you said today, this means you better do that post, you promised...see there she is!" 

So below is my LONG overdue post filled with lots of lovely photos from her amazing store.  But before we get to all the pretties, I'm also long overdue in thanking each and every one of you who commented on my last post.  I haven't returned a single email or comment from that post and I feel sick about it.  The fact is that I read them all and each one gave me a greater and greater sense of comfort regarding our empty nest, so thank you!  And thank Mr. Tide for fixing my dead computer so that I could come here to say what should have been said within just a few days of posting...THANKS, you guys rock!

And because I've blathered on enough for one post, I will let the pictures do most of the talking for The Right Mix, Antiques and Fine Art, owned by my dear friend Missy/Melissa Geimer!  Enjoy!

Beautiful antique oil paintings...check!

  Gorgeous silver serveware, including antique samovars...yup she has what you need!

 Beautiful antique furniture and rugs, including burl wood and a baby grand piano...whatever you need to tickle your fancy!

 In need of a little sparkle in your life, or maybe just an Aidan Gray fix...well you've come to the right place...or should I say The Right Mix! ;-)

And did I mention that she also carries accessories for yourself (she even sells antique jewelry), or your home, Missy has you covered, at her shop you'll find giftware too, including cards and napkins.

And because Missy understands that every well dressed home deserves a beautiful setting, she offers an array of beautiful garden accessories to boot.

I think you can see why I love this shop, and why I think the name The Right Mix is perfectly suited to it, it truly is a wonderful mix of must haves!  If you were to take a quick lap around my house right now you'd find one of her armillaries gracing my front flower bed, a beautiful antique blue and white creamer sitting on the tea cart in my dining room, and a gorgeous white German Shepard statue atop the Hepplewhite chest in my living room...not to mention some wonderful paper napkins in the drawer of my buffet waiting for guests, or to use as hostess gifts.  So not only do I love Missy's shop, but I love how her wonderful gifts and antiques have helped me create the right mix in my own home!  And the best part is that she's always finding new treasures so each time you visit her shop you're sure to find something new to bring home!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of The Right Mix located in Leonardtown, Maryland, and I hope you'll have the opportunity to visit it yourself one day and meet Missy, who is one of the sweetest women on the planet, and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that!

The shop isn't open every day, but you can always contact Missy/Melissa via email at missygeimer@yahoo.com or you can phone her at 480-365-8871 to schedule an appointment, and please tell her Kat says hello!

Thank you Missy for letting me invade your space and take photos of your beautiful shop!

The Right Mix 

25775 Point Lookout Rd

in the Nationwide Building

Suite 2

Leonardtown, MD 20650

480.365.8871

Hours:  Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm

 

The Right Mix

Sometimes I feel like a lousy friend.  Not because I want to be, but because work gets in the way of connecting with friends and then...well, you end up having to give somewhere and these days, that seems like on the friend front.

I have some really cool stuff going on with work, and sadly I can't reveal what it is quite yet...soon I hope.  But because I'm so busy creating and doing work stuff, I find that when the end of the day rolls around I am just too tired to sit down and try and reconnect with those I really want to connect with...ie friends!

I think we all feel this way sometimes, the last time I felt this way was when my kids were younger and I had a lot going on so life revolved around family and home.  Thankfully, I still have that network of my kids and husband...plus my dogs, but for the past few years I feel like sometimes making time with my good friends has become hard.

And it's not just me, they are all really busy too, so we feel like power brokers trying to sneak in a lunch or chat on the phone.  It seems crazy to me really since you would think that with our kids grown things would have slowed down a bit, but actually I think they have sped up...sometimes at breakneck speed!

And then there is this blog and all of the wonderful friends I have made since I started it just 2 years ago.  I used to love the email chats, phone calls, and occasional meet ups that I had time for when I was just writing, but those days are long gone.  And it's kind of like with my local friends, we are all so busy doing our own things that it's not just me finding it difficult to find a balance where we can stay connected without becoming completely frazzled in the process.


 

I sometimes lie awake at night thinking about the emails or comments I haven't responded to...ones I REALLY wanted to respond to, and it makes me feel sad and more than a little guilty.

For now I will have to pick and choose my battles though, because in order to get my business up and running I have to put 110% of my efforts toward that right now.  And of course I just can't let my family fall to the back burner, so they stay at the top of my "to do" list always.  I love that opportunity is knocking at my door, but I refuse to let it knock me off my feet, so I have to slow down sometimes.

