Pillows and Succulents

This past weekend I made it to 2 of the 4 fun events I mentioned in my last post - The Mitchell Gold Outlet Sale and the Antique Show at Metrolina Expo. 

Mitchell Gold makes furniture for Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel (among others), and they have an outlet store in the famous Hickory Furniture Mart, about an hour north of Charlotte.  So, when they announced a 25% off sale on their already low outlet prices, I had to check it out.  I was hoping to find the perfect set of brown leather chairs for my living room, but no luck.  They had several single leather chairs that I loved and were very good deals (about half of retail price), but unfortunately, no matching sets.  So, the lady at the store told me they would be getting another shipment in about 2 weeks and then another big sale at the end of March.  Not sure if they will do a full 25% off again, but I'll be marking it on my calendar as a tentative trip!

I didn't walk away empty-handed though, I found this great pillow for just over 20 bucks, insert and all!  It was the perfect shade of blue to go with my current color pallette of blues and browns, and I thought the pattern had the right look to go with the paisley patterned rug I purchased at Target a couple months ago (also shown below).

The next stop was the Antique Show, which they have the first weekend of every month at Metrolina Expo.  Located off Exit 16, it's only about a 10 minute drive from my house.  So, my sister and I enjoyed the warm sunny Saturday afternoon just browsing around.  There is so much to see and so many things we wanted to buy (it's like Sleepy Poet times 10!), but we ended up getting just a couple fun little items.  First, my sister got a unique piece of driftwood for only $5 (found on one of the NC beaches, I wish I remember which one they said).  It goes with the all natural, and neutral pallette she is currently working on creating at her apartment.  I hope to post some pictures of that when she is done, its looking great so far! 

Then we found a booth full of succulents... my new favorite plant.  I love the look of them and how they can add life to a room with out being all bushy and messy like some plants.  The best part is that they are super easy to maintain and they can easily be expanded to other pots.  So once you get your first plant like this, you can simply pull a few pieces out by the roots and re-plant, or you can break off a leaf, let it sit in the sun for a few days until roots develop, then re-plant.  Once you re-plant, these things just keep growing and expand quickly to fill out the size of the new pot.  My sister actually brought some branches back from my Aunt's garden in California this past Thanksgiving and they are doing great - she has 3 small pots going now and has given me some good tips!  I got the plant below for only $20 bucks, which is a great deal since each individual succulent costs about $4 at Lowe's.  Now I can't wait to start finding unique planters and expanding my succulent garden! 

After all, succulents are like pillows in a way... you can never have too many :)