YUM O!

We had a fabulous lunch Saturday at Felinni's in downtown Norfolk, VA. We split a Greek salad with grilled chicken on top and an order of focaccia. Greek salad is a particular favorite of mine. Their Greek salad is one of my top two favorites in the area.

Felinni's is my favorite kind of place...local, independent...not a chain! Felinni's does something very interesting with their sun-dried tomatoes that I really like. They reconstitute them in boiling water and then add them to salads. Try this, it is quite delicious.

For more information about Felinni's and to see a menu, visit them at

http://www.fellinisva.com

Christmas Trip to Richmond

Piper, Bruce and I drove up to Richmond for a trip to the Carytown neighborhood. We went to a few very interesting stores. One store sold only spices. The next sold only beads. Our final stop was 10,000 Villages, which sells fair-trade goods from all over the world.

Junking Surprise...October Moon in November

Some days are just serendipitous and your spirit often seems to know it is coming. For several days, I'd felt a prompting, a whisper, a little bird in my ear telling me to go to that junk store over behind the Suburban Pharmacy. I think it is part of having the junque gene in your DNA.

This internal prompting puzzled me a little, because the last time I'd been in that store, it depressed me. It was really downright cold and raw inside. The store was unkempt, dirty and the stock didn't look like it had changed since 1972.

YOU know what I mean. Not cool, dusty junque, but rather nasty old plastic drinking glasses, sad rusted metal walkers with tennis balls on the bottom and broken down furniture And not the broken down charming kind you can transform. No cool chairs with a carved back and the seat missing where you can put a geranium in a pot in the empty seat and set it next to the fence...just broken down. The kind that makes you feel sorta creepy. So why the urge to go the the old vintage store? It probably was still closed, I thought, as it had been for years.

The pictures above are of the reborn vintage store, October Moon. What a wonderful surprise! Sadie and Buttons (so-named because people said she was as cute as a buttonm when she was little) were glad to help me. I picked up a sweet vintage flower print in a wonderful frame which I'll show you in another post. I'm debating about painting the frame. I'm so glad that little bird put a "bug in my ear."

Please note the chairs that I have pictured above with the close up on the seat. The chair's seat is woven from old ties! Buttons told me that a gentleman from Connecticut restores these chairs and she couldn't live without them for the shop. They are spectacular. Some much more crafty person than I am who might be reading this should be able to apply this idea to a multitude of other applications.

I love a good vintage, junking day!

Field Trip - McDonald's Garden Center - Now is the time to plant pansies

I love McDonald's Garden Center. It is right next door to the more familar McDonald's, the Golden Arches in Chesapeake VA. McDonald's is a small chain of three stores. They decorate magificently for every season and it is soothing the the soul to browse among the fruit trees, herbs and roses in the Spring. My favorite time, though, is Autumn. You can see why in the picture above. McDonald's staff is very knowledgeable and generous with suggestions and advice. It is one of those places where I feel happy just to walk in the door.

http://www.mcdonaldgardencenter.com/

Bowman's Is A Magical Place

Sarah Sparrow supervising while Nora Spotted Dog checks a price for me. Any business with a resident dog is tops in my book.

Bowman's Garden Center is one of those magical places that makes me feel happy every time I step across the threshhold. Bowman's used to be a 7-11. I'm not a big fan of 7-11, apologies to all those Slim Jim and Slurpee fans out there. Bowman's magic took over on Green Street years ago, so all you can still see of the convenience store is the brick facade. There isn't a Slurpee in sight and you can't buy lottery tickets.

Behind Nora Spotted Dog in the top pic is one of my favorite people on earth, Sarah. My friend Pat calls her Sarah Sparrow. That isn't her last name, but I like it better than the one she has, a leftover from a husband who was very cruel years ago. However, Sarah is quick, darting and British, so Sarah Sparrow suits her,. Sarah designs exquisite floral arrangements, particularly the ones she lovingly prepares for the church altar each week. One Thanksgiving she decorated with artisan breads, fruits and vegetables..it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

As you can see, the colors in Bowmn's are wonderful, as are the display fixtures. Rich Bowman, the owner, has a careful eye for staging and detail. There are no metal stands of any kind leftover from the old 7-11. Rather he uses things like old shutters, armoires and chippy white painted shelving to display things to their best advantage.

I'm bananas for this blue background.

This bureau with the vintage mirror is also to die for.

These Mardi Gras mummers mask owls speak to me. I'm not sure what I'd do with them, being a little old to go out Trick or Treating... I think they might startle Bruce.

Here's a Bowman's spot which invites me to just pick up a book and sit and read for a while. The staff might think it odd, however. On the other hand, I think the staff already knows that I'm odd.

Please note the invitation for "free broom rides." I don't know about you, but aren't there certain times when you're in the car fighting traffic that you think that a broom might be a more appropriate mode of transportation...just based on your witchy disposition alone?



I think the sepia tones in this area of Bowman's are just lovely. This isn't a color which I typically gravitate to, but in this case, it just makes me think, "Harvest."

If you are in the Portsmouth, VA area, drop by Bowman's, 315 Green Street, Olde Towne, Portsmouth, 757-393-2070. You'll feel happy just walking in. Perhaps Rich will offer you a cucumber (yes, I said cucumber) soda or a latte. That special gift of hand made jewelry for a dear friend may be waiting for you. Sarah Sparrow will be happy to wait on you, just tell her Annie sent you.