Sometimes in the course of thrifting for Anne, I'll come across a piece of clothing that doesn't fit -- now -- but is too good a deal to leave behind. When that happens I always ask myself: is this worth storing for the two, three, or four seasons until my kid fits into it? We don't have a lot of storage in our house, so in most cases, the answer has to be no.

But sometimes, it might be a yes.

I found this brand new (still with tags!) Crewcuts bubble skirt when A. was still at least two sizes too small for it but picked it up anyway knowing that it would be worth it in the long run. Crewcuts stuff is practically impossible to destroy (when it isn't made out of some impractical fabric like SILK) and the colors and cuts are classic, meaning it won't go out of style while A. waits to grow into it. Also, Crewcuts stuff tends to be relatively expensive, so when you can pick it up for $3 versus $45, you better.

Other brands I tend to hang onto when I come across them: baby Gap, Hanna Andersson, tea collection, Boden.

Do you save things for later when buying stuff for your kids?

Last weekend, we met up with some DC friends in Richmond to spend the afternoon and found ourselves at one point in World of Mirth toy store in Carytown. If you've never been to/heard of World of Mirth before (I hadn't), prepare to be amazed: this place is like something out of a kids movie. The big store is crammed full of all kinds of treasures for kids and adults alike.

The day we went was Nov. 1, so we were greeted with a Day of the Dead display which kind of set the tone for what we would find deeper in the store. There's an emphasis on the funky, the retro, the crafty and creative over the kind of run of the mill plastic stuff you find in chain stores (although to be fair in the vastness of the store, there's enough of that, too). Especially memorable were the book section (with some amazing coloring books), the carefully curated science toys section (with baskets of toys to test), and the collections of plastic animals and figurines lining shelves at the front of the store (from cows to dinosaurs to Greek mythological figures). World of Mirth has a pretty awesome selection of stuff for adults, too, including this Darth Vader tote bag that I am having serious buyer's remorse over.




We wanted to buy one of everything but ended up going home with some new books (review coming), candy, a stuffed dog, and some geodes to smash open (they were duds but we enjoyed the smashing). All in all, a good haul.

PS: Free hayrides at Bluebird Gap Farm in Hampton this Saturday! Head on over to Fun and Free Hampton Roads for details.

I've written before that one of my favorite things to find at thrift stores is fabric. For the beginner sewer (like me), it's great to find lots of fabric to practice on without breaking the bank. I found this vintage curtain panel at Thrift Store USA an age ago, and bought it for 99 cents. Even though it wasn't a lot of fabric to work with, I really couldn't bear to leave the adorable floral anemone pattern behind to languish on the rack. What if nobody else appreciated it like I did? It stayed curled up in my fabric stash until Anouk noticed it one day, and told me she wanted a dress out of it.

I decided to make it work, Tim Gunn style. I used an existing bodice pattern piece, tracing it onto freezer paper and lengthening it to a tunic length, and just managed to make it fit the cloth. I lined it with some muslin, and then tacked the existing ruffle to the bottom (the ruffle is really the best part, with the yellow contrast stitching). Over pants or shorts, it really is the sweetest thing and even if it isn't perfect, I'm glad that an adorable piece of old fabric got some new life (of course its new life was quickly threatened by a handful of rogue blueberries but I managed to get the stains out without ruining anything so hooray!) It's one of my favorite thrift store finds to date. 





Now A. is all ready to visit Rhett at the Atlanta jail and ask for the money to pay taxes on Tara! I'm sure she'll get it, how could she not looking this cute?

Have you found any thrift-store gems lately?

With this latest spate of rainy days, things are really greening up around town and it seems spring is officially in full swing. Which also means that a lot of local farmers markets are opening for the season! We are big fans of buying local produce whenever we can, and so this time of year is a little like Christmas for our family. Below are some of our favorite markets in the area but we're always looking to add new ones. What are your favorite #HRVA farm markets? And what do you buy there?

