The rest of the Chicago thrifting

Hi guys!  Can you believe this?  Three days in a row I'm posting!  Aren't you proud?  So Wednesday I told you all about this past Saturday's tourist-thrifting in a few nifty neighborhoods around Chicago.  Last night I gave you a cheapskate's review of an adorably decorated but decidedly cheap hotel.  

Now it's time to show off Sunday's haul, for yes, the thrifting did continue!

We started our day from the cheap hotel far, far from the city, and, as breakfast was not included in our thrifty accommodations, we found this fabulous establishment:

That's right, we had Spunky Dunkers Donuts for breakfast!

We took our sugary bounty to go, found the Starbucks at the local train station, and ate at a picnic table in the little park nearby while wondering whether very small aliens created the lawn-circles there, or whether perhaps someone spilled weed killer.

After downing two donuts and an iced chai I was ready for some more exploring.  We had hoped to visit some vintage shops we had scoped out online in the Wicker Park/Bucktown/Humbolt Park neighborhoods, but every place we found was either closed on Sunday or closed this particular Sunday because of the holiday weekend.  Todd and I did press our noses longingly to the glass at An Orange Moon, but nobody materialized from the back to let us in for an exclusive peek and huge discounts like in my daydreams.  Still, so much to covet there!  And a wander around that nifty area was by no means a bust.  There were fabulous old businesses and lovely residential streets to wander:

And lo and behold, the lovely residential street depicted above sported an "estate sale" sign - bonus!  In a converted carriage house, I apparently learned the importance of coasters, for here is what I purchased:

A set of 6 vintage coasters with Parisian street scenes. 

My very own Stonesters!  Sorry about the lousy pic quality - I guess I was excited.

I posted here about a set of cut stone coasters I got my Dad for his birthday at a craft fair this summer.  These are by the same guy - they have the same sticker underneath, and are just as awesomely Andy Goldsworthy-esque as those, but I got these for about 1/5 the price - yay!

After the estate sale we felt the need to appease the youngster in the group who had very patiently wandered neighborhoods and waded through junk with us for so long, so we headed for Michigan Avenue so he could do some coveting of his own at the Apple Store.  As sleek technology is nice but not necessarily covet-worthy to me, I took that time to stop and smell the... well, not roses:

Flower beds on Michigan Ave.

I'm sure this is a famous building.  I just call it cool                                                     

More from the flower beds 

I so want to go to the Tip Top Tap!

After Michigan Avenue we went looking for the Randolph Street Market, but again struck out, either because we were thrown off by the North Coast Music Festival that kept getting in our way, or because it was closed that day, I'm not sure which.  We did, however, find a real live nitty gritty old-tools-and-cheap-sunglasses flea market:

And look - the sky was clearing up!

I didn't find any vintage treasures there, but, as the clouds all blew away and the sun came out full force, I did buy a pair of the above-mentioned cheap sunglasses, and this most excellent concoction:

Mango con chile - sooooo yum!

Later, without realizing we were doing it, we found our way to another amazing comfort food spot that's apparantly been there for over 70 years, never closes, has been featured on the Food Network, and (this part's just my own personal opinion based on the super nice people who waited on us) appears to be a really great workplace.  The White Palace Grill boasted really, really good food, even if you weren't impressed by all that other stuff.  The soup was amazing (they really like to feed you soup in Chicago, I think).

So after a relative bust in terms of thrifty finds up to that point in the day, we managed to find one of the many Unique Thrift stores in the area, where they were having an awesome sale, and where I found quite a few treasures:

A green vintage lampshade (stitchery bit needs redone, and
I should've turned the seam side around, but oh well!).

A really nice mid-century magazine rack.

An adorable matched pair of crewelwork kite-flying kids.

A cheaply made but awesomely printed vintage bedspread
that doesn't appear to have ever been used.

A small blue and red monogrammed overnight bag.

An old TOMY owl clock-toy.

A beautiful vintage tablecloth in bright autumn tones.

I think I picked up more at this one medium sized strip-mall thrift store than I bought anywhere else all weekend!  We went back to the big amazing warehouse I mentioned in Wednesday's post after that, so Todd could do some wheelie-dealing (he totally scored a Lane Acclaim coffee table for $40!), but what I picked up there I included in what I showed you from there yesterday.  So this concludes the thrift haulage from the weekend, and my energy for continued typing.  I suppose that means I'll spare you my thoughts on Ikea as an analogy for the road to hell.  You don't have to thank me!

