Girls' Day

Recently, The Cottage Junk Co. took their show on the road - all the way to Fort Worth! Cheryl had planned the ultimate Girls' Day, including lunch at Joe T. Garcia's fantastic courtyard (see picture above).
Believe us, it was a working lunch: After spending the morning junking and gathering, our wheels were turning like crazy! Topics of discussion included a gorgeous blue-and-bronze fabric we had just laid hands on, some good junk that followed us home from Canton (including our first-ever bed-to-bench conversion, made possible by our carpenter Hunky Steve), and what find was awaiting us around the next corner.
Well, we never did find that fourth chair to round out a mismatched set that will be featured in our booth for the June market, so we did what junkers do: we found another solution. In this case, the solution was sitting in Rikki's living room!
One of the perks of junking for a living is that it has a tendency to spill over into your home and your life. We know, when we have the knee-jerk reaction "I want this in my house!" that we're on to something good. Right now, Cheryl is babysitting a Bergere chair we just treated to a new finish and upholstery job, and Rikki is coveting a blanket box with a beautiful worn white / heavily distressed finish. Both pieces will be in our booth, so go ahead, break our hearts - take them home!
Another perk is getting to have Girls' Day once in a while! It is necessary in order for us to keep bringing you the good junk and unique furniture that is The Cottage Junk Co. signature style. We scour out-of-the-way places and secret spaces to bring together a unique look for your enjoyment and inspiration.
So if it brings us the same enjoyment and inspiration, that's a good thing, right? And if you spot us at the Cheesecake Factory, giggling over coffee and two shared slices of cheesecake, it's safe to assume we're hard at work, bringing you more good junk and inspiration.

Happy junking!

Cheryl & Rikki

Postcard From The Past

Recently, my husband sent me a postcard from the past, in the form of an emailed picture his brother David had dug up. (It's the top one.) I'm guessing it was taken in 2002. Joakim would have been turning 10, and Mattias 8. I saved it to my phone, and it occurred to me that there was a twin to it, taken by me just a couple of weeks ago. (It's the bottom one.)

Joakim is going on 16, and Mattias 14. Some things haven't changed: Joakim still has highlights, and Mattias still sports his dreads. They still play soccer, though they've swapped the LCSA (our local soccer association) jerseys for club and school ones. And they're still my sweet, smart, funny and unique little boys.

Never mind that they're both inches taller than me now. Or that the period when they could fit my shoes, and I was forever on a fruitless hunt for my sneakers or clogs, came and went in the blink of an eye. Or that the teenage hormones are raging, making Joakim sullen and sleepy, and Mattias touchy and obstinate.

That postcard from the past made me smile. It transported me back to a time when our family life was a little less hectic. When I still picked out their clothes, when they didn't have cell phones, My Space pages, or (gasp) cars.

But it made me realize how much I enjoy the journey our family is on. And how rewarding it is to live in the moment. Preserve the moment, sure, but then turn your eye toward the next one.

For us, some of the moments we're looking towards is Joakim applying for a hardship driver's license (the hardship is Mom being the perpetual soccer chauffeur...), and Mattias and I taking a trip to Sweden to celebrate Mormor's (grandma's) 70th birthday.

The Swedish poet Karin Boye put it something like this: "Sure there's rhyme and reason to our journey. But it's the journey itself that's most worthwhile."

Enjoy your journey!
Rikki