Christmas in July sales!

Small business owned stores in the old neighborhood that Duane lives in, Seminole Heights, decided to hold a 'Christmas in July' sale starting yesterday (Friday) and continuing through Sunday.  Many of the same stores have been holding a nice holiday sale each year before Christmas and we've always enjoyed going to those.  The stores have various discounts on their items and shoppers also have a chance to win a gift basket in a raffle.

We decided to go the first day, Friday, even though the weather was truly awful.  Lots of hard rain that lasted pretty much all day long.  But, hey, we're hardcore when it comes to shopping.  We didn't have time to hit all of the stores participating but we began in the morning and shopped until it was time for lunch.  Linda and I both bought items from Christopher Wayne Home.  I bought one of their wine bottle photo/postcard/note holders and Linda found a beautiful pillow to spice up her sofa.  One of the owners spent a long time talking with Duane because they both grew up in the area.

Our next stop was Cleanse Apothecary which carries all sorts of boutique brands of make-up, soaps, pottery, etc.  I had been raving to Linda and Duane about Lipstick Queen lipstick for some time.  Cleanse Apothecary began stocking it last year so Linda loves the pinks.  She purchased a tube of Saint Pink previously and I suggested a tube of Jean Queen (which I also own).  She tried it and loved the color, so that was her purchase.  Duane had yet to try it but decided on a tube of Saint Natural.  Even my mom is a convert.  I showed her some of my colors and she now never leaves the house without a tube of her favorite, Coral Sinner.  Linda also purchased some lotion while we were there.  The owner, Greg, had a lovely champagne punch that we all sampled.  

In and out of the driving rain, we made our way down to one of our favorite shops, A Modern Line, which now has one of Duane's paintings for sale!  It was very exciting for Duane to see it on the wall.  David, the owner, has been doing really well, and his inventory (particularly furniture) was actually pretty low at the moment.  It made Duane's day to see her art for sale, though! 

We made our way across the street to a consignment shop called Vintage Post Marketplace.  This is a very large store which features not only vintage items but also items made by local artisans.  A great place to take your time and browse.

We hit one more of our favorite stores before we just had to get some lunch.  Debra at D & D Antiques and more was putting out treats for her shoppers.  We were just in time!  Debra is always fun to chat with along with browsing her shop which has numerous vendors items located in different rooms.  I purchased a green depression glass dessert plate to add to my mismatched dessert plates -- I actually use them.

After D &D, we knew it was time to eat, plus we were finally tired of the storms which dogged us the entire time we were shopping.  We wanted comfort food so we headed to Nicko's diner and had a filling and leisurely lunch.  Then we went back to Duane's house before parting ways for the day.  It was a lot of fun.  (Except for the storms!)

Our purchases.