Vintage Pretties

Visit to Leesburg

Sorry that I've been MIA for a few days. We had visitors (yay!) & then I had a root canal (yuck!).  While we had visitors, my parents to be exact, they took care of Hope for a day while Glenn & I snuck off to Leesburg, VA for a day to ourselves. 

First stop, Leesburg Antique Emporium, home to  Sue's and Four Shabby Chicks (no longer has a website :( )! Both Sue & Four Shabby Chicks did not disappoint.  I puchased a gorgeous set of etched glasses from FSC:

From downstairs booths, I bought the COOLEST looking white thingys, which I knew would look perfect in the apothecary jar in my powder room.  Turns out that they are old electric insulators!  I also purchased 2 more hand towels for the powder room:

Glenn bought a wonderful vintage light meter from Sue, for a photographer friend of his.

Happy from all of this shopping, we had lunch at Lightfoot:
It was one of the best restaurants that I've been to in a long time.  Perfect food, wine, service, atmosphere--an A+. The interior is absolutely fabulous -- it was once an ornate old bank which they have preserved.

After this, more shopping! First, to The Cottage, an adorable shop that has been featured in national magazines.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos!  But, I did take photos of the most wonderful slice of France, right in the middle of Leesburg, Creme del a Creme.  Can I move in??

It was a fun day & a real treat to be together as grown ups!

Fall Trip to Indiana

We spent last weekend in Salem, Indiana, visiting Glenn's family.  We were lucky to get there just in time for the peak of their fall leaves...aren't they beautiful?

While in Indiana, there are two things that I always must do...go to Hobby Lobby (Hobby Lobby, come to Virginia, pluueessee!!!) & go down to the town square in Salem.

The court house...

Craft Town, the store that got me neck deep in baby quilt last winter/spring.  I just walked into the front of the store this time, took the picture & left.  If I looked any further, I would have come out of there with yet another project. If you are a quilter or fabric crafter and live in Southern Indiana/Louisville area, you should really check this place out.  The website offers a load of fabrics as well.

 

Next stop, Brick Street Sampler (no website, sadly), where they were getting ready for their upcoming Christmas shopping open house!  I took the last photo in, believe it or not, the bathroom of the adjoining restaurant, Christie's.  I don't normally take photos in public restrooms, but is that the nicest public restroom decor that you've ever seen or what?

Around the square & just off the square are two antique stores.  I've found a few things over the years in the larger one & just discovered the one in the little house during this visit.  I wanted to share the upstairs "bedroom" of the shop in the old house...it's that a cozy room?  

I'll leave you with a photo of the lane that my husband grew up on...the road is named after his family, because it's where they always lived!

Beach Weekend

We tied up the summer by spending the last weekend of August at the beach.  We rented a little condo in Ocean City MD for just 3 days since we have spent so much time traveling for family events earlier in the year.  Hope had never seen the ocean, so we thought that it was about time.

She loved it.  Loved the sand, loved the water.  She said that she wanted to go out into the water, to the end of it. She clearly doesn't understand the size of it!  I wish that I had pictures to show you of her on playing in the water, but I didn't want to take my camera to the beach & worry about leaving it alone or getting sand into it, etc. 

We went to the boardwalk on Saturday night for some ice cream & a stroll.

 

 

Hope clearly loved this part!

We really loved the chance to spend time in the water & relax on the beach, but I have to say that Ocean City is not a place that I'd return to.  It's just not my kind of place...it's really built up & kind of run down.  I'm sorry if there are readers who love it there and I do have friends that have been going there for years & think that its the greatest.  We are thinking of staying up the coast next year, in Bethany Beach, DE.  We drove through it & think that it looks absolutely adorable & just what we are looking for.  Has anyone ever stayed there?

Sunniest Rain(er) Trip Part II

If you've spent any time hanging around this blog, you know that I *heart* Boston.  If you ever lose me, DC, you'll know where I've gone....

....specifically to this house in Melrose, MA, a suburb of Boston.  You had me at the kitchen....
 
Though the dining room nook & built ins come a close second (and, do you see those inlaid floors???)....

And the yard...can you see that outdoor fireplace in the corner? Even Glenn was all about that.

