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Favorite Vintage Accessory Finds and What I Look For in Antique Stores


If you've seen any of my Instagram stories over the last few months, you might know TJ and I have gotten into antiquing. Like almost every weekend...it's been a great socially distanced activity. It's also a fun way to break up road trips by finding shops along the way! I have looked around a few sites online, but there's just something about sifting through the stores that is so much more fun. Some of our favorite places to look for antiques in the Charlotte area are The Sleepy Poet (in Charlotte and Gastonia), Gaston Pickers in Gastonia, The Depot at Gibson Mill in Concord, and Main St. Antiques in Mooresville. 
We have also been frequenting estate sales we find on estatesales.net! But the estate sales are definitely more for home decor. I think I'll need to dedicate several different posts to my decor finds. But that will have to wait until TJ is moved in to our future home, and I can start decorating. We haven't had much luck in get that part figured out just yet...this "unprecedented" year is carrying over into the housing market as well. But anyway, I have been able to style some of my favorite accessory finds for recent posts. So I thought I would share a little bit about those today! Including the categories I look for in stores and where I found each piece.


I am always on the lookout for silk scarves at antique stores. I usually find them between $4-$15, which I think is a pretty great deal for 100% silk. The North Carolina scarf in the above photo will likely end up a in a frame, but I have been tying it on bags for now. And I think I'll be draping it around some jackets as the weather is getting cooler. This scarf was a find from the Depot at Gibson Mill, the largest antique mall in the south! If you are looking to quickly get in and out of an antique store, this one would not be a good option. We probably spent over 3 hours walking through there to see everything. If you're local, note the front rooms have higher prices. But they get more reasonable as you go around.


I look for several different sizes of silk scarves, because they can be used in so many different ways. My favorite use of the smaller square sizes would be for headbands, but they also can be tied as a face mask! Also in the above photo, I have had a lot of fun searching through some display cases for some cute vintage pins and brooches. I don't think I have been into a single antique store that was lacking in selection. These are also usually very reasonably priced, between about $2-$10. I haven't had too many options to style these pins lately, but I know I'll be rotating a few around on coats and jackets in the upcoming months. The scarf and pin in this look were both from Sleepy Poet in Charlotte. This is probably the best option within Charlotte. They have reasonable prices, the place takes quite awhile to get through, and turns over enough to be able to come back and see new things every few months.


Another small collection I have been forming is vintage bags. Thanks to quarantine, I haven't really gotten to carry many of the styles I have recently found just yet. But I'm sure they will be featured in future outfit posts. This is another category I have seen at most antiques stores we have shopped, just make sure the bag is large enough to fit your phone. Some are very small, but I've been surprised by a few styles at how much they can fit. As for the prices, I typically see them between $10-$40 depending on the size and condition for the bag. I found this clutch, that is perfect for weddings, from the Gastonia location of Sleepy Poet.


I know what you're probably thinking...vintage shoes? Isn't that gross? This definitely isn't a top category I look for while vintage shopping. But finding these never worn Ferragamo heels for $25 (from Gaston Pickers in Gastonia) will probably always be one of my favorite finds. The soles had very clearly never met any concrete, so I had to pick them up! I don't see selections of shoes too often at a lot of the stores we visit, but I do always check to see if there's another pair of unworn Ferragamo's waiting to join this pair.

I have also found a few jewelry pieces and more scarves lately that I just haven't been able to style for the blog yet. Jewelry is another category that is at just about every single vintage/antique store, but I'm pretty selective with what I pick from there. So stay tuned for part 2!

Thanks for reading!

Wedding Wednesday: What We've Planned So Far


TJ and I have been engaged a little over 3 months, and already have so much planned! This is all mostly thanks to my amazing mom. She has taken the Mother of the Bride title very seriously, and is just as excited as we are! I thought it might be fun to share what we have planned so far, about 9 months out from our wedding date. Although since we have taken engagement photos, we have been mostly focusing on finding our future home. There's much more to share about that for a future post!

Already planned:
Church
We will be getting married in the church I grew up in, and where I have received all of my other Catholic sacraments.

Reception venue
We will have cocktail hour and the reception at my family's country club.

Officiant (more on that in this post)
We are so excited that the priest who introduced us will also be marrying us!

My dress, veil, shoes, and earrings (for rehearsal too!)
I'm already too excited to share all of those details after the wedding!

Hair and Makeup
I haven't decided details yet, I've been pinning lots of ideas lately.

Photographer and Videographer
Some of the earliest decisions that were made was to secure photos and video for our date.

Florist
Our wedding date just so happens to fall when my favorite flowers are in season!

Band
This was also one of our first decisions, some bands were already booked over a year in advance.

Food
Dinner and drinks are conveniently combined with the venue.

Wedding Party
We will each have 7 people by our sides, I might share in a future post how I asked by bridesmaids.

Engagement Photos (in case you missed this post)
We had the best time with Deeana, who takes about 99% of the photos you see on the blog!

Some day-of details
Like where we will be getting ready, transportation from church to reception, etc.


In Progress:
Wedding Website
I think we will be using Zola.

Save the Dates and Invitations
I've had meetings with a local vendor, we just need to figure out details.

Honeymoon Planning
COVID is sort of getting in the way of this one. We would love to go to Europe, but aren't expecting we will be allowed in any of those countries.

