Yesterday was hot, hot, hot here in Texas! The humidity was a steamy 85% and my mom and I already felt sticky by 9 a.m as we left the house. But Aunt Karen had offered to watch the boys and take them to Ft. Worth to see the new Shrek movie giving my mom and I some needed one on one time, so we prepared for a day of junking. And not just an ordinary browse through the goodwill kind of junking...no, this was a special day. A day that would require close toed shoes, clothes that we didn't mind getting grubby, and possibly gloves. With water bottles in hand, we headed to Mineral Wells...a neat (although a bit run down) little town full of history.
If you have ever wondered how antique dealers get the best deals, the real secret is that they have connections. As the old saying goes, its not what you know, but who you know. And luckily my mother shared one of her secret connections with me yesterday. Joann's shop used to be a lumber yard, but she is slowly transforming it to a real gem of an antique shop. She mostly sells to dealers...and luckily to daughters of dealers.
Joann said she was pretty picked over. But if that was the case, I would have hated to see how much we would have found a few weeks ago. Because I found more than my tired, hot little brain could process. Aisle after aisle of vintage booty...dishes, linens, books, furniture...all at incredible prices. And many pieces were half off!
My mom was ahead of me most of the time being a much more seasoned junker than myself. And it was hard for me to stay focused looking for things on my list while listening to her call out items that she was finding that I might be interested in. But how great to have someone along who already knows your tastes and serves as a second pair of eyes...especially when there was so much eye candy to behold.
And then Joann mentioned that she had a friend names Mark who had a shop before. My mom had met Mark before at Joann's shop. Mark has an antique shop in downtown Mineral Wells too. But he had not been open in quite sometime. But to our luck Joann mentioned that Mark would be at his shop today working and possibly she could "get us in" before he officially opened again.
My mom and I looked at each other with the same exactly look of "can we possibly be dreaming" as sweat was dripping down our backs.
Mark's shop was...well, heaven. Packed to the ceiling with vintage Christmas decorations, kid's books, linens, western boots, old postcards, 50's chrome kitchen tables, and more, and more, and more. Now, Mark's prices were not near as good as Joann's, so we had to deal a little bit. But its always fun to haggle a little, isn't it? There was no air conditioning in his building and at one time I thought Mom was going to fall out from pure junk induced heat exhaustion. My mom found more at Mark's than I did, but we both decided that it was most definitely a place that will require a second visit on a day that was not 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
Another day of junking joy (heat and all)! After yesterday I have concluded that I would be in big, big trouble if I lived here permanently. S, count your blessings we will be in Virginia Beach at the new house in a few days.
P.S. The pile of jumbled fabric (the second photo) are all aprons and will be blogged at The Apronista tomorrow with individual apron photos and descriptions. Stay tuned, the story goes on.