Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Every month a group of seven bloggers share their workspaces, homes, towns, and more!

This month’s theme is These Are a Few of My Favorite Things. No, not whiskers on kittens or schnitzel with noodles, but actual things in my actual home that, to use an overused phrase, “spark joy.” 

While I don’t consider myself a materialistic person, I do love stuff. I know that seems contradictory, but I’m not about having the latest, greatest, best, fanciest, most-expensive toys, gadgets, car or designer fashion…and I certainly don’t value objects as more important than people, feelings, values, etc.

But I do love a card that came out of nowhere when Katie still lived with me in our cute little house in Islip. It has language translations (what language? I don’t know) on it, one of which is “do you know the way to para para?” WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! Who knows. The point is, it always made us laugh. We would randomly ask one another, “do you know the way to para para?” and crack ourselves up. I kept it on the fridge and when I’d notice it, it would make me smile. Now I keep it in a little pottery planter by the front door, along with old cards and photographs, so I can reminisce…and whenever I happen to pick up a handful of pictures to rifle through, if I come across the para para card, it brings back such nice memories of living with Katie when she was young. And I love that. I value that.

Other favorite things are:

This came in an inexpensive box lot of paintings and frames. I think I paid $5 for the entire box, sold off the rest of the contents, but…this lady. This lady resonated with me the first time I laid eyes on her. It’s not a fancy painting, it’s just an old oil on board in a cheap frame (someday I’ll reframe it. or die. whichever comes first.) but…doesn’t she look like she’s so enjoying life?? Walking on that cliff, away from everything but the sound of the wind and the crashing waves below, in that easy, flowing dress. Sigh. I aspire to that moment. I aspire to living that moment many times. That’s what makes a good life. She’s my role model.

A vintage chair w chartreuse green velvet upholstery. Not exactly sure where this came from. I’m thinking a yard sale vs auction. But I’ve had it a long time. I’ve always loved a “paris apartment” vibe and this really fits the bill for me and I’ve been able to make a suitable spot for it in every home I’ve had over the past 12 years. I don’t actually sit in it, ha ha, it’s just pretty to look at. It’s one of the things that will make a cross-country move with me if that ever happens. You know I love it if I’m going to devote that much car space to it for a 3,000-mile drive!

Vintage aqua pottery lamp. I’m going to guess it’s 40s-50s. This I definitely got at an auction. I love interesting lamps. And this one ticks so many boxes for me: favorite aqua color, has an Asian vibe, porcelain flowers, is an interesting shape. And that cute little cinnamon-colored ball finial on top! It recently fell off the bookcase and sustained a slight injury, but I had it rewired (the old old plug shorted out in the fall) and put some tape on it and it’s as beautiful as ever.

I’ve shared the “Oranges in Bowl” painting and story before, in Where Bloggers Live: Kitchen Tour. Again, this is not great art. It’s not even in good condition. But I love the oversized perspective…the orange and brown color combination…it’s a perfect kitchen piece…and I love its rescue story.

I’m pretty sure I’ve told the story of The Door here before also, but I can’t even begin to think of what post that would have been in so I can link it…so here’s an abbreviated version of the story (you know I love to tell a loonnnggg story). Down on the corner from where I had my cute little house in Islip, there was a late 1800’s farmhouse in sort of sad repair. The elderly woman who lived there (who had been a ballroom dancer in her youth and had the most fabulous collections of 1940s and 50s ballroom dresses and accessories!) was finally unable to care for herself so her family put her in an assisted living facility. She didn’t want her house to be sold after she passed, because she’d had so many wonderful memories there and she didn’t want another family in there messing with that (I don’t know, it’s what she wanted). Instead, she wanted the house to be demolished and the land sold.

