on the Treasure Hunt

I had a GREAT day yesterday!

One thing you may not know about what's been going on around here is that I have been homebound due to the lack of a vehicle. We are usually a 3 car household. I have an SUV, Sean has a car and then we have a HUGE truck for WhiteBerry. Or we did at least.

Sean's new job requires a fair amount of driving within the city and his job provides him with a pretty generous car allowance. The only problem is that he wants a new car. And I don't want our house to look like a car lot (specially because I already take up most of the garage with paint and furniture that has overflowed back here, they are all on the driveway). So he has sold his car and the truck (at my request, the thing was an eyesore!!). I can usually bring anything home in my SUV, or with my sister's truck so it wasn't a major loss. But until Sean decides on a new car my main mode of transportation is the wagon. It hasn't been any trouble and the excercise is great, but I have sorely missed all my weekly treasure hunting excursions for the last few weeks.

Yesterday my parents lent me their third vehicle for the day to make a furniture delivery, and of course you know I needed to hit up a thrift store or 2. And BOY am I happy I did because I came home with more goodies than I think I found all winter!

The first thing to go in my cart was this tray. Honestly, you have no idea how massive this thing is in person. It's the biggest tray I've ever seen, and the ornate details sold me immediately.

And then I saw the inscription on the center of the tray and I knew it had to be mine! I have a thing for old 'trophies' and commemorative items with inscriptions, anything from beersteins to baby plates, I love the personal touch. So I was thrilled!

My next 2 finds are something I've been looking for for ages. We have a beautiful matching set of cutlery that we bought when we purchased our first home. I still love it, but after 5 years it has become somewhat thinner in the fork department (seriously, where do these things go?). So I decided to start up a fun, mismatched set of antique cutlery. I've brought home several knives, which seem to be the most plentiful. But no forks.

When I saw these 2 Hotel Georgia forks I again fell for the inscriptions. They probably have some interesting stories to tell.

And these ones came along as well. The wreathes are so beautiful, and I love the long and narrow prongs. We'll see how clean they get with a pass through the dishwasher.

You already know I obsess over old books (yes, I do read them all!), and specially love sets. This set took me years to build, and I only have 3 books!

So these beautiful old leatherbound books jumped out at me immediately. No, they are not hundreds of years old, but they were $3.50 for the whole set. It features one of my favorite authors (Daphne Du Maurier), and I am dying to start that book.

And the last things to follow me home are a wall mounted file folder for my office (which I will be painting) and a large and unusual old metal basket. It was $2, and I had no idea what it would be used for, but it is actually the first thing to be set out. THANK YOU for having so much awesome stuff Goodwill!

Sean better have that new car before garage sale season gets underway, or I might just cry!

Any special treasures come home with you this week?