treasure hunting!

so, there's this little antique shop that my mom told me about some time ago that she just adores and has found the cutest, neatest things at... and i'd been planning to go back with her for so long! but you know how life gets, and we really just hadn't gotten around to it. until this last weekend! steven was out of town for a night (on a big sleeper bus with guy friends heading to the auburn football game, so fun!), and so we spur of the moment decided to head out for some girl time treasure hunting. and oh my goodness! i am iiiiiin love with this little place. and i'm telling you, if you're in the nashville area, this is our little secret, okay?! because this place is totally full of bargains and deals and hidden gems. it's a bit farther out from town in fairview, and it's one of those places you just dig through. it's full of stuff, stuff everywhere. old stuff and beautiful stuff and stuff that someone out there might want or need or see potential in, even if to you it looks like junk, and stuff that we don't even recognize because we don't have that stuff in our time. this place is my JAM. and then after we left the antique store that evening, we were behind the cutest antique car on the way home. i don't know how that happened, but it was perfect!
i know a lot of people don't like to sift through craziness and disorganization to find the hidden gems, but i LOVE it. i think that's why i love organizing, too. i like finding beauty in a mess!! and i have such a craving for items with history. one of my favorite things i have on my desk right now is a civil war mule shoe that i found on the farm one afternoon, and it makes me happy every day. (okay, so our barn is full of them, but this one i found "aaaaaall byyy-e-self!" as maddo would say, so i love it the most!!) and for the past year i've been finding little pieces of an antique mason jar and some kind of small porcelain container thing, and it is kind of killing me that i don't know where all the pieces are! haha! oh! and okay, i am really getting side tracked here, but i also found a soldier's clay marble last summer, and what. are. the. ODDS. of finding a dirt-colored clay soldier's marble? it was fate. crazy fate. so, just your average side hobby, right! haha. i mean, i could totally make a great history buff if i could retain a single number in my head, buuut i can't! and dates elude me completely. it's a major bummer. my high school history teacher thought it was a bummer, too, let me tell ya. still, i just love history!
also, maddalena found her own fabulous treasure while we were shopping that afternoon when she fell head. over. heels. for a sweet and precious dollhouse. it's not even old, actually, (i think this one was put out around 2008?) and it had all the pieces with it and in nearly perfect condition. so, heck yes! baby girl has been fawning over dollhouses for months now, so we tried to be sneaky because it would've made the very best christmas present from santa! but when she saw that the little pieces had been packed up (for us to take home!), she thought it meant that she'd have to part ways with it, and her emotions just crumbled in pure devastation. it was the saddest thing ever, and i almost cried myself! it truly wasn't a toddler tantrum. she was just heartbroken at the thought of leaving her dream dollhouse behind. so of COURSE we didn't hold off until christmas!! can't keep a girl from her dreams!

i mean, is there anything sweeter?! we found a few other things, too, including an antique wooden high chair that i'm excited to pretty up, because i've been dreaming of one in our house! (i really never wanted a big newfangled high chair in here, so we don't have one!) so, it was such a successful trip, and i already have about 5,000 ideas i'll be looking for next time i go. okay, yes, i've kind of been watching too much nicole curtis on rehab addict, and she's basically my new girl idol. seriously. i mean, seriously. okay. that is all. love ya bye! <3