freshvintage

A Vintage Book Review, by My Ten-Year-Old Niece, Fiona

Hi! This is Colleen's sister, Erin. My 10-year-old daughter, Fiona, has recently noticed that Aunt Colleen enjoys vintage medical and how-to books...like, how to be a good wife, etiquette books, etc. I told her that Colleen thinks they are funny because the "facts" they mention are so outdated and the advice is not always in a woman's favor. So, last week when she saw my How to Manage Syphilis books laying around, ready to go to the freshvintage shop, she asked why syphilis was funny. I told her it was an outdated disease from long ago...and then quickly hid them. She laughs with me like a girlfriend, "Oh, that is funny mom." I'm just glad she didn't see the pictures inside those books. Not funny at all.

Next thing I know, she is on the hunt for "funny" books. This is what my little picker brought home from the school library - and actually suggested she renew it and bring to the shop to sell... I don't think the librarian would like that. Needless to say, she is BEYOND thrilled that Aunt Colleen asked her to blog about her find.

Hey, Readers! I'm Fiona, Colleen's niece and I have a surprise for you! I love my Aunt Colleen, and when I see pictures of her in high school, I say to myself, "Golly, I wonder how she got THIS cool!". I found the answer to my question, right in my elementary school library. The Makeover - A Teen's Guide To Looking and Feeling Beautiful. 

This "no-nonsense" book is filled with vintage tips and pointers on everything from vintage diet to vintage exercise!

Yes, Aunt Colleen must have read this book in high school: [Fiona asked me to insert a high-haired teenage photo here - Colleen.]

Aunt Colleen learned how to "sit and stoop beautifully" with these 3 steps and handy illustrations on proper posture for a young lady. Strap on your leotard and let's get started, girls! Guaranteed to make the boys say, "Look, who's that coming down the street?" (Also, that's the name of Chapter 7: "Look Who's Coming Down the Street".)

I always admired how Aunt Colleen takes on and off her coat or jacket... and there on page 153, I found the answer! It's all in the lapels, ladies!

Finally, Page 51, Getting to Know your Birthday Suit. This is where we learn that the skin is the largest organ of our body and how to "enhance your natural beauty with cosmetics". Aunt Colleen's book must really work, not only did it turn Colleen into a beautiful antiquer, but it turned this young boy into a beautiful swan.

Thanks, Aunt Colleen, for teaching me to hunt for vintage comedy books in the library!

Thank you, Fiona! I was always putting my coat on wrong until I read this book. I kept putting my feet through the arm holes.

I'm so glad you are perpetuating the silliness bestowed upon you when your parents named you Fiona Colleen!  

Love, 
Aunt Colleen

PS: If a book was published ten years after I was born, I'd prefer not to call it "vintage". When you are 40 years old and have your own vintage blog, you'll know what I'm talking about.

PS, Part II: You can read more about Fiona's dad's family history here. It's kind of bizarre.

Seven Tricks to Convince Your Kids that Antiques are Awesome

Since opening the brick and mortar freshvintage shop in March, our family life has changed quite a bit. Chris works at the shop when it is open (Thursday through Sunday) and typically spends Monday through Wednesday hunting for new inventory. I work full time at a software company during the week, and spend at least one day a weekend at yard sales, flea markets or estate sales.

Our shop is doing better than we expected, which means that we need to keep buying. Sometimes, our two kids have to spend a few hours at the shop with Chris on the weekends while I shop for fresh inventory. And occasionally, we drag them to flea markets. Which is akin to taking them along with me to the gynecologist. No one ends up having fun.

Hence, the coolness factor of having parents who own a shop has been gradually wearing off for the kids. We want to pump it back up, so that the antiques business doesn't become something that they dread. These are some of the tricks we are using to keep them interested. Most involve some type of small bribe - but all good parents know that bribes are sometimes our only hope for sanity.

1. Give them seed money

When we go to flea markets, we give each of the kids five dollars to find an item or two to sell in the shop. In the beginning, we would steer them towards certain items that we knew were cheap, but would still get them a small return when sold. After a few visits to the flea market, they quickly learned what sells in the shop, and they keep their eyes peeled for the moneymakers.

Maeve found a cute plaid tin picnic basket for $3 and a metal floral frog for $2. And both kids FREAKED OUT when they found a pile of vintage tennis rackets for a dollar each. They've since sold for $10-$12 a piece.

