It's a Buoy!

I finally got Bella signed up for the drop in day care at the base, so we're taking her in one day and week to give me a day off socialize with other children.  This past week was my first week with my day off and man it was heaven.  Well...for me it was.  I got to run errands...alone!  Seriously, the other moms out there know I'm not kidding when I say that it is an awesome feeling.

I slept til 10:30.  I took my time getting ready.  Then I leisurely drove over to Cape Carteret and stopped in at an antique store that has caught my eye every time I've driven past it.  It's called Secret Treasures (their website isn't much but it's here if you're interested) and I had an awesome time just browsing through all their things.

They have one room dedicated to just beachy themed things, some re-purposed antiques and some new things like soaps and mats.  I picked up a new work mat for the classroom in fun pastel beach like colors for Bella.

The rest of the store is sort of set up as little vignettes, almost like walking from room to room in a house with no walls.  In the kitchen area I ran across some antique cast iron pans, which Vinny has been wanting, so I picked that up for him.

Then, on my way to check out I saw this little guy:

I had seen these in the pottery barn catalog:

They aren't available anymore, but I at least recognized that it was a buoy of some sort, though significantly smaller than the ones Pottery Barn offered.  This one is about the size of a baseball.  Also, the Pottery Barn ones were super expensive (no surprise) and my find was only $17.  They had 2 but I grabbed the one that was greener because I knew I wanted to put it on the mantel with some other green things.  So, there is still one more for some lucky buyer!

This buoy is about 75 years old and is from Japan.  Handblown glass, this one was used sort of like a fishing bobber:

But, oh so much classier.  And a bit bigger.  And heavier.  And more expensive.  Anyway...

It's a buoy!!!  And I love how it looks on the mantel with the other greeny stuff.

I also got tons of other errands run, primarily buying supplies for other upcoming home projects, so stay tuned.

Have you ever found something in an antique store that you just had to have?  What do you do when you get a day off from the kiddo(s)?