Welcome To The Blog! Get Your "SPECIAL GIFT"

Welcome to Antiques By Joy!

There has been a veritable bouquet of new friends and readers at Antiques By Joy lately,

and I'm taking this opportunity to say how delighted I am to have you join me here!

This is where I explore and share all sorts of
 meanderings, memories and musings . . .

and invite you to tarry awhile,

 relax 

and break away from work and stress and life's little cares.

It's healthy to take a few minutes each day to just breathe deeply, stretch your body and soul,

 and escape to a place where you can be

 thankful and share a smile.

I find that some weeks I post more than other weeks . . . 

I take time away for buying trips and often have a hectic schedule at the antiques shops . . . 

but I always return to the quiet pleasure of sharing my thoughts and experiences with you.

If you look through the previous posts, I've been tracking my beginnings as an antiques dealer

from the time I first longed to be in the business . . . through the throes of set up and many of my
  faux pas of business development.

I started that series because I hear nearly every day,

"How did you get started in this wonderful business?"

OR,

"I wish I had a shop like this."

I have older posts about learning to "pick" with my grandmother,
and
her incredible talent and enthusiasm for life.
There are how to's and what if's and buying trip exploits
scattered throughout the pages for you.
You'll hear about me, my philosophy, my faith and my background,
and some pretty crazy things I've tried.
(Some were great fun and some were total flops.)
This is the real Joy, freckles, bruises and all!

I've always believed the old adage that laughter is the best medicine . . . 
and you may feel free to laugh at me and my wonderful trials and errors!

So, grab a cup of tea, and take a few minutes to look through the blog posts for some
 fun and funny
memories
and some relaxing (and hopefully) enriching reading.

Can you imagine . . . Joy is busy
along with partners Melanie and Kellie
organizing our autumn displays!
In retail it's imperative that we stay a couple of months ahead of the season,
so that you can shop, ponder and plan your own seasonal decorating.
This requires us to purchase spring garden items while it's icy and snowy, and Christmas ornaments while it's still steamy July!!!!

We exist,
 "out of context" 
sometimes,
so hopefully you don't have to!


Thank you for taking time to read along my friend,
and please know that I am honored by you being here!


If you begin
"following"
the blog,
you'll see every once in awhile that I will offer a
 "SPECIAL" 
for you readers alone!
Simply click "FOLLOW" on my home page.
As a
WELCOME GIFT
to you
you may use this code
THROUGH THE END OF JULY
at Dwell Antiques & Home

"JOYFUL READER"
and receive 10@ off any one JOY tagged item!
(This offer cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.)

Confessions Of A Non Organic Type Girl Who's Trying To Repent

Subtitle:

Joy's Most Simple List Of How Life Will Begin Improving In 2014

(Because it wouldn't let me make the title above any longer.)

Okay . . . 

Confession #1

so I've

  never been a

 real successful,  long-term, granola eating, organic type,

 health food kinda girl.

I've had my moments - notoriously profound and always relatively short lived,

 of getting my act together and eating 'right', 

doing lots of home cooking and taking plenty of vitamins.

Truth is, 

I'm totally busy loving my two wonderful antiques shops, styling homes, travelling around to buy antiques, being a voracious reader, teaching a class and loving social media, 

not to mention family, church and friends.

I keep occupied.

There are things I let slide.

Filing, bookkeeping, dusting, cooking.

Junking,

(I mean antiquing), 

is much more interesting than a lot of other things!

Confession #2

I prefer to keep up with the things I like doing, and

find justification for not doing other things.

Besides, healthy cooking and eating just sound soooooo boring and time consuming

 and as if 

potato chips and bacon could be prohibited!!!!!

Can you relate so far?

Can I hear an 'AMEN'?

However,

2014

is slated to be my year to do some things I promised myself I'd accomplish in 2013.

(And 2012 . . .  and 2011 . . .  and . . .  you get the picture . . . )

I'm NOT going to go crazy gangbusters and flash in the pan right off the bat.

(Is that wayyyy to many colloquialisms in one sentence?)

I AM beginning in a moderate way,

to improve.

I'm a simple 

'one step at a time' 

kinda girl.

