Findings

Today was good.

I woke up late and ate some breakfast in the form of sugar covered raisins and bran flakes. Got dressed and figured I should do something mildly productive, so I packed up my books and headed to B spa and parked myself at coffee planet to study for my commercial baking final. I listened to old ladies talk about finances and sipped my coffee while trying to ingrain marketing aspects into my head.

On my way out I tried to find the used bookstore, but sadly it had closed before I ever went in. Instead I got to have the wind try to blow my shirt up by my waist. Nice try there, wind. Without any bookstores to go to, I headed over to the giant antique store to mosey and check if they had any good vintage clothes. No on the clothes, but I found some old issues of life magazine and a lot cool antique suitcases. Now, maybe part of me has secretly wanted to be Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday or something, but I wasn't leaving without one of these suitcases.

My first finding was small, gray and cute on the outside, but the inside revealed it had seen better days with the previous owner. No wonder it was under $20. Second was a bit more pricey at $35, but I was intrigued when I couldn't figure out how to open it. This one was a bit larger, brown with light stitching, and still very cute. The interior had some damage, but stuff that could be fixed, and hounds tooth lining. This one was coming home with me, but not for $35. Muahaha.

Ahem. I walked over to the two old men at the counter and sweetly asked if they could show me what the interior pockets and buckles were intended for. "Oh.. so you mean that buckle is broken?... shame. Any chance I could get it for $25? No? $30? Wonderful." Not my best bargaining work to date, but at least now I could by myself a fancy $5 starcrap latte if I wanted to.

Proud of my bargaining efforts, I happily skipped along back to my car and thought about ways to clean leather on my way home. I tried a few different ways, and here's what I came up with:
-Lemon juice and cream of tartar: It's not really worth it.
-Mr. clean magic eraser: Surprisingly awesome, but some of the color may come off if you rub too hard.
- Rubbing alcohol and q-tips: Best bet. Some of the color still may come off a little, but it's better than the magic eraser.

Sadly the hounds tooth interior was pretty stained, probably from N.J.S. (the initials on the suitcase) spilling coffee on it forty years ago, so I did my best with some diluted shout.
Tried to repair the little leather piece that made it easier to pull the divider, major fail. I should probably leave the broken buckle to a cobbler after that dilemma.

Wish I had pictures to post, and maybe I will soon, but I'm still camera-less, so you'll have to look at the pretty google images for now. Probably once I get the buckle fixed I'll post some nice ones.


Overall though, it looks pretty nice, and I'm happy to give it some life after N.J.S. did. :)