How to waste a Saturday....in a good way.

Normally on the weekends we spend our time catching up on projects and running back and forth to Menard's, Farm & Fleet or the Habitat for Humanity Re-store getting pieces and parts for said projects. This morning when we got up it was absolutely miserable outside. Gone was our 70+ degree weather and sunny skies of the previous week, instead we were greeted with snow flurries, dreary cloud cover, and biting wind. Not feeling very inspired to get any work done outside in that mess, I mentioned to Gary that I really needed to make a run to Stringtown. Stringtown Grocery is a little Amish grocery store in the heart of nowhere. My flower farmer friend, Miss Effie, and I became totally enamoured with the place this past summer and have been obsessed with it's quaint goodness ever since. If the weather is too cruddy to work outside, Effie and I will call each other, and all we have to say is, "it's raining" or "it's cold" and we know that is secret code for "we are going to Stringtown". This store is so tiny it would probably fit within the confines of most urban garages, but it stocks the most unusual assortment of bulk foods, spices and baking needs that you could ever want. My sister, Marie, had never been there, so when I talked to her this morning, I asked her if she wanted to go along, promising that we were just going to make a quick run so that we could get back because we had a lot of stuff to do. Of course she wanted to go, she is the evil shopping temptress and is always up for any kind of shopping expedition. So off to Stringtown we went.....sorry Effie, I went without you!

Parking lot.
Employee parking.

I like a lot of strange things to snack on, and stringtown has plenty of goodies for me like: Honey roasted sunflower seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, corn nuts, roasted peas. And lots of great ingredients for making my homemade granola.
Gary has different ideas of yummy snacks.
There is also a "dent and bent" store down the road that sells random overstock or slightly outdated items really cheap. I found lots of chocolate there. Marie filled up a cart with all kinds of stuff ( Marie doesn't mess around when she has a grocery cart). We checked out and filled the car to capacity with our new found treasures (We should have brought the truck, darnnit). We headed down the road with every intention of going straight home.....until we saw this little shop along the way, with two building full of STUFF.
I love stuff (A.K.A. junk), just the thought of it makes my heart go pitter pat. I love antiques and bits and pieces of things and....whatever, I love it all. Mostly, I don't know why, but I love old chairs. Love them, don't need them, doesn't matter that I have no where to put them, I love chairs. Maybe it's the inner lazy person in me trying to get out and sit down? This place had stuff!

AND CHAIRS! After picking through rooms full of odds and ends, I found a chair that I fell in love with, don't know why, even had myself talked out of it, until 'evil shopping temptress sister' convinced me that I needed it. Gary is no help, he's like, "yeah, I like that, you should get it". I stayed strong, resolving that I would not crumble to peer pressure. Then E.S.T. sister says, "I will get that for you for Christmas". How could I say no to that?
YAY! Me and my chair...that is E.S.T. in the background. They didn't have shopping carts there, but she still managed to buy armloads of stuff.
Since Marie was so nice to buy me my chair, I had to buy this nifty tray....for myself!

What? I already have something for her for Christmas! Don't judge me.
My chair :).
Pretty details :).
Our "Quick trip" started at 8:30 a.m. and we returned home at 2 p.m.....so much for getting things done today. Next time we are taking the truck!