I have to prove to myself that this will be worth the 

time, money and effort it will involve.

and that bacon will not become a thing of the past - just saying . . . 

Confession #3

I truly

 don't care to hear one peep

 out of those who already have found nirvana in eating everything organic.

Or those of you who cook everything from scratch and bake your own bread 

and make your own butter.

Love you girls . . . but I don't need ANY pressure here.

(Read "encouragement" or "suggestions" or "recipes".)

This blog is by a successful, professional, leadership type,

(stubborn, hard headed, firstborn,

gotta do it my way)

 sort of girl

who has just taken the first simple step and will proceed at her own pace.

Confession #4

That said, 

if you want to read along and hear the pitfalls and progress of what I'm trying,

then

 welcome to my world.

I'm going to share some 

V E R Y

 simple ways to make life better in 2014.

Simple.   

Repeat: Simple.

Confession #5

I hate a hard sell.  

I detest salesman trying to push products. 

 I abhor friends and family members conning me into something they're sold on.  

I hang up on telephone solicitors.

-I'm a nice person - really I am - 

I was helping my daughter in the kitchen on Christmas day

 and reached into the fridge for milk for my coffee,

 and found 

a GLASS milk bottle. 

 Like from the 1950's.

It read organic. 

 I rolled my eyes.

 She's healthy . . . they eat real food . . . she writes a blog . . . 

okay -she's perfect.

I only have cream in my fridge.  For coffee. 

 I don't tolerate milk.

I mean, my digestive tract doesn't tolerate milk.

I spent too many years being force fed milk as a kid, and was ALWAYS suffering.

Who knew in the 1950's that people couldn't digest cow's milk as well as calves can?

Anyway, I took note while rolling my eyes.

'Door to Door Organics'.

She tells me they really deliver to her door.

"Not just milk mom - all the groceries you need."

"We go to Costco occasionally for some things, but basically, these guys do the bulk of our work for us now."

I ask, "doesn't the milk spoil while the food sits outside your door all day when you're away from home?"

(Can you hear my doubtful tone and sarcasm?)

"Nope - they pack it in ice and you can leave a cooler in a special place and they follow your instructions!"

I think to myself, 

it sure would be nice to not have to go grocery shopping.

End of thought process for that topic.

Later on I thought,

I get into trouble choosing groceries, NOT because I'm stupid or uneducated about what's good for me - but because I am tired and hungry and want immediate gratification and don't want to stand around cooking after Ive been on my feet for 10 hours.

**Please note - this is NOT an advertisement - just the facts of what I'm learning this week - about a bunch of things, including myself.**

Confession #6

Several days later, after a terrible bout of my lifelong diverticulitis and feeling generally miserable, 

I thought to myself,

"you need to get healthy and stop eating all the junk food and processed garbage that you exist on".

Boring!

Time consuming!

Expensive!

The end of the foods I love!

I'm too old to change!

I don't want to!

were my responses to self.

Can you just

 see

 the two little shoulder sitting creatures - angel and devil - sending messages to my brain?

Back to work, 

and my daughter and I are in the shop together

 and she's online during a quiet moment,

 ordering her weekly delivery of Door to Door Organics.

I try to peek over her shoulder in a nonchalant way to see what it looks like, 

but she's done in a flash 

and 

I get nothing.

Hey - I'm not so proud.

I ask what that's all about and she brings their page up and shows me the simplicity of the weekly package,

in which I can swap around

 and substitute items I like for those I wouldn't eat,

and order anything I want from their list of about 1,000 groceries.

(and they have sales - like in your regular grocery store.)

I sit down to check it out. 

 I try a mock order - (you know) - just to see how

 complicated and tasteless and expensive and annoying it will all turn out to be . . . 

and she gives me an "invitation" code that gets me 50% off my first order on the basic box.

What can I say . . . 

I'm progressive and experimental and open minded . . . 

It arrives tomorrow.

I am thankful that my dear daughter is so smart.  I don't know where she gets it from!

Confession #7

Meanwhile,

don't preach at me

to do a clean sweep of my pantry and freezer.  

I will eat my bacon and my chips and my Paul Newman pepperoni pizza and all the other non organic goodies I have in the house. 

