Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween! Hope you are all enjoying your day. I am off to a bit of a late start today because I needed to pick Vivi up from Mother's house. She is going out to lunch with a friend who is not a big pet person so she thought it would be easier if Vivi were not there. Mother said she would come pick Vivi up when she was finished with lunch. She drove on her own for the first time yesterday, down the street to Vail Street Market to get more Halloween candy. I know everyone loved Arlington Alfresco but we are glad it has wrapped up for the year. Now Vail is open all the way through and it is much easier to get around. Also, there is more street parking available. I have my jewelry repairs done in town so I go there quite often.
Not too long after that, Francelia and Alfredo came all the way up north to help me get my new office furniture from the garage to the basement. The long low dresser was tricky but we were barely able to get down there. I have really been missing work surfaces and storage since I moved the office furniture to Scottsdale so I am glad to have something in the photography area. Here are a couple of quick snaps:
This furniture is by American of Martinsville designed by Merton Gershun, it is called the Dania collection. I have a soft spot for this collection because it was offered at the first sale I ever conducted for anyone, which was for the mother of our friend and fellow artist Beth in Lake Bluff. I did not know what this furniture was when I first saw it, all I knew is that I loved it. After giving the customers their proper chance to purchase, there were no takers so I bought it. I still have the credenza in my office. I since learned that the original legs as shown here were missing and someone had put bun feet on it. Several years ago I had more style appropriate wooden legs added and had the outside of the case painted a cream color, leaving the door and drawer fronts their natural walnut color. I purchased the matching display cabinet at Broadway Antique Market and found a coordinating desk on Etsy. The other two pieces are painted with the cream and burnt orange accents. I love this furniture and do not think I will ever tire of it. Although the new furniture is from the same line, it was factory painted totally black which is a completely different look. I have never seen the all black before, only flat doors in black. Anyway, the all black is a perfect match for the basement. I have a feeling it will stay down there for life! Next time Francelia and Alfredo come to town, they will bring me the glass tops. Mother and I are probably of the very few who like glass tops on their furniture. They really do protect the pieces and make them easier to clean. Over the years I have had glass tops made for all of my furniture in my bedroom, office and living room. Once things are settled in Scottsdale I will get them for there too.
The ladies in Kildeer started the Halloween festivities early on Saturday. Shout out to Nicole for bringing the head wear and enough spider rings to give out to the kids! To be honest, I have not been into Halloween since I was a kid. With a major sweet tooth, I was all about going out to get as much candy as possible. Having grandparents in the Milwaukee area was an advantage as well, in Wauwatosa where they lived trick or treat hours were always on a Sunday afternoon, regardless of when Halloween day fell. In Park Ridge, it was always on the actual day so most years we got to trick or treat twice! Mother was always very creative and one year I wanted nothing more than to dress up as a Schnauzer for Halloween. However my vision of a Schnauzer costume was very different than Mother's. I wanted a full fur suit with a head to match! I never did get the Schnauzer costume. I cannot remember too many of my costumes but I do remember being a nurse one year and Wonder Woman another. I think Wonder Woman is a great representation of girl power!
On Friday Kuochun and I took a trip out to our upcoming Algonquin sale location to deliver 9 tables. On the way back we decided to grab a bite to eat. Whenever we are outside of our area I like to try restaurants that we cannot get back home. We came across Syrup which looked great but it was nearly 2:00 and they close at 2:30. I was afraid it was too late but after more driving around until 2:09 we decided to just give it a shot as the parking lot was still pretty full. We are so glad we did, it was fantastic! Syrup is a great-looking restaurant with such a clean, modern style and the menu is huge. Kuochun has been in a bagels and lox mood lately and Syrup's version caught my eye because it was under Specialties with a box drawn around it. There was not time to look over the whole menu but I decided to go with the mini flight of Belgian waffles which was banana cinnamon, lemon curd, chocolate chip bacon and strawberry cream. We shared an order of breakfast potatoes as well. The amount and quality of food was amazing for the price - Kuochun's was $16.50 and he got two meals out of it, mine was $13.50 and I believe the potatoes were only $3.00. The bagels and lox are underneath all of the argula! The staff was very friendly and gracious, they never rushed us. Our server even gave me a water in a to-go cup without me even asking. We will definitely be back again the next time we are in the area. Actually, Kuochun will need to go back again this coming week to take final photos so I said you can never go to Algonquin again without going to Syrup!
I did not have the chance to post any jewelry for sale online but I just made a nice buy of fabulous Native American jewelry over the weekend. This is a new source and I am excited to give him a try to see how things go. I let him know about my other jewelry interests and he put together a lot of sterling silver estate jewelry for me as well. The estate jewelry was a great deal so I will be able to pass the savings along. The package should be arriving this week! Above is a sneak peek, this is not everything but a good sampling.
I am actually into Monday crunch time now so I will sign off for this week!