Thrift Report: "American Pickers" Style Estate Sale!

You'll see what I mean by "American Pickers Style Estate Sale" tomorrow when I post photos from the estate sale I went to on Saturday. It was crazy. So many items - most of them "manly" and rusty. There were antique cars, a ton of lawn mowers, over 300 clocks, etc. I have a feeling Mike (from "American Pickers") would have had a field day at the sale!

I picked up a few things - below I staged them on the record player display table I picked up at the flea market in October. We put it directly in the garage when we brought it home and I didn't get it out to sell until this weekend - when I sold it to "Evil Mendes" of the Nashville Rollergirls. She and her boyfriend love vintage items and every time we hang out, we always talk vintage shopping. They just picked up a record player and fell in love with the little table for their home! I will hopefully post a photo of the table in their home soon!

On to what I picked up! Four cute Christmas stocking holders, a box of handwritten recipes, a jar of really cute handles and hardware, a vintage atlas, and a leather satchel with 2 enormous and handsome thermoses!

All items, except the recipes, are available in my booth! I'm not sure what to do with the recipes yet - they would be amazing for mixed media art and collages but I'm not very artistic. Any ideas?

What did YOU find this weekend?

Linking up to:

Her Library Adventures
Magpie Mondays
From My Front Porch To Yours
The Pennyworthy Project
Apron Thrift Girl

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Friday Fun: "Guess The Year" on The Vintage Bazaar

This is one of those ideas that is so great that I wish I had come up with it!

Pop up shop and vintage blog, The Vintage Bazaar, has started a series of "Guess The Year" posts in which they post photos that fit a particular theme and you have to guess the year. Maybe I'm crazy, but I find this enormously fun!!!



Play Guess The Year: Weddings (find answers here)
Play Guess The Year: Sledding (find answers here)

Let me know how you did! I was really close (within 1-4 years) except for a few that tripped me up! Here's a hint - the sledding couple above is not from this year, even though they look exactly like today's hipsters! ;-)

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Movie Recommendation: Hugo!

If you had noticed any glitches in my blog layout lately, everything should be fixed now!! I figured out what was throwing things off and it's now working A-OK I think! If you do see any problems, please let me know!

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We see a fair amount of movies in the theater - Andy and I both love movies and going to the movies. We heard that Hugo was amazing but didn't know anything about it - I hadn't even seen the trailer when we went over the weekend. I never do that and I'm so glad I went in with a blank slate - it was fun not having a clue where the movie was going to go - and honestly the trailer does not give ANYTHING away!


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If you love movies and know anything about the history of film, you'll love it. Even if you aren't a film buff, it's still utterly delightful. I am so happy that movies like this get made - it was such a great journey and adventure. The trailer makes it seem like some kind of children's mystery but it's so smart and goes a direction you would never expect - and actually, it seemed a little deep for kids, but I suppose kids are really enjoying it too!

It's magical! Watch the trailer below to get an idea of what it's about, but you'll be totally surprised by the movie when you see it!



Have you seen it? What did you think??

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Favorite Finds: My Owl Nightlight

This week's favorite find comes from... me! :) I have bugged all the thrifting friends I know to submit their favorite finds, so if you have a favorite find you'd like featured, please email me! It's a super simple process. :)

Anyway, back when I bought that huge lot of owl items, I got a very, very cute owl nightlight! I almost sold it but knew I couldn't part with it and had to hang onto it for a future nursery! There's not a nursery in our future yet but I just have to share it - it's so adorable!


So cute, huh??

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Our Christmas Tree

Last year, we were engaged in November so we spent the holidays knowing we were going to be married soon. Andy and I set out to put up my Christmas tree but when we went to get it out of the garage, we discovered it had been ruined in the Nashville flood the previous May. It was sad that it was ruined, but it meant that we got to go buy a tree together!

This year, we set it up the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Our house is pretty small and in year's past, I had to set the tree up in front of the front door, rendering our front door unuseable! This year, I thought we might set it up in front of the dining room window so we can open the blinds and share the joy! :)


Here are a few of our special ornaments...


