A Barn Sale

I hope you have had a nice weekend!  With all that we have had going on lately, I realized this week that I forgot to post pictures from my first barn sale experience.  

Last month I saw an ad in a magazine for the Bella Rustica barn sale at a farm fairly close to us.  My mom and I made plans to go, marked it on our calendars and that very night Donna from Funky Junk Interiors wrote a post that she would be there as their guest.  After that I started hearing about Bella Rustica all over the web, so we were really looking forward to it.

 The farm was beautiful and it was a gorgeous day out.  The minute we drove up and saw the entrance, we knew it was going to be a blast.  (I will say that the entrance did not look like this when we arrived though... it was a traffic jam on an old country road!)

Vendors selling all kinds of fabulous goods filled up the inside of the barn.  There was so much to look at even beyond everything that was for sale... this is just a little picture of how creative some of the displays were.

 There were also booths outside the barn on the grass and under a tent.  It was a warm day so it felt good to be outside of the dusty, hot barn, especially with two little girls along (smile). 

Everywhere I looked I saw awesome fall displays...  I think this one was my favorite. 

 My highlight of the day though?  Getting to meet Donna from Funky Junk.  I have read her blog for a long time, so it was a lot of fun to meet her in person.  We knew she would be there but weren't sure if we would have the opportunity to meet her.  But we saw her within the first 15 minutes of being there, and fortunately I did not inherit my shyness from my mom... she had no problem introducing us right away, whereas it would have taken me much longer to work up my nerve. 

(I didn't notice until I downloaded these photos that there was a little hand reaching for her phone... phew, was I relieved that she didn't actually pick it up!)

 Not only did we have a chance to meet, but Donna also sat with us during lunch.  It was so neat to visit under a huge old shady tree eating barbecue.  I always knew Donna was talented and creative, but I also found out that she's incredibly sweet, warm and friendly too. 

 And I hope she doesn't mind that I'm borrowing a photo she took of us all on her phone. Not the best photo, but I'll never forget laughing as we all tried to cram in together.  

I've only had the chance to meet two bloggers in person, but what I've noticed is that their posts become extra special to read because you feel like you're visiting an old friend. 

 While I could have brought home just about everything I saw, I only came home with one treasure (yes, sadly, I went with a budget and actually stuck to it).  I asked my mom to be my model so you could see just how huge this basket is. I knew the minute I saw it that it would be a perfect laundry basket.

 Hopefully I'll see you next year, Bella Rustica!