One Sunday, Beckie,
Lilly and I went on a road trip. I wanted to go to one of my
favorite stores, the one that brings me to “My Happy Place”, The
Bleu Willow. It is a 30 minute drive down Route 10/202 through
Westfield, Southwick, Granby, and into Simsbury. I told Beckie it wasn't a clothing or shoe store, it was one of my favorite types of places, you know chippy furniture, fun vintage things, and we can stop anywhere she wanted to, along the way. She laughed and gave me that "Okay, Mom", that we all know.
One of the things
me and my girls love about road trips together is the time we spend
together in the car. The destination is the reason we’re on the
trip, but the whole trip becomes a memorable experience that is
always filled with lots of talk, laughter, and fun. One of the first
“funny” conversations we had was about how St. Mary’s Cemetery
in Westfield is Haunted.
“Really? How do you know?” asked
Beckie. Well of course, “Because I found it listed on a website,
and Kate said it was.” Now mind you, Lilly (age 5) is in the back
seat listening. So I suggested, maybe, if we feel like it when we
get back, we can go take a walk through the cemetery. Of course
Beckie agreed, and then Lilly pipes in “we’re going to walk
through a cemetery with ghosts?”. Beckie and I exchange glances
at each other, and I turn to peak at Lilly; she appears a little
perplexed. So I proceed to tell her, yes, it’s lots of fun (for
those of you who don’t know yet, I love, and have always loved
cemeteries, but that’s another story), and you don’t have to
worry about the ghosts. Just like there's good people and bad
people, there are good ghosts and bad ghosts, but mostly good. And
anyway, if a ghost is bothering you, all you have to do is say “I
believe in God and you can’t touch me!”. She’s says “Oh,
because they have no arms.” I was cracking up over that. Here I
go on this big thing about don’t be afraid, God can protect you,
and she, very simply, goes right to the obvious. Too precious, and
was just the beginning of our day of fun.
Our first stop was
to Salmon Brook Antiques. I first visited this antique shop
somewhere around 1998. It is a consignment shop for antiques, so
there is plenty of variety, from vintage jewelry and buttons to
vintage toys and china. An eclectic mix of new and old bookshelves,
glass cases, and tables creates nooks and cranny’s for visitors to
explore (don’t we all just love treasure hunting in the nooks and
cranny’s?!). Beckie and I started off by going to the left, making
sure Lilly knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was to hold one
of our hands, and was NOT to touch ANYTHING! (It’s great that she
listens and abides by those rules, and will ask if she can touch
something, or asks us to go see something she wants to see, which
means more fun for me, because I love to share this time with her and
hopefully creating lasting memories for her.) Before I knew it,
Beckie and Lilly had disappeared; apparently off hunting in another
area of the store, and I thought “oh good, she’s exploring”. I
continued on around the perimeter, into one back room, and around to
the middle. As I admired all the vintage dishes, pictures, and
linens, I soon found myself just gazing over the objects. There were
a few things that caught my attention, like the little plastic
baggies of vintage buttons priced at $1, or the iron stage coach toy,
that I wondered if it was a good buy to resell. And then, from
another back room, Beckie and Lilly came strolling over, she found
some really fun stuff to look at, we finished our browsing and were
ready to head over to the candle store which was just a few steps
away. (But not before Lilly asked to go see a doll, just one more
time.)
As we walked into
the shop, we were instantly met with the smell of scented candles and
a lovely woman who owns the shop with her husband. We slowly walked
through the store looking at the wonderful array of candles, enjoying
the scents along the way. The woman gave Lilly a bag with some
matches and an information sheet, and told her she could go over to
the table of votive candles and pick out one candle on “her”, any
scent she liked. Lilly was in her Glory, and we immediately headed
over to the table, after a quick detour, per Lilly, to check out the
Christmas Tree. We walked around the table, she picked up different
colored candles and smelled them, and eventually settled on a
“freesia” candle. The woman also came to Beckie and said she
could choose a candle, as well, and proceeded to tell us that she and
her husband bought the shop and all the recipes 8 years ago. Her
husband makes the candles, and she works in the store. She is such a
lovely person who truly loves what she does and loves to share it
with others.
