A Method to the Madness

I recently had the pleasure of digging through the basement of a closet hoarder. A friend of mine was hired to clear out the estate of a house on the east side of Cleveland. Due to the massive amount of items in the home she ended up holding two separate estate sales. I attended both and each time I was surprised at the amount of "stuff" in this house. You could walk through a dozen times and each time you'd see something that you hadn't noticed before... it was sensory overload! Needless to say, I left with tons of goodies on both visits.

A few weeks after the last sale she contacted me to say she was letting dealers into the basement of the home to dig but that it was too unsafe for the general public. It would be a private sale held during the week...would I be interested in coming? Of course I was interested and showed up bright and early the morning of the sale! To visit this home, you'd never know the dirty secret that was kept in the basement. The upstairs of the home was impeccable, stuffed to the limits with an eclectic collection of vintage and antique items, but kept neat and tidy. The basement, that was whole different story. The first time I went down it was hard to walk and move about the clutter. I spent three hours there, left with hundreds of treasures yet barely scratched the surface. It was a tedious task of digging through box after box of junk to find a treasure hidden inside. As I was digging I began to notice a system, even in all this clutter she knew what she was doing. Every box I opened had a theme from anything and everything cow related, to a box full of only pigs. Ceramic pigs, plastic pigs, piggy banks... if it was pig related, it was in there. There was a method to all this madness! It was insanity and I couldn't wait to open each and every box to see what the next theme would be! But after three hours of dust, dirt and mouse droppings, my allergies were pleading with me to quit so I called it a day.

I went back a week later to dig some more and was surprised at the progress other dealers had made. Paths had been cleared and you could actually walk through the mess without stepping into or over boxes. I only stayed an hour that day, I had specific goals in mind and a few pieces that I had buyers remorse for not grabbing on my first visit. As I was paying for my purchases my friend let me know this was her final sale at the home. After six months of organizing, cleaning and holding estate sales, the surviving family members had had enough. They didn't want to let go of any more of their mothers things. So it seems the hoarder gene will carry on, the children of the deceased will add to the clutter in the basement and in 40 or maybe 50 years from now someone else will dig through the same boxes I just went through. My only hope? That they notice that their mother had a system. In all that chaos she knew where each and every item was down there and I can only hope that they keep to her same methods because it makes it so much easier for the picker!

Til next time,
xoxo ~ Jenn

Weekend Warriors

We survived another flea weekend! It was a hot one this past Saturday, near 90 degrees, but we survived! Whatever the temperature ended up reaching add at least 10 more degrees due to the paved parking lot we were on with no shade. Then add 11 hours and a nasty sunburn and you'll understand  how I spent my Saturday. Oh, the sacrifices we make for the love of vintage! But I'd happily do it all over again and I will, on August 9th when temperatures threaten to be even hotter than July's. By the time we got home, unloaded the truck, showered, and ate... we were beat. Sleep was all we had the energy to do, so that's what we did.

Sunday was meant to be a day of recharging and relaxing but somehow we found ourselves on the road again. We ended up at one of my favorite hidden gems where I scored an antique top hat from the late 1800's along with a few other treasures. The hat was made by the famous Knox Hat Company of New York and once belonged to a magician whose estate was bought out by my friend. She sold me the hat for a mere $20! Unbelievable! Talk about a steal! I bought the hat with the intention of selling it but now I'm not so sure I can part with it. I think I may have fallen in love...decisions, decisions. One of the biggest struggles of being a vintage junkie... knowing what to keep and what to let go. I'll let you know what I decide, but for now... enjoy some of my pics from the weekend...

