Here we go AGAIN!!! It's Road Trip Time at the NEST! Should I be Scared???

Well, it's been a few months since my last road trip, see part 1, pt 2, pt 3, and pt 4 to catch up.  As usual, I'm getting the itch to hit the road again. Let's face it, it's the BEST part of this crazy vintage business.  It you buy/sell vintage you know what I'm talking about!  Vintage shopping is my drug of choice. The thrill of the bargaining, finding the unusual, figuring out what to do with the crazy treasures that I find....I just can't get enough.  Not to mention the amazing people you meet along the way.  My crazy antics and shenanigans keep me entertained as well.  I live, breathe and sleep VINTAGE!!

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I'm heading back to Texas!!  I had such an amazing treasure hunt back in February that I'm hittin' the road AGAIN! Gal pal had planned on making the journey with me...but, unfortunately that's not gonna happen. SOOOooooooo....long story short, I'm going myself.  This seems to have caused quite a stir with most of my friends.
Friend 1: "I can't believe you're going by yourself"
Friend 2: "You are sooo brave"
Friend 3: "I could never do that"
Friend 4: "I'm so scared for you, I'll pray for you"


 Maybe it's me....maybe I'm just too crazy to be scared. But to tell the truth, fear has never really entered into a decision to hit the road, either with friends or by myself.  I'm concerned about where the best vintage treasures are, lodging, finding gluten free food (I pack one suitcase filled with my goodies so I won't starve!!!) and will my $$$ run out before I get home. I am a ROAD WARRIOR!!  I love to travel and hunt for vintage gold along the way.  The lure of the road is not something I can resist.  I must have hundreds of places to shop before I die....gotta check 'em off.

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Experience has taught me to just go with it.  If I stop and think about all the bad things that could possibly happen to me, then I don't think I would go anywhere!  It could be that this lack of trepidation could be partly to blame for all the highjinx I get myself into.  I mean really, (insert Robin's motto here...) "I'm an intelligent woman, how hard can it be?" So with a start in Texas, thru the great town of Nashville, I will drive 1600+ miles, aka 23 hrs. back home.  I've got a disco playlist in the making.  My goal is to learn "Rapper's Delight" by heart.  (My challenge from Gal Pal)

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So my bags are almost packed, got hubby going to the bank to get my stash of cash and I'm finishing up my play lists.  Now the BIG question??? How on earth am I gonna wake up hubby at 3:30am to take me to the airport.  This early bird ALWAYS gets the worm!!!!

I'd love to hear what you think about my travels!!  If you have a great road trip story....please share!!!

Have a good one,

Robin

Hittin' the Road Nest-Style, Part 3

It's kinda hard to top all the crazy shenanigans that the first 2 days of the shopping trip brought, see  Part 1 and  Part 2 here if you haven't been following along. We still had another day left of shopping in Texas and our Bed & Breakfast proved to be quite entertaining.  We learned about how to buy, size, wears chaps (pronounced...shaps, or something like that.) from a total stranger.  I guess we did kinda ask for it when gal pal and I were joking about buying some to bedazzle. ( We were in the common room at the B&B).  We next encountered a drunk as a skunk Texas cutie!  She had her glass and her bottle of wine and proceeded to tell us her WHOLE life story!  All I got out of it was...."I'm co-dependent with my daughter" and blindness from the big ol' honkin' Texas-size diamond dangling off her ring finger.

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She kept telling us about a little shop were all the art with filled with texture...... (w-ha-t????) She finally took a breath and gal pal and I  made our escape. Question?  Why was she drinking in the common room and not at a fine dining establishment????  Here we go!

I joined a Drinking Club while I was in Texas.  Really!!!  I just wanted a glass of wine after all the drama of the trip.  I was quickly informed that the county that we were staying in was D-R-Y!  Why did no one tell me this before I came!!!  A cutie named Clark told us to go to Applebees down the road and sign up for a membership!

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Another dialogue..... (drive, drive 26' truck to Applebees)

Gal Pal:  I think ol' Clark was flirting with us.....saying we had to join a club to have a glass of wine.

Robin:  He waasss cute! And he had such pretty teeth!  (I'm a sucker for a great set of chompers!)

Waitress: May I take your order?

Gal Pal/Robin:  2 Margaritas, please.

Waitress:  I need both of your licenses.

Robin: I left mine in the car....truly I am 46 and of age.

Gal Pal:  Does she really need to get it?

Waitress:  Yup......5 min later, please fill out these membership forms for our drinking club!

Moral of the story.... Clark was NOT flirting!  He spoke the truth!  Bummer....cause he had such pretty teeth!

The next morning we packed up and headed Northeast.  Think I'm gonna have to stretch this out to 4 posts just to make sure I don't leave any of the craziness out.  Stay tuned....

Have a good one,
Robin

Hittin' the Road "Nest"-style.....Part 2

If you read my last post, you know that my last shopping trip had a bit of a rocky start.  From the word "go" nothing went according to plan.  Hey I can be as flexible as the next gal, but in this vintage buying business keeping costs as low as possible is a high priority.  As much fun and the treasure hunt is.....I've got to make sure I sell the goodies at a profit, while making sure the prices are affordable.