But on days like yesterday, when I popped in to my friend Melissa Geimer's (or Missy's) beautiful shop, The Right Mix, in Leonardtown, I was reminded of how much I miss being able to just be, and having the luxury of hanging out sometimes.

Missy is a gorgeous person both inside and out, someone so generous of spirit that you think she could have been the heroine in a fairytale.  I plan to do a whole photo shoot at her shop very soon, so stay tuned...and if you're reading this Missy, get a website girl! ;-)  Up until a few months ago she was part of a local antique mall, but she recently branched out on her own.  Her shop is perfectly named and she has a great mix of antique furniture, accessories, lighting, and artwork.  Her taste is impeccable, and she has brought a little bit of Europe to quiet rural southern Maryland...and I love that!

After I visited with her, and she sent me on my way with the gorgeous antique blue and white creamer you see in this post (plus a few other goodies I will show you soon), I thought about how wonderful it was to see her.  We last saw one another at a wedding back in September...time flies!  She is going 100 mph trying to get her store up and running, and if you live in the area I highly recommend you pop by to check out her wares.  She has everything from Russian samovars to breathtaking antique oil paintings framed in equally beautiful gilded gesso frames that would be at home hanging in the rooms and corridors of Downton Abbey. 

We talked about our new endeavors and she told me how excited she was for me, the way true friends do.  And I couldn't help but ooh and ahh at all of her hard work and feel happy that she was finally where she should be, in charge of her own destiny and in a place where she can showcase her many talents.  I know that it's only a matter of time before designers in the DC metro area find out about her and come calling to snap up her amazing inventory! 

When I got home. I thought about how really lucky I am, and that I just need to be patient and eventually I too will find my right mix.  I will learn to balance a new career and still find time to keep up with the other things that are important to me.  I've done it before, so I know I will learn again, but there are always growing pains I suppose.

So for now, I will focus on the things that need my attention the most and I will hope that I don't offend anyone as I find my way.  I'm more excited about this new venture than I can even verbalize so I know it will all be worth it in the long run!

Do you feel pulled in a million different directions all at once?  And if so, how do you make it all work?

Thank you Missy!!!

For more info on hours and the exact location for The Right Mix ...Antiques, Furnishings & Collectibles (located along Route 5 next door to Guy Distributors in Leonardtown, Maryland) you can email missygeimer@yahoo.com or by phone at 480-365-8871.  She hopes to have a website up and running soon, and I will let you know all about it when she does.

Plum Tired

I'm so glad my vintage camera post brought back fond memories for some of you.  Isn't it funny how you can see, smell, taste, or even feel something and those memories will come flooding back in an instant...the brain is miraculous that way!

And Kelly J, I've never noticed Loic's collection of vintage cameras at Cafe Des Artistes (which is a lovely little French restaurant located in Leonardtown), I will have to look for them next time I dine there!

I woke up at 4:45 AM this morning...don't ask me why...and I couldn't go back to sleep!  I hate it when that happens, sleep is my very good friend.   I need more than 4 hours and 45 minutes of shut eye...I didn't go to bed until the bewitching hour last night.

While I was playing around with actions and textures on these photos tonight, Mr. Tide tried to convince me that I had already posted them.  And I'm so tired that I actually thought he was right...but he was imagining things.  It's ok though, because he's ever so slowly cracking on the whole "no puppy" rule!

I had fun playing with different textures, but finally my eyes grew weary and I knew it was time to just call it a day!

I'm WAY far behind on my blog reading, house cleaning, laundry, but I will get caught up on all of that after I've had a little more shut eye tonight.  Right now I'm just plum tired and so I will bid you all adieu for the evening and wish you a happy Thursday, which is always a happy day because it means we are all that much closer to the weekend.   Bonne nuit a tous!

A Little Taste of Sunshines

A few Saturdays ago, after spending the day with my dear friend Connie, I headed back towards home for a local beach party in the quiet town of Leonardtown, Maryland.  Mr. Tide had phoned me as I was making my way back home to ask if I wanted to go to the party, and it sounded like great way to cap off a perfect day!

A bypass put in years ago, which re-routed traffic away from the historic downtown shopping district in Leonardtown, nearly sealed the town's fate.  But those who had grown up in the area refused to let that happen, and over the years small businesses, residents, and area officials have worked together to bring life back to this once booming small town.

