First Time Antiquer

Today, Jason and I have lived in our house for one year... our first house we have ever built, but not to be the last! To celebrate, while Jason stayed home watching college football, I decided to go downtown Thomasville to buy stuff to help fill up our empty walls and windows. My mission included buying window treatments for at least one of the windows AND some sort of wall art to go above a new console table we bought a few weeks ago.

Well, I bought none of the above. I did however find my way into one of Thomasville's largest antique shops, Toscoga Market. The first floor itself was overwhelming, then the proprietor told me that there were TWO more floors above me, boasting an extra 10,000 square feet! I looked at my watch, and the proprietor and I realized that I had 45 mintues to shop before the store closed. She sent me on my way with a shopping bucket in hand and a smile of approval after learning it was my first time in her shop. And I was off!

One of the first things that caught my eye was this fabulous, simply fabulous, chair with black and cream damask fabric. What girl doesn't love damask?!?! And the price tag was to die for... $98! I took a picture of it with my cell phone so I could send a viewing to Jason for his approval... but sadly, my email decided to quit working. If I would have bought that without Jason's approval first, then he probably would have put me on shopping restriction. And no one wants to be on shopping restriction! I thought it in my best interest to let that good buy slide by... at least for now!



After being a tiny bit saddened by my smart move, I quickly became thrilled with my next find. I have a thing for intricate details on glassware, especially when it happens to be my favorite color. I saw several mis-matched glass tumblers, water stemware, and tea glasses. There was not enough of each one to make a full set. So I decided to mix and match to get just four. I can always go back to add to my collection.

With four glasses happily dinging one another in my shopping bucket, something else with sparkles and glitz made me turn my head. I have always thought that crystal ring holders were classy, and I believe I even registered for one on my wedding registry. All the years of my life, I have never owned one. I picked up the beautiful piece of crystal, and to my surprise, that $5 price tag made it even more appealing. There was no contemplation in my head about whether or not to buy it. As far as I was concerned, it was already mine. I added it to my bucket, ever so gingerly, along with my other breakables.

At this point, I was pleased as punch and on my way down to the bottom floor to check out. But... uh oh... one more sparkly thing got my attention. How do I begin to describe this jewel of a find? First off, it's a mirror. Okay, but the detail in this oldy goldy is nothing short of immaculate. It looked as though it came straight out of a European Cathedral or even a Tibetan Monastary. Small in size, and in price at just $24, I knew I could find the perfect spot for it in my house.

Pheewww! Can you believe I came in under $50? At the checkout, the proprieter congratulated me for my fabulous finds. (I'm not sure if I've ever been congratulated for shopping!) She said I did pretty dang good for it being my first time there. And, I managed to do all this 15 minutes before closing time. That's right, in just half a hour!

Let's hope my husband is as proud of me as I am of myself! Luckily enough, when I got home, he surely was. Another Pheewww! Now it's time for some show-and-tell! (I already did the telling, so here is just the showing.) Check out my fabulous finds...