After we checked out the covered bridge and ate lunch in Princeton, we went antiquing. Princeton has several little antique and gift shops, but we stopped into the large Sherwood Antique Mall and decided to save the little shops for our next visit. Sherwood is basically a big building with loads of independently operated booths to poke through. It offered a nice variety of antiques and price points. Actually, I thought it was a little bit pricey for its location–some pricing was on par with Chicago antique shops. (Usually in my experience, the lower rents away from Chicago reflect in lower prices for the goods.) But, for the most part, prices were fair and I found some really fun things.
I’m always on the look out for vintage paper bits and dishes to add to my collection. I picked out these sweet vintage Hallmark teacher stickers with “Good job” written in a variety of languages. I especially love the little Japanese girl (top right corner) and the German boy (carrying milk pails?) I also scored a full book of patriotic-themed Eureka seals which were only a dollar, making them basically the deal of the century. 
I poked through hundreds of boxes of postcards throughout the mall. I actually had to stop myself because my parents were with me and I didn’t want to slow us down. Sadly, I didn’t find any good Princeton, IL postcards to send that day, but I found a USPS hot air balloon puzzle postcard and an old Berghoff postcard. 
And I picked up some other vintage Chicago postcards. I love the scalloped edges! (Seriously, can you find edges like these on modern postcards?)
I thought the horse cards would be fun for mail art in May (for the Kentucky Derby, which I’ve only seen once on TV.) And Naoto and I have been to Hawaii a few times but I’ve never made an album of our adventures, so I thought maybe some playing cards would help make that project happen. 
The money I saved on the Eureka seals was wasted on these Dennison stars. They were packaged in a sealed bag and labeled “almost full” which was less than truthful, especially as far as the blue and red boxes were concerned. You win some, you lose some I guess. And, last but not least, this box of Dennison mailing labels! There are more than 200 in the box (which was also in sealed packaging) and it was definitely a winner!
I also found a couple of fun dish sets, but I’ll share those soon.
Have you found anything fun in a thrift shop or antique store lately?
The last stop in our little tour of Illinois was Princeton, the home of the Red Covered Bridge. 
The bridge was built in 1863 and runs across Bureau Creek just north of Princeton. It is still an active bridge, allowing cars to cross one at a time. (It’s no two lane highway!) 
I loved this advertisement on the ceiling beams for 
When I was young, we visited the bridge. If you’d asked me a few weeks ago about our visit to the bridge, I would have said we drove across the country to see it. The ride, as an eight year-old felt sooooo looooooong! In reality, Princeton is only about an hour away from my hometown. Isn’t it funny how your memory plays tricks on you? 
My mom dug out this picture of us on our first visit to the bridge in 1986. (That’s my brother in the snappy Hawaiian shirt and my mom was pregnant with my sister at the time.)
My dad has been talking about this cheese shop in Walnut, IL since last year when he went and stocked up on several varieties of cheese. He gave us a hunk of tomato basil cheddar, which was delicious, so we made plans to drive up to the shop together while I visiting earlier this month. 
Walnut, Illinois is a tiny town of 1400 so it’s very impressive that 
Here’s what I picked to try: Garden Cheddar, Blueberry Cheddar, Pesto Gouda, and their “special” Swiss, which a) was SO cheap, and b) is between a baby Swiss and a regular Swiss and the woman at the shop told us it is amazing. I figured, for $3.48, it was worth the risk. I’m looking forward to cracking a couple open this weekend. 
Oh! And for fans of the USPS, here’s Walnut’s cute post office. Looking good, 61376!
During our country drive, my dad and I stopped at the Old Salem Cemetery. Old Salem, the third oldest cemetery in Marshall County, is a small country cemetery northwest of my hometown. It’s tucked back at the end of a long dirt driveway, kind of the ultimate resting place. My great aunt and uncle are buried there. 
When I was in grade school, there were rumors of eccentric high schoolers going to Old Salem to perform séances among the turn of the century graves. And stories about ghosts and odd occurrences have swirled around Old Salem for as long as I remember. 
Most of the graves are from the 1800s, sparsely placed on the land among big old trees. It’s all framed on three sides by unruly forests. It’s easy to spook yourself into thinking you see movement in the trees, or shadowy figures watching you from the woods. 
Supposedly, a young girl who died in a fire is buried at Old Salem. If you try to light a match near her grave, it will go out. I’ve never looked hard enough to find the grave and test the theory. 
Ghosthunters also report going back to their cars after visiting the cemetery and having trouble starting the engine. 
It is eerily quiet there. The silence coupled with the graves from the 1800s does make it a perfect place for ghost stories. But my dad and I didn’t experience any paranormal activity. 
Many of the graves have sunk into the earth or have sadly been damaged by vandals. (There were a bunch of beer bottles in the garbage can outside the gates, so it must still be a popular place for teenage partying.) Many of the graves are so old that the writing has been worn away. 
I wonder…is Adeline still alive or did she get buried next to her second husband? 
A sign of the times, there were a lot of children’s graves and family graves listing young children. (The lamb looks angry about this situation.)Â 
Sadly, the grounds aren’t cared for as much as they could be. There were a lot of branches down throughout the cemetery and the fence is falling apart. But it is still an active cemetery. The shiny new stones really stand out among the old ones here. Â 
When we went to leave, my old car started right away (Can you be both disappointed and grateful?) and we managed to make it back to the paved road without getting stuck in the mud. Whew!
Do you know the 
On Sunday, I spent the afternoon with fellow gardeners at the Forest Park Community Garden Seed Swap. It was my 
In addition to swapping seeds, we listened as 
Do you know 
Parcel Ghost (with the help of 
I’ve been a Parcel Ghost fan for quite awhile, reading his zines and using his stickers on my mail. (Santa often leaves zines and Parcel Ghost treats 
(He really liked the strawberry donut.)
How did your Letter Month go? I have to admit, I crawled towards the finish line. Not making and sending a bunch of Valentines really messed with my mojo for this project. And I’ve been feeling very boring lately, even though I’ve been busy this month, so letters aren’t coming easily. Meh. Thanks to everyone who sent me mail this month! You guys were the light at the end of the tunnel because I wanted to make sure I responded to all of the mail I received in February (as the original Letter Month rules suggest.)
kimberly ah 