During the summer, we stopped at a flea market on the way to a camping trip. Maeve bought this Czech strawberry creamer for $5. We're selling it in the shop for $12, so she'll get to keep that profit. Although, it took a lot of explaining for her to realize that she'll only get $7 and not the whole $12. 

 

Finn found three 1930's issues of Popular Science for $5. We already sold them in the shop for $4 each. 

My next goal is to convince them to reinvest their profits in new inventory. But they'd rather spend it on apps for their iPods. I guess I can't blame them.

2. Pay them to do your dirty work

When I found over a thousand flashcards at a yard sale, I knew that I needed to sort them to get an idea of what I had. And I had to figure out the best way to sell them. So, I paid the kids a few bucks for each stack of 50-ish cards that they sorted in alphabetical order. Everyone was happy, and it ended up being relatively fun for all of us. Well, maybe not that fun.

 

 

3. Let them play 

We try not to be overly stressed out about letting them run around the store and play with our (mostly not breakable) inventory. It keeps them occupied, and out of our hair for short spurts of time.

You can usually find them sitting at the kiddie table, playing Button Checkers.

   

Or, they are running around the store with cheerleading megaphones over their heads, bumping into things. Or modeling aprons and playing "Vanna White"...

 

4. Teach them how to research the value of items

My ten-year-old, Finn, has known for a while that I've sold Legos on eBay. In more recent years, I've been giving him the sets that I find at yard sales instead of selling them. He has amassed quite a collection, and plays with them almost every day.

But he's no dummy - he knows that some of his minifigs (Lego people) are worth more than others. I taught him how to search for Completed Auctions on eBay (under my supervision).  He spent a whole weekend figuring out which minifigs sell the best. We decided to get a group of 30-40 of them together, and put the whole lot up for auction.

I took pictures, and he wrote out each of their names, and which sets they were from. 

 

We sold the lot for $82! He's obviously itching to try it again. And, as a side benefit, he's being a little more respectful of his toys, since he thinks they will make him rich eventually.

5. Play guessing games

I love to show my kids a strange old tool or utensil and let them guess what it is. Like this one:

Do you know what it is?  (Here's the answer.)

And this?

If you follow me on facebook (or have severe nasal congestion), you already know. Finn though it was a tiny urinal, since he had seen these before:

6. Encourage them to start a collection

This is a work in progress for our kids. Finn used to collect Pez dispensers, but he says he is too old for that now. (Try telling that to the grown men going nuts over them at flea markets.) Maeve doesn't have any real collections.

I want them to enjoy looking for specific items when we go to a flea market. And find a category of vintage finds that speaks to them. Unfortunately, because of my "Give them seed money" trick, the only things that are speaking to them are the ones saying, "Sell me in the shop and make money! Don't put me on a shelf in your bedroom. That's dumb!"

And, so, I am still working on perfecting this trick.

7. Trick them into helping

I gave Chris the day off one Sunday, and brought the kids into the shop with me. By the end of the day, the kids were bored out of their minds (even after way-too-many apple cider donuts from the farmers market next door and hours of playing on the playground and petting the goats).

When I let them know that we were 20 minutes from closing the shop for the day, they frantically started dragging our outdoor stuff back into the store. They're smart enough to know that the quicker they get the stuff inside, the quicker we can leave. I didn't have to lift a finger, and we were able to close the shop on time.

I had to grab my camera because I had never seen such a spectacle.

I've also tricked Maeve into thinking it's fun to stamp hundreds of tags at a time.

She does it free of charge, so I don't strive for perfection.

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So, do you have kids that you are trying to assimilate into your antiquing world? I would be happy to hear any advice that you can share!

Paging Dr. A. Willy

Methinks the groundhog will not see his shadow, and winter is almost over, because I scored some primo junk this week. Spring junk. My sister Erin (who was BORN on Groundhog Day) and I went to some outdoor markets and shops in Adamstown a couple of weekends ago. It was freezing, and there weren't many dealers in the outside markets, but we were still able to score a few good finds.

The light blue Steelcase desk and office chair weren't from Adamstown. A friend tipped me off to those. The same friend who tipped me off to the aqua metal desk that I shared on Facebook last year. Nice friend, huh?

