Five On Friday

It's Five on Friday time!

For the first time I am linking up to this fun blog party. I am a day late but the party is still going on! The hosts are Darci, April, Christina and Natasha. Just write 5 things on your mind today and post at the party!

1)  Monday I got to spend time with my 5 favorite girlfriends at lunch for Colleen's birthday. We celebrate each others birthdays every year. It is a great excuse to get together. This time it was at a Thai restaurant. Colleen is a blast to be around and we all have a great time together.

From the left is Kim, Colleen, me, Lora and Tree

2) I finally have started cleaning out some old clothes that I've had since the last time I worked full time.....1996! They are pretty nice so I thought I'd take them to some consignment shops. There are three near where I live so off I went with an arm load of coats, skirts, blouses and purses. I became so discouraged at the whole process of consigning and I really don't care about making money from these clothes anyways. In my heart I wanted to donate the clothes to an organization where I knew they were given to truly needy people in my area....not sold to them. I found it! The Open Door Mission Caring Center in Rochester, NY takes clothes for homeless woman so they can have things to wear to church and to get back in the workforce. And there is a drop off two streets over from me! Win, win.

3) My husband sent me a link to a song he had given me early in our marriage, that he had just found again. It is called Beautiful in My Eyes by Joshua Kadison. I had the CD and cassette tape with that song on it but they were somewhere unknown in my house! My husband searched and found a box full of CD's from 15 years ago. There were so many great music artists in there I had forgotten about. It was like reuniting with old friends.  And it reminded me of how romantic my husband is!

4) Been thinking about this Sunday all week and anticipating my time with my two daughters Candice and Jena and their girls Cassidy, 8 and Chloe, 2. We are all going to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, a free admission day courtesy of the company my husband works for. It is a great place for kids and adults to spend the day. Afterwards, NaNa (that's me) is treating them all to pizza at a 'new to me' pizza place. Just the girls for the day!

Cassidy and Chloe
 

5) The end of the week always means garage and yard sales to me. The weather was gorgeous and my daughter Jena, knowing what a vintage junkie with a passion for picking I have, told me about a yard sale just down the street from me when she dropped Chloe off for the day. Off in the little umbrella stroller we went. The first thing I found was a vintage suitcase....love it! It was so nice out

 

that I decided to keep walking and found another great yard sale with all vintage items from the estate of a 94 year old woman. I found so many great things that I could barely carry them all home, and push the stroller too! Chloe and I had a nice walk on a gorgeous late summer day and I got some great things to list in my Etsy shop! Chloe got a new toy too....of course!

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

AnnMarie  :)

 

Unbridled Passion

 I just can't help myself.

I have over 300 vintage items in my Etsy shop, (not to mention the collection I have in my drafts, expired and inactive files) plus the hundreds of items around my home that I decorate with and am not parting with!

But when Friday and Saturday come around this time of year, I just have to see what is out there. I have to decide whether to go to the garage sales, or thrift stores, or both? Yard sales or flea markets?

Today I went to the most unlikely place you'd ever find myself and especially my husband, ever on a Saturday afternoon.......

The Pioneer Gas Engine 48th Annual Show in Marion, NY.

You see, I recently joined the Rusty Dusty Treasury Team on Etsy which is all about vintage and rusty, recycled and upcycled and just plain fabulous items. It has helped increase my passion for all of that and more!

So when my daughter called me saying "Mom, you gotta get here, there is a lot of rusty, old stuff", I had to go. I was going to hit just a few garage sales anyways.....wink, wink.

As soon as we got there my husband felt out of his element. He joined me because I didn't want to go alone not knowing what I was walking into, and then we ran into an old friend, Dean.

That's my husband Frank on the left near Dean's booth with all the mammoth chain saws. Frank is from Spanish Harlem in New York City. There were tractors and engines and rusty farm tools, long beards, John Deere shirts and a few missing teeth! Yeah, out of his element!

I had a great time! There was a lot of old, rusty, greasy, oily stuff around to buy. Most too high priced for me but I did get some things.

The large bucket is a cardboard and metal candy bucket from the Bunte Brothers of Chicago. It was once filled with 15 pounds of Extra Fine Early American Chocolate Drops. It is a great vintage advertising piece for display, from the early 1950's.

I have a thing for oil cans. Especially the small, cute ones with the long spout. I actually sold one once suggesting to use it as a ring holder. Very cute idea!

These would fall into the rusty, oily category of vintage!

 

 

I am not totally sure of what this next item is, but it is so unique and rusty that I had to have it. It must be some kind of percussion instrument. It has a cow bell sound, each side having a different tone.

 

 

There was so much more I wanted to buy, but the last item I got was this coal shovel, probably from the 1930's. Very unique decoration for near a wood stove or fireplace.

 

 

So I did really good, right? I must mention that my husband didn't get anything! He likes to go thrifting for props for the community theatre we run. No luck here!

I really wanted to hit at least one of the garage sales on my list so we went. It was a memorable time because of the cute elderly couple that was holding the sale.

 

The husband was sitting outside the garage with a friend and the wife was inside the garage with her grandson. I asked him about the age of the cow jar and he said "You have to ask my wife, that's her department".

 

 

Then I was looking at the old tool box and he cut the price in half without me even asking!

 

I asked her for the price on the framed picture and she said "You have to ask my husband, it's his". He told me the price and then mentioned that it was a relative of his. I asked him if he was sure he wanted to sell it to me and he said, no problem, he had others! Relatives or pictures?!

 

I almost walked away from the prize item of the day. I was halfway down the driveway when I just had to go back for the big, red, chippy, rusty gas can. The husband ran over to make sure he told me that it didn't leak and showed me the bottom. I asked him how old it was and he said he bought it in 1968. The wife was giggling that I came back and her grandson looked at me like I was crazy for wanting all this stuff!

 

Days like these make thrifting all the more fun. Sometimes it is just in and out of the car, from garage sale to garage sale with no luck and no fun included.

Now I get to photograph and list all these great items in my NaNa's Things shop. Which is part of the fun too!

What did you do on this beautiful Saturday afternoon?

AnnMarie  :)

P.S. I have this same unbridled passion for that guy on the left in the picture too!!

 I'm linking up to these great blog parties!
Freedom Fridays Blog Hop
Weekend Wonders
Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party
I Love My Post Blog Hop
Let's Get Social Sunday
Raising Imperfection Sunday Link Party
Amaze Me Monday
Marvelous Mondays
Monday Mingling Blog Hop
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
Tuesday Trivia
What's It Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Grow Your Blog Networking Party
Bloglovin' and Google+ Blog Hop
Weekend Wonders
Freedom Fridays
Be Inspired