The Birth of the Elevated Bag Lady

I can remember the moment it all began. I was 12 years old and at an auction with my mom and her friends. This was a country estate auction, the kind where everyone stands in the yard of the poor deceased and the auctioneer stands on the front porch while antique dealers, neighbors, relatives, and other curious folk jostle and compete for ownership of the sad remains of a lifetime.

It had been a long, but exciting day, one which completely fascinated me. It was the end of the day and the serious buyers had either gone to settle their accounts or stopped taking interest in the few remaining boxes of junk. The auctioneer was determined to clear it all out, and when he was unable to rouse a bid for an odd box of glassware he pointed at me and said, "Would the young lady like this box for 10 cents?" Well DUH! Of course I wanted the box for 10 cents! Well that opened the floodgates.  After that I bought a few more boxes for a quarter. And, well, before you knew it I was the owner of a trunk load of glassware. I had NEVER felt such a rush of adrenaline and excitement!

Good thing I had a paying farm job of $1.00/hr., as that began my obsession with glassware, and indeed, a life-long desire to find and use what others had no use for. 

Over the years I've shopped garage sales, auctions, and thrift stores. I've picked things up off the curb on garbage day. I've sewn, glued, and reupholstered countless numbers of items and spent several years selling Antiques from my own store, wearing funny old hats around town to establish my identity. (That's the crazy lady with the antique store!) 

This blog will be dedicated to recycling, upcycling, repurposing, creating, and just generally finding beauty in unusual places. The name and idea came to be while dining at a fine restaurant in NYC discussing my son's fashion blog, The Modern Otter. What could be more fun than contrasting my style with his? 

So here we go. Thanks for joining me. 

PS I am pretty sure this little girl was me in a previous lifetime.  If she looks unhappy that is just an illusion.  She is secretly laughing her head off, but she'd really like some new clothes.