Silver Bella day 1

My Bella adventure began Thursday morning, when my DH and Miss Maren dropped me off at the airport. We met my mother, who had just flown in for Salt Lake so she could get a quick Maren 'fix' to hold her over until Thanksgiving. Together, we flew the 59 minutes to Omaha--who knew it was that close? My US Geography gets kind of muddy there in the middle of the country. I knew there was at least one other Bella from my area and I kept my eyes peeled to see if she was on the same flight. Once we got to the airport and were waiting for our luggage, I looked out the window and saw two woman waiting outside with piles of suitcases. My Bella radar kicked in, and somehow I just knew those ladies were going to the same place we were! We collected our bags and walked down to where the hotel shuttle was to collect us, and lo and behold but who came walking up behind us? It was those ladies, plus a few more! We met Sharon, Janey, Natalea, Hope, and Sarah, and then Michelle hopped on at the last second. It was so funny--we started to giggle and laugh like old friends from the minute we realized we were all Bellas! I think the guys sharing the shuttle with us were a little scared. ;)

When we got to the hotel to check in we met even more Bellas! Our first official event was a 6:00 pm private shopping event at a local antique store in the Old Market part of town. Some of us decided to catch the shuttle over there early to beat the rush, and I got to meet a few more Bellas--Linda and Kimla. Our first stop was Fairmont Antiques, which turned out to be the most enormous antique mall I've ever seen! No kidding, it seemed that every time I turned the corner a huge new room opened up in front of me, and every booth was simply packed to the gills with great stuff. I knew I needed a brooch for my outfit on Friday night so that is what I set to finding. One of the neatest things I saw was a case full of these amazing, gorgeous vintage Czech Christmas tree pins. Wow! The sparkles and colors were eye-popping.

It didn't take me long to find some treasures! Prices were very reasonable compared to similar items here in Denver. After Fairmont, we walked across the street to Second Chance Antiques for our special Bella event. We arrived at 5:00 pm, an hour before the official event's start and already it was packed with Bellas scooping up bargains!

Let me stop and tell you about Second Chance. Second Chance--Ha! More like Second Home for most of us that weekend! I've never been a store like it and doubt that I ever will again, unless I get to go to Silver Bella 2008! The store is large, but to say that it was packed would be a gross understatement. It was unbelievable--antiques and vintage items piled all over each other, stuffed under furniture, stacked to the ceilings, in every nook and cranny you can imagine. It was actually a little difficult to navigate the narrow, labyrinthine aisles--I was terrified I was going to knock something precious and breakable to the floor with my purse. The basement is filled with vintage clothing, sewing notions, and cases of the most beautiful, sparkly rhinestone jewelry you could ever hope to find in one place. Honestly, I think I walked around with my jaw agape for the first 30 minutes I was in the store, as agog as I was at the sheer amount of STUFF there was. Now, it was dirty and jam-packed and dusty and I know I saw at least 4 cats wandering around, so it is not for the faint of heart or faint of dirt. But it's the kind of place where if you're willing to dig, you'll be rewarded.

It didn't take long for the ambient temperature to get way above the comfortable range, and the noise and crowding got to be a little too much so we paid for our purchases and left, though I was already planning when I'd be back. Before we left I did notice a couple of photographers, and knew that my suspicions about Teresa's hint about "company" coming to Silver Bella were true! A team of two editors and two photographers from Country Living were there taking pictures for a future story on Silver Bella!!

It felt delightfully cool and quiet once we escaped the chaos of Second Chance, and we met up with some of our new friends to go find something to eat. We ended up at Julio's, a teeny-tiny Mexican place, with Linda, Natalea, Sharon, Janey, Jessi and Tiffany, sharing chips and salsa and chatting away like old friends, until it was time to summon the cute shuttle driver to deliver us back to the hotel. We got back fairly early--I don't think it was even 9:00 pm yet, but my mom and I went back to our room to get unpacked and ready for our classes the next morning. I had a hard time getting to sleep that night--visions of rhinestones and vintage Christmas ornaments swam in my head for a long time until I finally drifted off, well past midnight. I knew that if that day had been any indication, it was going to be an awesome weekend!