A Busy Weekend!

Usually by Thursday afternoon, I'm winding down for the week, getting ready for a few days off and catching up on household chores, and maybe hitting a sale or two. This week, after work on Thursday, I was busy helping my cousin prepare for a baby shower for her soon to be grand-twins.

We made up cookies in a jar with pink M&M's for the giveaway gifts for the attenders, and we got a good start on getting everything set up for Saturday. We worked alongside her other son's girlfriend and my Aunt-the shower was at my Aunt's house. It was a long, hot sweaty day, but very fun to accomplish so much and with such great company.

On Friday, bright and early, Auntie and I and another friend from work set off for Michigan's Yard Sale Trail. It's over an hour to where we start the trail so we met at our usual place at 7:15. Even though I was tired and worn out from the day before, I don't think I slept much the night before because I was so excited!!

We spent the day chatting, shopping, walking, driving and walking, and walking, and walking!! It was so hot, and so muggy, it was pretty miserable when we were out of the car for long periods of time. At one point, early on the trail, there was a rogue downpour. I was worried that it might keep raining and ruin the day, but it quickly blew over and we didn't miss a beat in our quest for treasures.

We visited several of the same places from last year, and several new places this year. This sale has a lot more sales that are closer together than the Heritage Trail Sale, so we were in and out of the car a lot more than last Friday. For a first-timer, our co-worker/friend did very well! She was a real trooper, and she even said she had fun and would do it again-sometime.

It's always an interesting trip and an interesting time to people watch.I think I was able to see a lot of things I might not have seen had I been driving this year. The first fun thing I saw was a very old, restored fire engine-the kind without the cab for the driver-it was all open, and it was beautiful-right down to the great dane dalmatian sitting in the back!!

I saw several yard art displays with row boats, and some with lighthouses. I thought it would have been cooler since we were right on the water for most of the trail, but the heat and humidity was stronger than any breeze. At one point on the trail we even saw a freighter that was almost as close as the freighters were when we were camping in the U.P..

We stopped at so many sales, that I lost track of how many! There seemed to be a lot more sales with clothes and kid stuff this year, as compared to years past. Some of my favorite sellers were back selling again, and some weren't. I was happy to see a sale at an elderly gentleman's house, but he seemed very sad this year, and he had at least triple the amount of stuff for sale this year, as compared to years past. I wonder if he recently closed his antique shop or booth.

At one of the big grassy field sales where vendors rent space, our friend found a glass dish that she liked, but she wasn't sure it was worth the price the dealer was asking. She collects vaseline glass and she wasn't sure if it was real, so she asked me to give her my opinion. As soon as we walked up to the table, they seller was right there. I started feeling the seam marks and the cut glass part of the dish to feel for chips and roughness to the glass. He was standing as close to us as he possibly could.

I wasn't convinced that it was true vaseline glass, and his anxious/nervous watching us like a hawk didn't help convince me. She really liked it and asked if he could take any less. He said he forgot what he paid for it and what he was asking for it, so he picked it up and looked at the bottom and saw that he had it priced at $35. He said he could go as low as $25, and I quickly asked if he'd take $20. He hesitated at first but said OK. I looked at my friend, but she seemed unsure if she really wanted it, so I asked her if she wanted it, or if she wanted to think about it.

She told him that we had just started shopping that sale (at that field), and that she was going to think about it as she walked around and she'd come back. Immediately, he yelled, "NOPE! It's back at 35!" Needless to say, we walked away, and she didn't go back It was really odd to have him get so angry so quickly and not be willing to let her think about it. All of the other sellers we encountered were either willing to deal or they politely declined, none of them were nasty about it or offended by people making offers.

Thank goodness the other sellers weren't like him! Since it was an exception and not the norm, we continued on to Port Sanilac where we turned and headed for home. I was the first one back to the car and decided to program the GPS for "home" while I wanted for the other two to join me. I was SHOCKED to see that we weren't going to get home until after 7pm!! I totally lost track of time, and had no idea that it was so late!!!

I got home around 7:30, and got right to work on blueberry french toast casseroles and punch for the shower the next day. It made a long day even longer, but everything went together quickly and without any issues-thank goodness!!

Saturday started bright and early at my Aunt's house. My cousin was baking chorizo rings (scrambled eggs, chorizo and cheese in a crescent roll ring) in the basement oven and I was baking blueberry french toast casserole in the upstairs kitchen. I felt bad for heating up the house with the ovens on such a hot and muggy day, but there was no getting around it-the brunch menu been planned long before the weather turned hot.

It was a nice shower and I think the mama and daddy to be were blessed with the love and gifts that came their way that day. All of the food was delicious! My other two cousins brought quiches, muffins and danishes and a wonderful fruit salad. I'll have to remember what we served because it was a great brunch menu!

Sunday was back to normal...back to taking care of my family and home. Time for grocery shopping and laundry! This week will be nice because although the week is busy, there is nothing planned for the weekend-whew!

Here are some pics from my busy weekend...

First stop on the trail...

A swampy, gross ditch that our friend almost fell into when she was getting back into the car-good thing the sign post was there to stop her fall!

Rusty yard art!

I found a space saver...it broke my heart to see the DWD!

See the freighter??

One of many driveways along the trail

Beautiful blue water!

A mirror I picked up for another coworker

 Window art

A whole garage and driveway filled with vintage kitchen eye candy!! Look at all of the original packaging!!! Some items were originally 29 cents!!

I LOVE vintage gas pumps!!

A field full of vendors

I've been to this barn sale for a few years now, and I never remembered seeing the hub caps on the ceiling until this year!

I bought this Michigan plate for $1-now I just need to get going on my project!

Super bright vintage yellow tablecloth!!!

I had two of these plates from my MIL and I picked up a third just in time to use it for the shower on Saturday-and I found another Christmas tablecloth too for $1.

Public service announcement...if you order a baby shower gift from Target online and pay for gift wrapping, you may just end up with a cheap, smelly, awful drawstring bag instead of wrapping paper!!

I had to make a mad dash to the store to get baby appropriate wrapping.

I picked these little shades up for my mom to use for her wine bottle night lights.

On Saturday, when I was looking in my Aunt's cupboards, I was pleasantly surprised to find these beauties!

I'm sure my Uncle thought I'd lost my mind when I started taking pics of their bowls!! My Aunt couldn't believe people actually collect these patterns. She got these for wedding presents and she uses them every day-good thing she LOVES to wash dishes and they've never been in a dishwasher!!

Baby Shower decor

It was a fun, but busy weekend! At the end of last week, several coworkers were showing interest in possibly joining us on the trail next year...maybe we'll have to have a caravan next August of treasure seekers!!! :)