Our next week’s sales will be updated and all new videos and photos onsite hopefully by Sunday evening. Please check back to see the addresses and the items we will be offering.

 

 

Giving Thanks

It occurred to me this morning when I reflected over the year about what I had to be thankful for, that it was not the ‘big‘ things that struck me, but rather the small everyday things that made a difference in our lives.

More than the success of the company or the trips and travels we have managed, it was the daily pleasantries and niceties that really warmed my heart in memory of what made me more calm and content. It seems our family, friends, animals and comfort of home is what is really standing out for me.

So in lieu of making a list of all the big things sent our way in 2011, instead I walked through our home and photographed some of the things that make me happy…and often make my day, week and even my life…a better place to be. I believe this rings true with my daughter as well, but she is asleep in her cozy bed so I could not ask her what stood out in memory of this past year.

With that said, I will share with you a list of what I am thankful for, what I am grateful to have near me, what I long to spend time doing or make time for and in doing so I would hope it might help each of you reading this to remember the ‘little’ things that make your entire life just so much more comfortable to live.

I am grateful for my family; my wonderful mother Elodie, my girl Sophie, my nieces and nephew, their parents; my siblings, their spouses…our parents and their respective partners…our pets be they fat and furry or skinny, wet and shiny. I love the living; be that beast or human being, my world is a better place to be for each of their company and the companionship lent to me through them.

As I looked through my photos, it occurred to me that I am eternally grateful to our long lost grandparents for lending me the names and habits to hand off to my own child Sophie Ellen Marconi; for gifting her delicate features that skipped a generation with myself. The pictures of my daughter are so much like her namesake Sophie Schwartz, straight from Germany and very soft of skin and also heart. I hope my daughter has as long and joyful of a life as her great grandmother was blessed with, and even more.

I am thankful for foods that don’t ail me; avocados to make me feel rich and spoiled, breads that holds no wheat or are sprouted so as not to flare my skin problems of bouts of gout and rash…fuji apples not only for the health benefits but for the texture, the noise, the juiciness, the color, smell and taste of each snappy bite. There is nothing quite like a fresh green salad to make you feel well cared for and healthy all over. I love the taste and satisfaction of a barely ripe banana or two, the joy of milk with no dairy to go on my gluten free cereal and dash up my fresh ground coffee full of stout caffeine and the umph to get me through a hard days work. Tell me why it is that my cup of coffee tastes oh so much better and more satisfying when sipped out of the cracked mug that a man from Colorado (who spins pottery) made for me by hand and sent to me so many years ago…and while I fail to remember his name…I think of him each morning with every sip of black poison that runs into my bloodstream through my begging lips and wanting throat knowing that without this natural drug, my headaches will return and my mood will be even more edgy than it tends to run?

Medication is a necessity for so many of us and I myself am grateful that a daily pill or two will keep me from the aches and pains I felt before I ingested them. I am grateful also for the doctors who have been wise enough to direct their prescription and make the right decisions to help us live a more balanced and pain free life.

Speaking of pain, when I look inside my drawers and closets I am struck by how lucky I am to afford shoes that don’t hurt my worn-out feet, comfy coats and clothes that warm my aching bones while we struggle outdoors prepping sales, to stay warm…aided by pillows that are broken in, smashed, worn and welcoming when we fall into our snuggly beds at night for a well deserved sleep. In other countries and places even here in our city, folks are far less lucky and feel way less comfort than I am blessed with I am sure…and for that I am grateful we have so much.

Spying my household and loving the feeling of seeing my ‘tatters’ a childhood doll I just this last year retrieved from eBay to replace mine that was lost, gazing at shells from seas visited, photos of Greece made by my dear friend Sheila and constantly reminding me of all the years spent living or visiting the Greek Isles, cardboard cut-outs of Sophie as a child in a hula outfit, bamboo fish tanks with no live fish to kill if I go away too long, nude ceramics and paintings, prints and photos…girls in every corner and such a house of women be they young or old. This home is like an old sweatshirt that comforts and covers me, makes me feel safe, warm and loved.

Daily doses of goodies we all get used to make us so much easier to take and I am reminded that things like nightlights and sugar-free gum, extra time for taking a moment to think or cash on hand play a role in every corner of making our lives so much easier to live. Even the concepts we are reminded of by stickers and free-thinkers to ‘Do No Harm’ make it easier to be nice to our helpers, friends and neighbors when maybe you are at the end of your rope and your tempers want to flare. Any tool that can be applied is such a welcome addition to a hard day’s work.

I am constantly reminded of how much I appreciate my office; a comfortable chair for my sore back (from lifting furniture and boxes of records and books no doubt) my amazing Apple computers and Mac phones and accessories that make learning possible for even a simpleton like me. I see my workplace here at home with all the piles and to do lists and am grateful for the function of the office machines, the paper to print on and even the stamps I use so many of.

 

Walking through my house looking at photos of my home town of Mt Shasta on nearly every wall of my office, my daughter growing up into a young woman, motivational plaques to keep me going, trees inside on pictures as well as outside in my yard, I am reminded of how wonderful our home and it’s offerings are. It is so amazing Sophie and I can swim…even kayak inside the giant 60s pool when we have a moment away from our daily demands from life of school and work.

When we DO get a moment to watch a favorite movie or indulge in a good old fashioned day of house cleaning, at least we have vacuums that work, rags that will mop up any spill or mess caused by ALL these rescued pooches and a single cat that surround us and make us feel loved. I too am an apparent hoarder of all things furry and feeble. From an old grey cat (although I claim to hate cats) to a bunch of mutt pooches that all came here from some form of un-want…our home is full of meowing, slithering, barking and begging from top floor to bottom. But nonetheless…we love it here!

I am grateful for my niece, helping me play catch-up daily and allowing me to catch sight of my grand-niece Jayden who gets smarter with each day she spends on earth. I am enamored as I will always be with my favorite little friends Asher and Talia; Mark and Jen’s kiddos who stop by our sales often and absolutely ‘make my day’ with giggles and guffaws and playing of games and pulling of jokes.

As for the biggest thanks I have to give, it would go directly to Gabbi himself; savior and assistant of everything I do. He is there for me in work, friendship and also family situations. He is a Godsend not unlike the rest of the crew; Steve, Blanca, Kris, Jules, Loni, Natalie, Terry, Todd, Amber, Chuck, Zane and the rest of our help…but in the end it is Gabbi who would rescue me in the middle of the night or save our lives should a flood come to call. Without our crew I fear I would be face down and lost at sea…and so I appreciate all they do immensely.

When I glance around our home and see the naked hula dancers, plastic jesus, birds of bones, on walls, made of clay, stuffed on stands as well as out of doors, the statues of surfers, gifts of girlfriends never used but always admired as well as curtains and plates that I bought as they reminded me of my mom when I was a child, I am jarred back to the reality that I am the luckiest girl I know; to have so much and be left wanting so little. When I think of plugging on daily for nearly 60 hours per week, it seems like a mere pittance to pay for all we have been blessed with…and are surrounded by.

This letter is in hopes that on this one day of thanks planted on our calendar to force us to bake, cook, spend time together and even prepare to ‘shop like a dickens’ by the marketing companies this weekend, that with this letter each of you may look around and see the simplicity of your own luck. The obvious but yet not so obvious gifts we have been given or given ourselves. My hope is that each of you may wake up appreciating just how lucky you are…to have lost a friend or family member who was in so much pain you could not stand to watch it, or to have gained a new baby into the family or via a friend’s family, who is just beginning to make the flight through this world. Aren’t we, as Americans, just the luckiest folks you know?

Thanks for the read

Jen