Christmas, Connecticut, Holidays, Shopping, Travels

Christmas Shopping With My Traveling Tote

Hello friends of the Traveling Tote Adventures!  Since last we met I understand that my tote, Miss Rosie, took the opportunity to tell you of our summer travels (here)!  She was so pleased with herself that she then retired for the winter to a life of rest and leisure, and my other totes, Miss Posie and Dot, joined me for some fun.  I hope you will visit my short Christmas poem post all about my totes and their adventures (here) which I wrote to you last year!

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It seems that my totes are not only perfect traveling companions but also enjoy shopping with me, and I am going to show you some of our favorite finds.  I am lucky to live near the flagship store of the fabulous dish and glass company, Juliska!  Every fall they hold an enormous tent sale, with unbelievable bargains.  Dot and I were there when the doors opened.

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When I tell you that I met shoppers who had flown in from as far away as Texas and Georgia you will appreciate the extent of the savings! Come up next year and join me.  Dot and I brought home these delights:

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The flagship store is adjacent to the tent sale and we couldn’t resist stopping in.  The Forest Walk line added a few new pieces which inspired my Thanksgiving table this year.

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But Thanksgiving was not the only holiday on my mind!  As you can see from my tent sale purchases, Christmas carols were playing in my head, and then I spied these beauties.  This is a new collection this year, Reindeer Games, with all Santa’s reindeer, Santa and Mrs. Santa!  The tree shaped platter illustrates the Twelve Days of Christmas.  Yes, all came home with us and will be so much fun to use!  Anything I cook will definitely taste better on these appetizer plates!

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Somehow I resisted bringing these home (so far), but if you love tartan for the holidays these serving dishes would be perfect.

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Of course at this time it was still autumn, and Miss Posie and I visited the famous New York Botanical Gardens to see an exhibit of very scary scarecrows and intricately carved pumpkins.  I shared some photos of these wonders here and if you missed them be sure to visit for some inspiration!  Does Miss Posie look worried?

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I must admit that I did not expect the creatures to be quite so intensely wicked and I took refuge in the gift shop.  Truly a delightful shop! You may know that I am an ornament addict.

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Our next trip was to Cape Cod where I celebrated my birthday with family and friends!

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The weather was so brilliant and we were enjoying our time there so much that I had no time whatsoever to shop!  You can see more of my trip, the resort and a lighthouse here.  I’m always refreshed during our trips to the sea.  This salt marsh is on the National Seashore coast of the Cape.

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Once October ends my mind turns without guilt to Christmas plans, and a trip to Yankee Candle’s flagship store in Deerfield, Massachusetts is a good day trip and a great place to find more ornaments.  You may think “candles” when you hear Yankee Candle…

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… but this store is filled with all types of entertaining Christmas joy, including falling snow and moving, singing figures!

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I choose quite a few ornaments from the multiple rooms full of trees.

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I am listening to the Boston Pops Orchestra playing Sleigh Ride as I write, and so I’ll show you a photo of Boston when we went to visit Will for his birthday.  A short three hour car ride takes us to our kids, and to all the historical sites I love.  I’ve shown you this monument to George before, on Dorchester Heights where he and the colonists stood firm to send the British fleeing.  Miss Posie and I were hoping to climb the tower this time, but these glorious gates were firmly locked.

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The view from ground level is amazing, and I would love to see Boston and the harbor from the top!

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I know many of you are Terrain fans and would love to shop with me and Miss Posie!  I must admit that I spend more time than is probably necessary here because it’s just a hop away.  One day we went in to look at things like these decoupaged pumpkins for my Thanksgiving table:

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or maybe these with succulents hot glued to the top.

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Of course we saw some other things that went into my basket for Christmas gifts.

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Ornaments were already beginning to appear!  Be sure to notice the little basket filled with bee skeps!

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The decor is so beautiful here and I felt extremely joyful when I saw the trees going up!  I must take you on a full tour!  Would you like that?

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I was happy to see so much red in the store this year!  Much more color than in recent years!!

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And of course if there is red, there must be green!

~~  l o v e  ~~

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~~  more to love ~~

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Can you see Miss Posie and me reflected in these sparkly vases?  Double click and it will grow!

