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.

     

Antiquing in The Burg

Whenever my family visited Florida between moves when I was growing up, I always remembered St. Petersburg as being where elderly people lived.  In fact, St. Pete was known for its green benches around the city where you often saw older people sitting and enjoying the sun.  Duane grew up in Tampa and she recalled St. Pete being referred to as a place for 'newlyweds and the nearly dead.'  I had heard the term 'God's Waiting Room' more than once.  Boy, have things changed.

Linda, Duane, and I decided to go antiquing in St. Pete today.  My nephew Sam and his girlfriend Samantha live there and Samantha gave us a heads up on her favorite shops on Central Avenue.  These shops were terrific.  We went to Lion's Paw Antiques & Collectables, Paper Street Market, Furnish Me Vintage, White Owl Market, Janet's Antiques, and a few others that we came across nearby.

The stores were gearing up for the LGBT Pride Parade to be held tomorrow (Saturday) and the streets were very festive with the rainbow logos all around and discounts in some stores in honor of LGBT Pride Month.

Flag and Tee shirt displaying LGBT Pride.

Pretty white street lights down Central Ave.

St. Pete is now officially a 'Hipster Haven' with smoke shops like this one interspersed with antique shops and lots of great local places to eat.

This acupuncture shop below was next door to the smoke shop.   I accidentally cut off part of the print on the window -- 'Sticking It to The Man Since 2009!'

There were murals all over the place on the sides of the various buildings.  I couldn't get all of the one below because it was so large and I couldn't go much farther back in the parking lot.

Really BIG mural.

Central Avenue in St. Pete is also home to Haslam's Book Store -- the largest new and used book store in Florida.  It's been around since 1933.

We didn't go into Haslam's because we tend to spend so much time in book stores and today we were strictly looking at antiques and collectibles.  Mid-morning we had a nice coffee/tea and snack at a local place called the Genaro Coffee Company.  The owner waited on us and the iced coffee (mine) and teas (Linda and Duane) were terrific along with the homemade muffins (all three of us).

After a LOT of walking through the byzantine shops we were ready for lunch around 2pm.  We chose the Community Cafe which turned out to be a great choice.  It's a vegan cafe with freshly made wraps, sandwiches, and soups.  The desserts looked good, too, especially the orange dreamsicle cupcakes, but we were pretty stuffed after our meal.  Plus they constantly have art exhibits hanging in the shop.  The themes vary but this theme was "I Love the 80s" and I had to buy the digital print by artist Peter Charbonneau of Robert Smith of The Cure -- one of my all-time fave bands.   Unfortunately, I can't bring it home until the show has ended but it's SOLD now -- to moi.  I may hang it in our powder room for fun.

My new piece of art!

Here are Linda and Duane's purchases from a couple of the antique shops.  Linda bought the set of verdigris candle holders and Duane added another piece to her Delftware collection.  She also found the three vintage forks that have been repurposed as hanging hooks.  Duane plans to hang them in her kitchen when she's finished remodeling, as part of her finishing touches.

Linda and Duane's purchases.

Well, we know why St. Pete is called 'The Burg' now.  It has a thriving art scene and a great mix of residents.  Too bad we'll miss the LGBT parade.  One shop owner told us that there are usually girls who come into the shop dressed in paint.  ONLY paint.  Sounds like a hoot!  We're with them in spirit even if we're across the bridge.

Oh, I had to take a pic of this sculpture on top of a building on the way up the ramp of the Interstate.  Hmm... more art from The Burg.  We'll definitely be hitting Central Avenue again in the future for more shopping and eating.

"Easy, big fella!"

P.S.  Linda sent me a pic of where she placed her candle holders -- on her teak sofa table.  They look great.

Shopping in a small 'Old Florida' town

We've found that Fridays are the best day of the week to hit small towns when we want to go antiquing, etc.  We hit Dunedin a few weeks ago and decided to try a very different small town yesterday.  Dade City is north of Tampa and is what I think of as more 'Old Florida.'  Partly because they're are a lot of older people who live there and have probably lived there since they were born.  You don't see much in the way of funky art shops like you do in Dunedin or parts of Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota.  Dade City has antique shops, good food and that small town 'everyone knows everyone else' ambiance.

Dade City -- home of the Pasco County Courthouse.

We discovered after doing a bit of shopping and then hitting a neat little local place called the Perks Cafe for a late morning snack that there are a lot of 'regulars' who frequent the eating places and shops.  Perks had delicious snacks (they also serve lunch) and I was able to get my iced coffee fix while Duane and Linda had their Chai Tea.  Duane and I each had a slice of delicious homemade banana pudding cake and Linda had a banana muffin.  Good stuff!  We highly recommend Perks to anyone visiting or passing through Dade City.  Like every store and eatery we visited, the people working there were very friendly and somehow knew that we weren't from Dade City.  Hmm... I wonder what gave us away?

Pretty shops with cool architecture.

