A story behind it

Over the past few months I had decided to start looking for an old trunk to use in our living room as a coffee table. (I had the idea BEFORE pottery barn put it in their catalog...maybe I should go work for them!) I found a few that I liked, but they were usually too expensive (including the couple hundred dollar one in pottery barn). So, this past weekend Gene and I went home to visit my parents in PA. While visiting, I mentioned to my mom that I was looking for a trunk and asked her to keep her eyes open. She replied by saying, "I think your Mimi has one that she would give to you." I was over-estatic to hear this, so of course you know what happened next! My mom, dad, Gene and I all climbed all over my Mimi and Poppop's house attic, garage attic, and finally the basement until we located the trunk. (In the process I also found an old school desk that I want to take as soon as I have room!) Another surprise was that the trunk was full of old dishes that Mimi allowed me to pick through. The trunk is so old that the one strap on the front fell off as soon as we moved it, but I'm thrilled with it! I kept saying, "I'm sure that there is a story behind this trunk" but Mimi can't remember where she got it. (Good 'ole Mimi! haha)

So, Gene and I scrubbed the trunk and brought it back to MD with us, along with several glass dishes that I found. The funniest part about the whole thing was trying to find room for it in our two room apartment. We finally decided to put it under Gene's old Antarctica map and not try to squeeze it into the living room since it's so old and fragile. So, basically all we would have had to do is plop the trunk down in front of the map and be done with it. BUT, every woman knows that bringing in a new piece of furniture to your house means that everything else must be changed around just for fun. (haha) So, Gene and I proceeded to switch around every piece of furniture in our living room and "foyer" even though we didn't NEED to. My favorite quote throughout the evening was when Gene started laughing and said, "I just don't understand why we have to move the living room around when we added a piece of furniture to the foyer." And I replied with, "Because I'm my mother's daughter. It's in my blood."

Actually, we didn't finish moving everything that night, so the next morning I didn't have to be at work until noon, so Gene left for work and I ended up changing everything around 2 or 3 more times. It was great fun. And, I'm proud to report that Gene does like the change, even though he often hates change just for the sake of change. I included some pics of the new changes. For those of you who have never been in our apt. before, don't adjust your computer screen.....yes, those really are bright PURPLE walls in our kitchen! Hey, when you live in a dark basement apartment, you have to liven it up somehow!

So, I'll let you all know if I ever find out the story behind the trunk. I'm fascinated by it's history.