Monday, May 21, 2012

A Great Week

Well, I think I have finally recovered from last week's Brimfield excursion.  We've managed to get our Brimfield trips down pretty well...we know which vendors have stuff we like, where the prices are good, and who is willing to haggle.  We've also figured out how to see everything we want to see and get in and out in under 6 hours!  Granted, when we decide to make the trek without a trusty list in hand and predetermine to just wander around and look for what inspires us, well....those trips are a bit longer...

This, was not one of those trips.  We managed to get very lucky and found the most desired and largest item on our list (a club-style chair for the living room) towards the beginning of the day, which meant we knew exactly how much room was left in the car for bringing home other treasures.  It is always fun to see people stop and watch us as we carefully maneuver our treasures into our Pontiac Vibe...it isn't a large vehicle, but as we are fond of saying "it may be small, but we know exactly how big it is."  Here is what we brought home...


And yes, our beautiful cat Annie thinks that we bought it just for her sleeping enjoyment!  Ah well, whatever keeps her happy...as long as she shares.

Here is a glimpse of some items that did not make it home with us, but were sufficiently drooled over...

 




Our circa 1912 bride just barely didn't come home with us.  We found her at the end of the day and by then had already spent our budget for the event..and I was trying to be good.  So instead, I just snapped this quick picture and will look for her again in July.  Doubtful she'll still be there, but you never know at Brimfield.

After our weekend trip, we had a nice week of good weather and managed to enjoy some of it with a friend of ours.  It was our first real dinner guest at our new place.  We made veggie kabobs with homemade bbq sauce, grilled pineapple, fresh tomatillo salsa, and potatoes with onions and sage...and awesome vegan apple cinnamon cupcakes for dessert!  We didn't have our table project finished yet (which you will all get to see eventually) so we ate out on the back deck and used the deck box as a table.  Of course it was dressed up with some vintage linens from my Aunt and our awesome serving dishes.


Yay for friends and a good week.  Here's hoping this coming week is just as great.


Have you found any treasures lately?  Had to pass something up because you were "being good?"  Or just had a friend over to enjoy a nice Spring evening?



Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Going to Brimfield???

We are!!!  If you've been following my blog for the past year, you will have already noticed that I LOVE Brimfield week.  Well, weeks actually.  We try and go to all three Brimfield weeks because they are just that awesome.  I thought that instead of just writing my usual look-at-the-cool-things-I-found-at-Brimfield post after the fact, that I would write a short post before the weekend with a few tips that I've learned from our Brimfield excursions. 


Here are my top tips (in no particular order) for any Brimfield adventurer:

* Dress/pack for ANY weather condition...even if it is 90 degrees and sunny, do NOT leave home without a rain jacket in the back of the car...similarly, even if it's raining, don't forget the sunscreen...the weather can change in an instant and it is easier to walk back to the car than to be miserable for the next 6 hours.

* On a similar note, wear appropriate shoes...even if it rained on Tuesday and you are going on Sunday, chances are the ground is still mucky and wet from Tuesday and all of the foot traffic, combined with the severe lack of grass by the end of the week will make for uneven ground...also wear shoes that you will actually want to walk in for hours on end.

* Take a backpack/messenger bag...there are many, Many, MANY small items at Brimfield and if you don't have a place to put your treasures as you begin to collect them you will find yourself either needing to constantly run back to the car, or playing a delicate balancing act in your arms for the rest of your visit (which makes it that much harder to go digging through and finding even more treasures).

* Take Cash!  Although some of the merchants are set up to take credit cards, and some will take personal checks, your best bet is to pay with cash...there are ATMs on the grounds, but better to be safe than sorry...it also makes it much easier to stick to a budget and only spend the cash you have...(note, be mindful any time you are carrying large amounts of cash, we have never had a problem at Brimfield but we always take precautions like splitting the cash between us and also keeping some in various places...all of it in the backpack + backpack left at lunch table = big problem!)

* Make a list if you can...this is an entirely personal choice, but I find that Brimfield can be extremely overwhelming if you are only going for one day and plan to look at everything...we like to make a list of the major pieces we are looking for so we have our sights set on something...this does not mean that we don't look at everything, but sometimes it can help us decide if a tent is even worth going into...on our first trip to Brimfield we were completely unprepaired and by the end of it I felt like crawling into the fetal position because of the extreme amount of inspiration and things to see.


This year our Brimfield adventure will likely consist of:

--dressing in layers: hiking pants (cool if it's hot, and dry quickly in the rain), t-shirt layered over a tank top, long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt, hat to keep off the sun, and tennis shoes, plus an extra pair of socks and a rain jacket in the car just in case
--backpack containing: sunglasses, bottle of water, hand sanitizer and small travel roll of toilet paper (there are port-a-potties, but there are also thousands of people...things run out), and small reusable shopping bag just in case
--The List: chairs (for reading), old camera/surveyor's tripod, and always on the list are textiles/costumes/sewing supplies (me) and Maxfield Parrish prints/anything Stickley inspired (Jess)

Well folks, those are my words of wisdom.  I hope you decide to venture out to Brimfield this week (May 8th-13th)...and if you end up there on Sunday you just might see me!!!!

Happy Hunting!!


Do you obsessively make lists?  Do you find them helpful at antique shows/flea markets?  Or are you the dive-in-and-see-what-happens type?