cottage highlights and small town shopping haul

The summer season is coming to a close and September is right around the corner. (I love the "ber" months....September, October, November, and December. We are so close to sweater weather and pumpkin spice everything. How exciting!) As has become a bit of a tradition in recent years, my family went to a cottage this August for a week. Though I am more of an inside person, everyone else in my family enjoys the water and the views. My husband went fishing, my brother went kayaking, and my parents took some scenic walks with the dog. As for me? I did my best to embrace the nature, read, spend time with loved ones, and make some memories. Here are some of the highlights and a small town shopping haul with lots of thrifted finds. 

First thing is first...the cottage highlights. On the way to the rented cottage, my husband and I visited some lift locks and watched a few boats pass through. Then we met with my family and unpacked everything. The next day, we went to a nearby thrift store, my husband went fishing, and I started in on a good book. The family ended the night playing some games. The next several days were full of various adventures, including browsing antique stores, thrift stores, and local shops, doing crafts, playing games, and going for walks. The day before we came back home, my husband and I visited Fenelon Falls and saw the locks and historical museum there. Later in the day, the family went to a really unusual movie theatre and museum to see Twisters, and then we had dinner at a local restaurant with a view. Before long, it was time to pack up and return home.

Now for the small town shopping haul. As I mentioned, the cottage visit included some visits to local stores, thrift stores, and antique stores where many treasures (maybe too many) came home with me. One of my favourite stores in the area is Kicking Cowgirl Designs, which has amazing cowgirl inspired items. I always love to spend time in the store. This time, I treated myself to a Kicking Cowgirl bracelet, tank top, and two sweatshirts. Also pictured is the tote bag that came with my purchases. 

There were an awful lot of music purchases thanks to some wonderful thrift store finds. Twelve records, four CDs, and two cassettes, to be specific. Though some of the prices were high ($28 CDN for a Jane Fonda workout record and $30 CDN for a Richard Carpenter album) there were some more affordable finds as well (only a few dollars for some new to me Bobby Sherman records and an Eddie Fisher album). Other treasures include Davy Jones, Rick Nelson, Mac Davis, Wayne Newton, and my favourite ever, John Denver. As for CDs, I found Ricky Nelson, Perry Como, Ricky Martin, and Bing Crosby. Then there were Andy Williams and LeAnne Rimes cassettes. I love music, so it was really wonderful to add these items to my collection. 

There were also a bunch of DVD finds at the various stores that I visited. Some were new and some were used, but the prices were all fairly affordable. I was able to find some movies that I have been looking for (Best In Show as well as Now and Then), a couple of Amber Heard movies that I planned to order for myself as a birthday treat (Drive Angry and Pineapple Express. There are still lots on my list, so perhaps I will treat myself to some other ones for my birthday this year instead), and even some seasons of television shows that I enjoy. I am someone who loves entertainment and media. I am passionate about a great many things, including music, movies, and television shows. It was nice to find items that have meaning to me for a lot less. 

I am cut off from purchasing books for a bit. Though there are lots shown here, there are several that are not pictured, quite frankly, because I wore myself out trying to photograph it all. As I have mentioned before, I love mystery novels of all sorts. Thrillers, whodunnits, cozy mysteries...all of them. And I was able to find an incredible assortment for ridiculously low prices at the thrift stores. Some were as little as fifty cents each! In addition, I found the first Bridgerton book (I recently read the fourth book in the series and am looking to read the rest), some Christmas books, and even some Anne of Green Gables books. Thrift store shopping and antique store shopping means finding all sorts of wonderful treasures to fill my many bookshelves. 

Do you like spending time in nature? What do you think of this small town shopping haul?