Not much happened in January. Hard to believe, but I did do the majority of the month dry (no alcohol) so no great shenanigans to share…But just wait until you hear about February! LOL
In the meantime, this memory popped up on my phone from 5 years ago. We were in Europe visiting Houston who was doing a year abroad with Pepperdine in Heidelberg. We had just arrived at our hotel (the Hip Hotel) and snapped this selfie. All the rooms have themes and we were staying in the Marrakesh Suite. Sweet!
Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #002…
Thursday, February 24th, 2022
Watch for it every Thursday or every other Thursday, Friday or Saturday!
Actually, lets be honest…watch for it whenever I get one finished hahahaha
Volume III Issue 002
That trip to Europe was incredible. We spent the first few days in London, then to Heidelberg to check out Houston’s school year abroad, and then we all flew to Krakow. I wrote three newsletters from that trip, one from England, one from Heidelberg, and one from Krakow. They are here if you want to read them.
UK ezine
Heidelberg ezine
Krakow ezine
However, it is a very bittersweet memory for me because my dad didn’t accompany us on the trip. His wife never let him travel so I didn’t even ask him if he wanted to go with us.. A week after we returned to California, on March 17th I got a call from my dad. He said, “I was in the hospital last night and they have diagnosed me with pancreatic cancer”. WTF!!!!!!!! NO FREAKING WAY.
I immediately called Karen Haggen (a friend from High School) who was instrumental in building the Whatcom County Hopsice House (where my sister lived for 3 months before passing away) and begged her to tell me it couldn’t possibly be true. She couldn’t do that. It was true.
This picture was taken after Houston’s High School Graduation. From left to right, Indy, me, Houston, my brother Lee, my dad and my mom. Even though they were divorced they still got along great.
My dad didn’t even live 2 months after that diagnosis. He passed away at Cinco de Mayo in 2017. Breaks my heart. Especially when I think that he could have been on that last European trip with us….after he passed my stepmother told me that he had really wanted to go with us. UGHHHHH, twist the knife!
OK, time for some fun news! Most of my dry January was spent fixing up our new darling home! I LOVE it so much! Here are Indy and the Cha in the front yard playing and then after we put up all the faux IVY. LOVE the look!
I also made it out to Palm Desert for a few days at the beginning of January. One of my good friends from here in Ventura, Avi Kaplan, had moved out to the desert to help take care of her sister who was also battling cancer. It was really great to meet her at Cactus Jacks and catch up.
While out in Palm Desert, I also did a bunch of estate sale sourcing and thrift store buying with Mo, Kel & Candy! Always great to see my Desert best friends!
Found an entire set of Blue Bordallo Pinhero Cabbage at a new thrift store on Highway 111 for $30. Bordallo Pinhero is never a huge dollar sale, but boy was I wrong about this one! We sold every single piece of the set at auction. Grand total for the 11 auctions was $604.83. Total score!
Check out the auction for the two dinner plates here.
Back to decorating our new darling home! I had Wayne build us a banquette out of two church pews. Indiana wanted to cover the cushions that came with the pews in some fun fabric. We don’t really sew, but figured we could hot glue gun or staple the fabric over the existing cushions. Why not? Indiana and I headed to Fabric Town. LOL, what a trip! I felt like I was back in the 1970’s getting dragged to fabric stores by my mom. I hated that sooooooo much! UGHHHHH!
My mom owned a boutique in the Fairhaven district of Bellingham called “The Four Seasons” and she was/is an amazing seamstress. She would sew the most amazing outfits to sell to all the upper-class clientele. I guess this clothing thing is in my blood as well as the antiques!
Here is Indiana at Fabric Town with the furry green fabric we picked out. BTW, the older ladies at Fabric Town did NOT find us humorous. I did, however!
Here is the before of the benches and the after. Pretty darn cute huh!
And we realized that the tile in my kitchen is the exact color of Annie Sloan’s Chateau Grey. Amazing! Just so you know we have these paint sticks available for free in the store for you to take home to pick your perfect color!
Rewind, before we even painted the pews Annie Sloan Pure White, Sandy found me the perfect table for our nook at the Swap Meet one Wednesday Morning. $100 done and done! She offered to paint it for me as a housewarming gift. OMG, how cool is that? Before she painted it though, I had her bring it over to see how it would fit.
Please check out the art on the wall behind Sandy….Here is an explanation from a Facebook post I did about it all…….
Love the way the art wall in the kitchen is turning out…so fun to have a green room to decorate!.
