Treasure Hunt

My posts keep getting inspired by random conversations I have with people. Lately most of my replies to questions requiring more than one sentence of response have been "read my blog." I guess I'm being lazy and don't want to say something twice, which is really a bad habit because that means I will eventually communicate with friends via blog only... definitely NOT something I'm working towards! That said, Juliet, this one's for you :)

One of the joys of living/working in Seattle, especially in the summer, is the ability to explore hundreds of shops and boutiques, especially in the Pike Place Market area. There is an awesome blog that talks exclusively about Seattle's fashion boutiques, if you are interested in fashion. (http://www.seattleboutiqueblogspot.com/) But what I am interested in is finding bargains. And that I've recently found! There is a pretty big Antique store by Pike Place (http://www.antiquesatpikeplace.com/) that has a BUNCH of designer items for sale, and most of them at a great price! My last find (well, o.k. I'll be honest. My friend Inna's last find....) was a pair of Chanel flats for $140 and a pair of gorgeous Stuart Weitzman "Pomposo" pumps for $85! I searched online to see if I can find a picture of them, but I swear the ones in the store are special edition. All the "Pomposo's" available online start at $325 and are red satin with a rose. The store's shoes are burgundy, and the rose is beaded instead of simply satin. Anyways. I am in love. But I can't buy them because I'm saving up for something more important and exciting....

Another good place for designer bargains is Alexandra's consignment shop, located on Olive, between 4th and 5th Ave. (http://www.alexandrasdesignconsign.com/) It's exclusively designer, although the younger generation will still get the thrill of the hunt -- most items are from more established clients (obviously us younglings can't afford that stuff yet. Much less would we want to sell it soon after acquisition...). Last time I stopped by though, I've found a beautiful Prada dress for $290. I later found a version of it online in another color for $800. So if you do score an item and fall in love, buy without any worry that you're being ripped off.

That said, I sound like a designer fashion freak right now. And i'm really not. The biggest item I'm after is actually a coffee cup. I'd say about seven years ago, before my family was firmly established in this country, my mom did what we thought back then was a crazy crazy thing. She spent $400 in an antique shop and bought 180 pieces of beautiful MYOTT "Royal Mail" china. We already had several sets of that very design, but it wasn't the original, and it wasn't that many items. After my mom's acquisition, our family owned a total of about 250 pieces.

Well, it was inevidable, but after the last dinner party at my house, one of the real coffee cups fell and broke. With it broke a tiny piece of my mom's heart. So now I am on the hunt for another cup. You see, most of them tend to go in a set with a saucer or even more plates. And all I need is a single cup. The sad thing is that the west coast apparently doesn't have too many available for sale. Antique dealers here haven't even heard of that particular design! But i'm still hoping that somehow the cup has trickled down into some random shop that I will one day randomly walk into... That's why I'm out hunting for new places every day now. Who knows what else I'll find in the meantime.