More Market.ing.

'Tis the season for fall markets, and I for one have loved every moment.  But first a little life update...Lately, Kerry and I have been adamant about being intentional about what we bring into the house.  We went on a crazy cleaning and simplifying life spree over the past few months.  Seriously, we have had so many people come over to pick-up our Craiglist postings that I imagine the neighbors are starting to wonder if we started an at home business.  Don't even get me started on how many trips we have made to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, and the dumpster.  Let's just say it takes more than two hands to count.  When we first got married we went auctioning every weekend and had so much stuff.  Stuff that wasn't really sentimental or really something we loved.  Stuff that we used in our newlywed decorating, stuff that we wanted to resell, just tons and tons of stuff.  After Ona was born, it was like something clicked and we wanted to be uber organized.  Organized in our thoughts, organized in our home, organized in our photos, etc.  It hit us that the more organized we were, the freer we felt.  My goodness has it been so hard to start from square one and become organized!  I can't say that we have it completely figured out (we are still three years behind on making photo albums), but we are getting there.  One way to help fight our overly stuffed lives was to have to agree on everything that we bring into the house and not only agree, but actually love it.  Our theory is that even if what we love is more expensive, we "splurge" on the one thing we actually like instead of bringing in all these little things that we sort of like, just to fill space.  In the long run, we think we'll end up with a house full of sentimental things that we will have for a long time. 

After so much getting rid of, it was so fun to head to one of the largest biannual flea markets in the area with some of our sweet friends and their two handsome, five month old twin boys and actually buy some things.  Call us crazy for dragging three kids under the age of thirteen months around a flea market for four + hours, but really, it was a blast.  Plus, the guys were on diaper duty, so us moms were flying free.

Ha, it was so sunny that I didn't realize I had the phone right in front of my face.  Kerry snagged a vintage crate (you can see it in that first photo) that he had been jonesing after for quite some time.  He has big plans to convert it into a bike rack.  We also came home with this sweet 50-60's globe.

I had to convince Kerry that this odd, little, $3 elephant would look perfect in our living room.  He wasn't so sure, but agreed after he found his place next to the television that he was a great fit.

We also brought home a couple of long, skinny vintage frames and a little 5" x 7" mirror, both of which need a little tlc.  It was so fun to actually bring home a few random things.  Kind of felt like a reward for all that getting rid of.

Continuing in the market mode, Ona and I checked out a local artisan market this afternoon.  Walking around and seeing all of the local talent was plain inspiring (and slightly intimidating).  Ona's favorite exhibit was a free balloon.

There were some beautiful things to purchase, namely gorgeous photography and artwork.  However, we simply came home with this little print.

If you can't read it, it says, "Stay a while. Please."  It caught my eye and I couldn't resist.  Kerry helped me frame it tonight and hung it in the living room.

Now, to keep my eyes peeled for more fall markets!

p.s. After waking up way too early, Ona and I took a morning trip to the park.  She was a giggling fool.