Christmas in July Shop Hop in 'the Heights'

I've mentioned many times that Duane lives in one of the most fun parts of town to shop.  There are a number of small businesses and restaurants in Seminole Heights (or 'the Heights' as it is starting to be called) which is an older neighborhood filled with charming bungalows and mid-century modern homes. 

For the past several years, the neighborhood shops have had a Christmas Shop Hop in late November as part of the Shop Small Business Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Last summer, several of the shop owners decided to start a 'Christmas in July' shop hop and Duane, Linda, and I went.  It was fun and both Duane and Linda won prizes from the drawings held at some of the stores.  This year, the summer hop started yesterday (Friday) and continues through tomorrow (Sunday).  We always like to go on the first day of the hop -- Friday -- so we went yesterday.

It's fun to see the various stores with Christmas decor out and Christmas music playing when it's in the 90s outside.  They also offer sweets and drinks for their customers -- always a pleasure to partake.  We started with Cleanse Apothecary where I found a Christmas present for one of my sisters and Duane purchased handmade soap.  Linda bought some Bliss foot cream.  Then we headed next door to the Urban Bungalow which you literally just cross a doorway from Cleanse Apothecary to enter.  Urban Bungalow is another fun place to shop.  I bought a clever little two sided measuring cup and Duane picked up a Seminole Heights dishtowel and also special ordered a pillow with her zip code on it.

After we left Urban Bungalow, we headed down the street to Frolic Exchange where it's always fun to see what the owner has added to her shop.  Besides vintage clothing, jewelry, and home decor, there's also a plant section where I've purchased two century plants which are still thriving in my backyard.  I was tempted by a really cute handmade pillow with white and green stripes stamped with black cactuses (cacti?) but I couldn't make up my mind.  Our next stop was D & D Antiques and more where it's always fun to talk to the owner, Debra.  All three us ended up making purchases at D & D.  I bought a pale pink glass dessert plate in a pattern I hadn't come across before.  Linda bought a framed original watercolor along with some vintage glass Christmas ornaments.  (Her two kitties broke several last Christmas so she has to replace when necessary.)  Duane made the largest purchase but I don't have a picture.  She bought a Queen Anne display case table that has a painted distressed white finish.  She plans to put it in her living room to replace a large heavy coffee table that she'd like to sell or give to a new home.

After leaving Debra's place, we headed to our buddy David's store, A Modern Line.  David's place was actually pretty bare.  He's been in the process of having a big sale to move in more items.  Poor Linda missed out on a piece of art that she had been eyeing for some time.  David had just sold it earlier in the week.  Oh, well, we all know it happens in shops where everything is one of a kind.  I was very tempted to purchase a small hand drawn picture of a mid-century modern house.  I'll need to think about it since I would want to re-frame it and it would probably go in my guest room.  If I lose out, then that's the chance I'll take!

After A Modern Line, we were starving -- despite starting our day at Starbucks and imbibing at the various shops -- so we headed to one of our favorite places to eat, The Front Porch.  This is such a great place to eat.  It's in a very old house that dates to 1898 and it has a fun ambiance and great food.

We made it a leisurely lunch and then finally headed home.  Our purchases are below.  The wrapped item is a Christmas gift for someone in my family so it's a secret in case my sister reads this post.

Our purchases for the day.

     

We 'shopped Small Saturday' after Thanksgiving

For the third year in a row, Duane, Linda, and I participated in the Seminole Heights Shop Hop featuring small businesses in the Seminole Heights area of Tampa.  Not only is this a great way to support your local small businesses but the shops go all out with sales, discounts, treats, and prizes.  This year we started at the newly designed Christopher Wayne Home which now includes a coffee shop, The Blind Tiger Cafe, within the Christopher Wayne shop.  Fantastic iced coffee from The Blind Tiger!  Linda and Duane ordered tea and were also really pleased with the taste.

Christopher Wayne Home also shares a building with Cleanse Apothecary, another of our favorite shops.  We each made purchases from Cleanse Apothecary which carries some great lines including Lipstick Queen -- my favorite line of lipsticks.  After we finished our refreshments from The Blind Tiger, we headed to our buddy David's shop, A Modern Line -- always a fun place to pop in and see what's new.  We noticed that there was quite a bit of foot traffic due to the shop hop.  Then we headed to Bali Bay Trading Company which, like the other businesses, had treats out for their customers along with items to be raffled off.  Bali Bay was offering 20% off of all their regular priced items.  All three of us found some gifts there.

After that, we stopped in at The Folic Exchange -- a small vintage shop.  Once again, all three of us made purchases.  Then we headed to Susan Gott's Phoenix Glass Studio.  We feel fortunate that we have someone with Susan's talent in one of our favorite areas to shop.  She had treats set out and there were people being instructed in glass blowing as they made their own items.  Linda and I bought some small Christmas ornaments there. 

By this time, we needed to stop for lunch.  We decided to 'dine' at The Front Porch Grill and have a leisurely lunch.  I have never had a bad meal there.  Their desserts are fantastic, too, but the three of us had been nibbling our way through the shops so we skipped dessert this time.  After lunch we headed to D&D Antiques and More where our buddy Debra was greeting all of her shoppers with treats.  I bought something for myself there.  Debra carries antiques and vintage items.  I came across a metal bird that was screaming my name.  Very simple lines.  I think it might be made of aluminum. It reminds me of the birds you see in places like Design Within Reach (DWR).


We were pretty tired after leaving D&D we we decided to call it a day.  I'm so glad the idea of shopping at small local businesses has picked up and hope the trend continues.

Our purchases.

Handmade soaps, blown glass ornaments, etc.

   

Stocking stuffers and my bird.

     

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.