Staying Warm in Winter

I was going through Jane withdrawl.

I hadn't seen her since May, and despite the fact that the snow was quickly blanketing my yard and all of the streets, we ventured out to see Jane.

Snooty Fox is only open on Saturdays, so if we didn't go now, we'd have to wait another week.

It was so cold outside and we failed to warm up the truck before we left, so one block down the road, I suggested to Jason we go another day.

"No, you've been wanting to go for a long time now. We'll go"  Jason insisted.

So we made the 20 minute trek down a steep and slippery road.

 Every time we go to Snooty Fox, Jason and I want to buy so much that we have to narrow down what exactly we will purchase that day, and what we will have to wait to purchase until our next trip (all the while hoping nobody else purchases those items before we return).

Not only do I want to buy everything in the store, but Jane also has such an eye for displaying.  I get so many ideas from her.   Some day, I will get up the nerve to photograph some of her displays.

This trip was well worth it.

Jason had been seeing a lot of architectural elements in the Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware catalogues lately.  Of course, these architectural remnants aren't authentic. They are made to look old.

Image: Restoration Hardware

See that coffee table?  It's $1,695. 

See the book ends in the back?  Those are called "Antiqued Wooden Corbels" and they are $115 each.

Yes that says $115 "EACH."

We found something very similar at Snooty Fox, except our corbels  were $25 each. 
They are SUPER heavy. 

We love that, not only were they less expensive, but they are a piece of history preserved.

We also found these fantastic antique bowling pins.  I once saw a similar set in a PB catalogue on a bookshelf in the background of one of their living room sets.

Dick kept telling us to strip the bowling pins and display them in their natural wood but I like the chipped paint and the bold red stripe.  What would you do?  Would you strip them or leave them?

Our last purchase was this beautiful milk glass bowl.  Perhaps  you remember it from my most recent winter mantel display.  I don't have any of milk glass, but I always love the way it looks,
so I decided to get my first piece.


 I can't wait to use it for Valentine's Day. 
Won't it look great with red candies in it?

Another thing I love about Jane is how good she is with Imani.

She has a basket of special rocks that she lets kids pick through and select one to keep at each visit.

Imani always loves to go antiquing with us but inevitably always asks us to buy her random stuff.

Today we told her to bring her own money, since she does get an allowance.  I was surprised when we were in Snooty Fox and she wasn't buying anything.

I had forgotten that she spent almost all of her money last week on a few things

she saw at the mall that she wanted.

But she also bought her baby brother some adorable clothes that she saw.

How sweet is that?

As we were preparing to leave, Imani showed me the treasures she had negotiated with Jane.

For 26 cents, Jane had sold her these:

This little treasure box:

Along with these little treasures:

Imani was one happy little girl.

I was one happy big girl.

And Jason was one happy Coupon Drugstore Cowboy.

I know, one day we're cutting coupons and the next day, we're out buying antiques.

It's in the budget, I swear!

With that, Jane sent me off with a hug into the brisk snowy night.

Except this time, I didn't feel the cold.