Could-a, Would-a, Should-a
Sometime in 2005 I wandered inside the National Council of Stylish Jewish Ladies of a Certain Age Thrift Shop and unearthed a COMPLETE FREAKING SET of vintage Villeroy and Boch Acapulco tableware.
So many things about this set appealed to me. I didn't know jack about collecting anything of value, I just gravitated towards what I liked. And this? I liked. How perfect was it? Let me count the ways.
1. It was less than $150, for about 8 setting, including serving pieces.
2. It matched everything I own.
3. The sunny, Mexican-inspired colors and naif 60's motifs made me happy just looking at them.
4. Though some historians disagree, I'm fairly certain that when you sat down at Captain Steubings's table on The Love Boat, your filet mignon would have been served on it.
5. It was named after my fantasy home destination. When I live here, I'll be a lounge singer in one of those mammoth all-inclusive resorts. I'll exist solely in caftans and bikinis by day, feathers & sequins by night. After my midnight set of Burt Bacharach songs, Johnny Depp (circa Blow; in the white suit only, please) will drop by the house for churros y chocolate, served in what else, Acapulco plates, cups and saucers.
I still get grief pangs driving by that store when I think that I didn't buy it.
Now go on. Tell me your biggest "WHY DIDN'T I BUY THAT!?!?!" regret. You'll feel much better afterwards, I promise.
So many things about this set appealed to me. I didn't know jack about collecting anything of value, I just gravitated towards what I liked. And this? I liked. How perfect was it? Let me count the ways.
1. It was less than $150, for about 8 setting, including serving pieces.
2. It matched everything I own.
3. The sunny, Mexican-inspired colors and naif 60's motifs made me happy just looking at them.
4. Though some historians disagree, I'm fairly certain that when you sat down at Captain Steubings's table on The Love Boat, your filet mignon would have been served on it.
5. It was named after my fantasy home destination. When I live here, I'll be a lounge singer in one of those mammoth all-inclusive resorts. I'll exist solely in caftans and bikinis by day, feathers & sequins by night. After my midnight set of Burt Bacharach songs, Johnny Depp (circa Blow; in the white suit only, please) will drop by the house for churros y chocolate, served in what else, Acapulco plates, cups and saucers.
I still get grief pangs driving by that store when I think that I didn't buy it.
Now go on. Tell me your biggest "WHY DIDN'T I BUY THAT!?!?!" regret. You'll feel much better afterwards, I promise.
Personally? I simply regret that you didn't buy those plates! If you owned them I would demand that you left them to me in your will.
ReplyDeletei call it non-buyers remorse. right now i really regret not walking into that same store right after you and buying that set of dishes! dang. lately, my most common thoughts are of a set of chairs for my dining room table. i looked at them atleast 4 times, but somehow didn't realize how perfect they were until someone else finally bought them. now, ofcourse, nothing else seems right & i still have a chairless table.
ReplyDeleteJJ, you and Bunni would have had one heckuva brawl for them after my death. Though her great- granddaddy was a boxer, my bet would be on you in that match. Your fightin' skills are pretty legendary.
ReplyDelete@Jen: Have you tried scouring Craigslist, (if you're like me - until you've worn your fingertips down to nubs and your eyes are ready to drop out of their sockets) in search of some poor schmoe "sacrificing" the same chairs? In this city, you never know, you could find them. Or make yourself crazy trying.
ReplyDeletethose are radical....
ReplyDeleteMy therapist and I have discussed my "shopperexia" at length. Now I call her after I purchase anything...from a pair of shoes to a new pen.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I'm interested in your diagnosis, this shopperexia that you struggle with. Do you severely limit your purchases, starving your shopping yen? I would classify my illness more as shopulemia, the cycle of shopping binges, followed by purging from guilt. Basically I'm an ouroboros, swallowing my own tail, single handedly keeping my local Goodwill stores in business.
ReplyDeleteWhy oh why didn't I buy that fabulous Louis Vuitton Speedy knock off that guy was selling in front of Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles (on Pico)? I still think about it, 6 years later! Sigh - Glad to see I'm not the only one lamenting a "missed buy"...
ReplyDeleteCap'n, I mourn the loss of the purse, counterfeit or no. You should have bought it by sheer dint (don't you love that word??) of its location. Any portable object for sale outside a purveyor of chicken and waffles needs to be purchased. Isn't that a law somewhere?
ReplyDelete