WHERE I SELL: WERTZ BROTHERS ANTIQUE MARKET

I have had some requests to see Wertz Brothers

the wonderful antique market in Santa Monica, California

where I have had the pleasure of being a part of for 12 years.

You can find all manner of wonderful merchandise here.

excuse me!

A COUPLE OF REAL BAD BOYS!

and here is....


a view of my space
# 212

these are the great concrete and plaster dogs that I found last week.

another dealers beautiful space...
chippy, sparkling, gorgeousness..

This is one of the prettiest spaces in the mall

This dealer told me that she goes to Roundtop, Texas

every year to bring back some of this quality merchandise...

dreamy whites

curious oddities....

Another fine looking space.

Another dealers great space.

A great eye for finding just the right 

merchandise is the hallmark of the dealers in this mall and it is what makes 

being in here extra special...

The waiting list to sell here is long...You have to sell the

right quality and keep the tone of the place to a certain standard...

not only do they buy right, they know how important

a beautiful display is...

I started selling antiques in 1989...It all began when I realized that I had

too much stuff and  I needed to get rid of some things , so I thought I would get a space

at a little local elementary school flea market.  I did so well that first day that I formulated a plan in which 

I would shop and buy stuff that I didn't plan on keeping for myself.   I booked a space for the following 

month and the same thing happened.  People were gathered around  me as I 

pulled stuff out of my station wagon.   I thought, hmmm... maybe I could  make a

living doing this.   So I sold at Flea Markets in the LA area for awhile until a friend of

mine asked  me to share a space at this very mall...We are still partners here.

  It sure beats hauling stuff to a flea market every month.  

Selling here is a pleasure.  We get a lot of celebrities

and star decorators coming in.  They know that the

place will deliver the goods.  We also get a lot

of movie people looking for props.  I have seen some

of my things in movies and magazine layouts.

That is just one of the percs of doing business in Los Angeles.

AND THE WINNER IS...

all of the entries...

were put into the hat..

and the name that was pulled out...

 SAMGRAM OF 8   

SO SEND ME YOUR MAILING ADDRESS AND 

YOUR CHOICE OF WHAT NECKLACE YOU WANT.

CONGRADULATIONS!!!!

BUT WAIT....

THERE'S MORE....

BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO NECKLACES,

 I PULLED OUT ANOTHER NAME...

KATIE..  OF   SHARING OUR SPACES.....SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS AND YOU

GET NECKLACE NUMBER TWO...

IT HAS BEEN SUCH A FUN WEEK FOR ME...THANK YOU SO

VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PART IN IT....NOW THAT YOU ARE

FOLLOWERS, CHECK IN FROM TIME TO TIME...DON'T BE

A STRANGER, I WANT TO GET TO KNOW YOU ALL.

AND AGAIN TO THE "OLD TIMERS"   THANKS A MILLION

YOU HAVE BEEN SO KIND AND WONDERFUL...

BEATNHEART

VISIT "BEATNHEART BOUTIQUE, JUST NEXT DOOR...

I HAVE ONE MORE BEE NECKLACE LEFT AND CAN

MAKE ONE MORE ART NOUVEAU NECKLACE...

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY.....

I'm just about to reach 50 visitors so to celebrate that occasion and to give something back to all my wonderful new friends, I am having a giveaway...The winner will get the above necklace, a vintage black glass bead rosary, with a silver-plate Art Nouveau style Focal piece with a swarvoski crystal drop...


                                                                           OR....

This necklace has a brass bee focal and aventurine beads with tiny

Czech seed beads...Finished with brass chain and lobster claw clasp.

YOU GET TO CHOOSE... I WANT YOU TO LIKE WHAT YOU WIN!!

   What do you have to do?  Leave a comment for one vote, become a follower or already be a follower gets two votes, post the giveaway on your blog and you get another chance to win....  I'll keep this up for one week with the winner announced on May 14th...
GOOD LUCK AND THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU....YOU HAVE GIVEN ME SO MUCH !!!  CYNTHIA

YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT CALIFORNIA TIME....THEN I PUT ALL YOUR NAMES  IN MY BOWLER HAT AND PICK OUT THE WINNER....THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR DELIGHTFUL AND SUPPORTIVE COMMENTS.

