{Shop Update Coming Soon}

Visit my sister's blog, The Vintage Sister Studio, to read about yesterday's treasure hunting!  We picked up so many great new items for our vintage shops at Shupps Grove in Adamstown, PA.

2nd Annual Sister's Getaway
to Adamstown, PA 2009

  I can't wait to photograph them and get them into the shop!  Maybe one day I can quit my job and become a Junking Queen.  One can dream.....

The photo above is from 2008...our 1st Annual Sister's Getaway.  I cannot believe how many unique and interesting things I found there.  If you're famililar with Columbus Farmer's Market, Shupps Grove is like that but much better because the quality of "stuff" is much higher and besides...it's in the shade! Watch out for those deadly acorns in the fall though.  Yesterday, my sister and I almost bought Army helmets to protect ourselves.  A slight breeze through the tree limbs sent a shower of hundreds of them onto the crowd and tables, breaking merchandise along the way.   

Apparently, I didn't get enough pickin' in yesterday so Little Man and myself ventured over to Columbus Farmer's Market for a short while after we had our breakfast at Bagelissimo.  Lil' guy loves that place.  I got two wool plaid blankets and a decorative tin to match a tin I found yesterday.  Little Man bought a dinosaur for $1 and we also got a basket of peaches for a whopping $2.  He's been on a crazy peach kick lately.  Well, that's it for now.  Keep your eyes peeled on One Cozy Nest's Etsy shop for all the great treasures. 

{Getting Away}

 I'm excited for tommorow.  I'm getting away for a day of "junking" with my favorite picking buddy.  My sister.  I love my sister.  She is my best friend.  My favorite person.  She is my other half.

{The Vintage Sister & One Cozy Nest}

When we were little, six years made a big difference.  She was in highschool when I was eight years old.  Highschoolers don't hang out with eight-year-olds.  I think we fought a lot.  I stole her clothes and lied about it.  I'm pretty positive I was annoying.  As we got older and more mature, those six years don't matter as much.  So Tracy, if you're reading this...I'm sorry for being your bratty little sister all those years.  I hope I've made up for it.  Now, let's get ready for our ROAD TRIP!!! 

{The Fall Run} Vintage Camping Car

But first thing's first.  I'll need my coffee.  Large, please.  Extra cream and 2 sweeteners.  I like my coffee to taste....well, not like coffee.  Okay, now we're ready to get on the road.

{AntiNu} Cornwall 2 to 4 Cup Coffee Kit

In case you're wondering where we're headed, I'll let you in.  There's a place.  A wonderful little place.  It's called Adamstown, PA.  You get there from our neck of the woods via the Pennsylvania Turnpike.   

{MarinaWilliams} Pennsylvania Turnpike Drinking Glasses

The main drag through town is lined with very little except antique and junk shops...one after another. A diner here, a gas station there, and an overly crowded ice cream parlor we've never managed to enter. Who really cares about ice cream when there's so much junk to sift through anyway? It is heaven.

{Sweet Ann Vintage} Ice Cream Maker Freezer Eskimo

 The town used to be known for their hat and hosiery industry.  Now the old hat factory depicted in the vintage collector's plate below has been turned into....you guessed it!  An antique and collectible co-op called The Mad Hatter.  Last time we visited, my sister and I shopped until the place closed for the night.  It's one of our favorite places.

{TiffanyPalisi} Adamstown, PA Bicentennial Plate

 So, after tomorrow, expect to see great things listed in our vintage shops.  Mine is called One Cozy Nest, while my sister's is called Vintage Sister Soup.  Check them both out for some delightful vintage finds. 

 

{Vintage Sister Soup}



{One Cozy Nest}

{Home = LOVE}

Hello, my name is Amanda.....and I am a homebody.  {here's where you all say, "Hello, Amanda!"} 

{humbleBea} Homebody. A Wee Gnome.

I love coming home....from anywhere.  Even vacation.  I love turning the key and hearing the squeaking of the front door as it swings wide into the foyer.  I love my non-matching throw pillows, my eclectic art collection, my Ikea ottaman that stores cozy blankets.  I love my kitchen valance made out of  vintage tea towels and weathered clothespins.  I love my ocean blue sheets and my white coverlet.   

{Eclectic Pelican} Skeleton Key Door Knocker

Being a homebody, I sometimes have to convince myself that it's good to spend the day out of the house, away from dirty dishes, bills, and dust bunnies.  If I am ever reluctant to go, I am always happy that I did.  There's so much to do and see out there...why waste it sitting inside cleaning and fretting about last night's dishes?

{Shay Rose} Cross Stitch Home Sweet Home

  I imagine that when I'm old and frail, I'll be one of those ladies that just sits in her cushy chair, knitting away at something needless like another afgan or a pair of baby booties for no one in particular. My sister and I fantasize that we'll one day be alone, sitting side by side, rocking in our chairs, talking and laughing.  We should be so lucky to have one another....still.....when we're old and frail. 

{Grandma 62} Portrait of 2 Sisters

  Little man (my 3-year-old) and I have only lived in our home since March.  For a while there, it was just a house to us.  Somewhere to go after a hard day's work and play.  I was hesitant to call it a home at first because nothing in it felt like home.  It's such a great house and I feel guilty even writing those words.  But it's true.  It felt empty.  