I had been in the house once when the woman’s daughter had me in to talk about selling her ballroom clothes on ebay – it didn’t work out – but…I fell in love with the front door. Most of the house had been unattractively aluminum-sided and was really in poor condition. That door was the star on the top. Not only was it charming with the big square window, dentil molding details, and perfectly shabby chic chippy paint…there was a little chime mechanism on top, that when the door opened, it played a little tune. Not just “ding dong,” but actually part of a little song. I was so charmed by that!

Apparently, I had told another neighbor about the door and the chime…because one day about a year later I got a phone call at work from Neighbor, saying they were literally demo-ing the house as we spoke, hadn’t I wanted that door? A) I couldn’t believe she remembered that and B) YES. She said she’d go down and talk to the crew, I said I’d pay up to $200 for it (they were just gonna trash it), and I’d pay her back when I got home.

When I got home, there was the wonderful door on my front porch. They had given it to her for free, and even carried it down to my house (it’s HEAVY). That was gosh, like 15 years ago, and I’ve been lugging it around from apartment to apartment for the last 11! Movers hate me 🙂

Anyway, it’s a great prop and background for photos; I hang our Christmas stockings on it every year. Sadly, the little chime never worked again, but then the door is also not swinging on a hinge. Maybe it needs that motion.

My parents and sister lived in Japan for two years in the 50s when my father was in the Navy. My mother fell in love with the Japanese aesthetic and brought back most of what was our living room furniture forevermore…but also pottery, kitchenware, artwork, etc. I’m not sure if these are rice or soup bowls (or if there’s even a difference between those two things), but I really love them. I don’t know if they were new when she bought them or if they were already vintage then, but I have never been able to find anything like them online in all these years (not that I look often as I’m not interested in selling them).

I have probably service for 4-5, there are smaller bowls and larger bowls, and they all have lids that I think double as rice plates? They’re a chunky earthenware, and only the top rims are glazed. This makes them very interesting, but also a little fragile, and dampness can seep into the unglazed clay and cause it to crumble. I know this, because sadly, they were stored in my basement for many years, still wrapped in newspaper and packed in cardboard boxes from the time I brought them home from my mother’s house in 1990 after she passed away. When I finally unpacked them, many were too far gone to keep 🙁 But I still have a good collection. I’ve already informed Katie that she’s taking them when I either die or live in a place with no room for them. But until then, I keep using and enjoying them. I just had cream of spinach out of a large bowl tonight. I keep thinking I need to learn to make ramen so I can eat it out of authentic dishes. That would bring me joy.

This was another thing that was my mother’s. It’s vintage, but probably 70s? She loved things in bamboo shape, color, and print. I still have her “good” flatware that has bamboo-shaped handles. Anyway, I inherited her love of bamboo motif and also love mirrors and also love a gilt (gold) finish.

This little unassuming bookcase was made by my father for my sister, in the 50s or 60s I’m guessing? When she left for college it ended up in my room…and I’ve been carrying it around ever since. There’s nothing fancy about it. It’s sort of invisible (like the black dress), but it always has a place in my home because my father made it.

And last, even though I wasn’t going to include clothes in this list, I have to include the Junarose dress, because really, it has made me so happy for several years now…and even someday when it falls apart I will always remember the gentle colors and cloudlike fabric as my favorite ever dress. It always makes me feel good to wear it.

Now, I did not list replaceable things here. My camera is a favorite thing. Using it brings me joy. The images and memories and art I can create with it bring me joy. But if it somehow disappeared, it could be replaced.

I also kept the list to 10 items. Otherwise, this post could have gone on for days. I may need to do a follow-up. It may need to be a monthly series.

One other thing I realize as I look at the whole list of things altogether…is that most of them cost nothing. Or just a few dollars. Some were inherited, some came out of people’s trash, a few things came out of auction box lots*. The only “retail” item on the list is the Junarose dress.

Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After 
Em at Dust and Doghair
Julia at When the Girls Rule

  • Auction Box Lots: A tool that an estate auction uses to keep an auction moving along. Box lots contain many different items combined into one lot and are sold for “one money,” vs auctioning many individual items separately. These are often items of little to no value on their own.