Yesterday, I shared about our shopping trip to Lucca and today I am showing all of the goodies I bought, carefully wrapped, strategically packed, and brought home in my suitcase.  Well, and I borrowed some space in my mom’s suitcase, too! If you remember back to my post about shopping at the flea market in Paris, I shared how much I drooled over the antique copper in one particular booth.  Of course, I was attracted to the oldest pieces (from the 1800’s) and therefore the most expensive.  Even though I had saved money to spend, I couldn’t stomach spending €300 (about $350) on one bundt pan or jelly mold.  I held them and took pictures, and continued looking for things that would persuade me to part with my money. When I was in Lucca, I spotted a small shelf hanging from a tent, filled with similar copper pieces.  I must admit that,

This weekend is the big antique event in this corner of the world – Gold Rush!  It’s an antique market that sets up in the entire town of Oronoco, MN and at the Rochester Fair Grounds.  I went last year, but it was raining, so I only experienced a small fraction of the event in Oronoco.  I did get to shop at the Rochester Fair Grounds venue, though, since most of that is indoors.  That’s where I bought this piece last year… This year, I was able to get a friend to watch the boys and I met up with another friend (a Gold Rush veteran) to do some antiquing. The weather was nice this year (or at least not raining), so I was able to see a lot more and get a better feel for the event.  Like most antique markets, this one is a mixed bag.  There is

One thing I wanted to do when I went back to PA to visit my parents was visit some of my favorite antique stores.  I have found some nice things in Minnesota, but I really missed the antiquing back east.  No, that’s too general.   I really missed my stores – the ones that were on my regular route.  I knew many of the vendors and which booths were routinely my favorite and I was never skunked. So, my mom, Jenn, and I hit a few of my favorite places and I found some awesome goodies.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find the biggies that were on my list, like a mirror for the dining room, but I found one of my favorite things in spades – ironstone. As you may know, I love ironstone and have been collecting it as well as buying and selling it for many years.  Thousands and thousands