~ view of the The Cleveland flea location ~

~ another view of The Cleveland Flea ~

~ a shot of part of our booth ~

~ a pic Richard took of one of the buildings surrounding us ~

~ there was a train track on the wall on one side of the flea ~

~ ouch... I see lots of aloe and a few sleepless nights in my future ~ 

~ one of the treasures I picked up Sunday ~

~ antique sleigh bell I also picked up on Sunday. (it already sold today on my Etsy) ~

~ gorgeous vintage catholic sodality miraculous medal badge ~

~ and the best for last: the top hat! Richard had fun filtering this one ~

~ I dunno, I think the hat may be a keeper <3 ~

Til next time friends,

Jenn

Country Girl, City Girl

Hey, hope everybody had a safe and fun holiday weekend! The weather here in northeast Ohio turned out to be absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too chilly. The perfect weather to spend the day outdoors at an antique flea market, which is exactly what we did. We started our morning at the 41st annual Mesopotamia ox roast and antique flea market. Mesopotamia(called Mespo by the locals) is located in Trumbull County in northeast Ohio. The area is home to the 4th largest old order Amish population in the world. Growing up near Mespo my family has been going to the annual flea market for as long as I can remember. My favorite vendor as a child was a woman who sold miniatures, she had thousands of them. Little mini versions of anything you could possibly imagine and the irony of it all? She wasn't mini at all, in fact she was a rather large person, probably the largest person I had ever seen at my young age. But she loved small things just like me and I would have spent hours at her booth if it weren't for being dragged away by my parents. 

I haven't seen the miniature lady in years and this year was no different but Richard and I did well nonetheless. We both found lots of treasures, books for him and lots of old animal bones and metal trinkets for me. We finished up around noon and trudged back to our car with our bags full of goodies. During the annual market all the roads in and out of Mespo are lined with yard sales, barn sales and garage sales so we decided to hit a few on the way out. We took our time travelling along the back roads of Amish country, dodging horse drawn buggies and the road apples they leave behind. Eventually we found ourselves at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen & Bakery and couldn't resist stopping in for a quick bite to eat before heading home.  

Later that evening after spending some quality time with the doggies we headed to downtown Cleveland to watch the fireworks display over Lake Erie. All in all, it was a great day and I took lots of photo evidence which I'll share below, but you can always follow me on Instagram: @feelingjennerous and @suite22antiques

Until next time... xoxo,

Jenn

Name Envy

Thoughts I had in the shower this morning (it's where I do my best thinking)... have you ever envied a sibling or friends name?

My name is Jennifer. My middle name is Anne. My younger sister's name is Wren. I won't tell you her middle name, she would kill me, but it's equally as unique. As many years as she's been on this planet I don't think she's ever come face to face with another Wren. I on the other hand, meet Jennifer's ALL the time. Throughout my school years and past jobs, there's always been the inevitable "Who's going to be Jen, Jenny or Jennifer?" conversation. Being of the shy sort, I almost always ended up Jennifer. Now, don't get me wrong here, I don't hate my name, I just like hers better. It has a sense of mystery about it. It conjures up images of a beautiful, strong woman with a unique personality. And she fits it well. I suppose that's the part I always envied. What does Jennifer conjure up? Probably a friend, or family member or maybe an acquaintance you know with the same name. Boring.

As fate would have it, my father named me. Had my mother had her way, I'd be Coral Anne. I used to think about that a lot when I was a kid. I'd imagine people would call me Cory and I'd have long curly hair, not sure how since my entire family has pin straight hair, but that's beside the point. I imagined if I was Cory, I would've talked to my first crush, Brian who worked at the local Roller Den, instead of just lusting after him from afar. I also knew in my heart of hearts that Cory would have been an amazing roller skater and wouldn't haven fallen down so many damn times in front of Brian. But alas, I was Jenny. An awkward, skinny girl with scabbed up knees and pee thin hair that stands on end all winter long as if it's been rubbed by a balloon. A girl who'd rather read a book than go out. A girl who's had imaginary conversations with people she's never going to meet. The list could go on and on here.

