A visit to the "countryside" of Atlanta

It's always nice to have a day off at the same time as one of your good friends. And since I've had a whole lot of days off in a row, it just so happened that last week my friend Nurse Natalie, also had a free day. She works in the ER at the city hospital and her stories will make straight hair curly. I really wish I hadn't asked the day we started talking about the most disgusting thing she'd ever seen....and I'll leave it at that.

So, on special occasions such as this, we decide to venture all the way out of the city to a place called Woodstock. You really need a full tank of gas to get there. She was looking for some sort of auction store of amazing furnishing finds called Big Jim's. We had vague directions and a gps. After stopping off for a Starbucks to put us in the right mood, it was time to venture out. An hour later we ended up on a road that was pretty much going no where, and stopped into a little gift shop to ask for directions. We both came out with purchases, of course. Entering the cute little boutique the lady looked up at us like were were the first human contact in over a week. When it comes to the self-employed business person in a sore economy there is a special place in my heart. Translated, I had to spend some money. So I considered a really cute chandelier for my outdoor patio space but decided it was too small in scale for the size of the patio overall, found a fun little turquoise beaded necklace that was totally reasonable, Natalie found a clutch, and then we were off again to head towards Big Jim's.

According to Ms. Boutique's directions, we landed ourselves here:

A few signs seemed promising but no one was home. Turns out they are open every Monday, First weekend, which includes Thursday-Monday of that weekend from 11-5? Am I reading that right? Well, we weren't sure but I doubt I'll be back any time soon with these crazy hours. I would expect a sign like this in China, not Woodstock.

We did make some progress the rest of the day, found some lunch, some mirrors and bookshelves and I do love that inexpensive necklace.

We also found one more cool shop in Roswell with all kinds of vintagey things. I was loving it until we came across a bed with three dead animals on it..all of a sudden I was horrified, is this what it feels like to be a Democrat?

Like I said, I haven't taken the necklace off since.

Finally, if you are very astute, you will notice that Natalie and I were wearing the very same color J. Crew tank the entire day. I guess good friends think alike.