The Brass Armadillo Antique Mall

Back when we were in Arizona, I stopped by The Brass Armadillo for a little shopping. It's this huge antique mall in Phoenix with row and rows of booths with the coolest vintage and antique finds. I found a ton of stuff that I probably would have bought if this place was back in Seattle. But, since we were on vacay, I had to limit my spending to items that would fit in our suitcase (insert pouty face here). The prices were pretty reasonable too! So, I thought I'd share some of the stuff I found with you today!

My favorite purchase was the vintage Atlantic Ocean map (above). I have it in our bedroom now, but I figure it might be cute in the nursery with the hot air balloons? Plus, the colors are awesome.

I loved this cute little turquoise rocker.

These chalkboard pennants were fun!

This horsey would look super cute in a bright fun color in a nursery.

I loved this hammered brass lamp. I think it was only about $25 - if only I had room in my suitcase!

Such a cool old worn leather ottoman. The cognac color was fantastic.

Also loved these small shell lamps. I can see them as bedside lamps sitting on a pile of vintage books.

I've been looking for a shudder like this forever! It was about $30 I think and I would have bought it if I had room. My friend, Mykell, had a shudder like this and used it to display all her colorful scarves and I have wanted to do the same!

I liked the shape of this upholstered lady. She even has a little tufting. In a bold new fabric, she would be pretty amazing.

Brass bar cart. Do I need to say more?

Loved all these mix and match gold frames. They would look so amazing in a cluster on the wall in a nursery with some vintage prints.

I just love letters as decor. Graphic. Colorful. Awesome.

Loved this turquoise frame! Complete with gold detailing!

These vintage prints would be sweet in the kitchen.

There were quite a few antique strollers too!

I ended up getting these three vintage circus cards. I thought I could frame them together for the nursery to go with the "hot air balloon" theme (kind of a circus theme too?). I think they were $1.25 each.

They had quite a few reasonably priced bird cages that would be fun spray painted in bright colors (without the faux bird of course).

Such a sweet vintage quilt.

This miniature secretary desk and chair would be perfect for Little BK's big girl's room! Especially in a fun color with some new knobs!

Almost bought this "vintage" (I think it was actually from the 80s... is that considered vintage yet?) animal crackers tin for the nursery. I probably would have if I had more of a circus theme, but it didn't feel as girly for me. Maybe for a boy's nursery though?

Vintage glasses! Love!

This velvet chair was fantastic. Would be even better in a velvet-y navy.

This was just a crazy wood chair. And it was huge! Definitely not my style, but amazing craftsmanship.

I almost bought this Lincoln bust, but then I realized it was actually a perfume bottle by Avon. Not exactly vintage... but still looked pretty cool. I just couldn't figure out what kind of perfume would be in a Lincoln head? So I googled it. Apparently not perfume, but after shave! That's more manly at least...

This vintage suitcase would be so cute in a little boy's nursery with a travel/globe theme.

I also almost bought this little mint elephant. Again, would be cute with a more circus theme for the nursery.

Can you tell I like turquoise/aqua?! These frames were so cute, again with the gold detail.

And here's what the place looked like from the upstairs! So huge!

If you are ever in Arizona, definitely check out the Brass Armadillo!

Arizona Babymoon

First of all, sending big hugs and lots of prayers to those in Oklahoma... Mother Nature can certainly be a B sometimes... 

I thought I'd share a little about our Arizona "Babymoon" trip with you today. We stayed at my parent's house in Goodyear, AZ (Thanks Mom and Dad!), which is pretty awesome. There's actually not too much to say about our trip other than we achieved total relaxation. It. Was. Glorious. Ten days of sun, pool, and reading (I read four books!) as well as some pretty tasty food. Here's a few pictures of our trip!

Dear Arizona,

It's not you, it's me. We both know it's been a bumpy road this past year, but we made it through. You've actually really grown on me.

Your sunshine is undeniably my favorite thing about you, although sometimes you get too hot and it makes me uncomfortable. I like your hiking trails, the way you always make it seem like summer, and how you let me wear tank tops every night, even when it's 10pm. Thanks for not being Alaska, so I don't have to worry about driving in the snow. I really liked your thunder and lightening storms too. It was like watching our own private show. Thanks for letting me wake up to sunshine every morning - it was a great way to start my days and probably made me a little bit happier. Oh, and your sunsets. Those were amazing.

Unfortunately, Arizona, you have a lot of quirks that I didn't particularly enjoy. Let's just say that I'm glad I found that huge ass cockroach in our bedroom with only two weeks to go in our relationship. If not, I don't think I could have stayed with you. You already know how I feel about your heat, but just the overall dust, deadness, and brown that is everywhere is hard to handle after living 25 years in the beautiful, lush, green Pacific Northwest. The main thing, Arizona, is that you are so far away. I enjoy visiting you from time to time, but living with you - well, I just don't like how you keep us from seeing our family and friends.

Thanks mostly, for giving us new experiences, Arizona. We've loved getting to know some of your most charming features - the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Tombstone, Bisbee, Jerome... you are truly beautiful in some ways, and we thank you for that. It's been real, Arizona. We'll be back before you know it.

Love, Megan

Arizona in Bloom

Most of the time, Arizona is dry, brown, and seems dead all over. It's definitely not green and lush like my beautiful Seattle. But, I was pleasantly surprised this Spring/Summer when things did actually start to bloom. There is a little bit of color out there (besides the standard green palm trees) and I have to say, it's kind of pretty. You surprised me, Arizona. Touche.

These ones are my favorite. I have no idea what they are, but they are the most beautiful color.

Apartment Tour!

Everybody likes a house tour, right? Or is that just me? I love seeing the different ways people can style, paint, decorate, and design their homes, so I thought I'd start with ours. We've lived down here in Arizona for almost a year now and it has been a pretty good little apartment for us. 

We actually didn't even see the apartment in person before we signed the lease and moved in. We took a big chance, but it paid off. It was well maintained, nice enough for one year, and the management was really great (especially about the carpet BBoy chewed in the bathroom). Above is the view from our porch on to the pool. 

Our living room. I love having the frames around the TV with art from our travels and wedding and honeymoon photos. The rest of this was pre-Buster... we had to move that basket of games (I think Cranium is all chewed up) and move most of the books from the bookshelf (he did chew the cover of my Twilight book). 

I bought the K from Michael's and painted the wooden letter yellow with cheap acrylic paint. The best part is, if I want a new color it's easy to paint again.

Pre-Chevron.

The hubs and a dark one of the dining room/Buster's room (the porch - he chills out there all day while we're at work/school).

Above the dining room table, I framed 4 of my favorite places in Italy. I had one of those big vintage-type calendars a few years ago and when the year was up, I kept my favorite places and framed them. The perfect way to get cheap art!

The kitchen from the living room. Love me some Martha blue! Hate the small kitchen. Can't wait to have a kitchen that actually has storage!

Office nook off the kitchen.

Bedroom. Zach and his mom made this headboard for me during busy season last spring. I really wanted a tufted headboard, but wasn't about to pay for it. They whipped this up in a weekend and I love it! They even made the buttons to match. Didn't they do an awesome job?? Lurve it. 

One of my favorite pieces of art. This was the guest book for our wedding and I love having it up on the wall so I can randomly read all the well wishes - and I read it often! 

And last, but not least, the outside. Nothing fancy. And yes those are Christmas lights. Don't worry, this was taken during winter - it just looks like summer. :)