Here's a quick recap of the trip so far.........

• Budget Truck didn't have our packing supplies
• Budget Truck had junky trucks and rude employees, (cough, cough, Rudy)
• Uhaul cost $200 more plus mileage
• Could no longer use in-laws as a base camp...had to keep mileage low.
• Had to find/pay for lodging while in Texas.

Undaunted by Rudy and his madness......3 hrs. and a 26' Uhaul Truck, gal pal and I hit the road.  Itching to "buy something pretty" I was ready to peel my eyes, get my hands dirty and discover the treasures hidden in the great state of Texas.  Had to figure out where to stay now that commuting to/from in-laws was no longer an option.  Put in a call to hubby, my travel witch (only with a b...his word not mine...hehehe), to find some safe, cheap digs for our time in Texas.  In true Nest fashion, the hotel he found was a bit squeezy, so plan B was enacted and a nice B&B was found in short order. Let the shopping commence.

A pictures says it all.....

 A sample of some of the finds....... 

My new boyfriend...Albie

A sample of the sights.......

Fast forward....two days into the shopping trip and having a blast.  What you ask is happening on the "Rudy-front"? Funny you should ask.  Ring, ring goes gal pal's cell phone. (Robin stands near wondering who is on the phone.)  Insert dialogue here.....

Gal Pal:  Hello

Speaker:  Is this Gal Pal?

Gal Pal:  Yes it is......

Speaker: (barely above a whisper) This is Rudy from Budget Truck Rental and I'm calling to say that I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience with the Budget, my bad experience was with you and the way I was treated.

Rudy/Speaker: (Now shouting) Listen lady....I'm not gonna let you two BITCHES get me fired! (yes he sooo went there.)

Gal Pal:(Loudly speaking...) I have never been talked to this way in my life.  You are rude, obnoxious (fill in the blank)!  Do not ever call my phone again.  I do not want to speak to anyone but your regional director.  If you call me again I will have you up on harassment charges.  Do you know what that is, RUDY?  Just lose my number from your phone. C-L-I-C-K!!!  **Note: gal pal  I might add is about 5' tall and not 100lbs. soakin' wet) You go girl!

Robin: OMG!!  (figuring out very quickly who was on the other end of the phone.)

Gal Pal quickly relays whole conversation to Robin.

Robin/Gal Pal: (in unison) these b*tches 'bout to GET you FIRED!

A quick call to the Regional Director updating them on good ole Rudy sets the ball in motion.  Let's just say........we did what we said we were gonna do! Guess who's in the unemployment line NOW!  I mean really, he could have faked an apology and all would have been forgotten.  All I got to say is....

No Home Training!!!  Come on, Rudy, did you ready think you weren't gonna get fired?

Remember now....it was a 6 day trip and this is only day 2!  I'll finish up the trip details in my next post.  I'm telling you....I'm a drama magnet! You can't make this stuff up.

Have a good one,

Robin

Hittin' the Road "Nest"-style.....Part 1

As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm ready to blow this popcicle stand.  Well....actually, I been getting the itch to hit the road and do what I do best.  Get into trouble, I mean, buy some vintage treasures!  The tale I'm about to tell is a wild one, but it's true none the less.

Two girls, a truck, and a guy named Rudy!  My gal pal and I flew into Dallas and had my mother-in-law pick us up at the airport.  Our plan was to stay with the in laws and shop about Texas looking high and low for "booty".  What's the saying....best laid plans......  Well bright and early the next morning we headed over to pick up the Budget 24'truck. (Yup, 24'!! We meant bizness!)  Ready for the fun and adventure of vintage shopping, we were in no way shape or form ready for a guy named R-U-D-Y, manager at the Budget Truck satellite location in Tyler, TX.  The only way to truly tell the story is to give you the dialogue....so here goes.

Robin: Hi, I'm here to pick up my truck, here's my reservation.

Miss Sales Lady: We'll get you taken care of. Hey Rudy, can you bring a 24' truck around? Oh, btw, we have NONE of the blankets or packing supplies that you reserved. (cause that's just how we roll, ok, I improvised here).....Here it is.... Make sure to check the truck out first to see if it is alright.

Robin: Great. Hey Gal Pal, (aka Yvette from Foundry by Freeman) check out the truck while I finish the paper work.

Gal Pal: (after checking out truck) This truck won't due.  The transmission is about the go and it's completely filthy.  It's not safe for two women to drive cross country.

Rudy:  (throwing 2 sets of keys on the counter), go in the back and see which truck you want. **Side bar...do you really think Budget Truck knows that we now have three sets of their truck keys and that we are headed back, unattended I might add, to the sanctum sanctorum to pick our truck out???? Me thinks NOT.

We.....walk back, look over trucks, pick one and head to front of store.

Gal Pal: Hey Rudy, we'll be on our way just as soon as you remove the dirty nasty used mattress from the back of the truck.

Robin: Why does the truck have a mattress in it?

