Emotional Hoarding

Last week I did a post about "hoarding". I just have too much stuff, but at least some of it is cool stuff, and not stacks of newspapers and magazines stacked around the house! I talked about a cabinet I had that had belonged to my folks for years. I didn't really like it, and worse yet it was filled with "smalls" that I didn't really care for either. That is where the whole "emotional hoarding" thing came in. It is my holding on to many physical memories of my mom, dad, and grandmothers stuff. So, when I saw a customer put a bid yesterday on one of Ginny's small primitive tables, I wanted it. And, as you can see above, the customer didn't come back and it is all mine. I decided it would take the place of my "emotional hoarding" in my dining room. With another grandchild on his way here soon, my big harvest table doesn't have enough chairs for my entire family. So now I officially have a "children's table"! Good excuse to bring it home, right? I went upstairs at the store yesterday, and was looking around. Our upstairs use to be open to the public. But the wonderful City of Orange, looking out for everyone's safety, closed it a few years ago. Bless their little hearts! Now it is our storage area for our sold merchandise, and layaways, and my family's stuff. I found my bench up there which actually matched the table, and both the table and bench match my big, old harvest table. I've been in this business of "junk" now for about twenty years. And the one thing I'm never fond of is "smalls". And my emotionally hoarding of that cabinet was filled with dreaded smalls. I was out like a light last night courtesy of three days at Country Roads. So, I didn't even hear Bryce when he unloaded the entire cabinet for me! It was really nice of him to do that for me. Now, I have the job of dusting this stuff off, and pricing it, and hauling it to the store, and finding a place to put it all. And since I'm not a big "glass & smalls" person, I'm going to have to have some help pricing this stuff. Thankfully, one of my "kids" at Country Roads is the QUEEN of smalls and knows her prices well. If you have ever visited any of Carol's spaces, you know what I'm talking about!! So, with her help, we might get all this stuff priced, and put out on the sales floor. I had originally planned on selling this cabinet. And I had been thinking it was perfect to fill up with all my smalls I was going to sell. Then I spoke with another "emotional hoarder" in my family, Brande. She wants the cabinet. Now, we must remember that Brande has no room for this cabinet, but as she said, she has always liked it, and she has lots of books to put in it some day, and it belonged to her Grandma and Papa. So my friends, that IS the definition of an "emotional hoarder" and I don't think it is really a bad thing. So, this little cabinet WILL go to Country Roads, just not on the sales floor but upstairs with some more of mine and my kids "emotional hoarding" merchandise!

The Morning After

Well, it does feel like the "morning after" but not in a good way, like having a great time the night before. And, I just lost most of this post I had just written along with a few photos. So, here is the condensed blog post since I have to leave for work in a bit. I thought after Saturday (see post below) that yesterday really wouldn't be too much of a "BSC" Sunday. But come on, you know there were a few. Here are quickly some of my favorites. One lady buys a dining room table and wants it delivered to her doorstep for $10! Yes, that was her "offer" for a delivery. Do I need to say she had NO takers on that one. Another customer had Carol come over to a dealer space to look at a piece of furniture. He explained to her that it was $150, which is waaaay over priced for what it is. And told Carol he would be willing to pay $75. Needless to say, that piece of furniture is still at the store. And lastly, our restroom is in the back of one of the other buildings. I'm in there when I hear this weird noise on the sales floor. I come out, and see the same guy from the day before. He is interested in one of Bryce's hydraulic tables that Bryce stripped. It has a lever on it that will make the table go "up". So, I ask the customer if he needs help, and his reply was similar to a kid, "nope, I wanna see how high the table will go" as he continues to push the lever. Well, on top of the table is an expensive spotlight similar to the one above (I can't find the actual pix of that now either). Anyway, the light is about two inches from the top of the ceiling. I ask the customer, "do you see that the light is only inches away from the ceiling"? His response was "yep"! Finally I just tell him to stop before it hits the ceiling and I will make a phone call to see "how high up" it goes. When I got back the customer was gone, surprise? Nope! Here are only a few pictures of what we have in the store right now. I have to head out to the happiest place on earth, Country Roads!


