Lessons learned in 2012

Flown The Coop will take part in Folk Magazines year long Journaling Agenda, a community journaling/blogging project. Here’s to the first blog of the year!

Dear Tiffany,

It is safe to say, 2012 is over and you can move on.

Looking at your 2012 ~ Goals, Mantras and Dreams Board on Pinterest, the message is clearly the importance of pressing on. You are a dreamer. You always will believe that you can create the life you want.

2012 challenged that belief.

The year started with a move to Houston, Texas. This was not your choice. Leaving your two grown children in Ohio was difficult.  Fulfilling Jeff’s dream of living near his family, you made the move with the love of your life and was hoping for the best. You didn’t do so well.  You missed your family back in Ohio and the best friends in the world! You learned that you are a small town girl, who enjoys knowing your neighbors and walking around a historic downtown with lovely old homes. You missed The Depot, your favorite coffee shop, where the community gathers for their daily dose of Java and everyone knows your name.

With a wounded heart, but not a wounded spirit, you pressed on.  Not many people in your new home understood that you were having a crisis of belief.  You questioned, “Could you really be happy and fly free when you didn’t have the ability to choose your circumstances?”

Despite the Houston traffic, you managed to find your way around the “fourth largest city in the US.” Exploring a new city is always fun! You even managed to find a new coffee house to frequent, Boomtown. You enjoyed decorating your little flat in Rice Village, but parking tickets and loud college students made it clear that it wasn’t the ideal situation.  You longed for community and a feeling of place.  You and Jeff decided to end 2012 by placing a deposit on a rental house in the Heights.  The Heights is a neighborhood inside the loop that in many ways feels like your small town and is the only thing like it in Houston.  The cost of living is drastically higher than we are used to, but the decision felt like a leap towards creating the life that you wanted.  After your move in January, you will be able to make new friends, get involved in community and even walk to Boomtown!  You learned that given time, you can find what your heart longs for if you are willing to pay the price.

You hustled in 2012 and will need to hustle some more in 2013!

Flown The Coop made the move to Texas too. It was a scary move for you. How would you find ways to buy and sell, restore and repurpose wonderful Junque?  You rose to the challenge and Hustled.

You set up at several shows in Texas. You did Canton, Warrenton, Junk Salvation, Discovery Green Flea Market and the prestigious Urban Market Houston. In July you opened a booth at Chippendale Eastlake Antiques on 19th street in the Heights. Your were even invited to help out The Seed Box at the Dallas Market. All of these opportunities inspired you work harder at Flown The Coop. You learned a lot about merchandising from the pros in the business. You were encouraged to discover a niche, which is still a work in progress. The best part in stepping out in the various opportunities was making fabulous new friends! You have the best colleagues and customers who continually support your dream of flying free!

Creating a life on purpose is very important to you. In 2012 you learned that even when life isn’t zesty, you don’t have to be caged. You can fly free! The happiness you long for isn’t in a destination, but is in the way you travel. You’ve proved to yourself that you are strong, willing to persist and that you have the ability to start over!

Life is a journey, come travel with me!

 ~Tiffany

“And the birds fluttered around her writing “YES” in the sky!”

 

 

One Crazy Month!

Updates from our continuous flight…

 

Not one to sit still… we’ve been in continuous motion for several weeks now.  It has been hard to write about every adventure.  So here’s a little recap of the highlights.

 

 

May 30 – June 3  Our last month in the field at Canton was bitter sweet.  We won’t miss battling the elements, but already miss our friends!

June 4  Move into our new “coop” at Chippendale Eastlake Antiques.


June 8 – June 17  Trip to Ohio.  Oh… where to begin?  Life is not all work… we all need to be refueled by fun times with family and friends!  This trip was the perfect mix of junking (aka work) and creating memories of fun times!

Ever wonder where I get my spunk?

