A Shop Local Day

Yesterday, Duane, Linda, and I decided to make it a 'shop local' day in Duane's part of Tampa, Seminole Heights.  Lots of independent businesses in the Heights that I've blogged about here before along with great places to eat.  We started at the Bali Bay Trading Company.  (In addition to their website, here's their Facebook page.)  They've really expanded their furniture and home decor section along with their usual jewelry and accessories.  The owner told us that he's expecting two more shipments in June so Linda and I both decided we would wait on purchases we were just about to make.  Can't wait to see their new stuff before making up our minds.  All three of us have bought items from Bali Bay before and the owners are very friendly and inviting.

Our next stop was A Modern Line owned by our buddy, David.  Due to a fire a few months ago in his original location, David had to relocate but he's up and running again.  Great place for mid-century modern furniture and decor.  Linda and I have bought furniture from David and all three of us have purchased decor items.  I've even placed items on consignment in the shop.  There was a new watercolor dating from the '70's that Linda and I both had our eye on.  We decided to think about it.  In addition to his website, David also has a Facebook page here.

We noticed a new vintage shop that had opened next to A Modern Line and decided to stop in and check it out.  Frolic Exchange is a cool little boutique with vintage clothing, accessories, home decor and even some furniture.  Duane fell in love with a chair she saw but needs to make sure that the measurements will work for where she'd like to put it.  The decoration of the shop was adorable.  We complimented the young girl behind the counter and she said that she and her mother did it themselves.  Very eye-catching!  We recommend checking out this new shop.  They have a Facebook page here.  This mother/daughter duo have done a great job.

Our last stop before lunch was another long-time favorite -- D & D Antiques and More  -- which also has a Facebook page here.   Duane has purchased several large pieces of furniture from D & D and yesterday I got lucky with some smaller items.  I purchased a long scarf style necklace, two pink Depression glass dessert plates and a piece of Hull matte white pottery (yes, one of my obsessions and not the first piece I've bought at D & D).

By then we were ready for lunch.  We decided to eat at one of the many local favorite diners and went to the Three Coins Diner which also has a Facebook page (doesn't everyone these days?) here.   Three Coins is open 24 hours and has a huge menu of selections including breakfast anytime.  Duane and I both ordered breakfast food and Linda had a gyro.  Then we decided to splurge on dessert.  I thought I had left plenty of room but, let's just say that they don't skimp on portions at Three Coins.  My brownie sundae was HUGE.  I did manage to tunnel through it and only left a small piece of brownie.  Linda had a chocolate sundae and Duane had one of the diner's most popular desserts -- their rice pudding.   To say that we rolled out to the car afterwards would be an understatement.  But it was worth it.

We plan to have another 'shop local' day in a few weeks so that we can all go back and buy the larger items that we weren't quite ready to commit to yesterday.  I'm looking forward to it already.

My purchases from D&D Antiques and More.

Semi-Annual Parking Lot Sale

One of the stores that my friends and I like to check out is in Duane's neighborhood.  Sherry's YesterDaze is a cool vintage boutique that features a little bit of everything from jewelry to housewares to furniture and clothing.  Twice a year Sherry has a sale in her parking lot where she puts out items from her store and also has other artists/merchants/friends set up tables.  There's always a great variety of stuff so we always try to make these sales.

Linda's buys.

Today, Duane and Linda and I hit the sale a little after 9am.  Linda and I both bought stuff for ourselves and as gifts.  She bought a "Life" magazine in terrific condition that was published after President Kennedy was assassinated, a fab enamel bowl, a folk CD, a pair of bottle top candles and she got a great deal on a vintage 'moonbeam' clock.  L.L. Bean sells new versions of the clock but Linda scored this vintage one for a lot less money in working condition.  She also bought a pretty signed sketch of a cat that she plans to frame. She and I both also liked these woven bracelets made by children in South Africa.  Beautifully made in bright colors, they can also be used as bookmarks.  I bought three for my three nieces in their various favorite colors and Linda snagged one, too.  I also bought a cool little china dish made in England by Staffordshire with an outline of Charles Dickens on it.  I've put out a few little dishes that I've come across and like in my guest bedroom for people to use as coasters. 

My buys.

Then we hit a couple of yard sales that we happened to pass on our way to get some coffee.  We were waiting for the store that Sherry's husband, David, owns to open at 11am.  I've mentioned A Modern Line a number of times on this blog and all three of us have purchases from this store in our homes.  I bought a bark cloth pillow that goes great in my guest room on the sofa bed.  It picks up the colors of green and yellow in the room.

Another fruitful morning with good friends.

Mr. Dicken's dish.

    

Picked up a few more little treasures...

I headed out for an estate sale early Saturday morning. My buds weren't able to go to this one and I usually prefer Friday sales to Saturday ones but I decided to check this one out. It was in a neighborhood that was pretty dodgy 15-20 years ago but has slowly been coming back to life. The house was a 'shotgun' style similar to this one.

The house sat very close to the street but had a chain link fence in the front and all the way down the sides and back. The owner was an older man -- a retired teacher. Strictly speaking, this wasn't an estate sale since no one was moving out or 'being' moved out. He had his items inside the fence on tables in the front yard and front porch along with some items inside the house and a few more tables in the back yard. He just wanted to get rid of some things.

I picked up a cute egg cup, a nifty deco looking raised plate in a deep salmon color with a shrimp design made by Shenango China, and a cool looking old glass container with lid that may be for sugar or syrup. There were a number of paintings and small sculptures but they weren't for sale. The artist was the man's sister.

This man told me that when he first moved here from New York to work as a teacher, he had no idea that the neighborhood he'd bought his house in had so much crime. Apparently, his house had been broken into several times the first few years he lived there while he was restoring it. He laughed when he told me that he also didn't know that the street that his house practically sits on was where prostitutes hung out. Apparently there was a group of transvestites who had a regular spot on the corner closest to his house. When they found out he was a teacher, they told him that they would make sure that no one messed with his car. He said that one day when he was standing outside his front door some of his students rode by and yelled, "Hey, Mr. R______ what are you DOING here???!!!" They were shocked that he lived in the 'hood. He seemed to take it in stride.

I've been to quite a few estate sales that turned out to be terrific sales in very modest houses/neighborhoods. One I went to a couple of months ago with my friend, Duane, had been owned by a 95 year old lady who had lived in her house for over 50 years. The house looked very small from the front but it actually rambled pretty far back, room after room all on one floor.

I don't think she had ever thrown anything away. Even her 75 year old wedding dress (similar to the one shown) was for sale.

Besides her cool vintage clothes, there was a fur coat and fox fur stole, tons of pairs of white dress gloves, costume and fine jewelry, porcelain, and furniture. I bought some of her costume jewelry. She had a good eye and there were some very nice pieces.

The strangest estate sale I've been to (so far) was actually inside a 'magic' shop owned by a magician and the woman who used to be his assistant when he still performed. (I talked with the assistant and she had also traveled with Barnum & Bailey's Circus with this magician.) Besides some things he put out in his shop, which was located in the middle of a strip mall, he had a ton of stuff locked away in a storage facility behind his store. There was a service road that ran behind the shopping center and there was actually a storage facility business there. So this guy was selling stuff that his mother had left behind when she'd died 25 years ago. He had put the stuff that family members didn't want into this storage facility and hadn't even bothered to open it during the years he rented it. A little spooky but still fun to rummage through. I'm still waiting to 'top' that one some day.