1. New Earth Farm: Out Pungo way in Virginia Beach, this organic farm sells some amazing fruits and vegetables in season, some of which you would be hard pressed to find even on a Whole Foods shelf! In years past, we visited New Earth Farm for heaps of watermelon radishes, sunchokes, and tatsoi, fresh eggs, and even seedlings and seeds to start our own garden. It helps that the people are so nice, too. Thats New Earth Farm in the header photo -- look at that Baby A., so happy at the thought of eating some New Earth veggies. Open: Saturdays, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. 

2. Tidewater Community College Greens on the Green: I love this market because it's right smack dab in the middle of downtown Norfolk on the TCC campus. It's a smaller market but so convenient! Open: First and third Thursdays, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. 

3. Suffolk Farmers Market: The Suffolk Farmers Market is having its grand opening for the season this Saturday and everybody will be out to help celebrate, from the Suffolk Art League to the Teeny Tiny Petting Zoo. In addition to eatables, this market also features local handmade crafts, well worth the drive if you're farther away. Open: Wednesdays from 3:00 to 6:00 PM, Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. 

4.  Five Points Farm Market: Five Points feels more like a general store than a traditional farmers market, but I'm including it on the list because it really is a gem. In addition to local meats and produce, honey, breads, and desserts, there's a great little library with books on all sorts of healthy-living topics and there's also the Get Fresh Cafe, one of our favorite places to grab a quick lunch. Open: Thursday and Friday, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (year round!)

5. Williamsburg Farmer's Market: The Williamsburg Farmers Market is truly a CW attraction in its own right with an impressive list of vendors. There's often local music and bonus! offerings from local vineyards, too. This Saturday, they are hosting their Children's Day. Open: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. 

Over at Fun and Free Hampton Roads, I also wrote about the Atlantic Coast Kite Festival coming up at the Oceanfront this weekend. It's perfect kite-flying weather, so click on over. Have a great weekend, everybody!

For the past few months, I've been on the hunt for a very specific item: namely, a set of iced tea spoons in my (seventy-year-old) silverware pattern. Whenever I pass a promising looking antique or vintage shop, I always pop in to check but so far, have had no luck finding what I need (though I have found dozens of other things I don't actually need).

Last week, I had a free afternoon and decided that since I'd be in the neighborhood anyway, I'd expand my search to Chesapeake's Antique Alley. "Antique Alley" refers to the spate of antique stores at the corner of Canal Street and Military Highway in Chesapeake, famous among Hampton Roads treasure hunters for the bargains and interesting finds that can be had there.



I started with Days Remembered, and spent about an hour poking around there. They had a little bit of everything, but most notable was their collection of antique tools and vintage kitchenware. They had a large selection of vintage china and stoneware and big bins of adorable retro cookie cutters, everything from dinosaurs to hearts to barnyard animals. I was sorely tempted by a 1950s lemonade set (love the snowflake motif) but managed to walk past it (it was hard, believe me, and I might go back for it yet).






Next, I moseyed over to Granma Had One Antiques and Collectibles, which is in the same building as Days Remembered (I believe the two stores used to be one, or are owned by the same family?) And I spent another hour there, combing through more treasures. Granma Had One is an especially good place to look if you're in the market for costume jewelry or vintage Pyrex (they had a whole wall of the more popular patterns and some harder-to-find pieces, too). They also had a large vintage book section, including a selection of those local/fundraiser cookbooks that I get so many of my favorite recipes from.





Though I left empty-handed (let's hear it for self-control?), I very much enjoyed browsing these stores and have already mentally moved both onto my rotation of places to check regularly.

Have you discovered any new antique hotspots -- or made any good finds -- lately? Tell us about them in the comments (and if you've happened to come across a set of Tudor Rose iced tea spoons, message me!)

