Forced to Shop

Oh, it was a tough job last week, but I was forced to shop all day! I know...it's really rough, but somebody has to do it. We needed to find some desks for 2 extra offices that we have in our suite, so me & the HR Manager set out to find some. We hit a local furniture place that sells new & used furniture & found the perfect desks to fill these spaces. We are still getting ready for that big Open House next week, so we're trying to get everything in place. We needed a few more pieces to complete our suite. So, we went downtown & to nearby Homewood to a place called SoHo Interiors. This is such an interesting store, so I took some pics to show you around.
Quite the eye candy in here. This place is definitely not thrifty, but fun to look at anyway.
They have very unusual things that you don't see everywhere else.
And they are ready for Fall & getting ready for Christmas.
We loved these Holiday trees and natural green moss balls & I think we'll go back & get a few things for our reception area.

This is tree branches all adorned with Christmas balls. This was so pretty!
More pretty vignettes.
Here's the Christmas table closeup. I just love all of this & am getting more ideas for my own home decorating.
Artichokes and pomegranites....love those too!
Gourds & fruit

Love the aquas in this pic.
This is another store in Homewood called the Royal Standard & they also have some neat things. These are paper mache trashcans & trays with monograms. They were very reasonably priced & I just thought they were the cutest. Wouldn't these make great Christmas gifts. The trashcans were on sale for $21, which I thought was great.
We ended up buying this piece for one of the conference rooms. It was from a store called Harmony Landing. It's a neat store too that I told you about last time I went shopping in Homewood. We were so happy that we found something & got it all done in one day. It really looks great in the space too. You should have seen us loading this in the back of her SUV & unloading it at the office all by ourselves. Girl power!
We went in a warehouse space that was across the street from the office furniture place we went in. They carry all sorts of used furniture too & this was a liquidation sale from the old Tutwiler Hotel here in B'ham. Evidently, they bought all the old furniture in there & are selling it rock bottom. I loved this little nightstand & am seriously considering going back to get one for one of my guestrooms. It's only $19.95, so a great deal & it actually looks like wood. I would paint it black. UPDATE: I went back today & bought this nightstand. It's definitely a real deal! See how many they have?? And they have all sorts of other pieces too like that that are very reasonably priced. I'll let you know if I get it. It would look great painted black. I think it's adorable.

Another update I wanted to share with you....remember the table with chairs that I found for my hubby's office here?? Well, I sold the chairs on Craigslist for $25, so the total for his desk ended up being $25. How's that for a deal?

So, just in case you were wondering....my job is still great! How often can you tell someone that you had to shop all day & get paid for it? I'll take that any day!

Homewood & A Very Happy Birthday

Today is my dear hubby's birthday (Happy 48th Birthday, dear Peter...he loves to tease me about being 50 already, the brat!). Working Girl was busy last night making his favorite chocolate cake. I cheated & bought a yellow box cake, but made the frosting from scratch. This is his favorite cake. We'll celebrate tonight with his mom & grandma & have New York style pizza, salad, & this wonderful chocolate cake. It's been an eating frenzy this week....keep reading.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes on my new job! I appreciate it SO much. My first week has been a whirlwind & things are going well! I'm really enjoying the job & I think I will really settle in & be very happy there. That breakfast I mentioned was Thursday & OMIGOSH...was it wonderful. The mother of one of the guys in the office wanted to bring breakfast to all of us & she did a fantastic job with it all. I heard she really enjoys baking & did she have a spread....homemade quiche, mini pecan muffins (which we all LOVED & want the recipe), huge fruit tray, roll-up sandwiches, bagels, biscuit & sausage, pound cake, & coconut cake. It was more like brunch & we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I asked them if we were going to get this every week...cause I love to eat! :)

To celebrate my new job last week, I met up with Tricia & Sandy (2 of my empty nester girlfriends) & they took me to lunch at a great place called Prairie Fire Grill (had fabulous crab cake salads & the most delicious bread pudding for dessert). I should have taken pics! Then we went to Homewood for the afternoon. Homewood is another older part of Birmingham that is very charming, fun to shop, & a great place to hang out with the girls. I now work 5 minutes from here, so will be able to get out at lunch & browse if I want to. It's very charming with old fashioned type shops. You park on the street, like the old days and walk around. Just like we used to shop back when towns were smaller & we had main streets or squares with lots of neat shops...remember that? Yes, before malls were born. Don't get me started on malls.
These 2 shops are my favorite down here: At Home & Harmony Landing
These are 2 houses we passed in the neighborhood. This is a very desirable neighborhood to live it, because it's so close to downtown B'ham. Also pricey!
Aren't these cute Spanish bungalows?

This is inside the At Home store. They have all sorts of furniture, accessories, light fixtures, dishes & glassware...all sorts of things for the home. They are more rustic in feel.
Some pretty pieces of furniture & lamps.
Table settings done very creatively & colorfully.
A bed is all made up for showing.
Basket of pretty turquoise balls. I picked these up, but never figured out what they are made of.

Lamps in a vignette.
Tricia (L) & Sandy (R), two very sweet gals that I've met since I moved here. Can you believe that Tricia is 60?! I was in shock when she had her birthday in the spring & told us her age. She looks fantastic. She will probably kill me for telling her age, but I can't get over it.
Me & Sandy...ooooo, that's a bad pic of me (my hair is not cooperating this month!). Sandy & I are the same height, but she's a skinny little thing, about 2 sizes smaller than me. Check out her arms, she does competitive water-skiing & that girl has some strong arms & legs...and a tan all the time. She's from CA & just moved here last year. I think she's had to adjust to the South just a little bit. Frontdoor of Harmony Landing.
They sell rugs by the foot.

More beautiful vignettes.
Garden accessories & florals. They make custom florals, very pretty.
More florals
Entry table with florals & lamps.
Cupboard.

Another store out on the sidewalk. This is a rustic lodge store.
Three Sheets is a really nice linen/bedding shop.
Lamp repair shop. This store is crammed full of lamps & lamp parts.
Soho Sweets.
So cute inside & they have homemade ice cream. Yummy!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of Homewood. It's a fun place to shop too so if you get a chance...GO! This is not the place for bargains, but a great place to look.

We are having a major heatwave this week (over 100 everyday this week). September can't get here soon enough for me!