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Friday, July 23, 2010

Antique Empire Dresser and Dallas

Right now, I should be in California but I will take you to Dallas where we were last week since I posted this in advance.
I am linking with Beverly for Pink Saturday at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
I'd like you to see the pretty pink crape myrtles near the hotel.

The morning before we left for Dallas, the wheel of our pool polaris came off so I had to take it to the pool shop which is located downtown. I hate doing that so to make the morning more fun, I went to an antique shop and a second hand store both in downtown. It's very rare that I would come out empty handed, lol. I spotted an antique empire dresser with flame mahogany that I really like so I started negotiating. The sales woman told me she would give me 10% off with free delivery. Being the dedicated blogger as I am, I always have a camera in my purse so I took pictures.

When I got home, I asked John if he would buy the dresser for me. I described it to him and then showed him the pictures. But we were leaving for the airport in a half hour so he told me to call the store (luckily I got their card while I was there. Am I prepared for this or not? LOL) and tell them to deliver it on Monday.

I also bought a set of fine china, made in Japan at the second hand store and some candles and holders. The whole set of service for 8 fine china were marked $47 but the guy behind the counter told me he will give them to me at half price so I bought them. They are still in the garage and will wash them after I get back from my trip.

That was one of my fastest productive shopping trip so taking the polaris to the pool shop which I hate, became a blessing in disguise.

I am linking with Laurie at http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/ so I can show you my new favorite antique Empire dresser, circa 1840.


Here it is! I love the glass knobs and they are original. I cannot believe how good the condition is and it is just perfect in the children's guest room. I debated if I should put it in the adult guest room but you can see which won. That leaves another room for future shopping, lol.


Now, let's go to Dallas! It was very hot! We stayed at the Intercontinental hotel where the meeting was held. We were on the top floor with a beautiful view.


It is so pretty at night.


First thing we did after dropping off our luggage in the room was have dinner in this pretty restaurant on the ground floor.


This is the view that I see from the bed as soon as I wake up.


For a few more dollars, we opted to have access to Club Lounge where we can get free breakfast in the morning and snacks in the afternoon. Aren't these pretty silver coffee and tea pots?


On the first day, John's meeting did not start until noon so we got to walk to the nearest shopping plaza. We passed by these pretty crape myrtles.



Beautiful pink flowers!



The shops were nice but everything was so expensive. We stepped into a store that was selling tank tops for $78. Who can afford that? We stumbled into a glass art shop and I had to wear white gloves to be able to handle things. And no, we did not buy anything.


John was craving for diet coke so we stepped into a pancake house. We already had breakfast but I was embarrassed to sit and just order a coke so I had this yummy strawberry waffle. I figured John would be in the meeting so I would just skip lunch and I did.
On the walk back to the hotel, we passed by this cute squirrel who didn't mind us and just kept eating in the middle of the sidewalk.


I just love these tall Italian cypress. We planted 2 in our backyard and they are not looking good. I am not sure if they will make it.





Don't you just love the lion heads outside the store?



There's the corporate office of Pizza Hut. I took this picture for my son's sake. He manages a Pizza Hut in Florida. I think this is where he went once for a meeting.


The next 2 days were spent by me mostly inside the hotel room while John attended meetings from 7 AM to 6:30 PM. He tried to encourage me to go shopping but it was really a long walk and I did not want to take the shuttle by myself. I enjoyed watching TV, blogging and just relaxing in the room. Every now and then, I would go downstairs to browse in the shops of the hotel but there was nothing that really appealed to me.
But on the last day of the meeting, they were released earlier so we took the hotel shuttle to go to Galleria. It is a pretty mall and I enjoyed walking around. I managed to buy some plates, bowls, ice cream mix and a tablecloth from Williams Sonoma. We had them shipped.
I also bought some square chicken wire plate chargers and some rooster place card holders from Pottery Barn (getting ready for the Rooster Party!) and lots of tank tops at Old Navy. They were only $5 each and flip flops were 2 for $5 so I bought 2 pairs. The mall had an ice skating rink.



We took a taxi on Sunday afternoon to take us to the airport. We passed by this neighborhood which the taxi driver said is a million dollar house row and where George Bush' house is located.



And now, we are approaching Dallas Love airport.



We were home by 8 PM and then unpacking began.
I hope you enjoyed the tour, mostly just of stores. Sorry we did not really have time to tour the city for me to be able to show you. Thank you so much for coming along.
Thanks to Beverly and Laurie for hosting. I hope you will go visit them and their participants too.