I'm tempted to keep this tole-painted chandelier for my kids' playroom in the basement, since the main colors in that room are aqua and orange. But the ceilings are too low. And I don't want the neighbor kids swinging from it (because my children would never do that).

I have to keep this old-timey chrome microphone away from Maeve. She'd be belting out Call Your Girlfriend. And doing all of the moves from the video, which she has nearly perfected.

 This is my second pair of children's skis by Peters.

Chris and I were watching Hell on Wheels a few weeks ago, and we noticed that a railroad surveyor was holding up extremely tall measuring sticks. When I spotted this pair at the flea market, I had to have them. 

Chris found a website called Surveying Antiques, and saw one of our measuring sticks right there in the header of their website, and here in these photos.

The one with the black & white painted numbers extends to 13 feet! Any ideas on how you would use these? I was thinking you could put them along a wall and add hooks. Or, if you were ballsy enough, you could cut them into four pieces and frame an old mirror.

Here's a Brownie Hawkeye camera with flash, and a "Big Community" file box:


Is it bad that I've purchased at least ten copies of How to Attain and Practice the Ideal Sex Life in the past five years? And I still don't know how to attain it OR how to practice it. I am unteachable. (But if you have the urge to be taught, I have a copy for sale in my Etsy shop.)

And then there is my other book - the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex. Big thanks to you lovely ladies who pointed out that the first author is named Dr. A. Willy, after I posted a picture of this book on Facebook. What would I ever do without you?

Most of the pictures in the book are run-of-the-mill cross-sections of crotches. Bo-ring. But there were two pages that I had to scan. Just for you.

This page shows the Sexual Excitation of a man. I just love the picture in his brain. Do men really daydream of piles of women awkwardly laying on top of each other?

I don't even want to write about this next picture, because Google will bring perverted people searching for disgusting things. Kind of like me at a yard sale.

Figure C-9 depicts the causes of nocturnal losses of semen. Losses. Like he lost something. "Dammit - where did I put that semen again? It's the middle of the night and I can't find my semen!"

Let us zoom in on my favorite part of this page - the idea that wet dreams are caused by a "Dinner of Exciting Foods".  And the picture is inside a stomach. I wonder what his exciting meal is. Lobster? Foie Gras? 

Let's be real - he is totally watching a porn in front of his TV while eating a Hungry Man frozen dinner. 

And on to my next big sex book score...one about the Amish's Curious Courtship Custom of Bundling. (Okay, okay, I know all of my Amish readers are going to correct me - this is NOT really a sex book.) I had never heard of this custom, but as soon as I opened the book and saw the photo below, I knew it was a keeper.

Bundling is a very old tradition in which young men and women would lay together in bed, but weren't allowed to touch. So, they were totally acting like they were already married, right?  

Here's an illustration of the various forms of "decreasing temptations between bundlers" across different cultures (it wasn't just the Amish who practiced this custom).

 

The lady's body sack is the Amish version of worn-out, comfy sweatpants. Once the drawstring on those sweats from college are tied, there is no chance of any funny business.  And you know that the dude in the couple's sack is going to be looking for something he "lost" later that night (see Figure C-9).

At the end of the book was this image:

So, it's not acceptable to touch each other in bed, but it's okay for a girl to hump a railing in the presence of a man. And check him out....he's all like "Come over here, and hump this fence post instead of that rail. It's way better."

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P.S. Happy Birthday to my sister Erin (Groundhog Baby) and Happy 40th Birthday to her husband Doug, whose birthday is February 3rd! I hope you both celebrate with a Dinner of Exciting Foods, followed by a night of passionate bundling!

Hurricane Preparation Tips for Lazy Antique Dealers

Here are a few tips on how to prepare your home for a hurricane, specifically for people who can't fit another damn thing in their garage.

Tip #1: Tie down everything on your deck or patio

Here's what my deck normally looks like:

Here's what it looks like now:

Most of my neighbors were able to actually put all of their furniture into their garages. I know - that is AMAZING! Like a miracle sent straight from God Himself. Not us, we bought some super-strong bungee cords and secured all of our furniture directly to the deck railings. I bet my neighbors are all in pain right now, from all that heavy-lifting. Bungee cords, dummies!