The painting in the upper left was done by my great grandmother Maybelle in 1898! How cool is that?
The needlepoint cottage in the bottom middle was done by my grandmother Cheryl Leaf in 1922….friggin 100 years ago!
The painting of Indiana was done by her good friend Bella and it’s amazing!
The three-dimensional flower artwork is from a Pepperdine musical…The Big Fish!
The pheasant painting I picked up in an antique store in Bellingham and I love it because my grandpa was a huge pheasant hunter.
The Ventura sign I bought from Nash Exchange when I first moved here! Love it!
The tickets sign came in from one of our favorite consignors… George! 009
So much rich history in this room already. Can’t wait to make a lot more great memories in this new house!
#bellingham #pepperdinetheatre #bigfish #family #familyhistory #memories #artwall #makingmemories
Sandy painted the table for us using Chateau Grey underneath so she could sand back to it and Pure White Annie Sloan on top. It is darling! Thank you SANDY!!!
So, while all of this home decoration was going on, I was also preparing the back “paint room” to become our new clothing consignment store! How cool is that? Seriously, everything is turning out so well…and I am so excited for our 4-year anniversary party and Clothing store grand opening on March 1st….on what should have been my dad’s 88th birthday!
Hope to see you there! We will have catered food, lots of drinks and snacks, door prizes and I am to get a string quartet to perform (if anyone knows of one).
First step in preparing that back room, was to get a storage container. Here it is being offloaded.
Then I had my favorite guys gut that back room. They took out all of the furniture that needed to be assembled, got rid of the “as is” pieces and basically purged down to the studs. LOL, kind of kidding, but not really. What a waste of space that had been for 3 1/2 years. Y’all won’t believe it when you see it on March 1st! I can hardly wait!
In the meantime, here are Adolio & Sunny working their magic back at the end of January.
Next step was to find someone to paint the ceiling. Easier said than done! And I am not kidding. I was talking to my mom about it one morning and she said to call our friend Jose who takes us to LAX. He is a painter by trade. OMG, brilliant mama! I text Jose and he was off that week. Lucky me! He is a Cuban Salsa Dancer (seriously!) and I found him 4 years ago on a ride app to get to LAX and he has been our personal driver ever since. We LOVE Jose.
He and his buddy agreed to do it the next day. Things were rolling along! When things are meant to be, they are meant to be. Wouldn’t you agree? Here are Jose and his buddy Alejandro getting ready to paint! The second picture is the after. OMG! What a difference! It is a whole new place!
Next up, would be the floors. My friend Marty from high school had suggested hardwood. I had only done polished concrete in the big store and had never considered a hardwood look. But, he was right on. I went to Loews to buy some of that new Vinyl Plank Flooring that is so popular, but the salesperson was soooooooo rude & condescending. I decided to shop local and found Flooring 101 right up the street from us. Carmen was amazing and sent me back to the store with a bunch of samples.
Check us out trying to get a photo of Val, me, Rachelle (who is going to be my new Clothing store manager), and her son Ollie with the flooring sample we chose in one picture. Pretty darn funny! Yes, even with everything going on we still have FUN. That is what it is all about people! FUN!
The floors went in on February 1st and we all agree they are a game-changer! The space looks sooooo amazing.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…aka my new home…Indiana was hard at work decorating the Villa for Houston and Emma. Here is what it looked like before she worked her magic. This picture was taken over Christmas break and my grandmother’s green couch was still there.
I have been hauling that green couch around with me for 22 years. Here are some of my favorite photos of it 🙂 I know, I am seriously way too sentimental. My grandmother used to sit on that couch and work every evening. Stringing beads, pricing postcards, designing jewelry etc. She NEVER stopped working! I wonder where I get it from :)?
The second photo is of Lynette (one of my Queen’s Court Members) and her family visiting my eBay office in Palm Desert back in 2015.
My kids are seriously over that green couch! So reluctantly, I decided to donate it and bought a new killer sectional from…drum roll please….Lynn’s Consignments. Because as you know, “Everyone Wins When They Shop at Lynn’s”.
Check out how amazingly cute the Villa is now! Anything to entice my kids back to Ventura for visits! And the bed with the Pendleton bedding is still there to the right. Crazy, how much bigger it looks with more furniture and wall decor.
Since it is now February, time to discuss my Martini Mayhem after my dry January. It all began with a visit from Juliette Capretta, my best friend from college. I hadn’t seen her in 6 years. Crazy! Life and kids got in the way. Here we are back in the day.
