Hello everyone! I want to start off by extending a warm merci to all of you that responded and emailed regarding my previous post. Julie really has put together an amazing week in Provence and as all of the money raised by Passports with Purpose is going to Water.org, whether you win it or not, well, you are already a winner in my eyes just for having donated. And if you are waffling or just plain forgot to bid, please hurry as the fundraiser is finished on December 11th, just four more days away! So far, they have reached $35,000 of their $100,000 goal. Can you imagine what a phenomenal Holiday surprise it would be to offer your loved one any of the amazing prizes on offer?
Speaking of wonderful gifts, I have been looking forward to sharing a happiness-inducing store that I came across during my visit to the States. One of the many things that was so phenomenal about my trip was the timing. Not only did I get to have a perfect Thanksgiving (more about that soon) and delight in my Sister’s rocking birthday party (literally) but I got just the perfect dose of holiday buzz, minus the mania.
And no one did it better than Found in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown District. Having grown up in a family who worked in retail (you can partially blame my Dad for Abercrombie & Fitch’s transformation from stolid safari to adolescent dreamland), I will admit to being ever so slightly a snob when it comes to a stores presentation. The lights are always too bright, everything can be taken in with a blink and there is little in the way of experience–no matter how earnestly the employees at Banana Republic try to make it otherwise.
Not so at Found, which is clearly curated with love by owner Mary Cambruzzi. I could have spent hours in there and would have if I were alone. As it was, I was a wild snapper with my camera, trying to capture as much of the ambiance as I could to share with you, so much so that one of the fellow shoppers asked exactly what was I doing with a suspiciously raised eyebrow! Does it sound odd that I would put a collective aesthetic on your tastes? But something tells me that if you are here, you love patina and the tiny details as much as I do. If so, then Found is very Lost in Arles!
The evening I was there was part of a special event and there was nary a space to stand. The line for the register stretched to the rear of the store and so with promises that I would return, I regretfully took my leave. Alas, my visits to the States are often a rambunctious run and I did not get the opportunity this time…
…and how would I have fit this 1930’s doll-house in my carry-on?
All of these candles are Made In Michigan…
…and the vintage finds are Made with Time!
Here in Arles, the Christmas lights have just popped on below my window, reminding me that it is the moment to extend the holiday spirit to my life in France! I have pulled down the boxes of decorations from the attic and will now wonder what to do with them this year…Are you in the same mood or not quite yet…? Found certainly has sparked plenty of ideas…
Found
407 N. Fifth Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
foundgallery.com
Tel.: (1) 734-302-3060
While the gallery is a big believer in “Shopping Local” they ship internationally and there is currently free shipping for all orders in the US that are over $100. They don’t have much of these holiday items on their website but everyone was so nice that if there is something that you love here, I bet they will be able to help you out. And no, this isn’t a “Sponsored Post” (I wish I was at that point! ;), I just like what they do.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend…it’s time to break out the vin chaud!…brrr…
Oh hooray! Thank you Mary for the compliments and I am glad that you enjoyed the post. Good Luck with this final run up to Christmas and I certainly will introduce myself on my next trip to Ann Arbor. Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season!
Oh, Heather, thank you for the lovely post! It's been such a busy time that I've just now had a moment to look closely. And to see the wonderful photos of your home and simple christmas branch tree with lights and adornments. I hope to meet you when you're back in Ann Arbor again. Warm Regards, Mary from FOUND
I haven't written about my Dad, TG. He was a brilliant man. When he would speak at conferences, he was called "Doctor Retail"!
And thank you for the reminder that I need to put up more twinkle lights…today! Alas, I have no Baliey or Shrimp to wrap them around but a mottled Nap III mirror will fit the bill!!! 🙂
You know that it works for the French, D! Then why not for you? I think "aller au Puces/brocante" is the third favored pastime here. Truly, it is one of my very, very favorite things in the world–whether I buy something or not. Who doesn't love a treasure hunt, as you said?
Curious about the throwaway remark about your dad and A&F retail transformation……….have you written about this elsewhere? Quelle fab lineage!
Ah yes. We adore a great emporium of treasures and that one in MI looks especially so.
Waving by the twinkle lights in le apartment a soho!
tg x
What warmth and memories these glorious images bring back! The candy canes, the globe bank!
I realize how long it has been since I prowled through a vintage shop or better still, a true dusty musty wreck of a New England antique store, the sort of place I explored as a child with my mother – always a treasure to be found, and cherished.
