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The Shop With Curiosity
And energy healing work in a time when it’s needed most.
The Farmington Valley
May 15, 2026
Lately, so many people I speak with are carrying a quiet heaviness. The world feels loud, uncertain, and fast moving. That’s part of why this space matters so much to me. I want it to feel like a small pause in the middle of all the noise. A pause to support what matters so much, community…
In this issue, we’re sharing a local shop that brings warmth and character to our community, introducing an energy healer whose work is centered on balance and restoration, and offering a gentle reminder that peace does not have to wait for perfect circumstances.
Sometimes peace looks like lighting a candle at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s supporting a local business, having a meaningful conversation, or simply giving yourself permission to slow down for a moment.
Thank you for being here and for making space in your week for connection, reflection, and community.
Oh! And if you didn’t see, summer returns for a few days next week.
Keep shining!
Table of Contents
Tucked along Railroad Street in the heart of Simsbury, there’s a shop quietly creating something more than a vintage shopping experience. At Sycamore Vintage Home Goods, every lamp, quilt, piece of glassware, and handpicked treasure carries a story, and for many visitors, those stories feel deeply personal.
For the owners of Sycamore Vintage Home Goods, the journey began not with a business plan, but with a love for creating spaces filled with character and history. After renovating and furnishing their own Avon home with locally sourced vintage pieces, they realized the thrill of “the hunt” never really went away.
“We completely outfitted our home four years ago,” they shared. “But even after it was finished, we still loved finding incredible pieces out in the wild.”
That passion eventually evolved into opening their own carefully curated retail space, inspired by years of estate sale visits, road trips, auctions, flea markets, and experience running multi-vendor booths.
And yes, they really do travel for this.
A typical sourcing day might include multiple scheduled pickups alongside several hunt locations spread across the region. Some finds come from estate sales and auctions, others from Marketplace, roadside discoveries, or local connections. One of their favorite pieces, an oval Hitchcock sign, surprisingly came from Facebook Marketplace.
Their philosophy for what makes it into the shop is refreshingly simple:
“If we would put it in our own home, then it can go in our shop.”
That mindset has shaped a space filled with warmth, nostalgia, and personality. Lamps are among their biggest obsessions, and biggest sellers. Vintage lamps line the shop in every style imaginable, often with nearly 30 available at once. Art fills the walls, vintage linens wait to be rediscovered, and glassware collections sparkle from every corner.
Current favorites include Dorothy Thorpe glassware, Fenton glass shoes, Uranium glass, Merry Mushroom pieces, and “Real McCoy’s.” They also have some truly unique items rotating through the shop, including a vintage Thai Elephant Temple Bell, an 1856 antique wood box, and a Japanese Sugi Hut Lamp.
But perhaps what stands out most is not the inventory itself, it’s the emotional connection people have to it.
Vintage pieces often carry memories with them. Customers regularly walk through the doors and suddenly remember their grandparents’ home, a lamp from childhood, or a dish set once sitting in a family kitchen decades ago.
“We’ve had multiple occasions of tears in our shop,” they explained. “People connect deeply with these pieces in ways we didn’t fully expect.”
That emotional response is part of what they intentionally designed the shop around. They wanted the experience to feel welcoming, inspiring, nostalgic, and approachable. A space that smells good, feels comfortable, and offers quality items at prices people can actually bring home.
And the community has responded.
Locals throughout Simsbury and the greater Farmington Valley area have embraced the shop since opening. Some stop in weekly to see what’s new. Others come simply to browse and soak in the atmosphere.
One recent customer even stopped outside to take photos of the building before entering.
“When she came inside, she paused and said, ‘I need a moment just to take it all in.’ That was really special.”
Another memorable moment came during the shop’s first few weeks, when a customer found a gold cherub lamp and became emotional because she had struggled for years to find something that felt just right.
Moments later, another customer walked in and joked, “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to expand the building footprint and add a second floor.”
It’s clear Sycamore Vintage Home Goods has quickly become more than a store. It’s becoming a destination.
For those new to vintage shopping, the owners suggest looking for originality, signatures, craftsmanship, and pieces that simply feel different from modern mass-produced décor. And if you think you may have stumbled onto something special?
“Check Google Images,”
As for overlooked treasures, they believe vintage linens deserve far more attention, especially handcrafted quilts, blankets, and doilies.
And while sourcing and reselling comes with challenges, including unpredictable inventory and getting a new business noticed, they say social media and local support have been instrumental in helping them grow.
Most importantly, they say they genuinely love being part of this community.
“The people are so nice. We’re making friends while making sales.”
If you visit soon, they suggest checking out the constantly rotating furniture pieces arriving almost daily, along with a collection of beautifully priced jade cups currently waiting for their forever homes.
