Tag Archives: Christmas shopping

Christmas Wrist to Forehead

Posted on December 21, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Not even 10 a.m. and I have dithered enough to send a normal person into a tizzy.  Fortunately, I am an experienced ditherer, and nobody has ever for one minute in my life accused me of being normal.  I have not actually swooned, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, but let me tell you, I’m close.

I can’t seem to find that necklace. Rats!

What, don’t you decorate your gorilla for the season?  This is actually from last year.  I have not decorated my house nor even cleaned it thoroughly.  Judge me if you are so inclined.

My favorite socks and slippers.

Maybe if I get a few things done, I will feel justified in putting my feet up and taking a rest, as in this picture from 2023.  I went out this morning to purchase wrapping paper, etc.  As I searched for what I needed, I kept hearing Boris Karloff’s voice in my head saying, “It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.”  Well, it very nearly did come without tags, because I couldn’t find any for what seemed like the longest time.

We were a cute Christmas couple.

I close with a picture of myself with my late, dearly missed husband Steve.  We were at Salvatore’s in Herkimer, one of our favorite places to eat.  I have not been there in a while.  I do not think they are open on Sunday, but perhaps tomorrow I could stop in for lunch or dinner.  Maybe I will even wear the vest I have on in the picture.

 

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Not a Pretty Post, but a Pre-Tea Post

Posted on December 20, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I can do a Lame Post Friday post early Saturday morning.  It is just after six, and I haven’t had coffee yet.  Full disclosure:  I have been drinking tea rather than coffee most mornings in hopes of making my stomach happy, a forlorn effort at best.  Yesterday I had a nice time shopping at To Niche Their Own, a delightful little shop in Herkimer NY.  Alas, I neglected to take any pictures.  I must return and take a few in order to give them a proper shout-out.

The coffee I’m not having.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  It took a bit of scrolling through my Media Library to find a coffee mug.  I must take a picture of one of the Christmas mugs I have been using lately.

Random picture to denote passage of time while I put on water for tea.

The thought of a hot beverage overcame me.  The above picture was taken a couple of summers ago, when Brookwood Market was still a thing. I forgot which vendor I got the flowers from, but the fingerless gloves are from Herkimer Handknits.  I can’t find a website or Facebook page for it, alas.  I also have a beautiful shawl I purchased from her.

But it’s so cute!

With little else to say, I share another photo.  This was taken at the sadly closed FarmHouse Restuarant, where I enjoyed many a delicious breakfast.  You can just barely see that it is a Christmas tablecloth in the background, so I am seasonal.

I guess this was another placeholder post, but what do you want on (OK, just after) Lame Post Friday?  Will I make a Saturday post on Saturday?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my weekend.

 

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Must… Shop… More…

Posted on December 19, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I missed another day!  (Hey, that rhymes!)  It is Friday morning, not particularly early so I do not feel I can make my Thursday post now and my Friday post later. Then again, why not?  It’s my blog, and I make the rules (and usually break them, but let us not go there at this time) (I could have made another rhyme with make/break, but I refrained).

I always think these are so cool.

Here is a Throwback Thursday AND a Preview of Coming Attractions.  The picture is from 2022 and it is the Rose Quartz Stand in Herkimer, NY, where I might do a little Christmas shopping later.  It is one of my favorite little shops.  They have all kinds of gems, rocks, gifts, incense, smudges, and more.  I like to just walk up and down the aisles and look, but I often find stuff I want for me as well as presents for others.

I confess that my Christmas shopping is not progressing well.  I do not rule out stopping at any point and keeping what little I have so far for myself.  However, I have a few days left to make another effort.  I’ll let you know how I do.

The Rose Quartz Stand is located at 101 Mohawk St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-868-5199.

 

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Just a Couple of Christmas Stops

Posted on December 18, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause in my Christmas shopping to make a blog post.  Then I am out to tackle the season once again.  How brave that sounds.  In fact, I paused for lunch, to read a book for a while, take a Facebook break, and do an  anacrostic puzzle (my computer thinks “anacrostic” is not a word, and in fact PennyPress calls them “crostics”) (which the computer also does not like).  Where was I?

Ah yes, beginning my Christmas shopping.  In fact, I think most members of my family would not notice or care if I did not give them presents, except for the great nephew and niece, and OF COURSE I am going to get them something nice!  But I like to give presents, at least small tokens of my affection. Additionally, as Mohawk Valley Girl, this is a golden opportunity to shop at many of the little stores I love and with which the Mohawk Valley is blessed.

Accordingly, I drove to Little Falls this morning.  My first stop was at Chickweed Boutique on Main Street.  There was a wonderful handmade sled on the front porch.

Beautiful!

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there is no space in my house for such a thing.  Chickweed has a lot of great stuff for Christmas, though:  jewelry, clothes, books, art, and more.  I found… well, I can’t tell you what I found, can I?  Some members of my family read this blog.  I continued down Main Street to Venture Fourth, a fairly new business in Little Falls but one I had not visited till today.