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Oh dear.  My dear deer.  I am happy to report that we were not asked to leave in spite of the reindeer games.

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As much as I love Terrain, there is another store nearby where Miss Posie and I have been a few times, and where ~~ my heart skips a beat, my heart skips a beat ~~

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The Container Store.

Three words that bring joy to my heart!  And since my playlist is now on The Nutcracker Suite I’ll start our visit here by showing you these gift bags:

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And some ornaments to match!

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Wrapping paper, ornaments, and ways to organize them, all in one place!!

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By color, or by theme.

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Ideas for matching paper and ribbons:

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And inspiration for bows!

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After we tore ourselves away from the wrappings we nearly fainted from excitement:

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I never leave without a carload of goodies, but I would be better off with the real life version of this cutie to carry it all:

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I’m always pretty sure that gifts from this store will not be returned, but just in case I added these to my cart.

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Now how can I be so far behind in my shopping after all of these expeditions with my wonderful tote?  I’m now listening to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and yes, I will, but before then I have several trips planned, one to Colonial Williamsburg to see the Christmas decorations, and a few into NYC to see the musical show “Holiday Inn” and drool over the windows on Fifth Avenue!  My tote, Miss Posie, will definitely join me and I will try to post some photos from those adventures for you to enjoy!

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We are all having so much fun with this silly idea of our Traveling Totes, and indeed I think we may be having more fun off-blog, sharing our lives and thoughts and getting to know each other, so if you have a Tote and would like to join our wonderful group just let one of us know!  We even had a Secret Tote Santa Swap of an ornament which we gathered on one of our Tote Adventures!  I love to get surprises in the real mail!!  My Secret Santa was Rita from Panoply and I was soooo delighted to open my box to find this ornament from her cross-country trip, hand painted with a hummingbird!!!!!!

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 Just absolutely perfect for me!!!!!  THANK YOU so much, Rita!  I LOVE it!!!

Please be sure to visit the other Ladies of the Traveling Totes to see where they have been!

patti     rita     debbie     emily     sarah

And don’t miss Debbie’s wonderful giveaway!  I wish I could win it because … well, look at it!!

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  I promise to be back with another post for Christmas so I’ll just wish you a Merry December for now!

Is your Christmas shopping finished?  And did you see anything you liked from my tote shopping adventures?

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Linda 🙂

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18 thoughts on “Christmas Shopping With My Traveling Tote

  1. My dear Linda… In my next life, I want to come back as Rosie! What fabulous adventures she has had thanks to you. Love ALL the stores you stopped in. My heart went pitter patter the minute that I eyed those reindeer plates. Terrain looks like a utopia of great gifts and accessories. I haven’t been to a Container Store since I left Texas. I don’t know where one is located in Mass. Thanks for the shopping expedition and I hope to meet you in person on one of your Boston jaunts. Have a great weekend.

  2. How fun! I just did a post including pictures of my recent visit to a Terrain in PA. It’s quite different but I see a few items in your pics that I saw at the one I went too. I’ve ordered from Container Store but never been to one of their stores. I think it could be dangerous for my wallet to visit there! The hummingbird ornament is a beauty! I’m not done with Christmas shopping or decorating but closing in on the finish line!

  3. Linda, your shopping adventures are everything I could ever want in new retail! The Juliska event (those reindeer games appetizers were calling my name numerous times this season, they’re fab!), and Terrain……oh my. It’s probably a good thing I am not located physically near those shops, as the visual merchandising would absolutely put a spell on me and my purse strings.I love it when you take me on these decadent shopping sprees without any guilt at all – thank you! And yes, please, take me on the full tour! I also want to see your tables with all these lovelies you’re stashing!
    Happy holidays, Linda, and I’m glad you liked your ornament. You sure captured it in a couple of great photos!

  4. Oh Linda, I am just drooling over your shopping trips to some of my favorite shops!!!!! Juliska is at the tip of my list to get to some day. I would be so happy to follow you around, you are my kind of shopper gal. Seems you had a wonderful autumn. You and your girls visiting the Botanical Gardens would be fun and a little scary for the girls. Always a good idea to take refuge in the gift shop. Look forward to seeing your holiday posts.

