antiquing on the cape

despite the rain, we did have a great time this past weekend as we took a nice drive down route 6 to our favorite antique shop on the cape. there are actually bajillions of antique places on this particular stretch of route 6, but the Antiques Center of Cape Cod is my favorite as they have three whole barn fulls of gloriousness! makes me miss all my years of working in the antique shop while growing up in michigan.

for myself i picked up this double strand of faux pearls (which i got for next to nothing!) and Blackie's The Girl's Companion Guide. I can't find a publication date but there is a beautiful handwritten dedication in the front noting it was given as a gift to Kathleen from her grandma for Christmas in 1947.


it's quite the entertaining book that's a compendium of sorts for girls on etiquette, ballroom dancing steps, hostess duties, instructions in all sorts of household arts, as well as nature guides, and rules/technique for every sport imaginable. reminds me of something the american girl doll molly might have owned and i couldn't resist it's charm!


john also picked up a couple books but his big find was this leather bound volume of browning's poem's for just $10! the cover is in pretty rough shape but the gilding on the front is so lovely and the pages appear to be almost untouched. someday i'd love to have a whole library room full of books like this with built in shelves, massive oak desks, green reading lamps, and my own card catalogue system (yes i am that ocd). at the rate we're going, we're almost there with the number of books we own...just missing the library room...but i can dream!

death by chocolate (but i lived to tell the story)

coffee and a slice of flourless chocolate cake at Kramer's in Dupont Circle

It got so warm in DC this weekend, it felt like a perfect spring day with joggers in shorts and birds in the trees again. I have missed having a real winter but goodness, i hope it stays this way! since it was so nice we stopped at Kramer's, our favorite cafe/local bookstore, for some browsing but ended up eating this flourless chocolate cake, otherwise known as 'Death by Chocolate.' soooo divine, soooo not part of my plan to lose weight...oops! At least we did a lot of walking around the city that day though. We ended up finding a great used bookstore up on 18th and walked home in the fading light of evening with our arms filled up with all that bookery-goodness! I even found a christmas present for someone!! yup, i am that person.

Besides the jaunting about, I made stew from scratch on Sunday evening which of course meant we had to pop in The Lord of the Rings; they just go together i tell you! I was also able to get a lot done this weekend work-wise. I'm very pleased with that as it means I'll have new items to post to the shop throughout the week: some new, some favorites, and some great vintage finds! So keep your eyes peeled! Or just open, that is also acceptable.