"Oh, just shopping for pin cushions.."

I was talking to an old friend last evening on the phone and we hadn't touched base in several months. Our conversation was interrupted several times by the small voice of her sweet little grandson who evidently wanted her undivided attention.  She did the thing that all of us grandmas do..."Say hi to Laurel, honey".  And he does the same thing all kids do when presented with a mandatory courtesy..."Hi Woral!" You try to start a conversation but their attention is fleeting, and they are only on the line long enough to melt your heart. (Cute as a bug, this kid!)

When we resumed our conversation, she asked me what we'd "been up to lately", and I found that I struggled to find something interesting to tell her.  We haven't been on an exciting vacation...we haven't bought a new car...no body's getting married...no new grand kids. It occurred to me that as I ran the litany of recent events over in my mind, I didn't have anything more exciting to relate than working in yard, knitting and sewing, etc. I elected not to mention the three hours I spent sorting beads or my recent TV fixation on Project Runway, Chopped and The Good Wife.

To say that I am beginning to settle into senior living might be an overstatement, but I have to say that to most people, my life is not very exciting. The irony of it is that I have spent most of my adult years pushing through a myriad of activities and work going 100 mph, so I am often surprised how much I love this more relaxed time in my life. I still have to work at slowing down and enjoying the moment - a lifetime of Type A behavior is not easily changed.

Just this past week, I set out early one morning with a list of boring errands in hand, determined to check them off my list - there's that hurry up Type A creeping in. After several hours of buzzing around town, I drove by a little shop on Sutter Street in old Folsom that I have been eyeing for years, but never visited. Kudos to me as I was able to "recalculate", turn the car into a parking area and stroll across the street to this adorable little vintage shop fully loaded to the hilt. The visual feast of pretty lace things, china and home accessories was overwhelming, but strangely calming.

Amid some delicate tea cups on a shelf, I spotted a little pin cushion adorned with several corsage pins. It got me thinking that during my recent flurry of sewing activity I have been totally frustrated with my pin holder (when you get older, your brain starts working in this disjointed way!).  Anyway, my pin holder is magnetic and I've dropped it twice this week, splattering the pins across the carpet - I guess the magnet is tired.

The little cushion in the shop was very cute and very soft, however it was tiny. I have tried other pin holders and cushions and they all have that aspect in common -  they are too small or they are too hard.

For instance, I love this Mary Englebrite cushion, but it's too small.

And forget these old fashion tomato cushions...Just goes to show ya, they just don't make 'em like they use to.  These newer cushions are hard as a rock - you need a hammer to push a pin into them and they slide all over your table as you try to manhandle the pins into them.

As I wandered around the shop, suddenly focused on pin cushions (again, that senior brain is easily distracted) I spotted this small pink pillow in the baby area. I looked at the tag and it was originally from Nordstrom, so I rather doubt that it was technically vintage.  But it was "weighty", meaning it I would not have to hold it in place every time I stuck a pin it it.  It was soft, yet firm enough to hold my pins.  And, I reasoned, it would look so cute beside my sewing machine!

So the next time I chat on the phone with an old friend, I'm wondering how impressed she'd be if I told her I found the most adorable pin cushion? Probably not too much. But It made my day!!

Laurel.  It's all about the little things in life.