If you haven't had enough of thrifted treasures yet, check out these link-ups full of folks who are lucky in thrift:  

Chic on a Shoestring's Flaunt it Friday and The Thrifty Groove's Thrifty Things Friday. 

And what about you?  Thrift anything good lately?

Labor Day weekend spoils

Hey guys!  a little late posting about the holiday weekend, but rest assured I had a good time with great friends blundering around the Chicago area.  My good friend Beth is thinking about trying a booth too, so she was on the prowl for vintage finds, which meant, alas, I had no choice but to do some serious thrifting along with her and her hubby, and here I am to share a few of the highlights with you!

First thing we did when we got into the Chicago area was stop and check out an estate sale in a super cute 40s-50s era bungalow in the suburbs.  I think it was Westchester.  The house had fabulous vintage wallpaper that I'm already mourning since it's bound to be ripped off immediately when the house is sold, but it also had, in the basement, these:

Vintage cookbooks, yay!  The Betty Crocker's Good and Easy is coming out of its binding, but the illustrations are so great I just don't care.

We wandered several neighborhoods after that, and stopped in at a Goodwill along the way, but I didn't find anything I couldn't live without.  Then we found our way to the Little Village neighborhood.  I think I could have wandered around there for most of the rest of the day.  I definitely would have enjoyed lunch there, but my partners in crime had had Mexican food the night before and were in the mood for something different.  So we visited the Village Discount Outlet thrift store.  Three stories worth of thrift - WOW!  We skipped the first floor altogether, as we weren't interested in clothing, but we still spent a considerable amount of time picking our way through two other floors of treasures.  Here's what I picked up there:

Nice vintage scarf - the green is much brighter in person.

A gorgeous pair of mugs.  The only marking is DR on the bottom.  I love them!

A cute children's book about a goose named Petunia.

Check out the illustrations!  Love the colors!

After all our hard thrifting work, we were ready for some lunch, so we wandered (pretty much completely aimlessly) into the Pilsen neighborhood, where we found Benny's Grill and Pancake House, which turned out to be omnomnommy.  We all loved what we got.  I had the Monte Carlo sandwich:

Then we wandered the neighborhood, which was fun and eclectic and boasted several cool vintage shops, which we very happily visited.  The best by far was this one, full of vintage modern goodness I can't afford, a cute little dog, and a very nice lady who told us a bit about the neighborhood:

If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out!

A few more glimpses of that area:

Due to our cheapskatitude, we weren't staying in the city proper, but out near the Schaumberg Ikea instead, and I had heard about a place in the northern suburbs that is something like a permanent estate sale.  From what I gather, they buy whole estates, either what doesn't sell at a regular estate sale, or just the whole shebang, and they have a giant warehouse that was, at least this particular weekend, open to the public.  So of course, we went for it.  Check it out - the picture doesn't do the place justice - it's huge and kind of grimy and altogether awesome:

I came away from there with a few little treasures as well:

3-D crewelwork flowers in cheery blues

A cute little desk lamp (works great!) and  old-timey rabbit ears antennae. I realize nobody
has a legitimate use for rabbit ears anymore, but I'm convinced that after steam punk
comes something like analog punk, and whoever is into that will love them, right?  Right?

Two adorable mismatched mugs.

A very, very old wooden puzzle in excellent shape!  

A little close-up on the children.

By the time we finished procuring treasures at the warehouse, we were kind of sweaty and dusty and gross ourselves, so we headed for the hotel, where we ordered a big messy Chicago style pizza and watched the new episode of Doctor Who.  Yum all around!

Plates, silverware and/or napkins would have been a good idea!

More on the rest of the trip, including more thrifted treasures, a mini-review of the cutest, jankiest hotel you may ever meet, and possibly an epic poem entitled "Ikea, Une Saison En Enfer", coming soon!  In the mean time, check out all the treasures hunted by the clever, clever folks at these link-ups:

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Me and My Shadow's Magpie Monday, and Beez Rental Design's Frugal Treasures Tuesday

Saturday of freedom

Saturday was my free day to do as I pleased before skipping back to the 'Lou, and I know, surely everyone's on the edge of their seats wondering what I got up to!

