It's show and tell time because why buy something new if you can't tell hundreds of thousands of people about it? I recently went to both Spain and Oregon and while their cultures are wildly different, I can certainly navigate shopping both of them with ease and speed. Maybe even grace. First off that wood vase in the above photo was a pretty solid purchase, what with that skinny little neck - I love it so much. That bad boy is from Oregon and wasn't cheap for a thrift store ($22) but I'm keeping it, so don't go rushing to The Flea to find that sucker. It's mine. Also please note the book that it is so comfortably resting on. It's called Styled written by ME, Emily Henderson. You can buy it here on pre-sale (which would mean the world to me). It's a FANTASTIC, THRILLING, ROLLICKING, RIVETING READ that I poured 2 years into. More on that next week (with lots of sneek peaks inside the book). Hell, more on that over the next 3 months. By holiday time I will somehow have manipulated you into buying it for your blind, 3rd cousin by marriage because it's a very great gift. And a great paperweight. And looks fabulous just sitting there on your coffee table, minding it's own business. It might save your life in case of an emergency or even save your marriage. You can read it to your children to sleep or use it as fuel at your annual bonfire. You need it, for it's magic is endless. Again, purchasable link is here. All the above I purchased in Spain at the flea market - which was half cell-phone-case-bonanza and half decent-old-world-antiques. Those two frames are solid brass (or bronze, not sure) which are so simple and so pretty. The hair combs were my first purchase, mostly because I hadn't bought anything vintage yet and was DESPERATE to bring home something old. The letter opener and magnifying glass are "maybe I'll keep, maybe I'll sell's." That painting is a keeper unless I go broke some day, then I'll sell it for a lot because it's beautiful and it's from Spain, so therefore it's kinda priceless to me. The Oregon coast represented it's inner 70's hippie well, what with these two wall macrame hangings. You don't want to know how much I bought them for (soooooo little). But just know they were a score, and that I love them and that they will be on sale on The Flea very soon. Pillows (from left to right): Nickey Kehoe | Rebecca Atwood | Target (available mid-September) | Jillian Rene Decor | Custom by me, but stay tuned as I am making a bunch for the flea (out of brushed denim and super soft). Oh that dude? Slightly racially ambiguous Abe Lincoln? Yah, he was probably something I DIDN'T need to try to get back in my suitcase from Oregon but I did, with my 26 siblings just staring at me outwardly saying, "ooh, fun, we trust you" and inwardly thinking "that girl? She is the one that people trust?" And he wasn't cheap, by the way, which is why he is going to be not cheap on The Flea. He's a really old, handcarved, puppet. Perfect for your US president inspired den, bachelor pad or if you are fancy, your kids room. Pillow: Jillian Rene Decor Lastly,  while in Europe one must buy vintage leather driving gloves with some sort of crazy soft animal fur inside. Not sure what I'm going to do with these. They are just pretty and I have a hoarding problem. And then there is a new hat. I clearly have a thing for hats and picked this one (and 2 more) up whilst in Spain. My hats have become controversial, well, not exactly controversial, just a lot of people are over them and don't think they look good on me. For those of you who agree with Kate the commenter who said, "Enough with the hat. It is not as cute or fashionable as you seem to think it is. You mainly look like you didn’t wash your hair and want to hide it. If that’s the case, please, just rock a top knot like the rest of us." I would like to say YES, Kate, you are correct - I often don't want to style my freshly washed hair, and hats are a great cover up for that, which can usually fool people into thinking that you are pulled together when maybe you don't have time to do said hair (a side effect of having a non-sleeping toddler, a full time job, and being 32 weeks pregnant). And besides. I will not just rock a top-knot. Have you seen my roots these days? They ain't pretty. Plus I like how these particular hats look, and I can pull them over my ears when I want to ignore, say, people who make comments about my hats. This hat is strangely good for $54, which I should have just bought here but I dragged back from Spain because I'm insane. But maybe the hats are just going to my brain and infecting my decision making. Either way I WILL NOT BE STOPPED FROM WEARING HATS. Although knowing me I'll look back on this pregnancy and just die laughing so hard at what I thought I was "pulling off"...Listen, we all just do our best and keep moving forward, right? Anyway, that's what I bought in Spain and Oregon. In case you are like "what's up with the blog these days? Where are all the original design posts?" The answer is that the last two weeks in August are notoriously non-internet weeks, as so many people are out of the office, so I have all these really juicy/meaty design posts that would fly under the radar if I posted them now. It's like having a big sit-down dinner party with 10 courses but only having 4 of the 30 people show up. Sure, I'm still doing passed apps and maybe a cheese station but the real tasting menu starts next week and goes through all of September/October. So stay tuned (WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY BRAIN?). Meanwhile I'll be just sitting here, wearing my hats over my clean (I promise) hair, googling 'Toddler Sleep Regression'. Again. *Photos by Jessica Isaac for EHD.

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