Just looking at these pictures is like breathing more deeply. Perhaps that's what I need to make some time for, by way of meditation. Getting lost for a little bit… in a country store or a rambling antiques market.
I couldn't agree with you more, Debra. And unfortunately, I think the need for clean water will reach emergency levels in our lifetime…
Have you posted recently? I am missing you and DD. 🙂
xo,
h
Looks like you had fun on your trip home Heather. This looks like my kind of shop since I don't do malls or big retail outlets. I'm so glad someone is helping Water.org we've been donating for years and people need fresh water! Sometimes the most basic of gifts is the most needed.
Happy Holidays!
XXX
Debra
P.S. since I know you'll be wondering, Heather….the friend I mentioned adopted two of those five children; although she and her husband love raising children, she's not at all the sort who'd have willingly stayed pregnant for the greater part of eight years.
Wondrously enough, she and her husband are both working-doctors, also. I have NO idea how they balance their schedules and have raised five perfectly fine children.
—-david
Ah, that would have been the perfect spot after your soak with the Dead Sea Salts, wouldn't it? 🙂
Sadly, we were noting last night that even in France things are looking very "chain"-oriented, strip mallish! I try to go to smaller stores whenever I can and was happy to see that there was such a strong "buy local" feeling in the US.
He was my favorite, Leslie! Looking forward to seeing what you have going on in your beautiful household for the holidays…
I think you and I have already discusses the urgent need for smell-o-vision before, Amelia. Why oh why can't someone invent it?
Liza, you know how much I love A2! I had an absolutely fantastic time…Honestly, the town just gets better and better…
No surprise that you know "Found"!
I love your friends response, David but something tells me you don't quite need THAT kind of drama in your lives!!!
And I do remember the days when I wouldn't even think of stepping out the door before midnight…
Hello Leslie! Seems like there were some offers with Passports with Purpose that could be interesting to you–I agree! And I will have to dog through my memory about the whole A&F thing. I Do remember the stores "before" though and how high end they were. What a change!
And Remi and I were invited up to the cockpit only once–it was actually here in France (I think we were heading to Nairobi) and it was during the day but we got to see the Alps! It was a breath-taking experience, truly. I can only imagine what it must be like at night amidst the stars…
Bisous from Arles!
No Twitter for me Bella Ella. What am I going to say. "Walking Ben on the Rhone"…"Washing dishes with new 'ecologique' liquid"…? 😉
And hooray for the fb-retweet! Merci!!
What a great store! It's like Anthropologie's indie, off-beat estranged cousin! I love that they sell old billiard balls and "cute little sheep". Excellent visual merchandising. I wanted a few things and I'm only looking at photos, so I can only imagine what it's like to walk through there.
I'm glad you had a great trip and thank you for sharing Passports with a Purpose. I'll be retweeting/fb-ing it today!
Btw..do you have Twitter?
What a cool shop, exactly what I need right now to get my Christmas shopping done with.
So much character and personality!
Happy weekend!
Sylvia S.
It is such a wonderful shop, the kind of store you still find in France. I get very depressed by shopping malls, catalog stores, where everything is expected, mass manufactured and thrive to find stores like the one you featured.
Vero, something tells me you will like a lot of the fun stuff they have. But you certainly gave us awesome suggestions chez toi! Bon W-E!
Thanks Jackie et Bon Weekend!
Sister! You are getting your tree today?! Photos please! And no complaining about that boyfriend of yours, he just threw you one heck of a party. 😉 Did you go back to Found? It is killing me that I didn't get to buy anything from there!! Next year, hopefully…Love you!
Hi Heather, Such a cute little guy up at the top 🙂 and the snowman on the linen are adorable. Great little shop and perfect for doing holiday shopping!
Have a nice weekend and enjoy the season!
xxleslie
There is something very comforting and friendly about stores like Found. They provide needed respite from the crowded department stores at this time of the year. Lovely little store. I'm disappointed that I can't smell the candles off the monitor…:)
xx
Amelia
Love that store! It's so fun to see my town on your blog once again. Hope you enjoyed your stay.
FOR ALL OF HEATHER'S FANS/READERS……an amusing anecdote:
This past week, I was sitting at my computer (around 9:30 p.m.) when I saw that an email had just arrived. Turns out that it was a very brief response from Heather's personal account..informing me that she''d write more/later about some news I'd sent her that morning….but that "we" were "running out to a jazz club right now".
Looking at the time the email was sent (about thirty seconds previously),I thought "Good Lord….it's almost 3:30 in the morning in France…..she and that Remi are really HARDCORE party-monsters!"
