Someone Is an Ass

September 4, 2015 mithra ballesteros

First of all, I kind of hate auctions. I never feel good about the amount I've paid. Did I buy because the price was good or because I got caught up competing against others? Plus, I've been burned by eBay. It's not like I ever bid $40,000 for a lock of Justin Bieber's hair (remember that?) but I did buy some antique transferware plates that, when arrived, had 'microwave safe' stamped on the back. I felt like I'd been had.

In some ways, the process of an auction can undermine any hope for a trusting relationship between buyer and seller. All focus is on a single transaction in which the seller tries to extract the highest price possible and the buyer must weigh his wants against the market forces and the seller's greed. Awful!

Weekend Listicle // New Beginnings

August 31, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my youngest son, who is a senior in high school. So I'm organizing this listicle around new beginnings. But first days of school don't always mean an apple-cheeked student with a fresh box of crayons and a heart bursting with enthusiasm. The first day of school brings a wide range of emotions, depending on where you are in life. Whether you are a little kid, or a middle schooler, a straight-A student or a student who struggles academically, a girl or a boy, a parent with a last child starting or a first child starting or no child starting, it's a loaded day. Here are my picks from around the web for the emotional roller coaster that is the first day of school.

First Annual French Flea Market at FNK

August 28, 2015 mithra ballesteros

I wish I could invite all of you to my house for this sale. I'd give you all French bises on each cheek, hand you a nice glass of champagne and after you've finished shopping, I'd offer you my homemade mousse au chocolat served with fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint. We would proudly talk of the recent heroics of the Americans on the train and how they were the toast of Paris, despite wearing golf shirts to receive their medals from the president of France.

Weekend Listicle // End of Summer

August 24, 2015 mithra ballesteros

The young lady next door, whom I've watched grow up from age two, is going off to college this week. I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. That is the bittersweet nature of August. In the words of John Steinbeck, 'What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?" This week's listicle is loosely framed by August. Don't miss the last one on the list. It's my fave.

French Flea Market From Your Armchair

August 20, 2015 mithra ballesteros

It's been about one year exactly since my husband and I made an emergency trip to France because our son suffered a serious accident. As I wrote about here, last year, it was a harrowing experience. I can only emphasize that if your child decides to study abroad, do make sure that your passport is up-to-date as well. Check and confirm that his health insurance covers him even when he is out of the country. Also, insist that he program his phone with that country's version of 9-1-1.

One year later, the kid is healthy, and that's my takeaway advice. Oh, and if the hospital's visiting hours are restrictive, go shopping. It passes the time very quickly.

Weekend Listicle // Girl Scouts Are Prepared

August 17, 2015 mithra ballesteros

My weekend listicle is loosely organized around Girl Scouts and being prepared. I've just listed a very old Girl Scout Handbook (photo above) in the shop, and have so enjoyed digging into the world of scouts. Ironically, this post should have gone up around noon today but I was called away to help jump a stalled car. The young lady who called on me for help didn't realize that as a former Girl Scout, it is my duty to be useful and to help others (Girl Scout Law #3).

The Rooster in My Kitchen

August 14, 2015 mithra ballesteros

In a rather small corner of my rather large kitchen is this framed needlepoint rooster. It is one of my most beloved possessions. My Persian grandmother stitched it when she was a young girl living in Hamadan, Iran, probably sometime in the 1920s.

Her name was Zarrin and she was very talented with a needle. After her father died, she supported herself and her mother with her own handiwork. Then, in 1927, she met and married my grandfather. I think this is a piece she did before her marriage.

Weekend Listicle // Disappearing Things

August 10, 2015 mithra ballesteros

I wrote last week that on Mondays at noon, I'll be posting a round-up of links on subjects that are near and dear to my heart. I'll be zeroing in on the recent best of the web about women over forty, writing, vintage and antiques, Wisconsin, and the home. Oh, and pranks.

If you subscribe to my emails, you'll receive one email on Fridays, containing both the new Monday post and the regular Friday post. Thank you so much for your support as I increase the time spent on this blog. Your time is extremely valuable, as is the space in your email box, so I continually endeavor to bring you consistently good content. Or to make you laugh.