Grandma Maggie is 92 and loving life.  She inspires me!  🙂  She took me to many garage sales over the years and is an excellent negotiator.  I got to spend one day taking her to lunch and shopping at the Goodwill.  🙂

Hanging out with my parents… they truly have a better social life than Jeff & I.  🙂  Had lots of fun at dinner with them!  They sent me home with a treasure that I’ll never be able to sell.  Dad gave me grandpa’s tool chest filled with antique tools.  It now has a new home in my living room.  🙂

I was very thankful to see my kids and my sister’s family too!  I miss them so much!!!!

Enjoying life with friends

Had more than one adventure with this group of ladies… Kristie Herlong, Kelly Gingery and Michele Savoldi!  🙂

While in Ohio, Michele Savoldi hosted a Girlfriends and Grapes night at her house.  The evening was over the top wonderful!!!!  Michele thought of every detail creating a wine tasting with three whites and three reds, pairing each with delicious bites! Above is a picture of us on the “step and repeat” she created for the event.

Kelly organized a fun night on the town, hopping from Milestone 229 to The Jury Room… what a fun group of peeps!  A few of us even went to Skully’s to dance to the 80’s!

We had the chance to hang out with many of our friends throughout the week.  It was also fun running into friends at the Depot Coffee House!  Gosh… I miss ya’all so much!

I really DO have the best friends in the world!

Junking… of course!

Isaac Cohn, a young entrepreneur from Urbana, Ohio struck the jack pot while I was visiting.  He won the bid on an attic full of vintage clothing.  We helped him sort through his booty and had fun trying on his vintage treasures.  I am so proud of this young man!  Stay tuned for more on his thriving vintage clothing business, Montage!

No trip to Ohio would be complete without a visit to my favorite junk store.  I was all prepared with my clip board and everything.  I wasn’t prepared for the emotional break down I had though…. who cries over missing a junk store?  GEESH!  It was worth it.  I uncovered some really cool junk and one of my favorite pieces… check out this cabinet I scored!  It is proudly displayed at Chippendale.  I think it could be a great piece as a vanity in a bathroom or as a buffet in a kitchen or dining room!

The Green Owl at The Boston

A huge highlight for me was spending time with my friend and original Flown The Coop partner, Kristie Herlong.  One day, with a bottle of wine and the Dixie Chicks blaring, we had a blast re-staging her shop at The Boston.  It was just like ole times.  🙂

Wow… we fit A LOT into those five days!

Sadly, we had to pack up our treasures and hit the road again….

June 18  Redo my booth with all my new treasures!

With only a couple days to redo the booth at Chippendale, I worked hard to fit all my new treasures in.  I definitely need to learn the balance of getting a lot of junk in the space and setting up meaningful vignettes.  No time to fret with it… I had another adventure to get to.

Driving into the sun once again… 🙂

June 19 – June 22 Dallas Market

Brian and Meloney Russell of The Seed Box Antiques invited me to help them for a couple days at their booth at the Dallas Market, Vintage Home FINDS.  I was excited about this adventure for several reasons.  I had never been to market before.  Seeing the world trade center for the first time was a bit overwhelming.  I really enjoy hanging out with Brian and Meloney and am always challenged to work harder on my business.  Also, I love seeing all the regulars that set up around Brian and Meloney.  I don’t mind being their plus one.  🙂

As always… their display was over the top!  Check out my album on my Facebook page for more pics!!!!

June 23  First day working at Chippendale

Starting off with a sidewalk sale!  I love jumping right in with Shop Heights 19th Street Summer Tent Sale.  It felt like I was back in the field as we set up our tents and filled it with fun “junk” from the shop.  It gave us a chance to display a sample of all the great merchandise inside Chippendale.

It was a great day!  I love the vibe on 19th and how the locals show their support!!!

What’s next?

Not sure what July will bring.  As of this moment we don’t have any July travel plans.  I do, however, have a list a mile long of projects that I’ve collected.  I am always up for an adventure though!  Stayed tuned.

Dedicated to those who can’t be caged!

~Tiffany

And the birds fluttered around her writing “yes” in the sky!