Apparently these antique mall things are quite common. I called my mom expecting her to say “Oh wow! I can’t wait to come down and check that out.” Instead she said “You’ve never heard of an antique mall?”

No Mom, I have not, and I very angry that you kept such a magical thing hidden from me all this time.

If you also haven’t seen one before, it’s so much more than a regular antique store. It’s one big location (this one wasn’t like Wal-Mart size or anything, maybe half the size of a regular grocery store), where individual antique dealers “rent” spaces and store their finds. I don’t know if these dealers take the goods out and try to sell them other places, but with so many varying tastes throughout the store the selection is really diverse.

It’s going to be months before I can go back, because the antiques are the real deal, which means they are quite pricey. Here are the things I couldn’t pass up on this trip:

Bright red/orange bookends! I actually want to collect bookends (it’s so much fun when you collect something seriously because then people know what to buy you for your birthday), but they are usually very expensive, and always heavy. Couples that plan on moving at least 3 times within the next 5 years can’t fall in love with a bunch of heavy belongings. You all said I needed to add more color to my house though, so obviously had to have them (side note: I need to practice learning how to focus the D50, ick).

Don’t you like how the little boy is like “Hey girl, what’s shaking?” and she is looking at us like “Hello, doesn’t he see I am trying to read my book?”

A chair! I need something for my bridal shoots, because otherwise the brides either stand or squat if it’s before the wedding and they are worried about their dress. This means that even my “pre-wedding” brides will be able to have variety in their posing. (Don’t you love how I am optimistically assuming like I will have scores of brides to photograph one day?)

The salesman at the store said “Oh no, it looks like someone started to paint it red, or decided to sand the red off and never finished.”

I responded with “What do you mean ‘oh no’? This little touch makes the chair that much better!”

I love the unfinished finish, the red, the little bit of yellow that you can’t see in this photo. The curve of the back and the swoopy lines on the bottom.

And my favorite purchase of the day (maybe they are all my favorites this time, since I love them all)… completely useless kitchen decor items!

Silhouettes in cast iron skillet. I wish I were an artist, I would duplicate these and do a whole series. I have them hanging from a piece of twine in my kitchen.

I’m beginning to wonder if I really need to buy myself a summer wardbrobe. Wouldn’t it be better to have cute little antiques around the house instead?

Also:

• Legible Bookcase
• Terrariums
• Sunday Evening on The Farm