Milwaukee On My Mind

I mentioned last time that I would share a few of the family photos that I have come across so far, including my favorite photo of all time. Here it is! I had a very special relationship with both my grandparents on Mother's side. For my entire life and through my college years, they lived in an adorable Lannonstone Tudor home in Wauwatosa, WI which was built in 1935. I absolutely loved visiting my grandparents as a child and cried when it was time to go home. This photo really captures how sweet my grandpa was. We were great pals forever and their home was a real refuge for me when I was going to undergrad at Marquette. The college party scene was not my cup of tea and I had a slew of roommate troubles my first two years. My grandpa took me to so many Marquette basketball games and even introduced me to Allie McGuire, son of the legendary coach Al McGuire. My grandpa graduated from Marquette Law School in 1929 and went on to become Register In Probate for Milwaukee County so Marquette was always in his blood.

I came across this swanky '60s photo which I had never seen before. My grandparents on Dad's side are second and third from the right and Dad is third from the left. I do not know the other folks. I can read on the cover of the menu that they were at Karl Ratzsch's, which was a German dining institution in Milwaukee for 113 years and sadly closed in 2017. The photo is dated April 1, 1962 which meant Dad was 18 years old at the time. We lost my grandpa when I was only five years old so any photos of him are treasures to me. Dad and my grandparents lived on the south side of Chicago so I am thinking perhaps they were up in Milwaukee to take a tour of Marquette. Dad graduated from Marquette with a Psychology degree in 1966. He went on to earn his MBA from Loyola University and worked in the corporate world for about ten years before striking out on his own. Mother and Dad met at Marquette, got married and I was born in short order.

When it was my turn to choose a college, Dad told me I had two choices - Oakton Community College or Marquette. Nothing at all wrong with Oakton, I went to summer school there every year in order to graduate in four years without having to go to 18 credits several semesters but I went with Marquette and graduated in 1988. I then took a couple of years off from my studies, working full time as an accountant and working with my mother on our crafting side hustle. I then started graduate school at Keller Graduate School of Management, where I completed my MBA in 1994.

The first box of photos that I opened and the first photo I looked at was a photo my grandpa, Dad and I took with our Marquette shirts on. I think I sent that box of photos to Scottsdale though so I will need to update this posting with the photo later.

Milwaukee is never far from my mind - I spent so much of my childhood visiting my grandparents, I lived there for four years while attending Marquette and after that, 25 years of going to the lake house in Oconomowoc which is about 30 minutes west of town. However since Dad sold the lake house over ten years ago there just has not been the chance to go very often. However Kuochun and I are going to fix that next week. We are going to stay at this adorable Airbnb (which also happens to be Lannonstone like my grandparents' house) for a few days next week. Next Monday is cleaning day and it takes our house cleaner 7-8 hours because she is on her own. We do not have a place to take the dogs and get out of her way anymore since Mother's home has sold. Last month was the first time and we ended up at Motel 6 in Palatine. They are pet-friendly and do not charge extra for pets. It was OK, the only problems were it totally smelled like cigarette smoke in the hallway and every light switch in the room and bathroom were smudged with feces. Naturally we did not turn any lights on! Kuochun was able to negotiate early check-in and we only stayed until the house cleaning job was finished. This home is so cute and will be a huge upgrade! I do not have the address yet but it is in Milwaukee on the Wauwatosa border, not far from where my grandparents lived. I did a little research and found that many of the places I used to go are no longer in business (for example, our favorite furniture, decor and jewelry consignment store closed the brick and mortar and now only does estate sales) but I started making a wish list so I do not forget anything. I found my laptop which I could not locate when we returned home because I forgot where I put it but Kuochun wants to bring the big computer. This will allow me to keep up with my daily estate sale tasks. I will bring the rest of the silver jewelry that needs cleaning as well and see how far I can get.

I continue to push my way through the watches, posting 13 of them this past week. I decided to just finish them all instead of alternating them with other items in order to keep them all together. I sold three watches and a watch band, including two of the beautiful Charles Willie pieces. After finishing up ten watches I had posted to Facebook a while back, I found that my remaining watches all needed new photos. I decided to at least mix up the photo-taking for a while and when I photographed a watch, I then photographed another piece that I can post once the watches are all online.

I completed the photos for this gorgeous vintage belt buckle by Raymond Platero (it comes with a vintage leather belt from Mexico) as well as a couple pairs of earrings, the unusual belt buckle shown below and a Lois Hill necklace. I cannot wait to be done with the watches!

The budget-friendly jewelry case was a bit hit in Melrose Park this past weekend so I need to get cracking and price some more pieces, especially rings. For the first time ever, I will need to make my own jewelry cards since Mother is not here and not really up to it anymore. I did bring home the punches I need and I am really glad I saved a super nice paper cutter from Mother's house before it went up for sale. I cut up some cards the same size as some of the ones she had made and I just need to punch them with the double tiny holes which work for post earrings or pendants. Hopefully I have the leverback punch with me for other types of earrings. I think pins will be more of a challenge but I will try punching the two holes manually, customizing the spacing for each pin.

I placed my first order with Zenana this week as well. I am a huge fan of Zenana - the quality is great and the prices are so reasonable! I do not know how they do it. Most of what they offer is 100% cotton and that is what I stick to. So many of these companies make adorable clothes but they are polyester and do not breathe. Zenana specializes in really cute basics and do a lot in mineral wash. They are perfect for showing off jewelry! I ordered 13 packs - 12 are tops and one is yoga pants in mineral wash ash black. There will be a mix of sizes including plus. Everything I ordered is in stock and should arrive next week!

Next week the goals will be to post all of the remaining watches and organize the basement so it can be properly cleaned. I had to empty the furnace room of all the business paperwork so the system could be replaced and I only want to put items back in there which I need to keep. I have the entire history of the estate sale business and the store so a purge is long overdue. Most of it is very organized from when the professional organizer helped me but more recent years not so much.

Have a great week and see you next time!