The Observation Deck

Tim Liston wrote:Corey....

Agreed, except for one thing. Wine is like fruitcake, especially this time of year. We have several bottles, and when a gift is needed, well.....

Sorry to say....

Tim

True, but white zinfandel only lasts so long.
Joking.

Corey

You're a brave man, Tim, and inspiring.

I hit many of the lakewood shops you listed while making my Christmas rounds. But even if I'm biking back and forth to work in this weather, I confess to having done the christmas shopping in my car.

But this occurs to me: the gift of massage. There are a couple of very good professional shops in town, and it is unbelievably relaxing, even if you don't have a particular muscle ailment. And the gift certificates are as portable as it gets.

Hey I gotta tell you all, Saturday rolled around and my wife all of a sudden said she had a cut and color so I had the kids for the morning. So, undaunted, but driving instead of riding we set out.

First, of course, breakfast at Clifton Diner. Always good. Then Flower Child. That place is fantastic, huge, one of a kind. There were so many things that our house or Dawn’s new Montessori classroom could have used, we sort of copped out and bought a Christmas tree decoration and a gift certificate, so she could choose.

Next stop, Déjà vu, in the block just east of the hospital. Another neat one-of-a-kind store. Coincidentally, the kids told me Dawn wanted a Coach purse. Well I decided not and bought one of the handmade vintage fabric purses Amy suggested, $52 I think, compare that to a Coach purse and (1) much cheaper (2) one of a kind (3) Lakewood artist makes money and (4) no cows died.

Next stop, Phoenix, bought coffee and cocoa for a gift basket we’re putting together and had a nice chat with Julie, kids got cups of hot chocolate. The kids and I had a discussion of what “fair tradeâ€Â￾ meant. Then Lion and Blue, bought a box and a scarf. They have some neat stuff too. Next, Revelations, bought a spa package. Nothing unusual there.

Finally, Sweet Designs, (chocolate for the gift basket). Nice store and VERY helpful staff who wrapped everything beautifully. I can’t wrap for sh*t.

Then our favorite stop of the day, Local Girl Gallery. They had (1) great gifts, (2) free food, and (3) best of all an accordion player who just knocked it out of the park. I have never heard the the Charlie Brown “Christmas Time is Hereâ€Â￾ song on an accordion and certainly not as heartfelt. Astounding! Bought a pair of earrings made of beach glass. We’ll be back.

Well Katie had a soccer game in an hour so we had to stop and haul balls to North Olmsted. But we got more great “mom/wifeâ€Â￾ gifts in maybe three hours than we could have possibly done any other way. We missed a few stops but we plan to get to them after Tuesday. “ArcAngelâ€Â￾ is not called that it’s called ArcSomethingelse but we do plan to get there, maybe even today. Stitch is not our thing but from their web site we’re probably blessed that they chose Lakewood.

Corey sorry about the crack but like I told the kids, I could pull a bottle of wine out of the cabinet, wrap it up and put it under the tree and Dawn would never know. We have more wine than we can drink. I do shop Rozi’s for beer though. Thanks for all you do, your shop is fantastic. Just not a wine guy….

Did anyone go to the malls? They were zoos. There are more cars on the highways and near the malls than I have ever seen in my life. ‘Nuff said.

Gotta run. Today the girls and I are headed to the West Side Market to do the meal planning/buying for tomorrow. Thanks all for your help and inspiration. Honestly, it was a wonderful day. The girls and I had a blast and picked up a few really neat items for our wonderful "mom."

PS is there an auto detailing place in Lakewood? Last-minute idea would be a certificate for a great once-over for the wife’s car.

PPS to Mike the Revelations certificate included a massage. And (once again) your work-box is full so I'll call re: your recent email.

Wow.

That sounds like fun and your wife will be completely thrilled.

It's great that the kids went also.

Happy Holidays!

Madison Car Wash at Newman (near Newman?) does a darned good job.

When we redeemed our gift certificates from the library grand opening party we were impressed by the car wash part alone.

It was the first time that other people actually commented on how nice our vehicles looked.

Corey sorry about the crack but like I told the kids, I could pull a bottle of wine out of the cabinet, wrap it up and put it under the tree and Dawn would never know. We have more wine than we can drink. I do shop Rozi’s for beer though. Thanks for all you do, your shop is fantastic. Just not a wine guy….

Are you kidding, cracks make the world go 'round.

Have a great holiday season.
Corey