For Farm Chicks, with love

This year marks the 24th and final Farm Chicks show.

It’s hard to imagine June in Spokane without it.

For nearly a quarter century, Farm Chicks has been more than a vintage market.

It has been an annual tradition, a reunion, a source of inspiration, and a part of so many of our family memories over the years.

Some years I went with my sister. Other years it was my mom and me. We would grab coffee, wander the booths for hours, stop for lunch, and make an afternoon of it. It was part treasure hunt, part creative inspiration, and part simply being together.

Over the years, I’ve attended Farm Chicks as both a curator and a shopper. I’ve looked forward to seeing familiar faces, making new friends, and feeling part of a community of people who understand why old things matter.

Farm Chicks helped so many of us see beauty in the worn, the handmade, and the imperfect. It reminded us that homes are built slowly over time, with pieces that carry history and meaning.

That is what I think I will miss most.

Not just the beautiful booths or the thrill of finding something special, but the people, the inspiration, and the sense of community.

Thank you, Serena, for creating something that inspired so many people and supported so many small businesses.

And thank you, Farm Chicks, for the memories.

With love,
Jenessa

Me, Angie, Amy and our Mom

A Kept Life

Somewhere between worn out and perfect lies something kept.

The older I get, the more I find myself drawn to the kept things, the kept yard, the kept house, the kept bowl with a small chip along the edge.

It hit me this morning as I was taking a walk that some of the lawns were perfectly kept. Trimmed, even, untouched. But I found myself looking longer at the others.

The grass a little tall, in need of mowing. A few weeds scattered in with the flowers, that will be pulled when time allows. Toys left out where they had been played with and will most likely be played with again today. Signs that life is happening there.

Not neglected. Not perfect. Just kept, cared for, and lived with.

When you start seeing things this way, everything feels a little different, more comfortable, more familiar. You stop striving so much. You stop feeling so anxious about getting everything just right. You begin to settle into what you already have.

And I think that’s what draws me to vintage. Why I choose kept things instead of new.

A kept quilt is softer. Already broken in. Ready to be used and loved. It’s already been part of someone’s life.

Maybe that’s the kind of life we’re meant to build.

Not perfect. Not worn down. Just kept.

A Letter About Old Things

Dear old things,

I’ve always been drawn to the objects that have already lived a life. The ones that have been held, used, repaired and kept. Not perfect things. But things that have stayed.

Vintage pieces carry a quiet kind of history. A quilt that kept someone warm for years. A brass box that once sat on a dresser holding small treasures. A handwritten recipe tucked inside a cookbook. As these objects move from home to home, they collect stories. This little shop is where some of those stories pause for a while.

I gather pieces that still feel useful, beautiful and meant to belong somewhere again. If you love homes that feel layered, warm, and lived in, you are in the right place.

-Marigold Vintage