Nevertheless, I'll be here in Virginia for the time being, so let me move on to my actual trip to Boston, as opposed to my fantasy life there....

My sis & bro in law live in a close in town called Somerville, which is full of all kinds of funky & wonderful places.  These 3 establishments were all in a row:


Cupcakes, Ice Cream & Fresh Bread...how did they know that I was coming?

We happened to be in one of the hubs of Somerville, Davis Square, while a farmer's market was in progress:

Terri & I both purchased soaps from these folks, Urban Kitchen.  Their products smell amazing.  I got the Shea Butter & Silk scent, which has actual silk threads in it.  The vendor told me that they act as a gentle exfoliant.

One day, we headed to downtown Boston for our yearly photo of Hope on the ducks....
 
And then we went on the Swan Boats, which have been in operation since the 1800s!  I've been to Boston several times a year for over 10 years & this is my first time to ride on one.

While on the swan boat, we saw an actual swan:

While we were there, we even saw a rainbow...

Is God trying to tell me something? :)

More Please!

Over Labor Day Weekend, we spent the most wonderful vacation in this fabulous city:

Boston

With these fabulous people:

My sister & brother in law

We had a blast shopping on Newbury Street, including a stop at:
Where I got myself a great necklace & earrings set as a little pressie to myself.

Then, we made the annual trip to take Hope's picture on the Ducklings in the Public Garden:

Quite a bit different from the first photo that we took 2 years ago:

We ate so well:

If you are ever in Somerville, MA, you must go to this  place.  We had sundried tomato, spinach & cheese ravioli. Amazing.

Just a few blocks away is the Soleil Cafe:

An Italian cafe run by an Italian family.  The cookies! The gelato! The latte!  Though, they did seem hesitant to make me a latte, because a cappucino is really more authentic. These folks are the real stuff.  A wonderful place run by wonderful people. Terri & Ez, I'm so jealous that its 2 minutes from your house.

And, let's not forget The Danish Pastry House , just over the hill in Medford.  I cannot fully describe (and their website doesn't  sufficiently show) the range of phenomenal  pastries at this shop.  Not to mention a full range of lunch time food that makes you feel a little less guilty for eating a rum ball :)

We took a side trip to Portsmouth New Hampshire, where we met up with my oldest friend & her adorable son who is exactly 6 months younger than Hope.  We took advantage of the The Portsmouth Brewery:

For those beer lovers out there, these are the people who bring you Smutty Nose microbrews.

And, took in the views of the harbor:

As you can tell from my enthusiastic descriptions, we didn't want to leave.  More Please!!

More Please!

Over Labor Day Weekend, we spent the most wonderful vacation in this fabulous city:

Boston

With these fabulous people:

My sister & brother in law

We had a blast shopping on Newbury Street, including a stop at:
Where I got myself a great necklace & earrings set as a little pressie to myself.

Then, we made the annual trip to take Hope's picture on the Ducklings in the Public Garden:

Quite a bit different from the first photo that we took 2 years ago:

We ate so well:

If you are ever in Somerville, MA, you must go to this  place.  We had sundried tomato, spinach & cheese ravioli. Amazing.

Just a few blocks away is the Soleil Cafe:

An Italian cafe run by an Italian family.  The cookies! The gelato! The latte!  Though, they did seem hesitant to make me a latte, because a cappucino is really more authentic. These folks are the real stuff.  A wonderful place run by wonderful people. Terri & Ez, I'm so jealous that its 2 minutes from your house.

And, let's not forget The Danish Pastry House , just over the hill in Medford.  I cannot fully describe (and their website doesn't  sufficiently show) the range of phenomenal  pastries at this shop.  Not to mention a full range of lunch time food that makes you feel a little less guilty for eating a rum ball :)

We took a side trip to Portsmouth New Hampshire, where we met up with my oldest friend & her adorable son who is exactly 6 months younger than Hope.  We took advantage of the The Portsmouth Brewery:

For those beer lovers out there, these are the people who bring you Smutty Nose microbrews.

And, took in the views of the harbor:

As you can tell from my enthusiastic descriptions, we didn't want to leave.  More Please!!

