Birthday Presents

My husband is awesome. He is a wonderful man, and I love him to death. He is not perfect but he is great for me. I mention that a lot in this blog. Lest you think that we have some sort of ridiculous and ideal relationship, I have to admit that we do fight. This weekend we are re-grouting the bathroom, and there has already been one vicious battle. We both have our faults, but that is a story for another day… probably Friday. Whenever I get frustrated with him, I just try to remember how good he is to me the rest of the time, and I cool off pretty fast.

July 25, my birthday, was one of those days. I woke up in a hotel in Lake Placid with a card on my nightstand beside this.

We had seen her at an antique store in Ocean City, MD, and he bought her to add to my collection of women. This was my official gift. Well, this and the surprise party that he threw for me earlier in the month.

That afternoon, we drove to Saranac Lake to visit some antique stores. We saw this box at a thrift store. It was $15. I tried to forget about it, but in the end it was useless to fight it. I knew that I would regret it if I did not buy it. I mean $15!!!! No way was I ever going to find anything like it for that cheap ever again. It has some scratches on the top and a little rust on the side, but that does not bother me.

In one of our next stops we saw these ant salt and pepper shakers. I insisted that I did not need them, but Douglas knows that I have a thing about Salvador Dalí and ants. Also the saleswoman said that she would give us a dollar off for my birthday, so he bought them for me for $14.

A short time later, we went to another antique store. He owner had just opened, and he was a great guy. We ended up talking to him for over an hour. I had been eyeing these nesting tables, but I was certain that they would be overpriced. When he told me they were $25, I could not pay him fast enough. Normally I try to dicker a bit to get a lower price, but in this case I was happy to buy them at the price he told me. I am sorry that I do not remember the name of the shop. It is right by the carousel if you ever get to Saranac Lake.

By the way, the carousel was a fun stop as well. I love the hand carved animals, all with a little lady bug.

We stopped at another antique shop on the way out of town. I immediately fell in love with this braided rug. It is purple! That is a rare color for a braided rug.

Inside the same store I found  several sugar bowls that caught my attention. I had a hard time choosing, but the strawberry ended up coming home with us. Alex found three coffee table sized books on hockey. We were quoted $35 for all of it, but when I asked the best price, she gave it all to us for $28. Couldn’t beat it.

If you were looking for my presents in my house tour. Here is where they are located in our house.

The nesting tables.

They are hard to see in that picture, so here is a better angle.

See them?

The letter opener.

It is really hard to see.

It is actually on the shelf next to a picture that was also a birthday gift from a friend. Here we are wearing $80 hats. Yes, they were actually selling for $80. Well, I don’t know if they were selling because we did not buy them.

The rug.

I hope you were able to find that one.

The golden box.

Also not very well hidden.

The ants.

Here is a better angle.

Did you find them? They might be hard to spot between all of my other ants.

The sugar bowl was in a cupboard and not featured in the house tour.

So, is my husband great or what? Please keep this post in mind when you read the one I write on Friday!

Happy Homemaking!