In early November, on our birthday, Janine and I went to Hampden (pronounced Hamden and is in Baltimore City) for lunch and to puruse the neat shops around there 'cause it's a cool area. While we were there I saw a piece of furniture in one of the shops that I fell in love with. One to replace the piece above in my dining room. It's a pretty cute cabinet, looks way better in a photo than up close. The problem with it was the closed part took up the whole bottom half. While good for storage there wasn't enough room for the items I wanted to display in that room and no room for Paul's grandmother's china (the main selling point). So, after six months, I finally got the thumbs up from Paul-sight unseen. Wow, it didn't take me long to get that truck to Baltimore.
I decided to turn it into a little field trip for me. A must in Hampden is Cafe' Hon. For you foreigners, there is an accent for real Baltimorians called Balimorese. Part of that language is that everyone from Baltimore (pronounced Balimore) calls each other Hon, short for Honey. So Cafe' Hon is the quintessential place to go for all things related to this Balimore experience.
This is a painting I took at Cafe' Hon of your typical Hon. Beehive hairdo and cat eyed glasses, tight spandex pants, and lots of...ummm...retro-fashionable, cheap bling.
Here's an a-typical booth as most of them are covered in leapord skin fabric but still cute-check out the pictures and the fun chandelier.
Another fun vignette-Jesus, Mary, and Joseph along with a bike and more hon pictures. I went specifically for the bread pudding-OMG-yum. I'd had it before so I knew to expect just what I got-a giant piece of heaven with Bourbon sauce.
Every year they have the Hon Fest and it's later this month. Many, many folks, men and women, dress like Hons. It's hilarious. Some events during the fest include the above by Art Mafia. HUGE TIP: rent or even buy the movie Pecker. It's a great movie and tells a sweet tale of a young man growing up in Hampden; it's hilarious. It's by John Waters who is an idol here and famous for many movies such as Hairspray and Cereal Mom.
Here is the item of my affection. You know what I heard about it..."It looks just like the other one."..."We paid HOW much for a new piece of furniture that looks old?" Once I purdied it up it was accepted into the family more warmly.
I have room for my "green" pieces seen here. Including my daddy in the green lidded jar. Sorry if you think that's creepy but I find it comforting.
Then there includes a shelf area for my pink luster ware...
...and my elephant/circus things...
...and other of my favorite things, most are heirlooms or have some special sentimental meaning. Paul's mother's Victorian figurines, some pieces from Aunt Helen and Uncle Robbie.
And then there's Paul's grandmother's china, really beautiful and should be on display instead of in the cabinet like it always had been before.
That meant that the other cabinet in the room got a good redo...my mom's dog collection from childhood and more of Paul's mother's figurines.
Another thing I love about this room is that I have a collection of religious items ranging from pretty to tacky to just wrong like the piece above...Dubner's Restaurant Beer-Wine-Liquores with the thermometer at the bottom-the just wrong catagory.
This is a piece we got out of Uncle Robbie's apartment. It's a hand embroidered cross, heart, and anchor on black velvet...umm...tacky.
The requisite (for a Texas girl anyway) antique hand painted Alamo. Very tasteful.
I got this from my friend, Patrice, a couple of years ago and love it. Beautiful colors, not a photo that does it justice, it's really pretty.
This piece I got from the Baltimore Big Flea. Jody talked me into buying it because she loved it so much but is Jewish and didn't want to put it up in her home. So glad she talked me into it, it's sooo tacky that it's pretty.
So here's my overall new look. Yes, I'm very happy in my most shallow way. I even love my "upside down" chandelier-the big lamp I put on the table but wired it into the ceiling outlet. Voila!
