New to this...

I'm totally new to this whole "blogging" thing, so I figured the best place to start would be with a little about me. I'm pretty much obsessed with all things OLD. Old objects offer us a window to the past. That gorgeous vintage dress you just found: how do you feel when you wear it? You feel just that: gorgeous- like a movie star from another time, a glamour girl maybe from the cover of a 50's issue of Vogue. Those incredible black and white photos you dug out of a dirty ol' box at the swap meet? They take you back to a simpler place in time. If you stare at them long enough you almost know why the subject is smiling or how the air may have smelled on that lovely summer day by the lake.

I surround myself with these things because it feels right-it feels GOOD. Don't ask me how it all started. Probably a lot of it can be credited to my parents. I grew up surrounded by antiques, hearing stories about each item and how it managed to make it's way into our home. My dad was a dumpster diver since childhood and always took me to garage sales and swap meets during mine. For a long time I thought it was strange but as I got older, Saturday mornings I couldn't wait for him to come home from the sales and show me what he'd found.

High school was filled with trips to thrift stores with friends...we'd ditch out of school early and pile into my buddy's VW bus, eager to go treasure hunting in the 100 degree heat of East County. What I remember most is the lack of AC in those old warehouse buildings and the SMELL OF OLD. Clothes were cheap and the knick knacks weren't worth anything yet in those days before the internet and ebay. And I LOVED every minute of it. Never knowing what you might find was the ultimate high for me. And to this day it's never gotten old.

Now to some of you reading this, this is nothing new to you. You are all too familiar with the high one can experience treasure hunting. I'm not special in these experiences. I just really dig it! The more I think about it, the more I realize how much it actually consumes my life. I rarely buy anything new. I am always on the look out for garage sale and estate sale signs. The only way you can get me out of bed earlier than 9am on a weekend it for a swap meet. A friend of mine suggested I start a blog to talk about all my hunting-she said it would be "interesting". So here I am...and I hope she's right!