A Beautiful Life

In case you guys don't know, Aaron and I moved into a cute little 1930's house in Austin. It has a yard,  an extra bedroom, and trees. The works! As a result we needed to purchase a few furniture pieces in order to have more storage. (Did people in the 30's not have any stuff or what?) We needed a china cabinet, and we still need an armoire. I also want to change the design. I mean why not? I have money to spend! It's burning a hole. Plus I am dating Aaron for his money.  

That decided, I am going for a mid-century modern look. I have always liked the funky, yet clean lines. So off to Craigslist I go. Annnnnd nothing. Too big. Too small. Too funky. Too trashy, and too cheap. I search and search. It's funny what people will put on there. You start to see people's posting patterns. Some people will re post their item every day. Trying desperately  to sell their stuff. Some will post at an astronomical price, and then repost and repost never thinking that the piece isn't selling because they are asking way too much. I did keep coming across one poster who had an amazing collection of mid-century furniture. I don't know where they kept getting this furniture. I think they were selling everything in their house. They never had anything quite right, but I wish I could have afforded to buy all of their pieces.  I am always curious about people and their stories, especially when it comes to stuff. 

So.

As with all things, when you finally give up, that's when it happens. We decided to check out Fredricksburg one weekend. It's about an hour outside of town in Hill Country. We also decided to take the scenic route to get there. Which was beautiful.  On the way there we saw a sign for an estate sale. We drove right by, but after a few more minutes Aaron goes, "lets go check out that sale"

 If you don't know about Hill Country, it's the boonies. The only thing that is around are old farms, and Texas ranches. When we get back to the turn in we have to go down this long dirt road. We start to wonder if it's a trap and when we get to the end there will be a murderer waiting for us. We keep going and going. We see goats, we see chickens, we even see a donkey. When we get there the house is an old ranch that has been there for years. It was probably built in the 20's. It has one of those wrap around porches that I love. I want it.

We see that there is stuff in the garage, and we go there first. I immediately spy a weber grill. It's red. You can't buy the red ones any more. Score! Aaron gets a pitchfork. Yeah, fun. We see some unusual things. Like a sub-zero sleeping bag. In Texas?  hmmm...

  When we go in the house I am so excited. Aaron spots the China cabinet. It's just what we were looking for. Made by Broyhill sometime in the 60's. It's mine! I see a harpoon. What? Aaron finds lots of knives. Was this person a hunter? Maybe he was Capt. Ahab from Moby Dick. 

We start talking to the people that are running the show, and we find out a lot about the owners. The people that are running the estate sale are the neighbors and best friends. They loved their neighbors, and you could tell.  The couple that lived in the house were an older couple that recently passed away. It turns out the owners were from Alaska. Apparently they had a great life. They took a lot of adventures, had some amazing kids, and built the ranch when they moved to Hill country. I'll tell ya, from they great stuff they had, the beautiful house, Good friends, and great kids, they enjoyed their life. Is that what makes a beautiful life? I don't know, it's something I am still trying to figure out. 

The neighbors tried their best to sell me the house. The biggest selling point?  Great deer hunting. What? Do I look like a girl who hunts poor little Bambi deers? 

So we didn't buy that house, what a dream though.

In the end we got a good story about an interesting family, a china cabinet, a weber, and a pitchfork all for $200!  What a deal.