Gone Fishing

July 31, 2015 mithra ballesteros

I'm hanging out my sign. And going to bait my hook. Because in my world, the salmon are running. I mean to say that this is the height of the vintage season with estate sales, antique fairs, outdoor flea markets, and garage sales taking place every other day. Plus, if you have been to my shop lately, you'll notice that the pickings are getting a little thin. So I'm off to fish.

Come to think of it, stocking my shop is like fishing. It takes time for each vignette to come together. Often I'm searching for months for the right elements. Then comes the photography, which is like cleaning the fish. I'm picky about that. And finally I weigh and measure and write up descriptions. That's akin to battering the fish, frying them crispy, and serving them up with some nice sides.

My Camera Lens Takes a Vacation

July 24, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Last week, we took a few days off and flew out to Washington State to visit our son. I brought along my new camera lens, purchased recently for taking product shots in my studio basement. This was my first time using it outside, and its lightweight size made it easy to carry, even on long hikes. The lens is a Nikon AF-S 35mm 1:1.8. It is a fixed lens, also known as a prime lens, which means that it does not have a zoom feature.

Because of the lack of a zoom, I must compose my photo by moving my body, not my camera lens. What I see through the viewfinder is exactly what I get. Which means contortions to get the right shot. But the big advantage to a fixed lens is all the light that pours in. Colors look great. Also note in the photo below of the law books how the background goes nice and blurry while the foreground stays incredibly crisp. At $200, it is very affordable, as far as lenses go. I feel good about this purchase.

Why Our Kids Don't Treasure Our Treasures

July 17, 2015 mithra ballesteros

In my line of work, I see the drama play out nearly every week. At your garage and rummage sales, I purchase the things that your grown children don't want. And it's killing you. Recently, a woman whimpered to me as I bought her beautiful but fragile cane chair with a floral seat needlepointed by her great great aunt: "My son won't take it," she lamented. "Really?" I asked. "Does he know that his ancestor probably raised, harvested, spun, and dyed the wool in that cushion? That she probably sacrificed her good eyesight for that cushion?" She looked at me and shook her head. "He doesn't care. It's too Grandma-looking."

Kids these days! What are we to do when we need to downsize our possessions but they don't or can't take the things we've held on to -- for years -- with them and their homes in mind?

Five Must-Reads for the Summer

July 10, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Growing up in Waukegan, Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan, summers never seemed terribly hot. When the heat did arrive, I had a favorite place to hide -- the bookmobile. Did you grow up in the era of the bookmobile? In my neighborhood, the Waukegan Public Library's bookmobile arrived on the same day each week and I would be waiting, sweaty, my bicycle discarded in the weeds, my shoulder bag full of last week's selections. Oh what cool comfort I derived from inside that book-lined van.

Forty years later, I still love children's books. What is it about them that is so appealing? (By the way, Anthropologie carries reissued sets of vintage children's books and they can't keep them in stock.)

Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic and a Fun Fourth Sale!

July 3, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Yes, I'm having a sale. New inventory and old is all discounted this weekend only. (By the way, if you subscribe to this blog, you got early notification.) Use code july4sale at checkout for 20% off through Sunday evening.

One of the collections on sale is brand-spanking-new. It is called "The Life Aquatic Wall Collage" (pictured above) and it was inspired by the Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I've watched Anderson's movies over and over, drinking in the saturated colors, the quirky costumes, the precisely perfect sets. He creates a world so nostalgic that you feel the way you do flipping through your parents' wedding album. Everything has a fairytale aura that has no basis in reality but that captivates our imagination just the same.

Making Peace with an Urge to Sell

June 26, 2015 mithra ballesteros

What would Grandma do? I ask that question all the time. She is gone but her voice is in my head, and whenever I'm in doubt, I hear her loud and clear.

I'm in doubt a lot these days. It comes with the territory of selling online. Opening a business is like embarking on a home improvement project that seems straightforward until you tear down a wall and find 3000 brown bats roosting between the joists. (Read about that here.)

When I walk into my basement storage room and see the boxes of inventory, staring at me with an accusing look, like I'm not doing enough to make people love them, I get a pit in my stomach that all small business owners can understand. It even has a name: the "Trough of Sorrow". (Paul Graham, world famous internet start-up investor, came up with that.)

A Room for Read's Reading

June 19, 2015 mithra ballesteros

To my loyal readers who prefer to click on a post with photographs of humans, let me urge you to stay a moment, and look again. Because indeed a human is hidden in the image above. He is there amongst the stacks of titles. Those are his books, you see, and his daughter, my friend Alice, has turned her dining room table into a living library in his memory.

