What's Old Is New

 Our admiration of the antique is not admiration of the old, but of the natural.
 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was feeling totally and completely overwhelmed on Friday. Still, I sucked it up and went to the school meet-and-greet. We had a great time! The people were so nice and we really enjoyed feeling like the newest members of a community. Before long, I'm sure it will seem like we have been there forever. I'm always nervous about new social situations, but I'm really trying to find the social butterfly I know is in there somewhere. By Saturday morning I felt a strong urge to let everything go for a day. To leave my worries about classes and homework and childcare behind.

I mentioned yesterday that I found a new coffee table to refurbish. This table has me all twitterpated. I think I've found my newest hobby! So when I woke up all excited to get away for the day, my husband suggested we go to the Brimfield Antique and Collectables Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts. This place is unbelievable!

An aerial view . . . I'm not sure this does it justice!

There are twenty-one 3-5 acre fields full of booths that sell antique collectables, dishes, decor, furniture and nicknacks. We walked for miles and only touched the tip of the iceberg. I went there looking for three things: a shabby chic light fixture, a chair with an easily recoverable cushion for my first chair refinishing project, and a large lidded jar to replace my current sugar container.

While I didn't find any of those things, I left full of inspiration. There was a little round table with folding sides that was so sweet and lovely. It was a bit rickety, though, and I really didn't have a place to store it. So I had to pass. But I'm still thinking about it. That is something I struggle with...saying no to something based on practicality when my heart is screaming "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

It was a great day. And although we didn't make any major purchases, we didn't walk away empty handed:

My husband LOVES old letterpress letters. A few years ago I bought some great ones that spell out his name to have framed, but otherwise he doesn't have very many. I don't think he has a specific project in mind yet, but he loves the idea of collecting them in the meantime. He bought this whole jar from a booth in the very back corner of a field for $35. All the other places were selling the letters for about $2 apiece. What a steal! He proudly carried around that crazy-heavy jar for miles. We picked up a few larger letterpress plates before we left, but this was a pretty awesome find.

I scored this cute owl sculpture for my dresser. I love all the cracks and imperfections . . . it has so much character! It's true love.

Despite the fact that we don't have any great furniture finds to show for our mini road trip, it was a lot of fun. Little Man even enjoyed himself and thanked us profusely for taking him there. He walked away with a vintage key for his collection. It was the perfect remedy for an overworked mind. I'll leave you with a couple of pics I snapped along the way:

 

 

This was one of my favorite booths. It was full of colorful vintage glassware. I wanted to buy everything and redo my kitchen. There was another gentleman with a similar booth. I thought Husband was going to have to drag me away.

Now that we are no longer Brimfield novices, I can't wait until next year. We will come earlier in the week when booths are less picked-through, and get started a lot earlier in the day. If you can get up to New England during the first week in September . . . make sure you plan a visit!