vintage treasures and a little celebration

 Yesterday was my husband's birthday and instead of presents and a party,

we had a relaxing and fun day out and about. Brian and I are both introverted

(yep, two introverts can indeed make a good match!) and prefer quiet times

and not a lot of hoopla and fanfare. Might have a little something to do

with getting older, too. ;-)

I've talked before about the town of Evanston - me, my mom and aunt were

there on a day trip recently and I blogged about it here. Brian wanted to spend

the day in Evanston for his birthday since he grew up there. And we saw

that there was a soul-rock band playing in a park that evening and that there'd

be some top food trucks from Chicago at the park as well, so we thought

that sounded like a fun thing to check out.

We first had lunch at one of those small, greasy corner pizza places that turns

out the best pizza. And you can get it by the slice. I'm telling you, this place - 

Gigios - should be on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Anyway, Brian and I used

to frequent this place all the time when we were dating way back in the early 80's

and the employees were so thrilled when we got married! Those employees aren't

there anymore, but the restaurant still turns out the same pizza. 

We then went to our favorite resale antique store - Secret Treasures. Like I've

said, I think it's a good thing we don't live close to this store because it's too

 much temptation for me. So many cool, vintage things...dishes, glassware,

suitcases, jewelry, silverware, linens, art, small pieces of furniture, kitchen tools,

dice, buttons, toys, postcards, greeting cards, on and on. And the prices can't

be beat. I never walk out of that store empty-handed. My favorite thing I 

found yesterday was this vintage brownie camera. I knew it'd look perfect

on top of my old books.  The two vintage chess pieces are from the barn sale we

went to at the beginning of June. 

 Someone had brought in a cool collection of watercolors. There were a few pieces

I really liked but we are on a budget, so I had to draw the line somewhere. This one

was Brian's favorite piece since it's of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco ~

where we spent our 25th anniversary. When Tim moves out (only three weeks!), we'll

be transforming his room into a guest room and we already have some special art

pieces that we know we'll be hanging in that room. This will be one of them.

 Who remembers sharpening their pencils in school with one of these hand-cranked

sharpeners? I sure do. This still works, too. By the way, that's phlox you can see out

the window. Isn't it lovely?

I have never collected thimbles. I've never even been interested in thimbles.

But I saw a bowl of these for 25 cents each and decided to pick through them

to see if there were any that caught my eye. There were four that I really liked

and I knew they'd fit perfectly in my shadow box. Not sure if the one on the left

is a Holly Hobbie, but I thought the little boy and girl were endearing. The one on

the right is a hand-painted thimble from Israel (marked inside).

I simply thought the pewter thimble was pretty (the other side says "mother") and

love the detail of the kangaroos and grass on the other.

The entire shadowbox...

 Was excited to find a large Goebel owl since I had the baby owl at home.

I acted silly with the two owls at home, having the baby one "kiss" the mama

and saying in a high-pitched voice, "Oh, mama, there you are! I've been looking

for you!" Brian just rolled his eyes and said, "Oh, brother." Hey, you have to 

lighten up sometimes and act silly, right?

 Not sure why this tiny metal garden tool has a rake on one hand and a shovel on

the other, but I thought it'd be great for a fairy garden. I placed it in a pot of 

geraniums for now.

Last, but not least is this pretty blue vase. Not sure if it's old or not, but it

sure is pretty. I'm a sucker for blue and red glass.

 A trip to Evanston wouldn't be complete without some time at our favorite park

by the lake (Lake Michigan - or the Michigan Ocean, as Brian calls it). I had made

a homemade banana cake for Brian's birthday and brought along a couple of pieces

for us to enjoy. Here is Brian shoving the cake in his mouth while talking to his sister

on the phone. Who says men can't multi-task?

I took some pictures at the lake with my phone camera and loved how this

one turned out. Had no idea the sun's rays were shining on us like this.

It was finally time to head to the park to listen to the band and try some

food from one of the food trucks. I had read about The Tamale Spaceship online

and it had great reviews. Check out the masked guy at the window! One of the 

guys behind this business is a mask collector, so I'm assuming they thought wearing

masks would be a positive attention-getter for the business.

 The tamales did not disappoint. I had the adobo roasted chicken tamale with poblano

mole sauce. I'll let you in on a little secret about me: I adore mole sauce. I know there's

many different kinds of mole and different ways of making it depending on the particular

region of Mexico, but I'm willing to try just about any kind unless it's super spicy.

The band was fantastic. The female singer has a strong, sultry voice

and I loved the trio of the trombone, sax, and trumpet. 

Give them a listen here!

I hope your weekend is full of treasures and little celebrations, too. 

Linking up to Not Just a Housewife - Show Me What Ya Got 

and Mockingbird Hill Cottage - A Favorite Thing