Vintage Discoveries

This break has been exactly what the doctor ordered (mwahaha). My parents came up on Tuesday to treat us to a day out and we had a fabulous time together. We toured the Mayo 420, which is a historic building that they've completely remodeled as loft apartments. It's in the center of downtown, which is burgeoning with new shops and restaurants. It's an amazing mix of history and charm with modernity, and Aaron and I were very impressed. Possible move in our future? Maybe...
My mom and I had some adventures in the mall while Aaron and dad relaxed at Barnes and Noble. Dad found 25 bargain books for his personal library (you should see his professional library) - this is not an uncommon occurrence. He will most likely have them read in a month.
Yesterday Aaron and I headed to an antique shop that I've been dying to revisit since my sister and I discovered it last year. I was specifically looking for individual tea cups and saucers for the tea party I'm throwing for my mom's birthday. There was no shortage, and i ended up not being able to resist this one:

Isn't the color gorgeous? The shape is very unique and I love the gold design encircling the rim. $9? Yes, please!

The best shopping excursions, in my opinion, are when you not only find exactly what you were searching for, but you discover a gold mine of sorts unexpectedly. We hit the jackpot. There was a section devoted entirely to historic medical books, apparatuses, and memorabilia.Old visual acuity machines, an antique stethoscope, texts dating back to the early 20th century. My favorite find was a diploma dating back to 1914 awarded to a man who had completed a fellowship in surgery; it was held in its original frame. Sadly, we are not yet doctors and thus couldn't scoop up all these treasures, but I hope to slowly collect rich pieces of our profession's history like these in the future. We purchased 7 antique texts for our collection.

 The oldest copyright dates back to 1914. It's going to be interesting to see the philosophies, explanations, and treatments contained within these texts.

This was one of my favorite finds. Many of the books we found contained personal scribblings from past owners, including one from a medical student of years past making a notation of an impending exam on a Friday. The inscription above? Dated 1923. It fascinates me. I still have my eye on that stethoscope...