My Ga's Vanity

One of the things I most looked forward to growing up was to visit my Ga's house.

Ga was my paternal grandmother. She got the name from when my older sister was a toddler and couldn't say the full word "Grandma". It stuck and we called her that until she died when I was 12. She was a classy lady.

 

In my young eyes, her house was magical. I can still tell you the layout and the decorations. The most enchanting thing was to go through the glass French doors that led to the staircase that led to the upstairs. I still dream about the upstairs of her house. The bathroom was all white with a black and white checked floor, porcelain fixtures and antique items. Her bedroom was lacy and feminine with a four poster bed and a vanity table that I was allowed to sit at with her by my side.

It was at that vanity that she showed me a ring that I was to have someday and she told me that I was her favorite. I am the middle child, as she was, and so she understood the dynamics of that position in a family.

My grandmother collected antiques, but not just any antiques. She traveled to Europe and places like Mexico to find hers and bought only the best. A few years after her death my grandfather laid out a lot of her things on a table and the three of us granddaughters were told to choose the things we wanted. I wanted everything!

Some of my treasured things are from that vanity, which I proudly display on my dresser.

 

There is a silk lined porcelain box painted with daisies (my favorite flower), a vanity mirror with a ring box from Paris, a Madonna and child figurine, an open porcelain gold gilt painted box that I use for my watches and a money box with foreign money inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mirror, brush and comb vanity set is very heavy silver and another of my favorite treasures.

 



 

There is also a collection of trinket boxes, so intricately carved that the dust is impossible to get out. I am afraid to use cleaner on them! I don't know their origin but I can guess they were from some exotic country!

I was fortunate to grab all of her perfume bottle collection too! These bottles are old and they are exquisite. One still has perfume in it. They are proudly displayed in my favorite vignette in my bedroom.

 

 

 

 

Although I never had the pleasure of going antiquing or thrifting with Ga, I believe I inherited my love for all things old from her. I can still recall the feeling I got from being around her things, and so, in my 20's I started to collect antiques and vintage things, to surround myself with that same feeling.

Thirty years later I have quite a collection. So much so that I felt I should start to part with some of it. That is how NaNa's Things, my Etsy shop, was born. I thought it would be no problem selling off some things but I was wrong!

Lately I have become quite nostalgic about Ga's things and my things, NaNa's (my granddaughters' name for me) things and my daughter Jena is constantly asking, "You're selling that?!". It is always a treasure that she grew up with, having seen it everyday in our 1900's farmhouse and that has now become part of the memories of her childhood. There is no fair price to put on an item like that. And, if I sell those things, what will my granddaughters Cassidy and Chloe build their memories on?

So, I have pulled some of those items from my shop. I am quite happy to keep thrifting and buying vintage items to sell. What started out as a way to clean out some of my accumulation has turned into adding another 300+ items to our basement!

I am blessed with a husband who says if I am having fun with it and I love it, I should just keep thrifting! Besides, he likes to go with me sometimes for the thrill of the hunt too!

Sometimes I am overwhelmed with all the "stuff" I have and other times I am blessed by all the "stuff" and the memories they hold. It is always a good thing to surround yourself with things that spark a special memory of a cherished person or event. That's why we call where we live everyday "home", and we each have one that is uniquely ours.

I hope to pass down some of the passion and love for the past and vintage items that Ga instilled in me, to my granddaughters, and that they will want to surround themselves with it.

Someday they will get to choose a treasure from NaNa's things to cherish.

AnnMarie :)

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