We met in 1984 on an airplane to Madrid (for a semester abroad with USC) and I immediately hated her at first sight. Not kidding. She was loud and obnoxious…the life of the party (which is usually my role)…and the perfect sidekick for an eventual best friend. Hahahahaha! We lived together in Brentwood after college and we raised a lot of Hell!
Jules rolled into town around 3 pm and we immediately headed downtown to Ventiki for a Scorpian Bowl (reliving our Trader Vics days)! Then it was off to the Cocktail Trust and it was there that my eventual problem with Martinis began. I had never had a chilled Vodka Martini before and I must say I was hooked.
Such a fun night, but boy those martinis can sneak up on you! Here is a picture that I posted of us on Instagram and one of our friends from back in the day, Steve Kanter, commented “Trouble for Sure”. LOL!
Let’s continue with my Martini roll….two days later, I am sitting in my office and there is a guy standing outside the door. He takes off his mask and says “Chris Wade”. Are you kidding me? I hadn’t seen Chris in 30 years. He was also on that same USC Spain Semester where I met Juliette. Small strange world? huh?
Here we are in the store. It was so fun to see him!
Chris lives in San Clemente and was passing through for work. He follows me on Facebook and decided to just pop in. I am so glad he did. We ended up going out to dinner at Prime with Indiana and Val.
We were totally cracking up and reminiscing about all of our wild Spain adventures. One that stood out in both of our minds, was when the trains were on strike and we decided to rent a tiny car and drive to Puerto Banus with Alden and Debbie.
The four of us in a tiny clown car was bad enough, but when we got to Alicante all the hotels were booked. We ended up sleeping in the car and Chris & I couldn’t sleep because Debbie and Alden were farting all night. I am NOT KIDDING. LOL! What a crazy fun memory!
I decided to pull out some of my old photo albums to show you what we looked at back in the day. I never made it down to the garage to pull out my “actual Spain photos” but found some photos up in the main house from our reunion parties. There were 60 of us from USC on that Spain Semester back in the Spring of 1984 and I have to tell you…so many of those people are still my best friends today.
The first photo is Alden, Debbie, Chris and me. When I text it to Chris the other day, he text back and said “Alicante Flatulence Car”…..HAHAHAHA! Next photo is Joanne Givens Carolan (who is a huge part of my life still…my realtor and former Spain roommate), Chris, me, Ed Rogers, and Hillary Joslin. Oh, how I miss these people!
Next photo is Juliette (who just visited), me and Vicki. The final pic is just Chis and me. Always having so much fun. Time for a Spain Reunion!
We haven’t had a Spain reunion since back in November of 2015 at a USC homecoming Football game. Yikes! The first photo is from a reunion party back in 1987 and then the more recent 2015 photo. Actually, not that recent….right?
From left to right in old photo….Stephan Naud, Chris Wade, John Berryman, me, John (D.K.) Lienhard. From left to right in a newish photo….Jim Arnett, Joanne Givins Carolan, Stephan Naud, Hank Maarse, me, John Crowell, and Juliette Capretta.
OK, let’s check in with my pets (or rather a pet). I took Cha Cha to the beach and let her off-leash for the first time EVER! It was so fun to see her run wild and free. My friend Jeannette (Island Girl Spray Tans) lives right across from the beach in Port Hueneme so she invited me and the Cha down one day. Cha Cha is not very well trained (my bad) and does not really come when called. I have been super hesitant to let her off-leash anywhere. BUT, Jeanette’s beach is super secluded with rocks around 3 sides so I felt OK with it.
Here she is running wild and then here she is on another day that Indiana and I went down to meet Jeanette, Sugar, and Rose Bud. I just need to find a super safe beach closer to home. 30 minutes each way is just too far.
So back to the clothing store set up….or maybe we need an eBay score? eBay score! I found this weird little piece in a box from my grandmother’s store. I thought it was some type of snuff box, but wasn’t really sure what it was. Check out my title….Help???! Anyway, I listed it at a fixed price of $699 and took the best offer of $300. SCORE!
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If you want to see how it opens up, check out more pictures on the listing here.
I had been shopping online for clothing racks, display cabinets, and mannequins. I found a nice light wood display cabinet out in San Fernando. That morning as I was heading out to see it in person, Sandy asked me if I wanted to take her truck. No, I knew I could get it in my SUV.
Well, I got out there and they had two. DANG! I ended up buying both and wished I would have borrowed the truck….all that it meant was that I would be heading back to San Fernando again soon. Bummer!