I remember the day I glanced at Alice's dining room and came to the easy conclusion that the space is stunning: the antique carved Spanish furniture, the gorgeously colored wallpaper, the wrought iron Rococo chandelier, the sunny window seat -- a favored perch of Alice's trio of dogs who keeps watch over the comings and goings of her large family.

Rum Punch Party Kit

June 12, 2015 mithra ballesteros

This week, I attended a wake. It was the eighth time I attended this particular wake. My friend Ellen holds it on the last day of school. We gather at 1:00 on her patio. Some of us wear funeral black. We mourn the end of school and the beginning of dog days spent in the company of our darling angels. Yes, we are bad moms. But we are bad moms together. Our bad-momishness is enough of a thread to tie us together for an afternoon of grapefruit gimlets.

That's how the best parties happen. You take a common thread and transform it into a luscious party bow that wraps around a bunch of people and ta-da!

This Handsome Hunk

June 4, 2015 mithra ballesteros

We all know this mug. After all, John Wayne is a bigger-than-life symbol of the American West and Old Hollywood. But did you know that John Wayne was a homebody? And a consummate collector?

"The Duke" made more than 142 films all over the world. While on location, he spent his downtime haunting local thrift stores and antique shops. He lugged home all sort of art, furniture, and objects. His weaknesses were guns, kachina dolls, Japanese ceramics, Native American relics, bronze sculptures, and fine English furniture. Here is what he told Architectural Digest back in 1977:

I've Been Knocked Up!

May 29, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Okay okay, I'm not knocked up. I believe the term I'm looking for is knocked off. But heck if it doesn't feel like I've been knocked up. Like, how could this happen? What should I do? What does this mean? Does this change my routine?

I'm taking a deep breath now and backing up to explain: today on one of my favorite blogs, I read about a new shop that just launched. It's called Still Life No. 3. Go ahead. Click here to take a peek. And come right back.

"From Cocoon Forth a Butterfly"

May 22, 2015 mithra ballesteros

Butterfly specimens in lucite. More information here. — *Butterfly specimens in lucite. More information* *here*.

Summer is upon us! Remember that old Farmer's Almanac adage about getting your flowers planted before Memorial Day? Never mind my yard, this year I planted in my shop. Why don't you take a moment and stroll down my virtual garden path? You'll see a lot of butterflies and flowers.

Mostly butterflies, actually. What is it exactly about those creatures that we love? When it's the middle of a Wisconsin winter and I see butterflies adorning things at estate sales, I reach for them instinctively. They are interlopers that flit in from another world, like a beloved child home from college. I marvel at their wings -- as thin as a nightgown. And is there a biological reason why they're so colorful and showy?

Welcome! I'm Mithra (pronounced Mee-thra). I'm an interior stylist and a writer. I'm also a vintage and antiques lover. I have an online shop, Finder Not Keeper, where I sell my best finds. (That's a white lie. I keep the best finds.) Read more about me and the blog here.

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A few days back in the ‘Quon. All of February is the price I’m willing to fork over for one week in September.

Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio

Brainy, brave, kind, genuine, indefatigable, funny, patriotic, fair, hard working, gentle, strong, iconic.

Those aren’t my hands forming baguettes. But I took the pic. @heat_her_all_a_man has it down and I’m ready with my salted butter and honey. What do you eat with baguettes?

Surveying the herb garden after a good weeding session. Basil took a hit the last couple weeks but everything else is flourishing like summer lasts forever.

First restaurant account for @littlelaurentide! Also first time eating out since the snow was flying. Really really fun night. (Not to mention that building’s white with black trim paint color scheme is 💯)

Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies, fit in well here at the farm for reasons we will let you ponder.

This is son #2, the farmer. Walter is working hard to turn this place into a sustainable organic farm. Follow us @littlelaurentide for the latest on how mother and son align, clash, argue, hug.

On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.

On the blog today: a tour of the best places on the farm to sit for a spell. And I write a bit about what it’s like to cohabit with a son who used to give me every kind of gray hair. He could teach a polar bear how to be grumpy and I could teach a grizzly bear how to be grumpy. It’s a new world for the two of us, farming together, and can you guess how it’s going??

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