Mullica Hill, New Jersey: An Antique Paradise

Yesterday I took a little day trip to Mullica Hill, New Jersey. For those of you that live in New Jersey or close to it you should take a day trip to Mullica Hill (just not on a Monday or Tuesday since most places are closed).

Jeremy and our friend Diane started off the day with lunch at the Blue Plate (http://www.blueplatenj.com/)

I was really happy we chose the Blue Plate to eat since there were lots of vegetarian options which is unfortunately rare for restaurants in southern New Jersey. I had the portobello ruben sandwich which was a nice treat since my mother is a ruben fiend and I was never able to have one but thanks to the Blue Plate I was finally able to taste a delectable ruben sandwich, which features coleslaw, russian dressing and pumpernickel bread, not the healthiest of choices but it was so good!

After lunch we went to the Old Mill Antique Mall(www.old-mill-antique-mall.com). As soon as I walked in I was overwhelmed with the hugeness of the shop, they have three floors of everything you could possibly imagine. I made a loud gasp out of excitement when I entered that amused Jeremy and Diane. If you are a depression glass collector than the Old Mill Antique Mall is the place for you, I've never seen so much depression glass in one place, especially the green glass which is my favorite.

There were also a lot of records to look through and there were so many good ones but I only bought this gem. 

Sorry about the awful backwards photobooth photo but I was in a hurry to listen to the album.

Mullica Hill, NJ is a lovely little town with a great main street full of antique shops so if you are an antique lover you must visit. Here are some more antique shops in the town. 

1)Kings Row Antiques Campus (https://www.facebook.com/KingsCourtAntiques/)  Only one of the shops was open yesterday but there was a lot of beautiful furniture and depression glass for sale. 

2)Retro Station (retrostationnj.com/) Tons of records, mid-century items and pop culture collectibles abound. 

3) Turners Treasures at the Warehouse (turnerstreasuresofmullicahill.com/) This shop is connected to a pizza place and it has two lovely floors filled with antiques and collectables including a huge selection of glassware. A worker on the ground floor and I had a lovely discussion about Bobby Darin for a good half hour. She saw him in concert and I'm very jealous. It's nice to meet people that share Bobby Darin love. 

It was warm yesterday and I was so excited to finally wear my late 60s romper that I bought from Glassboro Thrift Village (glassborothriftvillage.com) 

I purchased the white vinyl handbag from Twice Loved Treasures in Vineland, NJ (www.sjworks.org/view/group/1091)

I thought it was adorable and unfortunately it fits very little but I love how it looks. 

The owl necklace was passed down to me by my mother-in-law. It was Jeremy's grandmother's necklace.  I'm sad that I never got to meet his grandmother, he's told me that she was a fun and loving lady. The necklace is very special to me, I am honored to wear it. 

I love to wear my Dr. Scholls wooden exercise sandals in the summer. My Mom used to have a pair every summer when she was growing up and they are very sturdy shoes. My pair have lasted me for 10 years. 

Make sure you plan a visit to Mullica Hill, New Jersey if you are in the area. For those of you that don't live in the area, what are your favorite towns to shop for antiques? 

Two South Jersey shops that everyone should visit.

I have been looking for some new antique/vintage shops to visit this month and I have two great shops to tell you all about. My dream town would be one that has antique shops every few feet and shops that sell vintage clothing. There would also be some sushi places and mexican restaurants, oh and a video store! Sorry, I am prone to going on tangents like that. Anyway, this Monday I visited a new thrift shop in Buena called "Wise Buys" it's on Wheat Road. When I walked in to the tiny first room of the shop there was a huge collection of vintage Christmas decorations. There was also a shelf full of cocktail glasses and other assorted glassware. Everything on the shelf was gorgeous but I had to stay away, I'm a sucker for glassware and my little bar cart is overwhelmed with glasses.  I was a little disappointed when I walked in, from the little room you walk into when you enter the shop it's a little hard to see into the huge room that is the rest of the store. I was overwhelmed with all the treasures in the shop. The owner said she adds new items everyday. I saw a cute 60s mini dress that I tried on and loved but couldn't buy since it wasn't in my budget. "Wise Buys" is a must visit shop for anyone near Vineland and Buena. I picked up two vintage Christmas ornaments.


Today I was driving around Glassboro in the middle of a beautiful snow shower. I was on Glassboro road and I passed a small antique shop that I've passed countless times and each time I passed I made a note to stop in sometime and today was the day. The shop is "Ternay's Shop in the Woods", it's a cute little shop and the owner told me that the shop is expanding soon. I can't believe I waited so long to visit, the store is amazing. They have everything from tea sets to vintage magazines. I walked around studying everything and then my eyes fell upon the tiny perfume display. I am a perfume junkie, there are enough bottles of perfume on my dresser to last 100 years. I ended up purchasing two bottles of Evening in Paris perfume. Evening in Paris is a light powdery scent, it can work in all seasons.

 The two little bottles are displayed on a pretty white fur wrap that I picked up yesterday at Twice Loved Treasures. I went there for fabric for my first sewing project and left with the wrap and no fabric. Aren't the buttons pretty?

Here are the two ornaments from Wise Buys. I've been looking for ornaments like this all winter.

And Gone in a Flash.

Christmas day has come and gone. I love Christmas day but I really love the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, that's when I love to lounge, it's like an extended Christmas. Jeremy is off today and we're going to have some wine and cheese, enjoy our gifts and relax. I consider the week one long holiday.

Christmas Eve was celebrated with Mommom, Brianna and my Mom. Jeremy worked until evening and then he finally came home.

Tigger opened his presents while Patches watched. Mommom got him a catnip stick and she got treats for all the cats.

 Ginger couldn't wait to open his stocking although I think he was a bit disappointed with his kitty tooth brush.

