Meeting and Antiquing

Saturday morning was full of a few firsts for me.  For the first time, I met another home/DIY blogger in person.  And, to make it even better, we planned to spend the morning shopping together.  That brings me to the other first…antiquing.

A few weeks ago Jen, of I Heart Organizing, and I realized we live within an hour of each other, even though she is in Wisconsin and I am in Minnesota.  We quickly made plans to meet up and I looked forward to it so much.  I don’t have any local shopping buddies that appreciate shopping for home decor and DIY projects.

As excited as I was, I was also anxious.  Let’s just admit meeting new friends as an adult is a bit nerve-wracking.  For some weird reason it just seems so formal.  Well, I am not sure what I was worried about.  Jen was so sweet and super fun to hang out with.

We met up in Stillwater, MN.  It has one of the cutest historic downtown areas and tons of shops.  We spent hours strolling up and down Main St popping in and out of shops.  We started at Mara Mi, a great paper store that Jen just posted about here.

The popping in and out slowed down a bit when we went into the first antique store.  There was so much to see.  Us two mamas without our kids (Jen has 3 boys, I have 2) enjoyed the opportunity to walk through all the breakables.

In the second antique shop, we found our groove.  The second floor of American Gothic Antiques seemed like a jackpot.  It was packed full of vintage finds, but nothing too precious for two DIY lovers.  I had hoped to find some tart pans for the DIY picture gallery in my studio and I did, plus some.

I found two vintage baking tins.  The first had a great scallop edge, but it was more of a bundt pan.  Then I found the second pan with a similar scallop and flat bottom.  The second pan has the most amazing patina.  I think these two are a good start of a collection.  The total for both pans was $18.

The bonus of the day for me, was finding these two vintage wood spools.  There were several to choose from.  I was drawn to the warm wood tone of these two and thought the two different sizes would be great on display together in my studio.  The larger spool was $10 and the smaller was $8.

Jen and I agree every room needs a touch of vintage.  It adds a sense of history, warmth, and character to a space.  With my recent retro furniture find and this antiquing trip, I am definitely expanding my horizons and my design style.

So, have you had any big firsts lately or great antique store finds?  Or, are you awkwardly nervous like me about meeting new friends?