creatures, treasures, and stately homes

It's no wonder it takes us so long to get projects done around the house...when Brian has a once-in-awhile Saturday off, we take off on a little day trip! If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know we love going to Evanston, a large, culturally-rich city right by Chicago. We not only love this city because of all the many cool shops and restaurants, but we also enjoy eyeballing the beautiful homes and relaxing in the park by Lake Michigan. Not to mention, Brian grew up in Evanston, so a little piece of his heart is still there.

We walked around at an outdoor art fair for awhile, then visited some favorite shops. One was a pet shop, where this lop-eared bunny was freely hopping around. He was up for adoption, but we passed. Been there, done that with a rabbit as a pet. They're sweet and fun, but very messy. Which also equals a lot of work.

He was one chill bunny!

I found Betty the turtle under the heat lamps. Usually, she's wandering the pet store, too. Though I stay out of her way. I'm not fond of turtles. I'm a little bit afraid of them.

The resident cat, Will was taking a snooze.

In the cages, they had a breed of rat called dumbo-eared rats - obvious reason. I think they're adorable! We had rats as pets twice when our boys were growing up. They are actually sweet and friendly, like attention, and can be trained to do tricks. They don't bite like hamsters and gerbils either. (We tried those as pets, too.) Unfortunately, they don't live long (only a couple of years; three at the most) and are prone to tumors.

Saw these shoes in the window of a shoe store. I love cats, but I think this is a little much! Though if I were a teenager or in my early 20's, I'd think about it. 

Another stop: the independent bookstore. This is the cookbook section, and there's even another shelf behind where I was standing.

And, of course, a trip to Evanston wouldn't be complete without a stop at our favorite vintage shop, Secret Treasures. I came home with three small treasures - this pretty tea towel, which I'm using on my kitchen table...

and which Monkey and Clementine immediately approved of.

I also found this small, covered butterprint Pyrex dish, which matched my two butterprint bowls.

Last, but not least, I couldn't believe I found a Gregg shorthand book. Who remembers learning - and using - shorthand? Taking dictation? I do. I hated it. I took classes in community college, then used it only a couple of times at work. However, it did come in handy for writing private thoughts in my diary, especially when I knew my sister was snooping. ;-)

On our way to the lake, I had Brian pull over so we stroll the sidewalk and take photos of some of the beautiful houses. If you like house eye candy as much as I do, click here for a previous blog post where I featured some more gorgeous Evanston houses and gardens. I'll let the photos do the talking...

The iron gate on the house was amazing.

An apartment building, not a house, but I thought these balcony flowers were so pretty. 

At last, we made it to the lake. Lake Michigan. Or "The Michigan Ocean", as Brian jokingly calls it. The water was so calm and endlessly beautiful.

Sometimes, projects can wait.

warmth and cheer

 These past few days have been brutally cold, with wind chills as low as -25F. I always know that when I see the little igloo icon on my phone's weather app, that we're in trouble. Brian had the weekend off, but the cold didn't keep us indoors. We had a lot of errands to run, so off we went. On Sunday, we visited a friend in the hospital which is in a town that we haven't been to in years. This town has a few of my favorite shops, so despite the cold, we braved a few more stops. I can never resist browsing in an independent bookstore.

We also ducked into Sur La Table. A cook's paradise! They even had a kitchen in back of their store where you can take cooking classes. I'm a good cook and can both follow a recipe and make dishes up on my own. But there's still a few things I've never tried and think it'd be cool to learn, such as making pasta and Asian dishes.

How would you like to own your own little coffee-shop-in-one-machine? I nearly fell over when I saw the price. Sheesh, this thing had better give you a back rub, too!

That coffee machine isn't going home with me anytime soon (OK, how about never - not that I'd even want that in my house), but the red ceramic utensil holder on clearance for $8 was doable.