As I came in I confessed to the man behind the counter that most of the people on my list were not super outdoorsy.  Still, he did have some things that looked nice for anybody.  Candles, coffee mugs, and clothing.

I may need to buy some of this stuff for me!

I further confessed that I did not plan to spend a whole lot per present.

“After all, I’m just the crazy old aunt,”  I said.  He said I didn’t seem that crazy to him, but then again, he had just met me.  I found a couple of items to purchase, and we had a lovely conversation about the area and small businesses, etc.  It really is one of my favorite things about shopping small:  the interaction with the shop keepers.

Anyone can use clothes!

As I left Venture Fourth, I felt tired and hungry, and remembered I had to go grocery shopping. That led to the pause I alluded to in the first paragraph.  Now I have a blog post of over 400 words.  Score!  I think I’ll hit a couple places in Herkimer next.

 

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A Fun Visit to Newport Marketplace

Posted on November 16, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Thursday morning my sister Cheryl called me and said it was such a dull, rainy day, why didn’t we take a drive to Newport and wander around Newport Marketplace for a while.  I readily agreed.  I had not been there in a while but enjoy following them on Facebook.  For one thing, the guy often makes a pun about the picture he’s sharing.  I fancy myself quite the pundit (see what I did there?).

It’s a great place!

We took a long time wandering around.  There is so much to see, and it is one of those places where there is always something new. I saw lots of stuff that would make great Christmas presents.  Cheryl and I talked about how it is not worth gift-giving if it causes you more stress than joy. I get a great deal of joy from giving presents.  My only problem is my desire to give people presents they really want and/or can use.  I see so many beautiful antiques and decorations, but one only has so much room in the house.

I ended up purchasing a very small snow globe, maybe an inch high, of a little Christmas tree.   It would be a good present; almost anybody could find a space in their home for it.  However, I just might have to keep it for myself.  It is so cute!

I could make one!

Outside the Marketplace, we noticed a sweet decoration made with a pallet.   I even have some old Christmas balls like that!  I wonder if I could find a space in my home for such a thing.

Newport Marketplace is located at 7583 Main St., Newport, NY, phone number 315-845-8822.

 

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Must Stop at the Mustard Seed!

Posted on December 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I let today go by without leaving the house, thus losing another chance to Christmas shop.  However, I still have some pictures of previous Christmas shopping, so I can give a shout-out to another local business, which local readers still have a couple of days to go to.

This delightful lady will be there!

This is Juli Webster, proprietor of The Mustard Seed in Little Falls, NY.  See how Christmasy she looks!  The Mustard Seed has artisan herbal goods, scents, spice blends, gluten free foods, and more.  I spent a goodly amount of time there chatting with Juli and her mother.  I even wrote an article about the place for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  It is just the sort of distinctive local business they like to highlight.

Cool decor!

The bumble bee is prominent in the store and as part of the logo.  This is because of the story of the bumble bee:  it is not supposed to be able to fly, but the rules of aerodynamics or physics or something (I remember very little of my high school science).  BUT, nobody told the bumble it couldn’t fly, and so it does!  I had heard that about the bumble bee and always liked the story.  I find it inspirational, although people have, in fact, told me I cannot do certain things.  I’ll just pretend they didn’t.

Another bumble bee.

The store is only the Mustard Seed’s latest home.  It has been a staple at area craft and vendor fairs as well as having a store in the building that houses the Stone Mill Inn some years ago.

I highly recommend The Mustard Seed as a good place to shop, for Christmas or for yourself.  They are located at 407 Canal Place, Little Falls, NY, phone number 315-823-0718.

 

 

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Run, Shop, Drink, It’s Scattered Saturday!

Posted on December 15, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have had a WONDERFUL day, and I will now attempt to make a Scattered Saturday post about it.  I have a number of pictures to share, so if my words are less than wonderful, I am certain my readers will forgive me.

This picture courtesy of Steve.

This is me finishing the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls, about a step behind Santa Claus. I think I may have been able to pour it on a little more and beaten the kid, but I did not try.  Perhaps if I had tried I would have failed.  But it was a fun run.

Love those alpacas!

The Reindeer Run was part of Christmas in Little Falls.  After I had showered at the YMCA and had a good breakfast at Il Caffe, we did some shopping.  My favorite stop was at Paca Gardens.

My photos here came out a little blurry.

After shopping, we were fortunate enough to catch a performance of a puppet play of “A Christmas Carol.”  It was awesome! We loved it!

A zombie nutcracker?

Later on we went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer,  NY.  I took a few pictures of their holiday decorations,  which I hope to share in a later post.

Steven was the only one who deigned to smile.

After the tasting, we went for a couple of drinks at Heelpath Brewing Company at the Frankfort Marina.  It was fun!