And on a positive note, I want to thank ALL of our great customers. I need to do more posts on them because they are the best. Like the woman yesterday that came in because one of our dealers hadn't shipped something to her yet that she ordered a few weeks back. And it wasn't cheap. The dealer told me she would come down with the merchandise right away. The woman patiently waited, we talked a bit, she donated $10 to our jar that we collect funds for our "furry friends" in. Then she left with a smile, thanked me as well. So to all of you, and there are SO many, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. Hope you all have a great week!

Thanks Jenny!

Yesterday, Jenny Doh, joined us at Country Roads for a book signing of her new book, "Where Women Create, Inspiration's" that she co-authored with Jo Packman. Some of you may remember Jenny as the editor of many of the Stampington publications. Jenny is now out on her own, with Cresendoh. I hope you have time to visit her online site as there are so many articles in regards to how "art saves". Before Jenny's noon arrival, Carol and Yesi worked on putting together the display in the store where Jenny would hold her book signing. The one thing that makes it easy to put displays together at Country Roads is that we have SO much stuff, it is pretty easy to gather stuff and put it all together. And Carol and Yesi are very good at that. The photo above is the rest of the display that is kind of spread out along the facade in the second building. As Jenny was getting to wrap up her book signing, her photographer had stopped by to see her. On her way out, she stopped at the counter to let me know that there was a guy in a red baseball cap that was acting kind of weird and she was worried because Jenny was over there by herself with just the two women she was talking to. At first I thought, "what day is it", thinking maybe it was Sunday. So, off I go to see what is going on. As Jenny is talking to two of our customers, this guy is standing right next to her. You never know how to start a conversation with some of "those" special customers. I just wanted to get him away from Jenny. So I suggested, "so do you want to buy a book to have signed", hoping he would walk away. Then he started rambling, "I'm just a guy, you know a guy" (whatever that was suppose to mean) and some other random stuff. He was also drunk among other things. As you can see by "one" of the empty beer bottles above. So, he thankfully walks down the aisle, away from Jenny! He plops himself down in an over sized vintage chair and picks up a book to read, and pops open the beer. At least he was comfortable. Now I have a store full of people on a Saturday afternoon with a crazy man drinking a beer in my store while reading a book! I must say that he looked very content. I ended up calling the Orange PD, non emergency number. And thankfully, an officer responded very quickly. He asked the guy, "what are you doing" to which he responded, "reading a book"! Not to mention drinking a beer as well. The officer asked him if he thought he was in a library, no response. Two more police officers arrive. The guy had emptied his pockets on a nice jadeite plate, as you can see above. Displayed the contents of his pockets quite well. The other two beer caps belonged to two empty beer bottles we found out in the garden. Maybe he believed he was finding "culture" by drinking imported beer and reading, who knows! He also happen to have an outstanding warrant, so the guy in the red baseball cap that had been listening to Jenny discuss her new book was led away in handcuffs during a busy Saturday afternoon! There is one thing you can always bank on when you are at Country Roads. . .it is NEVER boring. And thanks again Jenny for joining us!!

Hoarders!

Yesterday I was wiped out! This past week has truly kicked my butt. And for me to sit down and turn the tv on in the afternoon is unheard of. Why? Because I'm wired and there is always something that needs to be done. I think today my body was telling me to take a break. So, I happen to turn on the Bonnie Hunt show on, and she had on this woman that was a "hoarder". Now, the stuff she hoarded wasn't the coolest stuff, but none the less, there was just too much. The photo above is a bench on my front porch. Now come on, do I really need ten watering cans? Seriously. So, since I have hoarding on my brain I start looking around my house. My mom & dad had this lawyers book case for years in there house. You know what, I don't even really like it! I'm now beginning to understand why it is in my house now, I was an "emotional" hoarder after my parents passed away. Now look at the eight pictures below of each of the little sections in this bookcase! I don't even like a lot of that stuff either! I'm not a glass person, or a cat person. I like real cats, but not ceramic ones. And some of the stuff in there was my grandmothers as well. Actually, the only thing that I added was the Market Basket name badge. It is a reminder that I was robbed at gunpoint without being shot! Seriously, I did get robbed but I was fine. I look into all those cubbies below and I wonder, am I a hoarder?