Weekend Away

I'm so excited to tell you all about our weekend get away that I nearly posted on Wednesday, the day after my last post.  But, posting two days in a row might be too much of a shock for my readers (are there any still out there???  I think that most have given up on me....), so I held back for a few days.

We stayed in Fredericksburg, which is just about 30 minutes from our house.  Its a wonderful town with a college, lots of gee-oorr-geous stores, and restaurants.  It also has an adorable downtown neighborhood that I've nudged Glenn about moving to, but its just a bit too, too far from DC for us.  For the weekend, it was perfect--a great place to get away from it all, but practically no travel involved.

We stayed at a beautiful inn, the Kenmore Inn, pictured above.  I selected it for not just its looks, but -- get this -- there is a pub ONSITE.  Yes, indeed, we could have our drinky-poos & just stroll on upstairs.  Love it.  Here is a photo of our room:

This is the beautiful garden that was just under our window.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  Look at how beautiful the flowering trees were:

We spent Saturday strolling around town.

Yum.  You should have smelled the brownies baking in there. I, of course, couldn't leave without a dish of "Death by Chocolate", which contained those same brownies.  Had to check out if they tasted as good as they smelled, doncha know.

This drug store still has a soda fountain!! 

This store!!  Oh my gosh, I could have spent hours & hundreds of dollars in there.  Vera Bradley, Crabtree & Evelyn & April Cornell heaven.  In addition to so many other goodies.  Here is a peak inside.  If you click on the photo, you can see all of the delicious displays close up:

Glenn walked in & immediately said "Uh, honey, I'm going to wait for you outside" My response: "Too Froo-froo for you?" Him: "YES"

There was also a  to. die. for.  clothing store called Monkees that was more than a wee bit out of my price range.  But, I had fun looking & figuring out mentally how I could copy the looks when I went to TJ Maxx :)

After shopping, we spent a few hours on the patio of a restaurant, reading.  Anyone read The Glass Castle ? DO.  I read the entire thing that evening.  After that, browsing in a used bookstore & then dinner at the Inn's restaurant.  Really, just perfect.  It was so wonderful to spend time with Glenn & just be a couple.

Of course, the next day, we returned home & the sweetest thing in the world was to have Hopie shout out "Mommy! Mommy!" the moment that I walked in the door.  Life is good.

 

Weekend Away

I'm so excited to tell you all about our weekend get away that I nearly posted on Wednesday, the day after my last post.  But, posting two days in a row might be too much of a shock for my readers (are there any still out there???  I think that most have given up on me....), so I held back for a few days.

We stayed in Fredericksburg, which is just about 30 minutes from our house.  Its a wonderful town with a college, lots of gee-oorr-geous stores, and restaurants.  It also has an adorable downtown neighborhood that I've nudged Glenn about moving to, but its just a bit too, too far from DC for us.  For the weekend, it was perfect--a great place to get away from it all, but practically no travel involved.

We stayed at a beautiful inn, the Kenmore Inn, pictured above.  I selected it for not just its looks, but -- get this -- there is a pub ONSITE.  Yes, indeed, we could have our drinky-poos & just stroll on upstairs.  Love it.  Here is a photo of our room:

This is the beautiful garden that was just under our window.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  Look at how beautiful the flowering trees were:

We spent Saturday strolling around town.

Yum.  You should have smelled the brownies baking in there. I, of course, couldn't leave without a dish of "Death by Chocolate", which contained those same brownies.  Had to check out if they tasted as good as they smelled, doncha know.

This drug store still has a soda fountain!! 

This store!!  Oh my gosh, I could have spent hours & hundreds of dollars in there.  Vera Bradley, Crabtree & Evelyn & April Cornell heaven.  In addition to so many other goodies.  Here is a peak inside.  If you click on the photo, you can see all of the delicious displays close up:

Glenn walked in & immediately said "Uh, honey, I'm going to wait for you outside" My response: "Too Froo-froo for you?" Him: "YES"

There was also a  to. die. for.  clothing store called Monkees that was more than a wee bit out of my price range.  But, I had fun looking & figuring out mentally how I could copy the looks when I went to TJ Maxx :)

After shopping, we spent a few hours on the patio of a restaurant, reading.  Anyone read The Glass Castle ? DO.  I read the entire thing that evening.  After that, browsing in a used bookstore & then dinner at the Inn's restaurant.  Really, just perfect.  It was so wonderful to spend time with Glenn & just be a couple.

