Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

I regularly check several dozens blogs. Some for fashion, home design, other for sales leads and most for inside industry information. I was reading the Apartment Therapy Los Angeles blog and their post about saving an old piece of furniture that held memories. No matter what, some readers would never part with them. Isn’t this normal?

O M Gosh! My entire home is refurbished family memories. Sure there are pieces I have inherited that I had to get rid of. But anyone with an eye for design, sense of quality or history keeps furniture. Am I not in the norm?

Perhaps those who haven’t inherited great pieces can’t appreciate how cool it is. I have an 1840’s French Victorian side table that belonged to my great Uncle Louis’s grandparents. They brought it over from France  His daughter, my Aunt Madeline left my mom a 1940’s dresser. It was painted an antique green. Mom stripped it and later she gave it to me.  When I was a little girl, our neighbor had this amazing giant king wing chair. She gave it to my mom. I grew up with it in our living room. Mom then later gave it to me.  My daughter got this totally cool 1960’s French etegere from my mom. I was with her the day she bought it and how happy she was withher bargain find. It is now painted in bright colors for a kids room, but is an outstanding piece and can be refinished at any time to bring it back to it’s original glory. My Mother in Law gave Kevin several mid century pieces along with her moms Stickley rocker and her moms formal dining set.

We are surrounded by family pieces, embraced in family history through furniture. Each one beautiful, each one packed full of memoies. Though we have tweeked them a bit to fit in with other pieces, none of them could be parted with. It would be like losing a member of the family.

Not only do I cherish the memories and history of each piece, re-using old furniture has saved me a lot of money and is very “green”. Plus most are better quality then anything on the market today.  Free, great quality… it’s an easy choice. If I am not in the norm… so be it. I’d rather be the odd man out.

Through most of the rest of this summer, my daughter is home… Yep, home and somewhat bored. So on days when she has no one to hang with or nothing to do, I try to take her interesting places.

Today I had very little time available, so a walk in the morining with me to get coffee and a run out to Highland Park in the afternoon was all I could muster. Specifically to hit famous pop and candy market, Galco’s.

I was craving a real, or as close to real as I could get, bottled Coca Cola and Shae wanted a crème soda. This place is soda heaven. Row upon row of dozens of types of cola, rootbeers, ales. Crème sodas, and even Sasparilla. So many different names and labels. Some from out of the country and some boutique (hard to find) USA brands.

But it was the candy selection that held my daughters focus. I had told her about old time candies that I had had when I was a kid, and here she could try one … anyone for just $.99

I showed her Look bars, Big Hunks, but it was the cigarette shaped gum that she wanted. So feeling totally politically incorrect, I told her she could have three boxes. After seeing Grandma suffer from Emphsyma, I am not worried about her ever smoking. We both smacked some around on the drive home… funny, it wasn’t as good as I remember.

As I write this I am sipping on a sugar cane sweetened Coca Cola in a bottle. It was as good as I remember. Regardless of how they market it, Coca Cola is better in a glass bottle. Cans be damned! I got Kevin a Saparilla and some Dads rootbeer and myself 4 bottles of sugar cane Coca Cola, Sasparilla and cream soda.

Most bottled sodas here run $1.50-$2, so this wasn’t a bargain run. But if you really want the best soda and are particular, this is the place to visit. This place is a serious throw back to the 1960’s. It’s totally refreshing from the outrageous soda and candy selections down to the conveyor belt at check out.

Galcos Soda Pop Stop
5702 York Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
323.255.7115

www.sodapopstop.com