A little bit of trash and a little bit of treasure

Today was a very successful day of thrift shopping for Ging & Keels. We went out last night and were hoping to be up early enough to go back to the flea market. We haven't been there in months. We didn't have a vision in mind for the day. We didn't visualize anything. We just wanted to see what we could find. Before we left we wrote down the addresses of some thrift stores in the area so we could check them out while we were out. I didn't want to spend a lot of money. We only each took out $40 in cash at the flea market. We bought a $5 BBQ sandwhich...money well spent.
Our first purchase of the day was 3 brass trinkets. I will let Keels tell this story in her post because it will be much funnier coming from her. She bought the trinkets.
My first purchase was a vintage purse.
It was the one on the right. It came with an adorable little mirror and comb. The vendor lady who kept calling us honey and darling told us that in her day, almost all purses came with a mirror. The price was marked $22 but without us even asking, she said she would take $10 for it. Sold. It is labeled Bobbie Jerome and I think it's from the 50s or 60s.
The other purse is from a vintage store in town. Price: $24. I loved it enough that it was worth it. The best part of that purse is that inside there was a business card with a man's name on it. I googled him just because I'm curious and found out he was involved in some kind of money scandal in the 80s. Nothing serious, but interesting nonetheless.
My other purchase was this small pin.Keels and I were standing at this vendor space for quite a while because there were a lot of bins of random things. It was a beautiful day today with a lot of sun. The hippee vendor man who's space it was walked over to us with a HUGE umbrella and said 'it looks like some potential customers need some shade' so he stood by us as we shopped. He was a funny man who later sold us 2 buttons for the price of one only because 'we are girls' and commented that it must be nice to be able to go into any place and leave with a date, or something to that affect. Keels and I seem to have some effect on men at flea markets..it can get kind of awkward but mostly it is harmless and i guess flatterering.. Anyway, I bought this pin because of my boyfriend who is in the army and currently deployed in Iraq. The vendor said it was from the Vietnam era and then mentioned something about 'tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree'. I pretended that I recognized the reference but until just now I didn't know what he was talking about. According to Wikipedia, the vendor was incorrect in his reference:
It was the central theme of the popular song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree", Written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn among many others, as the sign a released convict requested from his wife or lover, to indicate that she still wanted him and that he would therefore be welcome to return home. He would be able to see it from the bus driving by their house, and would stay on the bus in the absence of the ribbon. He turned out to be very welcome: there were a hundred yellow ribbons.

It would have been a lot sweeter if it had been a solider returning home kind of thing...but regardless..the song lyrics are kind of cute.

So now, for the best purchase of the day. I don't have a picture because I forgot to take one but I will take one when I get it. Keels and I left the flea market in search of the thrift stores. We typed in the address of the first one on the list, hoping it was nearby. It happened to be 800 yards away. Perfect. We drove down the road, and unbeknownst to us, actually passed the shop and pulled into a parking lot for an antique furniture shop. We decided to go in, even though in the past we have found that antique furniture is a little out of our price range. We wandered around and then I saw it...this beautiful, perfect sofa. It was victorian style and in awesome condition and looked like it had been recently re-upholstered. There was a chair next to it that matched but had different fabric upholstery. The sticker on the sofa said $595 for sofa and two chairs. We only saw one chair and I wasn't prepared to pay that much. I went to talk to the lady, whose aunt calls her all the time, and she said that the other chair had been sold separately and that the sofa and one chair was now priced at $350 total! I immediately reconsidered. Keels and I sat on the couch, which was very comfy and springy, and fell in love...with the couch, not each other. I don't buy things impulsively so I hesitated a little bit but then decided I had to have it. The lady also said they would deliver it for free if I decided to buy it today. Sold. I will post a picture when it is delivered.

All in all, a successful day.

Favorite thrift store name so far: Everything but Granny Panties