I’ve never been a big Black Friday shopper.  I went out to do some Black Friday shopping one year just to experience it and I waited in a line that wrapped around the store to buy a Playdough set.  When I got to the checkout, the woman ringing it up asked me, “Is this it?”  “Yep.  That’s it.”  And that was it.  We went home and I haven’t gone since.  I might buy a few things online if I see a special sale, but I’d rather hit a local antique store or cruise around on Etsy to eBay for goodies.  So, instead of sharing Black Friday deals today, I’m going to get you geared up for Small Business Saturday by sharing some of my favorite small shops.  Several are offering coupon codes through the weekend for my readers or they are already running special sales, so make sure you write

“Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.  Besides, in this random miscellaneous company we may rub against some complete stranger who will, with luck, turn into the best friend we have in the world.” ― Virginia Woolf Just as I love antiques and vintage things, I love used books, too.  I love new books and will buy those when they are new releases, but if the book has been around for a while, I always look into purchasing it used first.  Not only does it save a lot of money, but I’m getting a book that has a little story to it.  Sometimes, that story remains a secret, but other times, I can see who the book belonged to, what library it came from, who checked it out, or

For Feels Like Home Friday, I am teaming up with the queen of cozy and my fellow lover of antiques, Liz Marie Galvan!  We’re going to be on Instagram Live Friday, September 17, at 12:30 pm EST/11:30 am CST to chat about decorating with antiques!  I am really looking forward to it and I hope you will join us for that.  (You can watch it HERE if you were not able to make it live.) Of course, we’ll also be talking about books, which are both coming out this fall and feature decorating with antiques… | In addition, we’ll be having a joint giveaway on Instagram!  I know not everyone is on Instagram (sorry), but this was the easiest way for us to team up together for the giveaway.  So, if you’d like to enter the giveaway, you’ll have to do it over on Instagram (details are at the bottom

As you may have guessed, I am always trolling for new books to add to my home library!  Just when I think I’ve bought all of the books I “need”, I’ll find another one to add to my collection.  Thankfully for me, new books are being published all the time and I am eagerly awaiting a few that are coming out later this year and early next year.  Since there are some great ones on the list, I thought I would share them here.  Some of them I’ve already preordered and some I will be preordering the month they come out (so I don’t have to spend this month’s book budget on a book I won’t get this month!) But, I want to preorder books I’m excited about.  As an author, I know that preorders are huge for the early success of a book.  I want to support authors who