Of course, the next day, we returned home & the sweetest thing in the world was to have Hopie shout out "Mommy! Mommy!" the moment that I walked in the door.  Life is good.

 

Italia, pt. 2

More musings on Italy....Its been hard readjusting to real life after scenes like the above!  I'm not an enthusiast of ancient history, but when I saw the Collesseum, Wow, that was an amazing moment!  It really is pretty spectacular.

Rome in general was much busier & more crowded than Florence.  The large number of tourists bothered us more than in Florence.  However, when I think about what a large city Rome is & how beautiful & ancient it remains, I am amazed & in awe.  We spent time at the normal attractions:

St. Peter's Cathedral/The Vatican

Me at the Trevi Fountain

Glenn & I at the Forum

Now, lets discuss the really fun stuff...what I bought in Italy!  I had no idea that the shopping would be so wonderful!  I was feeling sort of guilty for buying so much until I got to the airport on the way home.  Other American tourists had so many purchases that they were leaving things behind and/or paying $100 extra for overweight luggage!  I made sure to point out to Glenn that I didn't take it to that extreme :)

The leather goods were really gorgeous & much more reasonably priced than I expected.  Really, the same amount or less than you'd pay for a comparable purse or wallet in the states.  I found this purse in a store on the 2nd day in Florence, but not in black, which is really what I need.  I spent the rest of the trip looking everywhere to find the same purse in black.  On our last day, in a market that we hadn't visited previously, I found it!!!  I was practically dancing away from the booth with my purchase!

I also could not resist these flirty little numbers:

I can't wait to wear them!

Other than those two items, I got a few blouses, and lots of gifts for family.  My one regret is that I didn't buy any Tuscan ceramics.  I looked at it again & again & couldn't decide on a piece, so I walked away with nothing.  Now, I really wish that I'd just gotten something.

So, that is it for my Italy story.  I could go on for days with anecdotes & descriptions, but I know that I couldn't do it justice.

****
Coming soon...I went to a flea market today for the first time in a long time & found some goodies!  Also, I've put the finishing touches on my little fall decorations, so I'll be sure to share that as well!

Italia, pt. 2

More musings on Italy....Its been hard readjusting to real life after scenes like the above!  I'm not an enthusiast of ancient history, but when I saw the Collesseum, Wow, that was an amazing moment!  It really is pretty spectacular.

Rome in general was much busier & more crowded than Florence.  The large number of tourists bothered us more than in Florence.  However, when I think about what a large city Rome is & how beautiful & ancient it remains, I am amazed & in awe.  We spent time at the normal attractions:

St. Peter's Cathedral/The Vatican

Me at the Trevi Fountain

Glenn & I at the Forum

Now, lets discuss the really fun stuff...what I bought in Italy!  I had no idea that the shopping would be so wonderful!  I was feeling sort of guilty for buying so much until I got to the airport on the way home.  Other American tourists had so many purchases that they were leaving things behind and/or paying $100 extra for overweight luggage!  I made sure to point out to Glenn that I didn't take it to that extreme :)

The leather goods were really gorgeous & much more reasonably priced than I expected.  Really, the same amount or less than you'd pay for a comparable purse or wallet in the states.  I found this purse in a store on the 2nd day in Florence, but not in black, which is really what I need.  I spent the rest of the trip looking everywhere to find the same purse in black.  On our last day, in a market that we hadn't visited previously, I found it!!!  I was practically dancing away from the booth with my purchase!

I also could not resist these flirty little numbers:

I can't wait to wear them!

Other than those two items, I got a few blouses, and lots of gifts for family.  My one regret is that I didn't buy any Tuscan ceramics.  I looked at it again & again & couldn't decide on a piece, so I walked away with nothing.  Now, I really wish that I'd just gotten something.

So, that is it for my Italy story.  I could go on for days with anecdotes & descriptions, but I know that I couldn't do it justice.

****
Coming soon...I went to a flea market today for the first time in a long time & found some goodies!  Also, I've put the finishing touches on my little fall decorations, so I'll be sure to share that as well!