Bridesmaids Dresses
Although this is mostly done, I've had a great experience with Brideside so far!

Guest List
This one is also COVID dependent, but we're hoping will be okay by June.

Cake
We have tasted cake flavors, but haven't figured out details yet.

Maybe I'll do another one of these updates in another 3 months, when we are 6 months away!


Other Wedding Wednesday posts:

Thanks for reading!

Lilly Pulitzer After Party: September 2020 Sale Picks and Past Outfits Still Available


Did you shop the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale earlier today? If you missed yesterday's post I did some in-store shopping. But for the first time since 2012, I actually did not buy anything in the online part of the sale today. I guess quarantine has changed my buying habits. Or I've just been more focused on decorating for our future house? I was thinking the Jessi Romper would have been great for my bachelorette weekend, but it sold out in my size before I could get it. But that won't be until the spring anyway, so I have plenty of time to find something else. If I didn't still have several dresses already put away for cancelled weddings I would have bought the Cheryln dress in green or the Rayanne shift in pink. Maybe I'll find something if they do a re-stock tomorrow? But here are some of my recent buys that are still available and some of my other top picks!



Other picks:

Thanks for reading!

Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale: September 2020 Tips and a Mini In-Store Preview


A week later than expected, the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale is going live online tomorrow! There technically aren't any in-store preview days at the corporate stores. But I was at my parent's house in Greensboro and their signature store had a mini version of it, as the store is unfortunately also closing. But they are hoping to re-open in another part of town within the next year or so. But I found some great deals on Jack Rogers sandals (like $32 for this pair and $12.50 for this pair) and this Jonna Romper for $70. 
There was not much left for clothing but I did see the following styles: Astara dress (like the navy one I got in the last sale pictured above), Elsa tops, shift dresses like the Adalee, a lot of white dresses and Luxletic in general, and quite a few styles of shoes like the Tilly sandal. I'm not sure if what I saw will reflect tomorrow's sale or not since it was also a final clearance sale, but I thought I would share in case anyone is on the lookout for those styles. Between quarantine/social distancing keeping me from wearing a lot of my Lilly pieces lately and having a casual dress code at work, I'm not sure if I will be buying much tomorrow. I could probably still use another white dress for some pre-wedding events though. But here are my forever favorite styles that I typically look for in each sale: 





As always, here are my shopping tips if this is your first APS:
The Sale FAQ page from Lilly answers most of your typical questions you may have about the sale. But here are a few things I would add to it:

1. Create an account if you do not have one already, and make sure you are signed in the night before. It is also good to have your shipping addresses and payment information saved, to save time while all of your favorite items are going so quickly! If you shop on multiple devices (which I recommend), make sure you are signed in on each one, including the mobile app.

2. Know your sizes, all items are final sale. If you haven't bought anything from Lilly over the last few years, I have noticed some of the sizing was not as consistent as it used to be in 2015-2016. But I think has returned for the most part.

3. There are always disclaimers to expect delays for shipping and processing. But from my experience (with the exception of maybe one sale), I usually have my items within a week or so.

4. You will be placed in a virtual line to enter the sale. It used to be a good practice to place multiple orders to keep things from getting pulled out of your cart, because the shipping is always free. However, this is no longer a good idea. Because you will be placed back in line after your first order has been submitted. And I have learned that using multiple devices is really helpful for the line. It also makes the line seem much longer than it really is, if most people in line are on 2 or more devices. But, I have always found that one device gets far ahead of the others. The website sometimes crashes due to the traffic, but it what it is!

5. From the last few sales, some of the items were not marked down as much as they have been in the past. Over the years, I have noticed the best deals are on casual dresses, small accessories, skirts, and tops. If you are looking for any special occasion dresses, this is the best time to buy!

Current Favorites I hope might be included:


Pink and Gold Dress for When We Can Go to Weddings Again










I was hoping to be sharing this dress along with my regular Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale content, but the sale has still yet to happen. Maybe it will be next week? Maybe the June sale was the early version? We will see. I was also hoping to actually be wearing this dress for one of the several weddings we were supposed to be going to pre-quarantine, but they have all re-scheduled.  We had 5 friend's weddings planned in 2020, 1 last spring and 4 in the fall. Most of them are still going through with smaller ceremonies and postponed the big celebrations. While it is so sad to see, and has us worried for our own wedding in June, we are glad all of our friends are being cautious. Although we are trying to be optimistic, we are also prepared that there is a chance TJ and I may be faced with the same situation. There are clearly much larger issues to worry about in today's world. But for that and many other obvious reasons, here's hoping all of this stays in 2020!



Thanks for reading!

Wedding Wednesday: Our Engagement Photos


I'm so excited to be sharing our engagement photos today! They were of course taken by Deeana Kourtney Photography, and we had the best time shooting them! We went to the Randolph location of the Charlotte Mint Museum. Although we did have another spot in mind to start, and this would have been the second location. But the Mint leads into Eastover Park. So there were more than enough spots, and it worked out just fine! We are so excited to use these photos for our Save the Dates, wedding websites, and to frame for our future home. I haven't quite been able to narrow those down yet, so let me know if you have a favorite! TJ and I usually only have one or two poses when we take photos together. So it was a lot of fun to get dressed up and have these fun candid shots taken. I already look forward to having these photos to look back on this special time of our engagement!



















Thanks for reading!