Welcome to the “Street Find Friday” début! Our home is filled with these gems and often guests will ask, “Did you find that on the street, too?”Well, Tuesday was an outrageous day for street finds– I hit four just walking to pick Lexie up from school.

My first stop was a spot I had already visited twice. It was a pile of old drawers and cabinets that had lovely hardware. The first two passes I took what I could without a screwdriver and the third pass was with a screwdriver. Total score: 12 draw pulls. My little dude helped point out which cabinets still had hardware on them and once we were home, he helped me replace the knobs on the kids’ dresser.

The second stop was a lone light fixture, or chandelier as I like to say. I’ve had a hunch that our current chandelier is on the fritz because we replaced five bulbs in a week- and there are only four bulbs. So, this little gem will hopefully find its new home above our dining room table.

For the third stop, I felt a bit silly “joining” a lady that was already digging through four large bags that had been discarded by a public trash can… but I just couldn’t help myself. I crossed the street and tried to obey the unspoken code of street find politesse. “Excuse me, are these things yours?” “Non? Oh, may I…?” She was kind and pointed out contents of different bags, including some children’s items. (Are you weirded out yet? If you’re a bit of a germaphobe, I understand. I do carry hand sanitizer in my pocket and disinfect after each stop. But street finds are not for the faint of heart.) This ended up being a very posh stop and I quickly realized the moving van parked across the street was probably to explain the presence of these fantastic finds. Here’s what I made out with: a new coloring book, a new Hello Kitty lunch box, a never been used handheld breast pump, a Beaba formula tower, a Beaba frozen food storage container and a canvas and leather Bensimon handbag (which washed up beautifully!). I plan on bringing the formula tower and the breast pump to a consignment shop.

By this point my stroller was looking quite peculiar but it didn’t really phase me as I parked it out front Lexie’s school. After we picked Lexie up and were headed home we ran into the final street find: a decent trash can. (Now I’ve lost all germaphobes.) Someone was clearly doing a bathroom remodel and were getting rid of collection of fine items. Do I need a trashcan? No, but surely someone I know does. Allez hop! What’s one last addition to the stroller? Our colleagues and new neighbors ended up being grateful recipients of this last score.

other items from the bathroom remodel

our loaded down stroller

Lexie, my four-year old, has a growing love for street finds too. Over a year ago was when I realized that she had been keenly observing me. I picked something up off the street and she said, “Mama, take home and wash?” Yes, that’s right, darling. Another time she saw something I had found on the street and she asked where I had gotten it, to which I responded, “God provided it for us.” “Mama find on street?” Yes, that’s right, darling.

Paris is a fantastic city for street finds. What’s the best thing you’ve ever found on the street? What have you found on the street with me?