 I may even buy more if I feel like it!

In my delivery tomorrow I'm getting:

3 sweet potatoes

3 Roma tomatoes

green kale

1 avocado

garbanzo beans

almonds in dark chocolate and sea salt

ah haaaa!

broccoli

1 large orange

1 anjou pear

2 granny smith apples

2 bananas

2 pork chops

stew beef

half & half

raw sugar

butter

whole wheat bread

asiago and parmesan cheeses

olive oil

sea salt

all organic, mostly local or Colorado,

some Kosher

tada!

It's a small beginning . . . taking a step toward the good life.

There are wonderful recipes and meal suggestions for simple cooks like me.

I have a link to 100 ultra healthy crock pot meals from some health food nut online, so I can be inspired to have supper ready when I get home.

Not just soups and stews and mushy things either. 

I never knew I could bake and brown a whole chicken in the crock pot! 

I'm gonna blog through this and be frightfully honest with you.

So that's my beginning and so far . . . 

it couldn't be easier!

*January is "white sale" month - linens are on sale at the best prices of the year.

Take a quick look at yours and see if this is the time to replace any!

* Stamp prices go up on January 26th - so you may wish to purchase more "Forever" stamps at the old prices before the cost goes up!

* Did you know that laughing out loud burns lots of calories?

Thanksgiving

A few of the things I'm thankful for . . . .

Although I lost my mom this season, I'm thankful for a wonderful family

 filled with people who accept me and hug me and love me. 

 While a lot of folks feel alone in this world, 

I have an incredible network of family and friends to laugh and share life with at any time.

I am especially thankful to work side by side with my daughter, and a group of delightful women!

I'm blessed to make a living doing the work I most enjoy.

I do what I love and love what I do.

Add to that, that I am surrounded by friends who are supportive, talented, 

encouraging and appreciative of

 the world of antiques, history and making a home a special place.

My community of faith . . . those around me who love to celebrate our faith.

There is a bond and communion in shared ideals and beliefs.  

My sweet home . . . perfect for my needs and so cozy and warm and pleasant.

I actually think about how grand it is to have been born into a culture and time

 where hot running water and indoor plumbing and central heat are the norm.  

To cozy up in my favorite chair with a good book and a cup of tea,

to turn up my music and sing outloud,

to cook, nap, putter with decorating or do laundry . . .

it's all heartwarming when you think about it.

I realize how special it is that I have the luxury of making choices in my life.

Sometimes they seem insignificant to me, but I know there are millions in this world who

 would look at my life and see a wealth of opportunities and choices to be had.

Friends!!! 

 I have circles of friends who enrich every aspect of my life. 

 They are every age and stage of life, scattered and near . . . 

We are connected . . . woven together like the warp and weft of a huge, strong tapestry.

They are part of who I have become.

I am needed. 

 It's a basic human desire . . . to be needed and found useful

 and hence, 

to sense that we are valuable to those who know us.

I am thankful.

  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Decorating

There is a promise 

of 

autumn

 in the air, 

and

 that always nudges me into a

 fresh decorating mode . . . 

gathering and collecting

 and filling jars and cloches with the

 small items

 from around the house.

I have filled one tall apothecary jar with acorns,

one with tiny, antique, white ironstone doll size tea sets & dishes,

one with small, leather, pocket-size bibles and prayer books from the 1700's and 1800's.

Mellow wood bowls now cradle creamy stacks of linen napkins,

dried artichokes or fragrant bundles of cinnamon sticks.

I love

incorporating seasonal bittersweet and shocks of wheat or hops.

Crockery is back out on the counter, filled with wooden implements, prized for their timeworn patina.

Silver cutlery is on display . . . 

(as I anticipate serving some of the delightful fall pies and cobblers with steaming cups of coffee.)

Both of our shops, 

Dwell Antiques & Home 

and

 Patina Antiques & Home

are freshening and ripening with the bounty of the harvest season.

There are antlers and dough bowls, bread boards and baskets, dried hydrangeas and pumpkins appearing every day . . .

and

in the twinkling of an eye

you'll find both shops been fully transformed into a wonderland of autumn splendor!