So my final thought as I was finishing up in the shower this morning, is that a name may define you to some extent but it's all the awkward, weird, silly, awesome and strange life experiences we have while growing up that make us who we are. Wren isn't a beautiful and strong woman because of her name, it's who she is. I'm not an awkward weird person because I was named Jennifer. It's simply because I was just always awkward and weird. Epiphany moment, (this always happens near the end of the shower) I like me... I like that I am weird. Whatever my name is or might have been, I've definitely led an interesting life full of strange and unique moments. And I love it.

xoxo,
Jenn

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" ~ Shakespeare

A Journey

I received a message today that made me stop and look back at the journey that I have been on for the past few years. A journey that started almost three years ago at the advice of a family friend. She suggested I open an Etsy shop to sell the vintage items that I had been collecting for years. The idea of turning my love of "junking" into a business was both exciting and scary. I spent days battling it back and forth in my head until I could no longer come up with a valid answer to the question "Why not?" So, on August 4, 2011, I officially opened my etsy shop, Suite 22. Four days later I had my first sale!

After a little over a year of being on Etsy,  I decided to branch out and try something new... an outdoor market. I was nervous as I had never done anything like it before. Lucky for me, at the same time a new artisan/vintage market emerged in the area called The Cleveland Flea. I attended their first market as a shopper, loved what they were doing, went home, applied for their next market, and got in. I ended up being a vendor at every one of their outdoor markets that year. I was hooked! I loved the set up, the decorating and the staging of my booth. I loved talking to customers about items they purchased. I loved seeing the smiles on peoples faces when they would spot an item that brought back memories! I loved watching young kids (future pickers) get excited about the old vintage keys and transit tokens in my booth. I found that I loved selling face to face!

The only problem? I now found myself working 40+ hours a week at my day job while running my etsy shop that was averaging nearly 100 sales a month with the new addition of a monthly outdoor market that involved tons of prep work. It was all proving to be too much! I was clearly drowning and decided I needed to make a choice. Both of my jobs were suffering as I couldn't give either the 100% they deserved. The choice was an easy one and with the full support of my husband, I quit my day job and decided to give my full attention to Suite 22!

It will be a year in June since I made that decision. I have spent much of that time honing the vision I have for my business and creating a brand to define it. The message I received today made me feel I accomplished what I set out to do. Whether you are a visitor in my home, my etsy shop or my booth at a market, you will know me. You will know what I love. You will know what I do and why I do it. You will see my passion, my values, and my story. To the person who sent me the message today, you probably don't realize how much your words truly affected me. The compliments you gave to me and to my business instilled in me that I made the right decision. This journey hasn't been an easy one, it has had many ups and downs. I have not only spilled blood and sweat, but tears as well. But today, the tears were for pride. I did this. I created Suite 22. Although I have had undying support along the way from my husband, my family and my friends, this is something I created. This is my baby and I am excited to watch it grow!

xoxo,

Jenn

P.S. Here is a link to the etsy shop of the friend who gave me the nudge that I needed:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/beethingsstudio
Thank you  Bethany, I will be eternally grateful! :)

Weekend Recap #2

Well, the weekend turned out to be a bummer on the work aspect, there weren't any good estate sales nearby us, so out of desperation we hit the Painesville flea market on Saturday. I ended up leaving empty handed, so that ought to tell you how good of a market it was. It was so disappointing, lots of Amish bread, Avon makeup, knives, throwing stars and a PC repair guy. Lame.

It turned out to be a beautiful day though, the high was 45° on Saturday which felt like a heat wave after the last few weeks. We decided to take a little trip into Cleveland to visit a few of our favorite parks and not let the day go to waste. Here is our weekend recap via our Instagram feed. Enjoy!

If you'd like, you can follow us on instagram, @feelingjennerous and @rpflueger.

Happy Monday,

xoxo,

Jenn

Etsy Love Stories

A piece I purchased at a flea market in Burton, Ohio ends up being the finishing touch on a restoration project in Pocatello, Idaho. Moments like this make my day, it's why I love what I do. This small piece of hardware may seem insignificant to some people, but someone, somewhere is searching for it!