The Secret Keeper

A little over two weeks ago I got a text from my cousin asking if I'd be willing to be the secret keeper for a gender reveal party for her son and his girlfriend, who are expecting twins. Of course, I said YES!!! They came over a few hours later and dropped off a sealed envelope from the ultrasound technician, and then the pressure started!!

I have been so stressed, and so worried that I'm going to mess up and give it away that I was glad for a few days away from everyone last weekend when we went up to the U.P. to see my parents. I lose cell service around Gaylord, so I didn't have to worry about letting it slip in a phone or text conversation, but once I was back-I was stressing again!

I kept telling myself I can do this!! Not only do I keep the secret, I also am in charge of making the reveal boxes. Boxes filled with balloons that when opened, float to the sky-in either pink, or blue, or all pink or all blue. Since there are two babies, I decided to go with two boxes.

It's nothing fancy, but I think they turned out nice! I kept having idea after idea, but when I went to shop for supplies to make my ideas into reality, I either couldn't find what I had in mind, or if I found it, it was super expensive. So, this is what they started as, and this is what they turned out like...

Everyone "voted" with their shirt/clothing color. As you can see, most people were either blue or undecided. Most of my family wore blue. I had to wear green, so no one would guess. That was pretty hard to do since most of my shirts are either blue or pink!!

What a fun day!! I just wish I could have enjoyed it more-me and my chronic ear infections...ugh!!! Not fun! Hoping the meds finally kick in and start working!!

Memorial Weekend Thrifting in Northern Michigan

This past weekend, Mr. and I went north to visit my parents. It was so nice to get away for a few short days, see my parents and do some treasure hunting! It sure is a lot easier to go away on a weekend now that our guys are young adults, who can stay home to look after things. There is also a LOT more room in the car!

We left Thursday, early in the afternoon (after I got out of work) and we made a quick stop at the Antique Warehouse in Saginaw, to stretch our legs. I saw lots of great things, and I saw that a couple of my favorite dealers are gone. I didn't find anything that just had to come home with me, but it was fun to look anyway!

On Friday, my mom and I took off for Petoskey for a girl's day out and a pedicure. We stopped at a bunch of garage sales along the way. Boy did we see some  over-the-top BIG, Ginormous garage sales on Friday!! Lots of fun things to look at and sift through, but not too much in my price range, or on my looking for list.

We had a ton of fun, and finished up the day with a trip to Harbor Wear (for our summer t-shirts) and late lunch at Scalawags in Mackinac City-my-all-time-favorite place to go for chicken strips! It's a fish place, that I'm sure does great fish, but I'm not much of a fish person, so the first time I went, I got chicken strips and for about 20 years now, I only get the chicken strips!

It was so much fun, we decided to head out to Cheboygan on Saturday to hunt for some more treasures. Mr. got dropped off out in the woods early Friday morning (he LOVES hiking in the woods-with a 35 lb. pack! I think It's crazy, but he loves it), so it was just me and my mom, when my dad decided to join us. I think he had fun last summer when he tagged along with me. My parents are took me to tons of garage sales growing up. It was cheap entertainment, and we got some nice things that we wouldn't have been able to afford at full retail prices.

My dad drove, his HUGE extended cab truck-you know the ones that look like the hood is the size of a king size mattress!?! We had plenty of time, and plenty of room, but not much came home with us. It was fun though to hang out just the three of us. We went to about 10 or 11 sales. Some of them seemed like perpetual, all summer long sales, one even had a "Yes, We're Open" sign on the fence post by their driveway-and it was pretty faded, like it had been there a long time!

We finished off our treasure hunting with a late lunch at Pier M33 on the Chebogan. It was just being built when my grandma passed away in 2012. She kept telling my mom that she was going to take her there once it opened. Sadly, she didn't make it that long. It was kind of bitter-sweet being in their town, and not being able to see them. Grandpa passed away in April of 2014. It was nice to sit and watch boats pull up to the marina and see people come in to eat or order carry-out. I think it would be fun to live on a lake and take your boat out to dinner!

 I also go to visit a couple of antique shops in Cheboygan. I just love the displays in one of them and I told the owner as I was leaving. I think it is all one person's stuff for sale, and not different vendors. She seemed pretty pleased with the compliment-she seemed to stand up straighter, and she definitely had a big smile on her face!!

We left on Sunday when my parents left to go to church, we had great weather and very little traffic, so we made good time getting home. When we walked in the backdoor (it opens off of the garage into the laundry room), I noticed all the laundry was gone! No clean laundry hanging, or folded on the shelf waiting to be put away...then further into the kitchen, the floor had been freshly mopped, the counters and sink were empty and wiped down, the wood floor in the living room was freshly cleaned and shiny, the dining room table didn't have anything on it...someone was b-o-r-e-d while we were gone and he cleaned up-a lot!! He even power-washed our deck!!

I suppose it was pretty lonely because his younger brother was off house/dog sitting, so the oldest was home all by himself. I'd go away more often if he'd do that every time!! Normally, we come home to clutter, and an empty fridge and pantry, so this was a pleasant surprise!