 A few weekends ago, James, Anne, and I headed up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a little antiquing and snapped these photos on the way. I don't know what it is about January that makes us want to visit the Eastern Shore (last January we visited Kiptopeke State Park and Cape Charles) but I think it must have something to do with how pretty it is there this time of year. This time it was extra-pretty with everything dusted with a thin layer of snow. It was also extra-cold, which explains why there are no people in these photos, both of my subjects refused to leave the safety of the heated car.
The first shop we hit was the Exmore Antique Emporium in Exmore, VA. They had a good selection of jadeite and milk glass, a large collection of paintings, and racks and racks of vintage costume jewelry, from enameled brooches to cocktail rings and hat pins. I fell in love with some Spode china and a vintage barometer (both pictured above). However, everything was priced 15-20% more than I would have liked it to be, so we left empty-handed but it was still fun to browse.

The next place we visited was the Blue Crow Antique Mall in Painter. This is purported to be the second-largest antique mall in Virginia and it definitely felt like it. We tried our best to see as much of the place as we could and spent about two hours browsing but I still think there were a few alcoves we missed. Blue Crow has a little bit of everything but the true standout was the huge selection of nautical items, from fishing floats to nets to a dozen or more antique boat lanterns. They also had a lot of vintage linens and best of all, a heap of what I like to call "church cookbooks" -- you know, those spiral bound books of recipes put together in 1972 or so to raise money for the PTA or local firemen, etc.

The prices at Blue Crow were more reasonable but we still only came home with two things, in the end -- an old oar (I have DIY plans for it) and an '80s-era pink matchbox car (bribe present for A.)

Do you like to go antiquing? Where are your favorite places to go to hunt for treasures?

While Anne and I were staying with family on Hatteras Island, we took a day trip to Ocracoke, probably the cutest and most interesting place in the whole Outer Banks. I've always been fascinated with Ocracoke, how remote it is, its laid-back, Key-West-type vibe, it's wild history as a WWII hotspot and a colonial-era pirate hangout.

Our journey began in Hatteras with a ferry ride that took us across the Pamlico Sound, followed by a short drive down the island to Ocracoke Village, which is situated at the very southern tip. All of Ocracoke Island, except for the village, is owned by the National Park Service, which means that it's as remote and pristine as you could hope for it to be. Nothing but dunes and grasses, and glimpses of the sea in between.

Our first stop, once in the village, was at Dajio, for a delicious seafood lunch. Then we explored: we went all the way around Silver Lake harbor and meandered some of the village's shady, unpaved lanes, poking our heads into the shops we passed. Our favorites were the Village Craftsman and the Ocracoke Community Store, a handmade art co-op featuring local artisans. A blackboard outside the latter proclaimed that a local resident was turning 90 that day -- the man himself was sitting on the porch to accept birthday wishes from passers-by, who rode by on bikes or in rented golf carts. (The streets on the island are narrow and mostly unpaved, and so those are the preferred ways of getting around; it's not really a car-friendly place).









We also paid a visit to the famous wild Banker pony pasture outside of town, but as it was 90+ degrees, the ponies themselves had decided to hunker down in their shelters for shade, like any smart mammal would. We didn't get to see as many as we wanted and we definitely didn't get any good photos of them. But as my 13-year-old cousin, child of the internet age, reminded me, I could just Photoshop them in to the pics we did get. (Sadly, my skills aren't quite up to that yet.) So...




This is the part you should definitely read if you are thinking about visiting Ocracoke: With the tourist season in full swing, and the waters in the Pamlico shoaling up as a result of recent storms, the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry ride can take a little more time than anticipated. Wait times to get on one of the three free ferries can be upwards of two hours, and the ride, which is supposed to take 40 minutes, is actually more like an hour. My advice is to get there early, when the ferry opens at 5 AM, or else wait until the afternoon to cross and stay overnight on the island. I wish somebody had told us before we tried it -- we could have saved a lot of time (and sanity -- there's only so many times you can sing your toddler the "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" song before you feel like you might lose it).

But I would have done it all over again for the sight of the beautiful Ocracoke beaches. Stay tuned for the fourth (and final, and my favorite) installment of our OBX trip for more on that.