a chair by way of Texas

I found a chair. THE chair. Long story...to be exact, a 2 week long road trip was taken in order to find this chair, unintentionally! A trip through Southern California, across to Scottsdale, Arizona, through Alpine, Texas to Austin, Texas and then back again. During the 14 day trek I was led to Johnson City, Texas where I found my chair... but first, the road trip!

I first went to San Diego to visit my sister and partake in the treasured family tradition of visiting Margaritaville, aka attending a Jimmy Buffett concert! Then the travels East led to family in Scottsdale, Arizona and further West to Texas. While visiting Alpine, Texas (a quaint little town off of Highway 10 in waaay West Texas) I stumbled upon these two cute little birds that kept me company the rest of my travels.

Now this was my first trip back to Texas since I bailed out of the United States and went to Italy, so a lot of catching up (both with friends and my favorite food and coffee spots) was needed! My trip also coincided with SXSW, the epic music festival that invades Austin every spring. I got a little sketching in that will come soon but unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures until my return trip home....when I stumbled onto my chair and where I encountered all sorts of crazy weather, including rain in Texas, then snow and sunshine in New Mexico, within about 20 miles.

Okay, so the chair. I have been hunting for a chair for a month or so now to use in the Chair Faire in Los Alamos, California. I was invited to participate through my friend's gallery, The C Gallery, and finish creating my chair on site the day of the festival.

While travelling through West Texas, I stumbled into Pieces of the Past in Johnson City. The owner Kathy had an amazing collection of reclaimed chairs, tables, windows, doors and other vintage pieces. Among their collection I found my chair, a lovely turquoise gem from Mexico!

I was completely smitten with this chair at first site! I had something completely different in mind before the road trip but this chair won me over...I can't wait to get to work on it!

Also while I was in Austin, I was able to do a little thrifting at Good Will and shopping at Buffalo Exchange. I found this awesome crochet shirt at Buffalo and the most amazing backpack at Good Will.

They all just look so perfect together. Yay! And so concludes probably the longest blog post I've ever posted. Such a great little road trip, and even better weather to come home to! Now time to get back to work...