Q&A with friends + family

We hope this can also be a place with stories and connection — a place that keeps absorbing and holding things, while also giving and sharing.

LOVEGROVE invited Amelia, the founder of friends + family, to take part in our first content collaboration of the year. We did a small and fun Q&A together. Through these 15 little questions, and through her answers and words, we get to know a side of friends + family that we usually do not get to see.

friends + family can probably be called the first secondhand/vintage store in Boston that I truly loved. I still remember the first time I walked in. It felt refreshing, and even a little surprising — the interior, the way the items were displayed, the arrangement of the space, even the music I heard there...

Compared with its neighbor New York, it is really not an exaggeration to say that artists and stylish people are everywhere there. Every few steps, you may come across a beautiful or interesting store. Boston, on the other hand, feels more literary, more down-to-earth, and more functional. In a city that is not especially fashionable or fancy, but is full of well-known schools and highly educated people, what you feel more is a kind of richness shaped by culture and history.

So friends + family feels especially distinct to me. It is like a rare but vivid side of Boston, the kind of style and personality you only notice when you go a little deeper into the city. Every time I walk into friends + family, it feels like crossing a boundary. Outside the door is still Boston, but inside there is a different mood and atmosphere. For me, friends + family is the most stylish and lively presence in Boston.

For LOVEGROVE, this is also a moment worth recording. It feels like a milestone on the way forward. It not only means some real progress, but also feels like a slow and genuine process of stepping a little outside my comfort zone and building connections with others. What feels even more valuable to me is getting to know Amelia and the team. They come from a completely different cultural background from mine, and because of that, I often find myself getting new inspiration and new reflections through being in contact with them.

For the Q&A below, honestly, just like everyone else, there was a lot that I was also learning for the first time. That is exactly why this piece feels interesting and meaningful.

XX,

Yongqi // founder of LOVEGROVE

*All photos above were taken on a disposable film camera by Amelia herself, showing the most real scenes from what she sees in everyday life.

The Q&A ends here. Thank you for reading all the way to the end.

Obviously, this is a piece that asks for a little more patience to read. We chose to present it in text, instead of the nowadays video format. In some way, this is our preference for something a little more old school — a quieter and more restrained way of sharing.

Although 15 questions are not enough to truly know a person, they are enough to let us see many parts that are usually hard to notice. For me, that already feels meaningful enough.