The next step in the clothing store prep was to build dressing rooms. Rachelle figured out the ideal place to put them! Way to go girl! I asked Wayne if he could build them, but he is too busy getting ready for his wedding…whatever! Just kidding! He recommended this guy Don, who he said was an Ace. I got a hold of Don and he built them for us the next day. Sweet!
While Don was here he mentioned that his daughter Kaelyn used to own Mimosa Rose (a clothing store) in downtown Ventura, but had closed due to Covid. He also mentioned that she had a ton of stuff left! Rachelle stopped by and it turns out that she and Kaelyn were friends….no way! Such a small world!
We headed up to Ojai that next Thursday to check it all out! Ended up buying some amazing fixtures from Kaelyn and she agreed to put all of her inventory in my new store! Sweet! Here are Kaelyn, Rachelle, and Rachelle’s son Ollie.
OK, time for more of my Martini Madness. That Saturday night was Rachelle’s 30th birthday party. We started out at The Trust (again) for more Martinis! Bad idea! Then we met up at the party at Rum Fish & Vino. So much fun! I have to remember that I am not in my 30’s anymore!
Here are Rachelle and I right before we all headed to the Star Lounge. Rachelle’s husband, Tanner’s family, owns the Star Lounge. Let’s just say that after another martini and some Tequila shots, I made some very bad decisions and we will leave it at that.
We continued the Martini Mayhem as we headed out to Palm Desert on February 12th for Father Jack’s service. Finally, got to see my kids……but in the desert! We stayed at the Inn at Deep Canyon in their Duplex because there are two bedrooms and a private swimming pool and they take dogs! So Cha Cha got to go with us as well! Here we are all out to dinner at Cactus Jacks! Well, not all of us…Cha Cha stayed in the room!
We were in the Desert for the Super Bowl and instead of going out to a party or the Beer Hunter, we stayed in, got grocery store sushi (Houston’s favorite apparently), and made our own cocktails. Martini anyone? JK, It was so much fun! I LOVE my kids so much…it was perfect. Spending time with my favorites 🙂
Monday was the service for Father Jack at Xavier College Prep. He was such an amazing man and I am NOT a fan of most Priests, but this one was special.
It was such a beautiful service and so nice for the kids to be back at their high school. I send Christmas cards to a majority of the staff, so they would come up to the kids and say “I know everything you are up to…thank you so much for keeping us in the loop” and Mr. Epstein even said, “You are the only family that keeps me updated”.
Here we are after the service.
Here are the kids back in the day…(I think it was 2015) with Father Jack at a wedding in Temecula.
It was also Valentine’s day. The kid’s dad (my ex-husband) was also at the service. We all went to lunch afterward. Never in a million years would I have thought that 22 years after my divorce I would be breaking bread with William on Valentine’s day. He still has a pretty good sense of humor though. They came around selling roses and he said “My ex-wife is sitting across from me, there will be no roses at this table.” Hahaha. Anyway, Houston should have bought roses for Emma. Here is what Emma and Houston posted on Valentine. Love these two!
Our last hurrah in Palm Desert was to hit Big Bud Press in Palm Springs. My kids LOVE their clothes. Indiana and Houston both purchased one of their $200 jumpsuits. Houston is wearing his. LOL. I also got a few clearance bags for the new clothing store! So exciting!
After Big Bud Press we stopped in to say hi to Robin and Harvey Kanter. I LOVE Robin and Harvey…we all worked for the May Department Stores back in the late 1980’s. Actually, Harvey was at Broadway and eventually became CEO of Eddie Bauer, Blue Nile, and Moose Jaw. He is a retail KING! Robin is his QUEEN! They are so cute! and that was our Palm Desert trip! It was a wrap….back to reality!
Oh, I almost forgot…we have gotten in sooooooo much amazing furniture. I just haven’t had time to photograph it and get it on the website, so please stop in. Sofa’s galore…leather, cloth, sectionals, reclining, velvet, etc., etc.
This little sleeper love seat just came in and it is only $495!
These Green Velvet armchairs are only $276 each and they are amazing!
These dining chairs just came in and they are only $39.50 and we have 5 of them. Yay!
