Viva Las Vegas!

 Sunday the 27th, we hit the open road and drove 6 hours east to Las Vegas for the semi-annual World Market Show. The World Market Center is a permanent showcase of home and gift items for buyers of home goods and retailers all over the world. Located in three large buildings just off the strip in the arts district of Vegas, one can spends days going from showroom to showroom being dazzled by blinged out lighting fixtures or shiny vinyl couches. We stuck to the more gift oriented showrooms in building C. Searching for goodies to pass onto our brides and trend watching for 2013, we found some great ideas and met awesome people! HomeArt, which you might know for their fun matchboxes, had displays made with pallets. I happen to have three pallets in the barn- guess what my next table is going to be?!
One floor has a section for crafters and vintage sales where we met a French gentleman selling Paris flea market items. Based out of San Francisco, he and his sister sell at antique shows and flea markets all over the west coast. I was able to purchase some fun stuff for our rental business including a French grain sack to recover a chair.
A dear friend of mine, Kirsten Hathcock,  was honored at an awards ceremony Sunday night and received the Future Leader Award for her designs and entrepreneur of Mod Mom Furniture. This amazing woman started building modern toy boxes in her garage after she couldn't find ones she liked and built a business up in just a few years (and a lot of hard work!). Her furniture is being sought after by celebrities and big companies now.
After spending a day at the market we spent the next hitting the local antique area of old town Las Vegas. Located around Main St. and Charleston Blvd. there are numerous vintage and antique shops. The first stop was Sin City Pickers, one of my favorites. A collective of many dealers, Sin City offers a variety of of antiques and vintage for everyone, and the prices are great! I picked up another vintage radio and collection of milk bottles for photo shoots and decorating. Next we hit Retro Vegas which specializes in mid-century modern. It's a bit pricy, but they have a great selection of lamps, ash trays and furniture. We also stopped in
JJC Clocks and Antiques, Medusa's Antiques (which has a great Tiki section in the back!) and One Man's Trash.

Mary snapping a photo for inspiration

Pallet displays

a stop at Retro Vegas!

Items from French Flea Market Booth

If you are heading to Vegas and think its only about the strip, lights, buffets and shows, think again! If you love vintage and want a fun outing, head to old town and shop around. We wanted to go to Frankie's Tiki Lounge, the Atomic Museum and more thrift shops but we ran out of time-it gives us an excuse to go back again! Vegas is not just gambling, cheap rooms and trashy casinos, their is an interesting history too! Check it out

Now Booking!

You know, when you start a business, you never know how it will take off......will people like my idea, will they respond in a positive way, was this really a good idea? So far, all I can say.....wow!  Yes, people seem to like the farm and the barn venue! I have been booking almost every weekend and feed back is positive. We've hosted birthdays for ages 4 to 60 (with a 70th coming in May) and have had the best time! Today, even in the pouring rain, we had 60 people in the barn, warm and cozy, friendly and festive!

Coming up the weekend of April 2-3, we will be testing the waters of an indoor flea market- antiques, vintage items, modern clothes, jewelry from all eras, so stop by and shop! If it goes well we will be doing it on a regular basis.

Summer in the Winter

The weather has been glorious here in Santa Barbara, much better than our Summer!
I am itching to get out and do some planting, but since it's still a long way off to spring, I can't get ahead of myself. I did get some bare roots this week to plant- a cherry tree, pink lady apple and a persimmon as well as  potatoes,  asparagus, onions, garlic, and rhubarb.
Mother Nature has a way of playing these little games with us, teasing us into submission and then sending us reeling head first into one storm after another, so we must proceed with caution when planting. Tender shoots can easily be killed off by a drenching of rain or parched by hot sun.

We shall see what the coming weeks bring, for now, we will enjoy the beautiful sunshine!

Milk & Honey Farm is up and running!

Saturday, December 11th will mark our first big event as Milk & Honey Farm! We are
lucky enough to host the second annual Dos Pueblos Home Holiday Tour and Boutique.
The event starts at 11 am and runs through 5pm. Come check out the array of vendors we have ranging from coffee to candles. The Home Tour tickets are $25 and will feature 5 homes around the Goleta area all decked out for the holidays.
It has been a long three months since we started working on the barn, but the results are beautiful! The web site will be up in the next few weeks and we look forward to booking events for the coming year.

Heat Wave!!!

We got hit with and Indian Summer heat wave and we're not real happy about it. The goats are sleepy, the horses droopy and the chickens panting, in general, we are all miserable! On top of all that, our cat Emmy got bitten by something and developed an abscess on her jaw- YUCK! Did I mention we have three orange cats? Emmy was first, then came Ruby, and Bobcat, seeing that we were orange cat lovers, adopted us.
Anyway, life on the farm has been....well, hot. But it will only last a few days and we will all survive.
Stay cool my friends!

Fall on the Farm

    Fall is a time of change on the farm, the days get shorter, the nights are cooler and the vegetation is slowing down to get ready for the winter. By now the grass is dry in the pasture, and we are left with the memory of the luscious green fields of winter and spring. With all this, I have to say fall is one of my favorite times of year. I'm a sweater loving girl, so I can't wait to bundle up! Of course, fall is also the time for Halloween, my favorite holiday! The barn is aching to don it's annual decor of all things spooky and creepy. This year will be bigger and better than ever because it will be totally cleared of all of our storage. Yes, I have been a busy bee!

   We have big plans for the barn in the up coming months (and hopefully years!). After the Halloween party, we hope to have a harvest dinner with Main Course and a Christmas Boutique

in December. Spring time will bring brides looking for an elegant yet country home feel for their wedding day, and Milk & Honey will be the perfect place to "tie the knot"!

   Yes, fall does bring a change, but it will not be a change of slowing down or dieing back, but a change of new and exciting things ahead! 

Stay Tuned

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