thrifting...

it's not a new concept, yet it's caught on with gusto the past few years. personally, i have been trying to right size my junk, so the concept just didn't appeal to me. until i had a new wall i needed to fill. then look out, i set myself loose...

 

most shops i walked in and walked out empty handed. and then...all of a sudden there i was jumping up and down and screaming like a wild woman, and you know what happened? a bunch of strangers started dancing around and cheering me on. sure didn't expect that response. it was fun though! 

our new house...

we are so happy to announce that we will be reopening on may 22, 2014 in our new location.

 

if you've been to our shop before, you will likely recognize this building as it is right next door, to the west, of our former shop. in fact, many times customers would park in the lot of what is known as the hamilton insurance building when ours was full or they simply missed our driveway. please check back for new details as we prepare our new "happy little cottage in the city."

an easter story...

Our Heavenly Father indeed works in beautifully amazing ways. I have a little Easter story for you. If you have been following us for long, you likely know of the building project I've been spearheading for my parents to move to Cleveland from their home in Canton to help us look after Sarah and allow all of us to be available for them. For forty seven years they lived in the same home. My mom had the inside decorated just like she wanted and my father took immaculate care of the outside. He along with a little help from my sons, built a stunning sunroom with a surrounding garden that was the talk of the neighborhood. I knew asking them to give that up was going to be hard.

But even harder, was going to be leaving their church family. For more than fifty years they belonged to the Canton Baptist Temple, where for decades my mother was a Sunday School teacher and my father sang in the choir. Their friendship circle was mostly built around fellow parishioners. Once they settled into their new home, I knew they would be seeking out a new church. For various reasons, my husband and I never really identified with a church here, so on special Sunday's like Easter, when Sarah was healthy enough to travel, we would get up very, very early and drive to Canton to join them in their church, which of course meant we had no leads to help with their search.

A few weeks ago, while I was dropping Sarah off to spend the night, my mom told me they had driven over to see the Cleveland Baptist Church. Now this may by a very fine church, but I knew that meant they had to drive across I-480 to get there and although I did not tell them this at the time, that drive was quite worrisome to me, especially in the winter. The next day I had to take some old computer equipment down to Ret3 which is located near E40th and Chester. Just to be different, or so I thought, I decided to come back home by way of Cedar and that's when I spotted Cedar Hill Baptist Church.

I stopped at my parents that afternoon and used my dad's computer to see if the church had an online presence. Sure enough they did and as I was scrolling their website for details, I came across a photo of the pastor and his wife. I immediately recognized Beth as being one of our kind and wonderful customers. I knew instantly that this was meant to be. 

Then out of the blue last week, our seventeen year old mentioned he wanted to go to church. So today he (photo) accompanied his grandparents to Cedar Hill, just the three of them. I'm sure they were beaming from ear to ear. It is indeed a very Happy and divinely planned Easter in our family this year. Many blessings to you all.

 

to new beginnings...

 

signs of life ahead...

we've been working hard trying to get our new building operational. it all happened so fast without much time to think and truthfully there are moments when i am second guessing myself. i start to wonder if this is really what was planned for us. and then today...

 

 

...i discover a purple crocus next to our very special bird from marie bostwick that i just plopped on the ground as we were moving last week. that new sign of life, a sneak peak into the beautiful days of springtime ahead, is just what i needed to get me back in the swing of things.