"happy in a hat" or "the antiques antagonist"

Monday strikes again.

Short story re: the outfit. K and I were going to spend the day antiquing, and I had been dead set on wearing my new plaid romper from Old Navy because it was supposed to be eighty degrees and sunny. So much for that. It was actually rather chilly when we left the house. Luckily, I had majorly scored at the Waterbury thrift store earlier this week (my collection of shorts increased three-fold (from zero to three), and I was eagerly awaiting an opportunity to sport this high-waisted gem of a pair ($2!).

Also luckily, my mother had brought back (from France!) this pretty floral patterned shirt from H&M, and gifted it to me (along with other goodies) at her birthday dinner on Friday night. Why she is giving me presents on her birthday = questionable, but no matter! I love the bright, mood-elevating print--and perfect fit!

And last (but not least), the newest addition to my ever-expanding hat collection! After Friday's dinner (by the way, heaven), K and I weren't quite ready to go home, so we took a stroll along Church Street and ended up dropping in to Urban Outfitters. I had seen this hat in there a few weeks ago and drooled a little bit, but wavered only because $25 seemed awfully pricey, especially after $3 had bought me a very similar model at the Food Shelf thrift store (in support of a much worthier cause, no less).

Anyway, I wanted to check in on it--but it was nowhere to be found! Discouraged, I went upstairs to scour the discount racks for a sundress or something to distract me from my disappointment, and there it was--way in the back, with a $10 price tag attached! Needless to say, a few moments later, it was mine.

Unfortunately, Saturday's antiquing excursion fell rather flat on its face. We didn't find anything, even in the few shops that we had been really impressed by in the past. At our very first stop there was an old RCA radio that we had talked to the owner about purchasing for $75 last year (but decided to wait because we didn't have room in our old apartment), and this time around it was $140 and she would only lower it to $120! Apparently her ex-husband bought it from her (to sell in her shop) and he was unlikely to settle for less than that. I think she just refused to sell it to spite him. But that's neither here nor there.

Even worse, we stopped at a place we had never been to before. There were three large buildings (house, barn, garage-of-sorts) and we started in the garage. Nobody was in there at first, but about two minutes after we went in a man (presumably the owner) came flying in, said some hellos, and got to work doing something or other. We quickly ascertained that the shop was too expensive for us, and left. The shopkeeper was organizing or cleaning something (not near the door), and we were there less than five minutes. Still, as K was passing over the threshold (I had already exited), the shopkeeper felt compelled to growl "You little Sh*ts, learn some manners."

Um, what? Of course, then K felt compelled to "get into it" with the miserable fellow, who claimed that he was offering us an entertainment, and that we should have thanked him when leaving the shop (after enjoying the pleasure of viewing his antiques). Some pleasure. Always non-confrontational, I encouraged K to be the bigger person and walk away from the scene of the crime. Now I kind of regret it--what right did he have to be so rude to us? If anyone needed to learn some manners, it was him.

Rant over. But seriously.

(hat: UO; shirt: gift, H&M; shorts: thrifted; belt: thrifted; socks/shoes: Kohl's)