Autumn Vacation Day and a visit to Nesting on Main

Well I have been chipping away at my 19 remaining vacation days.  They are the kind that you use or lose if they are not taken by the end of the year.  So since Veteran's Day on Friday was a bank holiday I took the Thursday before it and also Monday off.

Thursday I went to Cambridge with some friends.  More about that later.

Monday I decided to go to Concord.  My friend Beth works at one of my all time favorite shops in Concord, Nesting on Main so I headed there.  She works Mondays and Tuesdays, the days I never get to go there so since I had Monday off I thought I would visit her.  Of course, she had the day off. Figures!

Anway, I had a lovely time all by myself just browsing around the shop and talking to Melissa, one of the partners at Nesting. She let me take photos to my heart's content!

The ladies at Nesting have such taste and a knack for display and merchandising.  The shop is such a visual delight.  Isn't this box cool?

A lovely display of religious items.  A very popular theme nowadays.

Stunning glassware. Ooh, that would look lovely in a holiday tablescape! They look nice and heavy too!

I thought this lampshade was so sweet! It had such a warm glow.  Such a great item for Fall.

I have to say this display was my favorite.  So shiny and just gorgeous.  Love it all!

Grain sack tea towel.  You know I bought one.  Anything that says cafe and chocolat is a favorite of mine. I think I will hang mine near the tea cups over the new black chest in the kitchen.

A pretty Fall display.

And in close up.

For display, the ladies use some antiques and some reproductions along with natural elements. It all works.

If you are in the Concord area, you must visit Nesting on Main.  Word has it their displays for Christmas are going to be spectacular! They close down the three days before Thanksgiving, just to decorate!

Harvest Dinner

Tonight I had my annual Harvest Dinner.  It was a great evening.  Dinner for 8 which posed a small  problem. Believe it on not I don't have 8 of anything.  I only had 6 of my favorite dinner plates so I had to use ones I didn't really like.  I hid them with a pretty plate on top.

I got the pretty plates and the green glasses from a shop called Brissonte.  These items were from owner Colleen's own collection.  When I bought the plates she told me had some nice green glasses to go with them. She brought them in and when I saw them I knew they would come home with me.

I set up my counter as a fruit and cheese station. I envisioned using my collection of scales to hold

plates for appetizers or assorted cheeses.  I liked the result. I served a delicious pumpkin cream cheese from Trader Joe's with wheat crackers and a monterey jack cheese with sesame crackers.

Here's another view of the tablescape. The table runner was a pumpkin color and it had little

LED lights running down the center of it. It gave the table a warm glow and the green glasses looked beautiful against it. I lit two simple white candles to give a bit more light to the table.

Every year I pull out my cranberry glass turkey dish to house the cranberry sauce. It was from the Martha Stewart Collection. I guess I should mention what was served for dinner.  We had a Vermont Goat Cheese salad with greens, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and pecans, turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, cream cheese mashed potatoes, butternut squash, hot spiced cider, coffee and tea.

Here's another view of the scale. I was lucky to find it at a flea market recently.

 

After the entree, we rested a bit and then we put out the desserts.  Apple pie baked by Mary.

Ellie brought a chocolate ganache cake.  So decadent and delicious.

I bought the shortbread cookies from Lakota's Bakery in Arlington.  They made one of Obama's birthday cakes.  And the macarons were from Macaron Sweeterie in Lexington.  They were to die for as usual.

Debbi made pumpkin cookies, so yummy!

Mary's apple pie is always chock full of apples.

Yes it was definitely the pre-Thanksgiving pig out. The weather was perfect too. The day had been sunny and cool, exactly the kind of Fall day I enjoy the most.

I am always so thankful for my friends and family who join me each year for the Harvest Dinner.

A blog giveaway for the holidays

It's been a while since I had a blog giveaway so I thought this week would be the perfect time to announce one.  So here's what you get: the Victoria Magazine Holiday Bliss issue and

a set of two battery operated LED Bethelehem Lights.  I bought a Victoria magazine Holiday Bliss
for me and one for the lucky winner.

The lights look like this.  You can place them anywhere, like on a bookcase, on a tree, on a banister or a wreath.  There are endless possibilities.

I must tell you that you need to get your own   batteries.  I do not think the US Mail likes anything potentially hazardous mailed through their system.

Your led lights will be on a gold cord so you can use it for any holiday. Here are the particulars:
•Includes two light strands
•30 LED lights each
•Steady/phasing modes
•6-hour on/18-hour off timer
•For indoor use only
•Each requires 6 AA batteries
 
So here's what you need to do.  Become a follower of my blog if you are not already one and leave a comment on this post and tell me how you will use your lights.  Pretty easy, right?
 
