This past Saturday an older gentleman pulled up to the store in a big pickup truck. He got out with his aviators on and came in like he really meant business. I greeted him with a big smile and asked how I could help. He responded by saying that our store used to be his grandfather's barber shop! (I was like "WHAAAT?!") We knew that our building was the original barber shop in Huntersville but I never imagined that the owner's grandson would stop in and tell us about it. I was PUMPED! He handed me a copy of a picture of some men in the barber shop - one of the men was his grandfather and the little boy sitting in one of the chairs was his dad! He said I could have it (and I am totally going to frame it)! Nick and I showed him around the store and he told us all about what used to be in the building.

His father owned the barber shop after his grandfather passed away - and during the great depression, his family actually moved in next door. In the front room, the original mirror (that is still in the store) used to be on the other side of the building. It was moved to prevent a little bit of noise coming through the walls - this way the customers sat on the opposite side while getting their hair cut. Haircuts were 25¢! The back room of the store had a really big furnace for warm water and some of the first showers in Huntersville. People would pay 25¢ on the weekend to shower and they offered shoe shines for 10¢! The back of the building was fenced in and that was their "yard" that he played in when he was little. They lived in the space next to ours for 15 years!

That is a real #throwbackthursday! All this history in one little building - it is crazy to think about! I hope he brings us more pictures & tells us more stories. I will be sure to share!

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-A

Today we added a new category of services to our repertoire. I'm going to call it "Turtle Saving & Relocating" or something like that. I know this post has nothing to do with furniture - except the fact that we were leaving the Lowe's parking lot (had to grab a few supplies) when all of this happened...

So we're pulling out of the parking lot - on the way to eat some Mexican food (because it's Cinco De Mayo duh) and there is a HUGE turtle crossing the road in front of us. We stop the Jeep and get out like we know what we're doing. We soon realize we have no idea what to do. It needed to get out of the road because the poor thing was going to get hit by a car! At this point, we are pretty sure it's a Snapping Turtle (it is - we got confirmation from the pics below). We talked about it, snapchatted a few pics (just being honest) and finally called my step-dad. He knows a lot of random stuff about animals & knew the area we were in. He suggested moving it to the pond about half a mile down the street (where it probably came from). NOW how the heck are we supposed to do that?!

A SHOPPING CART! BINGO! I run around the parking lot looking for one - seriously the only time ever that shopping carts aren't spilling into the parking lot. Next parking lot over - PetSmart. I run inside to tell them we're borrowing a buggy to save a turtle. The young guy at the register looked at me like I had 4 heads - so I thanked him and ran out. I run the shopping cart over some medians and through a row of bushes - really hurrying here LOL. Nick picked the turtle up by the shell and put it in the cart. Let me just say... if I would have seen us doing all of this I would have assumed we were crazy people. Soooo here we go rolling this bright blue shopping cart with a turtle in it down the sidewalk and across a few intersections. (Please keep in mind I am now face-timing my step-dad to make sure we are doing the right things to save this dang turtle.) Nick and I are running trying to get this turtle to the pond before he jumps out of the cart - because he is trying. I keep trying to tell him that we're saving him but he doesn't seem to care. We get to the pond and deliver him safely near the water. Then had a quick photo shoot because why wouldn't we... oh and we returned our PetSmart cart. People probably thought we were homeless when we emerged from the wooded area with a shopping cart - but whatever.