Our First Florida Treasure Hunt

I say our first Florida treasure hunt because it was sort of a family affair. My girls are veteran yard salers but I've thought it best to keep them away from antique stores in their younger years. Familiar with the phrase, "like a bull in a china shop?"

We were nearing the end of our first of (hopefully) many Florida vacations. Hubby had flown home to get back to work. My in-laws had already overlapped with us for a week and I decided to stick around an extra week with the kids and Grammy & Poppy. Having already done all the Disney we were going to do and with lots of other local kid-fun checked off the list, my mother-in-law suggested we head into old downtown Kissimmee for a day. Tucked away from the neon lights, typical "$2.99 Disney t-shirt" souvenier shops and fastfood restaurants were some unique places like antique shops, cafes, galleries, gourmet bakeries and ice-cream shops. Right up my alley.

I was a little nervous stepping into the first antique shop with the girls. I gave them the whole "we look with our eyes, not our fingers" spiel and had to continually remind them to "stop touching" and "no running." It was fun watching them "Oooooh!" and "Aaahhh!" and point to things they found interesting - usually vintage toys.

Even the baby was excited to be out and about with the big girls on her first antiquing trip!

I found lots of things I really liked. Like this set of Asian-inspired plates.

I LOVE the flowering trees with birds in them. Surprised? :) If I could have bought just one I would have, and added it to the collection of photos and frames on my dining room wall. But since they were sold as a set, I passed. I've got no where to display them all and I would rarely, if ever, use them for serving food.

I have a sweet spot for silhouettes so I paused to admire these. But since I have them of my own kids, I passed these up.

I also loved this whole corner full of western-inspired treasures.

I think its the part of me that's dying to go back to Montana.  And oh, if only I'd had a boy and that retro-cowboy inspired nursery. Then I would have at least picked up this little framed picture for sure. But since I had a girl, I continued on my way.

I left the first shop empty handed. My mother-in-law got a really cool necklace. Then we moved along down the street. In between shopping we stopped at this super-cool ice-cream shop called Boola. Someone needs to open a shop like this in the Blackstone Valley.

They actually make each dish of ice-cream individually. First, they squirt sweet cream into a metal bowl.

Then you choose your "toss-ins" from this loooong list. My oldest chose brownie and peanut butter cup in chocolate ice-cream and her sister chose M&Ms and sprinkles in vanilla ice-cream. I decided to share each of theirs. :)

Then, get this....liquid nitrogen is poured into the bowl of cream and toss-ins! SOOO COOOOOL!

My girls' eyes turned into big marbles as "smoke" poured all over the counter while the employee mixed and chopped.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of the best part - the finished product.  But it was DE-LISH. Definately going back there again...next time!

So, on to the next curiousity shop.  I just adored this vintage navy and white beaded purse. I would SO use this in the spring. I'm sitting here now wondering why didn't I get it again??!!

My M-I-L modeling the adorable purse and the necklace she bought at the first shop

And I don't know why I find old skeleton keys so appealing. Maybe its the mystery of what they once kept locked. Over the years I've seen various collections creatively displayed that look really cool. I've already got just one on display that actually locks my basement door. So I kept on perusing.

By the time we were done with this last shop, my oldest daughter and I had each found one treasure I was willing to buy. First, let me introduce you to Creepy Alice.

My daughter just had to have this doll and she immediately named her Alice. (It might have something to do with the fact tht she watched Alice in Wonderland the day before.) But you can see why I call her Creepy Alice. She's got a lazy eye...that my daughter is trying to immitate in the picture with her beloved new friend. I'm guessing this giant plastic doll is from the 60s or 70s based on her clothing. 

Here is Alice sitting patiently on the bench while the girls played at the nearby park after our shopping excursion. Nevermind the fact that her pants have a gaping hole in the crotch and her shirt says "Peepers" all over it. Further confirming my nickname Creepy Alice. :)

I picked up a much more traditional, conservative, treasure for myself - a pair of silver earings that remind me of little silver platters. I just need to polish them up a tad more.

I'm proud to say that as we walked up to the registers to buy the doll and earings, the shop owner raved about how well behaved the girls were in her shop. She told them they could each take a free ring out of a little bowl of beaded rings on the counter. We thanked the lady, I paid and off we went. After a few minutes the girls each removed their rings and one asked me to hold hers. So as not to lose it I shoved it on one of my own fingers. I actually thought it was pretty cute and have continued to wear it on several occasions since.

Man, my hands are showing age!

You'll never see me model my whole hand...I'm always picking at my cuticles. I'm so ashamed!

There were a few other shops that I would have liked to visit that day but we were there on a Monday, when many antique shops are typically closed. I'm sure we'll be back to the area again...next time.