Morning Toast
Last weekend, my friend John invited us all down for three days at his house in Provincetown. Now, before you doze off because I have written about this place in an earlier post or two, I promise I will not go on about what an amazing host he is nor will I tell you the place is beyond scrumptious, and I won’t tell you that the “us” of us were three pugs, my daughter Maren, her husband Nathan, and the two grandkids Reeve and Bae. Nope! I won’t tell you a thing of all that. I just want to show you a few photos which, when I returned home, wanted to make me tear my own place to ribbons. I longed for less expected placement of the treasures I own…I longed for natural walls and a turn-of-the-century toaster and that Cape Cod light filling up the space in all my own rooms here in Roslindale. Thank you, John, for your generous self!
Bathroom Door, Old Paint, Hand-Woven Towel, Mercury Knob
Seed Pods on Silk Ribbon
Pink Paper Hollyhocks on the Guest Room Mantel
I woke each morning to the sight of these hollyhocks made of the finest pale crepe paper. One night the wind blew with such fierceness, I was certain I might be swept out to sea…of course, I would have grabbed these pink hollyhocks on my way out had that been the case!
Living Room Mantel with Canvas, Waiting the Artist's Brush
In the evening, John lights much of his house with candles. Oh, there are a few wall sconces with the dimmest of bulbs, but it is the light from those candles that is forgiving for those of us over forty.
John at the Stove
One night, we ate the most delicious pasta from Amy Chaplin’s blog “Coconut and Quinoa.” The ingredients were dead simple…roasted cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions caramelized in olive oil, spelt pasta and a terrific feta cheese to toss it all. Check out Amy’s blog, there are some superb recipes for vegetarians. What a wonderful weekend it was!
The Girl in a Christmas Window
Would you look at that…it is already a week into the December adventure! A few years ago, when I started this whole blog thing, I was convinced that I would be blogging each and every day. In fact, I was pretty convinced that I would find blogging much more fun than shopkeeping! Silly me! So since last entry, lets imagine I have been sitting at a fine little bistro table sipping delicate white wines in Paris, France, and when I wasn’t in Paris, I might have been in Venice, Italy standing on the Bridge of Sighs watching the tight little buns of the gondoliers who passed by, or maybe I was walking the crowed aisles of the Souk in Marrakech surrounded by darkly handsome men and women, the air filled with the scent of a hookah mixed with ground cinnamon and cumin from the spice seller just across the way. Or heck, I could have been right there at 6 Birch Street holding court with fellow shoppers. Given the amazing goods in the store, I had best stay grounded until just after 3 PM on December 24th! Pop in for a visit.
We had a remarkable Holiday Wander last Thursday…three more to go. American Express gave small business a huge boost with their November 27th launch of supporting the small local shops. Thank you, American Express!
Beyond giving all of you the urge to shop, I want to suggest each of us practice large and small acts of kindness. There are many folks who are hurting for one reason or another, and the holidays do little to soften the pain. At this time of year, we might look back at those who have passed on, and some of us struggle now with serious challenges of health and work. This isn’t much of a jolly holiday message…it is though intended to remind all of us to be kind and were I able to give away lovely wrapped packages of kindness this year, I would gladly work overtime to do just that for the month of December and beyond.
The store was filled to the brim the night of our opening!
Thanks to Don & John for a scary and magical window!
Couldn’t resist showing you the store windows for our recent group show…”Art For A New Moons Eve”! Don and John, from PatchNYC, worked their magic into one of the best windows we have ever had! The show was a wonderful success, chocolates and wine and loyal customers as well as many new faces. We want to thank DailyCandy.com for their weekend feature of this event and the store! Thank you, also, to the artists who make the world, and my store, a more joyful place!
