It's gray outside, drizzling a steady light rain, and pleasantly hovering at around 63 degrees--a typical Spring day in New England, and I could not be happier!!
I'm out in Rhode Island visiting friends. I've been here many times and actually used to live on Block Island, a small island off the coast. So I've seen many of the tourist-type attractions. I've been to all the beaches, I've seen several Newport Mansions, lighthouses, etc.
What else can I possibly find to do in Rhode Island on a rainy, foggy day?
Really?? Do you really have to ask??
What are vacations for besides thriftin', antiquing, and shopping secondhand stores?!
So, the minute I landed on the ground on Sunday at around noon, I asked my friends to take me to a flea market in Charlestown, R.I. at the old General Stanton Inn. This flea market has been in existence for probably 30 years. I remember coming to it when I lived out on the Block in the 80s. It's a big one, chalk full usually, but it's a little early in the season here so there were a moderate number of vendors.
Fewer vendors means fewer customers, and we were there at the tail-end of the day on a Sunday when people are ready to cut some deals. My kinda thriftin' as you know! I got a few pieces of china there and, if I had driven out here instead of flown, I'd have been going home with a couple of pieces of wood furniture that were begging for a little chalk paint love. But alas, another time perhaps.
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| Closet Revival vintage clothing store |
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Then yesterday, we spent an extremely pleasant, albeit overcast day in Newport traipsing around from Salvation Army store to vintage clothing store to antique store and hitting other retail establishments along the way. The vintage clothing store was really adorable and I'm planning a feature on her some other time. The shop was extremely browsable (yes, spellcheck, I just made up that word) and the proprietor was a delightful young woman who, surprisingly, did not yet have a web presence for her shop.
Here are my finds thus far on my Rhode Island excursion.
I picked up the china and the pale pink glass candlestick at the flea market in Charlestown on Sunday. The other pieces of glass came from the Salvation Army thrift store.
See how the pale pinks are pulling these pieces together? Me likey!
This Nippon plate has pale pink around the edge. Yeah baby!
I love how this cup has ridges and dimples like a pedal. Isn't she precious?
Then the contemporary lines of this little demitasse cup just made me smile. Not as pale on the pink, but equally sweet.
Then, just inside the door of a really,
really,
really upscale antique store--we are in Newport, after all--was a tray full of random crystals from vintage and antique crystal chandeliers. The shop was full of chandeliers and I'm guessing the proprietor collected all manner of crystal chandeliers in order to replace crystals on the
ones he had hanging in his shop. My mind started to wander and I started picturing how I could incorporate some of these crystals into pieces of jewelry. And so . . .
Imagine how that will look dangling from your neck? Can't wait to get started making some jewelry with these. I might have to go back and get more before the week is through.
I'm on vacation so I am ready to PARTAY!