I really enjoyed spending time with my mom and dad. It was a lot of fun-too bad it went by so quickly!! My dad texted me yesterday and gave me the name and phone number of  one of his neighbor's daughter-in-law. His neighbor passed away in February, and they are wanting to do an estate sale. I called her, and was very adamant about not throwing anything away until I look at it or until after the sale. She mentioned that she was thinking of throwing out a 1950's tandem bicycle, but when I just about had a heart-attack, she decided to keep everything-for right now anyway.

We are hoping to connect the last week of June first week of July. It's a split week-half is in June and half is in July. I'm hoping to be back in the U.P. at my parents for a few more days of vacation, so maybe we can get some work done for their sale. I'm willing to do it just to help her out. I like helping people, and I love prepping for estate sales. Mr. doesn't agree. He thinks I should charge for my advice...what do you think? Maybe not for this particular sale, since we didn't talk fees or payment, but for future sales??

These are some pics of my weekend...

There is just something about this bridge and the water beneath, that once I'm going across it, my whole being just lets out a giant sigh of contentment!!

 Some sort of a scale (I think) that was in the restaurant we visited our first night in town.

Some of the interior of Scalawag's-see it really is a fish place-I just happened to luck into the chicken stips, and haven't tried anything else, ever in over 20 years!!

The next few pics are inside an antique shop in Cheboygan.

Look at this adorable little door!!! It leads into another little display area in the upstairs of this house-turned shop!

 This is what ou see when you step inside!

 I've never seen a whole set in person before-LOVE it!!!

This is Pier M33

These were my finds...

This is going into my trade tub-starting to get lots of Pyrex to trade...I've seen a local Michigan collecting group's postings on a meet-up and trade day this Sunday...I wonder if I could squeeze it in.

 This is for a work friend who collects round covered butter dishes. I'm thinking this is a repro-the seams are just too smooth.

 This is for me, because I don't have enough...I can't walk away...I'm addicted-all of the above!!

 I picked upu the cube game and spinners for my youngest who is in school to become an elementary teacher, and I love vintage games-and for a quarter each, I couldn't pass any of it up!!

 Pardon the messy garage. After a long da of driving and then unloading and unpacking-it's hard to get up the energy to stage something all pretty like.  This little gem was only $2!! The missing knob is in one of the drawers. I'm planning to paint it and put a license plate on each of the drawer fronts!!

I got three of these!

Hope you had a great weekend whatever you did!! We are very thankful for the men and women who've given their lives for our freedom-Memorial Day-remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice!!

Still Trying to Decide...

 So today was the big day. The first Springfield Extravaganza of the spring/summer treasure hunting season. Mr. and I left the house at 6am for the 3 1/2 hour drive to treasure hunting on steroids!!  When we left it poured. Driving wasn't fun in some areas-especially all those construction zones in Ohio. One thing that was better than the last time I visited was traffic control. Several police officers were on-hand to direct traffic and it seemed to run a lot smoother and quicker.

We had a pretty good parking spot for getting there as late as we did. I also remembered to set  my find my car app before we left the car so getting back to it was a lot easier. The last time I went, I think I wandered in circles at least 3 or 4 times trying to find my way to my car!

One of the first booth I saw was this one, They had all kinds of cement figures, but not a gnome to be found-sorry Auntie-I tried!

It was way more crowded today than it was the last time I visited!! I felt like I was swimming against the current in a sea with record waves and a really bad undertow!! So many booths to see, so many people to wade through to get to the treasures. I was really glad to get back to my quiet car (and the air conditioning) when it was time to leave.

There seemed to be a lot more industrial this time. I love a lot of the industrial look-but in small quantities. I'm not a super huge fan-I just like to accent with it here and there. I'd LOVE to get a double galvanized wash tub set with the base, and use it for flowers some day!

I'd love to get one of these for my mantle shelf. I wasn't sure what Mr. would think, so I didn't buy one. I thought I'd wait and ask him and then we could go back and get it. He was all for it, but by the time we caught back up with each other, we were both hot, tired and ready to leave. So we didn't get it this time. I would paint it and scuff it up. He said he would leave it rusty and crusty. What would you do??

This was a ginormous tent filled with all kinds of linens. I bought a few from this dealer on my last visit. I think she had a bargain table last year that wasn't there this year, because I never spend that much on tablecloths. They were gorgeous, and I could have fallen in love with several of them...

The flamingos pic is for Auntie. I didn't see the price, just thought you'd like to see them!

This awesome cabinet made my heart beat a little faster when I looked up and saw it!  I might have had a chance at bringing it home if I didn't have the corner cabinet from the M15 sale still sitting in the middle of my sun room, with no place to go.

This wheel just looks like so  much fun! It reminded me of the days when I used to be a special events planner for my job at my church. I used to run a yearly Harvest Festival where we had tons of games for kids to play. I made Mr. make all kinds of things for the games-this sure would have come in handy about 10 years ago!

