Our House

Yesterday, there was a discussion on an online board that I belong to, about the things in our houses. The owner of the board, Lisa, commented about an object that makes her happy whenever she passes by it in her house and that she would rather have three items in her house that make her happy instead of a house that is full of just items that mean nothing. I am not quoting her word for word, but you get the idea.

That made my ever changing mood stop and think about our house and the home that it has evolved into since Mr. Man and I got married. I started to go room to room to see how I felt about the stuff in our house. I have to tell you, it made my mood sentimental and full of love.

As I walked through the house, each room jumped out at me with a memory. Each piece of furniture seems to have a special meaning or a special point in time when it was purchased. We have some pieces that were given to us by grandparents and great grandparents that I don't think I could ever part with. I remembered the anniversary when we purchased our kitchen table and chairs as a gift, together. I remembered how Mr. Man surprised me with our master bedroom set, right before we got married, when I first moved to Florida. The same with our dining room furniture. Another surprise when I was getting ready to move into our first Florida home.

We have a guest suite that is furnished with the most beautiful antique set that has been in Mr. Man's family for years and years and years. There is a lot of history and stories that come with that set and it has the original mattress on the bed. It is the most comfortable bed to sleep in and if you look closely, you can see the old price tag that it cost all of 30.00. I could never part with that set.

In our entry hall, there are two seperate chairs in different areas. Both belonged to sets of grandparents and each chair makes me smile when I pass by them. I also have the grandmother clock that used to sit in my grandparent's house along with many dishes and glassware that my grandmother handed down to me. It all sits in the dining room and comes out for holidays and special occassions.

We have a house of stuff but it is all great, memory rich stuff. I find that with each passing year, this stuff becomes more and more important to me and to my heart. Each corner of every room fills me with love. There are framed pieces of artwork done by the cheerleader when she was very young, my cookbooks, my fashion books, my closet full of my fashion finds, my grandmother's fur coats, things that Mr. Man and I have collected over the years. Our extensive music collection....the hundreds of vinyl, yes, vinyl albums. I can recall the history of all my albums and where I purchased each one. The different underground record shops, the rare album finds with stamped numbers on the covers. Everything in our house means something to me and in my ever changing mood, that makes me feel safe, full of love, and happy to always be home.

So, yes, while I do agree that I would rather be surrounded by things I love, like Lisa said, I don't think I could pick just three things. I would have to pick a whole house of things. Because we are lucky enough to have a house built out of a love that reaches back in time and generations. And this, to me, is the best kind of house.

I do, however, have things that are mine that I adore and make me happy and are all about me and my ever changing moods...here are a few of those items...don't get me started on the things that I adore in my closet of clothes, shoes, boots, bags, hats...that needs to be a whole other blog post...



This painting sums up my outlook on life...




Framed prints and an autographed print of the best television show of all time...



Best movie of all time...I can recite the lines word for word and can sing each of the songs...I want to own each item in Penny Lane's wardrobe.


My mother-in-law, Linda, gave me this framed print after I got my little yellow VW, this summer.






Just two examples of fashion book stacks...to show you more, would be showing my addiction...



Painting that hangs in my powder room...


So, do you surround yourself with things that make you happy? You would be surprised how much it can make your ever changing mood want to sing!!

These are just a few of the things that make me happy in our house...