I know "this" type of hoardering is the nature of the business I'm in. But damn, I don't even really care for most of this stuff. So, with all that said, I'm trying to de-hoard my house. The one really good thing about being an antique hoarder is that you can at least SELL the stuff you've hoarded! The problem, however, will be not replacing it with a new bunch of stuff you've hoarded! At least I'm not a trash hoarder, yet ;0}

Happy Birthday to My Sister

Today is my sister, Teri's birthday. She is three years younger than me, but I look so much younger, right Teri? In this photo she is with with dad at our grandparents house, who had us call them "Nanny and Daddy Dick"! Yep, you heard that one right. I mean my grandpa's name was Wesley, but they always called him Dick, and I don't EVEN want to know why! As the older sister, I never wanted to be left out of anything, or share the spotlight with my little sister, as you see here. I too had to be included in a photo as I grab her, and probably pinched her as well. Here we are again, with our grandpa, "Daddy Dick"! What the hell was wrong with that family? This is us in our backyard. This picture means a lot to me because some of you may know that after my parents passed away, Katie and Vinnie bought my parents home. And this is now the backyard that Riley plays in, although it looks just a bit different! In the "old days" it didn't matter if kids were politically incorrect as we stood proud in or Indian headdress! The car in the background was the first car I learned how to drive. Wish I still had it today. My mom and her Aunt Ruby from Texas are posing with me and my sister at the Seal Beach pier. Which ironically is the beach that we take Riley and Morgan too! This is one of my most favorite pictures of all. It was with myself, Teri, and my dad at Pier Point Landing which use to be in Long Beach. It was the coolest little place, you could feed the seals, there were rides to go on, and you were right there at the beach!! My sister Teri has always been close to my three kids. This is her with Brande on Brande's first birthday. To look at my sister and I, we are very different. She is tall, almost 5'11 while I stand proud at 5'4! As a kid when I picked a fight with her, I always ran after I smacked her, because I knew she was capable of kicking my butt! My sister is also gay, and I am very proud of the fact that she doesn't hide from it anymore. She has the most awesome partner right now, Linda. And if you ever wonder why I may have a blog post here or there about the prejudicial attitude that some people hold against gay people, along with some of our judgemental churches as well, this is "part" of the reason why I feel so strongly. That and it is just wrong! Recently my sister stood up for herself. She was a VP for a health care company. I won't bore you with the details, but she stood up and fought for what was due to her. And you know what, a week ago it all ended, and she won. Teri really did have it tough growing up. She had her kidney removed when she was five years old. Then I believe that caused her to gain weight. And as she said to me when I told her how proud I was of her for standing up against this big corporation she said it felt good, because as a kid she never, ever stood up to the bullies. And even though it took a lot of years to stand tall, she did, and she won. So, happy birthday and props to you on this birthday for standing so tall and proud!!

Industrial Eye Candy

What I love the most about Country Roads is all the different looks, the different styles, and the displays that change daily. Personally, I "love" the new industrial look that is becoming so popular right now. That table above, that I believe is an embalming table, if I spelled it right, is my new obsession right now! Actually it is currently at my house, and I'm trying to trade Bryce something for it! Here are some industrial looking things that are currently at Country Roads!






I like when different textures and styles are mixed together. I guess that's because I like variety as well. I keep wondering though, if we add the word "French" in front of industrial, will it be worth more;0) Do something nice today for someone, okay?