Visit Sycamore Vintage Home Goods
2 Railroad Street, Simsbury, CT
Weekdays: 12 PM to 5 PM
Closed Wednesdays
Weekends: 10 AM to 4 PM
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Finding Balance Through Healing, With A West Hartford Acupuncturist
There are some people whose work feels less like a profession and more like a calling. For West Hartford-based acupuncturist and energy healer Jen Tartakoff, healing others grew from first learning how to heal herself.
Inside her practice at the Mandell JCC with Holistic Health Options, Jen helps clients navigate everything from physical pain and stress to emotional trauma and burnout. But her journey into alternative healing began long before she opened her doors to the community.
Jen was introduced to holistic wellness at a young age, exploring yoga, reiki, acupuncture, and other healing practices throughout her life. In her early twenties, after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and struggling with chronic pain, fatigue, and emotional overwhelm, she began searching for deeper answers beyond conventional medicine.
What she discovered changed the course of her life.
“I started to understand that many of the symptoms I was experiencing were connected to unprocessed emotional challenges, stress, food sensitivities, old injuries, and patterns that needed healing,” Jen shared. “It took a tremendous amount of work and support, but my life now looks completely different than it did back then.”
Today, that lived experience allows her to connect deeply with the people who walk into her treatment room.
More Than Just Physical Healing
For those unfamiliar with acupuncture, Jen describes it as a way of helping the body restore balance and healthy energy flow.
Using extremely fine needles placed just beneath the skin, acupuncture works to release areas of stagnation, tension, or imbalance within the body. Jen explains that when energy moves freely, the body functions more comfortably and efficiently, both physically and emotionally.
Many clients initially come to her for body pain, anxiety, stress, insomnia, or emotional regulation. Others seek support for digestive issues, allergies, fertility, trauma healing, or chronic conditions.
One of the most powerful aspects of her work, she says, is helping people reconnect with themselves again.
“The moments that stay with me most are when healing allows someone to return to life,” she explained. “The parent who can finally play with their children again, the teen who reconnects socially after struggling with migraines or anxiety, the person who can enjoy their garden again after years of pain. Those moments matter.”
Breaking the Fear Around Acupuncture
For many first-time clients, fear of needles is often the biggest hesitation. Jen laughs that most people are surprised by how relaxing the experience actually feels.
“People expect it to hurt, but often they barely feel anything at all,” she said. “Most clients end up falling asleep during treatment.”
She also understands that some people may feel skeptical about acupuncture or energy healing altogether. Her advice is simple.
“Just try it,” she says. “Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years for a reason. It’s incredibly safe, has very few side effects, and can have a tremendous impact on overall wellbeing.”
To make healing more accessible, Jen even offers free weekly community-style acupuncture clinics focused on trauma healing, creating a low-pressure environment for curious newcomers to experience a session for themselves.
Healing Beyond the Individual
What stands out most in speaking with Jen is her belief that healing reaches far beyond one person.
She believes that when individuals begin addressing pain, stress, trauma, and emotional imbalance, it creates ripple effects throughout families, relationships, and entire communities.
“Pain distorts how we move through the world,” she shared. “But when people begin healing, it changes how they interact with others, how they show up in their lives, and how they contribute to the community around them.”
It’s a philosophy that feels deeply rooted in compassion, connection, and empowerment.
And perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway from Jen’s work. Healing is not about becoming someone different. It’s about finding balance, reconnecting with yourself, and learning to listen to what your body has been trying to say all along.
Learn More
Jen Tartakoff practices inside the Mandell JCC in West Hartford through Holistic Health Options. She offers both private and community-style acupuncture sessions, and all services are open to the public.
To learn more or schedule a session, visit:
Hartford Acupuncture
You can also book online through:
Holistic Health Options Booking Page
And in this day…
These days, uncertainty seems to meet us everywhere we turn. Headlines shift by the hour. Plans change. People carry worries they rarely say out loud. It’s easy to feel pulled into a constant state of tension, always waiting for the next piece of bad news or the next thing to solve.
But peace was never meant to come from having complete certainty about the future.
Sometimes peace is much smaller than that. It’s found in ordinary moments we almost overlook, the quiet of an early morning, a conversation that makes us feel understood, a walk outside, a deep breath before the day begins. It’s choosing to be fully present for what is right in front of us instead of living entirely in what might happen next or in a place where the headlines hold us hostage.
This doesn’t mean ignoring reality or pretending life is simple. It means remembering that even in difficult seasons, there can still be steadiness, gratitude, and hope woven into each day.
We may not control the world around us, but we can still protect the atmosphere within us. We can slow down. We can notice what is good. We can offer kindness more freely. We can return our attention to the people and moments that matter most.
Peace doesn’t always arrive all at once. Often, it’s something we practice daily. And sometimes that daily practice is enough to carry us through uncertain times with a little more grace.
So today, I ask you to shine, not just for you, but for the stranger you walk past. Give an extra smile, pause for that conversation, hold that door, and of course, pet that dog (just remember to ask first, not everyone wants you scratching behind their ear)…
Till next time…