I love this!! I immediately saw it over-flowing with all kinds of purple flowers!!

This was the first pass through. On the way out, there were only two stars left!! They weren't cheap either! What a clever idea this dealer had, and it paid off-big time!!

A barbed wire Christmas tree!!

This booth always causes serious drooling!! So much Pyrex! Too bad I have most of what I'm looking for, and the things I still need-I'm hoping to get super cheap. I may even participate in a local Pyrex trade in a couple of weeks, with some other Pyrexaholics in a facebook group that I'm part of. I'll be sure to take you along if I do participate.

These windchimes are just a different way to do it. I liked the looks of them.

This was lunch. A Texas Tenderloin deluxe. I have no idea what it is, or was. I was thinking of a shredded beef sandwich when I ordered it. This is what I got, and I got two of them-one for each of us! They were paper-thin, deep fried...and I have no idea if it was even meat! It was almost as big as the plate! There was a tomato slice, lettuce, mayo and pickle slices under there some where. Since it was so thin, we were able to fold it up and put it under the bun to eat. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I'd get again. Mr. agreed with me -we both are up for trying new things though.

I need a bigger house! I fell in love with this bench!!

 The Simpson's were in Springfield today!!

I'm on the hunt for a giant metal letter "T" for my mantle shelf-maybe a couple of them in differnt styles!!

I've been haunted by the glove forms that I walked away from a couple of summers ago, but not any more...these looked kind of creepy reaching out of the boxes like that. I'm happy with only one, now that I've seen this!

These...are...really...starting...to...catch...my...eye...

This ladder is way cool! Any ideas of why it looks the way it looks??

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE--Mason jars in a shopping cart and the plant stand!!

Doll body parts...not gonna lie, they looked super creepy sitting out there all piled up in those crates!

Ginormouse lawn chair-that I only got half of in the pic.

Oh, My!! Love at fist sight!!

Fork and spoon garden art!!

I was pointing out the bottle trees to Mr, hinting that I'd like another one, and he pointed to the jar tree and said, "Look at that monstrosity"...I kinda love it!!

 By the time we walked the whole place, we were worn out, hot, sticky and tired, but we had one more stop to make before we could get on the road for home...we stopped at Heart of Ohio Antiques-just a little under 3 miles from the extravaganza.

This was the first booth I saw...

So much glassware eye-candy!! As I was making a lap in my final area to visit, I was about 15 feet away from a couple when I heard a giant crash and the gut-wrenching sound of shattering glass! Oh, I felt to bad for them. I have no idea what broke, but I could feel their pain!

I need to remind myself to get my stool out of the basement this summer and get it painted!!

This antique mall has the most vintage Fiesta I've ever seen in one mall-ever! There was another woman that I kept running into in the Fiesta booths-we both are collectors, and it was fun to be bumping into someone who "gets it"-if you know what I mean.

The ever elusive Harlequin relish tray...something I'd LOVE to own, but am content to finally see one in person. I got excited for a minute thinking I could "piece" a set together by buying the loose pieces...too steep for my wallet, but not out of the ballpark, for how rare they are.

So many different kinds of vintage glassware and pottery-this place goes on and on forever!!

LOTS of Jadeite too!! I'm on the hunt for the 5" swirl bowl...

This matches something I found for Auntie. Love that spaghetti look!

 Fire King, Sealtest cottage cheese dishes---I'd love to have that turquoise one in my collection...but I'm way to cheap I guess, because I left it there.

Talk about hyper-ventilating!!! WOW!!! So much happiness-in one place!!!

See those cream soups?? Two cobalts came home with me-my first cream soups! Uh, oh...I feel another collection coming on!

I would probably pass out if I ever was able to afford one of these babies!

So many years I turned my nose up at these bowls. I passed them up left and right. Guess what!?! Yep, now I think I want them!

Purple!!

This cart is awesome!!

These are  my treasures from this trip-all except the cream soups...somehow, I forgot to take a pic of them! This was from a tiny little booth across from the ginormous linen booth. This seller was cheaper,and she was willing to deal-SOLD!

A couple more hankies for my obsession collection. I'm going to have to pull out all of my state hankies and tablecloths and take an inventory to see what I have!

Same dealing, dealer as the first tablecloth-I have never seen this color combo before -LOVE!!

Vintage VERA!!! Never used!!! Not even double digits!! Less than ten dollars!!!

That's it. That's our day. Our ride home was much better, until we got to Ann Arbor-then we were stuck in traffic for about 15 minutes, It was a fun day. We enjoyed getting out, I'm still trying to decide if it was worth all of the driving and walking, and people, and heat, and sweat, and stickiness, and sunburn...for so little to bring back. Tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune, but for today, I'd say probably not. 

There weren't many good deals. A lot of dealers weren't willing to deal. It cost over 7 hours in drive time, (plus gas), and it was $12 to get in-each!!  I think I'll stick with Midland...which is oh, by the way, in two weeks!! See you soon Marie!! :)