Speaking of cooking, I also stopped in Penzeys, which is a spice shop. I only needed two spices: the Italian Herb Mix and saffron. The jar of air-dried shallots was free, as I had a coupon from a promotional email. They have high-quality spices and herbs and the prices are good, too. 

Back at home...spring-like flowers bring warmth and cheer to my living room. I also have a bouquet on the kitchen table. A budget buy at $3.99 for a bouquet at Trader Joes.

New towels were needed in the main bath, so sticking with cheery, I chose a hot pink hand towel to "pop" against the gray. The wall art is from Hobby Lobby from several years ago.

To warm and fill up our tummies, I've been making a lot of homemade soups. I try to keep a container of soup in the fridge all the time, as it makes for a perfect quick lunch (for me at home, or for Brian to take to work) or light dinner.

But, the other day I wanted to make something different and also wanted to use what I had on-hand. I had a few organic russet potatoes that needed to be used up, as well as some leftover meatloaf in the freezer. So, I made a Shepherd's Pie. It was easy and so delicious! I started put by putting frozen veggies in the bottom of a greased baking dish. All I had was green beans, peas and corn, but you can use whatever you have. Carrots would be delicious in this dish. I then layered on big chunks of defrosted meatloaf and sprinkled the meat and veggies with a little beef broth. I made a pot of mashed potatoes and smoothed them over the meat. Then I sprinkled the top with shredded cheddar cheese. Into the oven the dish went for about 1/2 hour at 350F. 

Brian and I were both saying we weren't very hungry that night, but when this dish came out of the oven, lust of the eyes and flesh took over and we dove in.

We ended up eating almost half the pie. ;-)

day trip ~ retro kitchen cart and suitcase

This past Saturday proved to be one of those beautiful spring days, plus Brian had a rare day off work. We took a little day trip to one of our favorite spots: the city of Evanston, right outside Chicago. We met up with my mom at Secret Treasures ~ our favorite Chicagoland antique shop. I don't think I've ever walked out of this place empty-handed. And that's not as "bad" as it sounds. The prices at this shop are way more than fair.

Secret Treasures carries a little bit of everything vintage...furniture, kitchen items, cookbooks, ephemera, linens, McCoy pottery, artwork, cameras, flatware, jewelry, toys, knick knacks and tons of dishes.

 

Two things really caught my eye this time though: this yellow suitcase and the kitchen cart. Mom was crushing on both of these items too, but I arm wrestled her for them.

Just kidding.

 

The shop owner was putting out more items and when she put out this cart, Mom snagged this one up! It's a smaller dimension than mine, which made it the perfect size for where Mom wanted it in her kitchen.

 

 After shopping, we had lunch at the always cool and funky restaurant, The Lucky Platter. 

This place has the most fabulous, fresh homemade food. I had the black bean burger which was so filling, I could only eat half of it. Brian had the portabella mushroom burger, which you can see in the background.

 

Another must-stop place for us in Evanston is Bookends and Beginnings.

Just follow the footprints down the alley...

 

Yes, please.

 

My love (besides the books)...

 After shopping at the bookstore, we took a walk in the sunshine by Lake Michigan.

 So now back to the home front. Here's that kitchen cart in all its vintage glory.

 I think it fits in my kitchen perfectly and I like that it gives me storage space, too.

Just so you can see the difference, here's what my kitchen looked like before. That butlers table on the left is now in my office. And coincidentally enough, the butlers table was also from Secret Treasures!

 

As for the yellow suitcase, I'm still playing with it. For right now, I have it stacked on a chest in my living room as sort of a coffee table.

 At first, I had it in the center of the rug as a coffee table, but you couldn't put your feet up on it while sitting on the sofa. Brian and I both like a table or ottoman where we can put our feet up. So then I pushed the suitcases to the side and put an ottoman next to them. Not too keen on this look ~ though the cats rather add to the ambiance.

 I'm going to continue to play with different arrangements; perhaps moving the floor lamp and stacking suitcases in this corner.

To be continued!

 Enjoy this beautiful day.