THE BIGGEST BLIZZARD IN THE LAST 20 YEARS...CHAPTER ONE-PART SEVEN

 This wonderful new life in Arizona drifted by in soft, stress free days and nights.  Always something to do.  Always something new to see. This pinon pine scented town with the glorious snow covered even in summer San Francisco peaks in the distance had grabbed me and didn't want to let me go.   The Grand Canyon was a stone's throw away.  The Petrified Forest.  Sedona.  And these lively college students were always doing something.  And going somewhere.  And the back of those VW vans were filled to the brim with these happy, laughing teenagers ready and willing to find the next adventure.  And they were from all over the country.  All over the world!   San Francisco.  New York City.   Seattle.  India! .   A black one.  A brown one.  A gay one.  All I ever knew were people from my own home town.  White people. Straight.  Catholic or Protestant.  No one came from anywhere else.  Born and raised in our little city.  Lived and died there.  Didn't go anywhere or see anything or do anything out of the ordinary.  The only people going somewhere were the young boys that  were going to Vietnam.  but some of them never did come back.  They came home zipped up in plastic bags.  eighteen, nineteen, twenty year old boys whose only venture out of our little town was a swampy, smoky hell hole that they wished they never layed eyes on but they had no choice.  Their number was called and they were gone and the mothers wept and the fathers tried to be brave and say it was for the good of the country but we all had our doubts because what good would this do for us and what good would this do for anyone.   My brother was one of the lucky ones.  His asthma kept him home. He wanted to go cause his buddies were going and it seemed like the right thing to do if you didn't know any better and at least it got you away from home and the dull, boring factory that was looming in the distance if that was all they said you were good for.  if you weren't smart enough or had enough money or your parents didn't push you or encourage you to do or be anything else.  Because the factory was good enough for us so why wouldn't it be good enough for you.  Why be anything more or achieve anything more because who do you think you are one of the Kohler kids?    So my brother got smart... He wasn't pushed to go to college.  He didn't have the grades for college.  He didn't have the money for college.  But he did his homework and found a college that would take him and off he went when I was a Sophomore in high school.   And then he came back and got me because I was factory bound as I knew nothing else and I too wasn't encouraged for anything else and maybe I'd get married and have kids and my husband would support me or maybe I'd get that factory job and just live at home and take care of my mother which was how it was suppose to go.  But my brother came and he got me out because he knew I deserved more than this and he wanted to show me that there was more out there and if I wanted it I could have it and  if I wanted more it was there for  me and if he could do it so could I...

   I was born again in Arizona and my soul  rose out of that murky dark spot inside of me and no one was going to make me leave it and I would find a way to stay cause not for one single second was I going back to that hell hole that was my life now that my spirit was illuminated by this new found freedom
and no way was I going to live and die in the same place and marry someone that I didn't love just to get
out of the house and have children I couldn't take care of cause I couldn't even take care of myself...I was prepared for nothing.  I only knew how to dodge the bullets that were verbal and abusive and maybe not
the bullets of Vietnam but  bullets just the same and when my number was called I dodged and I ran and I kept running and no one was going to stop me now.   Because when you taste freedom it is the most delectable thing and the thing you want more than you even knew you wanted and once you tasted it there was  no turning back.  So I decided to stay in Flagstaff.  And I dropped a dime with trembling fingers into the payphone slot and I reversed the charges and I called my parents.   and I told them I was not coming home.  and they told me not over their dead bodies.  and i hung up the phone.  and i walked away from that phone booth.   and they were not going to get me back.  not over my dead body cause i would rather be dead then go back to that hell hole of a house and the anger that lived there.  and the fear that lived there. and the no hope and no future and no promise of better things to come.  and so I walked away from that phone and i walked away from them  because the softness and the tranquility and the pinon pine scented mountain top town was where i wanted to be and that is where i was going to stay.

Beatnheart goes to Mrs. Tiggy Winkles...

With Riverside, Calilfornia still on my mind, I

would like to show you a really cool shop that

is located right across the promenade from The Misson Inn.

It is called "Mrs. Tiggy Winkles"....Now normally alot

of these kind of shops are too frou-frou and frilly for me,

with alot of not so great merchandise...This place however is an exception.

This is the proprietor of the shop, CeeAnn Thiel...

She is one heck of a groovy chick with exceptional taste

and a great eye for cool stuff... She was friendly and willing

to share.  It was like visiting a friends house..In fact

 I was ready to go home with her afterwards and carry

on the party...

Beautiful stuff in every corner...The layout and displays are

really creative... She shops all over the place and knows

where to get the best......  This shop has it all..