Back to the clothing store, we still have appointments available for you to bring in 20 of your best clothing items. We are also now taking Men’s items. The available appointments do not have a name next to them. Please email me or text me to take a spot. 760-880-3535
Friday, February 25th
11 am Maureen
11:30 Jackie
Noon Karen
12:30
1:00 Debi
1:30 Tracy
2:00 Julie
2:30
3:00
Saturday, February 26th
11 am Denise
11:30 Liz
Noon
12:30
1:00
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00
We will probably be adding more appointment times on Sunday and Monday. Just watch for an email. Thanks!
If you missed the email saying what we are looking for in clothing…please read it here before you come in. Thanks!
Also, we are hiring so please reach out if you are interested!
Houston has been doing a lot of bike riding and even some races. I love following along on this new chapter in his life. Check out a few of his recent posts. Also, he has an Instagram account called 35mmrides, where he actually takes real film photos and then posts them. Check him out and give him a follow.
One last score from my Palm Desert trip. I found this painting at a local thrift store. The artist, Gemma, was really famous for papier-mache heads. She didn’t do many paintings so I put it on eBay with an outrageous price of $100,000 and asked for help. Hahaha! It really works!
I did get some interesting info! It is probably worth about $1,000, but pretty good for a $39 investment. Check it out here.
Here is one of the emails with more details about the artist, Gemma.
“Gemma painted mostly for friends. My family knew her and her children well. She painted my uncle as a child and her son Zen painted my aunt. Zen is also an artist. Gemma was really known for her tile work and paper mache. You can see her tile work in various public locations (fountains and walls) in Palos Verdes where she lived almost of her adult life. I have bought a few of her tile paintings at auction for $50-$150. One of her paintings sold a few years ago for about $250. I can’t estimate the value of your painting but I’d be surprised if it sells for over $1,000. It’s a charming painting. I would bid on it! Best, Jill”
Alright, enough! Time for me to wrap this up and get back to the task at hand. Opening a new store in less than a week! Yikes! Anytime I start to panic, I remember that at this exact same time 4 years ago, the furniture store looked like this…….That is my mom with one of our favorite consignors #009 George! And we still pulled it off by our Grand Opening of March 1st!
And this is how the clothing store looked like yesterday afternoon when Indiana made the first purchase!
We have a ways to go, but we can and will do it! I am building my empire…
eBay with Heart
Decorate with Heart
Dress with Heart
I try and do everything in my life in a big way and with a lot of heart! Thank you for joining me on this super fun journey. I appreciate you!
To wrap up my Martini Madness February, I have learned a few things. When you start spilling them and breaking glasses it is time to stop. But, Martinis are not all bad….especially if you stick to a ONE Martini Max. That is it! I am out! Here are Indiana and my drinks last night at a restaurant close to my house. Still going strong!
Oh crap! I forgot one of the most important things. We have Annie Sloan Wall Paint in Stock! OMG! Game changer. Please come in and learn more about this revolutionary new product!
And Oh yeah, I am getting descended upon today. My mom, Jo Dallas, my brother, other friends, and my kids are all heading to Ventura for our huge grand opening of the clothing store on March 1st, which is also our 4 year anniversary.
It will be catered, beer, wine, champagne, door prizes, and a professional photographer. Please stop by and see us on Tuesday, March 1st from 11 to 5. GREAT FUN!!!!
Take care and we hope to see you soon! Sandy, Peggy, me and
Val! Also, Candy (not pictured)….
Thanks for reading my ezines! I appreciate it….as always!
eBay with Heart, Design with Heart & Dress with Heart………Lynn
BTW, we now have a blog on the website where you can read all of our past newsletters
Link to Blog.
Past Newsletters
1 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest1
2 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest2
3 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest3
4 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest4
5 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest5
6 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest6
7 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest7
8 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest8
9 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest9
10 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest10
11 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest11
12 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest12
13 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest13
14 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest14
15 https://tinyurl.com/Lynnslatest15
16 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest16
17 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest17
18 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest18
19 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest19
20 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest20
21 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest21
22 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest22
23 https://tinyurl.com/Lynnslatest23
24 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest24
25 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest25
26 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest26
27 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest27
28 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest28
29 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest29
30 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest30
31 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest31
32 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest32
2nd Year….Volume II
01 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest01
02 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest02
03 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest03
04 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest04
05 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest05
06 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest06
07 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest07
08 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest08
09 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest09
010 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest010
011 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest011
P.S. All of the professional photos I use on Instagram, Facebook, and in these newsletters were taken by my friend Denise’s daughter, Jaclyn Sabo. She is amazing! To learn more about Jaclyn….https://www.jaclynszabo.com/
P.P.S. If you have a friend who wants to sign up for this newsletter.
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