Last week I was sitting down at my computer to do some last minute planning for my vintage treasure hunting trip to Brimfield and I realized there aren’t many resources online for folks that haven’t been before and want to know what to expect. I remember the first time I went and I had no idea where to park, where to shop, or what it would be like. So I thought I would share a few of my tips for future Brimfield attendees, as well as some photos from my antiquing at the July show! 
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I hit up the Brimfield Antiques Market this weekend and had a blast trekking through the mud and hunting for some vintage treasures. One of my favorite things about going to Brimfield is seeing all of the collections that people sell, everything from typewriter keys to bicycles to old milk bottles. I walked away with a jadeite baking dish and an antique floral tablecloth that both look perfect in my kitchen; good finds and a very good day.
Brimfield totally lived up to my expectations; I was like a kid in a candy store, rifling through piles of junk and having a ball.
There was tons of jadeite, to my delight, though most of it was very overpriced, so I just enjoyed looking but didn’t come home with any new pieces. This table had me in a fit of excitement though:
One of the “trends” I noticed was lots of vintage bikes. This yellow one would have been helpful to tote around our loot with its big basket:
And this blue one caught my eye:
I saw that bike right at the end of our thrifting-marathon. The sun was wearing on us and I’ll be honest, I may have been feeling a little sleepy and full after hitting up the “food court” field (what can I say? I love fair food!).
Right behind the blue bike though was my score of the day — just what I had been hunting for, a pair of matching night stands, with drawers, that were under 16″ wide — a feat I thought for sure would be impossible. And they were just the right price, 40$ for the pair!
They’re an atrocious color and are missing hardware, but I’m planning to give them a fresh coat of paint and some fancy new knobs to spiff them up.
My other find of the day was a vintage tool chest that I’m also planning on giving a new life with some fresh paint. When I’m all finished I’m going to use it as a jewelry armoire.
All three pieces are being housed in my entryway, next to a Craigslist chair that’s also on my to-do-list to revamp. We’re now referring to this as the “furniture graveyard” until the temperatures drop and I can actually do some work on them without passing out from heat exhaustion!
Overall a successful trip — I will definitely be making this an annual (or bi-annual??) trip!
Getting back to the grind after a long weekend wasn’t too bad today, and I think it was partially more manageable because I had such a fun weekend. I saw my sister, went hiking and leaf-peeping with my boyfriend and had a day of Fall fun with my girlfriends. We spent the day at the SOWA Open Market, browsing the flea market and taking in the sights and scents of Fall.
I can’t believe I’ve lived here for six years and never once went to this market before; it was a great browsing adventure and I even scored a few finds: a vintage Reiner record — I love the colors and text — to frame for my wall, and some fun eggplant beads.
I was eyeing these vintage suitcases, but unfortunately they weren’t for sale… the woman manning the booth used them to transport the jewelry she was selling.
The best part of the market was eyeing all of the gorgeously displayed and richly colored produce at the farm booths:
The weather, the smells, the clothes… everything fell into place for one of those quintessential Autumn weekends, even our cocktails were Fall colors!
My hiatus is over, I’m back from a lovely 4th of July, a very relaxing week at the beach, and have finally caught up on my overflowing inbox that welcomed me at the office. It’s so hard to come back to the real world after days of BBQs, beaches, shopping, and lovely weather.
The one day of non-beach weather was filled with fun activities: a wine tasting at a local Cape Cod Vineyard and some flea market hunting (an ideal vacation day). The vineyard had beautiful gardens and the property had a precious cottage where we tasted some great wines and jumped on a tour of the vineyard and bottling barn.
At the flea market I scored a small vintage oil painting of a coastal scene that needs a new frame but was too cute to pass up. At a nearby thrift store my mom found a white milk glass hobnail vase. My mom taught us well: my sister spotted it the second we walked in and we flipped it over, real Fire King milk glass… and it was only $2.00! Nothing is more satisfying than a successful thrifting trip!
After we got back from Cape Cod, we just weren’t ready to let go of the vacation-mode yet and took a day trip to Newburyport where we stumbled upon Oldies Marketplace, an enormous barn turned marketplace for all shapes and sizes of antiques and treasures. I amazingly walked out of the place without buying a thing, but regret not stocking up on some of the vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and the quirky plastic beads they had displayed.
Now I’m back to the daily grind, but I missed my blog while I was away and kept a list of post ideas even when I was internet-less, so now that I’m rested and recharged expect more in the coming days!
