Midland Arts & Antique Market

Is it really Wednesday already? Yesterday was so warm and sunny I spent most of my afternoon outside reading on a blanket and doing housework with the windows wide open, and most of Monday recovering from all the awesomeness (and lack of sleep) that happened this past weekend. Goodness.

I took off work on Friday to venture down to Indianapolis for a girls weekend with Rachel and Arissa, two of the most amazing girls and the best college roommates ever. The drive down was only about 3 hours (although I somehow made it home in 2.5) and it was a wonderful weekend full of avacado-artichoke pizza, cute little shops on Mass Ave, pay by-the-ounce frozen yogurt, strange performance art, cheap sushi, and some of the smoothest espresso I've ever tasted.

Midland. Note teeny-tiny Rachel in the lower right hand corner for scale purposes. This place was HUGE. 

One of the weekend's highlights, by far, was Saturday brunch followed by hours spent at Midland Arts & Antique Market. Although only 2 of their 3 factory-sized floors were open, we still had an overwhelming amount of antique and vintage goodness to look at. I doubt we even looked at it all. 

Once inside, I nearly hyperventilated from the sheer amount of stuff -- and some of the prices. We decided it was best to start at the top where their cheapest items were located, and work our way down to the more expensive stuff. Rachel ended up with a few things and Arissa bought a wonderful vintage globe, but sadly, I walked away empty handed. I was watching my budget for the weekend, and since I didn't find anything I absolutely had to have, I window shopped instead. Here are a few of my favorites...

Clockwise from left: 1. This mustard mid-century chair was in pristine condition.  2. Under a pile of stuff I spotted a fantastic 1912 framed yearbook photo... too bad it was $92.  3. I had to think twice about buying this elaborately decorated reader, but because of the sticker damage I decided against it.

1. I'm kicking myself for not buying one of these antique apothecary jars, but I couldn't tell if the labels were originals or reproductions. At only $9, though, I should've picked up the center bottle anyway.  2. A few of the booths at Midland featured original artwork. These symmetrical rabbits by local artist MaryAnne Thanh Tam Nguyen were my favorite.  3. Hello, adorable typewriter. I like your coloring a lot.

1. This was the first display I saw -- vintage marquee letters! Sadly they didn't have an R available.  2. For some reason I totally loved these vintage high school storage bins... and vintage chemistry beakers were everywhere. Trendy, trendy.  3. A stack of well-traveled and well-loved suitcases to match my shoes. 

Booth #3 was one of my favorites... they had minty green walls, wonderful handwritten signage, and of course this German chicken skeletal chart. We all know how much I love charts. 

If you're ever in the downtown Indianapolis area and have a few hours of free time, a trip to Midland is a must. Like most antique malls, it's about 50% awesome and 50% junk, but if you look hard enough (or if you're willing to pay) you could walk away with quite a bit of beautiful stuff.