A Weekend of Antiquing

My aunt has been traveling to the DC area all summer for her job, and this weekend marked her last planned trip up here for work.  To end the weekend on a nice note, she stayed over for Saturday and Sunday so we could spend time together.

Our original plan was to go to Annapolis for the weekend, but because there was a boat show (I think?) happening there this weekend, we were not able to get a hotel room.  Instead, we stayed in northern virginia in the area she's been staying in for work and traveled out to do some shopping yesterday.

About 30 miles from her hotel is a great set of outlet shops in Leesburg, Virginia.  They have a ton of outlet stores: Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Barney's New York, J.Crew, and the list goes on.  We had a great time shopping at the outlet mall.  Here's some of my loot from the day:

An herb saver.  I've wanted to try this product for a long time, and I found it at the WS outlet for a reasonable price (plus I got to use my gift card!).  Once I've had the opportunity to see how these work, I might post a review on whether or not I think they are worth the money.

Yep! I broke down and bought the melamine mixing bowls too!  I think this color probably differs from the bowls offered on the WS website, but these were discounted at the outlet and on sale.  I couldn't pass that up!

I bought these two pillow cases to fit the euro pillows on my bed.  The only problem is... these are standard size!  I seriously don't know how this happened because I genuinely thought I picked up the euro size.  I hope I will have a chance to return these in the next month, but if not I think I may just keep them.  (It is sort of unlikely that I will be able to return them since they have to go back to the outlet and I don't have a car here in DC with me...)  I mean, they are classic white and quilted, so surely I will use them eventually.  I'm just so ticked at myself for not double-checking!

After the outlet mall, we stopped for some lunch and then headed to some antique stores I had been researching online.  Antiquing is absolutely one of my FAVORITE things to do.  In fact, we had a choice of two outlet malls, but I picked the Leesburg one so we could do some antiquing too.  Even if you don't find anything you want to take home, or if you can't afford to take anything home, antiquing is always a fun time.

We first went to a place called Old Luckett's Store.  It was AWESOME. I could kick myself for not taking a picture of the building's exterior, but if you google it, I found some pictures of the exterior on other blogs.  I didn't really take any pictures there worth posting, so you should check out their blog and website to see some of the great things their vendors offer.

My aunt did find this outside: 

I know what you are thinking: Katelyn why did you post a picture of this old, janky dresser?  Well, my aunt and I are both pretty sure that this dresser is the matching piece to a crib that has been in our family for generations.  My dad was the first baby to sleep in the crib, then his siblings, then many of his cousins, and then me.  We still have the crib in our attic.  Pretty cool, huh?

Next, we headed on On A Whim down the road. Check out their blog here.

I thought this silo was really cool, and although I'm not a big fan of pink, it looks cute and goes well with the aesthetic of the store.

They had all these displays of pink pumpkins outside the store.  Again, I thought the pink was a bit much, but the pumpkins sure did get your attention!  Come to find out, they were selling the pumpkins and donating part of the proceeds The National Breast Cancer Foundation.  What a great cause and a fun idea!  It certainly caught my eye!

I LOVED this piece!  If I had the space and the fundage to buy it, this baby would have come home to DC with me.  It has cane detailing on the sides.  I don't know what's gotten into me, but I love caned furniture these days. 

And this little beauty DID come home with me!  I've been on the hunt for a side table to finish off my living room for forever, it seems like.  I finally found this table at a great price of $45.  Now that I have this and some pillows for my couch, a post on my living room should be forthcoming.

Details of the table top.  It was decoupaged with sheets of music on top. 

After On A Whim, we headed to downtown Leesburg and stopped in a couple of antique stores there. 

Although I didn't find anything to buy downtown, I thought this door was so beautiful! 

Since we had a late lunch, we didn't eat here, but I was so excited to find this restaurant!  It is called The Cajun Experience, and they even had little crawfish on their building.  The next time I am out in Leesburg, I have to stop in and check this place out!  They even had some Saints memorabilia that we could see in the windows.

Thanks for reading this long post.  I hope you all had great weekends too!  I'll be spending the remainder of my weekend studying for a midterm, so I was glad to have this fun break.