Stopped into this Japanese Antique store in the South End today. I think the store is new because I haven’t been able to find a website or listing for it anywhere. It’s on the corner of Harrison Ave. and E. Berkeley St and they have a beautiful collection!
Couldn’t let a little rain stop me from coming out to the first SoWa Open Market of the year. Per usual, lots of incredible art, jewelry, crafts, furniture and food. Snapped a few photos as I walked around the market. I’m resolving to make this a regular occurrence this year.
Strawberry shortcake mini cupcake, courtesy of Whipped Urban Cupcake Co. – amazing.
The vintage section of the market was probably my favorite part. No purchases today but I will for sure be coming back.
Had to bring home some goodies. These Corn & Co popcorn flavors were delicious.
On Sunday I visited the SoWa Holiday Market for the first time. Although I’d heard good things I arrived with pretty low expectations. I’ve been to other holiday craft markets and was envisioning a collection of kind of chotchkie ornaments and snow globes. I have to say that I was SO pleasantly surprised by the quality of really everything at this market. I was actually overwhelmed by how many things I loved and wanted. I kept myself in check and only made two purchases but the damage could have been much worse. Here are just a sampling of the photos I took.
and then the food…
My two purchased items:
a screenprint on vintage newspaper by Nate Murrell
and some gourmet hot chocolate by Yummy Mummy Brownies.
My mom is really good at gardening. Just about every time I visit my parents (which is really often) she has a new plant or two and they’re always thriving. It seems though, that a “green thumb” is not a genetic trait since I genuinely cannot keep a plant alive. I’ve made a habit of keeping cut flowers in my apartment because I really do love the energy they add to a space. Even though I no longer try to keep my own live flowers in my home, I am fortunate to live in a neighborhood full of beautiful urban gardens, maintained by those people who don’t kill everything they plant. Because we’re in the city, front lawns are few and far between but flower boxes are really really prevalent.
Over the past weekend I took advantage of what may have been one of the last really mild days and walked around my neighborhood documenting the flower boxes that I saw and liked. I am so envious of these people who are able to enjoy these beautiful little mini-gardens adorning their homes. To numb the pain I also stopped for snacks.
obligatory foliage pic to start the afternoon.
now on to the flower boxes…
the flowers pictured below belong to Mike & Patty’s in the Bay Village. I stopped here for a sandwhich and you should too because it was amazing! pro tip: call ahead to order.
walking is exhausting so I also stopped here for a coffee and a macaron. both were great.
I mentioned in an earlier post that over the summer I moved into an apartment with a boyfriend for the first time. From the moment we signed the lease I was obsessively thinking about what our shared home would look like and how our different collections of belongings would come together. I am a collector by nature and Jared is the same way. I think collections are great and important and the very thing that make a home interesting and unique. That being said, two inherent collectors of things in 675 sq. ft is a design challenge to say the least.
Compounded on top of the so-many-things issue was the fact that our apartment had so much intrinsic character to contend with. The building was constructed in 1910 and was originally a hotel. The molding throughout the apartment is large and ornate. The windowsills are a full foot deep. I would say that my personal taste has leaned toward the more contemporary for quite some time. In such an ornate and historic space a modern, minimalist aesthetic just didn’t make sense.
I’ve spent the past four months trying (with much assistance from Jared) to piece together our belongings in a way that felt true to both of us. I’ve essentially abandoned any attempts at achieving a specific design style in favor of something that feels more eclectic and more like a reflection of our tastes and our stories. We had another couple over for the first time in July after settling in a bit. Both guests remarked that our apartment felt so much like both of us and I’ve realized that this is the real mark of success in building a home. It’s still (and always?) a work in progress but I’m happy to say that we are cultivating an aesthetic of our own which has been infinitely more fun and rewarding than effectively mimicking mid-century modern, or Scandinavian minimalism or industrial loft-style or whatever. 🙂
Here are some images of our apartment.
Living Room
I don’t always decorate with sports memorabilia but when I do it’s to honor The Big 3
Bar cart I DIY’d according to this tutorial.
Kitchen table
littlebitsjournal.com 