Great soaps, candles, an outrageous selection of cards

that are unique and so different from anything else out there.

I loved just about everything in here!

Alot of the merc was displayed in Antique shelves

or buffets...I wanted that stuff too!

Little vignettes everywhere.  English husband even bought 

something!!  Usually he doesn't even go into shops that

look girly... He bought one of these bird pictures that 

are mounted on glass.  CeeAnn seems wilingly to

buy things from vendors who make handmade and

unusual items... 

More cool bird stuff..

An Asian themed section...

One storefront couldn't contain all this great stuff,

so she got the shop next door too...

So when you make that trip to The Misson Inn, be sure to visit this shop

3675 Main Street

Riverside, California 92501

I WON A GIVEAWAY.....!!!

      You can't imagine my shock and surprise when I looked at LLYYNN'S BLOG  this morning to see
 who won her beautiful giveaway and saw MY NAME LISTED AS THE WINNER!!   I really have not won anything for years and I have been trying!!!   For those of you who don't know her, Lynn makes the most amazing jewelry findings and pendants from a variety of materials that are mind blowing!!   I have loved her work and admired it since I started to blog way back on Feb.13th...
   I would post a picture of the beautiful piece that I won if I knew How??!!!!  So please take a moment and go look for yourself.....I will try today to post the links to her blog and ETSY site where she sells her beautiful things.   I am trying to do a link....having trouble!!  Please look over to the right at the list of "MY BLOG LIST"  There is Lynn's blog...click there...sorry I'm so inept at this..c  ALSO LOOK AT:
LYNNDAVIS ETSY.COM  and check out her beautiful items in her ETSY SHOP

THE MISSION INN

For our anniversary, we went to The Mission Inn in Riverside, California.  This hotel is a jewel and one of the most beautiful places I have ever

 seen here in California.

I took over 200 photographs of it.   She is that photogenic!!

Hushed beauty on the inside

Della Robbia Plaques

surround the inside courtyard...

Every nook, every cranny is beautiful.   This is the inner courtyard which contains one of many restaurants on the property.  This hotel is as close to being in Europe as one can get here in California.

 Two parrots reside at the entryway into the hotel.

There have been two parrots since the opening

of the hotel......

The original parrots are shown here in a tile floor

that is on the entry to one of the many beautiful

restaurants.

Ironwork, Sconces, trompe l'oeil,  tiles...it has it all

in quality and quantity....

Tiles of every description...

Some rooms have these great balconies...

Fountains?   Oh yeah, we've got those..

One of the many of thousands of features in this beautiful, historic hotel.

Italy? ... Southern California Baby!

 the many stained glass windows

Another beautiful Tile Mural...

    The Mission Inn is located in Riverside, California.  From Long Beach it is about 57 miles east or an hours drive without traffic.   Riverside was famous in its heyday for orange groves and it was also a stop for trains. Many US presidents stayed at this hotel.   It has about seven different restaurants.  We had lunch in a pretty little outdoor one that featured delicious Italian food.  We then walked around the town and stopped in a delightful little museum,  a University of California museum of Photography and  saw countless other beautiful buildings including a church on every corner.  

As the sun was setting, we went back to the hotel for tea and dessert.  We found the most

 elegant and romantic spots in the hotel.  Plush velvet armchairs...Fine bone china tea service...Beautiful Linens...  You are treated like visiting royality here.  Impeccable service.   And the dessert I had was one of the best I've ever had and I have had a few in my time!   Worth every sinful, decadant bite.   Sorry, the lighting was so low the photo I took of it did

not turn out so great.  You will just have to trust me on this one...

We did not spend the night this time.  Can I now say that I wish we would have?  We did spend a night a few years ago.   It was heaven on earth.  You never have to leave the property.  They give tours and you get to see areas  that people just walking in cannot see.   Many weddings are held here in the most romantic little Chapel and the lucky bride and groom are able to have their photography done on the grounds..

 This hotel was nearly torn down.  At one point it was boarded up and left for ruin.  Someone with lots of money and a vision restored it.     

Next time you are in Southern California make it a point to see this beautiful hotel.  It is well worth the drive.  And make sure you spend the night...  I assure you, this place will blow your mind. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CYNTHIA & DAVID

On April 22,1983 David and Cynthia were married in The Little Chapel of the West,  in Las Vegas, Nevada...and the rest is history....

and HER STORY...  

To my darling husband...Thank you for having me, saving me and making me a better person..

I love you with all my heart....