We did discover when we resumed shopping after our late morning snack that we'd better hurry if we wanted to make it in time for lunch at any of the locally owned places.  Many of them close as early as 2pm.  One of the shop owners suggested an eatery called A Matter of Taste.  That's where we had lunch --- we made it before their 2:30 closing time -- and it was wonderful.  Neat atmosphere with '50's music playing and photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Bogart and other old time celebs on the walls.  I ordered a fried green tomato and bacon sandwich.  Boy, was it good.  Linda had fish tacos and Duane ordered a sandwich called the Marlin.  The portions were very generous and we left there feeling pretty full.

All three of us also purchased items from the various shops, too, so that's always nice when we all manage to find at least one treasure.  I bought a Wallace Nutting signed print, Duane found a nice piece for her Delft collection, and Linda and I both bought vintage children's books.  I plan to record my purchase for Audible so it's in my TBR (to be recorded) pile.

A Matter of Taste cafe.  (Yellow building.)

More shops.  The daily thunderstorms had come through...

Our last stop -- where Duane found her Delft piece.

We had a great day and were ready to head for home around 3:30.  Some of the shops had closed and others would only be open until around 4pm.  I did notice that at least one of the local eateries re-opened from 5-8pm for dinner.  After that, we had the distinct impression that the sidewalks would be rolled up in preparation for the next day.  Good thing we didn't go any later than we did.  A nice little town in which to shop and spend the day.

Our purchases.

Record, edit, take a break, repeat...

I have managed to take a few breaks from recording and editing.  You know what they say about all work and no play...  Linda and I celebrated Duane's birthday last Sunday with a cake, presents and some shopping.  I gave Duane some jewelry and I made her a pincushion in the shape of a cup of tea.  It's an Amigurumi pattern and I was pleased with how it turned out.  Duane sews so this is actually something she can use.  The pattern can be found here.  It didn't take very long and was fun to make.  Linda made Duane a gorgeous shawl from a beautiful variegated yarn.  I know it took her awhile to make it and she did a fabulous job.  She also made a shawl for me for Christmas.  Mine was knit from a very fine black yarn with a thread of gold running through it.  It's so delicate that it can also serve as a scarf.  I love it.

Yesterday, Linda and I attended an antiques fair in St. Petersburg.  Duane couldn't make it because she's in the middle of a home improvement project in her bungalow.  The show was nice and neither Linda or I had ever been to it before.   But it was really crowded and the booths were pretty small so maneuvering wasn't always easy.  Although there were all sort of items, including types that both of us collect, the prices weren't particularly good.  I told Linda that I was mentally comparing what you would pay on eBay and other online auction sites for some of the items and online still wins.  Neither of us ended up buying anything from the show but
it was fun to go.  We were both pooped after making our way through
every booth including some extra ones located on the second level of
the venue where it was held.  We stopped for a treat at a bakery Linda
knew about nearby and that was definitely worth it.

I've finished watching all of season 3 (unedited episodes) of 'Downton Abbey' from a website my friend Shirley sent to me.  Got my fix but I'm already jonesing for series 4.  I'm actually glad I already knew about the sad parts beforehand.  Spoilers don't bother me and I was prepared.   While watching the episodes I began working on this year's Valentine goodies for my three young nieces.  I'm knitting instead of crocheting and will post later on with pics and the pattern when I have more accomplished. 

And, finally, I've begun another solo for LibriVox to work on besides my paid work.  It's "an adventure story for girls" and is called The Secret Mark by Roy J. Snell.  This author was a prolific writer of books for boys and girls.  Besides his "adventure" stories for girls he also wrote a series of "mystery stories for boys" along with "The Radio-Phone Boys' Series."  I'll be sure to post here when it's been uploaded to LibriVox.  Have to squeeze in dinner and a shower before the season premiere of 'Girls' tonight on HBO.  Been looking forward to this show, too!

Catching up...

Christmas was hectic but fun.  Had a chance to go antiquing with Linda and Duane.  Linda struck gold.  She found a lovely nightstand for $27 at one of our favorite places to go antique shopping -- D&D Antiques. Solid wood with a pretty design and storage space. She may eventually paint it another color but she's decided to live with it awhile first.  Linda also found a piece of Japanese porcelain that she liked.  Lovely.  It was definitely her day for bargains.  Duane and I actually ended up only spending money on our lunch which is fine since we love the 'hunt' as much as a 'buy.'  We had lunch at one of our favorite places -- The Front Porch.  Great food and nice atmosphere in an old house that was converted to a restaurant. 

In the days leading up to Christmas I was busy working away on various 'yarn projects.'  I finished the three Santa ornaments for my nieces and then I started on two kitty toys for my nephew Sam's cats.  Then my sister Pam asked if I'd mind making a third toy for her to give to her boyfriend's cat, Smudge.  So I ended up making three goldfish (with catnip centers, yum).  They're crocheted and they actually worked up pretty quickly although I felt like I was getting down to the wire time-wise.  The black string coming from the mouth of the goldfish is there so that you can dangle it in front of your cat to pique his/her interest.  Hope it works.  Here's the pattern I used.

I'm also getting back into recording.  I'm currently working on a mystery.  Have to get cracking on chapter 3 on this one tomorrow.