Tip #2: Move all of the junk that is on your front porch into your living room

Maybe your husband reads your blog and found out that you like typewriter tables, so he bought you every one within a fifty-mile radius. And since your garage is packed, you were storing the tables on your front porch, right next to your front door. Because that's where you like to do your typing. Anyway, just drag that junk inside, and plop it anywhere.

Tip #3: Keep the heaviest stuff on the porch because you are lazy

If you have any super heavy iron hospital beds, and you are too tried and hungover to bring them inside, just lay them down on the porch. If you get a second wind later in the day, you might want to bungee cord those to a porch column or something sturdy.

Tip #4: Don't buy a vintage camper on eBay and then send your husband and brother-in-law to pick it up in Michigan three days before a major hurricane. And then don't buy the biggest tarp in the history of tarps, and make your tired husband cover the camper, even though he had just towed it 700 miles in the rain, and there were no leaks.

Can't wait to show you what it looks like! I want to make sure it survives the hurricane first. Don't want to get my hopes up.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

I hope all of you in the U.S. are enjoying the long weekend.

We are celebrating Maeve's 7th birthday with a sleepover and my attempt at the cheesiest patriotic birthday cake ever made...

Making blueberry-filled ice balls for our neighbors' patio party, with berries straight from my brother-in-law's family farm...

Remember my Christmastime cranberry & mint ice balls? I used the same molds. 

(By the way, "blueberry-filled ice balls" take too long to say. Let's call them Blue Balls.)

And, we hit a yard sale or two this morning. We scored an oh-so-apropos 48-star flag. But, our favorite find is the metal "No Grab-Ass Around The POOL" sign.

It makes me want to build a pool, just so I can hang the sign. Come to think of it, our neighbor mentioned that she's going to have a kiddie pool at the patio party - I hope she doesn't mind if I bring this sign.

P.S. I made a Pinterest board with some of my favorite red, white and blue finds that have been featured on my blog. Are you using Pinterest? Let me know, and I will follow your boards.

Chris' Totally Awesome Auction Finds

Here is one week's worth of Chris' auction wins. Well, the good stuff, anyway. He seriously bought all of this without my help. I know - crazy! I am a little embarrassed because it is way better than most of the stuff that I've scored lately.

He paid $114 for everything in this photo.  Except for the green & white rug - that is ours and it is from Walmart.

 

He bought a pair of these Vulcan Horse Nails boxes, but already sold one last week at Perkiomenville Auction & Flea Market. That was his first attempt at selling by himself, and he did a great job. He said that he seemed to sell more than any of the other vendors. Which probably means that his prices were too low. All of the other dealers swept in and bought some new inventory for their tables. Whatevs. We got rid of a lot of stuff that we didn't want anymore, or wouldn't sell at the store. Including this super cool, but extremely smelly red trunk that Chris bought for five dollars at an auction.

He knows I have a thing for metal office card catalogs...

But this one is extra-special because it has a huge stack of index cards used by for clothing sales. See the dates along the top (1940, 1941, 1942, etc.)? There is also an S and F for each year, which specifies whether the purchase was for the Spring or Fall.

This tattered & taped-up little book about Paris was purchased in 1918.

How do I know that? A family member put this label inside the back cover:

It is filled with colorized photos of French landmarks.

 

And a few other travel books...

Chris bought a box full of James Keiller & Son's Dundee Marmalade jars and Wm O. Hartley's Marmalade crocks. Most of the labels on the Hartley crocks are completely or partially missing, but there are a few that have the label intact. I'm not sure what those are worth, since there aren't many to be found online. Have you ever seen the Hartley crocks before?

He also bought two industrial work stools made by Lyon.

This Calf-teria bucket makes me want to buy a cow so I can milk it into this bucket.

 

A pair of wooden folding chairs:

I love the red-orange-black patina on these.

Turn-of-the-century lidded box from J.S. Ivins' Son Steam Bakery in Philadelphia. I wonder what steamed goodies filled that box back in the day.

Chris knows that I like to buy feed sacks or grain sacks or any kind of sack when I see them. We bought a lot of 24 five-pound sugar sacks at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I'll show you those in a future post.

But when he texted me a photo from the auction of a huge galvanized tub filled with these grass seed sacks, I almost peed my pants. Most are green, and some are white. They aren't all in good shape, but they are really cool, even with a few stains and fading. There's around 30 of them.

