March 30, 2011

Meet the chicks!

I'm back!

 It had been so long since we had taken a vacation, I forgot how nice it can be to get away.  We have traveled over 3000 miles in 10 days...and with those miles came lots of  bad weather.  Not exactly how I thought we would spend our Spring Break.  We did however get to see lot's of family, many different places and I had fun doing a little shopping. 


For those of you that stopped by and visited our sweet company here last week, thank you!  It was so much fun to see how these talented ladies use whimsy in their homes.  Thank you again to Amy@WhisperWood Cottage,  Melissa@The Inspired Room Jen@Tatertots and Jello and Jennifer@Jennifer Ruizzo for sharing with us all your beautiful and inspiring homes!  


If you were here visiting last week, you also know I had a little surprise giveaway that I would be revealing when I got back.  I had so much fun finding little whimsy goodies for one of you to win.  Many fun, whimsical boutiques I visited and I also found many treasures for my own home I will share later this week.  


Along the way I also met some sweet, little, chirpy friends I couldn't resist taking home.  I soon learned that they were all such unique chicks with lots of personality! In fact when they heard I was doing a photo shoot of all the goodies I was giving away, they insisted on being in it!  Of course it was hard for me to say no with all their cute little faces.

Well, let me just introduce them all so you can see for yourselves...




The cuteness is almost too much to handle!! Like I said these chicks definitely have personality !  

Meg is the singer of the group, everything she says...comes out in a tune.  Yo-lky and Scramblez are twins...they think they are really cool when they rap!  Egg-bert, he is Mr. Smarty pants and is like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.  See how talented these little chicks are too?!  Shell-e she is such a DRAMA Queen...enough said!  How cute is Li'l Peep?! He exudes cuteness and always so sweet!  Then there is Frenchie...um, a little confused about where she really is from, she even talks with a french accent.  Last but certainly not least....Chickie! She really is the mother hen of the group, keeping all these little chicks in line.  

Now that you have met these cute chicks, they're going to help show you what's in  the surprise giveaway!

My first stop...a little boutique in Paradise, California...  

As you can see Li'l Peep is super excited about this beautiful hand painted egg!

Fir Street Gallery boutique has many unique finds.  I was automatically drawn to some beautiful, detailed hand painted paper mache' eggs .  It was hard to choose they were all so unique and pretty!  It was also nice to get to visit with the owner, Pam Funk.  She is a glass artist as well and I enjoyed seeing some of her amazing pieces.  Her shop has so many great things all in one, an art gallery, specialty gifts, fine jewelry, gourmet foods and wines. Pam also teaches stain glass classes. You can visit her shop Fir Street Gallery in Paradise, California or online! 

Shell-e loves this handmade soap from France!

There is a town not too far from Paradise called Chico.  It has a lot of unique boutiques downtown to shop in.  Many things I fell in love with there!

  One shop that stood out to me... Zucchini & Vine. This shop is a Gourmet Tabletop store, they feature local artisans, casual linens, dinnerware, home accessories, gourmet foods, fine imported cheeses, and Moonstruck chocolates. 

In my search for the perfect gift, I came across the most heavenly fragrance...lemon grass soap! When I found  out it was handmade in France...even better!  I loved visiting this store.  You can visit Zucchini & Vine online as well here.  

On our trip back we had to change our direction for going home due to more snow that came into Truckee.  So, we went South.  We now were on our way to Las Vegas, Nevada where more of our family lived.  We were hoping to find some sunshine finally on our vacation!

I knew that Las Vegas might just have the perfect gourmet chocolates I was looking for.  I found it...on the strip, in the Bellagio.  I had been to this divine chocolate shop once before when we visited Las Vegas.  The chocolate fountains at Jean Philippes shop are  mesmerizing.  This was where you could find decadent, rich chocolate made by world renowned pastry chef Jean Philippe.

Frenchie is drawn to anything French...she wanted to keep these chocolates all to herself!
Let's just say you have to be rich to buy a lot of chocolate here, but even a little bit is soo worth it!  These chocolate truffles should be savored with each bite.  A little taste of  heaven. You can find out more about Jean Philippe and his incredible work here, you can even order chocolates online.




Shell-e is in the spotlight again..she was trying to get into every picture!


After leaving Las Vegas we were finally on our way home.  I only was able to get a few more stops in due to weather and my family just wanting to get home.  We had put a lot of miles in and we were ready to be home in our own beds.  


We stayed overnight in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.  After having some breakfast with some more family...(I have family all over!)  I talked Mr.W into letting me make one last stop before we were back on the road. So glad I did!

As we were going down town and looking for little shops I wanted to stop in, my eyes caught a glimpse of a window display that called out to me.  I convinced my husband to park and let me go visit this shop while he took some of the boys into a train/book store. 

Once inside this shop...I was smitten.  Everywhere I looked...eye candy! I was in vintage anthropology heaven!  I found so many things I couldn't live without and that very cute bag above for my giveaway.  I am excited to tell you...I talked with one of the owners and asked to take some photos of her shop so I could share will all of you.  I was given the go ahead and I was in my element!  I will be sharing so much more on this unique boutique soon.  I know you all will love it too! 

Egg-bert and Megg sharing their cuteness with you!

Our vacation has come to an end and we finally are home getting back into the routine of things.  I did a little more shopping at some of my favorite stores here and added some more whimsy things for someone to enjoy!  

Here's Shell-e again...see how much she likes the attention!
Yo-lky was rapping while taking this picture, always trying to be cool!


So there is the surprise giveaway! I hope the winner will love it as much as I loved finding special things!  I want to say how much I appreciated you leaving some love for our special guests while I was gone.  


The random generator has picked  #29 and that is Connie@I started out as a child...you won!!! I'm so happy for you! Please contact me with your info. so I can get this on it's way to you. :)


I have lots going on this week and hoping to get a little time in for creating for my soon to open Etsy!  I hope you all have a great week and enjoyed meeting my cute chicks!

Hugs,

6 comments:

  1. You came so close to me! Well, 35/40 miles. Waving frantically... So glad you had a great trip and now that I am so close to some of those shops (Calif ones) I may have to pack up my daughter and granddaughters and make a special day of it. Thanks for the shout outs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a delightful post, Victoria! Congratulations to Connie! She is a lucky lady. What a fun and generous giveaway. I enjoyed seeing a bit of your travels. It sounds like you had a wonderful getaway. I am also looking forward to your Etsy shop opening!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What lovely surprises you chose! Congrats to Connie!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad to be part of the fun, Victoria! Those little chicks with all their personalities are too cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for letting me be a part of the fun!! I was happy to share my home with your readers.

    Your post is so adorable, I was mesmerized by the photos. PRECIOUS!!! Those chicks are so spunky and cute!!

    Thanks again Victoria, you are too sweet!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I get all of them? Holy Smokes! Thank you so much! I love the chicks who helped introduce the prizes!
    I can't wait to get this in the mail!

    We're going on a road trip over our spring break in a few weeks. So glad you had a good time.

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete

Hello Friends! I love to read your comments. Please share your sweet thoughts here...