  5. What a fun filled few months you and “the girls” have had! I adore the reindeer dishes and hope you post them again! Love the Yankee store, however haven’t been in years! – and the Container store – to die-for!! I hope we can meet in Boston or on the Cape some day – wouldn’t our totes just love it? There is one lone MC box under the tree here and I am hoping it is the “wristlet” like yours – I am refraining from peeking, but its tough!

  6. What shopping fun! I would love to tag along with you and your girls. I could fill Miss Merri Mac with all sorts of goodies. I hope you took home a few of those cute ornaments for yourself. The chef and I adore the two that came to TX. The Scottish Santa in his tartan will be a star on the Courtly Check tree, and the chef’s toque is adorable. My chef was definitely impressed and touched that you thought of him. 😉
    Love the cute Reindeer Games set from Juliska. Our local store had the cutest buffet set using it. Tempted, but since I already have the Winter Frolic, I can’t add these too. Looking forward to enjoying tasty hot soup in my big cups this winter. Personal shoppers are the best! Thank you again and again!

  7. I would love to shop with you. You have access to wonderful shops. Yes, I would love the full tour of Terrain.
    Delightful trip with you and your girls.
    How wonderful to live near the Juliska flagship store.
    I’m off to click on every link. Very enjoyable post.

  8. Oh my gosh Linda! Yes you do need a real life version of that cute camper to carry your haul! The “girls” would love camping too! I’m just heading out the door, but wanted you to know I have so much to say about this post when I return home. I’ll be back soon. LOL

  9. I wish I could turn into Thumbellina and fall into one of your lovely totes so I could come along with you during your shopping adventures. What fabulous finds! I love the watering can ornament! Now I’m going to be looking for it everywhere I go. I also loved the hummingbird ornament from Rita. Beautiful! I happen to work less than a half mile from The Container Store. Definitely NOT a good thing, since there are so many excellent reasons to visit that place, and you are absolutely correct, the Christmas wrapping paper section is too wonderful for words. That’s where I found the paper and ribbon for this year’s Grinch-y table for Christmas Eve. Nowadays I find myself using Amazon for a lot of my shopping, but these stores would definitely get me out of the house.

  10. I would be in serious shopping trouble if I had all those tempting stores nearby Linda! LOVE what you bought at Juliska, and PLEASE tell me you bought that green watering can ornament from Terrain, and the Container Store, SWOON! I haven’t made a dent in my shopping and my house is only half decorated, but you have given me a much needed energy burst this morning when I’m feeling very lazy! I need those Keep Calm tags for my daughter’s gifts, she is the Queen of the Return! Your upcoming trips to Williamsburg and NYC sound holiday delightful, can’t wait for you to share those adventures! Keep calm and shop on!

  11. Linda, I love to join you in your reindeer games and anytime you take me on a virtual shopping trip to Terrain or Juliska! Yes, a full tour please!! I’m swooning over all the Forest Walk table and I’m going to ask Santa if he can carefully pack that wondering glass watering can ornament on his sleigh when he makes his trip south! Seeing those beautifully decoupaged and succulent-topped pumpkins makes me sad I sent mine to the compost pile….*sniff*. I need to get caught up with your other traveling tote companions later today. I’m out the door in a few minutes this morning to deck the halls with boughs of holly. 🙂

  12. Miss Aurora would be filled to the brim at the Container Store! Probably best that I don’t have one close by as I could be a paper product hoarder. Terrain would be a daily stop if it were closer. I would like to be Miss Posie and Dot heading to Williamsburg and NYC with you. Both are wonderful places to be for the holiday season! We just got back from NYC and already want to go back. The Juliska reindeer games appetizers are so unique and I hope you will show us your holiday table and your tree with Rita’s beautiful hummingbird ornament! Happy holidays, Linda.

  13. Wow, I would have loved to tag along with you, but you would have had to hold me back to keep me from buying! These days I trying really hard to resist temptation.

  14. What a grand place to shop…..I love those little dessert plates..and the tartan serving dishes…so much fun to shop in stores like this…thanks so much for sharing all the beauty

  15. I need to go shopping with you, Linda. I love Juliska and the reindeer plates are so cute! I would spend way too much time in Terrain – could stay on their website for hours! Happy Thursday ~

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