We continued to
drive through to Simsbury, checking out the artistic horse figures
displayed at various stores along the way. We noticed several little
café’s that looked like they would be fun to try; not the usual
chain store café, but the quaint, cozy type of café. Both of us
had our heads moving from side to side, so as not to miss an
interesting stop, when Beckie noticed an old cemetery that gracefully
spanned a gentle hillside. “Maybe we can stop there on our way
back?”, she asked. Absolutely, was my reply! And then …
There it was, The
Bleu Willow. Oddly, I am a little nervous, a little excited, and a
little impatient, as I waited for Lilly to unbuckle and get out of
the car….and then the three of us ran to the steps of the store.
As I walked up the porch steps, I lingered, looking at the weathered
and weathering candelabras, bird cages, and metal boxes; I didn’t
want this moment to slip by, I wanted to savor every step, every
object. I opened the door and instantly, I was in My Happy Place.
We all walked to the left, into the first room; there is so much to
behold. I just stood there taking it all in, when Beckie calls me
over to look at these vintage glasses she found on a chippy vanity
covered with all kinds of white, vintage, romantic bits of
everything. She looks at me and whispers in a secretive, hurried
voice “can I put these on?”, “will you take my picture” (we're looking for the picture). I
replied in like whisper, “Well, yeah, will they fit your face, will
you stretch them?”. She got her “phone” ready for me to take
the picture, checked that the glasses would fit on her face without
stretching them, she looked at herself in the mirror, laughed, turned
to me, and I quickly took the picture. We both just started cracking
up! They were that vintage blue, cat’s eye shape, with rhinestones
on the wing of the “cat eye” part.
How Fun! Lilly was begging
me to look at the “Queen Crowns” she found, and then the “King
Crown”, and then…”the princess crown”; she was having just as
much fun with all of this old, romantic “stuff”. We wound our
way , this way, and that way through the store looking at all of the
unique items in the store, ranging from cottage style décor to
altered art objects de’ art. In the back corner of the store,
Lilly says “nana, a bathroom”, so naturally I said “Do you have
to go”; “no”, she says, “I don’t think you can use it”.
Now I am really confused. What on earth is she talking about? Well
I looked into the bathroom, and it is just as quaint and adorable as
the rest of the store (if not more so). So I walked in with her,
shut the door and said, “So, do you have to go”. “No”, she
replied; so I asked “then why are we in here”. She just wanted
to look at all the neat things in there. She was completely captured
in the moment. I can tell we are going to have many more of these
trips together, because she enjoys this “stuff” just as much as I
do.
At this point, we
are all a little weary, as we head back towards home, but there is
that walk through the cemetery that we still want to do, and we did! But I'll
save that for another story.
A clear glass compote leftover
There it was, The
Bleu Willow. Oddly, I am a little nervous, a little excited, and a
little impatient, as I waited for Lilly to unbuckle and get out of
the car….and then the three of us ran to the steps of the store.
As I walked up the porch steps, I lingered, looking at the weathered
and weathering candelabras, bird cages, and metal boxes; I didn’t
want this moment to slip by, I wanted to savor every step, every
object. I opened the door and instantly, I was in My Happy Place.
We all walked to the left, into the first room; there is so much to
behold. I just stood there taking it all in, when Beckie calls me
over to look at these vintage glasses she found on a chippy vanity
covered with all kinds of white, vintage, romantic bits of
everything. She looks at me and whispers in a secretive, hurried
voice “can I put these on?”, “will you take my picture” (we're looking for the picture). I
replied in like whisper, “Well, yeah, will they fit your face, will
you stretch them?”. She got her “phone” ready for me to take
the picture, checked that the glasses would fit on her face without
stretching them, she looked at herself in the mirror, laughed, turned
to me, and I quickly took the picture. We both just started cracking
up! They were that vintage blue, cat’s eye shape, with rhinestones
on the wing of the “cat eye” part. 