Speaking of sacks, when Chris was in college, he and his friends played a drinking game that involved a box of wine. Before I even continue, I bet you have the same question - why the hell would college-age men even buy a box of wine? My theory is that they stole it from someone's mother. Anyway, they would take the inner bag out of the box. And then they would just pass the bag of wine around to each other and each person would drink from the spigot. They called it Lick the Sack. With a name like that, I guess it could have been much worse.

Swizzle, Dribble and Hump

I thought I'd share a few of my more humorous finds of late.

This is a set of seven books in the Plain Language Money-making series. My favorites are "How to Scheme Your Way into Profit" and "How to Legally Avoid Paying Taxes". These are from the 1960s, so I think some laws have changed since then (probably because of these books). To the man at Clover Market who bought them from me: Please don't drag me into any future law suits!

 

Boy, was I happy to find this sign. I am hoping it will once and for all keep the perverts from approaching my minivan. I'm always like "Get your leg off my bumper, you dirtbag!" Now, I can just point to this sign tucked into my windshield:

I bought it from the same dealer who sold me the Beaver Heaters.  Here's what the sign really means. Should I still put it in my window? Probably not. I don't feel like explaining it to the kids.

But really, why the hell should I be worried about explaining the word "hump" when I should be more concerned about the look on my daughter's face after a woman told her that she could have these "butt sticks" for free at a yard sale.

Oh, the joy!

And, just to clarify, it was Maeve who referred to them as butt sticks, not the woman.

Maeve was SO EXCITED to show them to her friends when we got back from the yard sale. She ran into the backyard and was all like, "Hey guys, look at my butt sticks!" You would have thought that someone handed her a bunch of Zoobles, or maybe some new Wii game. Nope, just four vintage "Bottoms Up" swizzle sticks. THAT I SAW FIRST!

I bought this giant pin just because it had 69 on it.  Purely a Beavis and Butt-head moment.

This is the second Dribble Glass that I've found in the past six months. I think these glasses are funny, but the text on the box drastically overstates the humor: "The funniest of all funny jokes" and "The funniest joke you ever saw...The victim just drools...Doesn't know what's wrong".

I am not showing a photo of the actual glass, because I want to try it out on my neighbors the next time they come over for a drink. I can't wait for someone to say "I don't know what's wrong!", and then frantically dial 911 because he thinks he's having a stroke. Now that would be funny. I mean, strokes aren't funny. Not at all. But someone thinking that they are having a stroke but they are really just drinking from a dribble glass is definitely funny.

Road Trippin'

We had another successful outing at the Clover Market last week! This was Chris' first time selling with me and and I am happy to report that we did not kill each other. This was also our first time using Square to process a few credit card purchases, and it worked perfectly.

Our theme this time was "Summer Road Trip". It really should have been "Ohmigod, That's a Hell of a Lot of Vintage Metal Lawn Chairs", but that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

In keeping with the summer vacation theme, I made price signs that looked like the old "Greetings From" postcards. And I asked every person who walked into our tent, "Are we there yet? How much further? I need to pee really bad."

I only had a few things that actually went with my theme, including a stack of souvenir state plates, postcards and my Florida tablecloths. I sold all five of them (I kept the pink and aqua one for myself).  

I love these souvenir postcard booklets - they all have the same style of vibrant images. I sold a few of those.

And let's assume that you like to go fishing on your summer road trip. Well, here are enough minnow buckets to bait a great white.

Here's my husband, Chris, manning the register in front of our neighbor's Tastykake truck:

Since we had the truck, I figured I had to bring some Tastykakes. The box of mini coconut donuts went really fast.

There's that Gimbel's sewing machine that I gave you a glimpse of on Facebook.

I couldn't find much information about it, but I think it was from the late fifties/early sixties. It actually works.  And it came with a matching sewing accessories tin.

 

I designated this area the "Granny Corner" because of the chair and the hanging light fixture and the birdcage. Apparently, this Granny is an archer, because she has a quiver on her shelf.

Isn't this feed sack totally awesome? I love the colors. We found this in Galena, Maryland.

We had a bunch of little bags of random game pieces and flashcards for sale, too. They are always great sellers for us.

That reminds me - I'd like to give a special shout-out to the man who opened all of the two-dollar Scrabble bags, dumped them onto our table, and then asked how much it would cost to buy just the letter "T".