I suddenly felt very middle-aged and all-too-obviously past-my-wild-days. I could just see Heather throwing on some mysteriously elegant scarf as she and her borad-shouldered Remi sauntered down the darkened streets, arm in arm, to join up with equally chic and indefatigable young French friends at some smokey jazz club, where a slinky chanteuse would sing Nina Simone covers while they drank Cotes du Rhone and energetically discussed Sartre until the sun came up…….
I did, indeed, used to lead the sort of life which led me to a lot of clubs five hours after most folks had gone to their dreary-uninspired beds (but this was, literally-i'm-sorta-sorry-to-say, decades ago). In fact, as I read Heather's email, I was just about to go to my own comparatively dreary and uninspired bed with the dogs.
It was only the following day (when Heather's next email arrived) that I realized "Wait…..she's in MICHIGAN, not France….'we' meant her and her MOTHER, of all dangerous, bohemian companions…" (and the "jazz club" turned out to be, as Heather told me, a very pleasant, PERFECTLY respectable Michigan restaurant with equally pleasant and respectable jazz playing in the background)
Quite honestly? I'm glad that Heather had a good and satisfying visit with her family in Michigan, but I was genuinely downcast to realize that I wasn't the only one leading an unanticipatedly placid domestic-existence.
As I wrote to Heather?…..at my age (50), I like to think that SOMEONE'S still out there sowing his/her wild oats in French jazz clubs at 3:30 in the morning.
I told this anecdote to an old college-friend the next day, and she (with FIVE children between the ages of 12 and 20) told me "Oh, you and Herve should just get yourselves some teenagers…..all the old drama will start up again…TRUST me…."
Dispiritedly yours,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Welcome back, Heather…it sounds as if your trip was even more wonderful than you had imagined! I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more about it…and Christmas in Arles. Glad you had a chance to look at the stars on your flight back…I wish you could have done that from the quite-panoramic view of a 747 cockpit! And maybe the Aurora Borealis will be playing when you next return…
"Found" is my kind of store. It rarely makes sense to me to buy anything new, and what is shown in your photographs is so enticing! Thanks for the reference to Abercrombie & Fitch: I'd always wondered if the current A&F had (and if so, how it could have had) anything to do with the A&F that tempted me (but was far beyond my reach) as I prepared for a trip to Africa in the early 1970's. Tell us more about your dad's work!
Speaking of enticing…the Passports with Purpose fundraiser has so many great offers (I reviewed them before you posted your link), and it is benefiting an organization that does critically-important work so well. It definitely merits our support!
Bisous from Portland!
Bonjour Heather. Lovely shop, tu as raison. Truly original independent stores can be hard to come by these days. I tend to shop online when visiting chain stores such as the ones you mention here. Stores like FOUND, however, deserve a lengthly visit in person – or two. I will visit their website to check out their wares. Now that the "French-themed Christmas gifts" post is up on my blog, I can kick back and start looking for US-made gifts 🙂 Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
What a great post to get us all in the mood!
I am a little bit in the mood! Getting some end-of-the-year Chrismas gifts from my students/families – just got chocolate-dipped pretzels w/red & green sprinkles today!! And getting my tree tomorrow, I think, with an extra one for my "bah-x-mas-trees-are-so-expensive" boyfriend! : ) I might have to scoot back over to Found for some decorations – they're having a caroling party in their store tonight – how fun would that be?? Someone should tell them about your wonderful post – as beautifully photographed and poetic as ever! : )
You might have been dangerous in there, Vicki. Audobon prints at $8 a piece? I can imagine you buying the lot.
xoxo!
Jeanne, it made me think of a more vintage-oriented version of your friends shop, Red Ticking–does that sound right to you? And my oh my have you earned the right to wear your pjs everyday for the month of December! And I actually bought cards for the first time in years, so I won't be making mine this year–more time for cookies! 🙂
Bon Weekend à toi aussi!
I would love Found, Heather.. I just know it! Lovely, lovely… xv
Looks like my kind of shop, Heather! I could spend hours, I think. I'm like you, too much retail (20 years!) in my past makes the shopping experience at most stores not so much fun for me. But little shops like this just make me happy. So much to discover. I'm glad you had such a festive time in the states. Have fun with your holiday decorating! I'm almost done–next up, card making and cookie baking. It's my first non-retail Christmas in 2 decades, I have to live it up! Fa la la and happy weekend! XO