White Wednesday

Happy White Wednesday as the weeks seem to fly by. This week, I took pictures of some of my favorite "white" pieces in my home. I love the whites that are old, the ones that show their "wear & tear", the ones that are imperfect! Those are the ones that are "perfect" for me. Above is one of my "newer" pieces. I'm at the point now that if I buy something, something else has to go. I got this at Country Roads from Ginny, who by the way has the best of the best! It's an old store display. I love it because of the deep bins below, great for hiding my grandkids toys! Like with most of the antique pieces in my home, I use them. This big two piece cabinet I have in my kitchen. We pretty much ripped out all the cabinets that were in the house when I bought it. We use the old pieces instead of the kitchen cabinets that were there. I love the blue hardware on this piece, along with the "Cocktail" sign above. Came from an old bar in Pasadena in the early 50's! Another favorite of mine is this early dry sink. There are many spots on it where the wood is smooth and worn from years of use. This little "wall banger" as I call them, hangs above the dry sink. Sadly it's only purpose is to hold more of my junk! When I was in high school and in a soriety we always use to hang out at Bob's Big Boy, thus a few collectibles to remind me of days gone by. Another "early" piece, that weighs a ton, is great for storage. I love those old cupboards that were made with the wide, heavy planks. If you are wondering about the crazy rug by this cabinet, this is the part of my family room that is hiding my grandkids toys! By far, this has to be one of my favorite things in my house. It is actually the top of an old milk truck! I put it on top of a pencil legged table so I could use as a table. I bought it years ago from my friend, Chris Nickoloff. For those of you that knew Chris, she had the "best of the best" when it came to the good ole stuff. Sadly, she died way before her time, so it is also a nice memory of a friend as well as a cool, unusual piece in my home. I've always had a love affair with old screened cupboards, you know the whole rust and white thing going on. I store my old quilts in here, with the red ones being my favorite. As I am writing this post, I often ask myself if many of these pieces are functional, which they are. But, do I really need them in my home to collect stuff and dust? Then I'm reminded that when it comes right down to it, that it isn't about the "need" it is always about the "want"! Speaking of the "want", go visit Kathleen, and see some more great stuff you will want. Kathleen always has pictures of stuff from her house that calls my name!! Happy White Wednesday!

Country Roads Randomness

I don't even know how to put into word how thrilled I am that I don't have to work at the world famous Country Roads today! The public has done a pretty good job of beating us up the past few days. Usually, Monday's are mellow, but I think the "short bus" came to down yesterday. It was not really raining much yesterday, a little mist. As I turn the corner to open the front door of the store, I saw him. And by him, I mean a nut! I'm not being cruel, he is just a nut that never stops talking. I said, "excuse me, I need you to move so I can open the door"! Then he asks, "what time to do you open" as he is standing right in FRONT of the sign that says our hours, but I answer him anyway. Then he wants to come inside "with" me. I told him he needed to wait till I could get the lights turned on. Shortly after that Yesi walks in and all she says to me is, "oh great"! We do know our customers. And the day sort of continued like that with my favorite of the day. She comes in the front door, and isn't even at the counter and shouts, "I have to go to the bathroom", you know how Riley might let me know at home! Before I caught myself, I yelled back, "you need the key". She rounds the corner, and I swear that myself, Yesi, and Bryce all yell at the same time as she passes the key and darts for the bathroom, "YOU NEED THE KEY"!! Watching her try and hang the key back up was a bit of a side show as well. Saw her later over in the last building where we have lotions for sale. She was taking a bit of a bath with the lotion. And not to be disappointed, before she left I had to listen to her rant about "why" we didn't have round table cloths because was I aware that they still make round tables? I don't think I even answered her. So, with all that said, here are a few pictures I took while I was at the happiest place on earth yesterday, "Country Roads"!!





We have so much great stuff at the store right now. And thankfully, we have some really great customers as well. Please know I appreciate you all. I got to see my grandson after work last night. Technology is amazing when you see a 4-D ultra sound of your new grandbaby. I watched him play with his foot and fingers, saw his little face. He looks a lot like Riley. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of "him" (no name yet) up later this week. Have a happy, carefree, crazyless Tuesday!