Good luck to everyone, I will draw a winner on November 14th.

Cafe Piazza Dolce

Friends had been telling me about Cafe Piazza Dolce and last night I finally tried it. It's a small cafe in Winchester. From the outside you can see some of the tables in what can best be described as a conservatory. This section of the cafe looked very romantic. Lots of twinkle lights added to the ambience.

I was with my friend Kim and we just wanted coffee so we went downstairs to a small area where they serve coffee and dessert. It was adorable and so was our server. He even gave us a few cookies to nibble on with our cappucinos. Of course, I will return to Cafe Piazza Dolce and next time it will be for dinner.

Quote of the Day

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you- not because they are nice,
but because you are. - Author unknown

And speaking of nice, congratulations to my parents, two of the nicest people I know, on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary.  All of us, Mom, Dad, and my sister had a wonderful dinner this evening at the nursing home.

Wakefield Uncommon Antiques and ZuZu's Cafe

I took another vacation day on Friday.  I still have many left, yipee!  Since snow was coming on Saturday I thought I should get out on Friday and get some foliage shots. With high winds predicted I figured all the leaves would be off the trees and on the ground soon.

This shot is of a tree in my yard. I love multi colors on a single leaf.

I took a quick trip up to the Canal Street Antiques and bought the chandelier I blogged about in an earlier post.  Now I have to contact the electrician to hang it. Will post a photo when it is up.

Back to the foliage shots, it was actually a disappointing day. Foliage was not that great this year so I had to find other things of interest.  Like this old cemetery in Reading.

Another disappointing foliage shot.

It was getting late and I was starving. I realized it was hours past lunchtime.  So I headed to ZuZu's Cafe for a second visit to this little cafe. The food here is fantastic!  I am thinking of using their catering for my Christmas Soiree!

I love their menu, so many choices! Shocking for such a little place.  My goal is to try every item on the menu.

Last Summer, I came here for lunch and sat outside.  They have more outside seating than indoor seating.

I opted fot the deep dish quiche. This quite possibly was the best quiche I ever had.  Spinach, feta, red pepper, yum!  It was mile high yet light.

And there was a lovely view from my table. Aw, there's some foliage!

And here are the tables used for outdoor dining.  Friday was a blustery day.  I don't know what the wind chill was but it felt like sub zero.  I could tell it was going to snow soon.

The wrought iron chairs and tables were so cute! It is so pleasant to sit here in Summer.

Almost next door to ZuZu's is a cool little antique store called Wakefield Uncommon. I spoke with the owner and asked permission to take some shots. She was happy to oblige.

There are three small rooms in the building.  A number of dealers share the space.  Seemed everything I picked up belonged to vendor #99. Whoever she is she has excellent taste!

Loved the little beaded purse.

Displays were nicely arranged. Loved the lamps and the blue and white theme.

This lamp also caught my eye. Although honestly I have plenty of lamps. I always seem to be drawn to them. I don't know why.

 A nice collection of evening bags.  These would be pretty just for display in a bedroom.

 What a lovely screen.  I need one but this one is too pretty for my purposes.  ( I need one to hide a cat litter box).

Another one of the rooms in the shop.  Love the chair and the paint color!

I did pick up a few items at Wakefield Uncommon, a Victorian tray, a book and a cameo.

A very nice day off I would say.  I will be back to Wakefield soon.  It is easy access for me, about 10 minutes from where I live. 

Thankfully last night's snowstorm and high winds did not do any damage to my condo.  I did have to take several detours due to downed branches across roads today.  Some people in the state still do not have power. I just heard on the news 640,000 people are still without heat and electricity.  I hope the problem is resolved soon.

This snowstorm was just way too early!

Pumpkin Crazy

Just some quickie photos of some of my Fall decor.  Yes, I am pumpkin crazy this year! All of the pumpkins are fake.  The bird cage is from a yard sale. The trophy from an antique store. This is the top of the bookcase in my hallway.

Yay, I just received the velvet pumpkins I ordered recently. I selected the set with non-traditional pumpkin colors. I think they are so adorable. I just hope no real pumpkins were harmed in the making of the velvet ones.  Those are real pumpkin stems you know!  I got this scale at Todd Farm (see prior post). This is on the kitchen counter at the caffeination station for now.

This pumpkin sits atop a mercury glass candleholder in my dining room.

                       I see a theme going on here. This scale is from Brissonte in North Reading.

                                     
                         Small candles atop candlesticks from Pier 1, living room.
                              

                                                   

                        The last of the pumpkins!  This one and it's identical twin (not pictured here) flank the living room television.  The TV will be wall mounted one of these days.  I bought the runner from my friend Kim at our recent yard sale. I will post about that at another time.