To be completely honest, I didn't get up to as much as I thought I might, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and left plenty to do and see on some other, possibly slightly warmer Chicago wander someday. I had in my head the whole week that I'd like to get to an estate sale or two while in the Chicago area.  I love treasure hunting at estate sales, but more than that, what a fun way to get to see an unfamiliar city from a strangely intimate point of view.   So I checked online and found a couple that sounded like they might be interesting, and was headed in the direction of one of them.  

On the way, though, I stopped at New to You Upscale Resale.  The world "Upscale" in the name was a turnoff, but when I drove by it looked big, and not too much like a lunching-moms' designer castoffs kind of place, so I had hope it wouldn't be too pricey, and for the most part, it wasn't.  

First, a few of the things I left behind:

An adorably homespun sock-and-broomstick horse.

Cool mid-century table lamp - see closeup of the shades below.

The swirly shades are the best part.

Awesome mid century shadowbox mirror thingy.

I love the mirror piece - I imagine it came from the same home as the lamp, as they share the gold and the swirl and the era.  And look - there are my feet, all toasty and dry in my newly thrifted English sheepskin lined boots!

Now for some of what did come home with me (I picked up a few things not shown; this is all I have shots of so far):

Cute little black frame purse - needs dusting.

Pretty gold brocade clutch.  The little faux-pearl on the clasp has
lost some of it's finish, but the brocade is in great shape.

Sweet caramel-apricot satin lining.

Cool souvenir glass.  Love the colors, the font,
the illustration, and the childhood memories of a
family road trip that took me over that very bridge.

Yes, yet another gold clutch, but this one's lovely-
colored lining is actually plasticy, so it would
make a cutely glam makeup bag!

A pair of what I can only think to describe as lanyard-woven bottles from the 50s or 60s.

Cool 60s Hallmark bridge set.

After a pleasant time at that shop, I wandered a little further North and East to the Oak Park area, where I found no treasures, but had the voyeuristic pleasure of looking through a 11/2 story bungalow with tons of character - mostly original looking, except for the kitchen.  The neighborhood was beautiful under a blanket of snow:

Snow makes everything prettier, doesn't it?

Super cool street lights in this neighborhood, complete with icicles.

After wandering up and down a few streets I suddenly came across a vision of awesomeness in bright orange and turquoise stuck on the front of an old frame house!:

Parky's... I don't even know what to say!

Hot dogs and italian beef , and RC cola - didn't even know they still made that !

Every detail of the place was nifty!

I imagine this little wedge of sunshine in a box gets warm in the summer!

Stool/shadow/snow

Orange and red!

I'm sure it wasn't really true, but it seemed like no two red vinyl and chrome stools were alike; I love that acquired-over-time indication of the history of the place, not to mention that the whole thing seemed so DIY, from the hand-drawn combo-menu signs to the shelf-tables to the whole entire structure just tacked on to the front of a building.  It definitely had the feel of a local institution, so it made me smile to see some of the reviews online when I looked it up later.  Of course I had an Italian beef sandwich to go.  It was tasty!  It was no Adriana's, but then Adriana's is one of a kind.  

I wandered around some inner-suburb areas and a bit of the city for awhile after that, but between the snow and the cold and parking issues, I mostly just drove around looking and making mental notes for a future visit, then I decided to head to the even-more-outer-suburbs than I'd been to thus far, to visit IKEA.  I picked the Boollingbrook location, since it's close to interstate 55.  I thought I might find some organizational inspiration and/or cheap tools for the same.  Instead I found another Goodwill on the way there, where I picked up a few more treasures (pics another time), and at IKEA itself, I picked up some red drawer-pulls that I may or may not use as drawer-pulls, and one of those wire and clip contraptions that I think I will use to hang a couple of vintage aprons on to serve as a treatment for the back window in my kitchen.  I'll also admit to a relaxicating visit to the cafe there for a piece of Swedish apple cake.  After that I decided to hit the road for a bit so the drive home Sunday would be easier.  I ended up spending the night in Bloomington, Il, in a room with a very loud heater.  Pics of the magical world I visited on Sunday in my next installment!