Thursday, August 12, 2010

Is It Luck or Just Plain Tenacity?

Ever have a lucky coincidence that you never expected?  Ever half-heartedly do something with the thought that you are totally wasting your time?  This happened to me this week.  What fickle fools we mortals are sometimes. 

I have been searching for a beautiful armoire that I can bring into my home for extra storage and just because I think they are beautiful pieces of furniture.  I have read many blog posts where someone found a great item on Craig's List and so I searched Craig's list consistently for a long time, looking for some of those great items that everyone else was finding.  That's right, no luck.  Sound familiar?  So, of course, I stopped checking and focused my time and energy elsewere.  Here is where the coincidence comes into the story.  This week, I thought I would check under the Collectibles section to see if anyone had listed any Dept 56 Halloween Village pieces...again, of course,no luck.  While I was online, I thought I'd go ahead and check the Furniture section.  Why not, right?  I rationalized the time by expecting that maybe someone would have something interesting listed that they did not sell at the 100 mile long yard sale.  There were lots of entries...I sailed through the first 100 postings and nothing captured my attention.  Typical, I thought and I almost closed out of the site but then I thought that I would go ahead and look at the next 100 postings.  I almost stopped at the first 20 or so, as I was seeing nothing and there were other things that I could do with my time but then I thought well, I'll look at 10 more and then I'm definetly logging off.  Soon, I found myself at the bottom of the page and ......there it was, almost the last entry.  "Beautiful Ornate Armoire purchased at Antique store 5 years earlier for $750 and selling for $100"....OK, let me take a look at this dog, I figured it was probably kind of plain and not quite what it was being represented to be as had happened to me so often in the past.   I clicked on the link, to see the picture attached and there it was....MY Armoire.  But, the ad was from the previous day.  No was was this prize still available, but I emailed the seller anyway with the thought that I would never hear back because someone would already have snapped this beauty up.  Imagine my surprise when the seller responded back...within 5 minutes of my inquiry.  HELLO.....what?  Not only was the Armoire still available, but she also had a curio cabinet that she would give away for free, if I wanted it.  Well let me take some time to think about this for a moment....do I want it....of course I WANT it.  I grabbed the husband and the next evening, after work we headed to Chickamauga, Ga with a trailer behind the Burber.  One hour later, I am staring at my Soulmate, well not really, but I was definetly in love.  This sucker was heavy....my poor husband, hung in there with me and we finally wrestled the beast onto the trailer.  Granted, there were some battle wounds that I will have to heal on the poor baby but we did the best we could to keep her safe.  She is definetly old and I have a couple lose parts that need to be strengthened, so she is currently laying here in the hospital bed awaiting minor surgery.  Isn't she a beaut??




We did this....but I can fix it.  Just one more battle scar to build character.



I'm perched on a ladder in the garage just for you....here is another view of this gorgeous new member of the household.  Just lean your head as far to the right as you can and you will have the right view plus you'll get in a little neck exercise.  She is scheduled for cosmetic surgery this weekend.  Once she is back on her feet, I'll post more news.



Here is my freebie.



She has really good genes, don't you think.  I need to have some glass shelves cut and then she will be perfect...for some reason, the shelves were lost or broken at sometime in her past. 

Look at the beautiful detail.



One more look:



Moral of the story....never give up and always stay in the hunt.....or......do you believe in fate?

All The Best,
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10 comments:

Kim's Treasures said...

Wonderful!!! Beautiful pieces! Sometimes patience pays off!

Unknown said...

Now Missy sure is a beauty & loving to see her when she recuperates.
Beautiful find ...

Have a beautiful day ~
TTFN ~ Hugs, Marydon

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

This has happened to me before, too, Anita! Not specificially Craigs List, but sometimes when you step away or stop focusing so hard on something, it finds you. It's a beautiful armoire and the curio cabinet is just as lovely. Are you going to leave them as is or is there a coat of paint in their future?

southerninspiration said...

I gasped when I saw the armoire, but I am speechless about the curio cabinet....GIRL!!!! You are one lucky lady to have gotten BOTH of those !!! Whoa, why don't you keep looking for me some good deals!! :D

I would come see you for those!! LOL!
Great going...and just so you'll know, but it sort of spoils the fun, you can SEARCH for specific items on CL, but I bet you knew that....it takes away the fun of looking at the one million other things offered!!!

Suzanne

Sue said...

Are you kidding? I'm going to have to pay more attention to Craig's List. You got so lucky!!!

Anita@Theycallmejammi said...

Kathy...for now, I think I'll leave them as is. The armoire is going in a bedroom and the wood match is almost perfect. The curio cabinet is in great condition with no scratches, so I can't quite bring myself to paint it and it also fits in with my wood color in the family room. For now, I'll reserve the paint can but who knows later.

Theresa said...

Well lookie here what you found! I love them both! Some people have good luck! There is even a free section, my Sister has gotten some pretty good stuff there:) Enjoy your new pretties! HUGS!

Ms. Bake-it said...

My goodness Anita! What treasures you have found. I love the details on the armoire and curio cabinet. They are both beautiful! I would have a hard time painting them too. I love CL.

~ Tracy

Anonymous said...

The armoire is so beautiful!! I love all the detail...Kathy

Sharon said...

I agree with you, they are so beautiful the way they are.
You sure did get a deal with this one.
I guess it does pay to have a little patience.
Enjoy your treasures.