Would you believe me if I told you I spent $30 on everything you see here? Would you believe me if I told you I spent $5 (and really maybe only $2) on the vintage Knoll chair on the right? Would you believe me if I told you I passed on so much more because my collections have no room for growth?
I'm going to credit Roxanne for reaching out to me via Facebook shortly after I shared that we were moving to Colorado Springs with the Army. She's an Army wife with vintage taste and was really sweet to make herself available. I rarely check Facebook so it took me about a month to reply and then a few days later she invited me to check out her garage sale. Her garage sale that would be full of vintage stuff. Like really great stuff that I would've brought home had I still been running Pony Party or had all of our stuff been lost/broken in the move. Great stuff!
So, I left the kids at home with Brett bright and early on Saturday morning and found Roxanne's fantastic garage sale. I knew I'd probably find a few cool vintage pieces but I was so much more excited about meeting a new friend. I left 45 minutes later and planned on going straight home after another coffee stop for Brett but then I saw another garage sale practically spilling out onto the sidewalk and made a quick stop. I picked up the shadow box, floral wallpaper, and dress and got back in my car. I texted Brett that I was on my way home.
I hadn't driven one block before I pulled in to another garage sale. This one was very small but the Mid-Century end table caught my eye. As I was walking up to it I noticed the chair. THE CHAIR. I casually walked all the way around it and sat down to see if it was broken or wonky. I wanted to flip it over but then I thought I might give something away. I half-heartedly asked how much they wanted for the chair and they quoted me $5. I walked away and asked about the end table. Eight bucks. REALLY? You're going to sell me a beat up end table for more than that designer, ahem, brown swivel chair over there?
I hesitated so they said I could have them both for $10. I gave them my crisp $10 bill and let them carry the chair to my car. I waited until shirtless guy walked away before inspecting the undercarriage of the chair and sure enough there was a Knoll tag. I almost high fived myself.
At this point I knew I needed to get home so Brett wouldn't think I'd been in an accident or something much more terrible than finding a $500 chair for $5 but it seemed I was accidentally driving past every garage sale in Old Colorado Springs that morning because I found another one. This one was just three or four twenty-something creative types sitting in their great vintage chairs waiting for people to come buy their gaming stuff and an old bedroom suite. The orange velvet couch was pretty, along with the green tweed and citron chairs. I asked if I could Instagram their stuff and address because I knew there might be a few locals out hunting. They were really nice.
Did I mention I stopped in at the Goodwill on the way back from Roxanne's but before the chair? Yeah. I found that yellow album full of thick sketchbook paper. ART JOURNAL! Also, that tulip-shaped wire bowl was there waiting for me. The only non-vintage item was that aqua vase from Roxanne's but it was so gorgeous I had to bring it home.
All in all I was gone for about two hours but everyone was happy to see me when I got home with coffee and treats. I know how these things work! I spent the rest of my Saturday purging and organizing my studio corner, doing laundry, and clearing out the excess in the kids' room.
We're having ourselves our own garage sale pretty soon.
-Rachel
