And if You Have Five Seconds to Spare, Then I'll Tell You the Story of My Life: Then and Again + Antiques and Festivals

This weekend was a great one to be in New Mexico. If you were in Central NM, where I live, I hope you made it to a) the Lavender Festival and b) the 4th St. Antique Stores and their big 20% off sales!
I look forward to the Lavender Festival every year, and the coolest thing I picked up this year was a lotion bar-- looks like a bar of soap, but it's really solid lotion. Ingenious! Also, loved having lavender in great food, dried lavender for decorations, and the cool little finds out in the booths.
The festival was smaller this year, and there was a decided missing presence from the normal antique stores, but you know it would be a ton of work maintaining two spaces at once! Instead, some of my favorite antique haunts banded together for a great, great sale! Not only was the regular merchandise available at a discount, but many shops (notably Legacy Antiques and Vintage & More) brought in local artists to sell their wares. The Antique Co-op had the best refreshments, and you really miss the boat if you go to the North Valley and don't stop in for some inspiration at Cabin & Cottage.
One of the biggest highlights of my day was running into the very talented Carol Van Den Avyle-- Weems enthusiasts would certainly recognize her work! Guess what everyone-- Carol checks this blog!!! Amazing, right? I'm super honored. What's more, Carol and her friend Len Estill recently visited my famous Aunt Sylvia in Artesia, and took a trip to Carlsbad to see the beautiful Debra Mendoza and her new shop, Then and Again. Carol was kind enough to send me these pictures of the shop, which I hope will inspire you to take a little jaunt to Carlsbad. Check out the Caverns, of course, but this store is reason enough to go to C-Bad!

Isn't Debra the cutest woman you've ever seen? This picture doesn't begin to do her justice, but she is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and beautiful to boot!