Sparkly things on the Sabbath day....

This past Sunday we were driving home from church. We were not more than a few blocks from the building when we past someone having a garage sale. As we drove by I saw what I made out to be a pair of candelabras. SPARKLY candelabras. Shining in the sunlight so much that the glint from them is what caught my attention. I looked at my hubby with a look he knows oh-too-well and said in a sort of pained panic stricken voice

"Ohhhhh, those were really sparkly. I HAVE to see them up close! Can you pluh-leease turn around?"

He pulls a U-ey quickly, yet warns me "Right after church? What if someone from church drives by right now and watches you breaking the Sabbath? "

"Oh, I totally am not buying anything today. If I like what I see, I'll get her number and call tomorrow. "

"okayyyy." He says cautiously.

He drops me off, and says he'll drive around the block while I look so the kids don't blow a fuse waiting. I walk up to this little older brick ranch style house to see what has grabbed my attention from the street. On a little cloth covered table are a pair of heavy looking drippy antique crystal candelabras.

The likes of which I can only remember seeing one other time. It was in a little antique store on Mackinac Island on our honeymoon 11 years ago. I will never forget it. I never forget things I love that made a visual impact on me. Anyway.. the owner of the house came over. She looked like an aged glamorous palm beach 60's housewife. Dressed in tight capris and a tank top, with big curly hair and a deep smokers voice, with bright colored lipstick, and clearly not afraid of makeup. She told me they were passed down to her husband from her mother in law, and that she was redecorating for an "Art-deco" look now so she wanted to get rid of some antiques to make room for her new style. She smiled at me without restraint, which is not something you see every day. I liked her immediately, and she complimented me on my church outfit.

"Oh, I just got done with church. I go to the one just down the street from you." And I pointed toward our building.

She told me her price and I exchanged numbers with her. Then I ran home and immediately did some online research. I pulled up antique candelabras on Rubylane.com, several, but nothing like these. I also checked my favorite crystal websites for new ones, to comparison shop. Everything I looked at was priced at 2 and 1/2 up to 10 times the price. These were a very good deal.

The next day came, I drove Mark over to see them up close. He liked them but we had a difficult time deciding. We left again without purchasing. As the day progressed, I thought about how things like this stick in my memory for years. How I would probably kick myself for not getting them for years. So, I drove back after I picked Lena up from preschool. They were mine. I wrapped them in a bunch of bubble wrap, came home and spent the next couple of hours hand washing each part. Then reassembled and put it out on the dining room table. I think I will keep them for a long long time.