A vintage find and an ikea trip

The other day my friend Nora and I stumbled onto magic. In the form of a trailer park yard sale. The whole day was pretty magic, actually. It started with a trip to ikea, for no real reason.  Neither one of us really needed much. Well, I needed a few cheap planters, but all in all maybe that isn't reason enough for a trip. We went anyway.

A sort of hilariously bad cell phone mirror pic I took at ikea.

But wait, the way the day really started was like this:

Nora jump starting the car when it wouldn't start when we tried to leave for ikea

But after that hurdle, we were on our way. And ikea was...glourious. And I bought some planters. Oh, and drawer organizers, a laptop stand, a house plant and some storage tins. I didn't let myself get lured into buying anything else though. Way to go, me.

But the magic part of the day came as we were driving home from ikea (another jump start later...) when we passed a giant yard sale going on a trailer park. Was it worth stopping the car and risking it not starting back up? absolutely. Besides some killer vintage clothing (like a black lace dress and jacket from the 40s that was in perfect shape) we stumbled upon a vintage kitchen scale (similar to many I have seen at local thrift stores and on etsy selling from $30-$40, an amazing 3+ ft long antler (which I bought for my boyfriend, but don't tell him, it's a surprise. It's not a cow skull or a wagon wheel, but with his country sensibility- he's a native texan- I think he'll dig it) a vintage metal toy refridgerator which was just darling and even had a compartment inside labeled for butter, several books, mugs and glasses, a full length mirror, some pink dress up gloves, and lastly a vintage wool pendelton throw (based on ebay history I would guess it would sell for about $250 if we tried to sell it, though it is actually a gift for someone). All of this came to just about $25. Yep, magic. And the man who sold us the antler was even so kind as to help us carry everything (including purchases from other people's sales) to our car. He was quite a character, and the image of him in light wash jeans about 6 sizes too big, held up by suspenders, a ripped basketball jersey and a giant smile will stay with me for a while.

I wish I had thought to take pictures at the yardsale, though I wouldn't have wanted to make anyone feel uncomfortable so I guess it's best that I didn't. But I did photograph some key items from our haul once Nora and I got back to my house and cleaned them all up in the backyard.

Pendelton blanket, kitchen scale, toy refridgerator, and epically large antler

And the kitchen scale already has a new home, on my desk, chilling with my plants. 

What a cool bunch of finds, and what a funny, magic day.

Hey, good looking.

Hey, good looking. Hey.

Sorry, you know, just crooning in the general direction of my sweet new vintage dresser. It's totally normal behavior. Maybe.

This was a craigslist find. I love finding just the thing on craigslist, it is bound to be such an adventure. So, after I saw this guy on the furniture classifieds on craigslist, I immediately messaged its owner, asking for dimensions and subtly hinting at my deep, deep love for the vintage, chippy dresser she posted. 

Craigslit can be daunting, I have to admit probably 4 times of out 5 when I have messaged about an item I saw posted there, I learn that the item is already gone/arranged for. It's always a bummer.

But this time, I lucked out! And the dimensions were just right to fit in my space. 

The only problem? It was located out in Vancouver, Washington, and was um, a little large to take home on my bike. :)

But, I got help. 

Hey there.

Ok, that's all. 

I own this.

I have been in Portland a little over a month now. Next week I move into a new home, so you can be sure I will be updating as I start to put my space together, as well as once I start to cook more when I am settled.


In the meantime, I have this to say: Portland, OR should instead be known as Vintage Heaven. The thrift finds are amazing, everywhere, and affordable. aka- just about the opposite of the experience of trying to find vintage furniture in Boston.


Among other things, I now own this:

Complete with Herman Miller stamp on the underside of the seat. Aw, yeah.


If you're not jealous, I suppose that's OK. But really, we should talk Eames sometime, perhaps I'll change your mind.