This is the time when we polish up our reserves of silver plate

 trays and urns and flatware. 

The 1800's ironstone and transferware appears in stacks

with 

pitchers filled with autumn stems.

Botanicals, gourds, copperware and huge wooden bowls will come in and disappear quickly.

Our displays are so much fun to create

but we are delighted and thankful when they're plundered by excited customers

who 

choose their favorite items to cart home.

Designers came in yesterday and turned the shop topy-turvy as they extricated a truckload of freshly displayed items.  While we're honored to see them fly out, there is a momentary catching of the breath when we say goodbye to those precious antiques

so recently scored!

These are precious days, near the end of summer, a fresh awakening of the senses . . .

an opportunity for a fresh palette . . .

a time to 

be

THANKFUL

Come visit us in the South Denver neighborhood of Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Dwell Antiques & Home 5910 S. University Blvd. Greenwood Village, CO. 80121

303-795-3454  Monday - Saturday 10-5,  Sundays by chance or appointment.

Memorial Day Thanksgiving

Happy Memorial Day!

Thoughts of my country and freedom crowd my head this weekend

and

I am thankful to those brave and dedicated men and women

who

have given their time

and hearts

and

in many cases,

their very lives

to insure that 

I

can live in a free and safe country.

So,

as we go about our weekend

and

enjoy our picnics and parties and bar b ques,

let us take a moment or two 

to 

remember.

THANK YOU

and

 GOD BLESS YOU

to each of those who have served us and protected us and died for us

and for our freedoms.

They took the high road

and

did not stop until their job was done.

My heart is so very thankful that we live in

the land of the free,

because of the brave!

"Contentment", Said Grandmother

Contented New Year!

Yes

I wish you contentment!

My grandmother used to say that it was all in how you looked at life.

There is something to be said for that state where you look around you and smile

and know that 

no matter 

what's still on your

 bucket list

or

how many home improvements need to be accomplished

you are indeed

 blessed and content 

to be living at a level

 high above most of the world

in a country where we can 

 worship

vote

purchase property

buy groceries

attend public school

express our opinions over the internet

cuddle our children 

choose a radio station

use the library

and 

have our mail delivered

I am happy to be loved and to have friends.

I'm happy 

 to have 

hot running water and indoor plumbing and electricity

to be warm and protected from the elements

to be able to cozy up with a book and my tea and cookies

to have a phone and a computer and a car and work I love.

I'm delighted

to get to buy a new coat and mittens,

and

to give  Christmas presents to those whom I love.

I am blessed to be able to support those causes I believe in.

I'm at a peaceful place of recognizing that I have

 little to

 complain about

 or 

long for

SO,

while

I pray that you enjoy 

that rollicking

 feel good

 laughing till you can't breathe

stitch in the side

gasping

giggling

euphoria

that

comes along once in awhile

What I think is even more significant

and 

essential to our long term

 peace of mind

is

that 

deep, cognizant sense of 

being content 

with all that we have

Thanks Grandma!

Smelling the Flowers

There is something that has spoken to my heart this week

about stopping to smell the flowers along the way

in 

my journey.

Perhaps it's age

or just a little nudge

from 

God,

to take a little time out

from toil

and 

relax

and

enjoy a nap

and

the snow

and

family

and

friends.

There are a lot of lessons 

to

learn

while on this

earth,

and 

appreciation for

the beauty

all

around me

is 

one I learned

a

long 

time

ago.

To stop and be kind

was another

one.

Sometimes 

I 

need

a

reminder.

The chores will get done . . . 

or not . . . 

and

when I'm too old

to be able to walk

outside at will,

or drive to the mountains

for a random picnic,

or visit my friends,

I'd like to be able to say,

"I spent time enjoying those pleasures

whenever I could,

and 

I am glad!"

So, pick up pretty seashells
and interesting rocks
and bird feathers
and lovely leaves,

and hold your
babies
 on
 your
 lap,

and
eat all the freshly baked cookies you're offered.

Stroll through the grass
barefoot in the spring,


and make snowmen
and
 enjoy hot chocolate
 with whipped cream
when it's cold outside.

It's
good
to take time
to
smell
the flowers
along
the
way.