{Open Your Window} Sweet House Shadow Box

Lately, however, something's been changing.  At night, I used to hear strange creaks and my heart would skip a beat.  I swore someone was coming up the steps toward our bedrooms.  I don't hear that anymore.  The light switch plate in the kitchen resembles something you'd see at NASA, but I think I've got the first 3 switches memorized. 

{Brookhollow Lane} Kitchen Shadow Box

I decorated the front door for Fall, something I was unable to bring myself to do last year.  As the days go by, I can picture myself there...playing under the big oak trees with Little man for many years.  Little things like that make a house feel more like a home, don't you think?   

{The Vintage Sister} A is for Autumn assemblage

{Red....then Blue}

This weekend started out all about red.  I'm not sure why.  They say red is the color of power, of passion, of love.  I'm not sure which one of these I was feeling, maybe a combination, but every single thing I purchased at my favorite antique mall had some element of red to it.  But it wasn't just me.

{To Be Determined} Plaid Full Mini Skirt

My picking companion did the same.  I didn't notice this until we

placed all of our treasures on the counter together.  Simpatico. 

 

{Dovie Moon} Butter Dish Set



I also noticed that there were bar codes on all of the tags but the man never used them.  As the line built up behind us, we watched as he very slowly.....and meticulously.....peeled each sticker off, carefully lined them up on the counter, then hunt-and-pecked the keys for each item, one by one, commenting here and there about how the seller spelled a word wrong, spouting out little tidbits of information on what we bought. 

{Vintage Jewels And More} Mushroom Trays, Red and Blue

I had to catch my impatient self and try not to be annoyed. 

I had nowhere to be. 

No rush.  

It was a lovely day and I was happy. 

Ten or so minutes later we were out the door with all of our red goodies. 

{Kitch Cafe} Two Briard Tumblers

 Later that night we saw a painting.  It was very blue.  Blue is calm.  Blue is restful, wise, and loyal.  Yet, a simple line of red....just one quick stroke of the hand....rested at the bottom.  It drew the eye.  I moved in to get a closer look.  Then back again.  The entire painting seemed to move from left to right...it was like reading a story.  It stuck in the mind of my companion so stronlgy that even a dinner menu was hard to concentrate on.  The artist told us that it was so new that he hadn't even named it yet.  When he wrote up the receipt...he said, "Blue."       



{Al Lachman (b. 1936)} Although this is not the painting "Blue"
I spoke of above, it has always been one of my personal favorites. 
Visit his gallery at Peddler's Villiage in Lahaska, PA and if you don't fall in love
with the art, you'll fall in love with the warmth and kindness.



{My Capable Hands}

I remember reading a quote by actress Meg Ryan a very long time ago.  When asked by an interviewer what she would and wouldn't change about her appearance she said she'd like longer legs.  Then she said,

"...but the one thing I wouldn't change is my hands.  I think I've got very capable looking hands." 

It struck a chord in me and I have always remembered it.  Sometimes when I've had a tough day and feel like I'm not doing a good job, I look down at them and say to myself, "I've got capable hands."  And they are.


One of the first things they touch in the morning are my son's warm sleepy cheeks.  I pull his face close and give him a kiss.  Then they touch his clothes, his vitamin, breakfast, hair, lunchbox.  Then my own clothes, hair, breakfast.  Bills, credit card statements, junk mail, letter from my Grandmother, keyboard, documents, telephone, packages.  They hold doors for strangers.  They scrub the toilet.  They cook dinner.  They kill an army of ants marching across the kitchen floor towards the sink.  They pick dust bunnies out from under the couch along with a few dried up raisins.  They write checks for charity and hang art projects up on the fridge.  They give high fives, clean spilled sticky juice.  They bathe, they turn the page back so he can look at the big volcano for the 10th time, they tuck in, they cover up.  They turn out the light and close the door.  My hands are very capable hands. 

I hope you find inspiration from these hands...

{Vintagous} Ivory Kid Gloves

{Stone School Vintage} Industrial Latex Glove Mold

{One Cozy Nest} Angel Statue Wearing Blue Gown

{The Lazy Peacock} Brass Hand Paper Holder

{Campfire Days}

With the crisp cool weather of Autmn just around the corner, I feel myself looking forward to warm homemade apple pie, pumpkin and apple picking, and seeing the leaves change to crimson red, bright orange, and golden yellow.  I'm an October baby so naturally I am happiest during this time of year.  I love the way the world looks on a crisp, cool, cloudless day.  It makes me want to go camping and sit around a campfire.  How about you?  I hope you're inspired by some these great vintage goodies on Etsy.

 

{One Cozy Nest} 1913 Book, The Boy Scouts First Campfire by Herbert Carter



{Camptownvintage} Vintage Puffin Campfire Songbook



{PineandMain} Campfire Sandwhich Makers



{Vintage Domestic} Vintage Thermos Pair 



{One Cozy Nest} Three-Ribbon WEBELOS Pin with Activity Badges