Junking Journal

This was my fortune at lunch today, and I have a job interview on Monday :)

 

Today started out as a bummer. I had planned for Blake and I to go garage selling, but he had to go to work this morning. :(  While he was gone, I started searching for estate sales online, and I found probably 100. (Well, maybe not 100, but at least 10!) Well, one in particular caught my eye, they had tons of pictures online and it seemed like it would have a wide range of things to browse through, and best of all, everything would be 50% off after 12:00, which was more likely when we would be out adventuring.


When we arrived, we had to wait in a LINE for 10 MINUTES before we even could go in! I had never been to an estate sale like that, obviously my intuition was correct, these people must have felt the same. This was actually the last day of the sale, and the amount of things was absolutely unbelievable. One of the operators said it had been this crazy busy the whole time. Blake and I have been in the market for a china cabinet. Ive wanted one since we got married over a  year ago. Finally, I had ear marked some money for one, and decided this weekend would be the time. Check it out!

We also found this LANE Cedar Chest, obviously in very rough shape on the exterior, but inside is virtually untouched. Blake (with the help of fellow shoppers) convinced me to let him buy a gun cabinet too (But it didnt photograph well, sorry!). He has been wanting one for as long as I have known him. It doesnt have a lock, but that shouldnt be an issue for a few more years :)

I found a silver pitcher, a neat sailboat painting, and some really cool rustic teal utensils too. We got such a steal! Our project for tomorrow will be attempting to take off the veneer on the cedar chest... Wish us luck!

PS sorry if the photos/ format/ me is all wonky.... Im using Blake's work laptop, and its a PC. yuck.

Confessions.

So. I confess. Ive been neglecting my blog. Im sorry. Truth be told, we are moving in a month to [hopefully] a bigger place, but possibly, a smaller one. Since we aren't sure, we (we...as in Blake) have decided to hold off on purchasing furniture for the moment.

This is the reason I didnt buy these awesome pieces when I was in Florida last...

They would have been a real steal. And we found these, and left them, right after Mom and I got done telling Jami the rules of junking..... the numero uno rule being, if you like it, buy it. (Unless its too expensive, then dont worry, you will most definitely find something else.) And these two pieces were definitely not too expensive, and yet, we still didnt buy them..... We even went back a few hours later, but of course, they were gone.

In the meantime, while Im not working on anything too exciting, I have decided to post about our food. If you know us (especially me) very well, you will know that we have become very weary of what we eat. We are doing our best to eat healthy every night, but more importantly, make things from scratch. It was no easy conversion at first, but we are trucking right along, and are heading in the right direction. We try to limit our intake of red meat, and try to rarely eat out.

While we were in Raleigh over the weekend, we stopped at Trader Joe's. I had read about it on a few blogs, and someone at work recommended we stop there... And oh my, it lived up to every expectation and then some. It was AMAZING. Basically, it is very high quality products at affordable prices. Most things are under their own brand, and I can guarantee you wont find anything that says "Kraft", or "high fructose corn syrup".

We dont eat sweets too often, but lately, I have been in the mood for sugar cookies. So, instead of buying them in the grocery store, Im going to make them. From scratch. Even the icing. Ill try to post some pics up later... hopefully they will turn out beautiful! (and tasty!) Even though we are technically eating "junk food", at least I can name every ingredient in it, and not one of them is hard to read or pronounce! :)

14 Hours and $56 Later..

This past weekend Blake, the puppies and I loaded up in the car and headed south to Florida for the weekend to visit family and friends. It was a quick trip, but action packed for sure. We spent Friday afternoon outside enjoying the weather. While Blake prepared to hunt the next day, Copper and Sadie played with the other furry girls in the yard, and I rested quietly on the swing. Before I knew it, Mom was home and our weekend began. We had already planned to spend Saturday Junking, but we did not anticipate it starting early! We found a few items outside of a house that they were giving away for FREE!! My mom had said about a hundred times she was looking for a French Provencal dresser..and they had one.. for free!! They even let us go inside to find an ornate cabinet, matching wall unit, and a piano. (We did not take the wall unit or piano....but we should have!!)

We were up and at'em bright and early Saturday stopping at tons of garage sales. As the morning grew later, we transitioned into thrift stores and second hand furniture stores. We ended with our first auction.. where we were scolded for having fun! Check out all our loot!! 1 dresser, 1 cabinet, 2 chairs, 79 dishes, 1 candelabra, 5 books, and 3 bars of soap. 

The chair on the left was our most expensive piece... $20. The one on the right came from the auction and needs A LOT of work! But it was only $2!

The candelabra is for Halloween, and the big white pitcher is mine.. I love it. I have decided I collect pitchers. Ever since I broke the one my mom gave as a wedding gift..)

The reason for the auction. 67 pieces of Ironstone (that Mom is obsessing over) for $10.

This beauty is from 1897! Isnt she beautiful?! She came from a garage sale.

The silver pitcher in the middle is really mine. But, Im sharing with Mom. :)

The bottom book is from 1952 and titled, How To Make Your Own Groceries. Right up my alley!  (And those are soaps in the front right, "Scrub-A-Mutt" and "Hunter's Soap")

I cant wait until Mom and Ashlie visit in a few weeks so we can go junking up here one last time before I move!

Todays Treasures

Well. we have had a very eventful weekend! Eventually, we will relocate to Raleigh, NC, so we thought we would go check it out this weekend! We met up with some new found friends who gave us the grand  tour. Among our stops was the NC Farmers Market (which was down right amazing) and the NCSU Flea Market (which was also pretty awesome). Imagine your local farm stand (or at least any local one I have ever been to) and multiply it by 150, and that is the NC Farmers Market. It was almost overwhelming. And, do the same for the flea market. It just went on and on and on. As soon as I thought we had seen it all, we would turn a corner and there be another 50 booths!! My one token was this sweet little pitcher.

Now, I know you think its ugly, its ok, you dont have to pretend to like it for me. But, my great grandmother, who we all loved very dearly, had a set of mugs made by this same potter. Every time I am home at my Moms I drink my morning coffee from these mugs, and its simply a small nod in remembrance to our Memaw. Anytime Im out and about, Im always checking the bottoms of similar items to see if they are the same, or impostures.  If they are the same maker, they usually are a short squaty mug (unlike ours), or a bowl, but never a mug like this one!

I found this puke green headboard/ footboard at the Goodwill for a reasonable price. Its in pretty good shape too, it will just need a good painting, for sure! They also had the vanity that went with it, and I hated not buying that too, but they wanted way more than it was worth, considering it is puke green. Ill stop back by on Wednesday, just in case they marked it down. :)

Check this out!!! I was so stoked to find it!! I have been wanting a sewing machine for some time, but just couldnt stand their $150 price tag for a basic one, new! I found this little guy at Salvation  Army for $6! I just couldnt turn it down! I knew Singer was a good name, but this line is the "genie" and with the psychedelic flowers, I wasnt sure. I called my lifeline (aka Mom) who did a quick google search and found someone else who had previously purchased one for $20 really enjoyed it. My concern was, the clerk didnt know whether it worked or not.. (which is why I got it so cheap). I took the gamble anyway, and won! Now I just have to figure out how to make some adjustments to the tension of the foot, and Im golden!


Believe it or not, I junked all the way to Florida today! My mom had picked up this cutie at an estate sale, and just about sold it on craigslist today, but then decided I may like it. And oh boy I do! I cant wait to go visit so I can pick it up.

 

The bottom is my fave... what color should I paint it? Teal, probably. :)