Dream-Cart = Dream-Hubs (Read on and you'll get it...)

Picture courtesy of Vintage owner, Angie's, Twitter "tweet" about

me buying this piece today...

Here's what her "tweet" said:

Industrial seed cart gets the beautiful life.com in new home. Can we get visitation rights? http://twitpic.com/pjwch

It all started almost a year ago when my

hubby and I finally made the time to go check out

THIS

wonderful vintage shop I'd

read about for months.

BIG TROUBLE.

I wanted EVERYTHING in sight.

{Don't you hate when that happens??}

One of the very first things that made my jaw drop when

I walked through the door of the shop was this

unbelievably unique, super HUGE object in the middle of the

floor.

It was chippy, rusty, and well,

PERFECT.

I asked and found out that this mysterious piece was a VERY OLD industrial seed cart from Iowa.

{HOW do you find something like this?? I know I have

NEVER just stumbled across a giant seed cart!}

But there it sat -- all huge and great and chippy and fabulous.

The owner, Angie, had plans to add a top and turn it into a

kitchen island.

OH MY WORD.

When I heard that, I knew I'd found my dream piece. I loved it as it was, but to think of repurposing it as an island or really large work table.... oh that was pure heaven.

But...

Purely out of my budget.

So, I and my dream cart parted ways that day last January.

Over the last year I've gone into Angie's shop to check out her other incredible "finds" and always got to stop and "visit" with my Dream-Cart.

The top had been added and the price increased (as I recall).

Each time, upon leaving her shop I'd bid my Dream-Cart good-bye again, dreaming that one day I might be lucky enough to find another piece even somewhat like it whenever we might get around to renovating our kitchen.

All the while, inwardly knowing that pieces like this don't just "show up" when you're ready to buy them.

No, things like these are a "now-or-never" purchase.

And for about a year now, for me, it's been a "never".

UNTIL TODAY.

My daughter and I made another one of our treks to Vintage,

Angie's fab shop, and there was Dream-Cart again.

I walked up to it, as I always did, and this time something caught my eye....

Could it be TRUE??

It was...

Dream-Cart was now being offered for

50% OFF!

I had to force myself to NOT start jumping up & down.

Okay. Remain calm. Even "dream sale" on

Dream-Cart was probably still not gonna happen, so just

walk on by...

Keep walking...

Wait, I said keep walking, you're turning around...

Hello.... okay somehow now you're back at Dream-Cart.

I was a gone-er.

I called

the hubs (who shall going forward be known as

Dream-Hub) and told him the GREAT news!

ME: "Hey, honey, whatcha doin'?"

DREAM-HUB: "Whadya buy?" (ugh...he knows me TOO well!)

ME: "Oh, nothing! Just calling to see how you are. Whatcha doin'?"

DREAM-HUB: "What. Did. You. Buy?"

ME: "Nothing! Really! But remember that huge cart in Vintage??? It's 50% off!"

Long story short:

ME: (On my second call about 45 minutes later)

"So... whatcha doin'?"

DREAM-HUB: "Did you buy it?"

ME: "Well, no. But...Oh honey it's just so amazing and it will only cost $XXX.XX. And... "

DREAM-HUB: You're the decorator. Well, you gonna get it?"

ME: "OH HONEY! REALLY?? Okay, I promise, this will be my Christmas present! I don't want ANYTHING ELSE! EVER!"

DREAM-HUB: "Oh stop. Just go ahead."

ME: {Well, I don't know how to type what a loud shriek and joyous scream sounds like, so.... }

We did it! We got the cart and it's top to our house and onto the porch,

where it sat for a bit while we figured out where we could put it inside!

Bugsy, one of our three cats, wasted NO time

hopping in -- within seconds....

My daughter and I managed to load up Dream-Cart into my vehicle (for the record, I was caught just last night saying to Dream-Hub "You know, I've decided that whenever I get another car, I'm downsizing back to a sedan. This thing is just way too big for what I need...")

Open mouth and insert foot here.

Guess I'm glad I didn't downsize the car just YET! :)

So We managed to haul that giant thing home

(it is 70" x 37" x 37"!)

and it now (for now) resides in our newly-painted kitchen, looking all grande and chippy and worn and old.

And PERFECT.

As for Dream-Hubs... Well, I had to stop and just

take inventory of just how blessed I am to have that guy.

Here is a copy of how he updated his Facebook status (unbeknownst to me) when we got home with the cart and started playing with where to put it:

"Wife just came home with a large,old cart...looks like a mine cart from the 1800's...of course it has a custom top made for it and is now sitting in the kitchen....she's excited, I'm confused! Let the furniture re-arranging begin!"

Too funny!

He lets me have pretty much free-reign around our homes, doing with them whatever suits my whim at any given moment.

The items on top of the table are NOT as they will be... this was taken after we'd just thrown everything on top that was already on another table that is not OUT of the kitchen...

Over the years he's smiled and nodded and lived with SO MANY different colors of paint on walls I will never be able to recount the number, including my terracotta (pumpkin) entry way walls (which still makes me cringe to remember), Kermit-the-frog green living/dining room, funky-shade-of-blue bedroom and all manor of furniture and decor that have come and gone through our 25 years.

Even Olivia predicted spot-on what her dad would say, as I began to dial my phone to call him from the store...

"He'll say what he ALWAYS says... 'You're the decorator; you know more about these things than I do. If you think we can use it, get it.'

She had him pegged right down to the last word.

So, I'm going to sleep tonight with Dream-Cart no longer residing in a far-off "never" land, but rather in downstairs

in my kitchen.

And to you, Dream-Hubs...

well...

I can't thank you enough for once again

making the granting of a HUGE wish in my heart

look like it's no big deal and all in a day's work.

{And this one may cost you a day's work... sorry!}

You're the best hubs a girl could have.

Well, THIS girl anyway.

:)

It's a pretty tight fit in the kitchen... this is meant to serve as a large island and here I've just put it up against a wall like a sideboard... We'll keep it here for now, and if we decide before long that it really is too overwhelming for this space, I already know where it'll go...

Well, sort of.

Either in my office or in our living room.

Either way, you CAN'T LOSE!