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.