Judy Maxwell Home

I’m a big believer in synchronicity, kismet, providence and serendipity. And I’m also aware that you have to be pretty “zenned up” to experience any of it. You know, like when you think of that long lost friend and then they call you within 24 hours? Well, walking past and then walking back and into the little cute home decor store called Judy Maxwell Home on State St. in the Viagra Triangle was my zen-sycron-dipity of the month. I love this store!

The merchandise in the windows was what first caught my eye as I was on my way back to work: I saw color, a vase, visions of candy, sparkly shiny things, and people--smiling. My heart spoke to my brain and said, “Go back and get those vases, you idiot.” Normally, I would have ignored my heart because I’ve been a bit of a work-and-write-a-holic lately but I just had a two hour break from the salon in which I bought a book, a pair of shoes and a new shirt while walking “aimlessly” around the Gold Coast--I guess I was having more fun during this once a year “retail spree” than I would ever have guessed. The funness and calm I felt while shopping felt so gooood--and I just had to have a little more of that feeling; And JUDY MAXWELL HOME is fun and I felt very good being in this store!

This store reminds me of the kewl stores I used to shop in on Melrose Ave. in L.A. back in the 80s--(when I was way more kewl and fun too). The merchandise is not so much kitsch but very colorful and catchy whether it was the primary colored vases I bought or the original art on the wall of a Popsicle. I wanted to touch and pick up every item I saw in the store because it either reminded me of a toy or a set of dishes I grew up with or the texture of a vintage grassy throw pillow was too irritable to ignore. On their website they use the words, Vintage, Whimsical, Retro, Unique, Inspiring, Humorous and Fun. And it’s all there in one little store in the heart of the Gold Coast which means I will have to go back again and again because most everything is one of a kind and once it’s gone...

These are the Vases I bought.

JUDY MAXWELL HOME: 1151 N. State St.

312-787-9999 FACEBOOK LIKE THEM TOO!

Sooo, back to me

This is the story of how destiny threw me into JUDY MAXWELL HOME: After I wrote yesterday's edition of 50 Days of 50 (read it, beyoches!), I sat down in my living room for my daily ten minutes of TV while I scarfed my eggs, spinach and feta omelet. I always turn on HBO and this particular day I caught one of my fav movie scenes with Chicagoan Joan Cusack in it. The snippet I saw was from the movie In and Out where Joan’s character is in a bar wearing a wedding dress and she apparently can’t get laid because everyone is seemingly gay. I love this movie and especially her in it, and I chuckled all the way to work thinking about that scene. (Rent the movie--cuz I’m only adding a snip of a snippet here for ya.)

Well, when I went into JUDY MAXWELL HOME, and I screamed, nicely, to the handsome redheaded gentlemen behind the counter, “Can you wrap up that vase in the window in less than 5 minutes? I have to run back to work-Stat!” (Obviously, I was slipping back into crazy work-guy mode.) He said, “Sure can,” and he began to wrap my package with his lady assistant who was also behind the counter--who just happened to be Joan Cusack. Yuh-huh. So cool, right?! Of course I had to tell them both how I saw the movie that morning--which sounded very stalkery but I took them both past thinking that when I began to gush about their store all the while looking at my watch which made me think and share about the synchronicity and how I never would have let fate have its way with me unless I took the time out for myself and how I needed to do that more often because I’ve been driving myself crazy without a vacation for two years, "Oh, and I turn 50 in less than 18 days which had made me a complete nut job as of late..."  Anyhoo, that’s how I got to the store and I’ll be back--maybe on a day off, or something.

[Jon-David is writer/hairdresser who is obviously succumbing to age and dementia. Read his books or he'll cut you at Joseph Michael's Salon & Spa.]