Potato/Onion Bin

My amazing friend, Christy, bought this potato and onion bin for me. We have had numerous conversations about how we each wanted one. Her grandmother had one and gave it to her back in July. Christy found one at the Goodwill and brought it to my work as a surprise! It was a nice gift and she is such a great friend!

Gwynn's Island Festival and Boating Adventure

This is what I bought at the Gwynn's Island Festival:

Otis is ready for a good time:

Blue Mason Jars with Zinc Lids

I finally found some that were not ridiculously expensive.  These were sold as a set for $20 which I thought was pretty good considering I have seen one of the bigger jars for $10-$15 alone. So excited!

DC Trip

Finally got one of the Chinese Lucky Cats in DC Chinatown. You can learn more about them here.

An unexpected find

Wasn't expecting to find the perfect truck when I was out with a friend today.  We quickly popped into a consignment store to find her grandmother a Christmas gift when I spotted this trunk.  I have been looking at old trunks for awhile.  We had been using a white wicker chest as our coffee table, but it was not the look I was going for.  It was my husbands and it served its purpose until I found what I wanted.  We keep board games and throw blankets in the chest.  The others I had looked at were great, just too pricey.  This one came at a steal and in great condition.

Upcycled

One of my favorite things are goods that have been upcycled.  Upcycling is the process of converting otherwise useless goods/materials into a new product. I am sure you have heard of it since it is a trend now. I went to the Virginia Christmas Market in Doswell, VA.  Many vendors had Christmas decor or gifts that would be great for Christmas.  Most are local to the area.  One vendor really caught my eye.

Company is called  Bottle Hood and she makes beer/wine/liqour bottles into drinking glasses.  She has other non-alcoholic bottles as well. By slicing off the top portion of the bottle and smoothing it out creates a lovely drinking glass. I got a kick out of it and I knew my husband would too. Such a great gift! I was going to wait to put this in his stocking, but I just had to show him. So neat!

She does local craft shows or you can contact her and come to her house. Her name is Tammy Mormando and email is tammy@bottlehood.com.

Saturday Adventure

My friends, Katelyn and Tiffany, embarked on an adventure to places we have never been in our own town.  First stop was the Bizarre Market which is made up of local artists who sells goods that have been re-purposed into something else.  A lot of neat stuff at decent prices. They are having another Bizarre Market November 20th at Quirk Gallery.  We then headed to the Clothes Rack on Cary Street.  It is a small thrift store sponsored by the junior league. I got a 1982 Southern Living Cook Book for $1!  Next stop was to several antique stores in Carytown, but my favorite stop was to Penzeys Spices.  All spices are fresh and quickly shipped to their warehouse where they dry and ground the spices/herbs by hand.  Many obscure/hard to find spices are here as well as new ones such as different seasoning salts or combinations of spices.  One of my favorite to smell was the Ceylon Cinnamon.  They had a fair amount of Central and South American inspired spices, which are by far my most favorite dishes to cook and consume.  I also had a lovely little chat with an employee about the awesomeness of fresh rosemary and how it is one herb we refuse to use in a dried form.  I am glad someone else feels so strongly about that as I do!

Another great thing about Penzeys is that all the recipes are from customers.  The company itself does not publish its own recipes whatsoever. Each recipe in the catalog has a story from a customer who sent it in. Very cool if you ask me. If you do not have a store near you (they have 49) then you can also purchase the spices/herbs online. But, it is fun to go in and smell all the rich herbs and spices and get some free recipes.