This family of ours, we are transplants from Southern California. Mom moved here a long time ago (about 11 years), my Sister Crystal and I just weren't interested in living in Tennessee at that time, her in her late teens, I in my early twenties. But as we grew older and began to have children, we knew we had to be close to Mom. So move we did, and now we enjoy weekends, events, and every Holiday and Birthday together. When I am lucky enough to get away from life in Nashville, I venture out to share moments with Mom at the shop too and it reminds me of when it all began.
 |
| The Shop July 2005 |
In the beginning, we all lived near Livingston, TN where All Things Vintage the shop, began and is today. Mom had lived here in Tennessee for some time before she decided she really wanted to pursue her love of all things creative and well, All Things Vintage! She never was a junk collector or a pack rat, she enjoys things, she enjoys shopping for antiques, second hand goods, quality furniture, and things almost forgotten by time but she rarely wants to keep all of them, so what is better than being able to shop, rehab and create then pass it onto someone who is going to make use of it?.... She won't stay more than 30 minutes in a mall and that's if you drag her, it's the hunting, the searching and the finding of those special things and bits of history that Mom truly loves - and lucky for her (and I) I am a sucker for those things too. Although, I love the mall ;)
Mom thought long and hard about her plans to own something and follow this dream of hers.....she had seen a building for sale on the square for a while and wondered what it would cost. The wheels began turning and the plans began forming, once she is on a mission there is no turning back. Long story short, that building became hers.
We aren't a rich family as far as finances are concerned, no trust funds here, or Grandparents who own oil.....Mom had to pay for this thing, this project and it would become her constant labor of love and remains so to this day...and often Daddy's too, just ask him he is probably there right now moving a piece of furniture.
 |
| First floor July 2005 |
The place was a mess, an onion of historic papers, books, and unfortunately long forgotten repairs. We helped Mom as much as we could, and she worked every day cleaning, scraping, painting, laying down floor, cleaning windows, removing nails, having the toilets repaired, cleaning some more, searching, trashing, saving and hoping it would all come together. She searched second hand places for sales counters, display cases, she was starting with nothing and it was incredibly scary and exciting all at the same time.
 |
| The first "paper" sign announcing the opening |
It took a long time, but she did it. I won't even pretend we were a huge part of her success, we weren't. We helped, we painted, we threw away trash, we sorted through things, and offered ideas, but she did it. She had the dream and she worked hard to make it her own. Every day, every week adding a few things here and there. Until it all came together. She had the shop set up, paint on the walls, plumbing working for the most part, electricity took a few weeks so it sat unopened a bit longer than she wanted.....that was just the beginning of what we have discovered it truly means to own a piece of "History". The roof gave out in the first year, we blew breakers, we had no vendors, then we had many, then we had none again. But slowly, with a lot of love and time it began to become the little shop that could and it had my Mom's touch all over it. I loved it when it was one floor of everything old and new, and then when she opened the second floor and toiled on the old wood floors wearing out mops and eventually her hands for months to clean them, put up lights, painted walls until she opened yet another floor and I love it now nearly 6 years later.......
