My Family Heirloom

I cannot WAIT to get my hands on that glossy black spray paint that Scott is bringing home with him from my father-in-law's hardware store tomorrow. I'm painting my awesome $8 mirror this weekend, along with some other mismatched frames. Aside from the awesomeness of sassing it up, I'm excited because I can finally put my old candlestick to good use. Its new home is a black shadow box from Crate & Barrel, which we'll be hanging in amongst the mirror and other frames. (Hopefully.)

This isn't any ole' candlestick, friends. It was my grandmother's great-grandmother's. Yep. Alice Brierly brought it with her from England when she came to America when she was sixteen. This was in 1884. She passed it on to her daughter, and so forth down the line until I received it as a wedding present from my Uncle Kevin two years ago. (My dad's mom only had boys, so it was passed to him for a generation.) I'm truly honored to have it in my home, and I can't wait to pass it on to my daughter someday (if we have girls!).


Isn't it just amazing?

On another note, I've made plans to visit my grandmother on Saturday with my mom. We'll meet halfway in Portsmouth, NH... My Memere recently moved in with my aunt and uncle after my grandfather passed away in January. They had lived in Florida for the past fifteen years, so I only saw them occasionally. Once he passed, my family moved Memere to NH so that she wouldn't be alone.

The last time I visited her, about two months ago, we spent over two hours going through her old photos. She has the MOST INCREDIBLE family pictures stowed away in an antique breadbox that was her grandmother's. She has wedding portraits for her parents, her grandparents on both sides, my grandfather's parents, etc. And hundreds of snapshots. My favorite are pictures taken during WWII of her Uncle Leo who was in General Patton's army. They're unbelievable. Right in the thick of it, with helmets on and camoflague netting around them. Insane. She also has pictures of herself and my grandfather at their own wedding, at their first house (that my mother grew up in), etc.

My plan is to see if I can borrow them. I want to scan them, print them on cardstock for my own home, and frame some of the more important ones in a decorative frame collage for a Christmas present to her. Those photos are too good to waste, just sitting in an old breadbox and no one ever seeing them.

My last bit of news is that I spoke to my mother about my aunt's old plates. Ever since I scored those thrift store teacups (the blue transfer-ware) I've been thinking about how much I like them. I remembered that when I was about 10 years old, I overheard my aunt talking to my mother about how she had a whole set of the stuff. She said that she saw some in an antique store for mucho bucks. This was before internet, so she hadn't known that they were worth anything. She had said that she didn't even want them anymore, but that she would keep them in storage since they were valuable. *Swoon!* I asked Mom about it, and she said that she thinks that she still has them somewhere. I'm emailing her tomorrow (Friday). I want them! =)