Oh - and another shout-out to the lady who wanted my circus signs (in the photo below). You wanted a 50% discount on something that costs $5. And when Chris said no to your offer, you said "But it is just a piece of cardboard!" Thanks for that. We had a good laugh.

And I'd like to give huge non-sarcastic shout-out to all of the people who admired our nine metal lawn chairs. It was nice to hear so many people getting all nostalgic over the chairs that their mom or grandpa or uncle used to have. And it was fun to hear three different people talk about the tiny squares that the woven-style chairs would leave on the backs of their thighs when they sat on them as children. We didn't sell any of the chairs, so I brought them straight to Brandywine View. They look really cute all lined up along the wrap-around porch there.

Our neighbor, Mike, kindly drove the truck to Clover in the morning, and we followed in our minivan. And then he told us that we could drive the truck home on the way back. One problem - there is no passenger seat. My tufted yellow chair didn't sell, so we wedged it in the aisle between the shelves that lined the back of the truck. It was comfy, but a little tough to see out the front window since it is so low. Oh - and also a little dangerous because tufted yellow chairs don't come with seat belts.

Here we are after a long day. We will be back at Clover Market on October 16. Please come see us again!

My attempt to squeeze some antiquing into our family trip

Here's some of the lovely junk that I picked up during my vacation in April. My in-laws met us in Savannah, and we all drove back to Pennsylvania in our minivan: four adults, two kids and lots of luggage. This did not stop us from filling any available space in the van on the way home from Georgia. The cubbies and the green cart (pictured below) were not purchased on the road trip. Those were found a few days later while we were antiquing at some local shops. But I was still on vacation, so I am counting those in my pile of "vacation finds". And I didn't even take pictures of the stuff that my antique-dealing in-laws bought. They had to ship a few boxes back to Yakima!

I love this metal No Parking sign - it was hung along the streets of D.C. during Johnson's Inauguration. My dad was involved in politics long ago, so I am always attracted to stuff like this. I found this at Keepsake Corner in Selma, NC. (Hi, Amy!)

At the same shop, I found a pair of Peters' red children's skis and poles from their Juvenile Ski Line. Skis are always a huge seller in the winter. My grandfather, dad, brother and nephew are named Peter. And I have a Peter Heater.

Would you like to touch my Pet Coolie...

sign? I said, "my Pet Coolie sign", you pervert.

Coolie fruit drinks were made by Pet Diary, and came in little cartons that were served in school cafeterias. We didn't have Pet Diary in NJ growing up. Did you ever drink a Coolie? Chris bought this enamel sign at Reid's Country Sampler in Selma, NC.

Cubbies! I have no idea what they were used for, but I think there used to be a door on the front.

This Golden Seal blanket still has its original $1.95 price tag. The colors are right up my alley.

My father-in-law, Jim, told me that this green cart was used on the Railway Express Agency.

 I immediately pictured some poor soul dragging it along railroad tracks across a barren stretch of land, a la O Brother Where Art Thou. But, of course, I was wrong. Railway Express Agency was the train version of FedEx. This cart was used to move freight & packages to the trains for delivery. It was not actually used on the tracks, dummy.

There's been a lot of hub-bub lately about finding vintage dressforms. Well, I found one, too! Meet Sally Stitch. I adopted her from the enormous Blue Crow Antique Mall along the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Sally sat snugly between the kids in the back row of our minivan during the last 5 hours of the trip home. They hate her.

I found this mantel shelf at Blue Crow, too. My father-in-law kept telling me not to buy it because "they are a dime a dozen". Maybe in Yakima, Jim, but not in PA! That long white thing beneath it is a painted safe deposit box with a key.

How about this porcelain shower head!? Have you ever seen one before? It looks like a giant cabinet knob with tiny holes. The milk glass jars came straight from Mary Kay Andrew's booth at Seaside Sisters. I'm trying to decide if I should keep them or sell. I love the blue lids and art deco style.

I love this basketball chalkboard by Korney Board Aids (I know - weird name). I found this in Selma, NC at His n' Hers Antiques.

I grew up with a dad who was obsessed with basketball. We went to Sixers games and we watched college basketball, especially the Big Five teams from Philly. My Dad still has the Villanova NCAA Championship game from 1985 that he videotaped while we were on vacation in Florida. We just wanted to go to the pool and meet boys, but he insisted that we watch this local team upset Georgetown.

