Treasures

I’m a sentimental person by nature.  I have a hard time figuring out which birthday cards to keep (so I end up keeping all of them); little pieces of jewelry that I no longer wear have memories attached to them, so I can’t let go of them; even little notes that my parents used to write to me and stick on my bathroom mirror are still in my box of special things.

 When we moved this past time, I purged a lot.  I let go of so many things, things that I realized, as I was packing up our life, didn’t mean anything to me.  I had so much “stuff.”  So much excess.  Even in our little apartment, it was filled with things that didn’t hold meaning.  Things that cluttered my view and made me feel overwhelmed.

Since we moved in with my in-laws, I haven’t bought very much decor at all.  In fact, I think my home-related purchases are limited to the throw pillows that I blogged about a few weeks ago.  Which is why, on our trip to Oceanside, I was so excited by little things to take home — little treasures.  Like the rocks that my husband would bring me while I was sitting in my chair by the beach.  And the random shell, too.  I piled these things on the chair next to me and brought them with me at the end of the day, tucking them into a bag with tissue paper for the trip home.

 And this little treasure.  A tiny vase made out of Oceanside sand and acrylic, found in a local shop called Reap & Sow.  Made by a resident artisan.  They all were different but I was so drawn to this one.

 The Diptyque candle was a Valentine’s Day gift from Greyson — one of those perfect gifts melding both the ‘thoughtful’ and ‘little-luxury’ categories together.  The kind of thing that you wouldn’t typically buy for yourself (oye, the guilt), but that makes even something so simple — like lighting a candle — special.  And the candle snuffer I found in a vintage store while shopping with Greyson for my birthday just over the weekend.  It is heavy and brass and from a time long before me.  I love that.