Mike & Joanie: our new best friends

Another weekend of hunting for the crystal squirrels. This time we ventured farther than ever before. It was a land called Eastern North Carolina. It was an adventure to say the least. It started with a trip through Rocky Mount onward to Williamston then Edenton and ending in Elizabeth City. Keels and I treated ourselves to a gourmet meal of Little Caesar's and Fruit by the Foot.

We found a few good finds at a local thrift store conveniently located next to the Little Caesar's. Then we headed home. Lucky for us, it was daytime and we got to see all of the things we missed in the dark the night before. We made a pit stop in Tarboro and thankfully it was September 26th, Historic Day in Tarboro. Not sure what the ship had to do with the Civil War, but maybe I'm just not up on my history.

We spent Saturday night like true businesswomen, sewing and planning our future endeavor. We decided one more trip to the flea market was necessary. It is going to be closed for a month while the State Fair takes over. I found this cute little metal UNC box that I managed to buy for $4 from a man with a missing tooth.We didn't buy anything else that day but we got some good ideas about our next step in the business plan. We made our weekly trip to Michael's to get some paint and inspiration. We got more than we could have dreamed of. We stumbled upon our new (possibly temporary, maybe permanent) logo. Say hello to the Crystal Squirrel.And here is one of the product offerings that the Crystal Squirrel has for you. One side is a men's shirt and the other is a t-shirt. holler!

Construction Paper Business Plans

The Crystal Squirrel is on it's way towards fruition! This week has been a huge leap for the squirrel in becoming more than a dream on a pink piece of construction paper. We are expanding our product line by the day and will be debuting our line at the Raleigh Flea Market in November! Get ready!

On the Edge of Edgecombe County

There is a special place in eastern North Carolina just past Rocky Mount and right before Tarborro where for a brief moment you are on the Edge of Edgecombe county. This weekend, Ging and I had the pleasure of passing through when took a spontaneous trip to country roads of the eastern part of the state. I was going to Williamston to volunteer Friday night and like the good friend and business partner she is, Gina came along for the adventure. After stopping in Williamston to do some good, we ventured on through Edenton and then on to our final destination Elizabeth City. After treating ourselves to the "fancy" hotel, we spent the day scrummaging around the metropolis of the king's daughter. We found the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughter thrift store like a moth to a flame. After purchasing four men's shirts and a cute little white chair, we found ourselves at the Colonial Restaurant, where apparently, roosters are in and crazy old ladies are even more in fad. A grill cheese and a mysterious pitcher of sugar later, we headed back west. 

On our drive back we were getting increasingly excited about passing through the Edge of Edgecombe county again, when alas, there was a sign on the highway warning us of "event traffic." Naturally, we went against the sign's advice and took the exit. And it is a good thing we did because it just so happens that it was "Historic Day" in Tarborro, NC and from what the owner of the antique store on Main Street said - it is a big deal. Imagine this - two girls in an old blue car named Linus talking about the Civil War and looking at beautiful old southern homes when suddenly they turn a corner and BAM there are children reenacting the Civil War. Yes, children dressed up like confederate soldiers chasing each other with guns (and my personal favorite, one rather large child wearing real camo, apparently no one was a stickler about historical accuracy).  

So thank you eastern NC because now we have a country music  department at the Crystal Squirrel and thanks to Edgecombe County - our first single is bound to be a huge hit.

i've spent an hour trying to think of a good title

My couch & chair were delivered today! Well, it's hanging out at Keels' place for a while but here it is!Thanks to Ben from the Bargain Barn, I have new furniture!

Project complete - sort of

I was finally inspired to finish my window pane art. I have turned it into a piece that could be changed easily. I attached the pictures to the wall instead of directly on the window because I could not find a way to put them on non-permanently. The pictures I used are of my parents on their wedding day as well as my grandparents on my dad's side on their wedding. I never met my grandpa because he died when my dad was a teenager so this picture is pretty special. I had never seen it before I found it mixed in with some photos at my parent's house. The other photo is me and my boyfriend in the airport when he came home on leave. I want to change it to a photo of my grandparents on my mom's side but I have not had a chance to get a picture of them.