My sister, Erin, and I played basketball in grade school and in high school. But, guess what? We went to different high schools, so we played against each other. It was a big family occasion when our teams duked it out. In one of our first games, Erin drove up for a shot. I immediately put my hands in front of her eyes and screamed into her face. She was way taller than me, so it was the only thing I could do to prevent her from scoring. And I didn't touch her, so it wasn't a foul. She missed the shot, and was furious. She got all pissy, and her coach took her out of the game. Woo-woo!! I loved watching her face turn the same color as her red hair. She one-upped me when she went on to play in college and was really good and won championships and whatnot.

But, sometimes when we are at yard sales together and we both see something good at the same time, I cover her eyes and yell into her face. Aw yeah...I still got it!

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Here's a list of the stores that we enjoyed on our trip. There were a few others that we visited, but they might have been too expensive for us, or just weren't our style.  And believe me, I wish there were many, many more on this list. But, as my husband had to constantly remind me, this was a family trip, not an antique-buying trip. Buzzkill.

Georgia

• Seaside Sisters, Tybee Island
• Wright Square Antique Mall, Savannah
• Paris Market & Brocante, Savannah (the only thing I bought was the metal number 4 in the top photo, but I LOVED this place.)

Selma, North Carolina (all within two blocks)

• His n' Hers Antiques
• Reid's Country Sampler
• Keepsake Corner

Virginia's Eastern Shore

• Antique Addicts, Exmore
• Blue Crow Antique Mall, Keller

Fabulous Memories of Florida

Chris and I went to an estate sale last week. He spotted these tablecloths first, and then beckoned me into a room that was filled with Florida souvenirs and flamingos. There must have been at least fifty Florida state plates, along with trays, salt and pepper shakers, signs, glasses, flamingo-shaped cheese spreaders and more. Most of the stuff was not vintage. These were the best of the bunch, and I can't believe they were still at the sale when we got there.

Six 1950's souvenir Florida tablecloths. All in relatively good condition (one has light stains, and one is half-faded).

I bought two of these, one square and one rectangular:

This pink and aqua one is my absolute favorite:

So, what makes this stash of Florida tablecloths so special to me? Especially today?

Chris and I were married in Key West, Florida TEN years ago today! 

We picked Key West because we knew that half of our guests were going to have to fly somewhere (since I am from NJ and Chris is from Washington). Neither of us had ever been to Key West before we chose it, but we knew that it was a fun place.

About six months before the wedding, I took trip there with my mom and sister, Heather. That's when we picked out the venues for the ceremony and reception and got to taste all of the yummy food. We kept the wedding party simple. Chris asked his childhood friend, Mark, to be his best man. My sister Erin was my matron of honor, and I told her to wear whatever she wanted. No bridesmaids or groomsmen. Tons of drama averted.

I thought I'd show you some photos, and let you know the Top Ten absolute favorite parts of our wedding experience:

1. The sixty fabulous people who flew from all over the country (including Hawaii!) to attend our wedding. What is the best part of having a destination wedding? Only fun people come to your wedding.

2. The roosters that were casually walking around our ceremony. Instead of "I do", all you could hear was "I cock-a-doodle-do".

3. The Junkanoo band that led our guests from the ceremony at the Audubon House to the reception across the street at the Westin (which was a Hilton when we were there).

4. Our outdoor sunset reception, where the photographer made us take corny photos like this one of us kissing each other through the setting sun.

5. My bright orange and yellow and red flowers.

6. Our big brown wedding cake. We love chocolate and it was our wedding, dammit! White cakes are for wussies.

7. Going out to the bars after the wedding. At Irish Kevin's, the owner/entertainer Kevin recognized me from a few nights earlier during my mini-bachelorette party. He invited us on stage and bought Chris an Irish car bomb (a pint of Guinness with a shot of whiskey dropped into it). I still can't believe he chugged it so fast. Yes, I was still wearing my veil.

8. Honeymooning in Jamaica. We had spent five days in Key West, so we planned a "real" honeymoon without our families in tow. This was the view outside our window: a private island owned by the resort. You had to be nude (or at least topless) to go there. We did not go.

9. My wedding gift for Chris? Binoculars.

10. My husband, who puts up with my nonsense. I love you even though you were trying to look at nude women on our honeymoon. Here's to ten more years! (And maybe some more after that.)