nashville antiques and garden show - road trip recap

I can't believe it has already been almost two weeks since I went down to Nashville for the Antiques and Garden Show. If you follow me on Instagram (and if you don't, why the hell not?!) then you got to see some of the highlights, but I thought a full recap was in order. And please note, 'full recap' is blogger speak for 'a whole lot of pictures'.

To travel for a weekend full of walking and ogling over antiques, I could think of no better companion than my mom. She is the one who taught me all I know about antiques and spent the first 18 years of my life dragging me across the country thru every home and museum open to the public. So dragging her around a huge convention center and a very busy city for a weekend was the least I could do. And by the end of each day, trust me, we were dragging.

Thursday afternoon kicked off the weekend with a private event for a handful of bloggers and all of the stars of the show, hosted by the wonderful women at StyleBlueprint. I got there just in time for a discussion on inspiration, the good and bad side of trends, process, successes and failures, the power of social media and basically all things design. Heaven people. Pure heaven.

From left to right: Christopher Spitzmiller, Kreis Beall, Suzanne Kasler, Carolyn Englefield, Michael Devine and Margot Shaw

We also got a preview of the show to open bright and early the next morning. After this point, things get a bit fuzzy. Staring down at the show was the last moment of calm for the weekend. The next three days were a blur of talks, celeb sightings, and almost more eye candy than my eyes could handle. Almost.

There were about a half dozen speaking events over the course of the show, and I could go on for hours about all the wonderful stories, advice and great one liners from everyone I saw. But in going thru my notes, yes I took notes, I thought I would share some of my favorite bits and pieces.

I texted this picture to the hubs as I waited for Diane Keaton to take the stage. The elderly lady sitting next to me said, "What is a blog, anyway?" We started to chat but then Diane came out and the lady proclaimed, "Oh thank God she isn't wearing gloves!" How I love visiting with strangers.

My fuzzy picture of my new best friends, Diane Keaton and Alexa Hampton (Alexa later retweeted this picture). I must say that Alexa Hampton is my new crush. I already loved her work but now I'm a total fan of the whole woman. She was SO funny, self-deprecating, quick witted, and basically just an all around gem.

And Diane Keaton was exactly how you think she would be; so sweet, open and just relaxed. It was like she was just chatting with 300 of her like-minded friends. She talked about her work on more than 30 houses, experiences with contractors, real estate and her life long love of design.

My seats for all the other speaking events were much further back so pictures weren't an option. But, luckily my ears are good so in no particular order... some of my favorite quotes of the weekend:

Spitzmiller - "I never go for cutting edge. I go for what feels good to me."

Englefield - "What's important is how a place feels and does it have a soul."

Kessler - "Clients want a foundation of tradition, but not traditional. Style evolves so if you respond to something, then bring that in. Let that give you the freedom to find your own style."

Devine - "There is a hunger for more pretty in design."

Keaton - "Play with your dreams and then just do it for Gods sakes."

Then there is the other side of the show, the goods. So. Many. Amazing. Things. Booths from all over the country, even a few abroad, with dealers who knew their stuff. They were all so friendly and the combo of knowledge, kindness and incredible taste paid off because I will tell you - things were selling like hot cakes. I can't even tell you how many things I saw on Friday that were sold by Saturday. There were things at vastly different price ranges so there was honestly something for everyone. My mom and I tend to pick the most expensive thing in a booth, so we were generous enough to let others buy many of our picks.

There were booths styled to perfection.

That leather was as soft as a baby's bum.

Miles of amazing furniture.

Can you say custom banquet perfection? Look at that right angle.

Chinoiserie secretary in pristine condition and the most perfect scalloped solid brass lamp. Damn it why am I not rich?!

I may have shed a tear when I saw this bar. Wouldn't my gin collection fit perfectly in there? It sold quickly to a very smart woman (sadly not this smart woman).

Lamps. So many great lamps.

Some with shades that I now dream about regularly (silk peacock blue custom shade? yes please)

And some with no shades at all.

If only I had more money, I would have taken her home with me.

Luggage for my next trip.

And of course, blue and white as far as the eye could see.

We also got to spend a bit of time exploring Nashville which is a city I want to spend more time in. I could go on for days but the moral of the story is, I will for sure be going back. A huge thank you to all of the wonderful women from the Nashville Antiques and Garden Show and StyleBlueprint for including me. I will be back!