And one of the ways they've sought to inject Leonardtown with a sense of community and economic welfare is to host several annual events which are centered around the town's square.  Vendors, musicians, and our local fire and rescue departments all gather on the square for the various events where fun can be had by all.

And although many of the original businesses are no longer located on the square in Leonardtown, many new and thriving ones have come in to take their place.   You can find everything from a local pub to a wonderful used book store.  And you can even find a place to take cooking lessons or purchase a piece of fine art created by local artisans.

And of course there are wonderful places to dine.  One of the new kids on the block, and a favorite for Mr. Tide and me, is The Front Porch.  It's located in a historic home once owned by the Sterling family, a prominent local name.  The house remained in the family for many generations until it was sold, completely renovated, and turned into a wonderful restaurant.

I love the casual family friendly atmosphere of The Front Porch.  The decor inside includes a trip down memory lane as the walls are filled with items and photos of Leonardtown from years gone by.  And I love this vintage bicycle with petunias spilling out of the basket!

And true to its name, The Front Porch does indeed have an inviting front porch where you can dine on great food or simply sit and have a drink overlooking the town.  And if you're feeling up to a little friendly competition, you can play a game or two of croquet on the restaurant's well manicured front lawn. 

By the time we arrived, the sun was getting low, but that didn't stop the children from having a fun time in the water provided by Leonardtown's Volunteer Fire Department.

And what kind of beach party would it be without some sand and water?!  It was a hot day that day so kids weren't the only ones enjoying the cool mist!

Crazy for Ewe is one of my favorite stores in town.  Not because I knit, but because the windows are adorned with the most wonderful sheep paintings!  It is a great knitting store to boot though, and they even offer lessons!

There are so many great places and cool old buildings in Leonardtown.  And the evening light was perfect!  Duke's, which was once a notorious watering hole (they had a drive-thru window where you could order a mixed drink!), is now home to Cafe Des Artistes, a wonderful French restaurant.  Owners Karleen and Loic Jaffres are gracious proprietors and their profiteroles are to die for!  And don't forget to try my personal favorite, the European style hot dog served in a banquette with yummy mustard from their lunch menu!

And Leonardtown is blessed with not one but several wonderful floral shops, so flowers are never hard to come by...my kind of town!

Even the bank is located in a gorgeous old building!  Unfortunately it's no longer locally owned and operated like so many banks which have fallen on hard times, but they can never take away the history and craftsmanship that went into the building itself.

And check out the beautiful Maryland seals that adorn its brick facade!  I have made many a deposit at this old bank when I worked for local attorneys in town many years ago during my summer breaks from college.

But it wasn't just the chance to wander around the historic old buildings, beautiful homes, say hi to our son, and to mingle with a lot of friends that brought us to Leonardtown that night.  We had heard from a reliable source that one of our favorite catering companies was going to be selling their wares at the beach party that night!

You see, we had it on good authority from our friend and painter extraordinaire Jeff (he's on the left in the blue shirt) that there would be yummy BBQ to be had!

Sunshines Catering is located in Hollywood, Maryland and is owned by Patrick T. Michael, but most people just call him Chef.  They are well known throughout southern Maryland for their delicious food, and the steady stream of customers buying their BBQ at the beach party was certainly happy to see them!

And if the heavenly smell of their BBQ and other yummy food doesn't help you find them, well you can always look for their one of a kind truck!

Imagine Jimmy Buffett and a pirate/artist/biker chick had a love child...that's Sunshines Catering.  Laid back, fun loving, and oh so good!

And waiting in line becomes a real treat when this great catering company is serving up the grub!  They don't just set up a booth, they do it in style!

I just love their quirky sense of humor and I'm not going to argue with a bull and a bun!

I will argue that the sliced beef BBQ, fries, and soda I had that evening were second to none though!

And that the artwork on their truck is amazing!

These folks agree too!

I'm pretty sure if there really are pirates with chests full of booty, then this must be the greatest booty of all!  If you are ever in the area, keep an eye out for the bright blue truck for your own little taste of Sunshines!

And if you live in the area and are in need of an amazing painter, email me and I'll give you Jeff's contact information.  Just don't become too popular Jeff or I won't have my favorite painter around when I need him! ;-)

There is so much more to the town of Leonardtown then what I've been able to show you here, so I hope that if you're ever in southern Maryland that you'll venture down this way and stop by for a visit!

Thank you everyone for your kind comments about Mary Beth's wonderful artwork in her son's nursery, I know it made her happy to see such lovely things said about the room she worked so hard on!