Running Away from Home...

Can I be bought?

Ummmm, seems, under the right circumstances.... YEP.

Bring on the bribe,  my sanity required it this time.

By way of information, we have had painters in our house recently trying to correct a big problem, that the original painters of our newly built house, created over 4 years ago.  I may give details on the painting fiasco at a later time when it is actually resolved and I am WELL removed from all the angst and tears... suffice it to say that when this white van pulled up on Saturday morning for the 4th time in 3 weeks to once again try a different resolution to our paint woes...

I took Shawn up on an offer to run away from home with my daughter and do some frivolous shopping.  There has been NO frivolous shopping for a long time due to the tightening up of our financial belts since January 2011.  I sped away.  I did not look back.  I dreamed of antique shopping and returning home to a beautifully painted beadboard ceiling.  Ahhhhh!

Savannah agreed to be my lovely sidekick and we drove to Hartselle, a little town not far down the road with an old downtown and lots of antique stores.

 If I ever were to own my own store, I sure would love if the location came with instant character like these old buildings provide.  Drool.

 Old exposed brick wall meeting antique ceiling tins!  Oh dear.  Love it.

 This was one of our favorite stores.  The mix of new with antique beds and furniture... perfection.

 I wanted the bench at the end of this bed so very badly.  It had such detail and layers upon layers of paint, with a crisp tufted linen top.  And I want a bench at the end of our master bed too... alas, the price tag said it was not meant to be.  whimper. sulk. 

 The pouting did not last long as I found a few amazing treasures, well within my bribery amount.

 Never mind the fact that I currently have MANY ladders already in my home, this blue drippy paint mess of a ladder needed a good home and I obliged.

I am drawn to old suitcases... but I'm so picky about them, so slowly but surely I am getting a collection.  I found this picture on Pinterest of a stack of cases and thought the same presentation would be amazing in our future B&B cottage. 

(via Pinterest/ CountryLiving)

 And so I snatched up this little greyblue cutie... it will find a cute 'home' here until I can create a tower o' suitcases in the cottage.

I found this little oil painting and it made me smile.  I tried to drive away and leave it, but at the end of our many hours in Hartselle, I still had a little cash... so Mr. Roo came home with me.

 I found some old jello tins to use for candles and some metal trays to 'reinvent'.

But HANDS DOWN... this piece of metal rustiness is the item that got me lightheaded and giddy. 

 I happened to look way up in the rafters at one of the stores and saw this heavenly sign.  I could not see the price tag it was so high up.  But I boldly grabbed the owner, who by the way was not too eager to sell it/retrieve it from its lofty perch... but I was persuasive,grin.  It was SO under priced and when I paused after he went through all the effort to get it down... he offered $80 off.  I simply paused because the original price he told me pleasantly surprised me... so when he took off an additional $80 I got a tad dizzy.  Yippee!!!

 I have a couple places this would look amazing in... I just need to patiently wait for Shawn to have time to lug it around to each prospective location so I can decide. 

 Savannah and I returned home 6 hours after leaving that morning.  Shawn met us at the car and ooooohed and aaaaaaaahed at my treasures.  

But then I asked the dreaded question, "so is the painting fixed?"  To which my poor sweetheart had to tell me that the 4th try was NOT the charm, and we still had a problem.

 We now have atrocious cracked paint.  Will this paint fiasco ever be resolved?  I am losing faith.  But the score of my new found treasures and a long day with Savannah sure softened the blow of yet another paint disappointment.

sob, sob.