Yard Sales Rule!

Last night my husband and I decided to take a walk down the main street of our town. The weather's been so nice that it was a good excuse to get outside and see some of the people we know who own or work in shops there. Its one of the things that I like about our neighborhood...we're close to the city [actually within its borders], but at the same time there's definitely a community in this small section of it. So anyway, I digress. We were walking along when he pointed out a hand-written sign on a telephone pole advertising a yard sale. Now, I used to love yard sales when I was a kid, but haven't been to one in a long time. So I wasn't too stoked...until he pointed out the parenthesis containing the word 'vintage.' 

I know what you're thinking...alot of people are interested in vintage now, so writing that word is an easy way to pull in extra shoppers who might not be inclined to stop by someone's yard on a Saturday morning. But, I was willing to try.  So at 10 a.m. we headed over. I went straight for the clothes, which were a bust. Then I started wandering around  the other wares. There wasn't a whole lot, but what I did find...was...amazing. 

First, is the vintage luggage pictured below. There was quite a bit of baggage there for sale, but these two beauties caught my eye immediately. One is definitely a 60's piece; the woman told me about how her father bought it for her to go on her first trip to Greece when she was a teenager. The green suitcase and little bag didn't have stories to match, but they were only advertised at  five dollars each, so I had to snap them up.

To give you an idea of size, here's a picture of the little purse alone. Its so precious, it even has a little matching change purse inside that goes in its own pocket!

Besides the bags, I also found a fantastico polyester scarf. As I've mentioned before, I love scarves and am always looking for ways to better incorporate them into daily. She had alot of scarves, but the fact that it was polyester just did it for me. When I was growing up, one of the few things that my mother saved from her teens and early twenties were the 70's scarves that she used to use to tie back her long, long hair. Sigh. 

Finally, I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I'm really interested in religious icons, especially Italian and Russian ones. I studied Italian history in college and graduate school and lived in Siena, Italy several years ago, so I had the chance to see quite a few while there. The woman at the yard sale was selling the two little icons pictured below. Last year my husband and I even visited the Museum of Russian Icons for our anniversary. It was awesome...and the little town had a thrift store run by two very sweet elderly women...a wonderful day. 

Here's to yard sales!