My sister is very manipulative! Jeremy and I decided that we would give her one present, a book, to open on Christmas eve. Brianna talked me into giving her all of her presents on Christmas eve. Here she is opening the stack of records we got her. I'm so proud, I have a feeling I helped shape her musically. 

Our Christmas was fantastic! Jeremy and I opened presents with my Mom and Brianna in the morning, and Jeremy wore the new robe that I got him.

Jeremy tried to recreate the face on the album I gave him. 

We got ready to go to dinner at Mommoms house. I got a hot roller set and I love them. My hair stayed curly all day!

Ginger celebrated his third Christmas!

Clyde was my kitchen helper. 

 I made this lemon and orange wreath bread. I'm so proud of it since it is one of the first things I've made that looks like the photo in the cook book.

 My sister set up this adorable Christmas scene at Mommom's house. 

Clyde wore his little Santa coat. 

I bought this gorgeous jacket a 'Twice Loved Treasures' in Vineland. 

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and got everything you wanted! Expect to read a lot of new blog posts this winter as I will be visiting a lot of antique and thrift shops!

My birthday resolutions

I was born on September 8, 1990 and yesterday I celebrated my 23rd birthday. Some people dread becoming another year older, they feel that the older they get the more they have to be serious, to act like an "adult".  Technically, I have been an adult for awhile now but I still don't feel like one. Age is but a state of mind. This may be the reason that I still use Lisa Frank products for school.

My Mom, Mommom, Brianna(sister), Jeremy celebrated with me yesterday. I made mango salsa, guacamole and I put out some tortilla chips, brie and crackers because my idea of a party is a lot of snacks! For dinner we had tacos, my favorite, and for dessert my Mom made me a red velvet birthday cake and I made homemade sticky buns. Like I said in an earlier post, my sister and I like to throw our own dance parties and we did just that for my birthday. I made a playlist of Bobby Darin, ABBA and assorted disco and 60's hits.

Brianna wore this fantastic blue gown that she got from "Twice Loved Treasures" in Vineland NJ.

I'm so proud!

 This is her very first vintage piece and I am so proud!
There is a beautiful butterfly broach attached to the middle
of the dress and the gorgeous cape is optional, but I think
the gown is more dramatic with it. I hope this gown leads to more vintage pieces. I know when I got my very first vintage
dress I knew I had to have more! However, the dress I wore
was not vintage but it looks like it could be from the 60's. The shoes are vintage, they were my Mommom's.

Most people make resolutions only at the beginning of the new year but I make them every year on my birthday, I treat is as a fresh start. Does anyone else make resolutions on their birthday or any other time of the year other then the new year? Most of my resolutions this year are cliche, exersise everyday, keep my room clean,don't slack off in school and read and write for fun everyday.  My major resolution is to be more social and outgoing. When I go to school I keep to myself and that was okay for a couple of years but I would like to meet new people. So, I plan to participate in class more often, make conversation with the people sitting around me and not to isolate myself while I'm on campus. I once read that to make a resolution work there has to be a plan. I am socially inept so if anyone has any tips I would love to hear them!

Mommom, Me, Brianna, and Jeremy

We're all quite strange. 

The first day.

         The first day of school and the entire back to school season is one of my favorite times of the year. Even as a child I enjoyed shopping for school supplies and the first day of school was (and still is) a holiday to me, while most children looked at it as a prison sentence. This year I combed the school supply sections of many shops and stocked up on Lisa Frank folders, notebooks, and a fantastic pencil case featuring the cute Lisa Frank puppies.
        Today was my first day of school for the fall semester. I am almost finished with my degree, it took me awhile to figure out what to major in and I'm not ashamed by it. Not everyone knows what they want and who they are when they are 18 and I think our culture puts too much emphasis on moving forward and jumping through the next hoop then on self exploration. Some people need a lot of time to meditate on who they really are and what they want out of life. That being said, there is no age limit on change. Some people set a track for their life and they think that's it, they may be unhappy and want to change something major in their life but they think they are too old. There is no age limit on change. Just because you are a certain age doesn't mean you are done learning and changing, never remain stagnant because you might as well be dead. Sorry for my small tirade.
           Anyway, even as a 22 (soon to be 23 eep) year old college student I still get giddy at the thought of buying school supplies and spend hours packing my bookbag and picking out my brand new first day of school outfit. I love learning and while I like to learn through independent study there is something special about being taught by a fantastic teacher. This morning I donned a white and orange dress that I purchased at "Twice Loved Treasures" (Vineland, N.J) yesterday afternoon. They had a lot of vintage pieces in stock and I bought a lot of blouses but I only found one prized dress. I believe it is from the late 60's or early 70's. I wore a pair of brown heels,which aren't pictured, that my Mommom gave me. They are from the 60's and they complemented the dress nicely. The dress is from Sears and I am so sad that I found it at the end of the summer, I don't have a lot of time to wear it before it gets chilly.
          The only thing that irks me about the first day of school is the reading of the syllabus. I don't understand why adults have to be told about classroom etiquette and why said subject needs to take up 50 minutes of my time, but the world is a strange place.

New school clothes from Sears, completely polyester. I am living the mid-century suburban dream. 

A new school year, to me, is equivalent to the New Year. It's a fresh start. My academic career has not been stellar every semester since entering college but this semester is a fresh start. Just like the resolutions for the new year a new school year is a chance to make a fresh start.

My bookbag. I plan to adorn it with more badges and decorations. I am one of those obnoxious bookbag owners.

How many of you get excited about the first day of school? What about those who don't attend school anymore, does the beginning of September still feel like a special time for you? Does anyone else share my zeal to learn outside of formal teaching? If you don't have an opinion about any of that, what do you think about the dress?