Air-conditioned fields of gold at Austin's City-wide

This past weekend was the Citywide Garage Sale in Austin; it was the equivalent of a trip to Warrenton in terms of the quantity of great stuff I got, and even had the added luxury of concrete flooring and air-conditioning! I nearly forgot about the sale, but luckily they send an email the morning of, so I managed to get there by about 9am. Whenever I go, I splurge and spend an extra $5 to enter during the early-bird shopping time, and it is always worth it. This past Saturday was no exception. It was pretty slow until well past 10, and I spent nearly three hours shopping and talking to lots of my favorite vendor friends. 

The first place where I spent quality time was at a booth stuffed to the brim with industrial and old school finds that are literally from an old school. I immediately bought an old locker basket and started talking with the vendor, who was very nice and offered to hold another purchase along with my basket. 

As I was talking, I noticed these glittery accessories and asked the man if he is Hector. He said yes, I am Hector the Collector! After shopping in his tent at Warrenton twice a year for several years, I felt like I just met a celebrity. So I asked to take a picture of him.
In case you have never actually seen him either, here is a glimpse of the infamously talented picker: 

I loved all the vintage school carts, and I couldn't resist the industrial style combined with rust and the color aqua. I had to get one. 

 

Look at these awesome old chalkboards on rolling frames! LOVE!
Bet my students wouldn't know what those green boards are.

I instantly feel in love with the gray lockers. It took only a bit of encouragement from Janet at Rubbish, who was selling across the aisle from Hector, to help me figure out that I needed to get them. 

 Speaking of Janet, I bought a sweet little tan metal typewriter table from her; I was too busy talking with her to stop and take some pictures of her space, but I did check on her  Facebook page and happened to see the table I bought with a funky vintage typewriter that I am sure she also sold that day.

Furniture tally after shopping in just two booths: 2 carts and a tall set of lockers.

The next space that I spent a good deal of time in and money at was Green House Interiors. Andrea is a decorator from Lakeway whose style is chic French countryside. Much of what she was selling at Citywide came from Marburger and was in her house - 
I would love to see what's left in it if she is willing to part with all this!  

 

I bought the tall chest and it is sitting in my guest bedroom right now.
The garage was too full; I will just 'store' it here for awhile...  

I bought this picture.

 

Across the aisle from Andrea was Lisa, whose funky pieces were very eye-catching.

 

Lisa Golightly is beyond talented.

 

 

I have a thing for old books and bought one on Plato, anatomy, letter-writing, and arithmetic.
Now I just need to do a little lesson planning with my old texts!

This lovely settee drew me to the next space, and as a result I met yet another great vendor,
Demitra of Fine Finds in Duncanville.  

 I didn't get the settee, but I did get that sweet brown leather doctor's bag below!

Couldn't pass up a great deal on this small farmhouse table. 

If you are counting, I'm now up to two carts, a set of lockers, a dresser, and a table. Where is the U-Haul?!

Another friend with whom I got to catch up is Megan from Salvaged. I was pleasantly surprised to run into her as I didn't know she was coming up to Austin for the sale. Megan now lives a few hours from Austin but does make it back for a few shows and I hope to catch her at the upcoming Le Garage Sale at the end of August. I love all the color she added to her mid-century space this time.

Once I was ready to get the car, it was really getting crowded. I drove back to the loading zone betting that it would take me three trips to get all my new goods, but I managed to get two carts, a dresser, a set of lockers, a farm table, frames, shutters, and some suitcases home in just two trips.

Poor Andrew - he had to sit with his knees on the dashboard in order for the lockers to fit on the 2nd trip.

Here are a few of pictures of my finds from Citywide.

Several of these new items showed up at the Austin Antique Mall this week, and I am saving a few for my second appearance at the Barn Sale...I am excited to head back to Gonzales in November and am already making plans for my space!

Have a chic week,

~Sarah