Rudy: We don't clean the trucks. I can't have my men move the dirty nasty used mattress (ok, he didn't really use all these descriptive words)....it's a sanitation issue.

Robin: It's a sanitation issue with us!!

Gal Pal:  So let me get this straight....you want me to pay you $1000 and remove the mattress myself?

Rudy: Yup!  You can't leave it here though....I have your info. and I'll have the city fine you.  (YES he DID!!!)

Gal Pal:  I want your name and the name of your supervisor......Dial, dial, dial......Hello Ms. Supervisor let me tell you what just happened.  blah, blah, blah.....

Ms. Supervisor: Of course you don't have to remove the mattress yourself, I will make Rudy do it.  I'll call him right now.

ring, ring, ring.....20 min later.

Gal Pal: We are still waiting to get our truck WITHOUT the mattress.

Ms. Supervisor: I have tried to call Rudy 11 Times  and he hasn't picked up his phone.  (meanwhile, I must point out that Rudy is not in the loo, he has been in the store for the last 20 min.)

Gal Pal:  I want to file a formal complaint.

Meanwhile......
Robin: I want to void this transaction.  Just pretend I never walked into this crazy place.

Miss Sales Lady: We can't void it, the charge has already gone thru.

Robin: WHAT????!!? You need to call somebody and figure it out.  I'm NOT leaving here until I get my money $$$$ back!

2 phone calls and twenty more minutes.....the contract was finally voided.

My poor sweet mother-in-law.  She witnessed the whole thing!  After 2.5 hours we still had NO TRUCK!!

After some quick scrambling and hurried phone calls, we found a UHaul dealer.  (Side note....got lost and drove another 35min, yikes!) The truck cost $200 more and didn't have unlimited miles, but what were we to do????  Chalk it up to another episode of "How hard can it be?" and hit the road!!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this crazy shopping trip!  You won't wanna miss it!

Have a good one,
Robin

A look back at 2013 and serious plans for 2014, part 2

Well, if you read my post yesterday, you gotta a recap of all the madness that happened in 2013 at The Robin's Nest.  It's been one heck of a ride, that's for sure.  My famous last words....."How hard can it be?"....always seem to get me in a pickle.  I could say that I'll be more cautious and thoughtful in 2014, but the fact is, I never plan the crazy antics.  They just always seem to happen to me.  To tell the truth, please don't tell hubby, it doesn't really bother me.  It's just another story to tell.

So with a sincere wish to be "reasonable" and focused on business, I thought I'd share some of my goals, call it dreams, for 2014.

1.  Be a consistent blogger.  How in the h@$#ll am I gonna do this???  Well heard of Pinterest for 30 days?? Me being a TYPE A, over-achiever.....why not give it a whirl for a whole year?!  Remember, "How hard can it be?"  I figure between the madness that is my life and Pinterest, I'll have plenty to blog about.  Wanna do it with me????????? Whatcha think?

First pin to tackle........

Twice Baked Butternut Squash

www.marthastewart.com

2. Create more custom furniture and accessory pieces.  It seems that I kinda lost my mojo in 2013.  But I feel the juices flowing and I'm ready to build, wire, paint, and weld (who knows...I could learn)!

Some past custom projects.....

3. Go bigger, better, farther than any "wo-man" has gone before.  Gotta go big or go home!! I'm planning to shop the country this year!  I wanna get outta my own back yard! In the works for January?  A trip to Atlanta, GA and Canton, TX!  I'll keep you posted as my calendar fills up! Shop til 'ya drop, BABY or the $$$ runs out!

4. Ok, just a wish....but I'm serious this year.  Buy a vintage trailer!!!  I was out with birdie #2 on a date a couple of weeks ago and spied not 1, but 2 vintage .....swoon.....robin's egg blue travel trailers in the driveway of an old farm house.  I'm gonna drop by, unannounced of course, and beg, plead and cajole them.  Will they sell, who knows, but I'll give it my best shoot.  Insert picture of dream truck and trailer here.....

www.trailerwheels.net

5.  Go glamping....'nough said!

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6. Keep posting a funny of the day on Facebook.  It always starts me off with a giggle!

7. Continue to add new sales venues.  I'm looking at doing the Vintage Market in High Point, NC in April.  Hey anyone have some great vintage sales....let me know!!! I'm spreading my wings baby!

8. The big dream.......I have this idea. I'd love to create a vintage retail destination.  A place where customers can shop 3-4 times a year for the most amazing vintage home goods and accessories.  Combine that with gourmet food trucks, food and drink artisans and voila, a site sooo cool that you'd be crazy to miss an event.  Speaking of events...it would be available for rent...Think parties, rehearsals, photo shoots!!! Finally, have you seen all the buzz about weekend workshops filled with clever diys???? Most I've seen are on the west coast!!!  What about us???  I would love to bring these types of innovative retreats to the east coast.  Who knows what this building will look like? Old gas station, bank, church.......I've got my eyes peeled.  Any ideas??? Let me know.

Well, that about sums up my plans.  I'm super excited to see how things turn out.  Off to roast my squash for dinner!!!

Have a good one,

Robin