Thursday 2 October 2014

House Swap Holiday in New England: the shopping!

I cannot tell a lie, I do love to shop. Be it for clothes, furniture, books, or even groceries, I enjoy the browsing, the choosing and the buying. And in the USA I love to shop even more - there is just so much choice and so, of course, my bag came back bulging at the seams and only just shy of its maximum weight limit of 50lb. 

Here's a glimpse of what the kitchen table looked like when I started to unpack my haul.
Then I stacked some of it neatly on the side.
Here are the books. All are cozy crime; got to get my fix while Stateside since they are harder to come by in the UK; best thing was that most of them were second hand - got to love a bargain or 18...)
And here they are in alphabetical order...
Some beauty products; good to stock up on the Clinique while going through duty free and Aer Lingus had a great deal on the perfume that I've been wanting to buy for ages, so I couldn't say no. The Aveda box set is destined to be a gift (no one specific in mind but it looked so nice that I couldn't resist; however, I may find it difficult to part with...)

A selection of clothes; shirt on the left for me, t-shirts for DC. We also bought him a coat which I forgot to add to the line-up, and several more t-shirts. Spoilt.

Craft/home/migraine-solving items

And let's not forget the food stuffs...
Jars of sweet and savoury goodness from the fabulous Stonewall Kitchen. It's fair to say that these jars and the books are probably what added most to the suitcase weight issue.
Savoury goodies. 
Biscuit-shaped goodness.
Chocolate-coated goodness.
Gooey, pouring/spreading goodness.
And a couple of seasonal additions to the home. I already collect the Department 56 Dickens Village series of figures and buildings, and I've wanted to collect the Hallowe'en series for a while so I thought I'd make a start with this little chap.
Plus, of course, some Christmas decorations to add to our ever-growing collection. The one on the far right is of a covered bridge, something you see quite a lot of in New Hampshire and Vermont.
And finally, a little something for the walls. This is a giclee print by the American artist Sabra Field. Hubby and I spotted this when we were looking through the window of a gallery in Woodstock one evening; the gallery was shut at the time so we went back the next day for a closer look and fell in love with several of her prints. In the end we settled for this one which is entitled 'Snow on Snow on Snow.' Apologies for the pretty feeble photos, but I find it really tricky to get a good shot of anything that's framed because the light just bounces off the glass.

 I also picked up this print when Mum & I visited The House of the Seven Gables in Salem; it reminds me of the cover of a cozy crime book and I thought it would look good in the snug. One day I might actually get round to buying a frame for it and hanging it on the wall.
And that's it! Congratulations on making it to the end of this post (especially if shopping isn't really your thing.)

4 comments:

  1. Good grief you must have muscles like Popeye hauling that lot back! I really like the Salem print.

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  2. Love shopping too, but not grocery shopping. Our bags look like yours when we come back from England.

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  3. Forgot to say how much I liked your winter print.

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  4. Gosh you brought so much food home with you!! I love the print, it's beautiful

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