Antiquing for our anniversary

After a summer of busy travels and lots of football madness we decided to stay close for our anniversary. I introduced my hubby to the idea of a stay-cation, and we decided to hit a great historic shopping district not too far from here. 

If you ever get a chance to visit Gardner's Historic Village give yourself a few hours and explore freely.

In the old mill at Archibald's Restaurant original gears and products are on display and woven into the shopping experience. 

I adored the different sections of decor and ideas

Love the signs and colors

The painted wood walls and cottage looks were lovely

The shops range from decor to Victorian clothing to toys and whimsy.  

We ended up with a few exciting things.

This super cool repurposed shelving was a MUST in my husband's eyes

I fell for this romantic mini dress (okay, think sweater tights and high boots????)

but that's not all..

the dress form was also on sale, because the store was closing to become a restaurant.

I can't wait to shabby that baby up and use it around the place!

We added a few necessary accessories to the hutch and we're ready to go

On the way home we stopped at another great consignment store called Home Again.

It was beautiful also, with a lot of great priced items.

We ended up grabbing a few more little things from there,

but we were pretty worn out at this point.

On the home front we have a new little friend to keep the kids busy...

so all was well for our day of celebration.

I kind of liked having a day to shop and enjoy each other's company some place far enough

to be 'away', but close enough to not cost much to get there.

I highly recommend the stay-cation shopping day.

Marriage has it's rewards, right???

Kitty Litter anyone?

Go ahead and dig in!










I don't get hugely into April Fools Day jokes (surprising, I know), but I do like making a silly treat every once in a while. Here are my younger two being good sports and enjoying it.....















Funny thing, though, my oldest son just didn't think it looked that appetizing! What do you think?

Yet another thing my children will never appreciate me for

Cute kittens, lots of pee and poop.

Unlike the house I grew up in, we don't ignore urine, and someone must clean it up. I have spent many a night crawling on the floor, sniffing around (ohh! now that's a fun job) and scrubbing and drying and spraying with carpet foam. ( I have actually found that Pine-Sol removes pet odor quicker and better than almost anything else we have tried).

Can I get a holler, please?
Anyone?
Does this not make up for the bad mom moments and brownies snuck in the car? And to think, my kids give me a blank stare when I ask them to put the cats out.... "why do I have to do it?" they almost always say.

Hey kid- you want to switth jobs, here?