The Stillroom

My brother’s bar is open for business in Bethel Park! If you find yourself in that neck of the woods, stop in and have one of the excellent in -house brewed beers and really great pizza! The Drowning Fish has it all!

Saw Elvis at the Paramount in Portland. He opened for Bruce. It was Elvis’ first tour of the states. Great, great show🎶

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If I have something to say about the tea shop, like for instance, locally sourced and very cute jumbo jacks are here. They are regulation size jacks in a reproduction tin that will be a great stocking stuffer this holiday season. Or that I just ordered almost the entire line of Claire Burke fragrances. And no, it’s not too early to order holiday goodies in September. In the world of retail, shops are in holiday mode. I am actually late to the game. Some say too soon, I say it’s more about anticipation!

Anyhow, the picture I posted is a little box I found at a souvenir shop in Cape May a few years ago. It’s pretty tiny but beautiful. I keep cool buttons in it. It is obviously a pretty octopus on the lid.

This leads me to calamari. I really like calamari when it’s done right and there’s aren’t too many places that nail it. The last place I had it closed a few years ago.

Then, I watched My Octopus Teacher on Netflix.

I will never eat calamari again.

The End

Finally, after ripping the back splash tile off of the walls, I got some wallpapering done. Doing like a crazy woman before my carpal tunnel situation is resolved.

I had to lay on the counter tops to get the match just right. I love this paper! It’s coming back, baby!

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This is a tough loss for anyone who enjoys laughing.

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Rip Norm Macdonald. I had the pleasure of seeing him at the Laugh Factory and he was hilarious. I think he was one of the funniest comedians ever. This is sad news. 🥲

No explanation needed!

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This

Twenty years ago today was the day of The Stillroom Gift & Tea shop’s grand opening.

I was on my way. The September sky was beautiful that morning, as they almost always are.

Crisp air, blue sky and puffy clouds.

I had my radio tuned in to Howard Stern when I heard Ba Ba Booey break in to say a plane crashed into one of the twin towers.

(My husband and son were at the top of those towers just a few months prior).

I wasn’t sure exactly what it was I was hearing. I went in to the shop not really knowing the extent of what was happening and I honestly don’t remember much of how I went about the next hour or so other than it was eerily quiet.

I closed up, locked the door and drove back home only to witness the rest of the terror on tv.

My son was eleven at the time. When he visited the towers on his trip, he stood at the very bottom of the Trade Center and leaning against the building and looking up the side, he snapped several pictures. Because he had that wonderful experience, he also had the capacity to grasp the severity of what happened.

To this day, when I look up at the sun splashed September sky in late summer, I am still overtaken by an overwhelming feeling of sadness and grief mixed with pride in how we all banded together as one country.

Helping in any possible way we could, politics be damned.

I love gathering my fall finds for those little extra touches in the shop! This is one of my favorites so far. This will be on the shelf next week!