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.
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| Our purchases for the day. |