It is going to look great with my new couch, which is being delivered tomorrow!

hang a left after the fake cow

It was another exciting weekend and another new adventure for Ging & Keels. This time there were no thrift stores or flea markets, no internet or tv, no air conditioning or electricity. Nope, this was some good ole fashioned campin'. Keels and I had been wanting to go camping all summer but this weekend, it finally came to fruition. We had an eclectic group of folks joining us at campsite 38.

Keels and I left work an hour early, hoping to get out to the campsite and set up before the others joined us. We got to her house after picking up the rest of the supplies and we embarked on our adventure.
Judging by this photo, you might think we were going camping for the week, but nay, we camped for just one night. I have been camping before but never in a tent so this was going to be a new experience. We decided not to venture to far away so we chose a campground about 15 miles from home. After a little misdirection, we managed to help everyone find their way to the campsite. We had already set up the tents when they arrived.Yeah, we did that! After the tents were set up, the firewood arrived and we started cooking. Thanks to Mark, we had a fabulous dinner. And then Will and Geoff did a little star gazing.
And then we made smores.And I dropped a marshmallow on the ground.
Then Keels fell over in a broken chair.
It was a good night. No rain, cool weather. I did wake up about 3 times in paralyzing fear that a bear was going to come into our campsite. I knew it was nearly impossible but I couldn't help but think about it. In the morning I woke up to Luke (who was in the small tent) in a bit of a panic because there was a huge spider on the outside of his tent and he said he had been staring at it for a couple hours. Finally Mark swatted the spider away as Luke hid inside of the tent. Unfortunately, it was not only a really big spider, but it had hundreds of baby spiders attached to it...it was pretty disgusting.Then we ate bagels. After everyone left that morning, Keels and I hung out for a few hours, enjoying nature. Can't wait to see what next weekend brings.

And then I ate a Turkey Sandwich in the Bathtub

So here it is. My first blog. I know you're excited. As previously stated, this blog revolves around the idea that everyone is on a hunt. Maybe you are on the hunt for success or maybe, like us, you are on the hunt for a crystal squirrel. But why a crystal squirrel? The question rather is why not. We are a society engrossed with new possesions, Ging and I, however, are fascinated with what already exists and what has already been owned by another. 

So why not start in our own backyard? We have so far traveled the great span of Hillsborough and Raleigh (and some nooks and crannys in between) with some admittedly great finds. Above I have added some of my most recent finds at the flea market in raleigh, but I must admit that most of our best finds were actually the characters we met along the way.

I honestly think you could find some of the answers to life at a flea market. The people who man the stands are there for more than the junk spread out before them. These people are family. Some going back years with those who inhabit the stands around them and some who are family in the way that they share their love of the hunt just as much as the 90-year-old carpenter two stands down. These are the people who want to find their items a good home. True craftsman if you ask me. 

Among the characters we found last saturday were as follows:

A man with gold trinkets

An overly eager mirror salesman

A vintage fabric aficionado

A texting loving/missing tooth sporting/haggling spirit of a woman

A talented old carpenter who could talk for days

A crazy old hippie man with a large umbrella

Each person we met makes me wonder, how the heck do these people start acquiring some of this crap? Yeah, that's right - I can call it crap because I eat that kind of shit up. My trinkets, for example, were set out amongst about 40 other gold imitators on a small little table. The man obviously inherited from a trinket loving spirit and was more that willing to give me three for the price of one highly coveted top banana. 

In a matter of ten minutes I had a conversation with a woman about my "fastest fingers in the east" when she witnessed my furious texting and one with a woman about how all of her purses in the '50s had mirrors included. Maybe that is what I like most about this new endeavor, the hunt lasts a person's entire life and therefore brings people of all ages together on a hot summer day.