1. I love gnomes and last year Andy surprised me with this cute ornament!
2. I try to pick up ornaments when we travel and I bought this in an antique store in Puyallup when we visited in September.
3. On our honeymoon, we took a little roadtrip to Atlanta and Chattanooga to do all the touristy things we had never done. We picked up this polar bear at the World of Coke in Atlanta. We are definitely Coke people, so it's fun to have him on our tree. :)
4. Living in the south, we knew it was a must to "see Rock City." We had no idea what it was, but we knew we had to go. It was beautiful and we picked up an ornament to represent the iconic "See Rock City" barns.

I don't go all out with decorating because we don't have much room, but I set up my vintage ceramic tree in the living room since our actual tree is in the dining room. And....my tree has a new friend!!


Look at this adorable owl that Stephanie sent me! She is so sweet and thoughtful - with SUCH great taste!! Thank you, Stephanie!!!

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Janelle and Jonathan's Beach Wedding!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I flew down to the Destin area for my friends Janelle and Jonathan's destination wedding.

I honestly haven't been to a proper beach since I was a kid, so I was pretty amazed by the beauty of it. The water was too cold to do anything more than briefly stick your feet in, but the waves were gorgeous.

Doesn't the gulf look heavenly? Logistically, it didn't work out for Andy to come with me - especially since I was coordinating the wedding and was running around like a crazy person most of the time I was there. :) Since I was missing him, I drew our initials in the sand but they were quickly washed away by the ferocious tide!

The beach was the perfect backdrop for the wedding. It was absolutely beautiful - just like the bride! She was so stunning. Jonathan's dad married them in a lovely, faith-filled ceremony.


Isn't her gown beautiful? And I love Jonathan's snazzy vest and matching trousers! I also love the color of her dad's shirt - it matches the ocean!

The wedding was a true example of community and it was heart-warming to see everyone come together to make it happen. Janelle has friends of all skills who loaned their talents to the wedding - from the cake to the flowers to the music to the food - everyone had expertise they offered up. It was perfect.

I wish I had photos from the reception but I sadly don't! It was wonderful, though!

I love coordinating weddings. I love troubleshooting and being in the moment and delegating and seeing people step up to make things happen, but most of all I love witnessing love and being a part of a couple's special day.

I am so happy for Janelle and Jonathan and so honored to have been a part of their wedding!

Here's one last beach/gulf shot... it was incredible!

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Sweet Family Times: Lights Under Louisville at the Mega Cavern

When we were in Louisville a few weeks ago, about 25 of our family members all gathered to check out Lights Under Louisville at the Mega Cavern. It was SO bizarre to have grown up in Louisville but to never have heard of the Mega Cavern!

According to their website, the Mega Cavern is actually a former mine/quarry/limestone cavern founded in the 1930s under the Louisville Zoo. Lights Under Louisville features over 500 lit characters with over 1,000,000 points of light and the only underground light show of its kind on the planet.

All you do is show up, pay the entrance fee, and drive your car through the cavern and look at the fun lights! There are different sections set up, like "small town USA," "dinoland" and the north pole.

It's pretty cute and they play Christmas music throughout. And for our Jewish friends, there is a Jewish section with a beautiful dreidel.

Our family met in a nearby parking lot in order to carpool and caravan through the cavern, and it warmed my heart beyond words to see carload after carload pull in, everyone get out, and gather together. We had a difficult few days after attending our aunt's funeral, so it was sweet to end the weekend together celebrating and going on this adventure together.

Here's a silly little video of my granny dancing like one of the penguins and then my mom and her cousins dancing like the snowmen. It makes me smile so much to see them all again, even virtually!



And yes, my cousin Jeff with the white beard and red sweatshirt IS one of Santa's helpers every year. :) And yes, he and his brother are exactly the reason I always wanted to marry a guy with a great beard. :)

Feeling so nostalgic made me want to re-watch the video I made from our family reunion in Michigan last year, so here is that too!



It was one of my favorite weekends of my life! I am so thankful for these wonderful people.

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