21 comments:

  1. Christine you have such a sweet hubby! Mine would do that for me too. It looks magnificent! Can't wait to see the dishes. Have a safe trip. Debbie

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  2. Thanks for sharing your trip. That is a beautiful piece of furniture. Very hot and lots of mosquitoes here.
    Have a great weekend.

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  3. Your dresser is absolutely gorgeous. Love it. What a great find. Beautiful pics of Dallas too. Hugs, Marty

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  5. Can't wait to see the chicken wire chargers and other goodies!

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  6. Love the gorgeous dresser! And your trip to Dallas sounds perfect...some relaxing and blog reading...

    Love to see the sites that you share on all your travel adventures...whether it's a full fledged tour of the city or the fun shopping places you find...

    Do you feel that you need a little vacation from a vacation :o)

    Blessings & Aloha!

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  7. A fantastic trip!!!

    Happy Pink Saturday!
    Hugs
    Charo

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  8. G'morn ~ What a GORGEOUS dresser! Your photos are lovely, feel like we travelled with you.

    Have a lovely PINK weekend ~
    TTFN ~Hugs, Marydon

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  9. Christine, your new dresser is gorgeous, and just look at all of the storage you gained! I enjoyed my trip to Dallas with you. Your night time photo looks like it could be framed. Thank you for linking to Favorite Things Sat. Have a safe trip. I know your friend is so glad you are there with her. laurie

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  10. Christine ~ Thanks for sharing your trip with us. That's my kind of trip.............shopping!

    Happy Pink Saturday
    caren

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  11. Christine ....your dresser is beautiful! Your pictures of your trip to Dallas are great....looks like a fun trip for you....
    Hugs,

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  12. Christine, that is a gorgeous Empire dresser. I love it! What a marvelous find. The wood on it is exquisite. I'm so glad you got it!

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  13. Oh my, you are going to have to keep buying china cabinets for all your goodies. Sounds like Dallas was a lot of fun. Love the Empire Dresser, it's lovely.

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  14. I just love that dresser Christine! It really is a gorgeous piece of furniture. Sounds like you had a nice trip to Dallas too.
    Happy Sunday,
    Cindy

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  15. Christine, I love that chest. It is just beautiful. Never been to Dallas. I remember when we went on business conferences and went to many nice places and stayed in the best resorts. We upgraded to club level too a couple of times. I miss those days of traveling all over. The economy put a stop to that.

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  16. Hi Christine! OH, you do find the most wonderful things. The dresser is gorgeous! Now where in the world are you going to put it? :)
    Sounds like you had a wonderful trip to Dallas!
    I'm so sorry to hear you've just returned from a funeral. My heart goes out to you!
    Blessings,
    Shelia ;)

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  17. Hi Girlfriend...

    Ohhh my...your antique dresser is simply gorgeous! You always find the best stuff, Christine! Can't wait to see the china that you got for just $47...or was is half off of that price? What a deal!!!

    It looks like you had a great time in Dallas! I have been to the Galleria shopping as well...but you know what...I still think I enjoy those little thrift stores more! wink!

    Well Girlfriend, I am trying to play catch up again! hehe! Of course, I don't think I'll ever get caught up in Blogland after missing two weeks! This world moves really...really fast! I took a gander through your lovely tablescape...it was gorgeous! Of course, I love the blue and white spode dishes...so very pretty! But ohhhh...that Quimper barrel just took my breath away!!! I have never seen a barrel in the Quimper before...what a unique piece! And you're so right, it makes for a gorgeous centerpiece! Thanks for sharing it with us! Well sweet lady, I wanted to come by and say hello and see how you were doing! I do hope that my note finds you, John, and your sweet family all doing well! Thank you so much for coming by and leaving me such sweet notes...I have enjoyed them all, Girlfriend!!!

    Love ya,
    Chari

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  18. I enjoyed this post so much Christine. My father was born in Dallas and his parents still lived there when he and my mother married. Mother didn't know how to drive. My grandmother and mother were in downtown Dallas one day and mother mentioned she wished she knew how to drive. Nanny pulled over and said come on, you can start to learn now. So my mother learned to drive in downtown Dallas, in the Fall of 1942. The town looks completely different now of course. I can remember how it was in the 1950's, when I was growing up.

    By the way, mother was a great driver and drove the rest of her life, with no mishaps. Nanny was a good teacher.:-)

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  19. PS: Forgot to mention how much I love that gorgeous dresser!

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  20. Dallas is one of my favorite cities...I haven't been there in years, so your traveloge was great to see and read!

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  21. Hello Christine. I've been busy my dear.
    Wow Dallas is such a great place to visit. Awesome captures here. Thank you for sharing.

    Happy Pink and enjoy the rest of the week.
    xo

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