I have not gone onto depth on any of our activities today, but perhaps future blog posts can fill in the gaps.  In the meantime,  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

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My Husband, Mr. Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I spent some time today staring at a blank sheet of paper.  “Just write something,” I told myself.  I did not.  However, rather than continuing with a whiny post, writing about not writing (the irony is not lost on me), I thought I would share a couple more pictures of the delightful Christmas decorations my wonderful husband Steven put up.

Full disclosure: none of these has ever actually cracked a nut.

Steven has a lovely collection of nutcrackers.  It’s always fun when I can find a different one for him.

A few more cuties.

This is our dining room table.  Luckily we do not plan on eating there any time soon.

A little busy, but fun.

The three wooden boxes and a lot of the other stuff is up all year, but Steven added some Christmas touches.

As I sit here typing, Steven is working on our Christmas cards.  What a guy!  He is certainly Mr. Christmas this year!  I wonder if I can find a nice picture of him in my Media Library, so he can sort of take a bow.

Steven doing some Christmas shopping.

Here is a recent picture of Steven at New 2 You Consignment Store in Ilion, along with the proprietresses and their cute dog.  That reminds me, we have a lot more Christmas shopping to do.  Perhaps I had better make a list.  In the meantime,  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

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All Dressed Up for Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on December 6, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, the days when I have Mohawk Valley Adventures and then feel too tired to write about them!  It is for just such an emergency that Non-Sequitur Thursday was invented (by me).

I got home from work, showered (I have the sort of job you shower after, I mention for the sake of those who did not know or had forgotten), and put on a cute outfit (although I daresay I flatter myself).  Steven and I had planned on shopping and dining.

We went to Rose Quartz Stand.  I had a gift certificate I had won at a Herkimer County Historical Society fundraiser.  We took a long time walking around and deciding.  I will probably return for even more Christmas shopping (and a little shopping for me).  After making our purchases, we walked down the sidewalk to Jamo’s for dinner.  Yum!

Now we are home relaxing.  I hope to write more about both our stops later.  In the meantime,  here is a brief shout-out to two Herkimer businesses.

The Rose Quartz Stand is located at 105 Mohawk St., Herkimer NY, phone number 315-868-5199.  They are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday,  11 a.m. to 5 p.m, Saturday, closed Sunday and Friday.

Jamo’s Restaurant and Bar is located at 123 Mohawk St., phone number 315-866-1746.  They are open 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday,  11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Saturday and Sunday.

 

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Yes, I’m Just Starting Christmas Shopping

Posted on December 21, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did not have to go to work today (don’t hate), so Steven and I headed to Little Falls for some local shopping at a few fun, distinctive places.  I know I said I was not going to talk about where I shopped and what I bought who, but, well, I took a few pictures and I need a blog post today.  Anyways, maybe I didn’t buy anything.  Oh, OK, I bought a few things, but they might have all been for me.  I call myself Cindy Claus this time of year, but I am always the Evil Woman CinCin.  No matter.  On with the blog post.

I saw on Facebook (a veritable font of information if you have Liked the right pages) that there was a Cookie Crumb Trail at Canal Place, one of the main shopping destinations in Little Falls (the other one is Main Street).  Participating merchants were offering cookies, so one was encouraged to go from store to store.  We started at Rochette, which now shares its space with Huckleberry Letterpress Co.  Lots of great gift ideas!

I told the lady behind the counter that we were following the Cookie Crumb Trail and I hoped to take a picture at each stop for my blog post.  She nicely offered us a cookie and hoped to see the blog post (oh dear, I will share this to Rochette’s Facebook page, but maybe the post isn’t very good. I always worry about these things).  I decided to take my picture of a pair of ice skates covered with glitter hanging behind the counter.  I saw a number of old ice skates for sale in the various antiques vendors’ spaces, so that is an idea I can steal (plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery).

She said they leave behind a trail of glitter but it is worth it.

Next we went to Ole Sal’s Cafe and Creamery and through the different vendors in that area.  I took my picture of some local art on the wall.

I don’t know how well you can see it, but my favorite is the mirror with the Overlook Mansion painted on it.

When we went to the building next door, I could not get a picture, because my Tablet went into Selfie mode and I could not get it back.  When we got to PrimaDonna’s Boutique, the nice lady there helped me.  I happily took a picture of some pillows I liked, although there is a LOT in that boutique I admired.

A soft pillow can bring one a lot of joy.

After that we drove to Main Street, the other shopping destination in Little Falls, to Paca Gardens.  I love walking around that place and touching the merchandise.  So soft!  Of course I had to take a picture of some cuddly alpacas.

Aren’t they sweet?

There are other places to stop in Little Falls, as well as a few places in Ilion and Hekimer I had thought to hit for Christmas shopping.  I guess I’d better charge up my Tablet and head out again tomorrow!

 

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